纳斯达克CEO：我们必须面对残酷现实

    2003年，当现年57岁的罗伯特•格雷菲尔德出任纳斯达克公司（Nasdaq）CEO时，它只在美国经营一个股票市场。如今，该公司已在全球拥有并经营26个市场，交易品种覆盖股票、债券、衍生品和大宗商品；其技术为六大洲的70个交易市场提供支持。在这个被信息科技和全球化严重颠覆的行业中，格雷•菲尔德的激进扩张已经成为保持纳斯达克OMX集团（Nasdaq OMX）立于不败之地的关键。最近，格雷菲尔德与《财富》杂志(Fortune)探讨了高频交易、美国在全球资本市场的竞争力等话题。以下为经过编辑的采访节选：

    《财富》：高频交易已经引发了很多争议，尤其是在迈克尔•刘易斯的新著《快闪小子》（Flash Boys）出版之后。归根结底，刘易斯认为，市场被非法操纵了。他说得对吗？

    罗伯特•格雷菲尔德：他完全错了。他所采访的只是这个行业的少数从业者，少到有点奇怪。我觉得他就像是走马观花。这不是一部严肃的作品。当前市场的运行比以往任何时候都好。它们还可以继续改善吗？当然可以。我们每天都在为此努力。务必要指出的是，我们的市场交易成本在过去20年中已经降低了90%。这是非常了不起的。

    读过或听说过这本书的个人投资者会有点担心。对于这个话题，他们需要知道的最重要的一点是什么？

    他们应当明白，我们的市场运行得非常好。市场深度和流动性都很好，如果一位投资者想以屏幕上看到的价格买入或卖出，他们能以最快速的方式获得这个独一无二的机会。可能与你想象的正好相反，2012年以来，散户的市场参与度一直在上升，进入2014年之后，这一趋势仍在持续。因此，你看到了市场中有越来越多的散户参与。

    过去美国经济的成功部分得益于这个国家拥有堪称全球资本配置效率最优的资本市场。如今美国还有这一优势吗？

    毫无疑问。从某些方面而言，美国在全球资本市场的领先优势还进一步扩大了。2012年以来，有80家海外公司赴美上市。单单是今年，我们就吸引了不少备受关注的IPO交易。比如，来自中国的京东商城（JD.com）和英国的Markit公司均选择在这里上市。我们对当前的美国资本市场很有信心。

    有意思的是，通过现有的数据，人们可以比照美国市场和其他市场的交易成本，而美国显然处于领先地位。这是一件好事。

    4年前我们听到，有人预言美国监管升级[特别是推行《多德-弗兰克法案》（Dodd-Frank）之后]会吓跑许多本来打算赴美IPO的公司，美国的优势将丧失。后来发生了什么事情？

    大家必须要关注的是《创业企业融资法案》（Jobs Act）。这是过去十年我看到的第一部放松管制的两党法案。《创业企业融资法案》对于美国IPO市场影响巨大，特别是生物科技类公司。它显示了明智的政府行动确实能推动商业发展。

    最近《彭博商业周刊》（Businessweek）有一篇文章详细报道了2010年纳斯达克遭到的一次网络入侵。您怎么看这篇文章？

    When Robert Greifeld, 57, became Nasdaq’s chief in 2003, it ran one equity market in the U.S. Today, it owns and operates 26 markets globally for trading stocks, bonds, derivatives, and commodities; its technology runs 70 markets on six continents. Greifeld’s aggressive expansion has been necessary to keep Nasdaq OMX relevant in an industry being heavily disrupted by infotech and globalization. He talked recently with Fortune about high-frequency trading, U.S. competitiveness in capital markets, and more. Edited excerpts:

    Fortune: There’s been a lot of controversy about high frequency trading, especially since Michael Lewis’s book Flash Boys was published. Bottom line, Lewis says the market is rigged. Is he right?

    Robert Greifeld: He’s completely wrong. He spoke to very few people in the industry—it was remarkable how few people he spoke to. I characterize it as a drive-by. It was not a serious piece of work. The markets are working better than they ever have. Can they be improved? Of course they can. We work on that every day. But it’s important to note that the cost to transact in our market has declined by 90% over the last 20 years. That’s pretty impressive.

    Individual investors read the book or hear about it, and they’re a little scared. What’s the most important thing for them to know about this topic?

    The thing they should know is that our markets function incredibly well. They’re very deep and very liquid, and if an investor wants to buy or sell at the price they see on their screen, they have a unique opportunity to do that in a most rapid fashion. Contrary to what you might think, retail participation in the market has been on the increase since 2012 and that increase has continued into 2014. So you see increased engagement from retail investors in the markets.

    America’s economic success was in part due to having capital markets that were arguably the world’s best at allocating capital to its best use. Do we still have that edge?

    Beyond a doubt. In certain ways, our lead in capital markets has extended. Since 2012, we’ve had 80 companies from outside the U.S. come to the U.S. marketplace [to list]. Just this year, we had a number of high-profile wins. We had JD.com come to us from China and Markit come from the U.K. to list here. So we feel very good about the state of our capital markets.

    It’s interesting how, with the data available, you can see the transaction costs in our market relative to other markets, developed and developing, and we lead. That’s a good thing.

    Four years ago, we heard predictions that increased regulation, Dodd-Frank in particular, would discourage companies from doing IPOs and listing in the U.S., and that the advantage was going to shift. What has happened since then?

    What you have to focus on is the Jobs Act. That was the first bipartisan deregulatory action that I’ve seen in the past decade. The Jobs Act has had a tremendous impact on the IPO market in the U.S., in particular with biotech companies. It shows that informed government action can really make a difference in commercial endeavors.

    A recent Businessweek article detailed a cyberattack on Nasdaq in 2010. What was your reaction to the article?