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High‐frequency trading order cancellations and market quality: Is stricter regulation the answer?
Author(s) -
Manahov Viktor
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of finance and economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.505
H-Index - 39
eISSN - 1099-1158
pISSN - 1076-9307
DOI - 10.1002/ijfe.2071
Subject(s) - high frequency trading , profitability index , common value auction , economics , order (exchange) , arbitrage , transaction cost , quality (philosophy) , stock exchange , business , monetary economics , financial economics , algorithmic trading , microeconomics , finance , philosophy , epistemology
High‐frequency traders (HFTs) frequently submit, cancel and resubmit trading orders in an attempt to stay in front of the queue. This study shows that HFTs cancel a large number of limit orders within 50 ms in order to create arbitrage opportunities in the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). We find that HFTs generate substantial profits after transaction costs and are capable of extending their strong profitability generating record in the future. Our empirical results indicate that institutional investors lacking speed are more likely to experience higher execution costs. We propose the introduction of batch auctions, one per 50 ms of trading, to impose a queuing risk for HFTs leading to positive market quality effects.