A dark pool is operated by an investment services provider or a market operator to circumvent regulations and remain anonymous exchange system. The dark pool differs from a regulated market because it allows clients to remain anonymous. A dark pool is thus an alternative system for large regulated exchanges. It is authorized in Europe since 2007 by the European Directive on markets in financial instruments, including Free Market Scanner.
A dark pool aims to handle large volumes of orders of exchange (transactions blocks), outside formal markets (large regulated exchanges or MTFs), and without displaying the transaction prices before finalizing.
A financial derivative or derivative is a financial product whose value is based on the price of another asset. The assets on which it depends takes the name of the underlying asset, such as a future value on gold is based on the price of gold.
