“Consistent with our longstanding practice, FINRA is introducing greater transparency in a calibrated and careful manner, benefiting liquidity and resilience in this critical market while also mitigating potential information leakage concerns.”
FINRA has initiated a new measure to enhance post-trade transparency in the U.S. Treasury securities market, involving the dissemination of individual transaction details in active U.S. Treasury securities at the day’s end.
Aiming to elevate transparency levels in the trading of these essential benchmark securities, and aimed at FINRA members and other professional subscribers, this information will be available on the same day, enhancing their ability to make informed decisions.
Data will then be accessible to the general public for personal, non-commercial use without any charge on FINRA’s website the following day. Starting from April 1, FINRA also plans to offer access to historical data, albeit with a six-month delay.
Transpareny for on-the-run nominal coupon Treasury securities
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is thus introducing greater transparency carefully and incrementally to support the market’s liquidity and resilience while addressing potential concerns related to information leakage.
The transparency initiative specifically targets on-the-run nominal coupon Treasury securities, which include the most recently auctioned notes or bonds with fixed rate nominal coupons. The disseminated data encompasses trade size and price, the type of counterparty involved (dealer, customer, affiliate, or alternative trading system), whether the trade was executed on an ATS, along with other trade modifiers and indicators.
Importantly, the data will be anonymized, lacking any identifying information about the transaction participants. Moreover, there are size caps on the dissemination of transaction details, with specifics about these caps and associated fees detailed in Regulatory Notice 24-06.
This step is part of a series of efforts by FINRA to increase transaction reporting and transparency in the Treasury securities market. These initiatives have been developed in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Board, and the Securities and Exchange Commission, marking significant milestones such as the increased publication frequency of aggregated volume data and the inception of transaction reporting to TRACE for regulatory oversight purposes.
Stephanie Dumont, Executive Vice President of Market Regulation and Transparency Services at FINRA, said: “Given the unique and fundamental role of the U.S. Treasury securities market in the global economy, promoting the market’s transparency is important for both Treasury market participants and the broader financial system. Consistent with our longstanding practice, FINRA is introducing greater transparency in a calibrated and careful manner, benefiting liquidity and resilience in this critical market while also mitigating potential information leakage concerns.”
