NEW YORK — Bank of America and the New York Stock Exchange are among dozens of exchanges, brokerages and traders sued because of high-frequency trading by the city of Providence, R.I., about claims they rigged securities markets to divert billions
NEW YORK — Bank of America and the New York Stock Exchange are among dozens of exchanges, brokerages and traders sued because of high-frequency trading by the city of Providence, R.I., about claims they rigged securities markets to divert billions of dollars from buyers and sellers of shares to themselves.
Scrutiny of high-frequency trading and whether it gives some investors unfair advantage intensified this year amid government probes and the March 31 publication of “Flash Boys” by Michael Lewis.
One defendant in Friday’s complaint, Virtu Financial, a high-frequency trader that delayed its initial public offering, received inquiries from the office of New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, according to a person familiar with the matter. Schneiderman announced last month he’s investigating high-frequency traders.
Last month, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder promised Congress a full investigation into whether high-frequency traders violated laws against trading on inside information. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said it’s looking into whether firms that engage in high-speed trades get an improper jump on other investors by using information about their trading to make profits.
In the complaint filed Friday in federal court in Manhattan, Providence is seeking unspecified damages on behalf of all public investors who bought or sold stock in the last five years.
Providence claims the exchanges, the biggest brokerage firms and a group of high-speed trading firms allowed some traders to gain access to non-public data about investors’ trades. The scheme allegedly included electronic front-running, in which high-frequency traders learned of bids and offers, made transactions at better prices and then profited from the investors who made the original orders.
Providence named as defendants 14 brokerages, 16 securities exchanges and 12 high-speed traders.
“Public investors are entitled to be treated fairly and honestly by brokers and exchanges,” Providence said in its complaint. “In addition to destroying trust in the U.S. capital markets, the misconduct alleged herein has siphoned off billions of dollars from private and public pension funds and individual retirement accounts that millions of Americans depend on.”
Lawrence Grayson, a spokesman for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, declined to comment about the suit. Eric Ryan, a spokesman for the New York Stock Exchange, and Virtu Financial president Christopher Concannon didn’t immediately respond after regular business hours to voicemail messages seeking comment.
