ISE Opts For New Board Member

Thomas Cardello is the newest addition to the board of directors for the International Securities Exchange. Cardello, a managing director with Morgan Stanley who is responsible for the firm's global-electronic-derivatives market-making business, was elected to the board as a representative of ISE's Competitive Market Makers. He takes the vacated seat of Patrick Whalen of Lehman Brothers.

Cardello and his team created Morgan Stanley's equity-derivatives market-making business, which was built internally on an electronic model. "We had to aim for where the market would be in a few years instead of trying to replicate models of the other firms already out there," he says.

Cardello explains that an electronic model is a natural progression. "In an open-outcry market, there are rules that people use when they decide to make markets on the floor of an exchange," he says. "Now, much of that can be codified. You can program it into a computer," Cardello explains.

In addition, he says, electronic markets have the advantage of low costs, while maintaining high transparency and speed.

Cardello's goal is not simply to grow market share for the ISE. "My goal is to have the overall (options) market grow by virtue of having it easier to transact," he explains.