Change has been sweeping the securities markets, as millions of new investors and increasing competition from the ECNs have put pressure on the nation's two biggest exchanges, the Nasdaq and the New York Stock Exchange. Levitt has expressed concern that the sprouting of competing markets that don't share price information with each other could prevent investors from getting the best price on their orders. He has warned that the nation's stock markets will lose their competitive edge to foreign markets if investors lose confidence in the ability to get their trades completed at the best prices, commonly known as best execution. For stock options trading, the SEC proposed a rule that would require brokers to tell customers when their orders were executed at a price inferior to the best quote in the market. Investors would not be assured the right to request routing of their orders to a specific market or broker, however.
Some active investors negotiate such arrangements with their brokers.
All the proposed rules were put out for 45 days of public comment. The agency did not order the exchanges to participate in it, however. The SEC announced that it was establishing a federal advisory committee to help it consider the public availability of market information on stocks and options. The committee will be headed by Joel Seligman, dean of the Washington University Law School, in St. Louis who is an expert on securities regulation. The Associated Press.