SEC Unveils Expert Panel for Critical Trade-Through Prohibitions Roundtable

Regulators assemble heavyweight roster to tackle market fragmentation debate head-on.

Who's Shaping the Rules?

The Securities and Exchange Commission just dropped the list of panelists for its upcoming roundtable on trade-through prohibitions—market structure's hottest potato. These aren't backbench commentators; we're talking exchange executives, institutional traders, and compliance veterans who actually move markets.

Why This Matters Now

Trade-through rules prevent orders from being executed at inferior prices when better quotes exist elsewhere. Get this wrong, and you sabotage price discovery for everyone—from pension funds to retail traders just trying to catch a break. The SEC's move signals they're finally taking market quality seriously instead of just ticking compliance boxes.

Wall Street's Open Secret

Let's be real: half these panelists probably benefit from the very loopholes they're debating. Nothing like letting foxes design the henhouse—classic finance theater that'll generate consulting revenue regardless of the outcome.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the agenda and panelists for its September 18, 2025 roundtable on trade-through prohibitions.

The roundtable will be held at the SEC’s headquarters at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C., from 9:15 a.m. – 4:15 p.m. ET.  The event will be open to the public and webcast live on the www.sec.gov. Doors will open at 8:00 a.m. ET.

For in-person attendance, please register. Visitors will be subject to security checks.

For online attendance, registration is not necessary; a LINK to watch the event will be available on September 18 at www.sec.gov, and a recording will be available online at a later date.

More information, including how to submit comments, is available on the SEC Trade-Through Prohibitions Roundtable’s event page.

Agenda

8:00 a.m.                     Doors Open

9:15 a.m.                     Opening Remarks – SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, and Jamie Selway, Director, SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets

9:45 a.m.                     Data Presentation – SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets – Office of Analytics and Research

Presenters: Jesse Brady, Arun Manoharan, and Dan Mathisson

10:15 a.m.                   Panel One – Market Participants’ Experience with Trade-Through Prohibition

Panel One will focus on market participants’ experience with trade-through prohibitions over the past 20 years. Areas for discussion will include: the effects of trade-through prohibitions on market participants and market structure including unintended consequences of trade-through prohibitions; the effects of trade-through prohibitions on retail and institutional trading; the cost of compliance with trade-through prohibitions for different market participants; differences in experiences with trade-through prohibitions in the equity market versus the options market; and experiences in markets without a trade-through prohibition.

Moderators: Michael Piwowar, Milken Institute and Jamie Selway, Director, SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets

Panelists:

• Julie Andress, Securities Traders Association and KeyBanc Capital Markets
• Ari Burstein, IntelligentCross
• Peter Haynes, TD Securities
• Chris Isaacson, Cboe Global Markets, Inc.
• Katie Kolchin, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association
• Dave Lauer, Urvin Finance and We the Investors
• Joe Mecane, Citadel
• Maureen O’Hara, Cornell, SC Johnson Graduate School of Management
• Pankil Patel, Bank of America
• Chris Solgan, MIAX Exchange Group

11:45 a.m.                   Lunch Break

12:45 p.m.                   Remarks from SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins

1:00 p.m.                     Panel Two – A Trade-Through Prohibition’s Role in Today’s Market

Structure

Panel Two will focus on a trade-through prohibition’s role in today’s highly automated and connected market structure. Areas for discussion will include: whether a trade-through prohibition is necessary and what objectives it achieves; how a trade-through prohibition intersects with the fulfillment of best execution obligations; the ancillary rules that support a trade-through prohibition such as rules restricting locking or crossing quotations and access fee caps; and whether a trade-through prohibition creates unnecessary complexity within the current market structure.

Moderators: Andre Owens, WilmerHale and Jamie Selway, Director, SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets

Panelists:

• Jim Angel, Georgetown University
• Allison Bishop, Proof Trading
• Hubert De Jesus, BlackRock
• Armando Diaz, PureStream
• Jonathan Kellner, MEMX
• Kevin Kennedy, Nasdaq
• Matt MacKenzie, Optiver
• Chris Nagy, Healthy Markets Association
• Adam Nunes, Hudson River Trading
• Jeff Starr, Schwab

2:30 p.m.                     Break

2:45 p.m.                     Panel Three – Forward Thinking

Panel Three will focus on potential paths forward for trade-through prohibitions. Areas for discussion will include: maintaining the status quo; exemptions from, or modifications to, the trade-through prohibitions (e.g., market share thresholds for protected quotes or block trade exceptions); or rescinding trade-through prohibitions. The discussion will also include other necessary changes if trade-through prohibitions are limited or rescinded such as amending or rescinding other rules, or providing guidance to market participants (e.g., additional best execution guidance).

Moderators: Elad Roisman, Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Jamie Selway, Director, SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets

Panelists:

• Robert Battalio, University of Notre Dame
• Matt Billings, Robinhood
• Bob Colby, FINRA
• Daniel Gerhardstein, Jump Trading Group
• Jon Herrick, New York Stock Exchange
• Vlad Khandros, OneChronos
• Mehmet Kinak, T. Rowe Price
• Joe Saluzzi, Themis Trading
• Andrew Smith, Virtu Financial
• Cameron Smith, Texas Stock Exchange
• Debbie Toennies, J.P.Morgan

4:15 p.m.                     End of Program

Source: SEC