This is an early shot in what is likely to be an extended battle over potential revisions to the National Market System and, most importantly, how fees relating to trading through the system are charged.

The federal government is paving the way for the application of machine learning algorithms to analyze data from eight agencies by requiring standardized data formats. Getting eight agencies to coordinate is going to be difficult. However, it is good to force the regulators to think through their data requirements. Too often the regulators demand additional data on the theory that it may prove somehow useful, but they give insufficient consideration to the specific questions asked or the…

Among the concerns raised by IOSCO was the use of robo-advisers, whether customer information analyzed by such advisers was sufficient, and whether the advisory algorithms were robust enough. Whatever the worries that the regulators may have, it seems clear that the market will move increasingly in towards automation, as a result of both improvements in technology and increases in regulation (e.g., ) that impose substantial costs on firms providing sporadic investment advice to small…

There is quite a lot going on in financial services. Would it be better for NYDFS to stick to its knitting?