Multilateral Trading Facility - MTF

If you're a regular, square, uninteresting suburban type, you buy your food at a grocery store. If you're a hip, alternative, rebellious type, you might head over to a local farmer's market, or purchase hydroponic-grown vegetables curated in someone's basement.

This dichotomy defines the basic difference between a traditional stock exchange and a multilateral trading facility.

The term "multilateral trading facility" applies to alternative exchanges in Europe. You've got your regular exchanges (like, say, the Euronext). And you've got the multilateral trading facilities, self-regulating exchanges, often conducting business in an electronic framework.