The first paragraph discusses the three necessary prerequisites for effective self-regulation in any market. It then cedes that stock exchanges meet the first (they’re an association of member-brokers) and the third (they have wide powers to discipline members and make rules).
The second paragraph discusses the second necessary prerequisite. While it’s theoretically true that stock exchanges are motivated to regulate members’ behavior, even in the absence of government regulation, in practice, the author is dubious. They claim that the brokers are a diverse group of rivals, and will only effectively regulate themselves in a system of checks and balances that accounts for their conflicting interests. If the governing body of the exchange were diverse enough and focused adequately on consensual decision-making, they could provide such a check on sketchy practices and members. The author then concludes that there is no evidence this ideal governing situation is being met in real world exchanges.
Q1: The passage suggests that self-regulation would fail if which of the following were to occur in a stock exchange?
A. Not addressed.
B. This could cause failure, as it would not meet the diversity requirement of the ideal governing body.
C. This should be controlled for by the three prerequisites, so it’s not a concern.
D. Out of scope of the passage.
E. The passage certainly does not suggest that the governing body should be above question.
Best answer is B.
Q2. According to the passage, which of the following will occur if, in the absence of government regulation, a stock exchange fails to curb abuses by its members?
P2, S2: A failure to curb abuses by member-brokers would deter investors, reducing the volume of trading on an exchange, hence lowering all members' profits.
Best answer is D.
Q3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which of the following about stock exchanges?
A. This is basically paraphrasing the final sentence of P1.
B. This is a bit of an overstatement of the author’s opinion.
C. This is an overstatement as well. The author suspects that governing bodies might be inadequate, but their inadequacy hasn’t been demonstrated.
D. This isn’t supported. The author calls for governing body oversight of the exchange, not oversight of the governing body by the investors.
E. The author directly disagrees with this assertion in P1, S3
Best answer is A.