An on-exchange market (organized marketplace) where small orders are filled. This mechanism for matching sellers to buyers in large trades involves slicing a block trade into small chunks in order to avoid a substantial market impact. Through a central market structure, investors can execute their orders in a gradual manner (in manageable pieces) without revealing the aggregate size of the trade. A central market is a specialist/ limit-order book structure as small orders get executed via a limit-order book with a specialist, rather than via a dealership market.

A central market is also known as a downstairs market.