NYSE Arca customers are experiencing roundtrip executions of 650 microseconds for Nasdaq-listed issues, and 950 microseconds for NYSE- and NYSE Arca-listed issues, which generally have deeper books and more orders.

"NYSE Arca has long been a standard-setter for speed, functionality and capacity of trading systems, and now our customers are seeing an even higher level of performance with the introduction of the Universal Trading Platform," said Paul Adcock, Executive Vice President, NYSE Arca Trading Operations.

The Universal Trading Platform consists of four main components based on proven, best-of-breed technologies and systems from across the NYSE Euronext enterprise:

• A rich-function, ultra-high-resiliency trading engine that can be configured for cash or derivatives markets;
  
• The Common Customer Gateway, which provides clients with multi-format order entry and access to multiple trading platforms;
  
• Market data distribution that disseminates information and super-low-latency speeds and allows for the efficient and flexible creation of new data products; and
  
• SFTI(R) (Secure Financial Transaction Infrastructure, known as "Safety"), the high-performance backbone that enables clients to have access to all NYSE Euronext services through a single, highly reliable, fast and resilient network.

"These components work in concert to provide customers with new levels of speed, cost efficiency, reliability and functionality," said Anthony Attia, Senior Vice President and Head of the Universal Trading Platform Program.

The rollout of the new platform on NYSE Arca's cash market began in early November and will continue through mid-January 2010. NYSE Euronext's European bonds migrated to the Universal Trading Platform in December 2008; European cash markets in February 2009 followed by the launch of NYSE Arca Europe in March 2009. Migration of SmartPool, the company's European multi-lateral trading facility for block orders took place on Nov. 23, 2009. Migration to the platform is underway or scheduled for the coming weeks and months for the European warrants market; the NYSE Arca and NYSE Amex options markets; the New York Stock Exchange and NYSE Amex cash markets; and NYSE Liffe European derivatives.

"The results of the Universal Trading Platform rollout demonstrate the success of the platform in our markets, as well as the opportunity to provide this solution set to other markets and financial service firms around the world as a commercial offering," said Stanley Young, Co-CIO of NYSE Euronext and CEO of NYSE Technologies.

*A microsecond is one millionth of a second.