Mert Kilic provides a comprehensive analysis of the de lege lata regulation of algorithmic trading. He examines the origins, objectives, and systematic structure of the applicable legal provisions and evaluates their legal and practical effectiveness. The central guiding question is whether the current regulatory framework is both practicable and legally sufficiently precise. Beginning with the historical development of algorithmic trading, the study discusses the legislative motives and the legal-political justification for its regulation. The author defines the legal nature of the relevant provisions and explores how the concept of algorithmic trading is legally framed. In doing so, he examines whether the de lege lata definition encompasses trading via brokers, over-the-counter (OTC) transactions, or manually initiated orders, and how algorithmic trading is to be distinguished from the more specific category of high-frequency trading.

As part of the analysis of existing obligations for algorithmic trading firms, potential avenues for circumvention, enforcement deficiencies, and future developments are also identified. Furthermore, the supervisory and civil law consequences of regulatory violations are presented, with particular attention to liability issues arising from damages or system disruptions. Kilic also draws a comparative analysis with U.S. regulation in order to highlight differences and identify potential reform impulses for the de lege lata framework. The study concludes with a critical assessment of the current regulation, finding that the need for regulation in algorithmic trading exists only within narrow limits and that the de lege lata framework is in part indeterminate, excessively technical, and ultimately of limited practical suitability.