SEC schedules Sep 17 roundtable on 24-hour trading

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will convene a public roundtable on September 17, 2026, to examine the significant regulatory and operational challenges of moving toward 24-hour trading in American equity markets. The meeting, scheduled to be held at the SEC's headquarters in Washington, D.C., and streamed online, marks a formal step by the regulator to evaluate a concept several major exchanges are already preparing to implement.

SEC Chair Paul Atkins stated the agency is moving toward a new day and night in U.S. equity markets, framing the potential shift as aligning the markets with global counterparts that already operate continuously. The discussions will specifically focus on the preparations needed to support overnight sessions, overall market resilience, system infrastructure, and investor protections.

Currently, U.S. stock trading is primarily confined to regular sessions from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Time, though limited pre-market and after-hours trading exists. A move to near-continuous operation would require coordinated changes across market infrastructure, including clearing, settlement, market data dissemination, and corporate action processing....