On September 19, Commissioner Robert J. Jackson, Jr. of the Securities and Exchange Commission gave a speech related to the state of the SEC’s regulation of the nation’s 13 stock exchanges in light of the transition of the exchanges from not-for-profit entities to for-profit corporations, with both regulatory and profit-seeking mandates, about a decade ago. Commissioner Jackson opined that “in for-profit hands, SEC oversight for not-for-profit exchanges can be dangerous” and asserted that the stock markets are taxing American investors with hidden fees and conflicts of interest.

He called on the SEC to start asking hard questions about the country’s stock market structure and noted several steps that the SEC is taking to begin to re-evaluate market structure. Commissioner Jackson noted several areas of focus for the SEC in this area including, but not limited to, a uniform approach to the disclosure of exchange revenues and the effect of rebates on market conditions.

The text of the speech is available here.