WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Tuesday, the Office of Congressman Stephen F. Lynch (MA-08) hosted a briefing with Haim Bodek to examine the issue of high-frequency trading and specifically, whether the stock-market is “rigged” in favor of high-frequency trading firms over the average investor. Mr. Bodek is the author of The Problem of HFT - Collected Writings on High Frequency Trading & Stock Market Structure Reform. His career, experiences, and advocacy for U.S. stock market regulatory reform are described extensively in Dark Pools by Scott Patterson, freelance writer and staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

As a member of Congress, Congressman Stephen F. Lynch has been a leader in the effort to ensure that equity markets operate fairly and efficiently for the average investor. “The U.S. capital markets are the envy of the world not just because they are extremely deep, but also because they are transparent. Transparency instills trust in the markets, which in turn encourages participation in our capital markets by both large institutional investors and smaller retail investors, who might be investing their savings for their children’s education or for retirement. If our equity markets are “rigged” in favor of high-frequency trading firms, it has the potential to undermine that trust," said Congressman Lynch. Congressman Lynch recognizes that there is a need to understand more about high-frequency trading to evaluate if these allegations, and therefore the threat to our markets, are credible.