‘Flash Boys’ Speed Bump for Futures Gets Regulator Go-Ahead
- CFTC won’t stand in way of ICE’s delay for gold and silver
- Exchange plans first-ever trading pause for futures contracts
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Intercontinental Exchange Inc.’s plan to slow down lightning-fast traders in the futures market has gotten the green light from regulators.
The go-ahead from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, announced Wednesday, comes after ICE announced in February that it planned to impose a 3-millisecond trading delay on gold and silver contracts. The pause would be the first-ever speed bump for futures, showing that an idea popularized in Michael Lewis’s 2014 book “Flash Boys” to rein in high-frequency traders is gaining more adherents.