While the world was watching and waiting for the Fed to cut interest rates, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a rare, quiet, bipartisan, and unanimous decision adopted “amendments to certain rules under Regulation NMS [National Market System]” that will allow U.S. stock exchanges to have transactions via increments of half a penny —… Read More >>
Exchanges & FINRA Told to Revamp NMS & Other News
SEC: Current NMS Has Too Many Conflicts of Interest Citing conflicts of interest in the current national market system (NMS), the SEC is ordering equity exchanges such as the Nasdaq Stock Market and New York Stock Exchange, and FINRA, the self-regulatory organization (SRO) for U.S. broker-dealers, to revamp and improve the governance of market data… Read More >>
Instinet Fined $3.8M for Alleged CAT Reporting Failures
Instinet has paid a $3.8 million fine to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and settled allegations that the institutional broker failed to fulfill its reporting obligation “timely and accurately” to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) system from June 2020 to the present, according to the self-regulatory organization (SRO). The ambitious, big data, securities transaction… Read More >>
tZero’s ATS Fumbled Disclosures: SEC
The SEC and the blockchain-based, broker-dealer tZero ATS have reached a settlement in a case where the regulator alleged that the firm while trading National Market System and digitally enhanced securities failed to make timely disclosures via Form ATS before key order book data was shared with third parties. tZero ATS, which is based in… Read More >>
SIFMA Draws Attention to CAT Data Issues
The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) has had securities industry data breaches on its mind lately. First, SIFMA is calling on the SEC to temporarily halt the technical specification process for the Customer and Account Information System (CAIS) of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) because the industry group is questioning whether the data… Read More >>
SEC & Exchanges Clash Over Market Data Order
U.S. equities exchanges are pushing back on the SEC’s sweeping order directing them and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to improve the governance structure for public, consolidated equity market data and the distribution of trade and quote data from trading venues. The order is intended to change the balance of power among trading venues… Read More >>
SEC’s CAT Advances Despite Calls for a Delay
The controversial Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) surveillance system and database of the SEC is moving ahead despite requests by major self-regulatory organizations (SROs) and industry groups that the effort be delayed because of concerns over cybersecurity and the deadline schedule. Last week, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton underscored the regulator’s need to stay on track with… Read More >>
