評論
打印
Finance and economics
財經商業
Economic data
經濟數據
Peeking early
先人一步，偷瞄一眼
A continuing kerfuffle over releases of privately sourced data
私人發布的數據持續引發熱議
DATA releases stir emotions as well as moving markets.
數據之發布既挑動人們的神經，也撼動著市場。
Concerns have grown about trading firms getting early peeks of certain releases.
而越來越多的目光正投向貿易公司在數據發布前一窺其里的做法。
The case causing the biggest fuss is a widely watched consumer-sentiment index distributed by Thomson Reuters under a contract with the University of Michigan.
引發最大爭議的數據正是備受關注的消費者信心指數—路透社和密西根大學簽約后負責發布此數據。
Mark Rosenblum, a former Thomson salesman, claims he was fired after querying whether the release violated insider-trading laws because it went to high-speed traders, paying $6,000 a month for their feeds, two seconds before regular subscribers saw it.
前路透社銷售人員，Mark Rosenblum聲稱，他本人因調查數據的發布過程是否違反內幕交易法而被解雇，而高速交易者每月花6000美元就可以比普通使用者提前兩秒接收到數據。
The firm says he was sacked for falsely claiming credit for sales.
公司則聲稱他是因為虛假承諾而被開除的。
It is trying to get his wrongful-termination suit dismissed because he took his case to the FBI, not the Securities and Exchange Commission, and so does not qualify as a whistleblower.
路透社正嘗試讓他的非法解雇案被駁回，理由是Mark將此案起訴到FBI而不是證券交易委員會，因而也不能被視為泄密者對待。
The case has attracted the interest of New York's attorney-general, Eric Schneiderman, who is investigating whether this and other cases undermine fair play in markets.
此案已吸引到紐約司法部長Eric Schneiderman的關注，他正在調查此案和其他案件是否侵犯了市場中的公平競爭原則。
In July Thomson suspended the high-speed feed.
七月，路透社停用了高速接口。
In an affidavit seen by The Economist, Mr Rosenblum says a colleague warned him that chasing down who is getting the numbers ahead of time would affect profits, and that his line manager advised him to stop being a hero.
在《經濟學人》看到的宣誓書中，Rosenblum先生表明受到同事的警告：追蹤是誰提前拿到了數據將影響利潤，而主管經理建議他別再逞能。
He also claims that a colleague in India, who helped disseminate the data, suggested that a group of 17 banks, brokers and hedge funds—among them some of the biggest names in American finance—were getting the headline number up to one hour, not just seconds, before the 9:55am release time.
他還表示，負責發送數據的印度同事暗示銀行，做市商和對沖基金等17家公司組成的團體—其中有一些美國金融界巨頭的名字—能夠比上午9:55的正規發布時間提前一小時而不是幾秒鐘獲得重要數據。
Thomson Reuters says it believes Mr Rosenblum's case to be unsubstantiated and without merit.
路透社表示認為Rosenblum先生的控告信息不實，而且沒有價值。
Legally, this is a grey area.
法律上這是個灰色區域。
To some it may seem unfair that deep-pocketed trading outfits can buy an early look at market-moving numbers.
對一些人來說，這可能看起來不公平—高昂的交易費用就能買來提前窺探數據的權利，而這數據足以撼動市場。
But there are no regulations governing selective disclosure of private data, unlike sensitive corporate information or government data.
但對選擇性公開私人數據的行為進行管制的條例尚未出現，這與敏感性的企業數據和政府數據不同。
The SEC can act only if it suspects securities fraud.
證券交易委員會只能對確實可疑的證券欺詐采取行動。
Meanwhile, traders will continue to pay for early looks, even though, as one regulatory source puts it: Some feel it's extortion.
同時，交易者也將繼續為了提前看到數據而支付費用，盡管正如一位監管人所說，有些人覺得這就是一種勒索。
They could happily do without it and instead rely on the speed of their machines for an edge.
他們本能夠依靠計算機的運行速度而非這類手段來取得令人欣喜的優勢。
But that doesn't help when others are getting the number whole seconds or minutes earlier.
但其他人提前幾秒鐘或幾分鐘獲得數據時，這卻行不通。
