
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 43 (Wednesday, March 5, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12558-12562]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-04792]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-71623; File No. SR-FINRA-2013-050]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory 
Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and Order Granting 
Accelerated Approval of a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by 
Amendment No. 1, Relating to Over-the-Counter Equity Trade Reporting 
and OATS Reporting

February 27, 2014.
    On November 12, 2013, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, 
Inc. (``FINRA'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``Commission''), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ a 
proposed rule change to amend the FINRA rules governing the reporting 
of (i) over-the-counter (``OTC'') transactions in equity securities to 
the

[[Page 12559]]

FINRA Facilities; \3\ and (ii) orders in NMS stocks and OTC Equity 
Securities to the Order Audit Trail System (``OATS''). The Proposal was 
published for comment in the Federal Register on November 29, 2013.\4\ 
The Commission received one comment on the proposed rule change.\5\ On 
January 9, 2014, the Commission extended the time period for Commission 
action on the proposal to February 27, 2014.\6\ FINRA responded to the 
comment and submitted an amendment to the proposed rule change on 
February 14, 2014.\7\ The Commission is approving the proposed rule 
change as amended on an accelerated basis.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ Specifically, the FINRA Facilities are the Alternative 
Display Facility (``ADF'') and the Trade Reporting Facilities 
(``TRF''), to which members report OTC transactions in NMS stocks, 
as defined in SEC Rule 600(b) of Regulation NMS; and the OTC 
Reporting Facility (``ORF''), to which members report transactions 
in ``OTC Equity Securities,'' as defined in FINRA Rule 6420 (i.e., 
non-NMS stocks such as OTC Bulletin Board and OTC Market 
securities), as well as transactions in Restricted Equity 
Securities, as defined in FINRA Rule 6420, effected pursuant to 
Securities Act Rule 144A.
    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70924 (November 22, 
2013), 78 FR 71695 (``Notice'').
    \5\ See Letter to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary, Commission, 
from Manisha Kimmel, Executive Director, Financial Information 
Forum, dated December 20, 2013 (``FIF Letter'').
    \6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 71262 (January 9, 
2014), 79 FR 2723 (January 15, 2014).
    \7\ See Letter to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary, Commission, 
from Lisa C. Horrigan, Associate General Counsel, FINRA, dated 
February 14, 2014 (``FINRA Response'').
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I. Description of the Proposed Rule Change

    FINRA proposes to amend the equity trade reporting rules relating 
to reporting: (i) An additional time field for specified trades; (ii) 
execution time in milliseconds; (iii) reversals; (iv) trades executed 
on non-business days and trades that are more than one year old; and 
(v) ``step-outs.'' In addition, FINRA proposes changes in the 
processing of trades that are submitted to a FINRA Facility for 
clearing as well as technical changes to the rules relating to the OTC 
Reporting Facility (``ORF'') and codifying existing OATS guidance 
regarding reporting order event times to OATS in milliseconds. FINRA 
also proposes several non-substantive technical changes to rules that 
are otherwise being amended by this proposed rule change.

Reporting an Additional Time Field

    FINRA rules require that trade reports submitted to the FINRA 
Facilities include the time of trade execution, except where another 
time is expressly required by rule. With respect to Stop Stock 
transactions,\8\ and transactions that reflect an execution price that 
is based on a prior reference point in time (``PRP transactions''), 
current FINRA rules require that in lieu of the actual time the trade 
was executed, members report the time at which the member and the other 
party agreed to the Stop Stock price and the prior reference time, 
respectively.\9\ FINRA is proposing to require members to include two 
times when reporting Stop Stock transactions and PRP transactions: (1) 
The time at which the parties agree to the Stop Stock price or the 
prior reference time, and (2) the actual time of execution.\10\
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    \8\ ``Stop Stock transaction'' means a transaction resulting 
from an order in which a member and another party agree that the 
order will be executed at a Stop Stock price or better, which price 
is based upon the prices at which the security is trading at the 
time the order is received by the member. See Rules 6220, 6320A, 
6320B and 6420.
    \9\ See paragraphs (F) and (G) of Rules 6282(a)(4), 6380A(a)(5), 
6380B(a)(5) and 6622(a)(5).
    \10\ The rules provide that if the trade is executed within 10 
seconds of the time the parties agree to the Stop Stock price or 
within 10 seconds of the prior reference time, then the designated 
modifier should not be used. FINRA also proposes to amend the rules 
to clarify that in this instance, only the actual time of execution 
should be reported.
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    In addition, FINRA is proposing to require members to include two 
times when reporting block transactions using the Intermarket Sweep 
Order (``ISO'') exception (outbound) under SEC Rule 611 (``Order 
Protection Rule'') of Regulation NMS. Current FINRA guidance requires 
members to use the time that all material terms of the transaction are 
known as the execution time in the trade report.\11\ FINRA is proposing 
that trade reports reflect both the time the firm routed ISOs and the 
execution time, if different. With this additional time in the trade 
report, FINRA believes that it will be able to determine better whether 
ISOs were properly sent to other trading centers in compliance with the 
ISO exception to the Order Protection Rule.\12\
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    \11\ See NASD Member Alert: Guidance Relating to ``Execution 
Time'' for Purposes of Compliance with NASD Trade Reporting Rules 
(June 13, 2007).
    \12\ See Notice, 78 FR 71696. FINRA also notes that many firms 
have requested that they be permitted to provide the additional time 
to avoid the appearance of non-compliance with the Order Protection 
Rule.
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    FINRA believes that requiring members to report additional time-
related information will ensure a more accurate and complete audit 
trail and enhance FINRA's ability to surveil on an automated basis for 
compliance with FINRA trade reporting and other rules.\13\ FINRA also 
believes that having both times reflected in the trade report will 
streamline member reviews and facilitate members' ability to 
demonstrate compliance with FINRA and other rules.\14\
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    \13\ Upon implementation of the proposed rule change, any Stop 
Stock and PRP transactions that are reported more than 10 seconds 
following execution will be marked late. See Notice, 78 FR 71696.
    \14\ See Notice, 78 FR 71699.
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Reporting Time in Milliseconds

    FINRA's trade reporting rules currently require members to report 
execution time to the FINRA Facilities in seconds,\15\ while the 
execution time for exchange trades is expressed in milliseconds. 
Similarly, the OATS rules currently requires members to record order 
event times in terms of hours, minutes, and seconds.\16\ FINRA notes 
that, because FINRA's audit trails consolidate exchange and OTC trades 
for regulatory purposes, sequencing consolidated transactions by 
execution time can be difficult with the different time formats, 
particularly in active stocks.\17\ To enhance and help bring 
consistency to FINRA's audit trail, FINRA is proposing amendments to 
require members to express time in milliseconds when reporting trades 
to the FINRA Facilities or order information to OATS, if the member's 
system captures time in milliseconds.\18\ Members with systems that do 
not capture milliseconds will be permitted to continue reporting time 
in seconds.\19\
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    \15\ See, e.g., Rules 6282(c)(2)(H), 6380A(c)(5), 6380B(c)(5) 
and 6622(c)(5).
    \16\ Although Rule 7440(a)(2) requires order event times to be 
recorded to the second, FINRA published guidance in 2011 in 
connection with the expansion of OATS to all NMS stocks stating that 
firms that capture time in milliseconds should report time to OATS 
in milliseconds. See Notice, 78 FR at 71696. The proposed rule 
change codifies this guidance into Rule 7440(a)(2).
    \17\ See Notice, 78 FR at 71696. FINRA also notes that the 
Intermarket Surveillance Group (``ISG'') consolidated audit trail 
can accommodate execution times expressed in milliseconds.
    \18\ See Proposed Rules 6282.04, 6380A.04, 6380B.04, 6622.04, 
7130.01, 7230A.01, 7230B.01, 7330.01, and 7440(a)(2).
    \19\ FINRA notes that it expects members that have systems 
currently capable of capturing time in milliseconds to continue to 
do so and not to make systems changes to revert to seconds unless 
they have a legitimate business reason for doing so. FINRA may 
review any such systems changes in the course of an inquiry or a 
member examination. See Notice, 78 FR at 71696.
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    FINRA believes that where trades are executed by electronic systems 
that already capture execution time in milliseconds, it should be 
relatively straightforward for members to report such trades to the 
FINRA Facilities using milliseconds. Thus, FINRA does not believe that 
the proposed requirement would be burdensome for members, nor would it 
require them to make significant systems changes. FINRA recognizes, 
however, that where trades are executed manually, it would

[[Page 12560]]

be more difficult for members to capture milliseconds for purposes of 
trade reporting. Accordingly, FINRA believes that it is appropriate not 
to require that all members capture and report time in 
milliseconds.\20\
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    \20\ FINRA notes that a review of OATS data from October 11, 
2013 through October 22, 2013 suggests that, for trade reporting 
purposes, a significant number of executing firms have systems that 
currently capture execution time in milliseconds and, as a result, 
would be subject to the proposed requirement. See Notice, 78 FR at 
71696.
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Reporting Reversals

    FINRA rules require that if a trade that was previously reported to 
FINRA is cancelled, members must report the cancellation to the same 
FINRA Facility to which the trade was originally reported \21\ and must 
do so within the time frames set forth in the rules.\22\ Members report 
a ``cancellation'' when trades are cancelled on the date of execution 
and a ``reversal'' when trades are cancelled on a day after the date of 
execution.\23\ Today, when a member reports a reversal of a trade that 
was previously reported to a FINRA Facility, there is no requirement 
that the member provide information in the reversal report to identify 
the original trade. FINRA proposes requiring that members identify the 
original trade in the reversal report by including the control number 
generated by the FINRA Facility and report date for the original trade 
report. FINRA believes that this information will enable FINRA to 
better ``link'' reports of reversals with the associated previously 
reported trades and thereby allow FINRA to recreate more accurately the 
firm's market activity, as well as surveil for compliance with FINRA 
trade reporting rules.\24\ FINRA is also proposing several additional 
conforming amendments to the rules relating to trade cancellations.\25\
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    \21\ See Rules 7130(d), 7230A(i), 7230B(h) and 7330(h).
    \22\ See, e.g., Rules 6282(j)(2), 6380A(g)(2), 6380B(f)(2), and 
6622(f)(2) and (f)(3).
    \23\ See, e.g., Trade Reporting FAQ  305.6, available 
at www.finra.org/Industry/Regulation/Guidance/p038942# 305.
    \24\ See Notice, 78 FR at 71699.
    \25\ See Notice, 78 FR at 71697.
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Reporting Non-Business Day Trades and T+365 Trades

    Currently, trades executed on non-business days (i.e., weekends and 
holidays) and trades reported more than 365 days after trade date 
(T+365) cannot be reported to a FINRA Facility and instead must be 
reported on ``Form T'' through FINRA's Firm Gateway.\26\ FINRA is 
proposing systems enhancements to enable members to submit reports of 
non-business day trades and T+365 trades electronically to the FINRA 
Facilities rather than using ``Form T'' to report such trades. As is 
the case today, non-business day trades and T+365 trades will not be 
submitted to clearing by the FINRA Facility \27\ or disseminated. FINRA 
also is proposing to amend the rules to require that members report 
non-business day trades on an ``as/of'' basis by 8:15 a.m. the next 
business day following execution with the unique trade report modifier 
to denote their execution outside normal market hours; trades not 
reported by 8:15 a.m. will be marked late.\28\ All T+365 trades will be 
reported on an ``as/of'' basis and will be marked late. FINRA believes 
that this requirement will ensure that non-business day trades are 
properly sequenced for audit trail purposes.\29\
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    \26\ See Rules 6282(a)(5), 6380A(a)(8), 6380B(a)(8) and 
6622(a)(8). FINRA also notes that, because these trades are not 
reported to a FINRA Facility, they are not captured for purposes of 
FINRA's automated surveillance systems, and regulatory fees under 
Section 3 of Schedule A to the FINRA By-Laws must be assessed 
manually. See Notice, 78 FR at 71697.
    \27\ FINRA is proposing to expressly provide that these trades 
will not be submitted to clearing in Rules 7140(b), 7240A(b), 
7240B(b) and 7340(b).
    \28\ See Rules 6282(a)(2), 6380A(a)(2), 6380B(a)(2) and 
6622(a)(2). FINRA also is proposing to delete the reference to 
``T+1'' in subparagraph (D) of these rules because, e.g., the next 
business day would be greater than T+1 for a trade that is executed 
on a Saturday. See Notice, 78 FR at 71697. FINRA also is proposing a 
conforming change to Rule 6622(a)(3) to provide that any Securities 
Act Rule 144A transaction in a Restricted Equity Security that is 
executed on a non-business day must be reported by the time the ORF 
closes the next business day. See id.
    \29\ See Notice, 78 FR 71699.
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Reporting Step-Outs

    Today, members can effectuate a ``step-out'' \30\ by submitting a 
clearing-only report to a FINRA Facility. FINRA rules prohibit members 
from submitting to a FINRA Facility any non-tape report (including but 
not limited to reports of step-outs) associated with a previously 
executed trade that was not reported to that FINRA Facility.\31\ For 
every step-out, one member is stepping out of (or transferring) the 
position and the other member is stepping into (or receiving) the 
position. Where both members are submitting a clearing-only report to a 
FINRA Facility, each member currently must use the ``step-out'' 
indicator. FINRA notes that, some clearing firms have requested the 
ability to see whether their correspondents are stepping out or 
stepping in with respect to such transfers. Accordingly, FINRA is 
proposing that, where both sides are submitting a clearing-only report 
to effectuate a step-out, the member transferring out of the position 
must report a step-out and the member receiving the position must 
report a step-in. FINRA believes that the proposed will more accurately 
reflect the transfer and will provide greater transparency for clearing 
firms whose correspondents effect these transfers.\32\
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    \30\ A step-out allows a member firm to allocate all or part of 
a client's position from a previously executed trade to the client's 
account at another firm. See Trade Reporting FAQ 301.1, available at 
www.finra.org/Industry/Regulation/Guidance/p038942# 301.
    \31\ See Rules 7130(d), 7230A(i), 7230B(h) and 7330(h).
    \32\ See Notice, 78 FR at 71699.
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Trade Processing

    Currently, when firms use the trade acceptance and comparison 
process for locking in trades submitted for clearing through the ADF, 
FINRA/Nasdaq TRF, and ORF, the reporting party reports the trade and 
the contra party subsequently either accepts or declines the trade, and 
any trade that has been declined by the contra party is purged from the 
system at the end of trade date processing.\33\ FINRA proposes that, 
rather than being purged, declined trades will be carried over and 
remain available for cancellation or correction by the reporting party 
or acceptance by the contra party. Declined trades that are carried 
over will not be available for the automatic lock-in process described 
in the rules and will not be sent to clearing unless the parties take 
action. FINRA also is proposing to codify the existing requirement that 
the reporting member must cancel a declined trade that was previously 
reported for dissemination purposes to have the trade removed from the 
tape.\34\ In addition, FINRA is proposing technical changes to 
reorganize and clarify the provisions relating to locking in trades for 
clearing and the processing of T+N (also referred to ``as/of'') 
trades.\35\ FINRA notes that these proposed trade processing changes 
will not impact the way members report to FINRA and will not require 
members to make changes to their systems.\36\
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    \33\ See Rules 7140(a), 7240A(b) and 7340(b).
    \34\ See Notice, 78 FR at 71698.
    \35\ See Notice, 78 FR at 71698.
    FINRA also is proposing to include language in new Rule 7240B(b) 
clarifying that T+N (or ``as/of'') entries may be submitted until 
the FINRA/NYSE TRF closes for the day, i.e., 8:00 p.m. This language 
conforms to the language of Rules 7140(b), 7240A(c) and 7340(c) (as 
renumbered herein) relating to the other FINRA Facilities.
    \36\ See Notice, 78 FR at 71698.
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ORF Technical Amendments

    FINRA is proposing several additional technical amendments to the 
ORF rules. FINRA is proposing to delete unnecessary and obsolete 
language from the ORF rules.\37\ FINRA initially

[[Page 12561]]

proposed to close the ORF at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time rather than 8:00 
p.m. However, in Amendment No. 1, FINRA proposes to keep the ORF 
closing time at 8:00 p.m.
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    \37\ See Notice, 78 FR at 71698.
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Proposed Technical Changes in Amendment No. 1

    FINRA is proposing a number of technical amendments to update 
cross-references and make other non-substantive changes to Rules 6282, 
7130 and 7140 relating to the ADF as the result of the approval of SR-
FINRA-2013-053.

II. Summary of Comment and Response

Request for Clarification

    The FIF Letter requests clarification on a number of aspects of the 
proposed rule change. First, with respect to block transactions, FIF 
asks which route time would be expected on the trade report, given 
that, when multiple ISOs are routed, the route times could differ by 
one or more milliseconds.\38\ FINRA responds that its current guidance 
requires members to use the time that all material terms of the 
transaction are known as the execution time in the trade report, and 
under the proposed rule change, firms will be required to also report 
the time that the firm routed the ISOs (if different from the execution 
time).\39\ FINRA explains that firms will continue to report the time 
that all material terms of the transaction are known in the ``execution 
time'' field, and in the new time field (i.e., the reference or ``ISO 
time'' field), firms should report the time they used to determine the 
ISOs, if any, to route to any better-priced protected quotations 
(sometimes referred to as the time the firm takes a ``snapshot'' of the 
market).\40\ FINRA notes that, to comply with SEC Rule 611(b)(6), firms 
need to utilize an automated system that is capable of ascertaining 
current protected quotations and simultaneously routing the necessary 
ISOs.\41\ Thus, FINRA expects the ``snapshot'' time and the time that 
ISOs are routed to be the same. To the extent that these times differ, 
or where multiple ISOs are routed and the route times differ, FINRA 
believes that using the ``snapshot'' time in all instances will 
eliminate any confusion regarding which time to report.\42\
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    \38\ See FIF Letter at 1.
    \39\ See FINRA Response at 4.
    \40\ See id.
    \41\ See id.
    \42\ Id. at 5.
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    FIF also questions whether report cards and matching will be 
maintained at the one-second level rather than at the millisecond 
level, noting that currently clocks are required to be synchronized to 
within one second of the National Institute of Standards and Technology 
(NIST) standard.\43\ FINRA responds that, with respect to report cards, 
the determination whether a trade has been reported late will remain at 
the second level for firms that report execution time in seconds, and 
for firms that report time in milliseconds, the determination will be 
made at the millisecond level.\44\ FINRA states that synchronization to 
the NIST standard would remain at the second (and not millisecond) 
level.\45\ However, FINRA notes that if a firm submits multiple reports 
for the same event (e.g., a trade report and an OATS execution report), 
FINRA would expect the granularity of the time stamps to be 
consistent.\46\
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    \43\ FIF Letter at 1.
    \44\ FINRA Response at 5.
    \45\ See id.
    \46\ See id.
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    FIF asks whether the requirement to include control numbers will be 
on a ``go forward basis'' only for T+365 reporting.\47\ FINRA responds 
that, in accordance with system requirements, the control number field 
will be a required field for all reports of reversals following 
implementation.\48\ However, FINRA will validate the control number 
only where the original trade was executed after implementation of the 
proposed rule change.\49\ Accordingly, when reversing trades that were 
executed prior to the implementation of the proposed rule change, firms 
will not be required to provide an actual control number and instead 
may insert a ``dummy'' number to populate the required field.\50\
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    \47\ See FIF Letter at 2.
    \48\ See FINRA Response at 5.
    \49\ See id.
    \50\ See id.
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    FIF also asks whether Form T will be retired as a result of the 
proposed rule change.\51\ FINRA responds that the proposed rule change 
requiring firms to report trades executed on non-business days and 
T+365 trades to the FINRA Facilities will significantly reduce the need 
for Form T.\52\ However, FINRA plan to retain Form T for use in 
instances in which firms need to report with Form T (e.g., where the 
ticker symbol for the security is no longer available or a market 
participant identifier is no longer active).\53\
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    \51\ See FIF Letter at 2.
    \52\ See FINRA Response at 6.
    \53\ See id.
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    FIF questions whether there will be matching on ``step-in'' and 
``step-out'' trades.\54\ FINRA responds that the FINRA Facilities that 
offer matching will match corresponding ``step-out'' and ``step-in'' 
submissions, but will not match two ``step-in'' or two ``step-out'' 
submissions.\55\
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    \54\ See FIF Letter at 2.
    \55\ See FINRA Response at 6.
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    FIF also asks whether declined trades that are corrected and 
subsequently accepted are subject to the ``20 minute rule'' for trade 
comparison.\56\ FINRA responds that a firm is required to accept or 
decline a trade within 20 minutes after execution, and FINRA generally 
expects firms to complete the process of accepting or declining a 
trade, including any subsequent updates, within that time frame.\57\ 
FINRA reminds firms that, where the reporting party enters inaccurate 
trade information, rather than declining the trade, the contra party 
should submit its own correct information within 20 minutes of 
execution to be in compliance with the rule.\58\
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    \56\ See FIF Letter at 2.
    \57\ See FINRA Response at 6.
    \58\ See id.
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    FIF also notes its understanding that the millisecond requirement 
was not intended to introduce a significant burden on firms and that 
only those systems that capture millisecond time stamps in a reportable 
format are required to be reported.\59\ FINRA confirms that it is not 
mandating that firms start capturing milliseconds and any such proposal 
would be subject to a separate rule filing and notice and comment.\60\ 
However, where a firm's system captures time in milliseconds, FINRA 
expects that the system will be capable of reporting in 
milliseconds.\61\
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    \59\ See FIF Letter at 2.
    \60\ See FINRA Response at 7.
    \61\ See id.
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ORF Closing Time

    FIF also recommends keeping the 8:00 p.m. closing time for the ORF 
to maintain consistency with FINRA's TRFs in order to reduce the 
likelihood of errors, allow firms to leverage current workflows and 
assist firms in resolving operational issues and completing processing 
before the end of the day.\62\ In response to this concern, in 
Amendment No. 1, FINRA proposes to maintain the closing time at 8:00 
p.m.\63\
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    \62\ See FIF Letter at 2.
    \63\ See FINRA Response at 6-7.
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Implementation Effort/Time Frame

    FIF recommends a nine-month implementation period following 
Commission approval contingent upon the release of TRF specifications 
within seven months and the availability of a robust test environment 
within three

[[Page 12562]]

months of the implementation date.\64\ FINRA responds that it believes 
that firms will have sufficient time to make the necessary systems 
changes for the ORF implementation, currently scheduled on June 2, 
2014, and for the implementation no later than September 30, 2014 for 
the ADF and TRFs.\65\ FINRA notes that it will announce the 
implementation dates in a Regulatory Notice.\66\
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    \64\ See FIF Letter at 2-3.
    \65\ See FINRA Response at 7.
    \66\ See id. FINRA also notes that, pursuant to the original 
filing, the proposed amendments to the OATS rules will be 
implemented no later than 45 days after Commission approval.
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III. Discussion and Commission Findings

    After careful review, the Commission finds that the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the requirements of the Act and the rules and 
regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange 
and, in particular, with Section 15A(b) of the Act.\67\ In particular, 
the Commission finds that the proposed rule change is consistent with 
FINRA believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the 
provisions of Section 15A(b)(6) of the Act,\68\ which requires, among 
other things, that FINRA rules must be designed to prevent fraudulent 
and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable 
principles of trade, and, in general, to protect investors and the 
public interest.
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    \67\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-3(b). In approving this proposed rule change, 
the Commission has considered the proposed rule's impact on 
efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 
78c(f).
    \68\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-3(b)(6).
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    FINRA proposes to amend the equity trade reporting rules relating 
to reporting: (i) an additional time field for specified trades; (ii) 
execution time in milliseconds; (iii) reversals; (iv) trades executed 
on non-business days and trades that are more than one year old; and 
(v) ``step-outs.'' In addition, FINRA proposes changes in the 
processing of trades that are submitted to a FINRA Facility for 
clearing as well as technical changes to the rules relating to the OTC 
Reporting Facility (``ORF'') and codifying existing OATS guidance 
regarding reporting order event times to OATS in milliseconds. The 
Commission believes that the proposed changes should enhance FINRA's 
audit trail and automated surveillance program, promote more consistent 
trade reporting by members, and aid in the detection of violations of 
FINRA trade reporting and other rules.
    The Commission notes that FIF submitted a comment letter containing 
primarily clarifying questions and that FINRA submitted a response 
addressing these clarifying questions. The FIF Letter requested a 
substantive change to the proposal--that the ORF closing time remain 8 
p.m. In its response in Amendment No. 1, FINRA proposed keeping the ORF 
closing time of 8 p.m.
    For the foregoing reasons, the Commission finds that the proposed 
rule change is consistent with Section 15A(b)(6) of the Act and the 
rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities 
association.\69\
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    \69\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-3(b)(6).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether Amendment No. 1 
is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the 
following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File Number SR-FINRA-2013-050 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-FINRA-2013-050. This 
file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To 
help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, 
please use only one method.
    The Commission will post all comments on the Commission's Internet 
Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the 
submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements with 
respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with the Commission, 
and all written communications relating to the proposed rule change 
between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be 
withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 
552, will be available for Web site viewing and printing in the 
Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 
20549, on official business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 
3:00 p.m. Copies of such filing also will be available for inspection 
and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments 
received will be posted without change; the Commission does not edit 
personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit 
only information that you wish to make publicly available. All 
submissions should refer to File Number SR-FINRA-2013-050 and should be 
submitted on or before [insert date 21 days from publication in the 
Federal Register].

V. Accelerated Approval of Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by 
Amendment No. 1

    The Commission finds good cause for approving the proposed rule 
change, as amended by Amendment No. 1 prior to the 30th day after the 
date of publication of notice in the Federal Register. Amendment No. 1 
proposes maintaining the current 8:00 p.m. closing time of the ORF and 
includes technical amendments to update cross-references and make other 
non-substantive changes to Rules 6282, 7130 and 7140 relating to the 
ADF as the result of the approval of SR-FINRA-2013-053. Accordingly, 
the Commission finds good cause for approving the proposed rule change, 
as amended, on an accelerated basis, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of 
the Act.\70\
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    \70\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
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VI. Conclusion

    It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the 
Act,\71\ that the proposed rule change (SR-FINRA-2013-050), is hereby 
approved, as modified by Amendment No. 1 on an accelerated basis.
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    \71\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
    \72\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\72\
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-04792 Filed 3-4-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


