Chi-X, the competitor of the Australian Stock Exchange will finally operate on Oct. 31, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission said Monday.

ASIC said in a statement that independent consultants, The Pitt Crew, had confirmed that the systems and market data of Chi-X and market participants had been tested and were ready for operation.

The regulator's staff and technology are ready for multi-market supervision, ASIC added.

The entry of Chi-X in the market will break the current monopoly held by the Australian Securities Exchange's for 21 years in terms of equities exchange operation in Australia.

Chi-X will have a soft launch in Australia because ASIC has allowed it to trade just eight securities for at least six days - the time required to complete two trading settlement cycles, a report from NineMSN.com said.

If successful, the exchange operator will phase in trading in all S&P/ASX 200 securities and ASX-listed exchange traded funds over a two-week period, a Chi-X spokesman said.

Twenty-two brokers have already signed up to trade with Chi-X during the market launch, including Australia's top 15 brokers by market share.

Chi-X's chief operating officer, Peter Fowler, said the local industry has shown strong support for the alternative exchange operator.

"The government's decision to allow competition has already provided benefits, and we expect that these benefits will continue to flow to the investment community, once our marketplace is fully operational," Fowler said in another statement.

Chi-X is a wholly-owned Australian-incorporated subsidiary of Chi-X Global Inc, which is owned by global broker Instinet, itself a subsidiary of Japanese broking giant Nomura Holdings.

Chi-X Global Inc. is a global provider of market infrastructure technologies and trading venues that aims to provide investors around the world with the most efficient markets possible through its high-speed, low-cost, intelligent trading model.

Chi-X Global believes that truly competitive, technology-driven markets benefit all participants in the trading process - investors, brokers and the primary exchanges - by making the market more attractive to the global trading community, which ultimately helps to increase overall market volumes and improve investor performance.

Chi-X Global is a subsidiary of electronic trading pioneer Instinet Incorporated, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc.

Chi-X Global operates Chi-X Canada, Chi-X Japan and the Chi-Tech technology product and services unit. Chi-X Europe is owned by a consortium of financial institutions and is operated independently. Chi- X Global's parent company, Instinet, is Chi-X Europe's largest and founding shareholder.