TRACE Depository Institution Reporting Testing

As announced by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in the Federal Register on October 28, 2021, FINRA will collect detailed data on depository institutions’ daily transactions of marketable U.S. Treasury securities and of the debt and MBS issued by U.S. federal government agencies including government-sponsored enterprises (agencies) via its Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE).

The effective date for this program is Thursday, September 1, 2022.

Testing Access:

FINRA invites TRACE clients to test weekdays in the Nasdaq Test Facility (NTF), and to also participate in Saturday production User Acceptance Tests (UAT).  To gain access to TRACE all clients must use the Participant Management System (PDM) to acknowledge the terms of the FINRA Participant Agreement (FPA).  PDM is also used to manage agreements and TRAQS users.  For more information about PDM please see the PDM page on finra.org.  For assistance with using PDM please contact FINRA Market Operations or call 866.776.0800.

FIX port requests for the NTF and production regions are now being processed.  To access TRACE, FIX clients must issue FINRA Port Request Forms to Nasdaq Trading Services at 212.231.5180.

NTF Testing:

Monday, June 27, 2022, through Wednesday, August 31, 2022.

Current, active, TRACE users may test free of charge in NTF for 30 calendar days. New TRACE users who have never accessed the NTF system will receive 60 days of free testing.

All users must notify [email protected] at the commencement of their testing. Once a user informs the NASDAQ test team, the testing free period will continue uninterrupted for 30 (60) calendar days. After the 30 (60)-day period ends, normal NTF fees will apply for connecting and testing. Questions regarding NTF fees can be directed to Nasdaq Technical Services at (212) 231-5180.

User Acceptance Testing Dates:

FINRA will sponsor production User Acceptance Tests (UAT) from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 9, 2022, and Saturday, August 6, 2022. 

Clients who wish to participate in these tests MUST register with FINRA Market Operations or at 866.776.0800 no later than noon the Thursday prior to each UAT.

FINRA will issue a reminder for these tests, including support details, as the dates approach.

Please contact FINRA Product Management or call 866.899.2107 with questions regarding this notice.