Brokerage

In the wake of Pipeline Trading Systems' settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, many people are wondering if dark pools will be able to retain the trust of traders given the misrepresentations made by such a well-known venue.

Proposals by two of the exchanges operated by NYSE Euronext mark the second time in the past two years the exchange operator has looked to sub-penny pricing to gain an advantage over brokers in the trading of retail orders.

As high-touch trades continue to decline and trading algos get more and more complicated, Tabb said buyside firms are turning to the sellside for execution consulting that combines high-touch service with low-touch technology.

Chicago-based Getco is expanding its market making operations with an acquisition of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's designated market maker business for the New York Stock Exchange. The acquisition will more than double Getco's designated market making services at the NYSE.

Volume is up for the ninth straight year in the options industry, but there's a big difference this year. Of the 21.6 percent increase in total year-over-year volume through October, over a third of the growth is coming from contracts that expire weekly. That makes weeklies one of the most successful product launches in the industry's history.

Michel Finzi, in charge of U.S. equities in the transaction services division at Nasdaq OMX, has left the exchange operator after only three or four months on the job.

Here are recent hires and promotions in the equities and derivatives trading world, as Wall Street pros make that move, right now.

With one exception, the year 2011 is proving a tough one for the nine bulge bracket equities shops. In the first nine months, only Morgan Stanley managed to excel. The other eight either saw their revenues decline from last year or grow only modestly.

Despite complaints from brokers over soaring levels of market data, officials from some of the leading exchanges indicated they weren't enthusiastic about slamming on the brakes.

A rule proposed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority that could limit broker-dealers' usage of indications of interest drew mixed reviews from those who submitted comment letters to the regulator.