Spotlight on a ‘Dark Market’

Lawmakers have leveled some scathing adjectives at the IntercontinentalExchange, known as the ICE, a technology company whose electronic markets are at the center of fierce debates about commodity speculation raging in Congress recently. It has been called shadowy, conspiratorial, unregulated and opaque. There have been hints, too, of links to market manipulation and even the Enron scandal. “To be clear, ICE is a dark market,” Senator Maria Cantwell, Democrat of Washington, said during a Senate debate in May. The vitriol seems to roll off the back of Jeffrey C. Sprecher, the 53-year-old founder of the ICE, which started as a private, high-ticket eBay for market professionals to trade esoteric electricity and natural gas derivatives. In eight years, the ICE has purchased three regulated futures exchanges, built its own... [read full story]