S.E.C. Chief Calls for Sweeping Changes to Stock Market Rules.

The stock market has transformed over the past decade into a place dominated by high-speed traders zapping orders to numerous exchanges, while regulators have been slow to react.

Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to update the market’s rules for the new era.

The S.E.C. chairwoman, Mary Jo White, on Thursday unveiled a sweeping package of recommendations for new rules and other changes aimed at strengthening the structure of the market and improving disclosures for investors. The laundry list of proposed changes would touch virtually every corner of the market, including exchanges, private trading venues, brokerage firms and high-frequency traders.

For the S.E.C., an agency that has been criticized for failing to do enough to curb market meltdowns and rein in lightning-fast traders, the proposals are intended to send the message that market structure will be a high priority for Ms. White, a former prosecutor who assumed the top job at the S.E.C. last year.

“I am recommending additional measures to further promote market stability and fairness, enhance market transparency and disclosures and build more effective markets for smaller companies,” Ms. White said on Thursday at a financial industry conference in Manhattan.

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/06/05/s-e-c-chief-calls-for-sweeping-changes-to-stock-market-rules/?hp