Does 'Dark Pool Liquidity' really = a kind of 'tax evasion'? Insider trading?

[WhiskeyGirl]

UBS plans regulated, centrally cleared dark pool
Tue Mar 9, 2010 12:16pm EST

LONDON, March 9 (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS plans to launch a regulated European "dark pool" share trading facility to create another source of liquidity for its clients.

Dark pools enable would-be buyers and sellers of large orders to avoid revealing pre-trade information and signalling their intentions to the rest of the market.

So, let's see if I understand...

Insiders can dump their stock and other stuff when their companies go belly up, long before Main Street get's wind of the problems.

Will this help deflate the bubble?  Ensure that insiders get to keep their gains, while Main Street continues to invest in ignorance?

Stock exchange officials charge that investment banks' internal dark pools are functioning like MTFs without being subject to the same rules on pricing and post-trade transparency under EU regulation. [ID:nGEE5B31GV]

Let me think again...

Investment banks have 'internal dark pools'?  How exactly does this happen?  Can there really be an internal dark pool?  Folks trading anonymously? 

And, what is an "MTF"?  Why would investment banks want to avoid rules on pricing and transparency?

UBS MTF will aim to attract other brokers or traders, setting down clear criteria for membership, he said.

Membership...will there be a quota system to ensure that slobs on Main Street get equal access?  Or, will membership be limited to the elite 'investment banks' / 'hedge funds'?

Even taking into account banks' internal networks, dark pools amount to no more than 4 percent of the total volume of trading in Europe, bankers say, citing statistics from a recent report by the Tabb consultancy.

"bankers say" - after all the financial collapses, pass-throughs, destruction of savings and retirements, who would trust a banker?

more here - http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE62816020100309

Who's looking out for Americans?

The financial pass-throughs seem to continue and are increasing in volume.  TARP, AIG, IndyMac...

When will it end?

[WhiskeyGirl]

In fact, the trade was a demonstration and no shares have changed hands. On the live system, both sides of the trade would have been anonymous, except to each other and Liquidnet’s regulatory compliance unit.

The speed and size of the mock trade demonstrate, however, why alternative trading venues – especially dark pools, such as Liquidnet’s – are beginning to make inroads into share trading in Asia.

more here - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/50f44ecc-26e8-11df-8c08-00144feabdc0.html

Sounds a lot like derivatives - only the players know for sure...

Where is the transparency?

With derivatives, taxpayers on Main Street got stuck paying the bill for failure, perhaps planned failure, and financial looting.

Who will pay for future failures and financial looting?  Main Street?

Who in their right mind, outside of the 'members only' elites would ever invest in the markets?

There's a sucker born everyday, and this group appears to be readying the next generation of fools.

my opinions.