NYSE to launch in Texas, escalating listing venue competition

THE New York Stock Exchange announced on Wednesday (Feb 12) it will launch an exchange in Texas, increasing competition among listing venues in the state.

Several high-profile firms, including Elon Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX, have relocated their headquarters to Texas, attracted by the state’s perceived favourable legal and regulatory environment.

The move comes as the Texas Stock Exchange, a new venture backed by financial giants including BlackRock, Citadel Securities and Charles Schwab, targets a 2026 launch after submitting paperwork to operate as a national securities exchange, late last month.

The New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq have dominated the lucrative US listings market in a virtual duopoly since the 2000s. The TXSE would represent the first challenge to that dominance if it wins regulatory approval to begin trading and seeking new listings early in 2026.

NYSE Chicago will reincorporate in Texas and rebrand as NYSE Texas, providing companies with a new venue to list their securities, said the NYSE, which is part of the Intercontinental Exchange.

“As the state with the largest number of NYSE listings, representing over US$3.7 trillion in market value for our community, Texas is a market leader in fostering a pro-business atmosphere,” NYSE Group president Lynn Martin said.

A spokesperson for the TXSE in a brief written statement in response to the news did not comment directly on the NYSE plan.

“We have known all along that Texas is the best place to do business,” the spokesperson said in the statement. “The Texas Stock Exchange is harnessing this momentum to build a national securities exchange in our home state.”

Both TXSE and NYSE Texas will be fully electronic equities exchanges headquartered in Dallas. REUTERS