Nasdaq is also battling competitive forces at home, including an upstart Kansas City electronic network known as BATS Trading, which has siphoned some 15% of the matched and routed orders from Nasdaq in its own listed shares.

FORBES: Agita On Wall Street

Whenever two orders are matched, the system automatically records the transaction and sets up the paperwork for its completion.

FORBES: Electronics Communications Networks (ECNs)

Orders are anonymously matched and not reported to any entity, even the regulators (Younglai and Spicer 2009).

FORBES: Dark Pools: The Menace Of Rising Opacity In Financial Markets