Notice2023-24624
Order Granting Conditional Exemptive Relief, Pursuant to Section 36(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) and Rule 608(e) of Regulation NMS Under the Exchange Act, From Certain Requirements of the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
November 8, 2023
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 88 Issue 215 (Wednesday, November 8, 2023)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 215 (Wednesday, November 8, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 77128-77134]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2023-24624]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-98848]
Order Granting Conditional Exemptive Relief, Pursuant to Section
36(a)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act'') and
Rule 608(e) of Regulation NMS Under the Exchange Act, From Certain
Requirements of the National Market System Plan Governing the
Consolidated Audit Trail
November 2, 2023.
I. Introduction
In July 2012, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
``Commission'' or the ``SEC'') adopted Rule 613 of Regulation NMS,
which required national securities exchanges and national securities
associations (the ``Participants'') \1\ to jointly develop and submit
to the Commission a national market system plan to create, implement,
and maintain a consolidated audit trail (the ``CAT'').\2\ The goal of
Rule 613 was to create a modernized audit trail system that would
provide regulators with timely access to a comprehensive set of trading
data, thus enabling regulators to more efficiently and effectively
analyze and reconstruct market events, monitor market behavior, conduct
market analysis to support regulatory decisions, and perform
surveillance, investigation, and enforcement activities. On November
15, 2016, the Commission approved the national market system plan
required by Rule 613 (the ``CAT NMS Plan'').\3\
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\1\ The Participants include BOX Exchange LLC, Cboe BYX
Exchange, Inc., Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., Cboe C2 Exchange, Inc.,
Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc., Cboe Exchange,
Inc., Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., Investors'
Exchange LLC, Long-Term Stock Exchange, Inc., MEMX LLC, Miami
International Securities Exchange LLC, MIAX Emerald, LLC, MIAX
PEARL, LLC, Nasdaq BX, Inc., Nasdaq GEMX, LLC, Nasdaq ISE, LLC,
Nasdaq MRX, LLC, Nasdaq PHLX LLC, The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, New
York Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE American LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc., NYSE
Chicago, Inc., and NYSE National, Inc.
\2\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67457 (July 18,
2012), 77 FR 45722 (Aug. 1, 2012) (``Rule 613 Adopting Release'').
\3\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 78318 (Nov. 15, 2016),
81 FR 84696, (Nov. 23, 2016) (``CAT NMS Plan Approval Order''). The
CAT NMS Plan is Exhibit A to the CAT NMS Plan Approval Order. See
CAT NMS Plan Approval Order, at 84943-85034. The CAT NMS Plan
functions as the limited liability company agreement of the jointly
owned limited liability company formed under Delaware state law
through which the Participants conduct the activities of the CAT
(the ``Company''). Each Participant is a member of the Company and
jointly owns the Company on an equal basis. The Participants
submitted to the Commission a proposed amendment to the CAT NMS Plan
on Aug. 29, 2019, which they designated as effective on filing.
Under the amendment, the limited liability company agreement of a
new limited liability company named Consolidated Audit Trail, LLC
serves as the CAT NMS Plan, replacing in its entirety the CAT NMS
Plan. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 87149 (Sept. 27,
2019), 84 FR 52905 (Oct. 3, 2019).
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On December 16, 2020, the Commission issued two exemptive orders
regarding the implementation of the CAT NMS Plan (collectively, the
``2020 Orders''). The first order, in response to a request from the
Participants, granted temporary conditional relief from certain
performance requirements related to the online targeted query tool
(``OTQT'').\4\ The second order granted temporary conditional relief
from the following requirements: (1) requirements for lifecycle
linkages timeframes; (2) requirements for re-processing of corrected
data received after T+5; (3) linkage requirements for Securities
Information Processor data (``SIP Data''); (4) reporting requirements
for port-level settings; (5) requirements for lifecycle linkages
between customer orders and ``representative'' orders; and (6)
requirements for Participant reporting of rejected orders.\5\
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\4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90689 (Dec. 16,
2020), 85 FR 83667 (Dec. 22, 2020); see also Letter from Michael
Simon, CAT NMS Plan Operating Committee Chair, to Vanessa
Countryman, Secretary, Commission, dated Dec. 1, 2020, available at
<a href="https://catnmsplan.com/sites/default/files/2020-12/12.01.20-CAT-Exemption-Request-OTQT.pdf">https://catnmsplan.com/sites/default/files/2020-12/12.01.20-CAT-Exemption-Request-OTQT.pdf</a>.
\5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90688 (Dec. 16,
2020), 85 FR 83634 (Dec. 22, 2020).
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On February 14, 2021, several of the Participants filed motions
requesting that the Commission stay the 2020 Orders, based on their
concern that portions of the orders ``interpret and apply the Plan in
ways that will produce unintended adverse consequences, present
implementation challenges, or both.'' \6\ That same day, several of
those same Participants filed corresponding petitions for judicial
review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
Circuit (the ``D.C. Circuit'') seeking review of the 2020 Orders.\7\
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\6\ See Motion for Partial Stay of Order 34-90689, at 2; Motion
for Partial Stay of Order 34-90688, at 2. Financial Industry
Regulatory Authority, Inc. and Long-Term Stock Exchange, Inc. did
not join these motions.
\7\ See Petition for Review, USCA Case No. 21-1065; Petition for
Review, USCA Case No. 21-1066. Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc., Investors Exchange LLC, Long-Term Stock Exchange,
Inc., MEMX LLC, Miami International Securities Exchange LLC, MIAX
Emerald, LLC, and MIAX PEARL, LLC did not join these petitions.
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On July 8, 2022, the Commission issued a new order granting
temporary exemptive relief (the ``2022 Order'').\8\ The 2022 Order,
which superseded the
[[Page 77129]]
2020 Orders, modified and/or clarified certain aspects of the 2020
Orders and gave the Participants until July 31, 2024 to either
implement the functionality the Commission required for compliance with
the relevant provisions of the CAT NMS Plan or to obtain Commission
approval of alternative solutions that achieve the relevant regulatory
objectives of Rule 613 and the CAT NMS Plan in a more cost-effective
manner, including CAT NMS Plan amendments or exemptive relief. In
addition, the Commission issued an order denying the Participants' stay
motions, concluding that the administrative petitions to stay the 2020
Orders were ``moot'' because those orders were ``no longer in force.''
\9\ On August 3, 2022, the Commission and the Participants submitted a
stipulation of voluntary dismissal to the D.C. Circuit, and, on August
5, 2022, the D.C. Circuit issued an order formally dismissing the
lawsuits.\10\
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\8\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 95234 (July 8,
2022), 87 FR 42247 (July 14, 2022).
\9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 95235 (July 8,
2022), 87 FR 42242 (July 14, 2022).
\10\ See Order of Dismissal, USCA Case No. 21-1065 (consolidated
with USCA Case No. 21-1066).
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On September 6, 2022, in order to reserve their rights, a subset of
the Participants filed a petition for review with the D.C. Circuit
seeking review of the 2022 Order.\11\ The Commission understood that
the Participants' concerns remained generally the same as expressed
with respect to the 2020 Orders. The Commission subsequently issued an
order, on May 18, 2023, extending the exemptive relief provided by the
2022 Order (the ``2023 Order'') from July 31, 2024 to January 31, 2025,
subject to the same conditions set forth in the 2022 Order.\12\ Since
2021, the Participants and Commission staff engaged in discussions with
the goal of resolving their differences with respect to the issues
raised by the 2020 Orders, the 2022 Order, and the 2023 Order (the
``prior Orders'').
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\11\ See Petition for Review, USCA Case No. 22-1234. Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. and Investors' Exchange LLC did
not join this petition.
\12\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 97530 (May 18,
2023), 88 FR 33655 (May 24, 2023).
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In light of further developments throughout this period and in
connection with the parties' settlement of the pending litigation, the
Commission has determined to issue a new order granting the
Participants conditional exemptive relief from certain requirements of
the CAT NMS Plan, which are described in more detail below.\13\ If and
when it takes effect, the relief granted in this Order will supersede
the relief granted in the 2022 Order and the 2023 Order. This relief is
to take effect upon issuance of an order by the D.C. Circuit dismissing
with prejudice the Participants' petition for review of the 2022 Order.
Unless and until that occurs, the 2022 Order and the 2023 Order shall
continue to govern. Should the Participants file a petition for review
of this Order, the relief granted herein will be rescinded by its own
terms and the 2022 Order and the 2023 Order will resume governing.
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\13\ In May 2020, the Commission adopted amendments to the CAT
NMS Plan that establish four Financial Accountability Milestones and
set target deadlines by which these milestones must be achieved.
These amendments also reduce the amount of any fees, costs, and
expenses that the Participants may recover from Industry Members if
the Participants fail to meet the target deadlines. See Securities
Exchange Act Release No. 88890 (May 15, 2020), 85 FR 31322 (May 22,
2020). The Commission has stated that, to the extent that the
Participants are availing themselves of exemptive relief from a CAT
NMS Plan requirement, such requirement shall not be included in the
requirements for a Financial Accountability Milestone, provided that
the conditions of the exemption are satisfied. See, e.g., Securities
Exchange Act Release No. 89051 (June 11, 2020), 85 FR 36631 (June
17, 2020). In connection with issuing this Order, the Commission has
determined that the Participants have sufficiently complied with the
conditions set forth in the prior Orders and with the technical
requirements for Quarterly Progress Reports set forth in section
6.6(c) of the CAT NMS Plan, including for purposes of determining
compliance with any applicable Financial Accountability Milestones.
The Commission makes no determination as to the veracity of the
factual assertions made in Quarterly Progress Reports submitted
pursuant to section 6.6(c) or as to whether the Participants have
complied with the applicable Financial Accountability Milestones in
all other respects. Moreover, the Commission makes no determinations
with respect to the Full Implementation of CAT NMS Plan Requirements
milestone described in section 1.1 of the CAT NMS Plan or the
potential application of fee reduction provisions set forth in
section 11.6 of the CAT NMS Plan with respect to that milestone.
Rather, the Commission will consider the Participants' compliance
with the CAT NMS Plan requirements, and/or compliance with the
conditions set forth in the prior Orders and the impact of that
compliance, in the context of fee proposals related to that
milestone. Moreover, the Commission makes no determinations
regarding the Participants' compliance or non-compliance with other
provisions or requirements of the CAT NMS Plan that are not
discussed in the prior Orders or in this Order.
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II. Discussion and Exemptive Relief
Section 36(a)(1) of the Exchange Act grants the Commission the
authority to ``conditionally or unconditionally exempt any person,
security, or transaction . . . from any provision or provisions of [the
Exchange Act] or of any rule or regulation thereunder, to the extent
that such exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest,
and is consistent with the protection of investors.'' \14\ Rule 608(e)
of Regulation NMS similarly grants the Commission the authority to
``exempt from [Rule 608], either unconditionally or on specified terms
and conditions, any self-regulatory organization, member thereof, or
specified security, if the Commission determines that such exemption is
consistent with the public interest, the protection of investors, the
maintenance of fair and orderly markets and the removal of impediments
to, and perfection of the mechanisms of, a national market system.''
\15\
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\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78mm(a)(1).
\15\ 17 CFR 242.608(e).
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The Commission recognizes that the Participants have expended, and
continue to expend, substantial resources and effort towards the
development and implementation of the CAT. However, in the 2022 Order,
the Commission stated that the current functionality of the CAT does
not yet comply with CAT NMS Plan requirements for the above-described
areas.\16\ The Participants have disagreed, and have further stated
that, in many of these areas, strict compliance with the relevant CAT
NMS Plan provisions would not be practical from a cost-benefit
perspective.\17\ In light of that disagreement, the Commission stressed
in the 2022 Order its willingness to consider alternative solutions
that achieve the regulatory goals of Rule 613 and the CAT NMS Plan in a
more cost-effective manner.\18\
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\16\ See 2022 Order, supra note 8.
\17\ See, e.g., id. at 42248.
\18\ Id.
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The Commission has determined that the exemptive relief granted
herein--which is the product of multiple years of settlement
discussions--is appropriate in the public interest and consistent with
the protection of investors under section 36(a)(1) of the Exchange Act,
as well as consistent with the public interest, the protection of
investors, the maintenance of fair and orderly markets, and the
perfection of the mechanisms of a national market system under Rule
608(e) of Regulation NMS. The Commission approved the CAT NMS Plan to
help to protect investors and maintain fair and orderly markets by
providing a sophisticated audit trail that improves regulators' ability
to investigate potential misconduct, to reconstruct and to analyze
market events, and to support regulatory decisions with detailed and
accurate data, among other benefits. The conditional exemptive relief
in this Order allows for the implementation of alternative regulatory
solutions that continue to advance the regulatory goals that Rule 613
and the CAT NMS Plan were intended to promote, while reducing the
implementation and operational costs, burdens, and/or
[[Page 77130]]
difficulties that would otherwise be incurred by the Participants and
Industry Members \19\ that must fund the CAT. It also resolves the
continued impasse over implementation of these aspects of the CAT,
which impeded and distracted from these regulatory goals.
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\19\ ``Industry Member'' is defined in section 1.1 of the CAT
NMS Plan as ``a member of a national securities exchange or a member
of a national securities association.''
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A. OTQT Performance Requirements
The Commission grants conditional exemptive relief from the OTQT
performance requirements related to query response times and parallel
processing of queries set forth in appendix D, section 8.1.2 of the CAT
NMS Plan.\20\ Such relief is subject to the following conditions:
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\20\ The OTQT performance requirements set forth in appendix D,
section 8.1.2 of the CAT NMS Plan are described in the 2022 Order.
See 2022 Order, supra note 8, at 42248-50. The Commission
understands that the Participants challenge the feasibility of
strict compliance with these requirements.
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<bullet> The OTQT must maintain or improve current functionality
that enables requests for ``all related lifecycles'' to be made either
prior to or after the generation of a parent query.
<bullet> The OTQT must further satisfy the performance parameters
set forth in Exhibit A.
<bullet> The Plan Processor must continue to test the OTQT's
performance with benchmark queries and evaluate the response times for
actual queries on a monthly basis. Such tests and evaluations should
contain at least the same content that is currently provided to
Commission staff and should be provided to Commission staff and the
Operating Committee within 30 days from the end of each month.
<bullet> The Plan Processor must conduct an annual concurrency test
by launching 300 simultaneous query requests across the different query
categories and measuring the response times against the applicable
performance standards. The concurrency test shall be based on
historical actual queries, and the mix of queries shall be based on the
percentage of actual queries by category. The concurrency test
attributes shall be provided in writing and reviewed in advance with
Commission staff and the Operating Committee. The Participants must
also provide the results of the annual concurrency testing performed by
the Plan Processor on the OTQT to Commission staff within 30 days from
the date of such testing. If the concurrency test response times do not
satisfy the performance standards set forth in Exhibit A (i.e.,
measured against a 90% compliance rate for each category, based on
historical actual queries, with the mix of queries based on the
percentage of actual queries by category), the Plan Processor shall
promptly investigate and make recommendations to the Operating
Committee for how to ensure adequate concurrency performance.
<bullet> The Plan Processor must establish policies and/or
procedures requiring review of the OTQT's performance on a regular and
ongoing basis and evaluation of opportunities for potential
improvements to the OTQT's performance. The Participants must provide
to Commission staff, on an annual basis, a written status update
including information regarding any potential and actual implementation
by the Plan Processor of improvements to the OTQT performance. The
written status update shall also include an evaluation of (1) volume
trends and projections; (2) usage patterns and types of queries
performed; (3) response time statistics and trends; (4) outlier
queries; (5) costs and benefits; and (6) regulatory need.
The Commission believes that this conditional exemptive relief
reflects a reasonable compromise approach. The standards set forth in
Exhibit A preserve, as a baseline, the OTQT functionality that is
already in place, which should provide a measure of certainty for
regulatory users regarding this query tool's expected performance. The
other conditions set forth above enable better oversight of the OTQT's
performance by the Participants and the Commission, which the
Commission believes is in the public interest.
B. Requirements for Lifecycle Linkages Timeframes
The Commission grants conditional exemptive relief from the
requirement set forth in appendix D, section 6.1 of the CAT NMS Plan
that lifecycle linkages be created by T+1 at noon Eastern Time.\21\
Such relief is subject to the following conditions:
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\21\ The lifecycle linkage performance requirements set forth in
appendix D, section 6.1 of the CAT NMS Plan are described in the
2022 Order. See 2022 Order, supra note 8, at 42250-52. The
Commission understands that the Participants challenge the
feasibility of strict compliance with these requirements.
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<bullet> The Plan Processor must maintain or improve the existing
performance of functionality currently providing lifecycle linkages for
all order events by T+1 at 9 p.m. Eastern Time, except an interim CAT
Order ID will not be required for Options Quotes once the functionality
described below is implemented.
<bullet> The Plan Processor must develop and implement the
functionality to provide a final CAT Order ID and lifecycle linkage for
Options Quotes by T+2 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time, including all enrichments
currently provided for such order events at T+5 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.
The Plan Processor will no longer be required to provide an interim CAT
Order ID for Options Quotes once this functionality has been
implemented. When late or corrected data is received for Options Quotes
between T+1 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time and T+4 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time, the
Plan Processor must run, on an ad hoc basis, a second processing cycle
such that lifecycle linkage and all enrichments currently provided for
such order events are performed by T+5 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.
The Commission believes that this conditional exemptive relief
facilitates settlement of the issues raised in the Participants'
challenge to the 2022 order while preserving existing functionality for
most types of order events.
C. Requirements for Re-Processing of Corrected Data Received After T+5
\22\
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\22\ For the purposes of this document, references to data
received ``after T+5,'' or to post-T+5 data, submissions, or
reports, are to data received ``after T+4 at 8 a.m. Eastern Time.''
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The Commission grants conditional exemptive relief from the re-
processing requirements for corrected data received after T+5 that are
set forth in appendix D, section 3 and section 6.2 of the CAT NMS
Plan.\23\ Such relief is subject to the following conditions:
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\23\ The T+5 re-processing requirements set forth in appendix D,
section 3 and section 6.2 of the CAT NMS Plan are described in the
2022 Order. See 2022 Order, supra note 8, at 42252-53. The
requirements concern how the CAT Order ID and other data elements
(e.g., sequence numbers, CAT Customer ID) are created for post-T+5
data, as well as any applicable impacts to those data elements for
on-time data within the same lifecycle that were previously
delivered to regulatory users on T+5. The Commission understands
that the Participants challenge the feasibility of strict compliance
with these requirements.
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<bullet> The Plan Processor must maintain its implementation of
functionality related to late data lifecycle association that was
approved by the Operating Committee on January 14, 2022 (the ``Late to
the Lifecycle process'') and on September 20, 2022 (the ``Targeted
Replay process'') (collectively, the ``Enhanced Late to the Lifecycle
process''). Prior to the implementation of this functionality, in the
limited circumstances in which there was a missing link between two
disjoined segments of an order lifecycle, new or corrected data would
join only one of the pre-existing segments and would be assigned to
only one of the relevant
[[Page 77131]]
lifecycle CAT Order IDs for the disjoined segment and evaluated for
further re-processing. Under the Enhanced Late to the Lifecycle
process, all late records (i.e., records received after T+5) include
the date of the correction and, if applicable, the record identifier of
the record being corrected as part of normal re-processing. In
addition, the late record is now associated with all relevant
lifecycles as part of normal re-processing, such that order event
lifecycles may now be associated with more than one CAT Order ID.
<bullet> The Participants must approve a change order to adopt the
below-described functionality no later than 30 days following the
effective date of this Order:
[cir] Functionality that creates a lifecycle mapping which
indicates all lifecycle associations made during the Enhanced Late to
the Lifecycle process;
[cir] Functionality that presents to regulatory users post-T+5 data
in a manner substantially similar to how such data would have been
represented if it had been reported prior to T+5, including by
replicating and replaying records with enrichments impacted by post-T+5
submissions, creating updated enrichments, and persisting the
replicated records within the underlying data (the ``Full Replay
process''); and
[cir] Functionality that enhances the OTQT, including the ability
to include or exclude any records that were created or replaced as a
result of the Full Replay process.
Such functionality must be fully implemented and made available to
regulatory users within twelve months of the change order's approval by
the Participants.
<bullet> The Plan Processor must schedule the Enhanced Late to the
Lifecycle process and the Full Replay process to run weekly, such that
late reported data received through Friday of the prior week are
available for regulatory users on the following business day at 8 a.m.
Eastern Time, absent extraordinary circumstances, for data within the
prior 18 months. For data outside of this 18-month window, the
Participants must schedule the Enhanced Late to the Lifecycle process
and the Full Replay process to run no less frequently than quarterly.
The Commission understands that this alternative technological
solution, when fully implemented, will meaningfully advance the
regulatory goals of Rule 613 and the CAT NMS Plan by enabling
regulatory users to view corrected data that is submitted after T+5 as
part of an order event lifecycle (which may be represented by more than
one CAT Order ID) and in a manner that does not require such regulatory
users to know whether late records were submitted and/or to perform
additional query steps to obtain the most up-to-date records. The
Commission believes this alternative technological solution will help
regulatory users to better understand the impact of post-T+5 reports.
D. Requirements for SIP Data Linkage
The Commission grants conditional exemptive relief from the SIP
Data linkage requirements that are set forth in section 6.5(b)(i) and
appendix D, section 3 of the CAT NMS Plan.\24\ Such relief is subject
to the following conditions:
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\24\ The SIP Data linkage requirements set forth in section
6.5(b)(i) and appendix D, section 3 of the CAT NMS Plan is described
in the 2022 Order. See 2022 Order, supra note 8, at 42253-54. The
Commission understands that the Participants challenge the
feasibility of strict compliance with these requirements.
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<bullet> The Plan Processor must continue to provide regulatory
users with the side-by-side view of SIP Data and other transactional
data in the same format and manner that is currently available in the
OTQT.\25\
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\25\ This ``side-by-side'' functionality refers to the ability
for users of the OTQT to include SIP Data in multi-object searches
that include transactional data from Industry Member and Plan
Participant CAT Reporters. For example, a regulatory user may elect
to query Exchange Equity Events and SIP Trades simultaneously for
trades in a given security; the results will be returned interweaved
within a single result set, in a logical sequence.
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This functionality requires regulatory users to manually match SIP
Data with other transactional data reported to the CAT. However, the
Commission believes this is an acceptable alternative solution that
will continue to make available SIP Data to regulatory users while
facilitating settlement of the issues raised in the Participants'
challenge to the 2022 Order.
E. Reporting Requirements for Port-Level Settings
The Commission grants conditional exemptive relief from the
requirements as applied to port-level settings that are set forth in
Rule 613(c)(7) and sections 6.3(d)(i)(F), 6.3(d)(ii)(G),
6.3(d)(iii)(F), 6.3(d)(iv)(E), and 6.4(d)(i) of the CAT NMS Plan for
the following special handling instructions described in the current
CAT Industry Member Technical Specifications that may be set by
Industry Members at the various Participant exchanges via exchange
ports (the ``Exempted Port-Level Settings''): \26\
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\26\ The requirements as applied to port-level settings set
forth in in Rule 613(c)(7) and sections 6.3(d)(i)(F), 6.3(d)(ii)(G),
6.3(d)(iii)(F), 6.3(d)(iv)(E), and 6.4(d)(i) of the CAT NMS Plan are
described in the 2022 Order. See 2022 Order, supra note 8, at 42254-
55. The Commission understands that, notwithstanding this Order, the
Participants continue to disagree with its interpretation of these
requirements and challenge the feasibility of strict compliance with
these requirements, other than with respect to the Exempted Port-
Level Settings. This Order does not resolve (or have any bearing on)
the parties' remaining interpretive disagreement on this issue, but
instead provides exemptive relief that renders resolution of the
issue unnecessary as to all port-level settings other than the
Exempted Port-Level Settings.
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ATT Attributable. Order is routed to an exchange or ATS with
instructions that the order is attributable.
DNI Do Not Increase.
DNR Do Not Reduce.
DNRT Do Not Route.
RLO Retail Liquidity Order.
STP Self Trade Prevention.
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Under the conditional exemptive relief granted herein, the
Participants will not be required to obligate Industry Members to
report these six special handling instructions when an Industry Member
routes an order to a national securities exchange over an exchange port
that is configured for one of these special handling instructions.\27\
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\27\ As explained in the 2022 Order, the CAT NMS Plan does not
require all port-level settings to be reported to the CAT. Rule 613
and the CAT NMS Plan only require Participants and Industry Members
to report port-level settings that are used by a sender or a
receiver of an order to communicate the Material Terms of the Order,
including ``any special handling instructions.'' Furthermore, Rule
613 and the CAT NMS Plan only obligate the sender of an order to
report the Material Terms of the Order that it communicated to and/
or agreed upon with the receiver of the order, including default or
implicit special handling instructions communicated through a port-
level setting. If the receiver of an order subsequently attaches
``any special handling instructions'' to an order without informing
the sender, including special handling instructions communicated
through a port-level setting, only the receiver would be obligated
to report those Material Terms of the Order.
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This conditional exemptive relief applies only when the Exempted
Port-Level Settings are set at the port-level at a national securities
exchange. Aside from the Exempted Port-Level Settings, this Order does
not provide exemptive relief from the reporting requirements set forth
in the CAT NMS Plan for any existing and/or new special handling
instructions that may be set at the port-level at a national securities
exchange and that may constitute Material Terms of the Order; likewise,
this Order does not provide exemptive relief for any Material Terms of
the Order that are set at the port-level on Industry Member alternative
trading systems or broker-dealer port-level settings. To the extent
that the Participants and/or Industry Members wish to receive similar
exemptive relief related to other Material Terms of the Order set at
the
[[Page 77132]]
port-level, they must submit an exemptive relief request to the
Commission for its consideration.
Such relief is subject to the following conditions:
<bullet> The Participants must report the Exempted Port-Level
Settings in the order receipt record, regardless of whether such
Exempted Port-Level Settings are ``triggered'' or ``applied.'' \28\
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\28\ The Commission understands that the Participants disagree
with its interpretation that special handling instructions that are
never ``triggered'' or ``applied'' to an order qualify as Material
Terms of the Order with respect to any other existing and/or new
special handling instructions that may be set at the port-level at a
national securities exchange.
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<bullet> The Participants must maintain and communicate to Industry
Members via a CAT Alert a mapping of each exchange-specific port-level
setting related to the Exempted Port-Level Settings, substantially in
the form of the draft mapping the Participants have provided to the
Commission.\29\
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\29\ There are differences between the technical specifications
utilized by Industry Members and Participants, as well as
differences in reporting among the Participants. While the
Participants may update this mapping for the Exempted Port-Level
Settings as needed, new Material Terms of the Order that are set at
the port-level and that are not specifically addressed this Order
may not be added to this mapping without additional exemptive relief
from the Commission.
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The Commission believes that this alternative technological
solution, when fully implemented, reflects a reasonable compromise
approach with respect to a limited set of data.\30\
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\30\ The Commission notes that its analysis is specific to the
Exempted Port-Level Settings and reserves judgment as to whether the
above-described alternative technological solution would be
appropriate for any other Material Terms of the Order that are
communicated via a port-level setting.
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F. Requirements for Lifecycle Linkages Between Customer Orders and
``Representative'' Orders
The Commission grants temporary conditional exemptive relief from
the requirements set forth in appendix D, section 3 of the CAT NMS Plan
related to lifecycle linkages between customer orders and
representative orders until January 31, 2025.\31\ Such relief is
intended to mirror the exemptive relief provided by the 2023 Order and
is subject to the following condition:
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\31\ The requirements related to lifecycle linkages between
customer orders and representative orders set forth in appendix D,
section 3 of the CAT NMS Plan are described in the 2022 Order. See
2022 Order, supra note 8, at 42255-56.
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<bullet> The Participants must require Industry Members to report
``representative'' orders as currently described in FAQs F5-F7 and as
described in other exemptive relief issued by the Commission by January
31, 2025.\32\
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\32\ See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88702 (Apr.
20, 2020), 85 FR 23075 (Apr. 24, 2020); 2022 Order, supra note 8, at
42255-56. See also FAQ F5-F7, available at <a href="https://catnmsplan.com/faq">https://catnmsplan.com/faq</a>.
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The Commission believes that the relief provided in the 2023 Order
gives Industry Members sufficient time to make any necessary systems
changes to implement the required functionality, especially because the
technical specifications and/or scenarios documents relating to the
reporting and linkage of all ``representative'' orders have already
been promulgated by the Participants. Therefore, the Commission does
not believe it is necessary to issue any additional extension of
exemptive relief in connection with these requirements.
G. Requirements for Participant Reporting of Rejected Orders
The Commission grants conditional exemptive relief from the
requirements set forth in Rule 613(c)(7) and section 6.3(d)(i) and
appendix D, section 3 of the CAT NMS Plan relating to Participant
reporting of rejected orders and subsequent linkage of such orders.\33\
Such relief is subject to the following conditions:
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\33\ The requirements related to Participant reporting of
rejected orders set forth in Rule 613(c)(7) and section 6.3(d)(i)
and appendix D, section 3 of the CAT NMS Plan are described in the
2022 Order. See 2022 Order, supra note 8, at 42256-57. The
Commission understands that, notwithstanding this Order, the
Participants continue to disagree with its interpretation of these
requirements and challenge the feasibility of strict compliance with
that interpretation. This Order does not resolve the parties'
interpretive disagreement on this issue, but instead provides
exemptive relief that renders resolution of the issue unnecessary.
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<bullet> The Participants must maintain or improve their existing
reporting of orders that are received and subsequently rejected,
including maintenance by Participants of any existing reporting or
linkage of the keys necessary for the linkage processing specified
below. The Plan Processor must maintain its existing validations of
such orders.
<bullet> The Participants must approve a change order to adopt the
below-described functionality no later than 60 days following the
effective date of this Order:
[cir] Functionality that will attempt ``forward lifecycle linkage''
processing, including all enrichments currently provided for other
order events, of Industry Member MEOR, MOOR, and MEMR Order Route
events containing a routeRejectedFlag populated as ``true'' with their
corresponding Participant Reject Message events described in the
Participant Technical Specifications in instances where the keys
necessary for such linkage are available (i.e., Symbol (or Option ID),
RoutingParty, RoutedOrderID, Session).\34\
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\34\ The ``forward lifecycle linkage'' processing referred to
above is intended to capture functionality that the Participants
believe may be feasible in light of a study of recent data. Based on
that study and based on current trading volume market share among
the various Participant exchanges, the Plan Processor currently
estimates that approximately 90% of Industry Member MEOR, MOOR, and
MEMR Order Route events containing a routeRejectedFlag populated as
``true'' may be programmatically linked with their corresponding
Participant Reject Message events. For the avoidance of doubt, for
purposes of satisfying the conditions of this Order, the
Participants will not be required to modify their existing
architectures or reporting and will not be required to provide
``reverse linkage'' of Participant Reject Message events to Industry
Member Order Route events. Moreover, this Order does not impose any
required minimum linkage rate as a condition to exemptive relief.
Linkage errors relating to rejected orders will not be required to
be included in compliance error rates.
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Such functionality must be fully implemented and made available to
regulatory users within twelve months of the change order's approval by
the Participants.
The Commission understands that this alternative technological
solution, when fully implemented, will meaningfully advance the
regulatory goals of Rule 613 and the CAT NMS Plan by providing
regulatory users with additional information about rejected orders.
III. Conclusion
Accordingly, it is hereby ordered, pursuant to section 36(a)(1) of
the Exchange Act \35\ and Rule 608(e) under the Exchange Act,\36\ that
the above-described conditional exemptive relief be granted, effective
immediately upon the date of issuance of an order by the D.C. Circuit
dismissing the Participants' petition for review of the 2022 Order.
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\35\ 15 U.S.C. 78mm(a)(1).
\36\ 17 CFR 242.608(e).
By the Commission.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
Exhibit A
Online Targeted Query Tool Performance Parameters
1. General: Subject to the specific conditions described in this
Exhibit A, OTQT performance must satisfy both (i) an operational
completion rate (measuring the successful completion of all
attempted queries), and (ii) a query compliance rate (measuring the
response time performance of all successfully completed queries).
2. Operational Completion Rate: Queries will be subject to a 95%
operational completion rate measured quarterly against
[[Page 77133]]
all attempted queries in the aggregate. The operational completion
rate will measure the successful completion of all attempted
queries, excluding failed queries resulting from a service
interruption experienced by the Plan Processor's cloud service
provider.
3. Query Compliance Rate. Queries will be subject to a 90% query
compliance rate measured monthly against all actual query results
based on the categories and response times set forth below. The
query compliance rate will measure the response time performance of
all successfully completed queries for each category. Response times
shall be measured from the time of query submission by the
regulatory user to the time that the results are available to the
regulatory user (i.e., including the time required to formulate a
data mart).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Response time
Category (minutes) Description
------------------------------------------------------------------------
OLA Viewer........................ 2
Standard Queries
Small..................... 10 See data objects
below.
Medium.................... 30 See data objects
below.
Large..................... 60 See data objects
below.
Complex................... 240 <bullet> More than
one trade date or
object, or
<bullet> Returns
more than 1M rows.
All Related Lifecycles \37\
Simple.................... 20 <bullet> Fewer than
10,000 lifecycles,
and
<bullet> Single-day
lifecycle count.
Complex................... 720 <bullet> Fewer than
50,000 lifecycles,
and
<bullet> Fewer than
60 lifecycle dates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Standard Query Data Objects \38\
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Small (10 minutes) Medium (30 minutes) Large (60 minutes)
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Corporate Actions....................... Equity Exchange Events................................ IM Equity Events.
Equity Member Dictionary................ Exchange Orders....................................... Options Exchange Events.
Equity Off Exchange Events.............. IM Options Events..................................... Options NBBO.
Equity Symbol Master.................... Market Participant Quotes............................. Options Orders/Trades.
Equity Trade Events..................... Options Quotes........................................ OPRA RAW.
FDID CCID Map........................... SIP Quotes.
IDQS BBO
Market Maker Dictionary
OCC Options Product
OCC Options Series
Off Exchange Trade Events
Off Exchange Trades
Options Dictionary
Options Member Dictionary
Options Trade Events
OTC Halt Events
Self Help Declaration Events
SIP Admin
SIP CTA Admin Messages
SIP CTS Trade Summary
SIP CTS Trades
SIP Issue Status
SIP MWCB Status
SIP OTC Halts
SIP Quote Events
SIP Summary
SIP Trades
SIP UTP Admin Messages
SIP UTP LULD Price Band
SIP UTP Trade Prior Day As-Of
SIP UTP Trade Summary
SIP UTP Trades
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Reporting Requirements. The Plan Processor shall provide a
monthly report noting (i) the operational completion rate for all
attempted queries in the aggregate, and (ii) the query compliance
rate for each category described above, to Commission staff within
30 days from the end of each month.
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\37\ For an all related lifecycles request made prior to the
generation of a parent query, the time of query submission will not
commence until completion of the parent query.
\38\ If a new data object is created in the future, the Plan
Processor will undertake a six-month assessment period (commencing
once the data object is populated with actual data) to understand
volumes and regulatory usage and, based on these observations, will
slot the new data object into one of these existing categories.
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5. Reasonable Adjustment Period. In order to permit the Plan
Processor to promptly scale up the OTQT to ensure adequate system
capacity in the event of significant, unanticipated, or rapid
changes in data volumes and/or user behavior that require
application coding changes and/or changes to how historical data is
stored, response times shall be subject to a reasonable adjustment
period, (i) not to exceed 60 days for items
[[Page 77134]]
requiring application coding changes,\39\ and (ii) not to exceed 120
days for items requiring changes to how a data object is stored and
that may include changes impacting historical data in the object.
These 60-day and 120-day periods shall be measured from the date on
which the monthly compliance report is provided to Commission staff.
For purposes of this condition:
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\39\ Application coding changes are changes requiring a software
release and deployment. For the avoidance of doubt, adding/removing
system capacity or the incremental size of capacity changes (e.g.,
autoscaling compute node step size) within the limits of the OTQT
system are configuration changes and are not considered application
coding changes.
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<bullet> A significant, unanticipated, or rapid change in data
volume shall be deemed to have occurred in the event of an average
daily data volume increase of 30% in the applicable data object(s)
from the lesser of: (i) the peak daily data volume observed in the
prior month, or (ii) the peak daily data volume observed in the same
month in the prior year.
<bullet> A significant, unanticipated, or rapid change in user
behavior shall be deemed to have occurred in the event of an average
daily OTQT query count increase of 30% from the lesser of: (i) the
peak daily OTQT query count observed in the prior month, or (ii) the
peak daily OTQT query count observed in the same month in the prior
year.
Written notification of these determinations will be provided to
and reviewed with Commission staff.
[FR Doc. 2023-24624 Filed 11-7-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
</pre></body>
</html>Indexed from Federal Register on November 8, 2023.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.