FINRA filed for immediate effectiveness to push back implementation of amendments to the OATS Rules 7410 and 7470.  The amendments, which would extend the recording and reporting requirements in FINRA’s OATS rules to include all NMS stocks and exclude certain members from the definition of “Reporting Member,” were scheduled to go into effect on 7/11/11.  [The SEC approved the changes on 11/12/10.]    That date was announced to member firms on 1/11/11 in Regulatory Notice 11-03 and coincided with the publication of a new version of the OATS Reporting Technical Specifications.

However, since the publication of the RegNote and the OATS Reporting Technical Specifications, many firms and industry groups have requested that implementation of the new recording and reporting requirements be delayed to allow firms sufficient time to make necessary systems updates and changes.  Firms also noted that the time needed to make the necessary changes was increased because they're also changing and updating their systems to comply with the SEC’s new rule on risk management controls for broker-dealers with  market access, Rule 15c3-5 under the Act, which has a compliance date of 7/14/11. 

As a result, FINRA has decided to delay the implementation of the new OATS recording and reporting requirements for NMS stocks until 10/3/11, to give firms sufficient time to make necessary changes to their systems to enable them to comply with the expanded OATS recording and reporting requirements.  Consequently, FINRA will begin to phase-in the new recording and reporting requirements beginning on October 3, 2011.   For further details, refer to:   [FINRA Rule Filing 11-21, 4/26/11]