High speed trading firm Getco is set to go back to the future by taking up a position on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as a designated market maker (DMM).
The Chicago-based global electronic trading and technology firm has purchased approximately 350 Nyse DMM assignments from Barclays Capital. It joins a dwindling but elite band of five top trading firms with an obligation to provide liquidity in Nyse stocks and maintain a physical presence on the floor of the US exchange.
The privately-held firm is already a registered market maker on the Nasdaq and Bats exchanges; and is among the top five participants by volume on Nyse Arca, Nyse Arca Options, Nyse Liffe US , CME, Eurex, and various other equities, futures and options markets.
Lawrence Leibowitz, Nyse Euronext chief operating officer, billed the move as an endorsement for the firm's hybrid market model and the centrality of the trading floor. "Having Getco become a designated market maker in Nyse-listed issues and in our upcoming trading of Nasdaq issues on the NYSE Amex platform clearly reflects a vote of confidence in the value of our market model for our issuer, investor and trader communities."