Statement of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2010-73

Washington, D.C., May 7, 2010 — The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission today released the following statement:

“We are continuing to review the unusual trading activity that took place briefly yesterday afternoon to pinpoint its cause and contributing factors.

“Since yesterday, we have been in regular contact with other financial regulators and our respective exchanges. We also have been in touch with our foreign counterparts around the world.

“Our market oversight units are reviewing trading and market data from the exchanges, self regulatory organizations and market participants to examine yesterday's unusual trading activity. We are scrutinizing the extent to which disparate trading conventions and rules across various markets may have contributed to the spike in volatility.

“We are devoting significant resources and expertise to this effort.

“As we determine the cause and contributing factors, we will make our findings and any recommendations public.

“Thursday’s unusual trading activity included extreme volatility for a number of individual securities. This is inconsistent with the effective functioning of our capital markets and we will make whatever structural or other changes are needed.

“Market clearance and settlement processes functioned well and without incident."

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http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-73.htm