Gov. Greg Abbott, a number of global business leaders, and several current and former state elected officials announced the executive leadership team for the newly formed Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE).
The team comprises a bevy of heavy hitters in the capital investor community and former heads of finance.
Jeffrey Brown, former acting general counsel for Charles Schwab and former head of its Office of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs in Washington, D.C; Jonathan Ross, former chief technology officer at KCG Holdings, Inc.; and former Texas governor and U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry are just a few names that comprise the leadership team.
The TXSE was announced back in June, with the stated intention of competing with other exchanges around the world, including the New York Stock Exchange.
The exchange will be headquartered in Dallas.
State Sen. Tan Parker (R-Flower Mound), State Reps. Morgan Meyer (R-Dallas) and Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake), and Perry flanked Abbott during the press conference.
In response to a question from The Texan about whether the new exchange has structures in place to push back against the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) movement that has become popular with many large companies and investors, James Lee, founder and CEO of the TXSE Group Inc., reiterated that “the exchange is apolitical.”
Abbott went on to comment that “there is a reason why we are number one for doing business and that is because we make it as easy as possible to do business in the state of Texas.”
“The same thing goes for the Texas Stock Exchange.”
In 2021, Abbott signed Senate Bill (SB) 13, mandating the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts to create a list of companies that are divesting from or sanctioning fossil fuels. Pension funds with investments in these companies, whether through direct holdings or exchange-traded funds, must divest from them and reinvest in other assets.
Texas also maintains a list of companies deemed to be boycotting the State of Israel and prohibits state entities from doing business with them. State pension dollars are also banned from being invested into or through those corporations as well.
Additionally, during the press conference Monday, Lee gave updates on next steps for the TXSE, which includes submitting their registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), something they plan to do in the coming months. He also said they hope to begin executing the first trades on the TXSE by the end of next year and launch listings in early 2026.
“With those first trades and listings,” Lee said, “Dallas will become a new hub for capital markets in the United States.”
