CORRECTED - CORRECTED-Singapore Exchange, Chi-X to form dark pool trade plat

* SGX and Chi-X will each have 50 pct of joint venture

* Dark pool platform will start operating in H1, 2010 (Corrects company name in paragraph 5 to Investment Technology from International Technology)

SINGAPORE Aug 12 (Reuters) - Singapore Exchange (SGXL.SI) and Chi-X Global said on Wednesday they will set up a "dark pool" platform to allow fund managers and other institutional investors to trade large blocks of Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and Japan-listed stocks.

SGX and Chi-X will each take a 50 percent share in the venture, expected to be operational in the first half of next year. They declined to reveal the cost of their investments.

Dark pools are trading platforms where buyers and sellers can anonymously match large blocks of stock, away from central exchanges, keeping details of the deals and prices concealed to prevent distorting prices in the broader market.

Such platforms already account for more than 10 percent of trading in the United States, and dark pools have begun to set up operations in Asia to make inroads into the region's more liquid markets of Japan and Hong Kong.

Dark pools already in Asia include those run by Goldman Sachs (GS.N), Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX), Liquidnet, CLSA, Investment Technology Group (ITG.N) and Nomura Holdings (8604.T)'s Instinet unit, which is Chi-X's parent company.

"SGX is pleased to offer Asia the first exchange-backed dark pool, which will complement exchange trading by reducing the market impact of large trades," said Gan Seow Ann, the Singapore bourse's head of markets.

SGX and Chi-X also said they would welcome participation by other Asian bourses in their venture.

SGX is the second-largest listed exchange in Asia after Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing (0388.HK) and ahead of Australia's ASX (ASX.AX). (Reporting by Kevin Lim; Editing by Valerie Lee)