Electronic trading firm Getco LLC has recruited Elizabeth King, a Washington D.C.-based trading expert with the Securities and Exchange Commission, to bolster the firm's regulatory team.

King, who has served as associate director of the SEC's division of trading and markets, is the latest in a series of legal appointments for Chicago-based Getco, a private company that utilizes computer-driven trading models to make markets in stocks, options and futures.

Regulators and lawmakers are examining the activities of high-speed electronic trading firms, which have taken on a greater role in U.S. markets over recent years. Such proprietary traders represent around two-thirds of daily stock trading activity, according to industry estimates, alongside rising participation in derivatives markets.

The SEC is weighing new rules that would identify transactions made by such large traders. Regulators also are considering whether such firms ought to shoulder additional obligations to trade amid periods of high volatility, following the dramatic market swings seen May 6.

Getco, which already operates under obligations to take the other side of orders in various markets, in March added former Federal Reserve governor Randall Kroszner to its board of advisors, which also includes former SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt. Other former SEC officials head up its legal team.

The firm plays a key role as a liquidity provider at exchanges including NYSE Euronext (NYX) and Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ), standing ready to take customers' orders and helping to reduce price spreads. Getco has been estimated to account for 10% to 20% of daily trading volume in many U.S. stocks.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; (312) 750 4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com
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