SEC Proposes Eliminating Equities Trade-Through Rule (1)

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed eliminating a rule that aims to ensure investors get better prices for their transactions.

The current version of the so-called trade-through rule has been in place since 2005. It prohibits exchanges, alternative trading systems and wholesalers like Citadel Securities or Virtu Financial Inc. from executing trades that “trade-through” or execute below the national best bid or offer price, which has helped ensure individual investors receive fair treatment.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has been a critic of the rule since its inception, dissenting against it when he was a Republican commissioner. He has said the ...