On 30 September 2025, the eve of the government shutdown, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order granting the Texas Stock Exchange LLC’s (TXSE) registration as a national security exchange (the Order). TXSE, headquartered in Dallas, is the first national securities exchange to receive SEC approval in decades.
TXSE has highlighted that it intends to draw exchange-traded product sponsors to its exchange through its listing standards and leadership. TXSE’s listings standards track closely to those of NASDAQ and NYSE, including core trading hours and a generic listing standard for Rule 6c-11-compliant ETFs. Additionally, TXSE’s leadership includes professionals with deep experience in the ETF industry.
The Order discusses comment letters the SEC received regarding TXSE’s application. Many commenters expressed support for the application, lauding the prospect of increased competition among listings, trading technologies, market data, and efficiency, and noting the prospect of innovation in existing fee structures and improvements in pricing transparency.
Earlier this year, Texas lawmakers passed reforms to draw corporate and financial industry interest to the state, positioning it as an alternative to Delaware. The enacted legislation affords broader legal protections to corporate directors and officers and authorizes corporations to establish a minimum ownership threshold for shareholders to initiate derivative lawsuits. A constitutional amendment that would prohibit the state legislature from imposing taxes on securities transactions will appear on Texas voters’ ballots this November. TXSE has announced its intent to continue working with the Texas legislature to make the state more attractive to issuers and investors. TXSE will operate as a fully electronic, national securities exchange and intends to launch listing and trading operations in 2026.
