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I was looking at the orderbook of an ETF (symbol SUAS) which seems to be very rarely traded on SIX exchange. I noticed a surprising pattern in the orders:

Bid Volume   Price    Ask Volume
             5.92     100'000  
             5.90     50'088  
             5.89     25'000  
             5.88     25'001  
25'001       5.86
25'000       5.86
50'088       5.85
100'000      5.82

I found this answer about the ETF creation/redemption process.

So I assume that all these orders are placed by an AP (Authorized Participant). Is this correct? And is there a way to find out who exactly placed these orders?

As a further question, are these orders usually placed by a human or is it done automatically by a computer program?

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They might be, or they might not be. Anyone can place an order and have it show up in the book.

It looks like the SIX Swiss Exchange is anonymous, or at least it doesn't indicate the broker on their website. A SIX or Bloomberg terminal might reveal the broker behind the orders, but it might not.

Market making firms will electronically maintain their orders, for the most part, but can also manually enter orders as necessary.

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  • What do you think about this "symmetry" between bid/ask volumes? It would seem like a strange coincidence that two different investors would match the other parties orders exactly. Even more so as these orders are continuously adjusted during the day and always remain in this pattern. Isn't this a hint that these orders are all made by the same market maker?
    – toesus
    Commented Jun 28, 2017 at 6:26
  • Yeah it's entirely possible it's one market maker who's required to quote making that market. Or two with similar obligations, or one market maker and someone else pegging their orders off of the market maker, etc.
    – dsolimano
    Commented Jun 28, 2017 at 12:44

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