BATS Gets SEC's Nod for U.S. Primary Listings

Plans to launch an alternative place for I.P.O.s to the NYSE and Nasdaq, starting this December.

Yesterday, BATS Global Markets said it received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its U.S. primary listings business, which it plans to start in December of 2011.

BATS plans to list shares on its stock exchange, going head to head with the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Stock Market in helping companies to raise capital through public securities offerings.

As a new primary listings venue, BATS will provide issuers an alternative place for initial public offerings (IPOs), stock listing transfers, and dual-listed stocks, stated the release. All securities will be listed on the BATS BZX Exchange. BATS is the third largest U.S. stock exchange operator, behind NASDAQ and NYSE. “We are excited to bring competition to the primary listings market in the U.S. as we believe there is a great opportunity to satisfy unmet needs of current and future public companies and other issuers,” commented Joe Ratterman, president and chief executive of BATS Global Markets, in the release. “Creating a competitive alternative to the incumbent exchanges that brings simple, competitive pricing and superior technology coupled with our world-class customer support, will drive innovation in this market and allow issuers more choice.” A copy of the approved rules is available on the BATS Listings website.

BATS said it’s currently working with its members and market data service providers to provide the technical specifications necessary to interact with the BATS primary market, including the market open and market close auction process. On August 24, BATS Members and service providers were able to begin testing the opening and closing auction processes in the BZX Exchange Certification environment.

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