June 26 (Reuters) - Big banks have started pulling theirbusiness out of Barclays' dark pool, after the Britishbank was sued by New York's top securities regulator forallegedly misleading institutional investors over its anonymoustrading venue, The Financial times reported.
Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse and RoyalBank of Canada, asset manager Alliance Bernstein wereamong the institutions that withdrew from Barclays' dark pool onThursday, the paper said. (http://on.ft.com/1liYksA)
Barclays said any drop in trading volumes at LX might be dueto a technical glitch.
Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorganChase & Co, were not sending orders to Barclays' darkpool, the daily reported, citing people familiar with thecompanies.
The New York State attorney general's lawsuit alleges thatBarclays promised to get the best possible prices for customerslooking to buy or sell shares but instead took steps thatmaximized the bank's profits and executed nearly all of itscustomers' stock orders on LX instead of on exchanges or othervenues that might have offered better prices.
Dark pools were created to allow investors to execute bigtrades without tipping off the market. But ever-larger volumesof trades have been shunted into dark pools and critics saytheir opacity makes markets less fair for other investors.
Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse declined to comment. RoyalBank of Canada, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chasecould not immediately be reached for comment. (Reporting By Neha Dimri in Bangalore)