Rolling, rolling, rolling,, keep them data doggies moving rawhide….
Yes, despite some setbacks and changes within the initial framework, the much-anticipated consolidated audit trail project now managed by Finra, continues to forge ahead.
On March 18, the CAT NMS Operating Committee, which runs the CAT program, opened a registration page to capture basic information from industry members and third-party CAT reporters, requiring broker dealers and technology providers to sign up and prepare for data submissions and file validation prior to live reporting. Firms are now registering.
Any industry member of a national securities exchange or national securities association that handles orders or quotes in National Market System (NMS) equity securities, OTC equity securities or listed options is required to register, said Paul McKenney, a senior director at FINRA on the March 19 industry webcast.
But now, Robert Cook, CEO of Finra, is weighing in with comments made at the recent annual Finra conference. As first reported by ThinkAdvisor, theres still a lot more to come in the Finra s top-to-bottom review via its FINRA360 initiative, which included comments on the audit rail.
CAT is coming, Cook told attendees. For the brokers, the first wave of testing will be coming later this year, he said.
Finra is now the CAT processor, replacing Thesys earlier this year. He reminded the industry to check out CATs progress at catnmsplan.com to see the specs that firms should be working on.
The bulge bracket brokers are girding up for CAT testing which is set to commence in December. This phase will center on file submission and data integrity. Then in April 2020, the system is expected go live in equities.
