The New York Stock Exchange is seeking a major expansion of the number of bonds traded on its exchange as it transforms into a public company with the purchase of electronic trading group Archipelago Holdings Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
The NYSE has requested that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allow it to trade any bonds issued by the nearly 2,800 companies whose shares are listed on its exchange and expects to receive a green light by the end of the second quarter, the Journal reported, citing exchange officials.
That would make more than 5,000 bonds tradable on the NYSE, compared with less than 1,000 currently listed, the report said.
The move for a larger share of the bond market comes as the NYSE prepares to close on March 7 its purchase of Archipelago. The expanded bond trading would be carried out on new technology provided by Archipelago, the report said.
Archipelago said in October it would request regulatory approval to trade corporate bonds of NYSE-listed companies as part of a strategy to expand its trading platform.
An NYSE spokesman could not immediately be reached to comment on the report.