May 6th, 2010 lives in infamy in financial markets; a precipitate dive on the US stock market wiping a trillion dollars off the value of equities in just under 30 minutes stunned the industry.

The speed at which such an astonishing crash took place was partly in thanks to the ever-shrinking...

It is gratifying to see the serious attention that regulators, traders, brokers and the buyside are paying to market surveillance today. It was not always the case. The credit crisis began a domino-effect market crash that rang alarm bells and woke them up; then the flash crash jolted them like a cup...

Market surveillance needs permeate financial services firms from pre-trade to settlement, from trading via instant messenger services to exchanges and ECNs like never before in history. Every message, every trade, every conversation, every Tweet must be recorded, taped and downloaded into a database...

The Buck Stops At The Brokerage In Key West there is a famous cat show on the waterfront at sunset where the trainer (yes, cats can be trained) gives his performers their signals and they rush to slowly do his bidding. He says to them, often: "Hurry up, take your time." Such is the nature of...

Yesterday the CFTC, the regulator in charge of Futures and Options markets, announced a new Technology Advisory Committee (TAC), chaired by the very capable Commissioner Scott O’Malia. Read the complete...