Thomson Reuters to suspend early peeks at consumer confidence data

Thomson Reuters is expected to announce Monday it will suspend the practice of giving clients an early peek at consumer confidence data, yielding to pressure from the New York attorney general, reports Peter Lattman of the New York Times.

Lattman writes, “In response to the attorney general’s inquiry, Thomson Reuters took the position that its tiered pricing system was legal, said the person briefed on the investigation. But Mr. Schneiderman’s office demanded that Thomson Reuters suspend the selective disclosure of the survey at 9:54:58 to its highest-paying customers.

“After Thomson Reuters resisted making the change, the attorney general’s office threatened to seek a court order to stop it from prereleasing the data, this person said. Rather than wage a court battle, Thomson Reuters capitulated and agreed to temporarily suspend the practice for the duration of the investigation.

“When Thomson Reuters releases the University of Michigan consumer confidence survey this Friday morning, no one will receive the information before 9:55.

“Thomson Reuters has recently had other problems with its release of market-moving data. Last month, the company accidentally released a manufacturing survey from the Institute of Supply Management to a small group of traders milliseconds before others received it. Those traders used computer models to process and trade on the data.”

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