The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed significant changes to the regulation of securities trading systems that use non-firm trading interest and alternative trading systems (ATSs) that trade government securities.1  Specifically, the SEC proposal would require:

  • systems that offer the use of non-firm trading interest and protocols to bring together buyers and sellers of securities (Communication Protocol Systems) to (1) register as an exchange, or (2) be operated by a registered broker-dealer in compliance with Regulation ATS (Reg ATS); and
  • ATSs that solely trade government securities or repurchase agreements on government securities (Government Securities ATSs), including those that are operated by a bank, to comply with Reg ATS and Regulation Systems Compliance and Integrity (Reg SCI).

The SEC has requested comments on the proposal within 30 days of the publication of the proposal in the Federal Register.2

Read the full alert. 

Footnotes

1. Securities Exchange Act Release No. 94062 (Jan. 26, 2022) (Proposing Release) available at https://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/2022/34-94062.pdf. The SEC previously issued a proposal to amend Reg ATS and Reg SCI to apply to Government Securities ATSs.  Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90019 (Sept. 28, 2020) available at https://www.sec.gov/rules/proposed/2020/34-90019.pdf.

2. During the SEC's open meeting, SEC Chair Gensler indicated that publication in the Federal Register may take up to six weeks.

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