NYSE Euronext and BIDS Trading Receive SEC Approval to Launch the New York Block Exchange
NEW YORK, NY – January 26, 2009 – NYSE Euronext and BIDS Holdings, L.P. today announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission has approved their joint filing to launch the New York Block Exchange (NYBX) on January 29, 2009. Designed to improve execution quality and access to block trading liquidity, NYBX is a 50/50 joint venture between the two companies and it will operate as a facility of the NYSE.
“We look forward to launching this first-of-its-kind platform, the New York Block Exchange, on January 29,” said Larry Leibowitz, Group Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Execution and Global Technology. “By aligning ourselves with BIDS Trading and its investors, we are further demonstrating our ongoing commitment to re-discovering and re-aggregating substantial block liquidity to better serve our customers.”
“The SEC approval allows us to introduce a true revolution in block trading,” said Tim Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of BIDS Trading. “By partnering with NYSE Euronext, NYBX orders will interact with additional market participants to provide unparalleled price discovery and access to liquidity in today’s fragmented block trading environment.”
NYBX will be open to all NYSE members and is also accessible through BIDS Trading, a registered alternative trading system (ATS), which has become an NYSE member.
Media Contacts
Caroline Bujak, BIDS Trading, L.P.
Email: caroline.bujak@bidstrading.com
Tel: +1.212.618.2097
Eric Ryan, NYSE Euronext
Email: eryan@nyx.com
Tel: +1.212.656.2411
About NYSE Euronext
NYSE Euronext (NYX) is the world’s leading, most liquid and diverse exchange group. It offers a broad and growing array of financial products and services in cash equities, futures, options, exchange-traded products, bonds, market data, and commercial technology solutions, all designed to meet the evolving needs of issuers, investors and financial institutions. Spanning multiple asset classes and six countries, NYSE Euronext’s exchanges include the New York Stock Exchange, Liffe, the leading European derivatives exchange by value of trading, Euronext and NYSE Arca. With more than 6,500 listed issues, more than any other exchange group, trading on NYSE Euronext’s equity markets represents more than one-third of the world’s cash equities volume. NYSE Euronext is part of the S&P 500 index and the only exchange operator in the S&P 100 index. For more information, please visit www.nyx.com.
About BIDS Holdings, L.P.
BIDS Holdings, L.P. is the parent company of BIDS Trading, L.P. , a registered broker-dealer and the operator of the BIDS Alternative Trading System (ATS), which was designed to bring counterparties together to anonymously trade large blocks of shares. Developed by a consortium of leading financial services firms, the BIDS ATS resolves the classic paradox of the block trader – the need to find legitimate trading counterparties without prematurely revealing trading intentions. The BIDS ATS is open to all qualifying broker-dealers and their institutional clients, subject to credit and regulatory requirements. For more information, visit www.bidstrading.com
BIDS Trading is a joint venture of: Bank of America Merrill Lynch (NYSE: BAC), Citi (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NITE), Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), NYSE Euronext (NYX), and UBS (NYSE: UBS).
BIDS Trading was represented in this transaction by Morgan, Lewis and Bockius.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning NYSE Euronext’s plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements are based on NYSE Euronext’s current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause NYSE Euronext’s results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: NYSE Euronext’s ability to implement its strategic initiatives, economic, political and market conditions and fluctuations, government and industry regulation, interest rate risk and U.S. and global competition, and other factors detailed in NYSE Euronext’s reference document for 2007 (“document de référence”) filed with the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (Registered on May 15, 2008 under No. R. 08-054), 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers. In addition, these statements are based on a number of assumptions that are subject to change. Accordingly, actual results may be materially higher or lower than those projected. The inclusion of such projections herein should not be regarded as a representation by NYSE Euronext that the projections will prove to be correct. This press release speaks only as of this date. NYSE Euronext disclaims any duty to update the information herein.
BIDS Trading, L.P. (“BIDS Trading”) is a member of FINRA and SIPC. BIDS Trading and the BIDS Trading mark are protected in the United States and in countries throughout the world.