Nasdaq Europe plans November 2026 launch for PureStream trajectory trading after Dutch licence

Nasdaq Europe announced at 9:00am CET (08:00 GMT) on 29 October 2026 that it plans to launch trajectory trading, which it said is “expected to go live in November 2026”. It said the service “will provide institutional investors with a new way to access liquidity in European equities while minimizing market impact”.

How it works

According to the announcement, the service uses PureStream’s matching technology, which “enables institutional investors to match trading interest based on a percentage of future market volume and execute over time at volume-weighted average prices”. Nasdaq said the model “is designed to reduce information leakage and market impact when executing larger positions”.

The service will be offered through Nasdaq Investment Firm B.V. Nasdaq said the firm “has been granted an investment firm license by the Dutch Authority for Financial Markets” and that trades “will be formalized and published on Nasdaq’s regulated trading venues”.

The AFM’s register of investment firms lists Nasdaq Investment Firm B.V., based in Amsterdam, with an entry dated 26 October 2026 for the investment service of receiving and transmitting orders. The register records a restriction, also dated 26 October 2026, limiting the licence to receiving and transmitting orders in securities solely for eligible counterparties as defined in Dutch financial supervision law.

A Nasdaq IT notice dated 21 August 2026 sets out the planned mechanics. It was published before the licence was granted and described the launch as “subject to regulatory approval”. According to the notice, Nasdaq Investment Firm B.V. “pre-arranges trades” that are then submitted as Manual Trades with the trade type Volume Weighted Average Price Trade on Nasdaq Copenhagen, Nasdaq Helsinki, Nasdaq Stockholm or Nasdaq First North Sweden MTF. The notice says PureStream trades will carry dedicated MIC codes (PCSE, PHEL, PSTO and PFSE) and will be “published without counterparty information (post trade anonymity)”.

The notice says the service is planned for equities primarily listed on 13 regulated markets: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. Trades in Nasdaq Nordic-listed equities, and in Norwegian equities already admitted to Nasdaq First North, are to be formalised on the existing Nordic venues. Trades in other equities are to be formalised on Nasdaq First North Sweden MTF. The notice says new market segments for France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Portugal, Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain were introduced there on 24 August 2026, without order books or admitted equities. It says those segments support only the formalisation of PureStream trades, with no lit order book, auction, Nordic@Mid or Auction on Demand trading.

Coverage and timing

Nasdaq said the service will first cover selected equities on Nasdaq Copenhagen, Nasdaq Helsinki and Nasdaq Stockholm, including the constituents of the OMXC25, OMXH25 and OMXS30 indexes, “together with selected equities from nine other European markets”. The release does not name those nine markets. It said coverage “is expected to expand in January 2027 to approximately 1,200 additional European equities”.

Nasdaq described the announcement as “the start of a phased commercial rollout” and said trading activity is “expected to build progressively as additional institutional clients begin using the service”. The August notice said a confirmed commercial activation date “will be announced separately”. As of 29 October 2026, neither document gave an exact go-live date.

The service sits within Nasdaq’s Digital Liquidity Networks business. Roland Chai, Head of Digital Liquidity Networks at Nasdaq, said: “This new offering expands the ways investors can access liquidity in European equities, while maintaining the benefits and protections of trading on Nasdaq’s regulated venues.”

The Midpoint has previously reported on other parts of Nasdaq’s Digital Liquidity Networks plans.

Why it matters

For buy-side traders, the model is in principle an alternative to slicing a large order through an algorithm across lit books, dark pools and periodic auctions. On Nasdaq’s description, interest is matched as a percentage of future market volume and executed over time at VWAP.

That would put Nasdaq’s own venues in competition with the dark pools, periodic auctions and block-trading services that institutions already use to work large orders.

The case for the service rests on the buy side. If it attracts enough natural counterparties, it could take some of the signalling risk out of working size in mid-cap European names, where a visible footprint on the book can move the price against the order.

What we are watching

• The Nasdaq notice giving the confirmed commercial activation date, and the Market Notices admitting the non-Nordic equities to First North Sweden.
• Which brokers and buy-side firms are onboarded at launch, given the licence restriction to eligible counterparties, and how much volume prints under the PureStream MIC codes.
• The January 2027 expansion to about 1,200 more European equities.