904-NMS-1220-15-F4.DOC inside black boxes in heavily guarded buildings. Even the experts entrusted with your money don’t know what is happening and those who do aren’t about to tell – because they are making a killing.” (iv) These high-frequency trades contributed to the huge froth of trading volumes on the Exchange. Since top management salaries at the NSE are linked to the turnover and profit generated by the Exchange, there may have been a reluctance to upset the applecart. The NSE is unique in having had the same senior management for the entire 20+ years of its existence.” 18(i) “... We expected the whistle-blower’s letter to trigger, at least, an investigation”... (ii) “...we published the letter on 19th June on our website.”... (iii) “Action started only after that. We now have information from credible sources that the finance ministry has desired that, apart from SEBI, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) also take a detailed look at the implications of continuing HFT without adequate safeguards. Government sources also tell us that NSE’s management of HFT servers in the initial years until 2013 (which are the subject of the whistle-blower’s letter) may need a detailed review by SEBI or an investigation agency.” (iv) Soon, SEBI and RBI dutifully responded to the finance ministry’s direction. The Financial Stability Report (FSR) released in June suddenly identified algo trading as an area of concern.” (v) “Immediately thereafter, the Business Standard and other papers reported that SEBI was considering steps to slow down the pace of trading through measures such as a minimum resting time for orders 5 of 30 ::: Uploaded on - 10/09/2015 ::: Downloaded on - 03/02/2020 18:08:37 :::