Every now and then I’m giving a tour here and someone asks me how it helps to have all these different markets and products under one corporate umbrella. I usually respond by talking mostly about economies of scale, benefits of shared technology and the like. But really I should be looking at that question through the eyes of the customer, as in: how it helps the customer.

Here’s an excellent example of how the customer gains a very real and direct benefit. Today we announced that traders of gold- and silver-based exchange-traded products on our NYSE Arca market are eligible for a significant rebate for trading gold and silver futures contracts on NYSE Liffe US, our new US futures exchange.

I’ll let the press release explain this:

“We are extremely excited to present our customers with an innovative pricing plan that rewards their trading on our diverse family of exchanges,” said Thomas F. Callahan, NYSE Euronext Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Futures. “Individually, the benefits of trading on NYSE Liffe US and NYSE Arca are impressive, and through the Futures Incentive Program we are proactively creating avenues to ensure that our customers continue to see the benefits of trading with NYSE Euronext.”

“NYSE Arca has been a leader in listing and trading exchange traded products. With three successful fund-like products which track a single metal, we are the primary market for many of the world’s most actively traded precious metals-based products,” said Lisa Dallmer, Senior Vice President, Global Index and Exchange Traded Products. “By coordinating with NYSE Liffe US, we can offer a growing segment of customers a truly unique advantage to trading with NYSE Euronext and our multi-asset exchanges.”

The Futures Incentive Program is open to all NYSE Liffe US customers who also trade over 300,000 shares per month in certain precious metals exchange traded products on NYSE Arca. Customers are eligible for a rebate of $0.40 per futures contract and $0.20 per side of the spread for full-size and mini Gold or Silver futures contracts on NYSE Liffe US. The applicable NYSE Arca exchange traded product listings are as follows: SPDR Gold Shares (GLD), iShares Gold Trust (IAU), iShares Silver Trust (SLV). The program will begin as three-month pilot but will be extended based on client demand.

NYSE Liffe US provides a fully electronic market for 100 oz. gold futures, 5,000 oz. silver futures, options on gold and silver futures, and mini-sized 33.2 oz. gold and 1,000 oz. silver futures. All contracts are traded in U.S. dollars and physically settled in New York. NYSE Liffe US began trading operations in September 2008.

For more information on the FIP, please visit: http://www.nyse.com/pdfs/nyseliffe200910.pdf

Look forward to seeing customers make use of that benefit. Happy Wednesday, folks.

Today in NYSE History
01 April 1968 – Daily trading volume of 17.7 million shares finally surpassed the 39-year-old record set during the Crash of 1929.