Interview  |  MAY 2000

Interview: Matthew Andresen Of Island ECN by John Sweeney

Faster, Cheaper, Better? Matthew Andresen Of Island ECN Matthew Andresen has been serving as president of Island ECN  , Inc., since 1998. Since then, Andresen has spearheaded IslandŐs explosive growth and overseen its role in shaping the new electronic marketplace. His strategic mission at Island is to provide all market participants with the ability to execute transactions on a level playing field. That has meant building Island into the first marketplace to provide a free, real-time display of all its orders through the Island BookViewer, software that allows orders received by Island for display on the limit-order book to be immediately visible to anyone with a Web-based browser. With this, investors have unprecedented access into the marketplace. Under AndresenŐs leadership, Island has become the fastest, most efficient, and lowest-cost forum for trading equity securities. In 1999, IslandŐs trading volume was over 26.5 billion shares, with a total dollar volume of $1.56 trillion. On an average day, Island trades approximately 200 million shares Đ accounting for approximately 12% of NasdaqŐs volume. Andresen has also overseen IslandŐs extended-hours trading session, which has given the investor greater flexibility and access to the financial marketplace. On June 28, 1999, Andresen launched Island upon one of its most significant challenges Đ filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to become the first for-profit stock exchange in the US. With this, Andresen committed Island to delivering speed, efficiency, and prices to the market for NYSE-listed stocks. Andresen was interviewed via telephone on February 17, 2000.

by John Sweeney