The ISE is the first fully electronic options exchange and will begin trading today in three options classes, with plans to expand to 600 options classes in the future. As an electronic options exchange, the ISE has no "floor." The Commission's action allows the ISE to provide its market data, including quote size, to its members as part of its trading system, like a traditional market provides its information on its floor. The temporary exemption does not permit the ISE or its members to disseminate ISE market data to customers.
In granting this exemption, the Commission reaffirmed its strong support for the dissemination and display of consolidated market data to all market participants. Sole reliance on consolidated options data by ISE members, however, is not currently feasible because this data will not include the size of quotes until January 2001. This temporary exemption is designed to allow the ISE - beginning today - to disseminate to its members its own market data under conditions designed to preserve the value of consolidated market information.
Specifically, in addition to ISE market data, ISE members must have access to the consolidated data of all options markets, either on the same terminal or available at the same workstation. Moreover, the exemption prohibits the ISE from disseminating its market data directly to its members on a more timely basis than ISE provides it to the consolidated data system under any plan to allocate consolidated systems capacity during peak usage periods. This condition is intended to ensure that the information about ISE's market that others receive through the consolidated system is as timely as the market information that ISE members receive directly from ISE.
Finally, the Commission notes that it is granting this exemption only to ISE at this time, but would favorably consider identical requests from other options markets.
