Pacific Exchange

The Pacific Exchange was, until 2001, a regional stock exchange with a main exchange floor and building in San Francisco, California, USA and a branch in Los Angeles, California, USA. Its history began with the founding of the San Francisco Stock and Bond Exchange in 1882 and the Los Angeles Oil Exchange in 1889. In 1957, the two exchanges merged to create the Pacific Coast Stock Exchange, though trading floors were maintained in both cities. In 1973, The Exchange was renamed the Pacific Stock Exchange and it began trading options three years later in 1976.

In 1999, the exchange became the first U.S. stock exchange to demutualize. The trading floor in Los Angeles was closed in 2001, followed by the floor in San Francisco a year later. 2003 saw the exchange launch PCX Plus, an electronic options trading platform. By 2005, the Pacific Exchange was bought by the owner of the ArcaEx platform, Archipelago Holdings, which then merged with the New York Stock Exchange in 2006. The New York Stock Exchange conducts no business operations under the name Pacific Exchange, essentially ending its separate identity. Pacific Exchange equities and options trading now takes place exclusively through the NYSE Arca (formerly known as ArcaEx) platform, an Electronic communication network (ECN), as NYSE Arca Equities and NYSE Arca Options, respectively.