[Infowarrior] - NYSE to pay $4.5 mln to settle SEC charges

[Richard Forno]

But no, no, no, the "markets" are most certainly not "rigged", right?   For starters, being allowed to act w/impunity and then settle w/o admitting guilt once caught sure sounds like a form of officially-endorsed rigging to me.  --rick

http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370541706507#.U2Jub8eep8O

SEC Charges NYSE, NYSE ARCA, and NYSE MKT for Repeated Failures to Operate in Accordance With Exchange Rules

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2014-87

Washington D.C., May 1, 2014 —

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced an enforcement action against the New York Stock Exchange and two affiliated exchanges for their failure to comply with the responsibilities of self-regulatory organizations (SROs) to conduct their business operations in accordance with Commission-approved exchange rules and the federal securities laws.  Also charged was the NYSE exchanges’ affiliated routing broker Archipelago Securities.

< - >

The violations detailed in the SEC’s order occurred during periods of time from 2008 to 2012.  The SEC’s order finds that the NYSE exchanges violated Section 19(b) and 19(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 through misconduct that included the following:

	• NYSE, NYSE Arca, and NYSE MKT (formerly NYSE Amex) used an error account maintained at Archipelago Securities to assume and trade out of securities positions without a rule in effect that permitted such trading and in a manner inconsistent with their rules for the routing broker, which limited Archipelago Securities’ activity primarily to outbound and inbound routing of orders on behalf of those exchanges.

	• NYSE provided co-location services to customers on disparate contractual terms without an exchange rule in effect that permitted and governed the provision of such services on a fair and equitable basis.

	• NYSE operated a block trading facility (New York Block Exchange) that for a period of time did not function in accordance with the rules submitted by NYSE and approved by the SEC.

	• NYSE distributed an automated feed of closing order imbalance information to its floor brokers at an earlier time than was specified in NYSE’s rules.

	• NYSE Arca failed to execute Mid-Point Passive Liquidity Orders (MPLOs) in locked markets (where the bid and ask prices are the same) contrary to its exchange rule in effect at the time.

In addition, the SEC’s order finds that NYSE Arca accepted MPLOs in sub-penny amounts for National Market System stocks trading at over $1.00 per share, in violation of Rule 612(a) of Regulation NMS.

< - >

http://www.sec.gov/News/PressRelease/Detail/PressRelease/1370541706507#.U2Jub8eep8O

---
Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.