New electronic equity options exchange planned for US

The US is set have a new electronic equity derivatives exchange by the end of the year, following the formation of Boston Options Exchange Group (Box), a joint venture between the Boston Stock Exchange, Bourse de Montréal and trade execution firm Interactive Brokers Group.

Box aims to be trading by the last quarter of this year, said the firms in a joint press release. It intends to list options on the 100 most actively traded US equity issues during the first six months of operations. It also plans to list options on US equity indexes, exchange-traded funds and single-stock futures.

Bourse de Montréal will provide customised electronic exchange software for derivatives trading, while the Boston Exchange will be the regulatory services provider, overseen by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Interactive Brokers Group will market Box.

Box is currently developing its trading rules, and hopes to have them cleared with the SEC in about two months, said a Box spokesman. He added that the firms would not comment further on the development of Box at this stage because of SEC sensitivities.