[ by Howard Haykin ]

FINRA proposes to establish certain optional Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (“TRACE”) data delivery services and that wouuld be subject to fees.  FINRA Rule 7730 would be amended to accommodate this service, which requires SEC approval.  The effective date the proposed rule change will be announced in a Regulatory Notice within 60 days of SEC approval.

Details and Background Information.   Two new optional TRACE data delivery services - (i) TRACE Data Delivery Plus and (ii) TRACE Data Delivery Secure File Transfer Protocol (“TRACE Data Delivery SFTP”), are proposed.  There will be a fee for these service, and firms will have the option to enroll in neither, one or both of these services.

Since 2011, FINRA's Automated Data Delivery System (“FINRA ADDS”) has been available to firms, providing them with free access to TRACE trade journal files.  The TRACE trade journal files contain information on reported transactions maintained in 2 data bases:  (i) Asset-Backed Securities;  and, (ii) corporate bonds and Agency Debt Securities.  

Using their market participant identifiers (“MPIDs”), firms request a trade journal file for a specified date within the past 30 calendar days.  The FINRA ADDS system generates a separate “report” for each data archive (Asset-Backs or Corporate/Agency Debt) and for each date requested.  There are no limits to the number of requests a firm may make.  Firms typically use the FINRA ADDS reports for monitoring trading and reporting activity, and for performing compliance tasks, as well as other business activities. 

Proposed Optional Data Services and Proposed Fees.   Firms have expressed an interest in getting access to more of the firm’s TRACE transaction history and for greater flexibility when accessing such data.  That prompted FINRA is develop the 2 new proposed optional data delivery services. 

• TRACE Data Delivery Plus.   Would provide greater access to TRACE trade journal files, enabling an MPID subscriber to obtain reports on ABS or Corporate/Agency Debt Securities transaction data for transactions that took place beyond the current 30-calendar-day window.   Subscribers also will have the option to obtain automated daily delivery of the subscriber’s TRACE trade journal files to the FINRA ADDS website.  Once a subscriber has activated subscription preferences, the files to which the user subscribes will automatically appear on the website each morning for and TRACE Data Delivery SFTP, and proposed fees in connection with such optional services.

• TRACE Data Delivery SFTP.   Would provide users with an automated interface to retrieve (without sending a request or query) their prior day’s TRACE trade journal files daily from FINRA ADDS.  This new optional service thus permits an MPID subscriber to retrieve the subscriber’s prior day TRACE trade journal files automatically via SFTP.

   

   

For further details, go to:   [ FINRA Rule Filing 12-53, 11/30/12 ].