Electronic Exchanges

2. From Floor to Screen: The Electronic Pioneers

Executive Summary

The most important of all the transformations that exchanges are undergoing is the shift from trading floors to trading screens. The earliest electronic exchanges were not conversions of existing floor-based markets but rather brand-new operations like INTEX, the New Zealand Futures Exchange, OM, SOFFEX, DTB, Nasdaq, and the Chinese exchanges. We tell the stories of these early adopters and look for the lessons. The late arrivals to screens, such as MATIF and LIFFE, had trouble competing and were absorbed by others. The last exchanges to the party were at most risk and at one point had been written off, but one of these has emerged as the world's biggest derivates exchange.

Introduction ...