INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL REGULATORS MEET TO SHARE VIEWS ON MARKET STRUCTURE

The following is an excerpt from the SEC website: “Washington, D.C., Oct. 14, 2011 — Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro and Martin Wheatley, Managing Director of the Conduct Business Unit at the U.K. Financial Services Authority (FSA), today co-hosted a meeting among regulators from Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Australia to share views on issues pertaining to equity market structure. The roundtable, held at FSA headquarters in London, considered how advances in technology, new trading strategies, and the increasing integration and globalization of markets have impacted developments in equity market structure. Specifically, the leaders of the various regulatory agencies shared their views on issues related to automated trading strategies, such as high frequency trading, market fragmentation, and undisplayed liquidity (for example, “dark pools”). The participants also discussed possible approaches that regulators might adopt in the light of these market structure developments. The discussion highlighted the need for global coordination on regulatory approaches to many of these issues. Chairman Schapiro said, “The rapid developments in trading technologies and trading platforms have had a profound impact on the evolution in the structure of markets around the world. This roundtable provided an important opportunity for regulators to share their experiences and their views on these developments. Cooperation among regulators at an international level is increasingly vital in ensuring the safety and soundness of our markets and protecting investors, and the meeting was a tremendous success in advancing such cooperation on market structure issues.” Mr. Wheatley added, “The meeting provided an opportunity for regulators from around the globe to discuss vital markets structure issues, particularly the impact and role of high frequency trading. The meeting allowed for the sharing of useful information between the regulators and will contribute to a sound basis for continued work to be done at a global level.” Today’s meeting laid the groundwork for future discussions on these issues, allowing securities regulators an opportunity to continue to work together to address advances in technology and new trading strategies.”