SEC keeping a close eye on High speed trades- JPM, GS, BAC, C
Northern, WI 1/27/2013 (avauncer) - U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, is focusing to initiating proceedings against bourse and traders for any “real harm to clients” because of system failures. The regulator’s chief of enforcement, Robert Khuzami said the agency will be extending its vigilance to instances of weak controls over and above those relating to intentional misconduct or infringement of rules. He was addressing the conference of the Securities Regulation Institute, in California.
The focus would not be limited to “intent-based violation” only though. Many cases could surface where “consequences are real and harmful in terms of investor losses and market impact”, he added.
The enforcement division has initiated over 150 cases linked with financial crisis, 65 of these involve an action against senior officers. Khuzami’s whose tenure at the SEC will end two weeks from now has been an ardent supporter. He took charge as the enforcement head in the SEC in 2009. Formerly he worked as a federal prosecutor and also as a corporate lawyer.
Scrutiny of electronic-trading by SEC began as a result of market breakdowns like the May, 2010 flas-crash when Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 9.2%. During Khuzami’s reign the SEC fined many bourses and and dark-pool operators including NYSE Euronext (NYX) , which paid $5 million over charges of publishing news-feed to its clients before public disclosure.
The SEC has been criticized for not holding the higher-level hierarchy responsible for the financial mismanagement which triggered the massive bailout plans to the likes of Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC)’s and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C)’s rehabilitation, in the past.
Mostly the general public is inquisitive of “why Jamie Dimon and, Lloyd Blankfein and Dick Fuld and their lieutenants haven’t been charged” he said, while mentioning the mismanagements at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) and the Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
The shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) were up by 1.70% to $47.16. The shares of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE:GS) were down 0.34% to $144.46. Bank of America Corp. (NYSE:BAC) shares were up by 0.78% to $11.62. The Citigroup Inc. (NYSE:C) shares were up 0.26% to $42.91.
Mark
