NCJ Number
120880
Date Published
1989
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examines potential benefits in using the Chicago futures exchanges' planned automated systems to detect or prevent trade practice abuses, potential vulnerabilities associated with using automated systems in conjunction with or in place of the current open-outcry trading process, and Commodity Futures Trading Commission's activities in assessing automated exchange systems.
Abstract
The study involved a review of documentation and interviews with officials at the Commission, the Chicago Board of Trade, and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange are studying and developing automated order routing systems to increase the efficiency of the open-outcry trading process and to better handle larger trading volumes. To better detect trade practice abuses in the open-outcry process, the exchanges recently announced a joint effort to develop an electronic audit trail system to record each trading transaction using hand-held terminals. In addition, the exchanges are developing after-hours trading systems, which will be used instead of the open-outcry process to expand operations outside normal trading hours. If properly implemented, these planned automation initiatives can better detect trading abuses, because they can provide improved trade timing data. Because these systems are still in the planning stage, however, the extent to which the technology can be used to control trading abuses is uncertain. This report recommends a technical assessment of the systems, including analyses of proposed technical solutions and alternatives to ensure that the systems maximize their potential to control trade practice abuses. Appended supplementary information.