Open Markets, April 5, 2012 

In this interview, Don Wilson talks about his experience trading Eurodollar options on the floor of the CME and observes that high-frequency trading is a natural evolution of the trading process. He also describes the opportunities created by the Dodd-Frank Act for firms like DRW to access the interest rate swaps market and provide liquidity to customers in that market. Don Wilson is the founder and chief executive of DRW Trading Group. He is also chairman of the FIA Principal Traders Association. 

RGM Executive Cautions CFTC on Approach to Regulating High-Frequency Trading (March 29, 2012)

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission should rely on empirical evidence rather than “suspicion, emotion, rumor and anecdote” when designing new regulatory policies to address changes in the technology of trading, Richard Gorelick, the chief executive officer of RGM Advisors, said in a March 29 statement.

Speaking at a meeting of the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee, Gorelick urged the CFTC to move “beyond the preoccupation with HFT” and focus instead on potential risks and undesirable behaviors across all market participants, and then take “thoughtful and concrete steps based on real evidence.” He also urged the CFTC to look at all trading firms using automated trading systems with direct connections to exchanges, rather than narrowly focusing on firms that engage in high-frequency trading strategies. “We maintain that anyone trading should have proper risk controls in place and should be subject to proper market surveillance--no matter at what frequency they operate,” said Gorelick, who is a member of the CFTC’s Technology Advisory Committee as well as a member of the FIA Principal Traders Group.

“I have consistently supported a regulatory environment that promotes fair competition, encourages innovation, enhances transparency, manages systemic risk, lowers costs for investors and hedgers, and gives regulators the tools they need to detect and deter abuses. Most importantly, I believe that any inquiry into the performance of our markets should be driven by empirical evidence of what’s actually going on in the markets.” 

Click Here for the Full Statement

Craig Pirrong, Bauer College of Business, University of Houston
March 25, 2012