Mr. Yong will oversee NSX's regulatory function, serve as a principal interface with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and provide strategic legal counsel and support to the Exchange. He fills a vacant position created by the departure in October 2003 of Jeffrey T. Brown, NSX's former Senior Vice President of Regulation and General Counsel.
"Jim Yong brings to NSX a comprehensive depth of knowledge about the securities industry, exchanges and the broker-dealer community," said David Colker, NSX Chief Executive Officer and President. "His legal and regulatory expertise will be will be extremely valuable as we continue to grow our business, which reached an all-time high in 2003."
Prior to joining NSX, Mr. Yong was in private practice, most recently as special counsel at Duane Morris, LLP and before that as a partner with Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon. While in private practice, he provided counsel in regulatory issues and litigation matters to financial services firms including broker-dealers, registered investment advisers, futures commission merchants, commodity trading advisers and commodity trading pool operators; self-regulatory organizations including exchanges and registered clearing agencies; Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs), financial portals and hedge funds. Also during his years in private practice, Mr. Yong assisted one of his clients in becoming the second market designated as a securities futures exchange by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, helped another client become one of ten ECNs to be issued a no action letter by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and helped form a SWAPS program for an agricultural concern.
Mr. Yong worked for The Options Clearing Corporation (OCC) from 1987 to 2000, most recently as First Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary. While at OCC, he served as its representative with the North American Securities Administrators Association and the International Organization of Securities Commissioners. Before that, he served as Staff Attorney for the SEC from 1984 to 1987. Earlier in his career he clerked for the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and for the Honorable James T. Balog, United States Magistrate. He holds a Juris Doctorate from DePaul University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Illinois.
The National Stock Exchange changed its name from the Cincinnati Stock Exchange on November 7, 2003. Calendar year 2003 was a record year for NSX, with 145,608,072 trades and 68,907,714,950 shares surpassing the previous annual records of 96,015,337 trades and 46,160,143,410 shares set in 2002.
The nation's first all-electronic stock exchange, NSX is the low-cost provider of exchange services. Having replaced its physical trading floor with a completely automated market in 1980, NSX has been a model of exchange efficiency and a driving force for change in the world of securities exchanges. Founded in 1885, NSX is now the third largest stock market in the U.S. and a recognized alternative to the primary markets.
