Currently, NYSE Rule 36, which governs communications on the NYSE, prohibits the use of cellular-phone communications between the trading floor and any off-floor location. The only way that voice communication can be conducted today by floor brokers and an off-floor location is by means of a telephone located at a broker's booth. A broker cannot use a cell phone in a trading crowd at the point of sale to speak with a person located off the floor. Brokers currently can communicate data -- but not voice -- off the floor via widely used, wireless hand-held order-management systems such as the NYSE e-Broker system.
Today, the NYSE board proposed to delete this prohibition, thus permitting a floor broker to engage in direct voice communication from the point of sale to an off-floor location, such as a member firm's trading desk or the office of one of the broker's customers. This will compress the communications link between the NYSE floor and the customer, effectively bringing the customer closer to the point of sale. A broker would still not be permitted to represent and execute any order received as a result of such communication unless the order was first entered into the Exchange's Front-End System Capture electronic database.
The amendment will be proposed to the Securities and Exchange Commission for review.
