January 24, 2005
Anyone visiting the NYSE website and checking Disciplinary Actions will find that most of the largest specialists violated every major rule designed to protect their customersunder the stewardship of the disgraced and greedy Chairman Dick Grasso, between 1999 and 2003.Why did the investigations not include the time prior to 1999? I believe you would have found that the violations are systemic to the way business has always been conducted. This is the market that many of the commentatorsmostly specialists and floor brokers call the envy of the world.
Specialists and brokers are opposing the CLOB because it will eliminate competition and possibly inhibit order exposure. They fail to mention that under the current system, only they have the valuable information about buy and sell interest, and this is one of the major tools of their monopoly.The NYSE Hybrid Proposal maintains this unfair advantage while allowing the specialist to step in according to algorithms that Einstein might scratch his head trying to understand.
The SEC should boldly enact the proposed changes that will make the markets more open and transparent, including the CLOB.
By the way, will the SEC or Justice Dept be sending any of those who stole the publics money to jail or is stealing money on the floor of the NYSE a crime punishable by only by fine?