Front Office Committee. Chris Bok of OTC Markets presented on the upcoming implementation of the amendments to SEC Rule 15c2-11 (“Publication or submission of quotations without specified information”). Find the full agenda here. Rule 605 Working Group. The Working Group discussed a request from the SEC staff for FIF members to provide feedback on a Rule 605-like execution quality report for options that the SEC is considering. Rule 606 Working Group. The Rule 606 Working Group discussed final comments to an FIF letter requesting additional interpretive guidance relating to SEC Rule...

FIF Back Office Committee. On June 15, Bill Kapogiannis and Diana Confessori-Simmons of DTCC  discussed the DTCC data warehousing initiative. Please find the full agenda here.  FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group reviewed the request filed by the Plan Participants with the SEC to move the reporting of unique Order IDs on internal route events from Phase 2d to August 1, 2023. The Working Group discussed responses provided by FINRA CAT to FIF and the FIF Co-Chairs relating to Order Route Cancel and Modification Supplement events, reporting Route...

FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group reviewed a new FAQ from the Plan Participants on reporting the side field for an allocation that includes long and short sales. The Working Group discussed comments and questions from FIF members relating to options allocations, manual responses to options solicitations, client allocations, the YP representativeInd value, Phase 2d Reporting Scenario 2.3.11 relating to Guaranteed VWAP orders, Automated Investment Plans, manual repair of CAT errors, and complex option orders where different legs have different FDIDs. FIF...

Rule 606 Working Group. The Rule 606 Working Group discussed issues and questions raised by FIF members relating to orders sent directly to an ATS, ATS matching with a single market maker, Rule 606(b)(3) requests from sub-accounts, and look-through for Rule 606(a) options reporting. Market Trends in Total Return Swaps vs Securities Lending. Josh Galper of Finadium presented to the Front and Back Office Committees on market trends in total return swaps vs. securities lending, including the impact of Archegos. FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group and CAT Committee. The CAT Tech Specs Working...

FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group and CAT Committee. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group reviewed recent FAQ updates relating to CAT orders received or originated but not executed prior to the date an Industry Member is required to begin reporting data to CAT, accountHolderType of “O”, reporting cash orders, and clearing firms reporting allocations to average price accounts of an Introducing Broker that may be exclusively for a specific client of the Introducing Broker. The Working Group discussed the most recent update from FINRA relating to OATS retirement. The Working Group reviewed and...

FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group and CAT Committee. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group discussed industry member feedback on the FNRA CAT disaster recovery testing over the weekend. The Working Group reviewed FAQ updates relating to Phase 2b reporting for RFQs in listed options and reporting the side field for options events. The Working Group reviewed comments and questions from FIF members relating to two-sided responses to an options RFQ request, index options with synthetic equity legs, and challenges with reporting the pairedOrderID for the manual route of options orders to a floor...

FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group and CAT Committee. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group discussed the following issues and questions raised by FIF members: the scenario where the only CAT-reportable change is the routedOrderID; requesting an extension of the date for reporting TIDType; the change in the TIDType field to an Array type; reporting Allocation events for corporate buy-backs; reporting the accountHolderType of “F”; and errors discovered after OATS retirement. The Working Group reviewed draft comments and questions for FINRA CAT relating to separation of CAT transaction reporting...

FIF CAT Tech Specs Working Group and CAT Committee. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group discussed issues and questions from FIF members relating to the following: the scenario where the only CAT-reportable change is the routedOrderID; challenges with reporting the pairedOrderID for the manual route of option orders to floor brokers; and customer accommodation scenarios for options. The Working Group reviewed a proposal to FINRA CAT relating to customer accommodation scenarios. FIF submitted this proposal to FINRA CAT. The FIF CAT Committee reviewed the comment letter filed by the CAT...

FIF Tech Specs Working Group. The CAT Tech Specs Working Group reviewed the schedule of availability of the Production, Prod-Mirror and Industry Test environments. The Working Group discussed whether the solicitationFlag applies for IOIs that are not part of an RFQ process. The Working Group reviewed updated FAQs relating to FDID reporting. The Working Group discussed Reporting Scenario 4.1.2 relating to customer accommodations. The Working Group reviewed the planned updates to the Industry Member Technical Specifications for Phase 2c and Phase 2d. The Working Group discussed various...