'CATS (Computer Assisted Trading System)' is an automated exchange system developed for the
Toronto Stock Exchange in 1977. CATS was one of the first technologies allowing for a full automation of the price-setting process in a stock exchange. This technology was implemented in several other stock exchanges in the 1980s. In some cases, it was used as an assistance to open-outcry, but in others it allowed for a full dismantlement of the open-outcry institution. The
Paris Bourse purchased this system in the early 1980s and implemented it as CAC (
Cotation Assistée en Continu).
CATS handled the process of order matching and price setting through a "
double auction"
algorithm. It is credited for having been the first system to allow for a full
automation of the price setting process in a centralized, order-driven stock market.
References
★ Domowitz, I. 1990 "The Mechanics of Automated Trade Execution Systems", ''Journal of Financial Intermediation'' 1(2): 167-194.
★ Domowitz, I. and Wang, J. 1994 "Auctions as Algorithms: Computerized Trade Execution and Price Discovery", ''Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control'' 18(1): 29-60.