MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Financial sector leading firms plan to launch an equities exchange: “Members Exchange”

The founding members of MEMX are many of the largest U.S. retail broker-dealers, global banks, financial services firms and global market makers

A group of nine leading retail broker-dealers, banks, financial services firms, and global market makers, have agreed to launch an equities exchange, MEMX, or Members Exchange. The new exchange will be owned entirely by its founding members and will seek to deliver benefits to retail and institutional investors by introducing greater competition to the marketplace. MEMX will file an application with the Securities and Exchange Commission in early 2019 for approval to operate as a national securities exchange.

The founding members of MEMX are many of the largest U.S. retail broker-dealers, global banks, financial services firms and global market makers: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, E*TRADE, Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley, TD Ameritrade, UBS, and Virtu Financial.

MEMX's mission is to increase competition, improve operational transparency, further reduce fixed costs, and simplify the execution of equity trading in the U.S. In addition, MEMX will represent the interests of its founders' collective client base, comprised of retail and institutional investors on U.S. market structure issues. MEMX will seek to offer a simple trading model with basic order types, the latest technology, and a simple, low-cost fee structure.

“The founding members of MEMX represent leading retail brokers, global banks and financial service firms, and market makers – a diverse array of market participants organizing for the common goal of improving markets for retail and institutional investors,” said Douglas Cifu, Chief Executive Officer of Virtu Financial. “The launching of MEMX is a testament to the market-wide demand for competition, innovation, and transparency.”

“As a founding member of MEMX, we look forward to being part of an initiative we believe will transform markets for the better,” said Steve Quirk, Executive Vice President of Trading & Education, TD Ameritrade. “All types of investors could benefit from this simplified investing experience that will foster competition and promote practices that put the needs of investors first.”

“We are excited to partner with other market leaders to build the next members-owned exchange that will drive competition and benefit all market participants,” said Jamil Nazarali, Global Head of Business Development of Citadel Securities.

“Participants in today's equity markets deserve an innovative alternative that is aligned with their interests, which is why we are pleased to support the launch of this new trading platform,” said Vlad Khandros, Managing Director and Global Head of Market Structure and Liquidity Strategy at UBS.