Electronic Exchanges

3. Floor to Screen: The Second Wave

Executive Summary

The late arrivals to the transition to computer screens had advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage was that they did not have to build systems from scratch, as did many of the electronic pioneers. An increasing number of vendors, including other exchanges, were happy to sell or lease various modules of the trading system. The disadvantage faced by the latecomers was that they were late and sometimes at a serious competitive disadvantage. Two large European floor-based exchanges, MATIF and LIFFE, had trouble competing and were subsequently absorbed by others. The last exchanges to the party were seemingly at greatest risk, but one of these latecomers has emerged as the world's biggest ...