Exchange brass heading out to Boca Raton for this year's FIA event could be in for a rough ride from Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs) increasingly critical of the costs of trading.
An FO Week poll of FCM heads has shown that far and away the number-one issue on their minds is the level of fees set by US exchanges. The responses reveal a mounting frustration with the increasing fee levels, particularly in light of the growth of electronic trading, which many people feel should logically bring costs down.
These complaints are nothing new but, as exchanges move to for-profit status, FCMs are becoming increasingly intolerant of fee structures that they say are designed more for the benefit of shareholders than the market.
Amongst the biggest problems is certain of the North American exchanges and their powers over the setting and enforcement of trading rules. When the exchanges were mutual not-for-profit...