FINRA Enhances Post-Trade Transparency in U.S. Treasury Securities Market

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FINRA has begun disseminating individual transactions in active U.S. Treasury securities at the end of the day, raising the level of transparency in the market for these benchmark securities.

The information is available on a same-day basis for FINRA members and other professionals who subscribe to the new data product. It is also publicly available and free of charge on FINRA’s website for non-professionals’ personal, non-commercial use on a next-day basis. Starting April 1, FINRA will also begin offering historical data on a six-month delay.

“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,” said Stephanie Dumont, Executive Vice President of Market Regulation and Transparency Services at FINRA. “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 is publishing information on individual transactions in Treasury securities that are on-the-run nominal coupons (generally, the most recently auctioned Treasury security that is a note or bond paying fixed rate nominal coupons). The data includes the price and size of the trade; the counterparty type (dealer, customer, affiliate or alternative trading system); a flag indicating whether the trade was executed on an ATS; and other trade modifiers and indicators.

The data does not include any identifying information about the transaction participants. In addition, dissemination is subject to transaction size caps, over which the actual size of the trade will be included only in the historical data. For information about the transaction caps, data fees or other details, see Regulatory Notice 24-06.

Publishing the new data is the latest in a series of initiatives FINRA has taken to increase transaction reporting and transparency in the Treasury securities market, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Securities and Exchange Commission:

• February 2023 – FINRA increased the cadence of the aggregated volume data it publishes for U.S. Treasury Securities to daily and enhanced the content of the aggregate data.
• Sept. 21, 2022 – Certain depository institutions began reporting transactions in Treasury securities, agency debt securities and agency mortgage-backed securities to TRACE.
• March 10, 2020 – FINRA began to publicly disseminate aggregate data on U.S. Treasury securities trading volume on a weekly basis.
• July 10, 2017 – FINRA members began reporting information on transactions in U.S. Treasury securities to TRACE (for regulatory oversight, not for public dissemination).

About FINRA

FINRA is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to investor protection and market integrity. FINRA regulates one critical part of the securities industry—member brokerage firms doing business with the public in the U.S. FINRA, overseen by the SEC, writes rules, examines for and enforces compliance with FINRA rules and federal securities laws, registers broker-dealer personnel and offers them education and training, and informs the investing public. In addition, FINRA provides surveillance and other regulatory services for equities and options markets, as well as trade reporting and other industry utilities. FINRA also administers a dispute resolution forum for investors and brokerage firms and their registered employees. For more information, visit www.finra.org.