The Justice Dept. took a giant leap two years ago when it an-nounced an investigation into alleged price fixing among brokerage firms on the NASDAQ market. The potential cost to investors was billions, according to some studies. But proving collusion is a tall order-and Justice fell short. On July 17, it announced a tepid settlement with 24 firms that had Wall Street claiming vindication. The civil agreement alleges that anticompetitive practices existed but doesn't require any admissions of violations. Firms only had to promise to obey the law in the future and set up trade-monitoring systems.
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