NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--In accordance with applicable rules, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and NYSE MKT have temporarily assigned custodial responsibility for approximately 524 New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and 156 NYSE MKT listed securities from the Designated Market Maker (DMM) unit of Knight Capital Americas LLC to the DMM of GETCO LLC, which currently serves some 896 NYSE- and NYSE MKT-assigned securities, effective Monday, Aug. 6, 2012.
Exchange rules permit the temporary reallocation of any security whenever the Exchange believes such reallocation would be in the public interest. Upon Knight Capital Group, Inc.’s completion and approval of a recapitalization plan, all temporarily reassigned NYSE and NYSE MKT securities as well as DMM staff, operations and systems oversight will be returned to Knight Capital Americas in a timely manner.
“We believe this interim transition is in the best interests of investors, our listed issuers, market stability and efficiency, as well as Knight, as the firm finalizes its equity financing transaction,” said Larry Leibowitz, Chief Operating Officer, NYSE Euronext. “Our first priority is to ensure market integrity and an orderly trading environment in which investors and all market participants have confidence. This decision was reached in full cooperation with Knight and GETCO, and we sincerely thank both firms for their invaluable efforts in assuring a smooth transition.”
As part of this temporary reallocation, GETCO will assume responsibility for Knight’s DMM staff and employ GETCO technology and systems throughout the combined operation. NYSE Euronext will continue to work with and monitor the recapitalization plan of Knight prior to returning the DMM allocations to Knight Capital’s DMM business.
Designated Market Makers are responsible for maintaining a fair and orderly market for NYSE and NYSE MKT-listed securities. The DMM supplies continuous liquidity to all market participants throughout the trading day. DMMs play an especially important role for companies at the open and close of trading as well as during times of price dislocation and high volatility. For more information, go to: http://usequities.nyx.com/listings/dmms.
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 MKT, 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. For more information, please visit: http://www.nyx.com.
About GETCO
Founded in 1999, GETCO is a leading global market maker with over 400 Associates located in Chicago, New York, Palo Alto, London, Singapore and Hong Kong. The firm’s primary business involves both buying and selling securities to provide two-sided markets on exchanges around the world. The liquidity GETCO supplies allows investors to immediately transfer securities positions while saving money on trading costs. In addition, the firm provides customers with algorithmic, routing and execution services through its client services arm, GETCO Execution Services.
About Knight
Knight Capital Group (NYSE Euronext: KCG) is a global financial services firm that provides access to the capital markets across multiple asset classes to a broad network of clients, including broker-dealers, institutions and corporations. Knight is headquartered in Jersey City, N.J. with a global presence across the Americas, Europe, and the Asia Pacific regions. For further information about Knight, please visit www.knight.com.