NYSE Plans Overhaul of Specialist System

Duncan Niederauer, soon-to-be CEO of NYSE Euronext, plans an overhaul of the NYSE specialist system.  In recent years, the role of specialist firms in stabilizing the market has been questioned, and the firms' reputations were sullied by a regulatory settlement that charged pervasive interpositioning before customers' trades for the firms' personal profit.  Under the proposal, the specialists would become "designated market makers" and would still be the designated traders for each listed stock.  However, they would have fewer responsibilities and more opportunities for proprietary trading.  WSJ, Hi, 'Designated Market Makers'.