Citadel Loses Court Case to IEX Order Type

BREAKING: Citadel Securities just lost the court case to the IEX order type.

The ruling is a notable victory for IEX and a blow to Citadel Securities, which profits from small differences between the bid and ask prices in a trade.

(Bloomberg)—Citadel Securities LLC lost its case against the US Securities and Exchange Commission over a market order type from IEX Group Inc., after arguing the SEC botched its approval. 

A trio of federal judges in Washington on Friday upheld the regulator’s decision on the order type, D-Limit, which features a 350-microsecond delay meant to reduce the advantage of high-frequency traders.

The electronic trading firm founded by billionaire Ken Griffin argued that D-Limit hurts investors by delaying their orders and that the SEC approval process broke the laws and rules that govern it.

This is big news.

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A massive win for retail investors

This is a huge win for retail investors and of course a big victory for IEX.

Citadel Securities, which profits from small differences between the bid and ask prices in a trade, will be losing a lot of money.

IEX, which markets itself as a champion of fairness in pricing for the average investor, began offering the discretionary limit order in October 2020 after the SEC stood by it in August. 

In suing its own regulator, Citadel Securities—one of the top market makers on the exchange—had asked the court to send D-Limit back to the SEC for reconsideration and reversal. 

Investors had no update on this case until now, Citadel loses the court case to IEX.

“The SEC’s determination that the DLimit order does not violate the Exchange Act by unfairly discriminating or unduly burdening competition was reasonable and supported by substantial evidence,” the court found.

Citadel Securities spokesperson David Millar said in a statement: “We look forward to continuing to engage with the SEC to ensure that the best interests of both retail and institutional investors are protected.”

IEX had no immediate comment on the court’s decision.

The SEC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

What Is The D-Limit Order?

The D-Limit order is designed to protect liquidity providers from potential “adverse selection” by latency arbitrage trading strategies.

This rule basically gives traders a way to buy or sell stock at the exchange while protecting them against unfavorable price moves, via Reuters.

“The D-Limit Order is an artificial intelligence order type that protects displayed lit orders from being picked off by latency arbitrage players.”

“It aims to benefit displayed equity market quotes with better prices, larger displayed sizes and more competition among liquidity providers.” via, JLN.  

This order is a massive threat to Citadel as it takes away predatory trading through the practices of market arbitrage.

What is Market Arbitrage?

Market arbitrage is the act of buying a security in one market and simultaneously selling it in another market for a higher price.

Traders frequently attempt to exploit the arbitrage opportunity by buying a stock on a foreign exchange where the share price hasn’t yet been adjusted for the fluctuating exchange rate, via Investopedia.

This type of trading takes advantage of everyone involved, including retail investors.

Citadel personnel argued that the D-Limit rule is detrimental to millions of retail investors and undermine the reliability of the markets.

Citadel Loses Court Case to IEX Sources: Chicago Business

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