Industry Issues & Initiatives

FASB Rule May Outlaw Block Discount Valuations

Uncertainty over the future of applying "blockage discounts" when valuing thinly traded securities needs to be resolved urgently if firms are to meet the deadline for compliance with the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Statement (SFAS) 157,…

Penny Mitigation Strategies Slow Opra Volume Growth

The Options Price Reporting Authority last week announced its revised bandwidth projections for next year, revealing for the first time a decrease in the expected total number of messages per day, and a slight delay to the increases in bandwidth required…

FISD Sets Up Data Piracy Committee

Industry association FISD has established a committee to address the worsening problem of market data piracy, which leaves data providers unable to compete in countries where piracy is rampant.

Exchanges Rally Against Anti-Fee Campaign

The issue of a petition by Internet interest group NetCoalition to block the imposition of fees for certain market data products by exchanges was raised during testimony of Securities and Exchange Commission chairman Christopher Cox before the House…

Users, Exchanges Weigh Data Volume Issues

Exchanges and user firms are still grappling with capacity issues to handle the flood of increasing market data, according to panel discussions at recent industry events in New York.

Let the Games Begin

This week, most North American financial technologists will descend on the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan for the annual rite of passage: the Securities Industry & Financial Markets Association's (Sifma's) Technology Management Conference and…

Penny-Options Strategies Slow Growth

Following the success of quote mitigation strategies by US options exchanges to manage the anticipated growth in market data from the Securities and Exchange Commission's pilot phase of quoting options in penny increments, exchanges and observers are now…

Panel: Mifid Offerings Clog Market

LONDON—New market facilities and services that are popping up in the face of the E.U.'s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid) are becoming giant question marks for the financial community, industry watchers say.