As the NFL trade deadline approaches, focus is placed on the Broncos, Bears, Raiders, and a few other potential dealers.

NEW YORK, Dec 14 (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Wednesday to propose some of the biggest changes to the structure of the U.S. stock market in nearly two decades, aimed at increasing transparency and fairness. , while increasing competition for individual investors’ share orders. 🇧🇷

Proposals include requiring retail tradable stock orders to be submitted to auctions before they are executed, a new standard for brokers to show they get the best possible executions for client orders, and lower trading increments and access fees on exchanges, said the SEC.

“We feel that these reforms, if passed, will ultimately help the price discovery process and save investors money,” said Joe Saluzzi, Co-Trading Manager at Themis Trading.

“Allowing orders to interact with each other rather than segmenting them will increase competition and yield better prices.”

Opening orders from individual investors that can be executed immediately for competitive auctions could lead to “significantly” better prices for investors, the SEC said. In line with current practice, retail brokers send most of these orders to wholesale brokers, sometimes for a fee.

“The competitive shortfall could be worth about $1.5 billion annually compared to current practice — money that can go back into the pockets of retail investors,” said SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.

The changes, if adopted, would represent the biggest shake-up of stock market rules since the SEC introduced the National Market Regulation System in 2005, which aimed to modernize and improve an increasingly fragmented and largely electronic market.

Ronan Ryan, president and co-founder of exchange operator IEX Group Inc, said the reforms were a “constructive and positive effort to improve transparency, increase competition and ensure that investors can access the best prices available in the market.”

“It’s been 17 years since the existing equity rules were adopted, and since then the stock market has undergone significant changes – including the advent of high-frequency trading, a dramatic decline in the liquidity displayed on the exchange and a substantial increase in trading out of the bag,” Ryan said.

“Regulation modernization ensures that market competition between brokers, market makers and exchanges continues to benefit investors.”

The order competition rule, which would require negotiable retail orders to be submitted to auctions, could lead to more such orders being matched on exchanges such as the Nasdaq (NDAQ.O) or the New York Stock Exchange from Intercontinental Exchange Inc (ICE.N) rather than wholesale brokers such as Citadel Securities and Virtu Financial (VIRT.O). see more information

Nasdaq said it believes in “transparent, fair, efficient, competitive and inclusive markets and looks forward to reviewing the SEC proposals.

Citadel Securities said in a statement that “any proposed changes must provide demonstrable solutions to real problems while avoiding unintended consequences that will hurt US investors.”

Companies that benefit from the status quo, such as wholesalers and retail brokers who receive payments from them, are likely to fight the SEC’s proposals, said Stephen Hall, chief legal officer and securities expert at Better Markets.

“It’s imperative that the SEC resist industry pressure, carefully consider all stakeholder input, and finalize a set of rules that will really help investors finally get a better deal on Wall Street,” Hall said.

The SEC also voted to propose requiring brokers to provide more information about the quality of their clients’ trades, while expanding the number of companies that must file order execution reports.

The proposed changes will be put up for public comment until at least March 31, before the regulator moves on to finalize the rules, which will also be voted on.

The regulator also voted to expand disclosures about trading in the company’s shares by insiders, such as executives and directors, who received share-based compensation.

Reporting by John McCrank; Additional reporting by Sinead Carew and Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Stephen Coates

Our Standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

🇧🇷