SEC’s Peirce Raises Six Questions on 23/5 US Stock Trading

Peirce's questions frame the extended-hours debate around market-structure quality rather than volume growth, which matters because overnight liquidity is thin and concentrated in a handful of names. Her focus on best execution, retail protection and whether asset managers can reasonably opt out suggests the SEC is weighing whether 24/5 trading serves investors or mainly venues. The disclosure angle is the sleeper issue: if material news lands outside core hours, the gap between price discovery and public information widens. Whether these questions become formal rulemaking or remain diagnostic is the open question.