Flash orders, we hardly knew ye. In just two weeks, these trades have exploded into public consciousness and then been served a likely death sentence by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Used in perhaps 2 per cent of US equity trading, investors can have their order “flashed” to a group of traders a fraction of a second before the broader market; the aim is to reduce trading costs. The SEC is also set to examine “dark pools”, electronic trading venues that do not publicly display quotes, and high frequency trading (HFT). The UK's securities watchdog is doing the same.
閃電指令(flash orders)，曾經我們對你幾乎一無所知。短短兩周，這種交易便迅速引起了公眾關注，然后被美國證券交易委員會(SEC)迅速宣判了死刑。這種指令應用于大約2%的美國證券交易，可以先于公開市場前幾分之一秒，將投資者的指令“閃電”般地發送給一組交易員；其目的是降低交易成本。證交會還將審查“資金暗池”（dark pools，即不公開顯示報價的電子交易）和高頻交易(HFT)。英國監管機構也在采取同樣的舉措。