The Tokyo Stock Exchange is worried about Japan going dark.
Tsuyoshi Otsuka, global head of equity market strategy for the bourse, is trying to persuade regulators to see the increasing use of private venues known as dark pools as a threat to stability. He estimates that the total value of trading in the platforms was close to 5 percent at the end of last year — small by the standards of other developed markets, but nearly double their share in 2011.
TSE, which dominates trading in Japan, is the latest exchange operator to protest the growing use of dark pools, seeking to kill off potential rivals by making arguments about what's best for investors. Bourses in the U.S. and Europe have called on regulators to scrutinize the venues, though with limited success.