99-58 STATEMENT BY CHAIRMAN ARTHUR LEVITT SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION CONCERNING EXTENDED MARKET HOURS MAY 27, 1999 Chairman Arthur Levitt today issued the following statement: The Commission strongly supports investor choice in trading hours. Before widespread trading begins outside of regular hours, however, a number of investor protection and market integrity issues need to be addressed. Regardless of what hours the markets operate, the industry must place the interests of the investor ahead of all other considerations. The Commission will continue to work with the major market participants to ensure that these issues are given careful consideration. First and foremost, broker-dealers should inform investors of the risks and benefits of trading outside regular market hours. Broker-dealers should inform retail investors in particular about after-hours liquidity and volatility conditions so investors can make an informed choice concerning whether their orders should be executed in the after-hours market. The Commission will also continue to work with the self- regulatory organizations, the clearing organizations, and vendors to address issues that impact the national market system including broad dissemination of pricing information, compliance and operational issues, such as systems capacity and planning, and clearance and settlement issues.