The Securities and Exchange Commission has suffered a couple of setbacks vis-à-vis stock exchanges and data. Last week, a court said the regulator couldn’t force the NYSE and Nasdaq to conduct an expensive study on how their practice of paying lucrative rebates to brokers impacts customers. And earlier this month, the same court junked the SEC’s retroactive rejection of a price increase on the exchanges’ premium data feed.
It was all enough to take Kelly Loeffler’s mind off of the impending end of her political career. But the not-usually-wily Jay Clayton wasn’t content to leave it there. If he can’t block fee increases as it sees fit—which he’s still trying to do—maybe he and his new buddy Bill Barr can just get rid of the premium feed altogether.
The DOJ’s antitrust division could help the SEC determine whether exchanges’ data fees are subject to competition, Mr. Clayton added, seated alongside Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim, the DOJ’s top antitrust official….
Wall Street banks, brokers and high-speed trading firms have complained for years that the country’s big three stock-exchange operators charge too much for market data, particularly the feeds that provide the most complete view of market activity. The exchanges counter that their fees are reasonable and that firms can buy cheaper, public data feeds instead.
SEC, Justice Department to Scrutinize Exchanges’ Market-Data Business [WSJ]