BOX Open Outcry Trading Floor Set to Open

Hit that bid! Lift that offering.

Do two? Twos done!

Traders in the Windy City are about to get a new trading floor to trade options contracts but with a twist – live open outcry traders working orders the old-fashioned way – via telephones and voice. The Securities and Exchange Commission voted last Wednesday to approve the new trading floor and exchange the first non-electronic options exchange floor in quite some time.

BOX Options Exchange plans to open later this month. BOX is owned by the TMX Group and a consortium of eight broker-dealers.

Despite a low market share compared to its rivals such as CBOE, BOX hopes to service more complex trades that cannot be as easiy executed electronically, such as multi-legged options transactions. BOX had a 2.1 percent market share in options, according to the Options Clearing Corp.

The open outcry trading pits for options are a rare breed – with NYSE Arca, the new NYSE American, the CBOE and Nasdaq PHLX all managing to survive the electronic trading revolution. Add BOX to the mix and the competition heats up a bit, which isnt a bad thing on the face of it. But some have argued that one more exchange fragments this market and could lead to worse prices.

BOX originally filed last November 16, with the SEC to change its rules to open the open-outcry trading floor.

The complete SEC statement can be found here: