[ by Melanie Gretchen ]

High frequency trading (HFT) should be investigated for the disadvantage at which it puts certain investors, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).  Retail investors, who often don't have access to the same information, often buy and sell at less favorable prices.

At the National Press Club in Washington, the organization appealed to Congress to investigate the practice, to help retail investors and businesses recover from a difficult economic climate.  That may be hard considering the use of mandatory agreements between brokers and their clients that require arbitrating potential legal disputes instead of going to court.  Instead, the NASAA proposed that Congress adopt legislation that would cease said use;  those agreements, increasingly more common, clash with their ethical responsibilities to act in their clients' best interests, NASAA said.

For further details, go to [Reuters, 3/5/13].