Equity Exchanges Launch Reg NMS-Compliant Systems

Ivy Schmerken, Wall Street & Technology

In case you had any doubt that stock exchanges would get their electronic trading systems up and running in time for the Regulation NMS deadline, this week three U.S. equity exchanges - Boston, Chicago and NYSE - made significant progress toward reaching that goal.On Monday, the New York Stock Exchange said it received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to continue the Phase II rollout of the NYSE Hybrid Market to all NYSE-listed issues. Wasting no time, the NYSE added 399 issues on Wednesday and 131 issues on Thursday, for a Phase III total of 793.

Two of the regional exchanges also activated their new all-electronic trading systems this week: the Boston Equities Exchange (BeX), owned by the Boston Stock Exchange (BSE) and five broker-dealer partners, opened for trading with its all-electronic, order-driven market model. BeX started with a full range of NMS securities: currently, 8,400 stocks including NYSE-listed, Nasdaq, Amex, ETFs and BSE sole-listed issues.

Today the Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) announced the successful launch of its new fully automated trading system. Participants from any location can submit orders for immediate display, execution and cancellation, the release said. The new technology offers a variety of order types, including reserve orders, undisplayed orders and midpoint crosses, according to the release.

"This rollout is the culmination of a multiple year effort to meet the requirements of Reg NMS and satisfy the growing trend towards high velocity algorithmic trading," stated Dave Herron, CHX CEO in the release. Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio