Congressmen Took Turns Flogging The SEC Chair For High-Frequency Trading In A Hearing

04-30-2014 • http://www.businessinsider.com, Linette Lopez

There are only so many ways to say that and White likely used all of them as committee member after committee member brought up the claims published in Michael Lewis' latest book, "Flashsboys: A Wall Street Revolt."

At this point the book's message should be familiar. Lewis tells the story of a bunch of traders at the Royal Bank of Canada who discovered that high-frequency traders, in collusion with stock exchanges, have gained an unfair advantage in the market to the detriment of everyone else — big and small investors alike.

White said that the issue was a top priority at the SEC, but gave no timeline for its investigation. This did not settle the Lewis fans in the room.

Congressman Mike Capuano said that the purpose of the SEC was to protect people from "shysters" in the market, and to instill confidence in it. The problem, he said, is that no one has confidence that the SEC can even do that job.