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What Is the Legal Distinction between Front-Running and High-Frequency Trading (HFT) Strategies?

Front-running is illegal use of non-public information; HFT is legal, high-speed trading based on public data and market inefficiencies.
Greeks.Live15.11.25

What Is the Legal Distinction between Front-Running and High-Frequency Trading (HFT) Strategies?

Front-running is generally illegal, involving the use of non-public information about a pending order to trade ahead of it for profit, violating fiduciary duties or market integrity rules. HFT, conversely, is a legal strategy that uses high-speed technology to capitalize on fleeting market inefficiencies, relying on publicly available data.

The key legal difference lies in the source of the information: non-public for front-running, public for HFT.

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