Traditional trading platform in which market participants meet in person on the trading floor at designated times to execute own-account or customer transactions.
The primary forms of communication used on the trading floor are speech and gestures; traders match orders by shouting them out and using hand signals (open outcry). According to the customs and usage of the trading floor, the spoken word or agreed-upon hand signals are sufficient to make the transaction legally binding. Market participants on the trading floor are Xetra Frankfurt Specialists, exchange traders, and independent brokers. Xetra Frankfurt Specialists perform their activities on the trading floor in separate enclosed areas, at so-called trader's desks; Xetra Frankfurt Specialists and independent brokers must approach the trader's desks to execute their transactions.
In Germany, there are currently seven exchanges where securities are traded on the floor (all of which are cash markets):
- FWB Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse
- Rheinisch-Westfälische Börse in Dusseldorf
- Bayrische Börse in Munich
- Hanseatische Wertpapierbörse in Hamburg
- Baden-Württembergische Wertpapierbörse in Stuttgart
- Berliner Wertpapierbörse
- Niedersächsische Börse in Hannover
Antonym: computer-based trading system
