[ by Howard Haykin ]

FINRA is amending section (c) of Rule 7730, which governs Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE).  The rule change was filed for immediate effectiveness, with today, 11/7/12, being the implementation date.  The purpose of the rule filing is to establish a pilot program to provide a limited waiver of the Professional Real-Time Data Display Fee of $60 to access Real-Time TRACE transaction data in connection with certain free trials of data products.

Additionally, FINRA is inserting technical amendments to Rule 7730(c) and related statements in the fee chart to use a single term, “display application,” to describe uniformly a software program that interrogates and displays TRACE data and allows a person to access TRACE data.

Background Information.   FINRA currently charges a Professional $60 per month, per display application per Data Set (“display application”) of Real-Time TRACE transaction data - where the term display application refers to any software program that interrogates and displays TRACE data.  When firms access Real-Time TRACE transaction data, they're obtaining that data through a vendor, and not directly from FINRA - e.g., Bloomberg L.P. - and through its Bloomberg display application, or other redistributors (collectively, “vendors”) of financial market data.

As such, a Professional pays the vendor for the license to use the vendor’s display application and if the display application displays Real-Time TRACE transaction data, the payment must include the applicable TRACE fee, which the vendor remits to FINRA.  These vendors continually develop new products that, among other data, may display  Real-Time TRACE transaction data - and they often allow firms to test such apfplications on a free trial basis.  In these cases, FINRA believes it would be beneficial also to permit Professionals to access Real-Time TRACE transaction data on a free trial basis in connection, and concurrently, with the free trial of the vendor’s product.

Accordingly, FINRA has amended FINRA Rule 7730(c) to establish a pilot program to waive the $60 fee for one month for a Professional to access Real-Time TRACE transaction data in connection with a vendor’s offer of a free trial.  The pilot program would operate for approximately 1 year - until 11/8/13, allowing FINRA sufficient time to assess the efficacy and operation of the program.5 

For further details, go to:  [FINRA Rule Filings 12-49, 11/7/12].