March 25, 2016
I am a supporter of what IEX stands for and would like to see their application approved by the SEC as soon as possible.
The IEX is America's and possibly the world's only option for something resembling close to a level playing field in financial markets.
The SEC needs to right a wrong that is has been responsible for itself due to prior regulations that have never addressed the core of the issue (deceiving investors at the favour of brokers/traders) and which goes back all the way to the beginning of Wall Street. I do not accept the SEC to solve or be able to foresee all the mischievous and malign things the financial community will contrive in the future to cheat investors out of their money, but with IEX, for the first time in Wall Street history, there is a real chance to create a lasting impact and precedent.
Additionally, the SEC must understand that an informed investor will not accept being stripped clean by brokers/traders who possess no morals. This has been the case in the past, because the investor was not informed and as such the SEC never really had to act in support of the investor. Mostly, the financial community was favoured and appeased. But what with recent publications, it has become very clear that, when there is transparency and that transparency shows grave injustice, people demand fair treatment.
Additionally, I am absolutely amazed that the SEC has not granted approval to IEX. I assume it is because of a massive conflict of interest - SEC staff is hired by exactly those companies against which IEX is trying to protect investors: HFT and other such broker-traders. The SEC should start doing its job - protecting American investors - and stop looking out for its own narrow self-interests: a high-paying job on Wall Street or HFT Street.
For the first time in the history of Wall Street there is the chance to level the playing field. Certainly this calls for sound decision making and taking ones time. However, it appears that the SEC is stalling under the pressure of well-financed opponents of IEX who for so many years have been able to amass fortunes on the back of unsuspecting investors and are now using that money to lobby against anything that will put even a little dent into their - legally achieved (again, thanks to the SEC) but morally completely wrongfully attained - profits.
The Wall Street banks and large investment funds in favour of IEX have provided sufficient technical reason why IEX needs to be approved. Opponents have provided nothing but lies and opinions which reflect their extremely narrow self-interest. They have the right to do so, but I would hope that the SEC - as juicy as those jobs might seem for SEC staff and I'm sure at lot of promises have been made under the table by HFTs and Exchanges and other opponents - will remain unswayed by such temptations and keep in mind those they are meant to protect: the American investor.
What is at stake here is whether or not the future of the US financial system will stay inherently rigged against the investor, especially the small investor who represent the majority of Americans. This has clearly been the case in the past. Today there is much more transparency and that transparency has brought light into darkness. By approving the IEX, the SEC will ensure not that financial markets will finally become fair and totally transparent - that would be wishful thinking. But it will ensure that, maybe for a brief time in American history, the investor has a least a small alternative to being completely cheated by highly inventive yet unscrupulous financial professionals.