Sidebar: Meanwhile, Back at the NYSE...
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E-mailThe significant investment in the New York and London data centers has not prevented NYSE Euronext from investing in its existing facilities. In fact, it recently launched a major renovation of the NYSE trading floor.
During the next 18 months, mainly on weekends and after hours to avoid any business disruption, the aging, tightly quartered broker booths and workstations housed within the Exchange’s trading floor will be eliminated and replaced with large, modern trading desks offering state-of-the-art technology. The goal, explains Bob Airo, senior vice president, NYSE market operations, is to attract brokers with existing floor operations to move some or all of their upstairs trading operations to the NYSE trading floor. More business conducted on the NYSE floor should translate into more volume for the Exchange, he says, and firms should be able to lower costs and gain efficiencies by consolidating their trading activities and getting closer to the point of sale.
In addition to 15 new trading areas that will accommodate up to 40 traders each, plans include renovations to update and open up designated market maker trading posts, network upgrades, new wallboards and screens, and a broadcast center for a major news organization.
Neil Catania, CEO of independent brokerage MND Partners, has been representing customer orders on the NYSE trading floor for 27 years. He says his firm considered opening an upstairs desk but chose to work with the Exchange instead. “We looked at real estate recently, but this is the best alternative,” he says. Given the increased demands for speed and low latency, “being at the point of sale really works for us.”
