(Reuters) - Cboe Global Markets filed a request with the SEC for regulatory approval to change its rules and allow issuers to add an exchange-traded fund (ETF) share class to existing mutual funds, the exchange said on Thursday.

If approved, this would allow established asset management firms to more easily expand strategies that currently exist only as mutual funds by simply adding an ETF share class, throwing open the doors to thousands of new funds.

"Both the number of ETFs and ETF assets could soar" if the SEC approves Cboe's request, said Todd Sohn, ETF analyst at Strategas LLC.

Vanguard group's patent on the share class concept expired in May 2023, and a slow but steady stream of other asset managers have sought SEC approval to replicate the model, including Dimensional Fund Advisors, Morgan Stanley and Fidelity.

Others, including T. Rowe Price and JP Morgan, have expressed interest in this approach to launching new ETFs, a less costly alternative to either converting or replicating existing mutual fund strategies.

Cboe's own filing is the first by an exchange and will create a regulatory deadline. That would push the SEC to actively consider a question that it has left on the sidelines for the last 11 months.

"We aim to support issuers in pursuing exemptive relief," said Rob Marrocco, global head of ETP listings at Cboe. If approved, he said in a statement that this would create most cost and portfolio management efficiencies for investors and boost liquidity.