Information Session for Broker Dealer Compliance Officers

New York City (Midtown)
Friday, October 29, 2004
8:00-10:00 am

To reserve space, click here

The Boston Options Exchange became the sixth equity options exchange in the US on February 6, 2004 with the launch of trading on its first five options classes. The fully automated exchange has since grown to 350 equity options classes and has a market share in excess of five percent in the classes it lists after only seven months of operations.

PIP Information Session

• How Price Improvement Period (the PIP) Works and To Date Results: Will Easley, Managing Director, BOX
  
• Broker Dealer Best Execution Obligations: Neal Sullivan, Partner, and Wayne Pestone, Of Counsel, Bingham McCutchen LLP
  
• Views of a PIP User

Issues Addressed

• How does the availability of price improvement on BOX affect a broker dealer’s obligations under best execution regulations?
• Are price improvement, best execution and Payment for Order Flow compatible in the future of the options market?
• Exactly how is price improvement obtained on BOX?
• How much price improvement do clients really get through the PIP?
• Why is BOX the only options exchange with price improvement?

Price Improvement on BOX

A key feature of BOX is its unique PIP process which allows investors to obtain improvement over the prevailing NBBO for marketable orders. This rapid (three seconds) and fully automated auction has consistently provided an average of $2 per contract of price improvement over the NBBO to customer orders since the BOX launch and continues to attract interest from order flow firms seeking to improve their execution performance.

Enrollment

Attendance is free, but space is limited for this session. For additional information or to reserve space, click here or email us at.

Low Entry Costs -
No seats to buy or rent.

Price and Time Priority -
Orders are handled on
a strict price/time priority without a specialist controlling the price.
There is no wheel for "allocating" trades that disincents competition.

Price Improvement Auctions - BOX includes
a unique electronic mini-auction which provides price improvement to orders that would otherwise be printed elsewhere at the NBBO.

Multiple, Competing Market
Makers - BOX places no limits on the number of market makers who may continuously quote on a given options class. They compete equally on a price and time basis.

Anonymous - BOX does
not provide information on broker identification when an order is displayed in the order book.

Transparent - Order book broadcasting five best price limits allows traders to see market depth.

Open Architecture – Each trader may connect whatever trading system
he wishes.

Equal Treatment of Orders - BOX does not discriminate order priority on the basis of the type of account. All orders on the BOX book are available to all traders on a first come, first served basis with no limitation on professional order executions.