Ferc’s Collins dismisses algo trading fears

Surveillance chief says HFT is yet to take hold in the power and gas markets

Power and gas markets "are a little too slow for algos", Collins says

High-speed algorithmic traders do not pose a risk to the wholesale power and gas markets, a director at the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (Ferc) has claimed.

The US electricity and natural gas markets “are a little slow for algos to really take hold. We don’t see a lot of them”, said Sean Collins, director of the division of analytics and surveillance at Ferc. “For high-frequency trading, the velocity just isn’t there in the physical markets that we are overseeing.”

Collins, who was