In a move that can only be taken as a massive victory for hedge funds and their major promoters, the global investment banks, the Australian Stock Exchange has announced changes to the rules requiring disclosure of the identity of brokers behind buy and sell transactions.

Traditionally, brokers behind buy and sells were identified by their ASX number on the SEATS screen, providing market participants with important clues to whether a trade is part of a larger order from a single client. Of itself, this information is vital to analysis of patterns of supply and demand – key ingredients to a fully informed market. This information also provided investors ...