(Reuters) – Shares of retail brokerage Robinhood Markets Inc and market maker Virtu Financial jumped in early trading following a media report that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will stop short of banning payment-for-order-flow (PFOF).
The SEC may still enact other changes that make the practice less profitable, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. The regulator had mulled over the controversial practice for months that critics believe creates conflicts of interest. (https://bit.ly/3LwinJn)
The SEC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Retail brokers route most customer orders via wholesale brokers than exchanges, as wholesalers generally offer a slightly better price. Most retail brokers also accept rebates, or payments, from wholesalers in lieu of orders.
Shares of Robinhood Markets Inc, which makes around 75% of its revenue from PFOF, climbed 5%, while Virtu Financial added 9% in early trading.
PFOF drew new scrutiny last year when an army of retail investors went on a buying spree of “meme stocks” like GameStop and AMC, squeezing hedge funds that had shorted the shares.
Many investors had purchased the shares using commission-free brokers like Robinhood that accept PFOF from a few powerful market-makers.
Britain, Canada, and Australia have already banned PFOF, while SEC Chairman Gary Gensler had suggested in August that the regulator could go that route.
(Reporting by Mehnaz Yasmin and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
