NYSE Officials Get Wells Notices

The SEC has issued "Wells notices" to several current and former NYSE officials.  The notices indicate that the agency may be pursuing civil charges against the officials.  The individual sanctions are the last stage of an SEC investigation into specialist trading firm abuses.  In the first step the SEC issued a tough report on the NYSE floor-trading system that chronicled trading abuses.  In the second step the SEC sought civil fines against five specialist trading firms and settled to $240 million.  Now the SEC is going after NYSE officials, although charged with SRO (Self Regulatory Organization) policing duties, who let the abuses happen.  Folks it is the entire SRO, self-policing system that needs to be scrapped.  Rather than scrap the system the SEC is empowering the NYSE with its new Regulation NMS.