The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) previously announced an expansion to its ongoing transparency initiative for the over-the-counter (OTC) equity market. This expansion entails FINRA publishing new data about OTC trading volume occurring outside of alternative trading systems (ATSs).

As of December 2, FINRA began publishing the following types of data: 1) monthly aggregate block-size trading data for OTC trades in National Market System (NMS) stocks executed outside an ATS, on a one-month delayed basis; and 2) aggregate non-ATS volume for each member firm (by eliminating the de minimis exception for member firms executing fewer than, on average, 200 non-ATS transactions per day during an applicable reporting period).
Continue Reading FINRA Expands Transparency Initiative Related to OTC Equity Trading Volume

On July 9, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued Regulatory Notice 19-22 (the Notice) requesting comment on a proposal to publish alternative trading system (ATS) volume data for corporate bonds and agency debt securities, in a format similar to that currently published for equity securities. The published data would include both the total number of transactions and aggregate dollar volume traded for transactions in a particular corporate bond or agency debt security executed within the ATS and reported to FINRA during the aggregation period. The ATS data would be aggregated on a monthly basis and published with a three-month delay. FINRA would not charge for the aggregated ATS fixed income data, which would be published on FINRA’s website.
Continue Reading FINRA Issues Regulatory Notice Requesting Comment on a Proposal to Publish ATS Volume Data for Corporate Bonds and Agency Debt Securities

On August 13, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued Regulatory Notice 18-25 to remind Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) to evaluate their supervisory systems to ensure compliance with their supervision obligations, including, without limitation, with respect to business continuity, recordkeeping, Regulation ATS, Regulation NMS, Regulation SHO and the SEC’s Market Access Rule, to the extent

On July 18, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new Form ATS-N and amendments to Regulation ATS and Exchange Act Rule 3a1-1. The new requirements are designed to enhance transparency of alternative trading systems (ATSs) that trade stocks listed on a national securities exchange (NMS Stock ATSs) by requiring them to publicly disclose detailed information about their operations, including order types and market data used on the ATS, fees, the ATS’s execution and priority procedures, and any procedures to segment orders on the ATS.
Continue Reading SEC Adopts New Form ATS-N and Amendments to Regulation ATS and Exchange Act Rule 3a1-1 to Enhance Transparency and Oversight of Alternative Trading Systems

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority recently filed a proposed rule change with the Securities and Exchange Commission to amend FINRA Rule 6730 regarding transaction reporting. Currently under Rule 6730, US Treasury Securities transactions executed on an alternative trading system (ATS) must be reported to the Transaction Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE) by the ATS itself and by the counterparties to the trade, but only if the counterparties are FINRA members. The identities of counterparties that are non-FINRA members are not reported under the current iteration of the Rule.
Continue Reading FINRA Proposes Rule Change Regarding ATS Reporting of Transactions to TRACE

On October 3, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority began publishing monthly data on block-size trades occurring on alternative trading systems (ATSs). Statistics for ATS block-size trades are being aggregated across all National Market System (NMS) stocks for a one-month trading period and will be published no earlier than one month following the end of the month for which such trading was aggregated. The initial report covers August ATS trades.
Continue Reading FINRA To Publish Block-Size Trade Data for ATS Trades

On November 18, the Securities and Exchange Commission proposed a rule to enhance operational transparency and regulatory oversight of alternative trading systems (ATSs) that trade stocks listed on a national securities exchange (NMS stocks), including “dark pools.” If adopted, the rule would require NMS Stock ATSs to publicly disclose, on new Form  ATS-N, detailed information about the operations and activities of a broker-dealer operator and its affiliates.
Continue Reading SEC Proposes Rules to Enhance Transparency and Oversight of Alternative Trading Systems