[ M A R K E T
Viral vendetta
In late February IEX stepped up its campaign for
greater transparency on market fees by publish-
ing a video to its YouTube channel, mocking its
competitors’ market access fees.
The 85-second video takes the style of an
American infomercial, fronted by a salesman
wearing the recognisable exchange floor wind-
breaker extolling the virtues of a “WonderCable”
that allows trading firms to “open a whole new
world of shockingly basic access to those fusty
old exchanges and the data they distribute” for
“recurring monthly payments of $19,995.95”.
Leaning heavily on other tropes infamous in US
infomercials – even using the cable in question
to mop up a coffee spillage (“This cable absorbs
all your extra capital!”) – the video also appeared
to reference Virtu Financial boss Doug Cifu’s
appearance at an SEC roundtable in October,
where he brandished a similar yellow cable which
he claimed could be bought online for as little
as $89.
While Nasdaq, Cboe and NYSE were not
directly named within the video, IEX took clear
aim at its rivals in its latest bid to champion
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transparency into market access fees that have
been a contentious topic for market participants
for years.
IEX has earned a reputation for ruffling feath-
ers since its foundation in 2012 and taking the
viral video route fits with the more unconven-
tional methods the operator has become known
for, alongside the notoriety generated by Flash
Boys.
Shortly after gaining approval to operate an
exchange in late 2016, IEX CEO Brad Katsuyama
told The TRADE: “We’ve been under attack since
IEX was founded, so this is something we’re
used to. I guess our critics feel that the only way
to get your point across sometimes, if it isn’t
based in fact, is to scream and shout.”
The video was viewed over 1.8 million times
in the week after its release, suggesting that
IEX might be onto something by taking a softer,
more subtle approach to getting its message
across and changing the views of the industry
rulemakers. In the words of the “WonderCable”
salesman’s closing argument: “Act now...because
you have to. Seriously, you have to.”
Issue 59 // TheTradeNews.com // 57