SEC to target "dark pools"
In a speech to New York financial writers yesterday, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro discussed the SEC's concerns with private automated trading systems known as "dark pools". Such private systems do not display quotes in the public quote stream and according to Ms. Schapiro, the "lack of transparency has the potential to undermine public confidence in the equity markets, particularly if the volume of trading activity in dark pools increases substantially." As such, the SEC intends to take a "serious look" at potential regulatory actions to protect investors and market integrity.
