US regulators dumped long-standing penny limits on share trading prices and cut the fees exchanges can charge their users in new equity market rules that nonetheless ended far short of more radical initial plans.
Wednesday’s changes are the second piece of a broader four-part shake-up of US stock trading first proposed in December 2022 by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Combined, the plans represent the biggest changes to the stock market’s structure in 20 years. They have been one key element in the ambitious reform agenda pursued by SEC chair Gary Gensler.
The SEC’s five commissioners voted unanimously to reduce the so-called “tick size”, or spread, between buy and sell prices to a half-cent from a full penny for stocks that met certain liquidity criteria. The watchdog also slashed the access fees that users pay exchanges by two-thirds.