BMLL, the leading independent provider of harmonised historical Level 3, 2, and 1 data and analytics across global equities, ETFs, futures, and options markets, has announced the launch of Trades Plus, a new dataset designed to transform how traders and analysts perform execution analysis. Developed in collaboration with top global trading firms, Trades Plus delivers deep execution insights and actionable intelligence at scale.
Takeaway: Trades Plus integrates trade and quote data into one dataset, reducing coding effort and unlocking scalable transaction cost analysis (TCA).
Advanced Dataset for Execution Insights
BMLL Trades Plus provides a globally consistent view of every trade by combining granular historical trade data with proprietary classifications, L1 quotes, custom flags, and analytics across global exchanges. This allows users to conduct detailed transaction cost analysis (TCA), backtest execution algorithms, and identify liquidity provision opportunities—without writing or maintaining complex underlying code.
According to BMLL, research that once required 100 lines of code can now be executed in as few as three, offering significant time and resource savings for trading firms.
Takeaway: By simplifying analytics workflows, Trades Plus reduces the burden of coding and computation, accelerating market research.
Client-Driven Innovation
The product was developed in response to demand from members of the BMLL Client Product Advisory Board (CPAB), which includes sovereign wealth funds, global asset managers, proprietary trading firms, and liquidity providers.
Dr. Elliot Banks, Chief Product Officer at BMLL, explained:
“Traders and analysts need to combine trade data with quote data to generate TCA, Best Execution Analysis or compare Market Quality, using a combination of data feeds. To date, this has been a highly repetitive, iterative, and time-consuming process. BMLL Trades Plus removes this effort by capturing detailed trade information, classifications, and quote-based analytics into one single dataset.”
Paul Humphrey, CEO of BMLL, added:
“When we set up our CPAB forum, we were clear that this was not going to be a talking shop. Our mission is to elevate the standard of market data. CPAB members were grappling with poor-quality, disparate data. We acted on their feedback to deliver a best-in-class product that facilitates complex execution workflows simply and efficiently.”
Takeaway: CPAB collaboration ensured Trades Plus was designed to solve real-world pain points for leading market participants.
Key Features of Trades Plus
- BMLL Trade Classifications: Clear categorization of on- and off-exchange trading across execution mechanisms (e.g., Dark above LIS, Closing Auction).
- Extensive Trade Flags: Filtering for retail, odd-lot, block trades, and reference MMT flags.
- Order Book Analytics: Venue or consolidated quote analytics enabling calculation of Spread Capture, Price Improvement, and time- or volume-based mark-outs.
A CPAB member described the dataset as “a huge value-add”, particularly its computationally intensive ability to join trades with quotes while retaining flexibility and robust trade classification.
Takeaway: Trades Plus simplifies the intensive task of joining trades to quotes, delivering flexibility and precise classification.
Availability
Trades Plus is available immediately across Europe via the BMLL Data Lab—a scalable Python research sandbox—and the BMLL Data Feed, accessible through AWS S3, API, SFTP, and Snowflake. A U.S. dataset will be released in early Q4 2025, extending coverage to additional markets.
The launch underscores BMLL’s commitment to elevating market data standards and providing accessible, high-quality datasets that empower institutions to enhance execution quality and manage liquidity more effectively.
Takeaway: BMLL Trades Plus is immediately available in Europe, with U.S. coverage coming soon, supporting global execution workflows.