Rosenblatt Securities Expands NYSE Floor Operations With Gordon Charlop Appointment

Bucking the trend of shrinking exchange floor operations, Rosenblatt Securities appointed Gordon Charlop managing director and head of the firm's New York Stock Exchange operations. Charlop will be responsible for Rosenblatt's floor team, which has grown from six to nine people over the past two years.

"What the exchange is trying to do is incorporate some of the new trading products available as well as electronically recapture what it was that made the floor so special," Charlop says. "With ... some dedication by the NYSE staff to [upgrade] the trading platform, the NYSE could end up emerging once again as the preeminent market. There is a very powerful opportunity here," he notes, pointing to the NYSE's discussions about adding algorithms to its handheld trading platform and nondisplayed liquidity options as key to realizing this opportunity.

Charlop adds that block trading also is an important component of the NYSE's value proposition. "The exchange is a place to get business done -- to get blocks done and get pricing done. So we will be there," he says.

Charlop previously was CEO of agency brokerage WJ Dowd and also has been an NYSE floor official, serving on several of the exchange's technology committees.