The Nasdaq OMX Group (Nasdaq:NDAQ) today announced at the Options Industry Conference that it will launch Nasdaq OMX BX Options (BX Options) in June 2012, pending SEC approval.
BX Options will reward retail customers who wish to access liquidity and provide market makers with additional opportunities to provide liquidity, initially with a price/time trading system.
BX Options will complement the exchange group's established U.S. options venues with unique enhancements that include a hybrid allocation model, directed order flow for market participants and a new multi-faceted price improvement auction. Additionally, customers utilizing the new market will benefit from innovations known to both NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) and the NASDAQ Options Market (NOM) like microsecond trading speeds, bulk quoting, rapid fire risk protection and low latency protocols. In order to facilitate an inexpensive and easy connection for options trading customers, BX OptionsSM will leverage the same architecture, data center and world-class INET technology as other NASDAQ OMX platforms.
Tom Wittman, Senior Vice President and Head of U.S. Options at NASDAQ OMX, said: "Our new platform will be a home for retail order flow that is transparent and it will complement PHLX and NOM, giving our customers a complete liquidity destination for options trading."
Eric Noll, Executive Vice President of Transaction Services U.S. and U.K. at NASDAQ OMX, said: "NASDAQ OMX will continue to strengthen its competitive offering in the derivatives space not only with cutting-edge trading tools that service the full cycle of a trade, but also with inventive market structure that provides true price discovery for an underserved segment of investors."
NASDAQ OMX will give market participants the ability to choose from three different market models for U.S. equity options trading. BX OptionsSM will reward retail customers for accessing liquidity with innovative structure and functionality, PHLX will offer electronic and floor-based trading with a traditional allocation model and NOM will provide investors a fully electronic market with a price/time allocation model. NASDAQ OMX will continue to leverage the speed and efficiency of its core INET technology across all exchanges.
NASDAQ OMX will utilize the options trading license from its 2007 acquisition of the former Boston Stock Exchange to launch BX OptionsSM.