"We welcome the SEC's approval of the Hybrid Market and the opportunity to move into the next phase of development," said NYSE Group Chief Executive Officer John A. Thain. "The Hybrid Market will increase efficiencies by marrying the best of electronic trading and the auction market. We will better accommodate our customers’ diverse trading strategies by giving them new choices in order execution to access our superior prices and market liquidity. Greater choice in our marketplace benefits all customers, from the smallest investors to the largest institutions.”
Maintaining the Exchange’s ability for price improvement across all its order-execution options, the NYSE Hybrid Market will provide customers with choices that include sub-second automated, anonymous transactions for NYSE-listed stocks or the opportunity to have orders represented in the auction market with the benefits of human judgment and accountability at the central point of sale.
This SEC approval allows the Exchange to advance the Hybrid Market implementation program, which currently includes 154 listed companies and incorporates advanced trading technology for floor brokers and specialists, to all member firms representing customer orders in all NYSE-listed stocks. Phase I, which began on Dec. 15, 2005, successfully integrated features such as e-Quotes, c-Quotes, s-Quotes, g-Quotes, reserves and layering of quotes among other functionality. Phase II will follow shortly after full implementation of Phase I with exact implementation timeframes announced separately.
The Exchange is actively engaged in working with customers and the trading floor community to continue to further refine the Hybrid Market platform and develop new features that further augment brokers and specialists’ ability to add value and improve market quality in the NYSE marketplace.
For current and historical Hybrid Market information please visit: http://www.nyse.com/hybrid and the NYSE’s first blog: http://hybridtalk.nyse.com
About NYSE Group, Inc.
NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx®, and the Pacific Exchange). NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services.
The NYSE is the world’s largest and most liquid cash equities exchange. The NYSE provides a reliable, orderly, liquid and efficient marketplace where investors buy and sell listed companies’ common stock and other securities. Our listed operating companies represent a total global market capitalization of over $22.5 trillion. In January and February 2006, on an average trading day, over 1.8 billion shares, valued at over $69 billion, were traded on the NYSE.
NYSE Arca is the first open, all-electronic stock exchange in the United States and has a leading position in trading exchange-traded funds and exchange-listed securities. NYSE Arca is also an exchange for trading equity options. NYSE Arca’s trading platform links traders to multiple U.S. market centers and provide customers with fast electronic execution and open, direct and anonymous market access.
NYSE Regulation, an independent not-for-profit subsidiary, regulates member organizations through the enforcement of marketplace rules and federal securities laws. NYSE Regulation also ensures that companies listed on the NYSE and NYSE Arca meet their financial and corporate governance listing standards.
For more information on NYSE Group, go to: www.nyse.com.
