ABC Agreement
An agreement made between a purchasing member with a seat on the NYSE and the firm in which he or she works. With the approval of the NYSE, this agreement stipulates that the employee of the firm may:
a) transfer the seat to another employee of the firm
b) retain ownership and purchase a new seat for another individual designated by the firm
c) sell the seat and transfer any gains to the firm.
Investopedia Commentary
ABC agreements are important because the firm pays for the seat on the NYSE that the employee is using. As such, the firm wishes to insure itself against the possibility of the employee - should he or she no longer work for the firm - negatively impacting the firm's ability to trade on the NYSE.
The ABC agreement is so named because of the three main provisions it allows. Similar types of arrangements exist between firms and their employees on various other exchanges.
Related Links
The Tale Of Two Exchanges: NYSE And Nasdaq
Getting to Know Stock Exchanges
See also: Member, Member Firm, NYSE
Also spelled: ABC
ABC Agreement