DALLAS — The dream of a national stock exchange to be headquartered in Dallas is gaining momentum.
After raising about $120 million from individual investors and big-name firms like BlackRock and Citadel Securities, Texas entrepreneur James Lee is preparing to launch the Texas Stock Exchange as its CEO.
"We're thrilled to bring to fruition the long-held vision for a national stock exchange in Texas," Lee said. "Texas and the other states in the southeast quadrant have become economic powerhouses. Combined with the demand we are seeing from investors and corporations for expanded alternatives to trade and list equities, this is an opportune time to build a major, national stock exchange in Texas."
The Texas Stock Exchange intends to submit a registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a fully electronic national securities exchange later this year.
The specific location where the Texas Stock Exchange will be headquartered in Dallas is unclear.
The Texas Stock Exchange will provide a venue to trade and list public companies -- especially those from the southeast region of the country -- and exchange-traded products.
The Texas Stock Exchange will focus on attracting companies in the southeastern U.S. to its roster, including those from Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
"Changes in equities trading markets are driving more volume to exchanges and more choices for issuers and sponsors," said James Lee, founder and CEO of TXSE Group Inc. "TXSE will ultimately create more competition around quote activity, liquidity and transparency, resulting in more consistent and reliable markets that benefit investors, global issuers and liquidity providers alike."
The Houston-based Lee -- and others behind the Texas Stock Exchange, including the Dallas-based law firm Haynes Boone, which is advising on the exchange's launch -- believe the state is the clear choice for a new national securities exchange. Texas is home to more than 5,200 private-equity-sponsored companies, many of which are preparing to access the public markets, and there are already more than 1,500 publicly traded companies throughout the region.
Texas Association of Business President and CEO Glenn Harner says the state chamber "fully supports the important effort to establish Texas as the home of the newest national stock exchange through the creation of the Texas Stock Exchange."
“Texas is already the ‘headquarters of headquarters,’ with 52 Fortune 500 companies calling our state home, making us an ideal fit for the nation’s newest stock exchange to compete with the current duopoly of NYSE and Nasdaq," Harner said. "CEOs have continually named Texas the Best State for Business for the last two decades, while Site Selectors have consistently chosen Texas as the top state for new capital investment projects for 12 years and counting."