ICE to launch ETF Hub in October

In response to the approval of Rule 6c-11 by the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday, Intercontinental Exchange Inc. said Friday it would be expanding its presence in the ETF arena.

ICE said the new rule will update the regulation of ETFs and bring new standards to the industry. Next month, ICE plans to launch a new service called ETF Hub, which is designed to bring greater efficiency to the ETF primary market.

“ETF Hub’s goals of increasing transparency and participation are consistent with the objectives of the new ETF rule’s regulatory framework,” ICE said in a statement.

“We applaud the SEC on the adoption of the ETF rule, which is designed to significantly expand participation and help issuers provide greater choice for investors as they look to diversify portfolios and manage risk,” said Ben Jackson, President of ICE.

Dennis Degnan

ICE said the new rule would open the door to a lot more market participation and foster innovation.

“By allowing all participants to use custom baskets for the creation and redemption process, this rule gives all issuers the flexibility they require, offering significant benefits for both ETF investors and the ETF ecosystem as a whole,”

In August, acquired several fixed-income volatility indices from Bank of America, including the Merrill Lynch Option Volatility Estimate (MOVE) index.

In June, ICE Data Services launched the ICE US Broad Municipal Index, which expands its coverage of investment-grade municipal securities. The ICE US Broad Municipal Index (ticker: MUNI) tracks the performance of more than 58,000 investment-grade tax-exempt municipal bonds representing over $1.6 trillion in total market capitalization. ICE also recently hired Pierce Lord as director of fixed income analytics, who will be working on the index.

And earlier this month, ICE and Tradeweb Markets Inc. unveiled Tradeweb ICE U.S. Treasury Closing Prices, which is designed to represent the daily market mid-price for Treasury securities.

ICE Data Indices is the second largest fixed-income index provider in the world as measured by assets under management, with more than $1 trillion benchmarked against the indices.

ICE is a Fortune 500 company founded in 2000 and operates financial exchanges, clearing houses and information services around the world. It is the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange and has total assets of about $93 billion as of 2018.