The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission should scrutinizecorporate bond markets to determine if retail investors can findfair prices, said Commissioner Daniel Gallagher.

Gallagher, a Republican on the five-member commission thatregulates securities trading, called for the agency to look at theimbalance of information available to retail investors andinstitutional traders in a speech yesterday at a financial-marketsconference hosted by Georgetown University's McDonough School ofBusiness in Washington.

“Retail investors continue to face significant headwinds in thebond markets,” Gallagher said. “Unlike their large institutionalcounterparts, retail investors generally have less expertise in thebasics of bond trading and cannot tap into large dealer networksfor quotes in order to shop around for the best pricesavailable.”

Gallagher said the SEC issued a report this year on the state ofthe municipal securities market and should consider a similareffort with the corporate bond market, “given how large andimportant that market has become.” That doesn't necessarily meanmore regulation, he said.

Bloomberg News

Copyright 2018 Bloomberg. All rightsreserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten,or redistributed.