NYSE chief working to reduce stock market risk
The Atlanta owner of the New York Stock Exchange said Friday that taking unnecessary risk out of the trading system is a “top priority for us right now.”
Jeff Sprecher, the CEO of IntercontinentalExchange, said at the company’s annual meeting that he thought the markets had “moved too far toward technology.” That has led fewer people to invest their money in the stock market, and for some to argue that the markets are rigged.
ICE is taking steps to make the stock market simpler, and to that end has hired technology experts away from high-speed trading firms, Sprecher said. Those experts are looking at everything from how to prevent quick drops in stock price, known as flash crashes, to the algorithms that traders use.
“It’s a work in progress,” Sprecher said. “There is more we can do unilaterally.”
Last week, Sprecher announced that ICE would simplify its order types, eliminating about a dozen that were overly complicated. He said then, and repeated Friday, that the New York Stock Exchange should be a leader, but that change is needed across the industry.
Sprecher also said ICE is gutting the offices above the stock exchange’s historic trading floor and rebuilding. The building is “iconic,” Sprecher said, and the company wants “to keep it and own it,” but also wants the space to function better. ICE is expanding the trading floor and will put more employees in that area to collaborate around trading, Sprecher said.
About the Author
Arielle Kass covers Gwinnett County for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She started at the paper in 2010, and has covered business and local government beats around metro Atlanta. Arielle is a graduate of Emory University.
