Germany Plans New High-Frequency Trader Rule, Handelsblatt Says

Germany’s government will propose that all high-frequency traders, including those trading for their own account, will be classified as financial services and securities services firms and therefore must be registered with Germany’s financial regulator Bafin, Handelsblatt reported.

High-frequency traders must also inform the regulator of their algorithmic trades and strategies, the newspaper said today, citing an almost completed draft bill from the finance ministry. The new regulation is designed to strengthen market stability by preventing stresses to the system from high order intakes and market overreactions stemming from algorithmic trading systems as well as prohibit malpractices, the German newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Niklas Magnusson in Hamburg at nmagnusson1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Angela Cullen at acullen8@bloomberg.net