1、 https:/crsreports.congress.gov April 2, 2021Broker-Dealers and Payment for Order FlowIntroduction The last few years have witnessed an unprecedented surge in retail investor securities trading at major discount broker-dealers such as Robinhood, Charles Schwab, TD Ameritrade, and E*Trade. Among the
2、factors that have driven this are the zero trading commissions that many of them now charge for trades. The non-existent commissions are often subsidized by a controversial rebate to the broker-dealers called payment for order flow (PFOF). Market makers, alternatively known as wholesalers, make cash
3、 payments to retail broker-dealer firms in exchange for marketable retail customer stock order flows. In return for this PFOF, market makers such as Citadel, Virtu, Susquehanna, Wolverine, and Morgan Stanley typically execute the orders in-house, called internalization. Market makers also pay broker
4、-dealers significant amounts of PFOF for order flow from stock optionscontracts that give an investor the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a stock at an agreed-upon price and date. Such trades are generally not internalized but are instead routed to options exchanges such as the CBOE Op
