11:13 AM
The NYSE Has Asked for a 30-Day Exemption From the Trade-Through Rule
As Advanced Trading went to press, the New York Stock Exchange asked the SEC if the exchange could trade through five market centers for a 30-day period following the implementation of the Trade-Through Rule on March 5.
According to an industry source, the NYSE still uses the Intermarket Trading System (ITS) to access other market centers and does not have access to some ATSs -- including DirectEdge ECN, Track Data Securities Corp. (Track ECN) and Lava Flow -- as well as the International Securities Exchange, all of which display their quotes through the NASD's Alternative Display Facility.
The request for "relief" was made on Friday, March 2, three days before the Trade-Through Rule was to take effect. In the filing, the NYSE contends that the proposed exemption (A) does not significantly affect the protection of investors or the public interest, and (B) does not impose any significant burden on competition.
The NYSE already had requested a one-month delay in the implementation of Reg NMS. In response, the SEC postponed the implementation date for the Trading Phase of Reg NMS as well as two other deadlines for implementation of the Order-Protection and Access rules from Feb. 5 until March 5. The SEC says it granted the extensions to give automated trading centers additional time to complete the rollout of their new or modified trading systems.
The two other components of Reg NMS are subpenny pricing, which already went into effect, and the new formula for sharing market data revenues. The deadline for compliance with the new market data revenue formula is April 1, 2007.