Exegy's Exchange Connect is a variant of the ultra-low latency Exegy Ticker Plant, typically used by High Frequency Trading Firms to get the fastest look at the electronic stock market. Jim O'Donnell, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Exegy said, "We are absolutely delighted to be a key technology supplier to Direct Edge. The Exegy Ticker Plant is used by traders at large banks and hedge funds because it gives them the fastest look at financial markets. It makes perfect sense for an exchange focused on extreme low latency to take advantage of the same technology with Exegy Exchange Connect."

Steven Bonanno, Chief Technology Officer of Direct Edge, said, "This is all about our commitment to speed and to our customers. Customers who send orders to Direct Edge want the best price as fast as possible. That means we must focus not only on being the fastest we can be through our own order matching engine, but also providing the best possible routing solution for customers. One of the keys to good routing is having the best view of the 'away' markets-through Exegy, we have that." The Exegy Exchange Connect appliance feeds the Direct Edge smart order router with prices, constantly providing the best bids and offers from all venues in the lowest possible time frame. This is critical in today's market, where microseconds matter.

Direct Edge is making this upgrade as it moves into the Equinix NY4 facility in Secaucus, New Jersey. The 340,000 square foot, carrier-neutral Equinix facility is also a major data distribution center for the new CBOE C2 platform, ICE, ISE and BOX.