The SEC’s Order Handling Rules of 1997 and Beyond: Perspective and Outcomes of the Landmark Regulation

Abstract

In 1997, enactment of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Order Handling Rules ushered in a period of profound and unprecedented change in the competitive structure of the U.S. equity markets. In this article, the authors examine the crucial forces that led to this regulation, and focus on significant developments in the years that followed. Of major importance is the assessment of one of the authors, Richard Lindsey. As the SEC’s Director of Market Regulation during this tumultuous period, Lindsey was the chief intellectual force—and the architect of the Order Handling Rules that transformed markets.