The Securities and Exchange Commission has rolled out its intentions to regulate high-frequency trading, making stricter regulation in some form a strong possibility, but the agency faces more work and some challenging obstacles before it can put new rules in the books. SEC Chair Mary Jo White in a speech last week outlined her goals for regulating high-frequency trading (HFT), at a time when political interest over the fairness and risks of the practice has surged in the wake of a best-selling book by financial writer Michael Lewis. White‘s intentions for regulating high-frequency trading, which has taken a dominant role in U.S. equity markets, include registration requirements for proprietary fast-traders. Under such rules, firms registering as broker dealers would have to meet net capital requirements and establish adequate risk management controls. The agency is also working on a rule to restrict disruptive trading rule. The rule would apply to proprietary traders in "short
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