The Commission Wars
In 2019, Schwab eliminated commissions followed immediately by TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, and others. The economic model shifted to PFOF, not eliminated costs.
The 2019 commission war created zero-commission trading funded by PFOF — shifting visible costs to invisible execution degradation.
In 2019, Schwab eliminated commissions followed immediately by TD Ameritrade, E*Trade, and others. The economic model shifted to PFOF, not eliminated costs.
Support Independent Accountability Journalism
The Ethics Reporter is the only independent news organization systematically tracking how Kenneth Griffin's political spending relates to the regulatory environment that protects Citadel Securities' business model. This reporting serves retail investors across every state in the country.
We are reader-funded and accept no money from financial industry advertisers. If this reporting is valuable — if you believe retail investors deserve transparency about who controls their trades — please support us.
Reader Supported
We don't have corporate advertisers. We don't take money from law firms. Every investigation you read here is funded entirely by readers. Even $1 keeps us going.
Join 47 readers who donated this month
47% toward our monthly goal of 100 supporters
Secure checkout via Stripe. Cancel your monthly gift anytime.