SEC磨刀霍霍宣佈徹查高頻交易事件
On Thursday, SEC Chair Mary Jo White, speaking at a Wall Street investment conference, announced a slew of investigations, potential rule changes, and monitoring methods that could lead to a significant crackdown of high-frequency trading (HFT).
上週四，在華爾街投資會議上，美國證券交易委員會（SEC）主席瑪麗o喬o懷特宣佈將展開一系列調查，改變相關潛規則，同時採取監控措施，目的是爲了重點打擊高頻交易（HFT）。The list of investigations was lengthy. White said the SEC is looking into whether exchanges allow HFT firms to place their buy and sell orders in ways that give them an advantage over other traders. The SEC is looking into whether so-called dark pools, where some investors try to mask their trading activity, should be forced to report more of their transaction data. White also noted that the SEC is looking at whether exchanges should be giving trading data to some HFT firms faster than everyone else. On top of that, the SEC is going to look at whether exchanges should try to de-emphasize speedy trading.
這項調查的清單十分冗長。懷特說，SEC將調查高頻交易公司是否獲得交易所的允許，藉助比其他交易商更爲有利的方式來提交買賣訂單。SEC還將調查是否應強制所謂的“暗池”交易參與者上報更多的交易數據，因爲部分投資者通過“暗池”交易掩蓋自己真正的交易活動。懷特還提到，SEC將調查交易所是否應該將交易數據提前透漏給高頻交易公司。此外，SEC也將調查交易所是否應嘗試遏制快速交易。White said that she is also examining whether the market is too fragmented. There’s an SEC committee looking into that, and market structure in general, as well.
懷特表示，她也會關注證券交易市場是否過於分散。SEC的一個委員會將負責對此事進行調查，同時也將對整個市場結構進行評估。
So, pretty much everything you can think of about high frequency trading is under review.
因此，涉及高頻交易的方方面面基本上都將受到調查。That might lead you to believe that the SEC, after years of looking at HFT, has finally came to the conclusion that it is bad, except for this: There is very little in what White announced that directly seems like a crackdown of high frequency trading firms. Most of the potential changes White announced had to do with the exchanges.
人們可能會據此認爲，在關注高頻交易多年之後，SEC終於得出了結論——高頻交易不是好事，但也有例外：在懷特所做的聲明中，與打擊高頻交易公司直接相關的內容似乎寥寥無幾。懷特所提到的大部分潛在的變化都與交易所有關。The one major change for HFT firms is that they have to register as brokers with the SEC. HFT firms have long made the argument that they are basically market making firms, helping others, albeit indirectly, trade. By having them register as brokers, the SEC basically validates the argument that these firms service the market and other traders, even if the only trading they do is with their own cash. So, while the SEC will get to monitor HFT a little more closely, its moves will also make HFT a little more legit.
高頻交易面臨的一個重大變化就是，它們必須通過註冊成爲SEC麾下的經紀商。長期以來，高頻交易公司一直都聲稱自己只是做市商，幫助他人（間接地）開展交易。一旦這些公司註冊成爲經紀商之後，哪怕它們所從事的唯一交易是在花自己的錢，SEC基本上也就證實了這些公司是在爲市場和其他交易商提供服務。因此，儘管此舉能讓SEC更爲密切地監控高頻交易公司，但是它也會讓這些公司的舉動稍微具有一些合法性。The SEC’s initiatives come roughly a month after the publication of Michael Lewis’ Flash Boys, an account of HFT that basically calls all HFT firms a bunch of crooks. So you can’t fault the SEC for announcing something. Its job is to make the market look fair. And if you don’t know what to do, announcing that you are reviewing everything you can think of isn’t the worst approach. But it’s also a sign that in the end the SEC might end up deciding not to do a heck of a lot.
就在邁克o路易斯《快閃小子》（Flash Boys）一書出版不到一個月，SEC就提出了這一動議。這本書對高頻交易進行了介紹，還把所有的高頻交易公司稱之爲一幫惡棍。因此，SEC做出這個聲明也在情理之中，因爲它的職責就是讓市場看起來更爲公平。當然，如果你不知道到底應該怎麼做的話，宣佈一個面面俱到的調查方案也不失爲一個可行的策略。但是，它也意味着，SEC最終可能決定撤銷的內容也少不了。
