On April 20, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued two orders relating to the implementation of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) to address the impact of COVID-19. In the first order, the SEC allowed broker-dealers to establish a phased CAT reporting timeline, subject to certain conditions. In its second order, the SEC permitted certain introducing brokers to follow the small broker-dealer reporting timeline.
The reporting milestones now applicable to broker-dealers include the following:
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June 22, 2020: Initial equities reporting for large broker-dealers and small broker-dealers that currently report to FINRA’s Order Audit Trail System (OATS);
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July 20, 2020: Initial options reporting for large broker-dealers;
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Dec. 13, 2021: Full equities and options reporting for large and small broker-dealers; and
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July 11, 2022: Full customer and account reporting for large and small broker-dealers.
More information regarding the phased CAT reporting timelines is available here.