Lord Vinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Vinson on 2016-10-11.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether high frequency trading has utility and is in the national interest.

Lord Young of Cookham

The Government sponsored the Foresight Project, which reported in 2012, to analyse the role, development, and impact of computer-based trading – including high frequency trading – in financial markets. The Future of Computer Trading in Financial Markets report highlighted the benefits of computer-based trading for the operation of markets, in particular relating to liquidity, transaction costs, and the efficiency of market prices, while also considering the implications for financial stability.