Going Batty: iShares to List 8 ETFs on BATS Exchange

BlackRock's

iShares unit, the world's largest ETF sponsor, announced it will list eight of its upcoming ETFs on the BATS Exchange operated by BATS Global Markets. The eight listings will mark the first primary listings on BATS. BATS became a U.S. primary listings venue on December 2, 2011, providing issuers with an innovative, cost-effective new venue to list their stock or exchange-traded product, according to a statement. The first of the iShares ETFs to be listed on BATS will be the iShares MSCI Norway Capped Investable Market Index Fund

, which will commence trading on Tuesday January 24, 2012. The other seven funds will follow soon after. They are as follows: iShares MSCI Australia Small Cap Index Fund

iShares MSCI Canada Small Cap Index Fund

iShares MSCI Finland Capped Investable Market Index Fund

iShares MSCI Germany Small Cap Index Fund

iShares MSCI India Index Fund

iShares MSCI India Small Cap Index Fund

iShares MSCI United Kingdom Small Cap Index Fund

The Norway fund will compete directly with the Global X Norway ETF

while the Australia and Canada small-cap ETFs will compete with existing products sponsored by IndexIQ. The India and Germany small-cap ETFs will be rivals to existing ETFs sponsored by Van Eck Global's Market Vectors unit. BATS operates two exchanges in the U.S., the BATS BZX Exchange and BYX Exchange; BATS Options, a U.S. equity options market; and BATS Europe and Chi-X Europe, which operate FSA-authorized multilateral trading facilities, according to the statement.