[ by Howard Haykin ]

On Tuesday, the SEC will panel discussions to evaluate the impact of tick sizes on the securities markets. 

• Panel 1.  The impact of tick sizes on small and mid-sized companies, the economic consequences (including costs and benefits) of increasing or decreasing minimum tick sizes, and whether other policy alternatives might better address concerns related to Section 106(b) of the JOBS Act.

• Panel 2. The impact of tick sizes on the securities market in general, including what benefits may have been achieved and what, if any, negative effects have resulted.

• Panel 3.  Potential methods for analyzing issues, including whether and how to conduct a pilot for alternative minimum tick sizes. The SEC staff is particularly interested in hearing what types of data that market participants should provide for use in assessing the effects of an increase or variation in minimum tick sizes for companies of different capitalizations.

Tuesday's program begins at 9:30 a.m. in the auditorium at the SEC’s Washington D.C. headquarters located at 100 F Street N.E.  The evebt is open to the public - in person, or over the internet via live webcast.   can attend the event in person or watch it is invited to attend and observe the discussion with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

For the agenda and panelists, and other details, go to:   [ SEC PR 13-16, 1/31/13 ].   The agenda and panel details are also printed below, after the page break.

Agenda and Panelists

9:30 a.m.    Introduction

9:45 a.m.    Panel 1: Evaluating Concerns Relating to Tick Size for Small and Middle Capitalization Companies

• Brian B. Conroy — President at Fidelity Capital Markets
• R. Cromwell Coulson — President, CEO, and Director at OTC Markets Group
• Joshua L. Green — General Partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures
• Scott Kupor — Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Andreessen Horowitz
• Maureen O’Hara — Robert W. Purcell Professor of Finance at Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
• Jeffrey M. Solomon — CEO at Cowen and Company, Director at Cowen Group
• David Weild — Senior Advisor at Grant Thornton LLP and Chairman & CEO at Weild & Co
• Kent Womack — Professor of Finance at Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

11:15 a.m.    Break

11:30 a.m.    Panel 2: Evaluating Concerns Relating to Tick Size for the Securities Market Generally

• Chris Concannon — Partner at Virtu Financial LLC
• Kevin Cronin — Global Head of Equity Trading at Invesco
• Frank M. Hatheway — Chief Economist at NASDAQ OMX Group Inc.
• Patrick J. Healy — CEO at Issuer Advisory Group LLC
• Chris Isaacson — Chief Operating Officer at BATS Global Markets
• Paul Jiganti — Managing Director at TD Ameritrade
• Maureen O’Hara — Robert W. Purcell Professor of Finance at Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
• Adam V. Reed — Julian Price Scholar in Finance and Associate Professor of Finance at Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina

1 p.m.    Break

2:30 p.m.    Panel 3: Studying the Effects of Alternative Tick Sizes

• Colin Clark — Senior Vice President at NYSE Euronext
• Frank M. Hatheway — Chief Economist at NASDAQ OMX Group Inc.
• Paul Jiganti — Managing Director at TD Ameritrade
• Maureen McCarthy — Managing Director and Director of Sales and Trading at JMP Securities
• Maureen O’Hara — Robert W. Purcell Professor of Finance at Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
• Adam V. Reed — Julian Price Scholar in Finance and Associate Professor of Finance at Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina
• Stephen Sachs — Head of Capital Markets at ProShare Advisors LLC
• Kent Womack — Professor of Finance at Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto

4 p.m.    Roundtable concludes