Wall Street banks have stepped up their challenge to the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq over the trading of stocks and options.

Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse First Boston, Fidelity Investments and Citigroup, together with its Lava Trading unit, are in advanced talks to create an electronic stock trading facility in Boston, The New York Times reports, citing people familiar with the plan. They said it would create a trading venue similar in structure to the Boston Options Exchange.