Reg NMS was just re-released last week and the document surprised everyone, notes Larry Tabb, CEO of the Tabb Group and Contributing Editor to WS&T. Tabb offers his perspective on the regulation, pointing out its winners and losers. "While this may sound tame, it has the teeth of a shark," he says, "and, for better or worse, it will shred many current market practices."

The SEC voted yesterday to publish its reproposed version of Reg NMS for public comment. The revised regulation limits price-protection to automated quotes, prohibits sub-penny pricing, promotes uniform inter-market access via private linkages, and authorizes market centers to distribute their own data independent of the joint-industry plans.

The NYSE is giving floor brokers new wireless handheld PCs to participate in a hybrid market subject to SEC approval. The project is a big win for IBM.

After years of relative autonomy, senior IT executives at insurance companies are finding themselves increasingly under the thumb of tech-savvy CFOs charged with reducing costs. To succeed in this new environment, CIOs must prepare to address tough questions that go beyond the traditional IT domain.

Providing the people who sell policies with tools that enhance their effectiveness is essential to carriers' successes. And because these improvements make possible a higher level of customer service, they can also help to ensure increased customer retention and loyalty.