John McCrank

NEW YORK (Reuters), Members Exchange (MEMX), which is the U.S.’s most popular stock exchange said Tuesday it would launch an option exchange for the fourth quarter. The exchange will be subject to regulatory approval.

MEMX counts BlackRock Inc (NYSE) among its investors. Goldman Sachs Group JPMorgan Chase (NYSE 🙂 and Inc (NYSE 🙂 launched their stock exchanges in September 2020 to resolve a heated debate about fees between exchange operators and customers.

MEMX’s aggressive pricing approach has helped it gain more market share than some other exchanges like Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE) Inc’s New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq Inc (NYSE):).

Jonathan Kellner, chief executive officer of MEMX, stated that MEMX Options would use technology to improve determinism and reduce costs, as well as drive competition for options members just like we do in equities.

Kellner stated that the market operator collaborated with members to establish how they could add value in the options space.

BofA Securities is another MEMX investor. Charles Schwab (NYSE) Corp, Citadel Securities and Fidelity Investments. Morgan Stanley (NYSE:), UBS (NASDAQ:) and Virtu Financial(NASDAQ:).

After years of complaining by market participants and brokers about the unjustifiably high fees that most exchanges charge for market data or exchange connectivity, The Jersey City-based exchange was established.

MEMX started charging market data for February at a much lower cost than large incumbent exchanges.

Kellner declared, “As we move forward, we look to lend our voice to assist with key issues in U.S. Equity Options Markets.”