William o brien bats biography

Earlier this week, exchange operator BATS Global Markets announced that its president William O’Brien was leaving, effective immediately. His exit follows remarks he made in April when he incorrectly stated that BATS’ Direct Edge exchanges use high-speed market data feeds to provide clients with pricing data.

BATS serves customers in the U.S.

and European equities and listings industries, and the U.S. options market, officials say. The company, which recently merged with Direct Edge Holdings, operates four equities exchanges – BZX Exchange, BYX Exchange, EDGA Exchange, and EDGX Exchange.

After New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman reportedly pressured BATS to clarify the situation, the exchange operator had to later acknowledge that its EDGA and EDGX venues exploit the slower, Securities Information Processor (SIP) consolidated feeds.

The slower feeds put market participants at a disadvantage when they compete against high-frequency traders (HFTs) that use direct feeds to t