Episode 151: Examining the MEMX Announcement

Waters Wavelength

Adam Sussman, head of market structure and liquidity partnerships for Liquidnet, joins the podcast to talk about the Members Exchange (MEMX), which is a proposed new venue for trading US stocks that is backed by a consortium of financial firms: Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Charles Schwab, Citadel Securities, E*Trade, Fidelity Investments, Morgan Stanley, UBS, TD Ameritrade, and Virtu Financial. https://www.waterstechnology.com/management-strategy/4082911/challenging-us-exchanges-will-be-uphill-battle-for-memx-experts-warn https://www.liquidnet.com/expert-insights/is-it-live-or-is-it-memx 2:00 Does the US need another equities venue? 5:00 Might this be a play by these firms to get the established trading venues to lower their fees? 10:00 There aren’t any human names attached to this project yet, should that raise red flags? 13:00 From a tech standpoint, are there any barriers for entry into the exchange marketplace? 18:00 Moving forward, if this exchange gets off the ground, how will it add liquidity? 19:30 Prediction: In three years will the Members Exchange exist? 21:00 Why does Adam think the first letter of the CEO’s first name “will be J. Maybe R.” 23:00 Adam also gives an update on Liquidnet’s integration of OTAS Technologies. 26:30 And finally, what was it like switching from the consultancy world to the end-user world?