In markets where high speed trading takes place in milli-seconds, a trader which is located closer to the servers of the New York and other stock exchanges can have a substantial head-start on others which get sensitive data a fraction later. Examples are mounting up where some companies got such an advantage, with the result that, according to the Financial Times, the issue is 'coming under scrutiny' as competitors which receive the data later become more critical. 

Universal problem

John Knuff, head of global financial services at Equinix, is quoted as saying: 'The economic data has so much power to the markets. It’s a universal problem, not just in the US. In a lot of ways the governments that release this data need to rethink how to broadcast this data.'

Next Tuesday, 22 October, Global Legal Post launches a report on big data, sponsored by Recommind.