Texas Stock Exchange nears launch with management team, board

By Laura Matthews, Suzanne McGee

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Texas Stock Exchange announced a new board on Monday, the latest step toward building a national exchange to rival long-established New York platforms, and said it is preparing to launch trading next year .

TXSE announced in June that it plans to register with the US Securities and Exchange Commission with the support of BlackRock and Citadel Securities. It said Monday it had secured $135 million.

The exchange also said Monday that Rick Perry, former Texas governor and former U.S. energy secretary, will serve on the board. Other executives include Rick Roberts, a former SEC commissioner, and Alex Bussandri, global head of strategy at Citadel Securities.

The exchange also attracted staff from Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange, a division of the Intercontinental Exchange, as well as other trading platforms, it said Monday.

“The Texas Stock Exchange is attracting big names in preparation for a potential launch in 2025,” said Owen Lau, senior analyst at Oppenheimer & Co, noting the space is competitive.

Nasdaq announced last week that it has implemented a regional management structure for its global listing franchise and appointed Texas native Rachel Racz as head of listings for Texas, US South and Latin America. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

James Lee, founder and chief executive of TXSE Group Inc, said the exchange plans to file an SEC filing in the coming months.

After the approval, he added that the TXSE will execute the first trades by the end of 2025 and launch the listing in early 2026, making Dallas “a new hub for capital markets in the United States.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday the exchange will ensure businesses have access to capital and market participants have more options.

The exchange also named Cam Smith as global head of trading and co-chairman. Smith began his career working for electronic trading platforms and was president of Quantlab, an automated trading firm.

Jeff Brown, a former acting general counsel at Charles Schwab, is TXSE Group Inc’s general counsel and chief regulatory officer of the exchange.

Nicole Chambers, who handled the Texas market for Nasdaq, will run corporate listings. Jeff Karcher and Marc Cunningham, who covered the Southeast US and Texas while at the NYSE, will serve as global managing directors.

(Reporting by Laura Matthews; Editing by Megan Davies and Bill Berkrot)