Firm Founded by a Trump Nominee Violated Trading Rules
Virtu Financial, the giant Wall Street high-frequency trading firm run by President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Army, Vincent Viola, has a record of violating the rules of the U.S. Securities Exchange Act, the Nasdaq Stock Market, the New York Stock Exchange and other exchanges that extends back nearly as long as the firm has been in business, according to U.S. market regulatory filings reviewed by Newsweek.
The , dated December 20—just one day after Trump nominated Viola to take charge of the Army’s weapons systems, personnel, finances and other key functions—shows that Virtu, which Viola founded in 2008, quietly settled—occurring between December 2010 and July 2012—that had previously not been made public and for which Virtu had received a cautionary letter from the exchange. The latest filing shows that the NYSE’s warning apparently went unheeded, with many of the same types of trading violations and failures to supervise staff and business practices taking place for years at the firm.
