FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, August 27, 2020
Contact: Pamela Russell at 202-618-6433 or prussell@bettermarkets.com
Washington, D.C. – Lev Bagramian, Senior Securities Policy Advisor at Better Markets, issued the following statement in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval of the proposed Discretionary Limit, or D-Limit, order type from exchange operator IEX Group:
“The Investors Exchange, known as IEX, is a private sector solution to the rigged markets that today are ripping off too many investors, and we are pleased to be able to continue to support their efforts for fair, simple and transparent trading.
“IEX’s D-Limit Order type is only its latest innovative and forward-looking market-based solution to help investors stay one step ahead of the predators, and we applaud the SEC for rejecting its competitors’ baseless claims and approving it. Retirees, savers and investors across the country will directly benefit from this decision. The D-Limit order type aims to eliminate latency arbitrage trading strategies that disincentivize and discourage liquidity providers.
“Today, firms with the fastest and most technologically up-to-date capabilities can—and often do—exploit features of our current market infrastructure and rules that permit them to reap undue advantages. Profits earned by firms that engage in predatory trading strategies fund the purchase of exchange market data and connectivity (even as prices continue to rise), which are needed to execute predatory trading strategies. These practices—and the market structure and rules that permit it—represent a hidden but enormous tax on savers and retirees.
“The dominant exchanges too often have failed to protect investors, and worse, they have enabled and profited from the predatory actions of certain market participants that have preyed upon retail investors, savers and retirees. These exchanges—but not IEX—have driven investors (along with some of the brokers and market makers that serve them) to off-exchange and onto opaque, less-regulated trading venues. The resultant decline in transparency and displayed liquidity is a policy failure that can be mitigated with a market-driven innovation like the D-Limit order type.”
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.
