The Wall Street Journal: J.P. Morgan trading executive to become SEC’s top exchanges regulator

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday tapped J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s top electronic-trading executive as a senior regulator, signaling an appetite for shaking up rules that are blamed for fragmenting trading across dozens of venues and fomenting the rise of high-frequency trading.

Brett Redfearn will become the SEC’s director of trading and markets, making him the agency’s point person for regulating exchanges, broker-dealers and high-speed trading firms. As J.P. Morgan’s

JPM, +0.38%

 global head of market structure, Redfearn has criticized some exchanges’ business models and privileges, including the legal immunity they enjoy from many lawsuits.

Redfearn has particularly needled exchanges over their practice of packaging and selling expensive market-data feeds. The real-time price reels play a part in high-speed traders’ secret sauce, and many Wall Street banks also buy them to stay competitive.

“I am particularly interested in market data and market access, and ensuring we have a very fair and competitive landscape,” Redfearn said in an interview Wednesday.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

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