Texas Stock Exchange raises $120 million to take on Nyse and Nasdaq

A new stock exchange backed by BlackRock and Citadel Securities is being established to take on the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq.

Headquartered in Dallas, the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) will provide a fully-electronic venue to trade and list public companies and the growing universe of exchange-traded products.

To prepare for launch, TXSE completed a $120 million initial capital raise with participation from more than two dozen investors, including Wall Street heavyweighta BlackRock and Citadel Securities.

The group's aim is to smash the effective duopoly of the Nyse and Nasdaq by tapping into investor disquiet over the onerous burden of increasing compliance costs and new regulations.

"Changes in equities trading markets are driving more volume to exchanges and more choices for issuers and sponsors," says 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."

He says TXSE intends to submit a registration with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a national securities exchange later this year.