Business School & Plato Partnership collab promises insight into European Market

London, Europe's finance hub

Centre for Global Finance and Technology and Plato Partnership build the European Market Structure Research Network.

Plato Partnership Limited (“Plato Partnership”), a not-for-profit company comprising the largest global asset managers and broker dealers, has entered into a strategic partnership agreement with Imperial College Business School to establish and lead a European Market Structure research network.

Led by Dr Andrei Kirilenko, Director of the Centre for Global Finance and Technology at Imperial College Business School, the initiative will build and grow a network that will facilitate independent academic research across the full breadth of the European market structure debate post-Mifid II, the largest regulatory overhaul of the European equity markets in a decade, which went into effect in January 2018.

Combining academic rigour with institutional knowledge and data from the largest market participants is a global first that would allow for the in-depth analysis of consolidated data sets usually not available to academics. It is expected that top quality research and analysis around this extremely detailed data, especially on so-called “dark trading” in European equities, will provide the analytical foundation for appropriate market structures in Europe and beyond.

Without a doubt, this will be a game-changer for academia, the industry and the regulators. Dr Andrei Kirilenko Director of the Centre for Global Finance and Technology

Dr Andrei Kirilenko, Director of the Centre for Global Finance and Technology at Imperial College Business School: 

“The European Market Structure research network will allow Imperial and the Plato Partnership to work together to share their knowledge and data with top-quality academics conducting independent research on market structure and technology issues around the world. We plan to issue the first request for research proposals in the near future with the aim to discuss the preliminary results in the summer of 2018. Without a doubt, this will be a game-changer for academia, the industry and the regulators.“

Mike Bellaro, Plato Co-Chair and Global Head of Equity Trading, Deutsche Asset Management:

“The true value that Plato Partnership brings to the market is through the experts that it is able to bring together for an unbiased exchange of ideas, be these from the buy side, the sell side, a venue or academia. The European Market Structure Research Network will build upon the ground breaking work started by our Market Innovator 3 (MI3), providing important data, research and analysis to market participants. The commitment of such a renowned educational institution as Imperial College Business School is a reflection of the excellent progress Plato Partnership has made in delivering tangible results against our core objective of improving market efficiency for all.”

...by harnessing the combined expertise of Imperial College Business School and our members, we will be able to strengthen the ties we have forged between academia and the market to continue to deliver real, tangible benefits for our members. Nej Djelal Plato Partnership Co-Chair

Nej Djelal, Plato Partnership Co-Chair:

“At the very beginning of the Plato Partnership vision we recognized a unique opportunity for the industry to give back to market participants and end investors through accessible and independent academic research. In launching MI3 earlier this year we took a huge step towards this vision and we hope that today, by harnessing the combined expertise of Imperial College Business School and our members, we will be able to strengthen the ties we have forged between academia and the market to continue to deliver real, tangible benefits for our members.”