SEC ANNOUNCES HEARINGS RELATING TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE U.S. EQUITY SECURITIES MARKETS

[15272] October 17, 2002 TO: EQUITY MARKETS ADVISORY COMMITTEE No. 26-02 SEC RULES COMMITTEE No. 84-02 RE: SEC ANNOUNCES HEARINGS RELATING TO THE STRUCTURE OF THE U.S. EQUITY SECURITIES MARKETS The Securities and Exchange Commission has announced that they will hold several hearings this fall to discuss key issues relating to the structure of the U.S. equity securities markets. The first two full-day hearings will be held on Tuesday, October 29, 2002, at the SEC’s headquarters in Washington, D.C. and on Tuesday, November 12, 2002, at the NYU Stern School of Business, Schimmel Auditorium, Tisch Hall, in New York City. The hearings will address a variety of topics, including, among other things: broker- dealers’ duty of best execution and corresponding marketplace rules relating to intermarket access, trade-throughs, and price protection; the role of national securities exchanges, ECNs, and alternative trading systems; the self-regulatory system; and the collection, consolidation and dissemination of market data through intermarket plans. Each hearing will cover the same topics but with a different set of participants. The hearings will be open to the public and will be web-cast.1 Ari Burstein Associate Counsel 1 Further information regarding the hearings , including a complete list of participants, can be found in the SEC’s press release announcing the hearings at http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2002-148.htm