|  | | 2004 News and Press Releases | | |
HEADLINE NEWS:
SEC May Delay Planned Vote On Stock Trades - Following Wall Street Criticism, Regulator Likely To Seek Comment On Expansion Of 'Best-Price' Rule
Deborah Solomon and Kate Kelly
The Wall Street Journal. December 1, 2004
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EXCERPT: RESPONDING TO opposition to its plans to vote this month on a proposal to revamp the way U.S. stocks are traded, the Securities and Exchange Commission signaled it will postpone a final decision and seek additional public comment. The SEC had planned to vote to overhaul the structure of the nation's stock markets at its Dec. 15 meeting. But after details of the plan, which was much different from what the agency had proposed publicly in February, leaked out, big traders, stock markets and other interested parties demanded that the SEC formally propose the new plan so they could weigh in. The agency announced yesterday it will consider such a move at the Dec. 15 meeting; SEC officials say Chairman William Donaldson and his four fellow commissioners are expected to support the delay. The officials, however, insisted that Mr. Donaldson still supports the plan and wants to have it approved largely intact by early next year. "We don't want to make a mistake or have any unintended consequences . . . but this is not a long-term delay," an SEC official said. As it stands now, the plan would extend a trading rule meant to guarantee that investors get the best price for stocks to apply to all markets and nearly all types of stock orders, according to people familiar with the matter. Investors would be entitled to the best price for most orders on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market, provided that the orders could be filled automatically and without human intervention. The national market-system rule -- known as Regulation NMS -- would also require that brokers "sweep" all markets to find the best price for a stock at a given moment. Details of the revised plan were first reported by The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 22. Some market participants have complained to the SEC that the agency is operating in secret and not inviting full debate on an important rule. The SEC acknowledged those concerns in a statement yesterday, saying the details of the current plan "differ in some respects from the rule text originally proposed" in February. The staff plans to "recommend that the Commission publish Regulation NMS in its revised form to provide the public an opportunity to review the details before the Commission takes final action." |
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