(The Center Square) – Texas’ own stock exchange, which is expected to execute its first trades at the end of the year, is continuing to attract new business.
The TXSE, based in Dallas, will act as a national exchange to offer global access for companies to list and trade shares. It will also “provide access to exchange traded funds in a range of data services,” TXSE Group Inc. Founder and CEO James Lee said in October when he and Gov. Greg Abbott announced the leadership of the newly formed Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE).
The TXSE will also provide an alternative to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, Lee said, pointing to Texas providing an alternative to greater regulatory burdens in New York, including those related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), The Center Square reported.
Currently, DEI policies are banned in public schools and universities but Abbott has made purging DEI policies a legislative priority, recently highlighted in his state of the state address, The Center Square reported.
The Texas Stock Exchange would become a new hub for capital markets and bring more business to Texas, Abbott and Lee argued.
Four months later, their prediction proved true. On Wednesday, the New York Stock Exchange, part of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE: ICE), announced it plans to launch NYSE Texas, a fully electronic equities exchange to be headquartered in Dallas.
NYSE: ICE announced it was reincorporating NYSE Chicago in Texas and renaming NYSE Chicago as NYSE Texas, pending regulatory approval.
It made the announcement after NYSE: ICE Founder, Chairman, and CEO Jeffrey Sprecher and NYSE Group President Lynn Martin met with Abbott on Monday. At their meeting, they discussed launching NYSE Texas and new economic opportunities it will offer Texas and global businesses.
“Texas is the most powerful economy in the nation, and now we will become the financial capital of America,” Abbott said. “With the launch of NYSE Texas, we will expand our financial might in the United States and cement our great state as an economic powerhouse on the global stage. I thank the New York Stock Exchange for choosing Texas. Working together, we will continue to advance pro-growth economic policies that allow entrepreneurs and businesses to thrive and will make Texas stronger and more prosperous than ever in the history of our great state.”
Currently, NYSE: ICE supports publicly traded companies implementing “sustainable stock exchange” policies. It fully supports a Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative, providing an “ESG resource center” to help businesses follow Environmental, Social Governance policies. It also provides NYSE Sustainability Reporting Best Practices to help companies navigate “sustainability disclosure.”
Under state law, state agencies are prohibited from investing in or through entities that implement ESG policies. According to the latest available data, as of last August, there are 16 companies and 353 publicly traded investment funds on the state’s Financial Companies that Boycott Energy Companies list, The Center Square reported.