Global Electronic Trading Company

Global Electronic Trading Company (GETCO)
Subsidiary
Industry High-frequency trading, Market making
Fate Merged with Knight Capital Group in 2013, forming KCG Holdings
Founded 1999
Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, United States
Key people
 Stephen Schuler, Co-founder
Daniel Tierney, Co-founder
Daniel Coleman, CEO[1]
Number of employees
 400+ (2013)
Website www.getcollc.com

The Global Electronic Trading Company (GETCO), or Getco LLC, was an American proprietary algorithmic trading and electronic market making firm based in Chicago, Illinois. In December 2012, the firm agreed to acquire Knight Capital Group; this merger was completed in July 2013 forming the new company KCG Holdings.

Description

The firm was founded in 1999 by Stephen Schuler and Daniel Tierney, former floor traders in Chicago, and reached over 400 employees. The firm's primary business was electronic market making, though it also provided execution algorithms and a dark pool through its client services arm, GETCO Execution Services.

GETCO traded in over 50 markets in North and South America, Europe and Asia, and was consistently among the top 5 participants by volume on many venues, including the CME, Eurex, NYSE Arca, NYSE Arca Options, BATS, Nasdaq, Nasdaq Options, Chi-X, BrokerTec, and eSpeed. It has offices in New York City, Chicago, London, and Singapore, and was an investor in the electronic exchanges BATS Exchange, Chi-X, NYSE Liffe U.S., Eris, and ELX.[2]

In a 2009 profile by the Wall Street Journal[3] the firm was identified as one of the largest market makers in the US stock market. GETCO also served as one of the six Designated Market Makers (DMMs) on the NYSE between 2010 and the merger.[4]

GETCO was one of the six investors that participated in the rescue of Knight Capital, a competitor that had experienced a significant trading malfunction on August 1, 2012. Supported by its main investor, General Atlantic, GETCO pursued Knight Capital and defeated a competing proposal from Virtu Financial by offering to pay $3.75/share to Knight Capital’s shareholders, for a total value of $1.4 billion.

References

  1. ↑ "GETCO Names Coleman CEO" (PDF). Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  2. ↑ "GETCO". Retrieved 2011-06-26.
  3. ↑ Patterson, Scott (2009-08-27). "Meet Getco, High-Frequency Trade King - WSJ.com". Online.wsj.com. Retrieved 2011-06-26.
  4. ↑ "NYSE Equities Membership Types". Retrieved 2011-10-15.
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