Timothy Massad, the chair of the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission, said that he was willing to narrow a proposal that would govern automated trading, Reuters reported yesterday. Massad said that he stands behind the idea of adding regulations on automated trading but that some industry concerns about the scope were valid. Specifically, he said that he could endorse limiting the oversight to two levels, but not three as originally proposed. "I would support requiring risk controls at the exchange level, and either the trader or FCM [futures commission merchant] level," he said.
