An upstart stock exchange backed by some of Wall Street's biggest names just got approval from the industry's top regulator.
The Members Exchange, a startup exchange backed by JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Charles Schwab, among others, said on Tuesday it received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a national securities exchange.
MEMX's approval comes less than 16 months after the nine founding firms announced their intentions to launch the exchange in January 2019 with a $70 million investment. Now, the exchange says it is on track to go live in the third quarter of this year. AdvertisementTo be sure, MEMX's application never seemed in serious in doubt, as its proposal was similar to that of other trading venues. Unlike IEX, which went through an exhaustive comment period that included significant pushback due to its so-called speed-bump proposal, MEMX's application was fairly straightforward.
While speaking to Business Insider in November 2019, Jonathan Kellner, MEMX's CEO, laid out how the trading venue hopes to compete in a space dominated by three industry giants: Nasdaq, CBOE Global
At the time, the exchange said it planned to go live on July 24, however, that date was pushed back due to the impact of the novel coronavirus.
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