Tuesday, April 08, 2014

High Frequency Trading

Pam Martens continues her campaign to have financial regulators actually regulate. She alleges that both the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq allow high frequency traders to co-locate their computers next to the main computers of the exchanges to gain a speed advantage over other customers. This has allowed them to bump the monthly fee for the HFT traders from $25,000 to $40,000. And the SEC is doing nothing about this largesse. 

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 states that the SEC must ensure that exchanges maintain “the equitable allocation of reasonable…fees, and other charges among its members and issuers and other persons using its facilities.” It also requires “just and equitable principles of trade,” the removal of impediments to a “free and open market” and specifically states that an exchange shall not “permit unfair discrimination between customers.”

Is the SEC following the law?

No comments: