The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE) to operate as a national securities exchange under Section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. This decision—formalized in SEC Release No. 34-104146 (Sept. 30, 2025)—marks the first authorization of a new U.S. exchange of comparable scale in more than two decades.
This development follows the discussion introduced in the firm’s earlier analysis, Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE): A New Chapter in U.S. Capital Markets, which examined the proposed exchange’s potential to decentralize market access. With the SEC’s approval now confirmed, TXSE transitions from concept to implementation, positioning Dallas as a new operational center for U.S. capital formation.
By approving TXSE’s Form 1 application, the SEC formally recognized its governance, surveillance, and fair-access framework as meeting statutory requirements for a national securities exchange. TXSE’s registration establishes its authority to list and trade securities once technical integrations, broker-dealer onboarding, and market-data plan participation are completed.
The order emphasizes TXSE’s commitments to:
Trading is expected to commence during 2026, following completion of connectivity and systems testing.
TXSE’s entry introduces a fifth major national exchange alongside NYSE, Nasdaq, Cboe, and MEMX. Its approval underscores the SEC’s willingness to accommodate regional competition and technological modernization within the national framework.
For issuers, TXSE may provide new listing optionality, particularly for energy, manufacturing, and technology companies headquartered in the southern United States. For broker-dealers and institutional investors, it expands routing and execution choices—potentially driving broader reforms in market-data pricing and latency standards.
Under Section 6 of the Exchange Act, newly registered exchanges must demonstrate that their rules:
TXSE’s order confirms that its proposed rules meet these criteria. The SEC also directed the exchange to participate in inter-market surveillance groups and to coordinate compliance reporting through existing consolidated systems.
As noted in MZLS’s earlier Insight, the emergence of a Texas-based exchange has potential implications for Puerto Rico-incorporated entities benefiting from the Act 60 Incentives Code. The new exchange could offer these companies additional pathways to access mainland capital markets—particularly for export-services, fintech, and energy-related ventures seeking national visibility without relocating operations.
The MZLS Capital Markets Team continues to monitor these developments as part of its broader analysis of how decentralized market infrastructure may shape Puerto Rico’s private-sector financing landscape.
