Flash Boys’ New U.S. Rules Will Let Them Keep Trading Secrets

  • CFTC rule scraps controversial provision from Obama-era plan
  • Earlier proposal shelved amid widespread industry opposition
Source: ipopba/iStockphoto via Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

U.S. derivatives regulators are preparing to issue a new plan to regulate high-frequency trading after much-tougher Obama-era proposals were killed amid widespread industry opposition.

Rules to be proposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission will lay out a set of principles that exchanges must adopt in overseeing markets where computer-driven trading occurs at lightning-fast speeds, according to four people with direct knowledge of the matter. In a major change from earlier plans, the CFTC is dropping a controversial provision that would’ve made it easier for the agency to obtain traders’ computer code.