Promoting the interaction of orders remains one of the most difficult, but crucially important, challenges we face concerning our national market system.
We have an opportunity today that we may not have again in our lifetime, to realize the vision for a true national market system,
It is incumbent on us to facilitate the development of a market structure that best assures that these changes benefit the U.S. securities markets as a whole.
The tension between centrality, on the one hand, and competition, on the other, is probably the oldest of all market structure issues.
Our markets have not achieved their great successes as a result of government fiat, but rather through efforts of competing interests working to meet the demands of investors and to fulfill the promises posed by advancing technology.
Our purpose, as we face these challenges, remains clear - fair and orderly markets that allow for efficient capital formation, while protecting the interests of investors.
Firms need to ensure that their ability to provide effective customer service keeps pace with their growth. If you're marketing your firm to new customers, you better be able to provide them service when they do business with you.
Once again, stock markets have been threatened with extinction for almost 75 years, and I have found that stock markets are harder to kill than roaches.
It is time for the U.S. securities market to make this change,