By James Langton
(October 8 – 16:00 ET) — The National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange say their working groups have reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission on the issue of extended trading hours.
The groups were established June 30 at a summit called by the SEC and sponsored by the NASD and NYSE. Their reports offer recommendations on investor protection and education, clearance and settlement, operations issues and trading conventions. A fourth report, on options trading, has yet to be completed.
Frank Zarb, chair and chief executive of the NASD, says extended hours “are inevitable, noting that the major players should try to introduce them on a coordinated basis.
SEC chair Arthur Levitt lauded the NASD and NYSE for their work. “These reports provide valuable insights into issues that must be considered before the major securities markets open for extended trading.” He said the section concerning investor education and protection contains recommendations that are relevant to normal trading.
Levitt also reiterated the SEC’s obsession with best execution, saying brokers have a duty to provide it regardless of when they are trading.
Ironically, the reports come on a day when Nasdaq is announcing that it will again push back its start date for displaying after-hours quotes to Oct. 25. Nasdaq has already put it off once and said it is doing so again at the behest of its members, who want more time to get their systems set up to handle it. However, Nasdaq has also suffered some technical glitches this week. Several items were knocked off the system earlier this week, and this morning some brokers were having problems with the system’s speed and accuracy. Nasdaq quickly resolved the problems.
The reports will be made available for public comment on the NASD and NYSE Web sites.
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