U.S. Equities

The securities information processor (SIP) Plans govern the collection, processing and distribution of quotation and transaction information for exchange-listed securities. Data is derived from various market centers, including securities exchanges, FINRA and broker-dealers. Under the SIP Plans, all U.S. exchanges and associations that quote and trade exchange-listed securities must provide their data to a SIP for data consolidation and dissemination.

This plan implements Exchange Act Rule 613, which calls for the creation of a single comprehensive database that will enable regulators to more efficiently and thoroughly track all trading activity in the U.S. equity and options markets. The CAT plan, among other things, details the methods by which self-regulatory organizations and broker-dealers will record and report information, including the identity of the customer, resulting in a range of data elements that together provide the complete lifecycle of all orders and transactions in the U.S. equity and options markets.

This plan governs the establishment, operation and administration of a market-wide limit up-limit down mechanism that is intended to address extraordinary market volatility in NMS stocks, as defined in Rule 600(b)(47) of Regulation NMS under the Exchange Act. The Plan sets forth market-wide limit up-limit down requirements designed to prevent trades in individual NMS Stocks from occurring outside of the specified price bands and also governs quotations in NMS stocks.

(The Intermarket Symbol Reservation Authority, or “ISRA” Plan) The ISRA Plan governs the establishment, operation and administration of a uniform system for the selection and reservation of securities symbols (the “Symbol Reservation System”). Self-regulatory organizations (SROs) that have joined the plan utilize this system to reserve one-to five-character root symbols, utilizing a web-based tool developed and maintained by the Options Clearing Corporation, the Plan Processor.

This plan establishes procedures under Rule 605 of Regulation NMS (previously Rule 11Ac1-5 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). Rule 605 generally requires a market center that trades Regulation NMS stocks to make available to the public monthly electronic execution reports that include uniform statistical measures of execution quality.

On September 1, 2023, the Commission ordered all equity exchanges and FINRA (collectively, the “SROs”) to act jointly in developing and filing with the Commission by October 23, 2023, a proposed new single NMS plan to govern the public dissemination of real-time consolidated equity market data for NMS stocks. The SROs filed the proposed Plan, as directed in the Commission’s Amended Order. Following the implementation timelines discussed in Section A.3 of the proposed Plan, the proposed Plan would replace (1) the Consolidated Tape Association Plan (“CTA Plan”), (2) the Consolidated Quotation Plan (“CQ Plan”), and (3) the Joint Self-Regulatory Organization Plan Governing the Collection, Consolidation, and Dissemination of Quotation and Transaction Information for Nasdaq-Listed Securities Traded on Exchanges on an Unlisted Trading Privileges Basis (“UTP Plan”). The SROs proposed that the Plan be in the form of a limited liability company (“LLC”) agreement for a new company, CT Plan LLC, with each SRO being a “Member” of the Company.