Capitol Hill Briefing on Market Structure Innovation in the US Economy

The Center for Financial Markets and Policy at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, in partnership with the Milken Institute, hosted a Capitol Hill briefing on “The Role of Market Structure in the US Economy” on October 11, 2016, as part of the center’s Markets and the Hill (MATH) Briefing Series. 

Well-functioning financial markets are central to the U.S. economy, providing opportunities for businesses to access capital and a forum for investors to increase the value of their savings.  However, the U.S. now has half as many publicly listed companies trading on its exchanges as it did at the peak in 1990’s and a large proportion of this smaller market falls into the small market capitalization category.    As markets shrink, how they are structured can significantly impact their effectiveness.  Technology and innovation has transformed the financial markets and will continue to impact market quality.  This briefing addressed questions about market speed fairness, small-cap liquidity –including the SEC’s newly launched “tick size” pilot program, and the unintended impact of transaction taxes on market volatility and liquidity.  The panel was moderated by James Angel, associate professor of finance at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University.  Panelists included:

• Joseph Gawronski, president and chief operating officer of Rosenblatt Securities
• Jamil Nazarali, head of execution services for Citadel Securities
• Eric Noll, president and chief executive officer of Convergex and member of the SEC Equity Market Structure Advisory Committee and chair of the Market Quality Subcommittee