News Release Distributor to Stop Selling to High-Speed Traders

Eric T. Schneiderman, the New York attorney general, can count another victory in his quest to curb some of the advantages enjoyed by the fastest traders on Wall Street.

Mr. Schneiderman’s office announced on Wednesday that Marketwired, a Canadian company that distributes press releases on behalf of public companies, had agreed to end its practice of selling its information feeds directly to high-frequency traders. The arrangement had given these computer-driven traders a split-second advantage over investors who received the releases through news wires, the attorney general’s office said.

Marketwired, however, said in a statement that it had made the decision to end these sales “prior to any discussions with the New York attorney general” and that it “subsequently notified them of our decision.”

Still, the announcement comes a day after Mr. Schneiderman stepped up the pressure on high-frequency traders and the companies that serve them. In a speech on Tuesday, he said he was scrutinizing services provided by stock exchanges, which permit the high-speed traders to pay to put their computer servers within the exchanges’ data centers.

Such services help the traders see market information milliseconds before other investors, supporting what Mr. Schneiderman calls “insider trading 2.0.”

“My office is committed to ensuring a fair, stable, and transparent market,” Mr. Schneiderman said in a statement on Wednesday. “I applaud Marketwired for doing the right thing and strongly encourage other industry participants to follow their lead.”

Another distributor of news releases, Business Wire, agreed in February to stop selling the information directly to high-speed traders. Last year, under pressure from Mr. Schneiderman, the financial information company Thomson Reuters said it would end its practice of selling speedy traders an early look at a closely watched survey of consumer confidence.

Marketwired, which is based in Toronto with offices in the United States, distributes the type of information that could potentially move stocks, including financial disclosures. It has more than 15,000 clients, including Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola and Nike, according to its website. The company also does social media monitoring and analytics.

“We will now eliminate any perceived advantages gained through technology by certain customers,” Marketwired said in its statement. “As such, Marketwired will no longer provide its distribution service to high-frequency trading firms. Our decision enables us to continue serving our customers under the highest ethical standards that Marketwired holds.”