ICE to Open E-Trading Facility in NYMEX's Neighborhood

Ivy Schmerken, Wall Street & Technology

Intercontinental Exchange, the Atlanta-based electronic energy marketplace, has licensed office space in lower Manhattan's World Financial Center, signaling a desire to expand its presence in the same complex where its main rival, The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), is located. The new offices will serve as a state-of-the-art electronic trading center providing access to ICE's electronic markets as well as host training and marketing activities.The ICE electronic trading center, expected to open in the first quarter of 2007, is located in the lobby level in the Winter Garden of the World Financial Center. Authorized market participants and qualified trainees will have access to the facility.

By expanding its presence in the Wall Street area, ICE is going toe-to-toe with NYMEX, which is still mainly a floor-based energy exchange but has an agreement to trade its energy contracts on the CME's Globex electronic trading platform.

ICE's chairman and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher, who is quoted in the release, called ICE's expanded presence in New York "a unique opportunity to meet the demand expressed by commodity market participants to access our global electronic marketplace.

In September, ICE announced its planned acquisition of the New York Board of Trade (NYBOT), the leading soft commodity exchange in the world, which is located at 1 North End Avenue. ICE also has offices at 7 Times Square Tower in midtown Manhattan, stated the release.

"As we look toward the acquisition of the NYBOT, we will continue to seek ways to welcome the membership and support their continued growth by offering training and a high-quality environment to conduct business," stated Sprecher 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