A comparative analysis of the US and EU retail banking markets - Wsbi
A comparative analysis of the US and EU retail banking markets - Wsbi
A comparative analysis of the US and EU retail banking markets - Wsbi
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4.3.2.2.4 National Market System rules<br />
■<br />
The Order Protection Rule<br />
In 1975 <strong>the</strong> SEC has been m<strong>and</strong>ated by <strong>the</strong><br />
Congress to use its rulemaking authority to develop<br />
an efficient New Market System for equity securities.<br />
The SEC was assigned with a power to “eliminate all<br />
unnecessary or inappropriate burdens on competition,<br />
pursue <strong>the</strong> goal to centralised trading <strong>of</strong> securities<br />
<strong>and</strong> provide leadership for <strong>the</strong> development <strong>of</strong> a<br />
more coherent <strong>and</strong> rational regulatory structure to<br />
correspond to <strong>and</strong> to police effectively <strong>the</strong> new<br />
national market system” 217 . The Congress fur<strong>the</strong>rmore<br />
encouraged <strong>the</strong> SEC to "assure economically efficient<br />
execution <strong>of</strong> securities transactions, fair competition<br />
among brokers <strong>and</strong> dealers, among exchange<br />
<strong>markets</strong>, <strong>and</strong> between exchange <strong>markets</strong> <strong>and</strong><br />
<strong>markets</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r than exchange <strong>markets</strong>" 218 .<br />
To improve <strong>the</strong> functioning <strong>of</strong> financial <strong>markets</strong><br />
<strong>and</strong> to protect investors, <strong>the</strong> SEC adopted <strong>the</strong> NMS<br />
regulation in April 2005 after years <strong>of</strong> extensive<br />
consultations with <strong>the</strong> industry 219 . The regulation was<br />
considered necessary to respond to <strong>the</strong> numerous<br />
changes that were noted on <strong>the</strong> equities <strong>markets</strong> in<br />
<strong>the</strong> last few years, as a result <strong>of</strong> new technologies,<br />
new market participants <strong>and</strong> new types <strong>of</strong> <strong>markets</strong>.<br />
According to <strong>the</strong> SEC, <strong>the</strong> NMS today encompasses<br />
stocks <strong>of</strong> “more than 5,000 companies, which<br />
collectively represent more than $14 trillion in <strong>US</strong><br />
market capitalisation (approximately €11.5 trillion)” 220 .<br />
Once <strong>the</strong> Regulation NMS enters into force <strong>the</strong> two<br />
biggest <strong>US</strong> stock exchange <strong>markets</strong>, <strong>the</strong> NYSE <strong>and</strong><br />
NASDAQ, will become subject to a common set <strong>of</strong><br />
rules, but without a tendency to merge <strong>the</strong>ir structures<br />
in one. This is a significant step forward for exchanges<br />
which have traditionally operated on completely<br />
different platforms, <strong>the</strong> former with <strong>the</strong> physical<br />
auction trading floor where buyers <strong>and</strong> sellers meet<br />
directly <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> latter with an electronic platform.<br />
The NMS Regulation includes four straightforward<br />
rules which are designed to modernise <strong>the</strong> regulatory<br />
structure <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>US</strong> equity <strong>markets</strong>: <strong>the</strong> order<br />
protection rule, <strong>the</strong> access rule, <strong>the</strong> sub-penny rule<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> market data rules. Some <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rules existed<br />
before, but had a more limited scope, while <strong>the</strong><br />
o<strong>the</strong>rs are a response to new market developments.<br />
The Order Protection Rule is designed to protect<br />
displayed <strong>and</strong> immediately accessible automated<br />
quotations from trade-throughs for all types <strong>of</strong> NMS<br />
stocks (i.e. NYSE-, Amex- <strong>and</strong> NASDAQ-listed stocks) 221 .<br />
It should be noted that <strong>the</strong> trade through rule was<br />
already applicable on NYSE, but <strong>the</strong> Regulation NMS<br />
brought in certain improvements <strong>and</strong> extended <strong>the</strong><br />
scope <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> rule so that it now also applies to<br />
NASDAQ. The rationale behind <strong>the</strong> rule is to ensure<br />
fair market practice <strong>and</strong> increase protection <strong>of</strong><br />
investors, who are <strong>of</strong>ten unaware that <strong>the</strong>ir orders<br />
have not been executed at best available prices.<br />
A SEC study found that trade-trough became a<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r frequent practice on <strong>the</strong> <strong>US</strong> market, namely<br />
that “1 out <strong>of</strong> 40 trades for both NYSE <strong>and</strong> NASDAQ<br />
stocks were executed at prices inferior to <strong>the</strong> best<br />
displayed quotations, which amounts to approximately<br />
98,000 trades per day in NASDAQ stocks alone” 222 .<br />
■<br />
The Access Rule<br />
The Access Rule requires trading centres to ensure<br />
fair <strong>and</strong> non-discriminatory access to quotations<br />
through a private linkage approach, so that investors<br />
benefit from <strong>the</strong> possibility <strong>of</strong> indirect access through<br />
<strong>the</strong> members, subscribers, or customers <strong>of</strong> a trading<br />
centre in question. In addition, <strong>the</strong> rule establishes<br />
a limit on access fees to harmonise <strong>the</strong> pricing <strong>of</strong><br />
quotations across different trading centres.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>rmore, SROs (Self Regulatory organisations)<br />
became obliged to enforce rules which would<br />
prohibit <strong>the</strong>ir members to display quotations that<br />
lock or cross <strong>the</strong> automated quotations <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />
trading centres (this however does not apply to<br />
manual quotations).<br />
■<br />
The Sub-Penny Rule<br />
The Sub-Penny Rule prohibits market participants to<br />
display, rank or accept quotations in NMS stocks that<br />
are priced in an increment <strong>of</strong> less than $0.01, unless<br />
<strong>the</strong> price <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> quotation is less than $1.00 (in that<br />
case <strong>the</strong> minimum increment is $0.0001). This rule<br />
aims to prevent <strong>the</strong> practice <strong>of</strong> “stepping ahead”,<br />
i.e. prevent displayed limit orders to be exceeded by<br />
negligible amounts.<br />
217 New York Court <strong>of</strong> Appeals, Kenneth H. Guice v. Charles Schwab & CO., 89 N.Y.2d 31, 674 N.E.2d 282, 651 N.Y.S.2d 352, 15 October 1996.<br />
218 New York Court <strong>of</strong> Appeals, Kenneth H. Guice v. Charles Schwab & CO., 89 N.Y.2d 31, 674 N.E.2d 282, 651 N.Y.S.2d 352, 15 October 1996.<br />
219 It became effective on 29 August 2005, <strong>and</strong> implementation is scheduled for 2006.<br />
220 <strong>US</strong> SEC, «Regulation NMS: Final rules <strong>and</strong> amendments to joint industry plans», 9 June 2005.<br />
221 Trade through is <strong>the</strong> execution at a price that is inferior than a price displayed on ano<strong>the</strong>r market. Accordingly, trading centers must execute all <strong>the</strong> orders at<br />
<strong>the</strong> best accessible prices or route <strong>the</strong>se orders to trading centers where more favorable prices are displayed.<br />
222 <strong>US</strong> SEC, «Regulation NMS: Final rules <strong>and</strong> amendments to joint industry plans», 9 June 2005.<br />
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