Legal Liability for Fraud in the Evolving Architecture of Securities Markets: From Marketplaces to Traders
GLOBAL ALGORITHMIC CAPITAL MARKETS: HIGH FREQUENCY TRADING, DARK POOLS, AND REGULATORY CHALLENGES, Walter Mattli, ed., pp. 260-279, 2019, DOI:10.1093/oso/9780198829461.003.0010, reproduced by permission of Oxford University Press
21 Pages Posted: 8 Mar 2021
Date Written: 2019
Abstract
This chapter analyses the reach of legal liability for securities fraud in the United States in relation to certain types of abuses often associated with high-frequency trading strategies. The nature of algorithmic and high-frequency trading presents new challenges for establishing legal liability for fraud in securities markets. It specifically examines the reach of legal liability in relation to two, sometimes overlapping, entities: marketplaces and proprietary traders. Through an examination of various informational asymmetries in securities markets, including the order type controversy, this chapter finds that establishing liability for securities fraud is significantly murkier for proprietary traders than for marketplaces. Subsequently, this study addresses potential approaches to the reach of liability to traders and discusses mechanics and proper characterization of the underlying harm.
Keywords: securities fraud, liability, high-frequency trading, informational asymmetry, the order type controversy
JEL Classification: G18, K22
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation