This Securities Industries and Financial Markets Association(SIFMA) conference is bringing together leading industry professionals and regulators to address the many questions regarding dark pools that are facing our industry; high frequency trading, flash quotes, and a myriad of other such issues and trading strategies. Panels will offer regulatory and business views on hidden liquidity and on recent regulatory proposals from both a domestic and global viewpoint. Discussions also will focus on how firms are handling the fierce competition, the large variety of trading platforms, and increasingly innovative business strategies (both buy-side and sell-side) in the face of the changing regulatory landscape.

This will be an exceptional strategic and informative symposium designed for representatives from the broker/dealer, institutional sales and trading, buy-side, technology, ECN, ATS, crossing networks, exchange, order management and execution consultants and the legal and regulatory communities. The executive level attendees represent many of the most influential financial institutions in the world.

WilmerHale partner Andre Owens will moderate a panel entitled "Regulatory Initiatives: Description and Impact." This panel will explore the recent regulatory initiatives in the US, and what this means for dark pools, the securities markets in general, and for investors. Regulatory proposals to date aim to ban flash quotes, increase post trade transparency of alternative trading systems, sweep actionable indications of interest under quote definitions, and reduce Regulation ATS display requirement thresholds. In the US, expectations are that additional proposals are forthcoming in order to review high frequency trading, other dark pools issues, sponsored access and particularly naked access, and large trader regulations. Questions linger about whether these initiatives will promote greater transparency in the markets or unnecessarily curtail trading alternatives for investors, and if there are sufficient protections for investors in the market today.