WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal regulator says his agency is considering new rules governing where high-frequency traders can locate computers in response to the May 6 stock market plunge.
Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, says in testimony for a Senate hearing that the agency is evaluating the location of the high-speed computers. Traders often position their computers close to the big exchanges’ data centers, a practice called co-location, which can cut their trade times by milliseconds.
Gensler and Mary Schapiro, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, were appearing at the Senate hearing two weeks after the Dow Jones industrials dropped nearly 1,000 points in less than 30 minutes.
