Bats Global files protest against IEX Group

IEX Group’s efforts to become a stock exchange may have hit a bump in the road.

Lenexa-based Bats Global Markets, which operates four U.S. stock venues, has called into question a key aspect of IEX’s stock trading platform in a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission. IEX’s “speed bump,” a 350-microsecond delay on incoming orders, gives an unfair advantage to some market participants, Bats said.

Bats said the SEC hasn’t set formal rules around intentionally slowing orders on registered exchanges. Bats also said IEX’s system lets its own members find out about completed trades from a real-time data feed, faster than other market players, which is an “unfair and unreasonably discriminatory advantage” that wasn’t mentioned in IEX’s application.

Bloomberg News

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 3:36 PM with the headline "Bats Global files protest against IEX Group."