Fred Tomczyk

Speed to Market: The Evolution of Trading

Chris Brummer, Seth Marin, Jamil Nazarali, Joe Ratterman, Fred Tomczyk, Greg Toussart, Adni DePaulo

A panel of industry leaders debated the dual impact of high-frequency trading, highlighting record-low commissions and faster execution for retail investors against the significant execution challenges and information leakage faced by institutional buyers. While participants agreed that automation and regulatory measures like Limit Up/Limit Down have improved market efficiency, they disagreed on whether the current "arms race" for speed creates a fair environment or merely favors those who can afford co-location infrastructure. The discussion underscored a fundamental tension between the benefits of price discovery for small investors and the need for new liquidity obligations to protect large-scale market participants.