US trading systems ‘holding up well,’ top Securities and Exchange Commission official says

Trader Talk

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., March 2, 2020.

Brendan McDermid | Reuters

The crazy market volatility has put unprecedented stress on the U.S. and global trading system. 

Friday saw the largest dollar volume trading for U.S. equities in history: $984 billion changed hands, according to Goldman Sachs, nearly three times normal levels. 

That kind of trading volume catches the attention of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Brett Redfearn, the SEC’s director of the Division of Trading and Markets, has been monitoring trading to make sure the system is running smoothly.  His verdict:  “The reality is, given the record volume of trafficking, the system is holding up well.”

 Redfearn also said the SEC has been in regular contact with other U.S. government agencies, including the Federal Reserve and Department of Treasury, as well as banks, asset managers, and market makers. 

 We’ll dive into this topic more tomorrow with Brett Redfearn on Squawk Alley at 11 a.m.  We’ll talk how the SEC is monitoring market volatility, how well the trading systems are holding up, and coordination with other government organizations. 

That’s exclusively on CNBC.

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