SEC Probing Some High-Tech Trading

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is “rigorously” investigating whether financial traders are using technology to manipulate markets, the agency’s enforcement and inspections chiefs said today. Bloombergg reports that ther agency is investigating suspected “market manipulation based on complex use of technology and advanced trading systems,” said SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami and acting examinations director John Walsh in testimony prepared for a Senate Banking Committee hearing. The story has no details on the scope of the investigation, or whether particular practices are being targeted.

This news comes on a day when the SEC is being lambasted by legislators for its failure to detect the huge Ponzi scheme operated by Bernie Madoff.