Virtu Financial Launches Freedom of Information Act Suit Against SEC

Virtu Financial has launched a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The financial services firm said Tuesday (Nov. 29) in a press release that the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) suit aims to compel the agency to provide information about its rulemaking process and SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s interactions with interested parties.

The firm said in the release that it submitted a FOIA request in June and has not received a response from the SEC.

Virtu Financial CEO Douglas Cifu said in the release that FOIA requests are routine, they provide an important check on government, and Gensler’s lack of transparency raises serious concerns.

“We do not take lightly the step of suing our primary regulator, but it has become clear that the chair of the SEC is more focused on politics and regulation by innuendo and hypothesis than earnestly engaging with an industry that has created the most fair and competitive equity markets for retail investors globally,” Cifu said in the release.

The SEC did not immediately respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

The FOIA request submitted in June focuses in part on the SEC’s new rule proposals for retail stock order handling and execution, according to the Virtu Financial press release.

It aims to determine whether the SEC’s rulemaking process evaluated potential investor harm and market risks, whether the agency asked for input from sufficiently broad sources, and whether it had considered objective data before the chair instructed SEC staff to prepare the new rule proposals, the release said.

In June, Gensler said the SEC was in the midst of mulling rule changes regarding how U.S. stocks are traded and what pricing incentives are used to entice orders. Gensler also outlined a wider probe into the market structure.