The end of naked sponsored access

The conventional wisdom as of late has been that the SEC would crack down on so-called naked access or naked sponsored access. The whole idea seemed to fly in the face of reform and market structure issues. A force in the whole movement was the paper put out by Lime Brokerage, which warned of some catastrophic consequences if wrong or faulty orders were entered via a sponsored entity.

There will not doubt be some chafing on Wall Street, as a sponsored access is growing quickly and accounts for a rising share of all volume. But it is important to note that there are different kinds of sponsored access. I'm guessing that only naked access will be covered by the ban proposed by the SEC. My guess is that broker-dealer intending to hold on to their market share will be converting their systems to allow for the proper controls that would allow them to continue offering the service. Aite says that sponsored access represents about half of U.S. equities trading, with unfiltered access accounting for 38 percent.

For more:
- here's a Bloomberg article

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