WASHINGTON, D.C.— Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy for Better Markets, issued the following statement in connection with the filing of Better Markets’ comment letter with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the request by 24X National Exchange LLC (24X) for exemptive relief to allow it to commence overnight trading:
“Wall Street itself calls the prospect of 24/7 trading ‘the worse thing in the world.’ When the SEC approved 24X’s registration as a national securities exchange in 2024, we said that the one saving grace was that the SEC prevented 24X from commencing overnight trading until the securities information processors (SIPs) extended their own hours so they could collect, consolidate, process and disseminate quotation and transaction information at all times during the overnight trading session. That has still not occurred, yet 24X now seeks exemptive relief to permit it to do now what the SEC explicitly refused to allow it to do then.
“As we said in our comment letter, the SEC knew when it approved 24X’s registration that commenters had raised concerns about allowing overnight trading without the SIPs also extending their trading hours. Market participants would not be able to effectively monitor the markets during an overnight trading session unless they could rely on the independent public data feeds that the SIPs provide. This issue persists, and 24X’s ‘belief’ that it thought the SIPs would have extended their own hours to accommodate 24/7 trading by now is no reason to relieve it of the conditions the SEC imposed for permitting overnight trading.
“It would be better for the SEC to reconsider 24/7 trading entirely. 24/7 trading is likely to lead to investors receiving worse prices during overnight trading sessions due to lower liquidity and higher volatility, to investors engaging in riskier behavior at night, and to investors trading while regulators will literally be asleep at the switch. Unfortunately, the SEC seems determined to allow it. This being so, it should heed Commissioner Peirce and Commissioner Crenshaw’s statement at the time of 24X’s registration that ‘the approval order allows overnight trading to commence only after the [SIPs] are in concurrent operation.’ The SEC should not pretend this was optional. The SEC should ensure this condition is satisfied before unleashing overnight trading on the investing public.”
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.
