Route To: Manager, Muni Department Trading Sales Operations Compliance
Questions and Answers Notice Published The Board is publishing a Questions and Answers notice addressing frequently asked questions concerning the time of trade reporting requirement contained in the rule G-14 transaction reporting procedures.
1. Q: When is the inter-dealer time of trade reporting requirement effective?
A: The amendment to the rule G-14 transaction reporting procedures requiring the submission of time of trade execution for inter-dealer transactions became effective on July 1, 1996.
2. Q: What is the purpose of submitting the time of trade to the Board?
A: The Board's Transaction Reporting Program has two functions public dissemination of price and volume information about frequently traded securities and the maintenance of a surveillance database to assist regulators in inspection for compliance with, and enforcement of, Board rules and securities laws. The surveillance database includes, among other things, the price and volume of each reported transaction, the trade date, the identification of the security traded, and the parties to the trade. The addition of the time of trade execution will enable the enforcement agencies to construct audit trails of inter-dealer transactions. When customer transactions are added to the system in 1998, these transaction records also will include time of trade. Time of trade will not be made public.
3. Q: How is time of trade reported?
A: Under rule G-14, inter-dealer transaction information is reported to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board using the same system used for automated comparison of inter-dealer transactions, operated by National Securities Clearing Corporation. Rule G-14 requires that the transaction information be submitted in the format specified by NSCC, and within such timeframe as required by NSCC to produce a compared trade for the transaction in the initial comparison cycle on the night of trade date. A broker, dealer or municipal securities dealer may employ an agent that is a member of NSCC or a registered clearing agency for the purpose of submitting transaction information. For example, the clearing broker generally reports transactions to the MSRB through NSCC when there is an introducing/clearing broker arrangement.
Under the new amendment to rule G-14, the transaction information submitted in accordance with the rule G-14 procedures must include the time of trade execution. NSCC has provided a space designated for this purpose in the standard format used for submitting trade data into the automated comparison system.
4. Q: Which dealer in an inter-dealer transaction reports the time of trade?
A: Under NSCC's automated comparison procedures, both sides of a transaction generally are required to submit transaction information. Therefore, time of trade will be reported by each side of the transaction in most cases. For "syndicate take-down" transactions, which are reported by only the seller, the time of trade is reported only by the seller.
5. Q: If the time of trade that I submit does not agree with the time of trade that the contra party submits, will this cause the trade not to compare?
A: No. The time of trade is not a match item in the automated comparison system.
6. Q: Why do both sides to the transaction have to submit the time of trade?
A: In some cases, even though both sides of a transaction are supposed to submit transaction information, the Board receives transaction information from only one party to a transaction. This may occur, for example, when a dealer "stamps an advisory" to create a compared trade. It therefore is necessary for each side of a transaction to report the time of trade to ensure that the surveillance data base has at least one report of the time of trade.
7. Q: Does the time of trade reporting requirement apply only to secondary market transactions?
A: No. The time of trade is required for all inter-dealer transactions including those in the primary market.
8. Q: How does a dealer determine the time of trade for transactions?
A: In general, this is the same time as the "time of execution," as currently required for recordkeeping purposes under rule G-8(a)(vi) and (vii).
9. Q: What is the time of trade for syndicate allocations on new issues?
A: First it should be noted that the "initial trade date" for an issue of municipal securities cannot precede the date of award (for competitive issues) or the date that the bond purchase agreement is signed (for negotiated issues). See rule G-34(a)(ii)(C)(2) and MSRB Interpretations of April 30, 1982, MSRB Manual (CCH) at paragraph 3556.55 and October 7, 1982, MSRB Manual (CCH) at paragraph 3556.56. Similarly, the time of trade may not precede the time of award (for competitive issues) or the time that the bond purchase agreement is signed (for negotiated issues). In the typical case involving a competitive issue in which allocations are made after the date of award, the time of trade execution is the time that the allocation is made. If allocations have been "preassigned," prior to a competitive award, or prior to the signing of a bond purchase agreement, the time of award or signing of the bond purchase agreement should be entered as the "time of trade."
August 1, 1996
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