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 Says:
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:
Learn some of the important differences in the way they operate and the securities that trade on them. The Tale Of Two Exchanges: NYSE And Nasdaq
Find out the answers to all the questions you had about stock exchanges but were afraid to ask! Getting to Know Stock Exchanges
