NYSE Euronext has joined forces with BNP Paribas and HSBC to create a “dark liquidity” facility in Europe where banks can buy or sell large blocks of shares in a single company without the market knowing ahead of the trade.

The plan for the electronic trading platform, to be called Project SmartPool, is the first exchange-led effort in the field of off-exchange share trading, which has become a hot topic in the light of the new Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) coming into force across the European Union on November 1.