In an effort to regulate high frequency trading and maintain transparency, the Securities and Exchange Commission is planning to launch a new website where it will publish data and research on HFT.
The SEC recently said that it captures and processes over 1 billion records per day using its MIDAS platform. MIDAS, or Market Information Data Analytics System, is the SEC’s weapon of choice to catch high frequency trading manipulation red-handed. It has the ability to determine “every displayed order for shares on exchanges, not just the best offers reported to the public tape.” In addition the platform can “gather data on orders that are modified, canceled or filled.”
Despite the inherent conflicts of interest caused by MIDAS being designed by an HFT firm, chairwoman Mary Jo White is confident in her agencies ability to regulate the markets and relay their work to the public in a transparent and easy-to-understand manner.
It also will allow users to explore trading-activity patterns in “easy-to-read charts and graphs,” she said, according to prepared remarks for the Security Traders Association’s market structure conference.
White said in April that the SEC needed to bring a “sense of urgency” to answering whether high-frequency trading, dark pools and the proliferation of complex order types harm retail investors or create an uneven playing field.
Via: floatingpath.com
