U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Uyeda backs review of Regulation NMS Rule 611 and raises best execution and transparency implications

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Mark T. Uyeda issued a statement at a staff roundtable on equity market structure focused on Rule 611 of Regulation NMS, supporting the Chair’s review of the trade-through regime and calling for a holistic reassessment of whether the Regulation NMS framework is serving investors and markets. Uyeda linked Regulation NMS’s implementation with shrinking displayed size, a significant increase in execution venues, and complex routing behaviour that can be difficult for investors to understand. He urged participants to consider how changes to Rule 611 could affect interconnected parts of the equity market structure framework, and highlighted best execution as a key area to examine, including whether current best execution expectations rely on Rule 611 and whether any additional Commission requirements would be justified beyond existing FINRA obligations. The statement also pointed to transparency as a tool to evaluate execution quality across venues, noting the Commission’s 2024 amendments to modernise Rule 605 order execution reporting and asking where further transparency might be needed. The roundtable sessions are positioned as an input-gathering process to identify interdependencies within Regulation NMS and inform any evidence-based proposals that could follow from the Rule 611 review.