(Bloomberg) — The main U.S. securities regulator is ramping up calls to democratize a $40 trillion bond market, proposing that smaller investors receive more price information to avoid getting fleeced when buying less-traded debt.

The Securities and Exchange Commission wants retail investors to have the same access to privately negotiated bond prices as big institutions, allowing them to make better decisions about how much to pay for the securities, Chair Mary Jo White said last week. Releasing such information on corporate and municipal transactions would promote competition and better execution, she said.

The SEC is “very focused” on making changes in market structure in the “next year or two,” White said. “This potentially transformative change would broaden access to pricing information that today is available only to select parties.”

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