High-Frequency Trading and the Flash Crash: Structural Weaknesses in the Securities Markets and Proposed Regulatory Responses

This note will illuminate the relatively unknown highfrequency trading industry. First, it will examine the state of the industry, in context with the flash crash of May 6, 2010 when a single trader in Kansas City sent the U.S. securities markets into a tailspin. Next, it will explain why the hodgepodge of regulations struggling to control this industry is entirely inadequate to prevent another crash. Finally, the authors suggest a better solution-relatively noninvasive controls that could be put in place to prevent future flash crashes and restore investor confidence