SEC Approves Amendment to NMS CAT Plan that Allows Revisions to Plan Processor Bids

The SEC approved an amendment to the national market system's plan to create, implement and maintain a consolidated audit trail (the "NMS CAT Plan"). The amendment will allow the national securities exchanges and national securities associations (together, the "SROs") to accept revised bids, and to narrow the list of shortlisted bids for the role of CAT plan processor prior to the SEC's approval of the CAT NMS Plan. Before the amendment was green-lighted, a shortlisted bidder was eligible only to revise its bid and the SROs were permitted only to narrow the set of shortlisted bidders once the CAT NMS Plan was approved.

The SROs believe that if the existing shortlisted bidders were able to revise their bids (including updating bids to address new developments; e.g., new technology and data) the SROs could narrow the list further to better facilitate the ultimate selection of the CAT plan processor within the time limits imposed by Rule 613. Currently, the SROs have narrowed a universe of bids for plan processor to a set of six shortlisted bidders.

See: 80 FR 36028.