Orders & Execution
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Dark Pool
Also called: ATS, alternative trading system
A private trading venue where large orders execute away from public exchanges, hiding size and price until after the fact.
Definition
Dark pools let institutions move large blocks without telegraphing intent to the wider market — preventing other traders from front-running the order.
FX is mostly OTC and already ‘dark’ by structure, so true dark pools are more common in equities. Some FX ECNs offer hidden-order types that approximate the same effect.