Members Exchange (MEMX), a new equities exchange that is set to rival the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), Nasdaq, and Cboe Global Markets, has received backing from more Wall Street heavyweights, with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Jane Street Capital putting their weight behind the project.
In a statement released on Thursday, the exchange announced that the three firms led a new round of strategic funding for MEMX, which is expected to launch on the 24th of July, 2020.
The details of the Funding Round , such as the amount raised or the valuation at which the funding was made, wasn't disclosed. However, in a blog post, MEMX did say that it will start onboarding trading members later this month.
Furthermore, the exchange also expects to receive approval from the US regulator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in the second quarter of this year.
The project is headed by several broker-dealers, banks, and high-frequency trading firms. The companies are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, E*TRADE, Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley, TD Ameritrade, UBS, and Virtu Financial, who have been onboard the project since the beginning of 2019, as Finance Magnates reported.
Jonathan Kellner, CEO at MEMX
Source: LinkedIn
Commenting on the announcement, Jonathan Kellner, CEO, MEMX, said in the statement: "We are pleased that these three prominent market participants are joining us in our efforts to increase transparency, reduce fees, and focus on technological innovation in the equity markets."
Market players take on established exchanges again
Last year, the founders of the new exchange claimed that they could run the venue at a fraction of the cost that US major exchanges are currently charging. However, this is not the first time large industry players have taken on established exchanges.
In fact, almost ten years ago, BATS, a low-cost exchange, was created by a group of banks. Another group of industry giants launched Direct Edge, which also had the aim of low trading costs. So, where are they now? After quickly gaining market share, they merged, and are now owned by Cboe Global Markets.
