BATS Global Markets
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| BATS Global Markets | |
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| Founded | 2005 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Key People | Joe Ratterman, President & CEO |
| Products | U.S. equity trading |
| Corporate Website | www.batstrading.com |
BATS Global Markets operates two U.S. stock exchanges, the BZX Exchange and the BYX Exchange (The BATS Exchanges), that together process 11-12 percent of all U.S. equity trading daily. It also operates a European exchange, BATS Chi-X Europe, which processes 6 percent of that market, and a U.S. options exchange.[1] BATS is based in Kansas City, Mo. and has additional offices in New York and London. Included in the BATS customer base are more than 270 broker-dealers and a broad-based ownership group of financial companies.
BATS Trading is a second-generation[2] electronic communication network (ECN) founded in June 2005 by David Cummings, owner of Tradebot Systems in Kansas City. The BATS electronic network is designed to "handle high-speed, high-volume, anonymous, algorithmic trading."[3][4] BATS launched trading on Jan. 27, 2006 and quickly became the third-largest U.S. equities market by volume as it grabbed 10 percent of United States equities markets two years after it opened for trading.[5][6]
Cummings used an ambitious e-mail campaign to sway traders to use BATS.[7][8] In January 2006, BATS implemented an aggressive pricing scheme that rewarded liquidity providers in an effort to entice broker-dealers to trade on BATS.[9][10] Cummings was replaced by Joe Ratterman as CEO on July 1, 2007.[11]
BATS’s stock exchange turned profitable in 2008.[12] BATS received SEC approval to launch a U.S. equity options exchange, BATS Options, which it introduced in February of 2010.
It become known in 2012 that BATS planned to offer an alternative listings platform, mostly likely from London.[13]
History
On Jan. 9, 2013, BATS issued an alert to investors that computers for its two equity exchanges and one options platform allowed some trades over a period of more than four years to take place at prices inferior to the best available bid or offer, a violation of SEC regulations. [14] The problem involved about 450,000 transactions and resulted in a loss to customers of $420,360.57, the company said.[15] [16]
On March 25, 2012, BATS withdrew its IPO after a technical glitch caused the bottom to fall out of its stock and affected other stocks trading on BATS as well, including Apple.[17] BATS CEO Joe Ratterman sent a letter to customers apologizing for the incident.[18][19] On March 28, 2012, Ratterman was stripped of his chairman title.[20]
In November 2011, the U.K. Competition Commission issued preliminary approval for the proposed $305 million BATS acquisition of Chi-X Europe.[21] The agreement was announced in February 2011.
On May 13, 2011, BATS Global Markets announced it would launch an initial public offering.[22] The company had been privately held and majority owned by brokers and big banks including Getco, Wedbush, Lime, Citi, Credit Suisse, Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank and JPMorgan.[23]
BATS received approval from the SEC to launch a U.S. equity options trading platform in January 2010, with plans to launch pending testing and industry-wide options symbology consolidation. On Feb. 26, 2010, BATS Options started trading with its first transaction taking place based on an Apple contract (APPL). The company targeted a 4-percent market share in U.S. options for 2010.
BATS voluntarily withdrew its version of a flash order type in response to controversy and the threat of potential regulatory intervention in August 2009.
In August 2008, BATS Trading Inc. received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to operate a stock exchange that will compete with NYSE Euronext's New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc.'s Nasdaq Stock Market.[24]
Key People
- Joe Ratterman, President & Chief Executive Officer
- Chris Isaacson, Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer
- Brian Schell, Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer
References
- ↑ Report:BATS Global Markets investigates going public. Kansas City Business Journal.
- ↑ Trading Upstart BATS Tops 1 Billion Volume Mark. Forbes.com.
- ↑ Merrill Buys BATS Trading Stake. Boston.com.
- ↑ New ATSs Arise to Fill a Void. Wall Street & Technology.
- ↑ BATS Trading's Exchange Application is Open to Public. Kansas City Business Journal.
- ↑ Upstart Financial Firm Bats is Challenging NYSE, Nasdaq. Arizona Republic.
- ↑ No More Dave-Mails for BATS Clients. Reuters.
- ↑ BATS Trading CEO Cummings Likes Being the Catalyst. Kansas City Business Journal.
- ↑ Swinging At Nasdaq. Forbes.com.
- ↑ BATS Trading Considers London Move. Reuters.
- ↑ BATS Trading Promotes Executive to COO. Kansas City Business Journal.
- ↑ BATS Global Markets Considers Initial Stock Sale, International Expansion. Bloomberg.
- ↑ BATS plans European listings venue. FT.
- ↑ SEC effectiveness questioned after BATS error. MarketWatch.
- ↑ BATS: Yes, We Have No CIO. The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ Bats Blaming Market Rules as Call of Overhaul Grow. Bloomberg.
- ↑ BATS Initial Public Tease: Nine Seconds of Free Fall. The Wall Street Journal.
- ↑ A Message From BATS CEO Joe Ratterman (PDF). BATS.
- ↑ Bats CEO Scuttled IPO on Potential for Erratic Trading. Bloomberg.
- ↑ BATS chief executive stripped of chairman title. CNN Money.
- ↑ BATS Cleared to Buy Chi-X Europe. WSJ.
- ↑ Bats Files for IPO as Exchange Seeks Currency Amid Deals. Bloomberg.
- ↑ BATS Exchange to launch IPO service. Financial Times.
- ↑ SEC Approves BATS Exchange. The Wall Street Journal.
