Nyse specialist Van der Moolen (VDM) is set to lay off half of its US workforce after it adopts a hybrid trading model that combines electronic dealing with floor-based trading, according to a report by Netherlands newspaper Financieele Dagblad.
The report, which quotes Robert Fagenson, the chief of /vdm's US unit, says the firm will see "the impact" of the new trading model in the next two months.
Of VDM's 280 staff, about 200 are based in the US, says the report.
Increasing use of program trading and Nyse's plans to move to a combined floor-based and electronic market have had a negative effect on specialist floor traders like VDM.
The firm moved to reduce its dependence on the Nyse floor in May last year by buying European financial services outfit Curvalue to expand into screen-based trading. The Dutch firm is now restructuring to adopt a hybrid model that combines floor trading with an automated platform.
News of the possible VDM job cuts follows research released earlier this week that predicts that the number of traders employed in the City of London will have fallen by 90% by 2015 because more banks are moving towards all-electronic algorithmic trading.