Last week, Washington, D.C. played host to STA's annual market structure conference, luring prominent figures from the world's largest stock brokers, exchanges and trading firms. This event is one of the few non-crypto gatherings I make an effort to attend in order to stay informed about developments in the U.S. equity market structure. This year proved particularly intriguing for me, as it was the first time the event was held in a post-FTX world.
In July, the agency proposed new broker requirements aimed at addressing "conflicts" by essentially eliminating features that might influence an investor's decision regarding a particular investment. Bloomberg's Larry Tabb explained the controversy surrounding this proposal during a conference side event.
There's also the recent commotion surrounding the SEC's new rules on short selling disclosures for hedge funds, which were put into effect earlier this month. These regulations mandate that such firms must provide substantially more information about their short-sale transactions to the agency, with the aim of enhancing transparency in the aftermath of the GameStop saga.