Fidelity Investments is working with other asset managers to create a new trading platform aimed at lowering costs for its customers.
Though no deal has been struck yet, the fund and financial services group has been exploring various alternatives in the now-highly diffused world of market exchanges, a source confirmed to CNBC.com.
"The goal would be to strengthen performance, address today's market structure and provide higher levels of transparency for shareholders," the source said.
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A source insisted the move was not in response to the recent highly debated controversy over high-frequency trading and the publicity generated by Michael Lewis' new book, "Flash Boys." The discussions have been going on "for months," the source said.
However, the timing is interesting in light of the discussion, which has seen Wall Street split over the value of the high-speed markets.
Debate has focused both on whether the HFT firms gain an unfair advantage by being able to step in front of the trades of slower market participants and market transparency. The Fidelity platform likely would add another layer to the 40 or so dark pools that trade away from the major exchanges.
Fidelity uses its Active Trader Pro platform currently, so the new trading venue presumably would expand the current level of services.
—By CNBC's Jeff Cox