Cummings publicized the BATS service by sending emails to companies highlighting the niche that could be carved out by trading on platforms other than the big two—NASDAQ and NYSE.

[6] He noted that the consolidation of the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ eliminated competition and they raised prices for their services.

[7] Among the plans it had to draw customers was to offer free listings to companies with shares that traded a certain amount each day.

[6][9] Under the leadership of Ratterman, in March 2008, BATS entered the European equities markets by establishing a multilateral trading facility (MTF) to compete on a pan-European basis against the incumbent securities exchanges.

[10][11] In February 2011, BATS Global Markets agreed to buy Chi-X Europe, a competitor and largest pan-European MTF at the time, for $300 million.

Ratterman had previously held both roles but received the "unanimous support" of the directors to retain the positions of CEO and president.

[20] In July 2012, BATS named Paul Atkins, a former U.S. Securities and Exchange commissioner, to the role of non-executive chairman of its board of directors.

[29] In November 2008, BATS converted its ECN to a national securities exchange, BZX, which allowed BATS to participate in and earn market data fees from the United States consolidated tape plans, reduce its clearing costs, and operate a primary listings business.

In February 2010, BATS expanded into a new asset class by offering trading of listed equity options on BZX.

[31] In 2014, company president William O'Brien disputed assertions in the book Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.

He was quoted in The New York Times as saying about the book's author, "Michael Lewis clearly has a blind side, as we've just discovered".