TRACE Foreign Sovereign Debt and US Treasuries Testing

Beginning Monday, November 6, 2023, as described in Regulatory Notice 22-28, FINRA will require firms to report transactions in U.S. dollar-denominated foreign sovereign debt securities to TRACE. FINRA has updated the TRACE Web API Specifications for Corporate and Agency Debt and the TRACE OTC Corporate Bonds and Agency Debt User Guide to align with these changes. Firms reporting to TRACE via FIX should consult the TRACE FIX Specifications for Corporate and Agencies in preparation for the reporting requirement.

In addition, beginning November 6, 2023, as described in Regulatory Notice 22-27, the granularity of execution timestamps will go into effect for TRACE Treasuries transactions. Firms reporting to TRACE via FIX should consult the TRACE FIX Specifications for Treasury Securities to review the required formats for execution time granularity. FINRA is also revising its guidance to standardize the price format used for reporting transactions in Treasury bills and FRNs by requiring all transactions to be reported using the dollar price.

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 (UATs). To gain access to TRACE all clients must use the Participant Data 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 call FINRA Market Operations at (866) 776-0800.

NTF:

Monday, August 7, through Friday, November 3, 2023.

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, September 9, 2023, and Saturday, October 7, 2023. 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.