Great question @hookedinvesting, I’m glad you ask! We are indeed connecting to the European markets directly, and connecting to a major CCP to clear trades. I’ll explain more here.
At face value, this new feature might seem simple - a bunch more stocks added to the platform. However, beneath the surface, it’s anything but simple, and what sets this new feature apart is ingrained in the DNA of Freetrade: investing time, energy and money into developing the right technology to build a sustainable business, supporting our clients throughout their lives. In short, this is the most complex piece of engineering and operations work since we built the Invest platform in 2019/20.
Our strategy with European trading is to effectively put you on the trading floor, trading alongside the brokers, market makers and institutions - rather than trading through those groups and lining their pockets with profit. This gives us several key differentiators: we can offer the best prices because we’re removing the counterparties that would take a cut from the spread you receive; and we can extend our stock universe with more trading venues in future using the same technology.