If the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) has nine lives like its namesake breed of household felines, it may need one of them as its future is being decided by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This massive and costly equities and options tracking and data-keeping system faces a far more complicated landscape than when… Read More >>
Should the SEC Run the CAT System?
A major industry player — the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) — is pushing for the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) to be under the control of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In an odd twist, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), a self-regulatory organization (SRO) for broker-dealers, is in general agreement with… Read More >>
The CAT System Faces Scrutiny Again
The controversial Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) will remain under scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission even though the SEC recently finalized a set of cost-savings and related measures intended as ways to control the big data surveillance system. The regulator also implemented exemptive relief from certain requirements under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934…. Read More >>
SEC Implements Cost-Savings Plan for CAT System
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finalized a set of cost-savings and related measures for the controversial Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) through an amendment to the National Market System (NMS) Plan that governs the CAT system. The regulator is also implementing “exemptive relief from certain requirements of Rule 17a-1 under the Securities Exchange Act… Read More >>
SEC’s Atkins Puts PCAOB & CAT Under the Microscope
Two legacy enforcement efforts of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) — have survived to fight another day, but they haven’t escaped the ongoing scrutiny of SEC Chairman Paul Atkins. In recent testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking,… Read More >>
SEC Cuts Costs for SROs Supporting the CAT System
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted “exemptive relief “to the self-regulatory organizations (SROs) that are essentially underwriting the operating costs of the consolidated audit trail (CAT). The ambitious big data CAT system got its start in 2012 in the wake of the Flash Crash of 2010. That event spurred demand for a U.S. securities… Read More >>
CAT System Comes Under New Scrutiny
The Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) had a controversial path to becoming a key tool for U.S. market regulators in their fight against the manipulation of financial markets and other abuses that leave an electronic trail. However, it appears that the CAT surveillance system may be on a challenging path again, as key U.S. Senators, some… Read More >>
Is the SEC Defanging or Protecting the CAT?
Is the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) undercutting or protecting the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) through a new exemption that would allow “natural persons” to sidestep supplying “certain personally identifiable information (PII)” such as names, addresses, and years of birth? CAT is an ambitious and controversial big data, U.S. securities transaction monitoring project that has… Read More >>
SEC Quietly Approves Cost Savings for the CAT System
It’s been a while since I wrote about the ambitious and controversial big data, U.S. securities transaction monitoring project known as the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), which has been helping regulators FINRA and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) monitor U.S. equity and options markets, exchanges, participants, transactions, and more. CAT issues have receded as… Read More >>
SEC Amendments Jolt CAT Project
The SEC is proposing amendments to the implementation of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) project that are intended to increase operational transparency and underscore the financial accountability of the market-wide surveillance project that has experienced several delays since its launch. In fact, earlier this year, Thesys Technologies, acting as Thesys CAT, was phased out as… Read More >>
