Regulation of Securities Markets

Abstract

The Division of Market Regulation oversees the operations of the nation's securities markets and market participants. In 2001, the SEC supervised approximately 7,900 registered broker-dealers with over 87,765 branch offices and over 683,240 registered representatives. Broker-dealers filing FOCUS reports with the Commission had approximately $3 trillion in total assets and $208 billion in total capital for fiscal year 2001. In addition, the average daily trading volume reached 1.2 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange and over 1.9 billion shares on the Nasdaq Stock Market as of September 30, 2001. What We Did • Adopted two rules that require improved disclosure of order execution and routing practices by market centers and broker-dealers. • Issued a concept release to solicit comments on the effects of subpenny trading on the markets and investors. • Engaged in rulemaking and provided guidance to implement the provisions of the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (CFMA) that allow trading of single stock futures. • Amended a Commission rule to require quotations for exchange-listed options to be firm. 34