December 12, 2015
It's been interesting to read the public accounts of the money and time spent by high frequency traders and the existing public stock exchanges, to lobby your agency and other government officials, to prevent IEX from becoming a public exchange. That is, to prevent an honest competitor from introducing an innovation into the U.S. stock market that promises to benefit not only investors in that market but the entire U.S. economy-at the expense of high frequency traders and the existing public stock exchanges. IEX represents a market solution to a messy problem. It was created to protect investors against the predatory trading of high frequency traders. It has proven itself capable of doing so. If it is allowed to become a public exchange it will surely further reduce the tax levied by Wall Street intermediaries on U.S. stock market investors, and, in the bargain, introduce a new spirit of fairness to that market. I urge that the U.S. government authorities tasked with supervising the U.S. stock market move briskly to enable IEX to become a public exchange. Sincerely, Michael Lewis