Rules and Regs

Stub Quotes Under Fire

Stub quotes are on the way out. The nation's stock exchanges are preparing to propose rules that require market makers to post "reasonably priced" two-sided quotes for a certain percentage of the day.

Industry Ponders Limit Up/Down After Flash Crash

Halt trades or band prices? That's the debate taking shape in the aftermath of the May 6 "flash crash" and the swift imposition of circuit breakers by the exchanges on June 11.

NYSE Stands By Its LRPs

Despite criticism, the NYSE has vowed to continue its program for trading pauses.

Fee Cap Splits Options Exchanges

An SEC proposal requiring options exchanges to cap the fees they charge their members to access their markets is getting mixed reviews by exchange operators.

Erroneous Trades Plan

When should a trade be broken? Under new rules proposed by the industry's self-regulatory organizations, trades can be canceled if trading in the stock has been halted and the price is far enough away from the price at which it was halted.

Off-Board Trading Threatened

An amendment to the financial reform bill that many think would restrict off-board trading has drawn opposition from a securities industry trade association.

OTS-OATS Merger on Tap

The absorption of most of the remnants of NYSE Reg into the FINRA, announced last month, will result in a merger of the systems the two regulators use to monitor brokers' order-handling practices.

Rule 605 Likely Coming to Options

The SEC may require market centers in the options industry to calculate and disseminate execution-quality statistics.

Industry Disagrees About 'Trade-at'

High-frequency traders, money managers and major exchanges want the SEC to propose some sort of "trade-at" rule.

HFTs Give Thumbs Up to Proposal

A proposed SEC rule that would require the most active traders to code their tickets, so that their trading patterns can be tracked by the SEC, appears to have strong support among high-frequency traders themselves.

Will a Naked Access Ban Raise Costs?

If the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposal for sponsored access to exchanges becomes a rule as written, then trading costs will likely rise for many market participants.

'Trade-At' Pits Exchanges Vs. Brokers

Call it the battle of the seen versus the unseen. The "trade-at" question in the SEC concept release pits the exchanges against brokers who internalize trades and other off board liquidity providers.

Tax With Nine Lives Appears Dead

The proposed 0.25 percent securities transaction tax, or STT, is dead in Congress--at least for now.

The Push for Faster Risk Checks

With the Securities and Exchange Commission expected to soon ban the practice of "naked access," vendors, exchanges and brokers are scrambling to speed up their risk management technology.

Maker-Taker Distorts Markets: Study Says

The maker-taker model deployed by exchanges and ECNs benefits neither liquidity providers nor liquidity takers. Worst of all, it distorts stock prices.