Stephen:
Porter is not an employee of the TSE. He is an independent Market Maker in BCE, ABX, N, and BLD. He is the most knowledgeable Pro on the floor about the trading rules and the history of their development. He has continually argued for the rights of clients over the TSE's move to change the rules in favour of the bank owned brokerage firms. The disagreement between Fleming and Porter dates from January, 1997 when Fleming removed Porter from all his voluntary positions at the TSE. This is from Porter's Post No. 88 back in January 30, 1997.
"Now let me tell you about my day....
I got a call about 10 AM from Rowland Fleming's
(president of the TSE) secretary, saying Rowlie
wanted to see me. I suggested he come down to
the floor or meet me in the lobby. She phoned back
to say, no, that was not acceptable, I was to
go to his office after the close. So up I went
at 4:15 feeling like I had been sent to the
principal's office. After 30 seconds of happy
horseshit, Rowland told me I had to resign my
positions as Chairman of the Options Floor
Procedure Committee, my membership on the the
derivatives markets committee, and the trading
policy committe (second only to the Board), because
I had the audacity to question the TSE's decision
to automate options and futures publicy, and he
specifically mentioned that I had the temerity
to bring it up with the 'great unwashed' (his
meaning) on the Net. He said that Susan Crocker's
e-mail in-box was "full of garbage' from Net
people. Further, they stopped access to her e-mail
due to the inflow of messages from 'the public'.
I am not making this up.
I never mentioned in any post that I was Chairman
of OFPC, the body in charge of making and enforcing
regulations on the TSE options floor. If I had,
it would have only served to underscore that I
am intimately aware of the rules and how their
proposed changes would affect the market _to the
detriment_ of the general retail investors.
Let's review the reality at work here: the banks
own the brokers, the brokers own the TSE. How does
the purpose of the investing public get served here?
It doesn't. "He who pays the piper calls the tune."
Rowland is trying to silence me, and if he were
to succeed, I lose, you lose, we all lose. Think for
a minute about the symbolism of turning off <scrocker
@tse.com> What are they afraid of hearing? Thank you
all who took the time to send a message to her. I
will not resign, he will have to bring the matter
before the Board of Governers. At that point, they
will strip me of my positions. Believe me, on a
personal level, I don't give a shit, because it
doesn't pay anything, and it puts me in the position
of telling my peers that they screwed up and have to
pay for an order they missed. Several months ago, I
brought my 10 year old daughter to work with me, and
as luck would have it, I had to find against a trader,
who proceeded to berate me *in front of my daughter*!
I don't need that, but few other people volunteered
for the job. Make that nobody. Who would want this shit?
So let's review: I've been chairman of OFPC for almost
all of the last 16 years. The TSE decides to revamp
the rules and automate trading, but they don't want
to accept public comment to their plan, and try to
censure and silence me. Don't feel sorry for me, my
point has always been to create and maintain a market
that is fair to all participants, including client
priority. My livelihood depends on clients who want
to trade in my markets, and I try to make sure they
get the best deal possible. The plan proposed by the
TSE makes that impossible, and they are trying to
intimidate me to keep quiet. IT WON'T WORK.
They will remove me from all positions of responsibiltiy
at the TSE. They have turned off Ms. Crocker's e-mail
box. (Think about that for a minute. "We don't care what
you have to say, we're the TSE and we're here to help
you".) They may even try to threaten my career by a
discreet phone call to the firm that serves as my
clearing broker (I am an independent). Any tort lawyers
out there?
Let me close here, it's late and I'm tired. They will
succeed in putting me out of the policy loop, but you can
and do have a voice. The TSE board has asked for comment
on their 'blueprint' by Feb 6. You can send snail-mail
to Stephen Rive, Director, TSE, 2 First Canadian Place,
Toronto, ON M5X 1J2. Or fax 416-947-4581. Or you can
e-mail me at <redtop@interlog.com> and I will forward
it to the TSE. PLEASE CONTINUE TO BE HEARD. I'm tempted
to suggest that Fleming's e-mail address might be
<rfleming@tse.com> but I won't. No point in bothering
such an important man.
Thank you for reading all of this. If you trade options
in Toronto (futures too), you must make your feelings
known. They propose to abolish client priority, strip
the exisiting liquidity out of the market, have half
the series 'dark' (no live quotes) and more.
DON'T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS.
This is the first and last time I have used capital
letters in a post, but I am really worked up.
Porter" |
