(a) Pursuant to the
Rule 9600 Series, the staff for good cause shown after taking into consideration all relevant factors, may exempt, upon application and subject to specified terms and conditions, a member alternative trading system ("ATS") from the trade reporting obligation under paragraph (b) of Rules
6282,
[6380A] and
[6380B], if such exemption is consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest. The staff will grant an exemption only if all of the following criteria are satisfied:
(1) Trades are between ATS subscribers that are both FINRA members.
(2) The ATS demonstrates that:
(A) The member subscribers are fully disclosed to one another at all times on the ATS;
(B) The system does not permit automatic execution, and a member subscriber must take affirmative steps beyond the submission of an order to agree to a trade with another member subscriber;
(C) The trade does not pass through any ATS account, and the ATS does not in any way hold itself out to be a party to the trade; and
(D) The ATS does not exchange shares or funds on behalf of the member subscribers, take either side of the trade for clearing or settlement purposes, including, but not limited to, at DTC or otherwise, or in any other way insert itself into the trade.
(3) The ATS and the member subscribers acknowledge and agree in writing that the ATS shall not be deemed a party to the trade for purposes of trade reporting and that trades shall be reported by the member subscriber that, as between the two member subscribers, would satisfy the definition of "executing party" under FINRA trade reporting rules.
(4) The ATS agrees to provide to FINRA on a monthly basis, or such other basis as prescribed by FINRA, data relating to the volume of trades by security executed by the ATS's member subscribers using the ATS's system, and the ATS acknowledges that failure to report such data to FINRA, in addition to constituting a violation of FINRA rules, will result in revocation of any exemption granted pursuant to this Rule.
(5) The ATS provides FINRA with a link to a public website that contains, at no charge and in a substantially similar format to ATS Trading Information published by FINRA pursuant to Rule 6110, its ATS Trading Information for NMS stocks on the following timeframes:
(A) no later than two weeks following the end of the ATS Trading Information week, ATS Trading Information regarding NMS stocks in Tier 1 of the NMS Plan to Address Extraordinary Market Volatility; and
(B) no later than four weeks following the end of the ATS Trading Information week, ATS Trading Information regarding NMS stocks that are subject to FINRA trade reporting requirements and are not in Tier 1 of the NMS Plan to Address Extraordinary Market Volatility.
(b) Where FINRA has granted an exemption under this Rule, trades shall be reported to FINRA by the member subscriber that, as between the two member subscribers, satisfies the definition of "executing party" under paragraph (b) of Rule
6282,
[6380A] or
[6380B].
(c) Definitions
For purposes of this Rule, the term:
(1) "NMS stock" has the same meaning as that term is defined in Rule 600(b)(47) of SEC Regulation NMS; and
(2) "ATS Trading Information" means:
(A) the number of shares of each NMS stock executed within the ATS or executed by the ATS's member subscribers using the ATS's system; and
(B) the number of trades in each NMS stock executed within the ATS or executed by the ATS's member subscribers using the ATS's system.
• • • Supplementary Material: --------------
.01 When calculating and posting the volume of securities traded and the number of trades pursuant to paragraph (a)(5), an ATS shall include only those trades executed by the ATS's member subscribers using the ATS's system. If two orders are crossed by the ATS, the volume shall include only the number of shares crossed as a single trade (e.g., crossing a buy order of 1,000 shares with a sell order of 1,000 shares would be calculated as a single trade of 1,000 shares of volume). In addition, to meet the "substantially similar format" requirement in paragraph (a)(5), the data must include the same data elements for the same timeframes, be accessible in the same manner as FINRA makes data available (e.g., downloadable), and include data for the same time periods (including current and historical data).
.02 For purposes of calculating and posting volume under paragraph (a)(5) of this Rule, a trade is considered to be executed within an ATS if the ATS (i) executes the trade; (ii) is considered the "executing party" to the trade under FINRA rules; or (iii) otherwise matches orders constituting the trade in a manner as contemplated by SEA Rule 3b-16 or SEC Regulation ATS. This would include, but not be limited to: any trade executed as a result of the ATS bringing together the purchaser and seller on or through its systems; any trade executed by the ATS's subscribers where the subscribers used the ATS to negotiate the trade, even if the ATS did not itself execute the trade; or any trade in which the ATS takes either side of a trade for clearing or settlement or in any other way inserts itself into a trade (e.g., exchanging securities or funds on behalf of one or both subscribers taking part in the trade). If an ATS routes an order to another member firm or other execution venue for handling or execution where that initial order matches against interest resident at the other venue, then the ATS would not be considered the executing party and would not include such volume for reporting purposes. A trade continues to be considered executed "within an ATS" for purposes of calculating and posting volume under this Rule, even if the ATS has been granted an exemption to its trade reporting obligations under the Rule.
