Paris, Tuesday, September 12, 2000 [this one raises the specter of that age old social science question: do events in history refute a hypothesis? full article http://www.iht.com/IHT/TODAY/TUE/FIN/hot.2.html ] U.S. Options Exchanges Censured in Competition Suit The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Four U.S. options exchanges reached an agreement Monday with the Justice Department in a lawsuit alleging they had illegally stifled competition in the $260 billion options market by refusing to list the same stock options on more than one exchange. At the same time, the four exchanges - the American Stock Exchange, part of the Nasdaq Stock Market; the Chicago Board Options Exchange; the Pacific Exchange, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange - agreed to be censured by the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly failing to enforce traders' compliance with their own rules. Without admitting or denying wrongdoing, they also agreed to spend $77 million on market surveillance and enforcement. The exchanges also agreed to a consent decree in the Justice Department's civil antitrust lawsuit that, if approved by a federal judge in Washington, would resolve the suit. Under the decree, the exchanges would be prohibited from continuing their options listing agreement and from interfering with exchanges that seek to list options already listed on another exchange. U.S. regulators have been investigating alleged improprieties at the options exchanges since last year.
