New US Exchange MEMX Postpones Launch for Additional Testing

Wall Street-backed MEMX will begin trading in six symbols on 21 September before trading all National Market System stocks on 29 September. 

MEMX (Members Exchange), a new US equities exchange backed by a consortium of Wall Street firms, has postponed its launch to 21 September.

The new exchange was initially supposed to launch on 24 July but was delayed to 4 September due to the Covid-19 pandemic and related disruptions.

The launch is now being pushed to 21 September to allow more time for testing and connectivity, The Trade reports.

Once MEMX goes live later this month, the new equities bourse will begin trading in six symbols before trading all National Market System stocks on 29 September. MEMX has conducted two user acceptance tests and onboarded more than 40 members so far.

“Launching a new exchange is a significant undertaking in the best of times; it’s even more demanding in a distributed work environment,” said MEMX chief executive Jonathan Kellner.

“While working remotely, our team has deftly navigated the implementation of new exchange systems and processes, the building and testing of our technology, and the onboarding and certifying of members.”

MEMX was founded in January 2019 by some of the largest US financial institutions, including Bank of America, UBS, Virtu Financial, Morgan Stanley, Fidelity, Citadel Securities, Charles Schwab, E-Trade Financial and TD Ameritrade.

Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Jane Street Capital and BlackRock have since also backed the initiative. The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) granted approval for MEMX to launch in May 2020.

MEMX will seek to improve operational transparency in the exchange sector, reduce fixed costs, simplify equities trading in the US, and address high fees charged for market data and connectivity by existing exchanges.