New York – In this week’s Wall Street Letter there is an article entitled “STA Pushes for Reg NMS Rule Appeal”.  Of course, the main issue with Reg NMS is the best price provision, which means that orders need to be done at the best quoted price on automated exchanges (OPR).

The Security Traders Association (STA) indicates that the legislation is not doing what it was intended to do and points to 17 exemptions from the rule as an indication that the rule is really not needed.

There are those that point to the rule as another reason to push volume into dark pools and hence reducing the amount of displayed liquidity.

Still, the fact that the rule has already caused the expenditure of millions of dollars as firms bring trading systems up to scratch to handle the requirements, and the attitude of the SEC that the rule simply provides additional incentives to display prices, seems to be enough to suggest that the STA will find it difficult to amend Reg NMS.