JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs-backed Members Exchange just got a green light from the SEC to go head-to-head with giants like NYSE and Nasdaq

• The Members Exchange just received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a national securities exchange.
• As a result, the startup exchange said it's on track to go live during the third quarter of 2020.
• MEMX is backed back some of the biggest firms are on Wall Street, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and Charles Schwab.
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An upstart stock exchange backed by some of Wall Street's biggest names just got approval from the industry's top regulator.

The Members Exchange, a startup exchange backed by JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and Charles Schwab, among others, said on Tuesday it received approval from the US Securities and Exchange Commission to operate as a national securities exchange.

MEMX's approval comes less than 16 months after the nine founding firms announced their intentions to launch the exchange in January 2019 with a $70 million investment. Now, the exchange says it is on track to go live in the third quarter of this year.

To be sure, MEMX's application never seemed in serious in doubt, as its proposal was similar to that of other trading venues. Unlike IEX, which went through an exhaustive comment period that included significant pushback due to its so-called speed-bump proposal, MEMX's application was fairly straightforward.

While speaking to Business Insider in November 2019, Jonathan Kellner, MEMX's CEO, laid out how the trading venue hopes to compete in a space dominated by three industry giants: Nasdaq, CBOE Global Markets, and the New York Stock Exchange.

It's been a busy 2020 for MEMX, which nabbed additional backing from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and market-maker Jane Street in February. The trio joined Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, and UBS; market-makers Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial; and retail brokers Charles Schwab, E-Trade, TD Ameritrade, and Fidelity.

At the time, the exchange said it planned to go live on July 24, however, that date was pushed back due to the impact of the novel coronavirus.