Wall Street Letter VOL. XLV, NO. 36 - December 2013 | Page 6

NEWS

06

The rule would require ATSs
to report volume information to
FINRA as well as use unique market
participant identifiers when reporting
trade data to FINRA. The regulator
has also proposed that the costs of
the rule will end up falling on market
participants.
Commenters – including Knight
Capital Group, Liquidnet, Barclay’s,
Fidelity Investments, the IEX Group,
New York Stock Exchange, and the
Security Traders Association – applauded the efforts of the regulator,
noting a need for scrutiny in dark
pools.
But some of the firms noted the
structure of the rule, which entails
ATSs aggregating volume on a weekly
basis via a MPID and then dissemination by FINRA on a delayed basis,
could bring about cost burdens and
redundancy.
“Once ATSs have incorporated into
their trade report a unique MPID, it
will no longer be necessary for ATSs
to report aggregate volume weekly to
FINRA,” KCG said in its letter. “ATSs
will be reporting to FINRA on a realtime basis… [allowing] FINRA to calculate the aggregate, weekly volume
information for each ATS and then
disseminate it on a delayed basis.”

The STA, Fidelity, Barclays, Liquidnet, and IEX Group also noted
FINRA should take the cost of transparency into account, citing the SEC’s
methodology of making collected
market data free to the public from its
website.
STA also asked FINRA to re-open
comments 12 months after the rule
goes into effect, to measure real costs
and iron out any kinks, according to
Jim Toes, president and CEO of the
STA.
“We are supportive of transparency, but when you introduce a
mandate, regulators need to be
careful about explicit and implicit
costs on the industry,” said Toes. “We
cannot know the costs around after it
has been up and running for a period
of time.”
TECHNOLOGY

Eagle seeks vendors
for ACCESS
platform
Eagle Investments is sourcing vendor
offerings to be integrated on Eagle
ACCESS, the vendor’s agnostic
platform intended to help users craft

custom trading systems, according to
John Lehner, CEO.
The vendors chosen for the
platform will be dictated by client
need, Lehner said.
New clients are corralled onto the
ACCESS platform where they can
choose a system configuration that
works for them. The vendors are then
sought out by Eagle and integrated
into ACCESS for end clients, Lehner
detailed.
“Clients will say to us which
vendors they want to use and we
will get on the phone, meet them in
person to seal the deal,” said Lehner.
“From there, we put the technology
in place, get the right people needed
to run it, overall it ends up as an
ongoing process to fully integrate and
provide support.”
One such example is the
partnership between BlackRock and
Eagle, where a m Z??]H??Y[???\]Y\?YX??\???H?X????[Y[??Y[??]??K?X??\?]K[X?[Y?XY?H\?H?[ZY\???????X?H?[??[????'?H\?H?[??H?????????Y[??\??[?H??X??\?B??H[?Y?]HP??T???]B??X?????[Y[?]??K8?'H?ZY?Z?\??8?'?X???????\??H?????P?????B??U????\??\?H[??]H[??[?YH\?YX\???B????&\??\?H[??]H?[??\?H?[?YX[?X\??]?[??B?XYH]?Z[X?H??Y[??[?H??[??H?Y??HH[??B?YX\?X???[????Y???X?Y?KXY?[??]ZX??Y[???H??\?[??[????Y\????Y]?[??]ZX??[??[??[???X[[YH?]?[??[?\?\??H???H?Y]?[??HY?X?X?H?B??YH\?]\?[?Y?H?H?U??&\??\?[?\???H[????X?Y?H]Z[Y[?[?[?\??Y]??]?????'\?\?[\?[????Y[???X?]\?H\?X\??]??X??YB?[?H??\X?]Y[?[???\?H[?H??\?X?]Y[?\?\??[??[?\??[???H[???X?X[H???8?'H?ZY?X?Y?K??H?\?H\X?][??[???^H?[?YX[?[?[Y\?X?[???X?\?]Y\??Y\??[?\?\??[?????[??Y\??H?X?X?\?Y?]??H]?X?[]]\?H?X[[YH?\X?[]Y\??H??\?[????X?Y?H??Y??Z?[??H??\?[????[?YH?\]Z\?YU??????Y???????[\?Y?????]?YH[??[?YH[?HT??]?YX??B???Y]?\?H???\??]?H???H?]?[???[?]X]K???'H??H]?[?Y[????\??[????Y\?[????][???^B?Y??\?[??\?[?H?^H?[?YX[??????\?H?YY???^[\K??[?YX[??????\?H?[?????\?Y[??YHX?]?[H[?]T?\??[\??[?YK8?'H?ZY?X?Y?K?8?'???\?H\?????X?HY[?Y?H[?\?^H?\???Y[??[????[?YX[?[?T??[?Y\??'B??\??[?KU?\?H?H?[????Y[??\?\H??\X?[]K?X?\??Y[?H]?[??H]??[?H?L????]X???[???X?Y?K???'\?\?H?\??[YH?Y[??]?HYH?X[[YH?Y]?[????[??????8?'H?ZY?X?Y?K?8?'?H?YH\?\?H?[?[Y[?[?X\???Y[???X?]\?H[?H\?^H?]??H?[??]????[??YH[??]Z[??X?\??[?\?[???X][?[??YB?[??[??X[[YK??'B??