Temporary Options Linkage Plan OKd

The Pacific Exchange and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange can temporarily form electronic linkages with the three other options exchanges under a proposal approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC’s action Tuesday means all the U.S. options markets are to be linked so dealers can more quickly access the best quotes on any exchange, a plan pushed for years by SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt.

In July, the SEC approved a linkage plan submitted by three of the exchanges: the two largest, the Chicago Board Options Exchange and the American Stock Exchange, and the only electronic market, the new International Securities Exchange. Those three exchanges have been talking since then about how to form the links.

The SEC on Tuesday gave temporary approval--until Jan. 18--for the Pacific and Philadelphia exchanges to join the others in creating links. “This will give all the options exchanges a chance to participate in a plan that advances investors’ interests by helping to give them access to the best possible prices,” SEC spokeswoman Joanne Cronrath Bamberger said.