SEC considering further improvements to market structure
During a speech to the Economic Club of New York yesterday, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro discussed the "flash crash" of May 6 and the steps taken by the SEC to strengthen equity market structure. Ms. Schapiro also outlined further steps that may be considered, including: (i) improving circuit breaker mechanisms; (ii) high frequency trading and whether the firms that effectively act as market makers during normal times should have any obligation to support the market in reasonable ways during "tough times"; (iii) order cancellations and whether large volumes of orders, subsequently cancelled, affect price discovery, capital formation and the capital markets generally; and (iv) market fragmentation and dark trading venues.
According to Ms. Schapiro,
The important questions are "to what extent is our structure meeting or failing to meet its goals of fair, efficient and transparent markets, and how can we modify the structure to preserve the advantages and eliminate the flaws?"
