The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) is planning to launch its new all-electronic options exchange, dubbed C2, in August this year, subject to approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
C2 will complement CBOE’s existing hybrid floor and electronic trading platform, and will eventually be capable of listing and trading all CBOE products.
The new platform will operate under a separate exchange licence with a separate access structure and fee schedule to the existing platform. It will also have its own board of directors, rules, connectivity and systems architecture. Its primary data centre will be located in the New York metropolitan area.
However, it will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBOE, and will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBOE Holdings if the exchange demutualises.
The new exchange was first announced on 21 October 2008 in a letter to members and is an attempt to improve CBOE’s competitive position. Recent US exchange consolidation, including the New York Stock Exchange/Pacific Exchange/American Stock Exchange combination and the Nasdaq/Philadelphia Stock Exchange merger, already enable its rival options exchanges to offer clients the choice of trading on either a floor-based market or an all electronic market within the same group.