SEC Priorities
As more investors funnel into bonds, regulators are seeking more information about how the market works. Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s annual filing last month added “allocations of and trading in fixed-income securities” to a list of activities at the New York-based firm that are subject to open regulatory scrutiny.
One of the SEC’s priorities this year is to evaluate “factors that may impact the quality of execution in the fixed- income market,” including market structure and the use of alternative trading systems, it said in a January statement.
“In the wake of the credit crisis, investors have obviously had a greater focus on fixed income,” said Will Rhode, director of fixed-income research at Tabb Group LLC. “There’s a question of how retail investors access this market.”