The former chairman of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) called on Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officials Wednesday to address protocol for other markets when one market suspends trading.
Richard Grasso, who led NYSE between 1995 and 2003, raised concerns that other markets such as NASDAQ would be able to take advantage of NYSE officials temporarily halting trading earlier Wednesday due to a “technical issue.”
“The SEC needs to address when a primary market is down [whether] other perimeter markets — and I would include NASDAQ as a perimeter market — […] should they continue to trade?” Grasso said on Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast.”
“The public is basically shut out of that opportunity [to trade] and that’s wrong,” Grasso said.
Grasso is one of the most high-profile people to question the validity of keeping the other markets open since NYSE temporarily stopped trading earlier Wednesday due to what NYSE officials are saying is an “internal technical issue.”
Several financial commentators have raised concerns that other markets would be able to take advantage of NYSE’s closure.
Grasso echoed those sentiments.
“You see the problem is you don’t know what validity of pricing you’re getting in those other markets if the primary market is down,” Grasso said.