COMPLETELY HARMLESS ?
Once characterised as the villains of financial markets , high frequency traders are no longer considered an irritant and the new regulations reflect this . John Bakie explains
One of the key omissions from the first MiFID , implemented almost a decade ago , was a complete lack of recognition ( or foresight ) about the role algorithmic trading would play in the evolution of equity markets and everything it would give rise to .
The dawn of trading algorithms has utterly transformed markets , enabling machines to make trades at a rate far exceeding the capabilities of whole teams of the most talented human traders .
This new speed inevitably gave rise to another phenomenon , now also being addressed in MiFID ’ s successor regulation , MiFID II , the high-frequency trader , or HFT for short . iStock www . thetradenews . com THE TRADE MiFID II HANDBOOK | 43