* Report said slowed by debate on whether to name firm
* Waddell & Reed not expected to be named says one source
* Report may come as soon as Thursday
By Chris Doering, Rachelle Younglai and Jonathan Spicer
WASHINGTON/NEW YORK, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Top U.S. market
regulators are finalizing the hugely anticipated "flash crash"
report after debating whether to name Waddell & Reed Financial
Inc
Disagreement over the role of the futures market and how to identify specific firms has delayed the report and caused friction between securities and futures regulators, two other people familiar with the process told Reuters.
Waddell is not expected to be named in the final report, one source said. The report may be released as soon as Thursday.
The May 6 crash sent the Dow Jones industrial average down some 700 points in a matter of minutes, before sharply recovering. The unprecedented market breakdown exposed deep flaws in the market, and has yet to be fully explained.
Citing an internal exchange document, Reuters on May 14 reported that Waddell & Reed sold a large order of e-mini futures contracts during the plunge -- identifying the firm that Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Gary Gensler alluded to in congressional testimony. [ID:nN14198678]
The CFTC, which oversees e-mini trading, has resisted naming the firm because of a commodities law that allows it to withhold such information from the public, said two of the sources.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC have been under pressure to provide more detail on the cause of the mysterious market drop. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro has said the report will paint a very clear picture of how markets operated on May 6. (Reporting by Chris Doering, Jonathan Spicer, Roberta Rampton and Rachelle Younglai; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)