FINRA and NYSE Euronext Complete Agreement for FINRA to Perform NYSE Regulation's Market Oversight Functions
NEW YORK and WASHINGTON, June 14, 2010 — NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) today announced that they have completed the previously announced agreement under which FINRA will assume responsibility for performing the market surveillance and enforcement functions currently conducted by NYSE Regulation. The agreement is effective immediately.
Under the agreement, FINRA will assume regulatory functions for NYSE Euronext's U.S. equities and options markets – the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Arca and NYSE Amex. FINRA currently provides regulatory services to the NASDAQ Stock Market, NASDAQ Options Market, NASDAQ OMX Philadelphia, NASDAQ OMX Boston, The BATS Exchange and The International Securities Exchange.
"Consolidating our surveillance and enforcement functions with those performed by FINRA for other markets is an important step toward creating a consistent and completely integrated approach to regulation," said NYSE Euronext COO Lawrence Leibowitz.
"This agreement is a significant step in addressing the fragmented trading environment, which has eroded the ability of regulators to get a complete picture of market activity" said Richard Ketchum, FINRA's Chairman and CEO. "It will allow FINRA to better capture and analyze data that can help us detect problematic trading activity across multiple markets and financial products. This more holistic, unified approach to regulating trading goes a long way toward strengthening our ability to protect investors – and has multiple benefits for the markets."
"Today's agreement advances the integration of regulatory services under FINRA that began with the consolidation of NASD and NYSE's member-firm regulation that created FINRA in 2007," said James Duffy, Interim CEO of NYSE Regulation and a member of the FINRA Board of Governors.
NYSE Euronext, through its subsidiary NYSE Regulation, remains ultimately responsible for overseeing FINRA's performance of regulatory services for the NYSE markets. It also retains staff associated with rule interpretations, and oversight of listed issuers' compliance with the NYSE markets' financial and corporate-governance standards. The agreement involves approximately 225 staff, most of whom are being transferred to FINRA.
About NYSE Euronext
NYSE Euronext (NYX) is a leading global operator of financial markets and provider of innovative trading technologies. The company's exchanges in Europe and the United States trade equities, futures, options, fixed-income and exchange-traded products. With approximately 8,000 listed issues (excluding European Structured Products), NYSE Euronext's equities markets – the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext, NYSE Amex, NYSE Alternext and NYSE Arca – represent one-third of the world's equities trading, the most liquidity of any global exchange group. NYSE Euronext also operates NYSE Liffe, one of the leading European derivatives businesses and the world's second-largest derivatives business by value of trading. The company offers comprehensive commercial technology, connectivity and market data products and services through NYSE Technologies. NYSE Euronext is in the S&P 500 index, and is the only exchange operator in the S&P 100 index and Fortune 500. For more information, please visit: http://www.nyx.com.
About the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
FINRA is the largest non-governmental regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business—from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms; writing and enforcing rules and the federal securities laws; informing and educating the investing public; providing trade reporting and other industry utilities; and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and registered firms. For more information, please visit www.finra.org.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning NYSE Euronext's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions and other statements that are not historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements are based on NYSE Euronext's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause NYSE Euronext's results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to: NYSE Euronext's ability to implement its strategic initiatives, economic, political and market conditions and fluctuations, government and industry regulation, interest rate risk and U.S. and global competition, and other factors detailed in NYSE Euronext's reference document for 2009 ("document de référence") filed with the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers (Filed on April 22, 2010 under No. D.10-0304), 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission or the French Autorité des Marchés Financiers. In addition, these statements are based on a number of assumptions that are subject to change. Accordingly, actual results may be materially higher or lower than those projected. The inclusion of such projections herein should not be regarded as a representation by NYSE Euronext that the projections will prove to be correct. This press release speaks only as of this date. NYSE Euronext disclaims any duty to update the information herein.