Texas Stock Exchange closer to opening with approval from the US
Securities and Exchange Commission
[October 07, 2025] By
PAUL COBLER/The Texas Tribune
The Texas Stock Exchange has crossed its latest hurdle toward becoming a
direct competitor to the dominance of the New York Stock Exchange and
the Nasdaq.
The Sept. 30 announcement that the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission had approved the Dallas-based startup to operate as a
national exchange was met with celebration by Texas lawmakers, including
Gov. Greg Abbott, who declared “Texas is swiftly becoming America’s
financial hub.”
The hype around the Texas Stock Exchange, or TXSE (pronounced Tex-ee),
has been building since the June 2024 announcement that the exchange
intended to launch with $120 million in backing from large investment
firms like BlackRock and Citadel Securities, making it one of the most
well-funded attempts at a new national exchange in decades.
TXSE officials say the strength of the Texas economy made the move
possible, noting the many Fortune 500 companies that have come to the
state, drawn by favorable regulatory and taxation policies.
Texas is home to the headquarters of the second most Fortune 500
companies in the country, leading New York and closely trailing
California.
“Texas is a major player in the U.S. regardless of the exchange
landscape, but it ultimately makes sense as the 7th largest economy in
the world,” Global Managing Director of Listings Nicole Chambers told a
gathering of Dallas business leaders in September, adding that 45
countries smaller than Texas have their own stock exchanges.
“Texas has really become a leader in where you can do business,”
Chambers said at the panel discussion at the University of Texas Austin
campus. “That is why there is the Texas stock exchange. We couldn’t do
this in Oregon or in Nebraska.”
When TXSE launches — that’s expected to happen next fall — it won’t even
be the only stock exchange hosted in Dallas. Following the announcement
of TXSE’s intention to seek SEC approval, the New York Stock Exchange in
February announced it would reincorporate its Chicago electronic
exchange and move it to Dallas, branding it NYSE Texas.
Bill Bailey, managing director of market intelligence at TXSE, said he
sees that decision as a reaction to TXSE’s creation, also noting
Nasdaq’s March announcement that it would open a regional headquarters
in Dallas.
The moves promise to test whether Dallas’ recent growth into a hub for
financial services firms is significant enough to justify the city’s new
nickname: “Y’all Street.”
Can a startup stock exchange lure companies to join?
Stock exchanges are private institutions where stocks, bonds and other
securities are traded, connecting supply and demand “like any other
market,” University of Texas at Arlington associate professor of finance
Sriram Villupuram said.
The bell ringings on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq
to signal the start of the day’s trading stand out in the minds of the
public, but those events are largely for public relations as the two
exchanges compete to convince companies to list themselves on their
separate exchanges.
Since the acquisition of the American Stock Exchange by the NYSE in
2008, the NYSE and Nasdaq have been the two dominant exchanges in the
U.S., effectively creating a duopoly, Villupuram said.
Regional exchanges outside of New York, like the Boston Stock Exchange,
the Philadelphia Stock Exchange and Chicago Stock Exchange have been
swallowed up by the parent companies of the NYSE and Nasdaq, while other
exchanges shut down.
Attempts to create a third, dominant national exchange have largely
floundered, failing to attract a significant number of companies that
want to list on their exchange.
TXSE leadership says this time will be different.
The exchange will be entirely digital but have a physical presence in
Dallas, Bailey said. TXSE also intends to hold bell ringing ceremonies
for its companies and incorporate much of the pomp and circumstance of
its two rival exchanges with its own Texas flair, he added.
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 With the $120 million in backing
from investors like BlackRock and Citadel Securities, Bailey said
the digital exchange will be state-of-the-art and have fewer
requirements for the makeup of company boards of directors than
other exchanges. TXSE also hopes to capitalize on discontent over
new rules and rising fees and share price benchmarks at Nasdaq and
NYSE.
Much of TXSE’s success will depend on the patience of its investors,
Villupuram said. It will take time to convince companies to list
themselves on the exchange, but each company that does will build
momentum. The speed at which TXSE is able to lure its first 50 to
100 companies to the exchange will be crucial, Villupuram added.
“It gives those that are thinking about listing an idea about what
it takes to get on the exchange, and it could snowball from there,”
Villupuram said.
TXSE officials say the exchange’s success will also hinge on the
health of the Texas economy. If the economy continues to grow, Texas
will continue to attract large companies and financial firms, which
TXSE officials can try to recruit into the new exchange.
Stock transactions are now largely conducted digitally rather than
on a trading floor, but a physical presence near major companies is
still crucial for a stock exchange, Villupuram said.
“With stocks, the demand, the trading has become automated,
electronic, whatever you want to call it, but the supply, the
courting of companies to come get listed with us, that is still very
much human to human,” Villupuram said.
“The landscape is changing”
Historically, Dallas was a trading hub due to its central location
in the Sun Belt, making it Texas’ primary location for the
communications, transportation and finance industries as the state
modernized. That has continued as Texas-based corporations grew and
Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport became a national travel
hub, said Ray Perryman, president of the Waco-based economic
research company The Perryman Group.
“Dallas is the natural location for a financial center to emerge in
this region,” Perryman wrote in an email.
Top investment banks such as JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs now
have tens of thousands of employees in the region and are continuing
to grow. Goldman Sachs is in the midst of building a $500 million
tower in downtown Dallas that will host more than 5,000 employees,
which will make it the bank’s largest hub outside of New York,
according to the company. Charles Schwab moved its headquarters from
California to Dallas in 2020.
New York has seen just a 16% growth in employment in the investment
and securities sector over the last 20 years, while Texas has
experienced 111% expansion, Perryman said.
The state’s lower cost of living compared to the northeast also
makes it appealing to employees like Sasha Stratton, head of risk
for Selby Jennings in Dallas and the South. The company assists with
recruitment for financial services companies across the country.
Stratton moved to Dallas from her home state of New York five years
ago, seeking the opportunity to purchase a home and live a higher
quality of life for less money.
“(Firms) are prioritizing hiring in Dallas over hiring in New York
in a lot of instances, which I think is a pretty unique shift,”
Stratton said. “That’s driven by the availability of talent, the
cost of operations, the availability of real estate and with the
Texas Stock Exchange and other exchanges following suit, realizing
it’s not a compromise to be building out in Dallas, it’s actually a
smart, strategic decision to take advantage of how booming the
economy is.”
The shift in economic activity to the south paired with the deep
pockets of TXSE’s funders suggests the exchange could be a
formidable competitor to the NYSE and Nasdaq, Perryman said.
TXSE’s launch coupled with the expansion of NYSE and Nasdaq to the
area will make it easier for growing Texas companies to access
capital, allowing for more expansion and hiring, Perryman added,
creating a feedback loop that benefits both the exchanges and the
Texas economy as a whole.
“New York will likely remain the primary center of equity markets
for the time being, but the landscape is changing,” Perryman said.
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