Exchanges Supercharge Rules to Fight Cheaters Based Outside U.S.

Foreign day traders were breaking rules and dodging regulators when Chris Concannon left Nasdaq Inc. in 2009. When he returned to the exchange industry five years later, he was dismayed to find it was still happening.

Now Concannon, back in the industry as chief executive officer of Bats Global Markets Inc., is leading the charge against brokers that enable manipulators. Bats got regulators’ approval to move quickly against market participants whose clients engage in illegal practices like spoofing, barring them in weeks rather than the months or years it used to take. The company also introduced a neighborhood-watch style program to encourage more brokers to speak up when their peers abet manipulation.