Dream Exchange Wants to Trade Stocks: SEC's Fantasy Football for Finance?
Published Date: 6/4/2025
Notice
Summary
Dream Exchange Holdings wants to become a new national stock exchange with a fully electronic trading system. The SEC is now reviewing their application to decide if they should approve or deny it, making sure everything is fair and safe for investors. This decision could affect broker-dealers and investors, with a review period that might impact when DreamEx can start operating and handling trades.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 2 mixed.
New Fully Electronic Exchange Proposed
Dream Exchange Holdings filed Form 1 on February 14, 2025 seeking registration as a national securities exchange to operate a fully automated electronic trading platform for NMS stocks with no physical trading floor. DreamEx would open one class of membership to registered broker-dealers, allow members to register as market makers, and would license its trading technology from MEMX Technologies rather than owning the system; parent ownership is listed as DX Capital Partners (50.1% common), Dream Exchange LLC (49.9% common), and Dream Exchange Preferred Holdings LLC (100% preferred).
SEC May Deny Registration on Specific Grounds
The SEC instituted proceedings on May 30, 2025 under Section 19(a)(1)(B) to decide whether to grant or deny DreamEx's application and identified grounds under consideration for denial, including whether DreamEx is organized with capacity (Section 6(b)(1)), whether its rules assure fair representation of members (Section 6(b)(3)), whether its rules prevent fraud and protect investors (Section 6(b)(5)), and whether its rules impose burdens on competition (Section 6(b)(8)). The Commission requests written comments on DreamEx's Form 1, with submissions due on or before June 25, 2025.
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