SEC Keeps Tabs on Stock Price Boosters
Published Date: 7/18/2025
Notice
Summary
The SEC wants to keep collecting info from specialists and market makers about certain customer orders that beat or match the best prices out there. This helps investors get better deals when buying or selling stocks. About 30 companies spend just a couple of hours a year on this, and the SEC is asking for feedback before extending the rule.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 2 benefits, 1 costs, 0 mixed.
Published Orders Help Investors Find Best Prices
Rule 604 requires specialists and market makers to publish customer limit orders that are priced better than their displayed bids or offers. The SEC says publishing that trading interest gives investors improved execution opportunities and better access to the best available prices when buying or selling securities.
Compliance Time Burden on Market Makers
The SEC estimates about 30 specialists or market makers respond to displayable customer limit orders and that each respondent spends about 2.62 hours per year on Rule 604 publication duties. The Commission estimates total annual burden across all respondents is 78.7 hours, based on 37,460.31 orders per trading day and an average update time of 0.001 second per quote update.
Which Customer Orders Must Be Published
Under Rule 604, customer limit orders that match a specialist's or market maker's displayed bid or offer must be published only if the limit price also matches the national best bid or offer (NBBO) and the order size is more than de minimis — defined as more than 10% of the specialist's or market maker's displayed size. The rule also requires publishing customer limit orders that are priced superior to the specialist's or market maker's displayed bids or offers.
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