A M16 assault rifle can fire a bullet 100m in just over a 10th of a second. In the same amount of time, the London Stock Exchange can now execute 800 trades. Armed with the world’s fastest trading system, the LSE hopes that – at least for now – it has the upper hand in the battle to attract high-frequency traders. This competition is intense and fuelled by lawmakers who have created the cut-throat environment in which exchanges operate and strive to be bigger and faster than their rivals. Sound familiar? Many unemployed bankers think so.
在略多於十分之一秒的時間內，M16突擊步槍射出的子彈可以飛100米遠。而在相同的時間內，倫敦證交所(LSE)如今可以執行800筆交易。憑藉全球最快的交易系統，倫敦證交所希望——至少眼下——自己在吸引高頻交易者的競爭中佔了上風。這一競爭頗爲激烈，而立法者的行動又起到了推波助瀾的作用——他們營造出一種你死我活的競爭環境，交易所在經營中都力爭做到規模比對手更大、速度比對手更快。聽起來有些耳熟？許多失業的銀行家都有這種感覺。