Bats Global Markets (Bats), a global operator of stock and options markets, today announced it received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the rules for its U.S. primary listings business, which will launch in December 2011.
As a new primary listings venue, BATS will provide issuers an alternative place for initial public offerings (IPOs), stock listing transfers, and dual-listed stocks. All securities will be listed on the BATS BZX Exchange. BATS is the third largest U.S. stock exchange operator, behind NASDAQ and NYSE.
"We are excited to bring competition to the primary listings market in the U.S. as we believe there is a great opportunity to satisfy unmet needs of current and future public companies and other issuers," said Joe Ratterman, president and chief executive of BATS Global Markets. "Creating a competitive alternative to the incumbent exchanges that brings simple, competitive pricing and superior technology coupled with our world-class customer support, will drive innovation in this market and allow issuers more choice."
A copy of the approved rules is available on the BATS Listings website at batstrading.com/listings.
BATS is currently working with its Members and market data service providers to provide the technical specifications necessary to interact with the BATS primary market, including the market open and market close auction process. On August 24, BATS Members and service providers were able to begin testing the opening and closing auction processes in the BZX Exchange Certification environment.