FINRA Expands Transparency of OTC Equity Trading Volume

WASHINGTON – Beginning today, FINRA is expanding its ongoing transparency initiative for the over-the-counter (OTC) equity market by publishing new data about OTC trading volume occurring outside of alternative trading systems (ATSs). The data is available free of charge on FINRA’s website.

For the first time, FINRA will publish:

• Monthly aggregate block-size trading data for OTC trades in National Market System (NMS) stocks executed outside an ATS, on a one-month delayed basis; and
• Aggregate non-ATS volume for each firm, by eliminating the de minimis exception for firms executing fewer than, on average, 200 non-ATS transactions per day during the applicable reporting period.

“Today marks another important step in our longstanding effort to enhance market transparency,” said Thomas Gira, Executive VP of Market Regulation and Transparency Services. “Publication of the additional data will be beneficial to securities firms and the general public, providing greater visibility into OTC trading activities.”

Additional details about today’s initiative are available in Regulatory Notice 19-29 and in a Technical Notice highlighting the new data that will be published.

Milestones in FINRA’s OTC/ATS Transparency Initiative
In recent years FINRA has begun publishing the following additional volume and trade count data on its website:

• June 2014: Equity securities executed on an ATS;
• April 2016: The remaining, non-ATS OTC equity volume by member firm and security;
• October 2016: Monthly ATS block-size trading statistics in all NMS stocks; and
• December 2019: Monthly block-size data for OTC trades executed outside an ATS.

About FINRA
FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. It regulates one critical part of the securities industry – brokerage firms doing business with the public in the United States. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For more information, visit www.finra.org.