“During a clip on Sunday night’s “60 Minutes” program, host Steve Kroft asked bestselling author Michael Lewis why he was so opposed to high frequency trading.
“If it wasn’t so complicated, it would be illegal,” said Lewis, who is the author of a new book called “Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt.”
“Lewis had a wide public following for his books on Wall Street, such as “The Big Short” exploring trading practices at the heart of the financial crisis. His comments on “60 Minutes” triggered a debate about high frequency trading across the media and on social media platforms.”
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“Dennis Kelleher, the president and chief executive officer of Better Markets, the Washington based advocacy group, said he hopes the attention from the “60 Minutes” program will lead to a public outcry on an issue that has been placed on the backburner in Washington.
“The HFT market of today is the OTC market before the crisis. There are no transparency and no regulation,” Kelleher said.
“There is no one in Washington who is serious about protecting markets from these predatory practices. Michael Lewis’s book is an opportunity to shine a light on what is going on in this dark market,” said Kelleher.”
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Read full Reuters blog post here.