Borsa Istanbul cuts lunch break to increase efficiency

Turkey's main stock exchange, Borsa Istanbul, launched single trading sessions yesterday, replacing the order processing system it has used for the past 22 years with a new project called "BISTECH" in coordinated efforts with the U.S.'s NASDAQ exchange. From Monday onward, the exchange began holding single trading sessions as opposed to the two-session trading day that had previously been in effect. BISTECH will bring together various new applications and also increase the order processing speed of the stock market tenfold, from 1 millisecond to 100 microseconds. The speed will be increased to 60 microseconds within the next few months after further improvements are made, enabling Borsa Istanbul to compete with leading exchanges such as the London Stock Exchange, the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and stock exchange markets in the U.S., according to Borsa Istanbul General Manager Tuncay Dinç. Speaking to Anadolu Agency (AA), Dinç stressed the efforts made to convert Istanbul into a global financial center. Dinçer said various changes have been implemented since 2009, including changes to the Capital Market Board, which caused a new system to become a prerequisite for turning Borsa Istanbul into a global stock exchange.

In addition, thanks to the new processing system, continuous trading will be paused at noon in each trading for an hour while order collections will continue. In contrast to the previous practice, there will be no closing after the first session. Base prices and price margins will be calculated once at the beginning of the day and will be valid for the whole day, the statement said. Also, price margins will be calculated at 20 percent on a daily basis instead of 10 percent for the session, according to the statement. Furthermore, the new system will offer easier access to personal investors as it eliminates the need for brokers, telephone connections and other tools. "With this new technology we are implementing, it will now be as easy as just pressing a few buttons on your phone to have access to the market. Now we will speak the same language with the world," Dinç added.

"This system will attract more personal investors, enable fairer pricing and win the trust of investors as the systems are new and more reliable," he said. However, Dinç also stressed the importance of administrative, tax-related and other various regulations that need to support this state-of-the-art technology. He deemed it as the first step, which will lead to further steps being taken with various other legal and administrative entities. In January of last year, the NASDAQ and Borsa Istanbul concluded a wide-ranging agreement, which included the delivery of market-leading technologies and advisory services to Borsa Istanbul. As part of the agreement, NASDAQ OMX took a 5 percent equity stake in Borsa Istanbul, with an option to increase this by an additional 2 percent.