FINRA proposed amendments to the FINRA Consolidated Audit Trail ("CAT") Rules ("Rule 6800 Series") to (i) add consistency for certain NMS Plan exemptions and (ii) "facilitate the retirement of current reporting systems."

According to FINRA, the proposed amendments would, among other things:

  • add to the CAT further data elements to advance the "retirement" of the Order Audit Trail System ("OATS");
  • add to the CAT-reporting requirements further data elements related to OTC Equity Securities, which FINRA currently receives from alternative trading systems engaging in OTC Equity Securities trades for the purposes of regulatory oversight;
  • require time reporting to the Central Repository in increments as small as nanoseconds; and
  • revise CAT-reporting requirements to suspend the mandate for reporting personally identifying information (e.g., dates of birth, social security numbers, etc.).

FINRA requested that the SEC waive the 30-day post-filing date waiting requirement so that the proposed amendments would be effective on June 22, 2020.

Primary Sources

  1. SR-FINRA-2020-018: Proposed Rule Change to Extend the Effective Date of the Temporary Amendments Set Forth in SR-FINRA-2020-015 from June 15, 2020 to July 31, 2020
  2. FINRA Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness: Proposed Rule Change to Extend the Effective Date of the Temporary Amendments Set Forth in SR-FINRA-2020-015 from June 15, 2020 to July 31, 2020

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