Automated Securities Trade Execution System And Method

1 .- 13 . (canceled)

14 . A system for trading financial instruments on an electronic market, the system comprising:

a display device operable to display one or more graphical user interfaces;

an input/output device in communication with the display device to receive inputs from a user;

a processor in communication with the input/output device and operable to execute instructions stored in a memory, wherein the instructions cause the processor to communicate display data to the display device to cause a first graphical user interface to be displayed on the display device, wherein the first graphical user interface allows a user to create or edit filtering rules indicating when orders can be automatically executed, and wherein upon receiving an indication that the user has completed creating or editing the filtering rules, the instructions cause the processor to display a second graphical user interface that contains a listing of all of the filtering rules, and the instructions further cause the processor to submit the filtering rules to an order management system that determines, based on the filtering rules, whether an order placed by the user can be automatically executed or should be submitted for manual review.

15 . The system for trading financial instruments of claim 14 , wherein the first graphical user interface allows the user to assign a priority to each of the filtering rules.

16 . The system for trading financial instruments of claim 15 , wherein the filtering rules include trader filters that govern whether the order can be automatically executed or should be submitted for manual review, broker filters that govern whether the order can be processed, and compliance filters that govern whether the order can be filled based on rules of the electronic market.

17 . The system for trading financial instruments of claim 15 , wherein the order management system applies the filtering rules according to the priority assigned to each of the filtering rules.

18 . The system for trading financial instruments of claim 17 , wherein the filtering rules include broker filters that have a higher priority than the trader filters.

19 . The system for trading financial instruments of claim 14 , wherein the first graphical user interface allows the user to select a security and the electronic market against which the filtering rules apply.

20 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving a trade order at a trading server associated with a brokerage firm having a plurality of traders, wherein each of the plurality of traders has a series of customized trader filters;

identifying a trader from the plurality of traders that is associated with the trade order;

retrieving, from a database, the series of customized trader filters set by the trader;

determining, using a processor, whether the trade order clears every filter in the series of customized trader filters associated with the trader;

processing the trade order when the trade order clears the series of customized trader filters associated with the trader; and

submitting the trade order for manual processing when the trade order fails to clear any one of the series of customized trader filters associated with the trader.

21 . The computer-implemented method of claim 20 , further comprising generating a graphical user interface that allows the trader to create and edit the series of customized trader filters associated with the trader.

22 . The computer-implemented method of claim 20 , further comprising:

determining, if the trade order clears every filter in the series of customized trader filters, whether the trade order complies with one or more compliance filters that determine if the trade order can be filled based on governing market rules; and

submitting the trade order for manual processing when the trade order fails to clear any of the one more compliance filters.

23 . The computer-implemented method of claim 22 , wherein the one or more compliance filters determine if the trade order is of a minimum volume and a trade price indicated in the trade order is within a specified percentage of the market price.

24 . The computer-implemented method of claim 22 , wherein the one or more compliance filters determine if the trade order is of a minimum volume.

25 . The computer-implemented method of claim 20 , attaching identifying information to the trade order, wherein the identifying information includes a client identifier or an account identifier.

26 . The computer-implemented method of claim 20 , further comprising generating a graphical user interface that allows any of the plurality of traders to set customized alerts based on detection of specified conditions.

27 . The computer-implemented method of claim 26 , further comprising:

determining if the specified conditions identified in the set of customized alerts associated with the trader have occurred; and

delivering an alert to the trader when the specified conditions have occurred.

28 . A system comprising:

means for receiving a trade order at a trading server associated with a brokerage firm having a plurality of traders, wherein each of the plurality of traders has a series of customized trader filters;

means for identifying a trader from the plurality of traders that is associated with the trade order;

means for retrieving the series of trade customized trader filters set by the trader;

means for determining whether the trade order clears every filter in the series of customized trader filters associated with the trader;

means for processing the trade order when the trade order clears the series of customized trader filters associated with the trader; and

means for submitting the trade order for manual processing when the trade order fails to clear any one of the series of customized trader filters associated with the trader.

29 . The system of claim 28 , further comprising a means for generating a first graphical user interface that allows the trader to create and edit the series of customized trader filters associated with the trader and a second graphical user interface that allows the trader to create and edit a series of customized alerts.

30 . The system of claim 28 , further comprising:

means for determining, if the trade order clears every filter in the series of customized trader filters, whether the trade order complies with one or more compliance filters that determine if the trade order can be filled based on governing market rules; and

means for submitting the trade order for manual processing when the trade order fails to clear any of the one more compliance filters.

31 . The system of claim 28 , wherein the one or more compliance filters determine if the trade order is of a minimum volume and a trade price indicated in the trade order is within a specified percentage of the market price or whether the trader order is of a minimum volume.

32 . The system of claim 28 , further comprising means for attaching identifying information to the trade order, wherein the identifying information includes a client identifier or an account identifier.

33 . The system of claim 28 , further comprising means for determining a status of the trade order.