Cboe Global Markets has finally migrated its C2 Options Exchange to the Trading Platform of Bats Global Markets, which was acquired in 2016, as the trading venues continue their consolidation across all financial asset classes. The switch-over process was finalized on May 14, per a company statement.
The merger takes advantage of Bats’ proprietary trading technologies, but the integration complexity of the two companies has encouraged Cboe to make switchover timetables and dates more public. Upon completion of the planned migrations, all of the company’s equities, options and futures markets will trade on proprietary Bats technology.
The migration of C2 to Bats technology follows similar migrations over the past months, including Cboe Futures Exchange (CFE) in February 2018. The planned migration of Cboe Options, the firm’s flagship options exchange, is on track for October 7, 2019, subject to regulatory approval.
To this end, the exchange operator has dedicated a website for current C2’s customers to aid them in their transition to BATS protocols. An overview of the integration plan and detailed roadmap for C2’s migration is available on the Cboe integration website at https://batsintegration.cboe.com/c2.
Furthermore, Cboe announced additional key dates for the Cboe Options migration. By November 16, 2018, it plans to make available the technical specifications for the C1 Exchange migration and anticipates certification to start by March 1, 2019.
On November 5, 2018, Cboe plans to roll out its new floor terminals (PAR 2.0), which is expected to complete by the by year-end.
Commenting on the news, Ed Tilly, CEO of Cboe, said: “The C2 migration continues our journey toward offering our customers a single, world-class trading platform across all our equities, options and futures markets. Along with the successful Index Platform migration, Cboe Futures Exchange migration and the conversion of SPX options to a hybrid options marketplace, this is the fourth significant technology project so far this year.”
Chris Isaacson, CIO of Cboe, added: “Though we have now completed our fourth migration in five months, we remain laser focused on our goal of moving all Cboe exchanges onto Bats technology by October 2019. We look forward to the expected completion of the final migration next year and continuing to innovate with leading-edge technology across all Cboe exchanges and platforms.”
