| The chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission has outlined plans for an overhaul of what he described as an “uneven” and unfair US equity market, drawing fire from traders that have flourished under the system.said on Wednesday that he had asked agency staff to consider a series of significant changes, including a possible auction process to increase competition between services for retail investors.
“It’s not clear . . . that our current national market system is as fair and competitive as possible for investors. I think we can do better here for retail investors,” Mr Gensler told a conference hosted by investment bank Piper Sandler.Mr Gensler repeatedly stressed that the plans were still at a preliminary stage and that the regulator would listen to concerns.
The suggestions prompted immediate pushback from the trading industry. Douglas Cifu, chief executive of market maker Virtu Financial, said the SEC had provided no proof that the existing system was not working. Wholesalers promise to provide investors with a slightly better price than market quotes, but Mr Gensler said “price improvement without competition . . . isn’t necessarily the best price improvement”, with trading firms potentially “saving more than they’re passing along to investors”.