The SEC on Wednesday afternoon narrowly approved a rule mandating that all U.S. stock exchanges and markets develop a “consolidated audit trail.”
Audit trails currently vary among exchanges. Rule 613, approved by a 3-2 vote, requires the nation’s securities exchanges and FINRA to craft a plan for creating, implementing, and operating a unified audit trail system and centralized database. The SEC has set a 270-day deadline for a proposal on how to best deploy a system that tracks trades at all stages, from order to execution.
