Cboe Australia has formally applied to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) for a license to operate a listing market in Australia.

Cboe's proposed listing market will be the first major pressure on ASX Ltd (ASX: ASX)'s listings offering in decades, Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG) wrote in a note to investors on Tuesday. 

While Cboe has kept its plans low profile, it is positioning itself as a low-cost alternative to the ASX. Indicative pricing is 20-40% lower than existing alternatives.

Subject to regulatory approval, Cboe plans to launch its offering in the third quarter of the 2025 calendar year.

The formal proposal comes after Cboe published its second consultation paper for entry into the Australian market in April 2025. Cboe then finalised its proposed listing rules and submitted them to ASIC for formal "non-disallowance" (the last step of the process) in May.

According to Macquarie, ASIC's formal non-disallowance must be done by mid-July or Cboe's application will be automatically approved.

Cboe first entered Australia in June 2021 when Cboe Global Markets finalised its acquisition of Chi-X Australia. In June 2023, Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (Cboe) announced the launch of Cboe Global Listings. The first-of-its-kind, global listing network facilitated worldwide access to capital and secondary liquidity for companies and closed-ended investments.

Cboe released the first of its consultation papers on the establishment of a new framework in March 2024 to enable entities to list with Cboe AU. Feedback from this first consultation paper was supportive, and there were no material objections to the proposal. 

Macquarie's view on Cboe's offering

"While Cboe's application is nearing completion, we understand the process remains relatively under wraps," Macquarie said in its note to investors.

"Brokers would need at least 3-6 months to get their technology and reporting ready, while rate cards for corporates and brokers have still not been circulated widely.

"Further, there could be challenges focusing on retail dominated stocks without research to drive flows.

"Conversely, these platforms could experience an uplift in trading revenues."

Cboe versus the ASX: What's the difference?

Cboe is an ASIC-regulated stock exchange for Australian shares. Like the ASX, the alternative trading exchange allows investors to buy or sell the same Australian-listed stocks.

Buying and selling operates in the same way too.

The difference is that Cboe is a day-only trading exchange, whereas orders can be left on the ASX overnight.

Continuous trading hours for Cboe Australia are between 10:00am and 4:13pm, Monday to Friday. Unlike the ASX, Cboe Australia does not operate an opening and closing auction, CommSec explains.

Cboe also has exchange-traded funds and managed funds, which aren't on the ASX.