In opening remarks at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s roundtable on overnight trading, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce described U.S. equity markets as moving decisively toward a 23-hour, five-day trading week and set out the operational, regulatory and investor protection questions that remain unresolved. Extended hours trading still represents less than 1% of trading in National Market System stocks and is concentrated in a small number of securities, but new and established exchanges are expanding their hours in response to domestic and overseas demand. Market infrastructure is already being adapted. The National Securities Clearing Corporation moved to continuous clearing from Sunday evening through Friday evening in June, expanded Securities Information Processor hours are scheduled to begin Dec. 6, 2026, and the SEC has approved overnight price bands under the Limit-Up-Limit-Down plan. Peirce asked how firms should manage thinner liquidity, wider spreads, volatility, surveillance, cybersecurity, staffing and compressed maintenance windows. She also raised questions about broker-dealers’ best execution duties, asset managers’ fiduciary decisions not to trade overnight, issuers’ timing of material disclosures, possible changes to EDGAR processing and whether SEC guidance or relief may be needed, particularly for smaller issuers.
2026-09-17U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce sets out unresolved safeguards for extended hours equity trading
At an SEC roundtable, Commissioner Hester M. Peirce outlined unresolved safeguards as U.S. equities move toward 23-hour, five-day trading. Her questions focused on liquidity, best execution, operational resilience, surveillance and investor protection, as well as issuer disclosures, EDGAR processing and possible regulatory relief.