Financial Regulatory Forum

  By Elinor Comlay
NEW YORK, Oct 27 (Reuters) – The top U.S. securities regulator said she was looking for ways to crack down on “naked access,” the practice of brokers giving high-frequency traders unfettered access to public markets.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said on Tuesday that she had concerns with sponsored naked access, where brokerages that have been approved to trade on an exchange rent their access to clients who are able to shave milliseconds from the time it takes to access the markets.

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By Jonathan Spicer
NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) – U.S. Senator Charles Schumer on Tuesday jumped in to the debate over anonymous trading venues known as dark pools, calling for tough new regulations a day before the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission meets to consider new rules.  Schumer, among the most vocal of lawmakers pressing for market structure reform, urged in a letter to SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro that the regulator adopt some of the most robust measures now on the table, and called for a new market-wide monitor.

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By Jonathan Spicer
SCOTTSDALE, Arizona, Oct 16 (Reuters) – The head of Liquidnet, a top alternative U.S. venue for trading large “blocks” of stock, said on Friday he expects special exemptions for block trading if regulators adopt new rules for the scores of anonymous venues known as dark pools.

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WASHINGTON, Oct 14 (Reuters) – U.S. securities regulators will consider next Wednesday proposals to shed more light on dark pools, or venues where stock trades are hidden from public view, a notice on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website said.

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   TORONTO/NEW YORK, Oct 7 (Reuters) – “Dark pools,” or venues where stock trades are hidden from public view, have proliferated around the globe without a “careful regulatory plan,” the head of the world’s main exchanges group said on Wednesday. (more…)

LONDON, Sept 30 (Reuters) – The London Stock Exchange is quitting the industry’s main European association as it seeks a free hand to lobby regulators mulling a crackdown on off-exchange trading at banks and dark pools. (more…)

By Jonathan Spicer
NEW YORK, Sept 11 (Reuters) – In obscure corners of the U.S. stock market — where “flash orders,” “dark pools” and other controversial practices thrive — regulators are trying to shine a light to guard against unfair dealing.

But a crackdown by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, sought in recent months by some top lawmakers in Washington, won’t come quickly and may not be as comprehensive as some desire.

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By Jonathan Spicer
NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Senator Ted Kaufman on Monday asked U.S. regulators to undertake a comprehensive review of several “questionable” developments in the structure of capital markets, the latest lawmaker to weigh in on so-called dark pools, flashes, and high-frequency trading.

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WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Aug 4 (Reuters) – A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ban on so-called flash orders is “imminent,” a senior lawmaker said on Tuesday — just before the agency itself said it was drawing up plans to ban the controversial services offered by some stock exchanges.  Democratic U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro had personally assured him that the agency planned to ban the practice of “flash trading,” which gives advance knowledge of stock orders to certain traders. (more…)

LONDON, Aug 3 (Reuters) – Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has launched a wide-ranging review of UK equity markets, covering aspects such as high-frequency trading and so-called “dark pools,” the Financial Times reported. (more…)