In dozens of antitrust lawsuits and a Department of Justice investigation, the plaintiffs alleged that NASDAQ dealers were engaging in “tacit collusion” to avoid quoting on odd-eighths.
Retained jointly by counsel for the codefendant market makers
In dozens of antitrust lawsuits and a Department of Justice investigation, the plaintiffs alleged that NASDAQ dealers were engaging in “tacit collusion” to avoid quoting on odd-eighths. To research these allegations, counsel for the codefendant market makers retained Dr. Allan Kleidon, a senior vice president of Cornerstone Research, and an economics professor. Their research concluded that such collusion among NASDAQ dealers is “extraordinarily unlikely” to explain the observed clustering of quotes given the market’s structure, and “there is no responsible scientific basis for drawing a conclusion of collusion” from the original data. All matters have settled.
