The New York Stock Exchange has formally submitted proposals for eliminating limits on electronic trading, eroding a 212-year old tradition of floor-based open outcry auctions.
The proposed expansion of Nyse Direct+ includes the elimination of limits on the size, timing and types of orders that can currently be submitted by customers on this electronic order execution platform.
The exchange says the proposals, which have been lodged with the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval, will usher in a new "hybrid market" that would augment floor-based trading with more open electronic routes to market.
The Nyse has been under pressure to reform the market and head off competition from automated neighbour Nasdaq and electronic communications networks such as Archipelago and Inet, which have been siphoning off liquidity.
Nyse Direct+ has been running as a pilot programme for the past three years and currently handles approximately ten per cent of the Exchange's daily volumes. The expansion of the system to handle orders over the current limit of 1,099 shares is expected to be phased in starting early next year.