FINRA has posted new Frequently Asked Questions related to the scheduled 11/8/10 OATS Reporting Tech Specs release.  In addition, to allow firms additional time to test their systems, the code related to this release will be available to firms in the OATS test environment one month earlier - on 10/11 - as opposed to the originally scheduled date of 10/20. 

    FAQ C85.   The 8/30/10 version of the OATS Reporting Technical Specifications states that, pending SEC approval of the new rule amendments, all changes will be available in the OATS Production environment as of 11/8.  However, the changes related to SEC Rule 201 are not required until 11/10/10.  What does this mean?

Because 11/10/10 is in the middle of the week, FINRA believes a full production change coinciding with the proposed 11/10 effective date is not advisable.   Rather, the field format changes will be made over the weekend and placed in the production environment on Monday, 11/8/10.  These new fields, however, will not be required to be populated until the proposed effective date of the new rule on Wednesday, 11/10.  Therefore, firms must add the new fields related to the rule filing (SR-FINRA-2010-043) to the relevant OATS reports as of 11/8, but are not required to populate them until 11/10.  If firms choose to populate the fields as of 11/8, all field validations will apply.  For example:

• For November 8-9, 2010, fields 18-23 on the OATS Route Report, assuming firms choose not to populate fields associated with Rule 201 until the 10th, must appear as
  
  • Destination Code, , , , , Rejected ROE ID
• As of November 10th, the OATS Route Report must be fully populated (fields populated for illustrative purposes only)
  • M, L, 17.57, Y, Y, Rejected ROE ID

    FAQ C86.  Pending SEC approval of the new rule changes, how would the new requirement to provide the price on Route Reports impact orders executed on an agency average price or a post trade allocation basis?   Will there be any new requirements for these type of orders?

No. The new requirement to provide the price on Route Reports would not change any of the reporting requirements for orders handled on an agency average price or post trade allocation basis.   Those orders should continue to be reported in accordance with the guidance set forth in current relevant FAQs, OATS Reports and OATS Reporting Technical Specifications.

To access the complete set of FAQ's, click onto:   [ OATS FAQ's - Compliance, FINRA.org ]