Reuters broke the news that U.S. SEC scrutinizes fairness of stock exchange pricing

Reuters broke the news that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating whether stock exchanges’ pricing practices were favoring large brokers at the expense of smaller ones – possibly stifling competition at the expense of investors. While the SEC has not launched a formal civil investigation, it is seeking information from the exchanges on the pricing system. If the SEC were to determine that the tiered structure is unfair, exchanges could be forced to simplify their pricing models, potentially costing them millions of dollars in fees.