The board of the New York Stock Exchange has given its approval for NYSE floor brokers to have direct voice communications with trading desks and customers off the floor.
Currently, NYSE Rule 36 prohibits the use of cellular-phone communications between the trading floor and any off-floor location. Dealers instead are required to use a telephone located at a broker's booth, or communicate data off the floor via wireless hand-held order management systems such as the NYSE e-broker system.
The new board proposals eliminate this prohibition, permitting a floor broker to engage in direct voice communication from the point of sale to an off-floor location, such as a member firm's trading desk or the office of one of the broker's customers.
A broker would still not be permitted to represent and execute any order received as a result of such communication unless the order was first entered into the Exchange's front-end system capture electronic database.
The amendment will be proposed to the Securities and Exchange Commission for review.