Members Exchange launch approved by SEC The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the exchange application of Members Exchange, an alternative stock exchange with lower fees and more transparency regarding order routing. Backers include Bank of America, Charles Schwab, Fidelity Investments, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and UBS. MEMX plans to go live in the third quarter. Full Story: Reuters (5/5),The Trade (UK) (5/5)
The Small exchange goes live on the 18th. Will have a cash-settled oil composite. Obviously have to observe to see if liquidity forms.
There was a period of time during the late 90’s and early 2000’s when the futures exchanges quite literally just copied each other’s benchmark products and made them cash settled if they were physically settled on their original exchange. Poaching was the norm. CBOT listed Eurodollars and FX and Bunds, CME listed Treasuries, CL and NG, Eurex listed US Treasuries and Eurodollars - and on and on. And it went nowhere. It turns out that liquidity is really, really important to the clients who matter: Commercials and Big Specs. Who gives a shit if you save 5 cents a side if your execution slippage eats you alive?