Technical Notice

Reminder - FINRA OTC Transparency Data Changes Effective Monday, December 2, 2019

November 25, 2019

On Monday, December 2, 2019, FINRA will expand the summary firm data relating to over-the-counter (OTC) equity trading that FINRA publishes on its website.

Beginning on December 2, 2019, FINRA will provide:

  • new monthly aggregate block-size trading data for OTC trades in NMS stocks executed outside an alternative trading system (ATS) on a one-month delayed basis; and
  • aggregate non-ATS volume for all firms by eliminating the existing de minimis exception.

FINRA will begin publishing new monthly aggregate non-ATS block-size trading data for all NMS stocks on the same terms as current ATS block-size data. Specifically, monthly non-ATS block-size data will be published on a one-month delayed basis and will be broken down by firm. 

FINRA will also eliminate the de minimis exception and publish on an attributed basis each firm’s aggregate non-ATS volume (number of trades and number of shares) on a weekly or monthly basis, as applicable.  Thus, there will no longer be a “De Minimis Firms” line item on the OTC (Non-ATS) Data tab, and each individual firm will be identified in the published aggregate data.

Important Note: Weekly aggregate non-ATS volume data is published on a two-week delayed basis for Tier 1 NMS stocks and a four-week delayed basis for Tier 2 NMS stocks and OTC equity securities. To align the implementation of the rule amendments for these data sets, FINRA has modified the initial publication timeframes described in footnote 8 of Regulatory Notice 19-29 as follows:

  • Beginning December 2, 2019, weekly aggregate non-ATS volume data without the de minimis exception will be available starting with the week of November 11, 2019 for Tier 1 NMS stocks.
  • Weekly aggregate non-ATS volume data for Tier 2 NMS stocks and OTC equity securities will continue to be published with the de minimis exception for the weeks of October 28, 2019 and November 4, 2019, published on December 2, 2019 and December 9, 2019, respectively.
  • Beginning December 16, 2019, weekly aggregate non-ATS volume data without the de minimis exception will be available starting with the week of November 11, 2019 for Tier 2 NMS stocks and OTC equity securities.
  • Additionally, monthly aggregate non-ATS volume data without the de minimis exception, and new non-ATS block-size data will be available starting with the month of October 2019.

Finally, please note that, as part of the staging for this product release, the new OTC (Non-ATS) Blocks and OTC (Non-ATS) Blocks Download tabs will be visible on the OTC Transparency Data website beginning Wednesday, November 27, 2019, but will not be populated with data until Monday, December 2, 2019 as outlined above.

If you have questions regarding this notice, please contact FINRA Business Services or call (866) 953-4672