The top executive of the New York Stock Exchange told lawmakers
Wednesday that investors have lost faith in a financial marketplace
that has evolved to prize speed and complexity over long-term
investing.
"The public has never been more disconnected [and] has never had
less confidence in the underlying mechanism," said Duncan
Niederauer, chief executive of NYSE Euronext (NYX), speaking at a
hearing convened by a division of the U.S. House of
Representatives.
"What used to be an investors' market is now thought of as a
trader's market," Niederauer said.
The Wednesday hearing, held by the House Financial Services
Committee's Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government
Sponsored Enterprises, was set up to discuss whether the structure
of the U.S. financial system is properly serving investors and
stock-issuing companies.
The Big Board parent is the largest operator of U.S. stock
markets by volume.
-Write to Jacob Bunge at jacob.bunge@dowjones.com