SEC Extends Relief on Certain CAT Reporting Requirements

The SEC granted a request from multiple securities regulatory organizations for an extension of relief from CAT NMS Plan reporting requirements on activities on and off exchange floors.

In the Order, the SEC granted temporary relief until July 31, 2026 from the reporting of (i) verbal announcements from floor broker-dealers of firm orders that are "otherwise reported as systematized orders," (ii) "market maker verbal announcements of firm quotes on an exchange trading floor," (iii) discussions with clients via telephone that may be related to firm bid and offer communications and (iv) unstructured electronic and verbal communications, such as Bloomberg chats and text messages, that are not currently captured by order management or execution systems.

The SEC said that extending the temporary relief will allow additional time for (i) market participants to establish necessary reporting guidance, specifications and technical changes under CAT and (ii) CAT reporters to implement reporting practices to ensure that required quotes and orders are captured while minimizing the risk of potential business disruptions.

The SEC stated that as a condition to the extension of relief, market participants must submit by July 31, 2025 (i) a written status update on the reporting of required quotes, (ii) an analysis of the feasibility of traders "contemporaneously recording firm bid and offer information for verbal and manual quotes and orders" and (iii) a plan to implement the reporting of the quotes and orders.