FINRA Begins Publicly Disseminating Rule 144A Transaction Data

FINRA announced that it began publicly disseminating Securities Act Rule 144A ("Private Resales of Securities to Institutions") transaction data in corporate debt securities in order to "bring transparency to a market that had previously operated in the dark."

Through the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine, FINRA will disseminate 144A transactions subject to the same dissemination caps that are currently in effect for non-144A transactions. FINRA stated that the same dissemination cap for investment-grade corporate bonds, or $5 million, applies to both 144A and non-144A corporate bond transactions. Additionally, the $1 million dissemination cap for high-yield corporate bonds similarly applies to both 144A and non-144A transactions. 144A transactions are also subject to the same 15-minute reporting requirement as non-144A corporate debt transactions.

In July 2013, the SEC lifted the prohibition against general solicitation and general advertising in offerings of 144A securities, pursuant to the JOBS Act. According to FINRA, bringing post-trade transparency to 144A transactions in corporate debt is "in harmony with the changes approved by the SEC."

See: FINRA Press Release.See also: SEC Adopts Significant Amendments to Private Placement Rules: JOBS Act Rules Eliminate Ban on General Solicitation and Dodd-Frank Mandate Disqualifies Bad Actors, authored by Maurine Bartlett, Brandon Clar, Brian Foster, Steven Lofchie, Andrew Lom, Dorothy Mehta and Theresa Perkins.Related news: SEC Publishes Small Entity Compliance Guide on Rule 506 Disqualifications (September 23, 2013); SEC Publishes Final Rule Amendments to Rule 506 and Rule 144A in Federal Register (July 24, 2013); The SEC Approves JOBS Act Rules (with Delta Strategy Group Meeting Summary) (with Lofchie Comment) (July 10, 2013).