Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend FINRA’s Trading Activity Fee

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published in the Federal Register (FR) its decision to approve a proposed rule change requested by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) with respect to the (non)application of FINRA’s Trading Activity Fee [TAF] towards certain proprietary trading firms.
To recall, in view of the SEC’s intention to limit the proprietary trading exemption for U.S. brokers and dealers as regards the registration requirement with FINRA (please see EventID 16739 for more information), FINRA launched a consultation back in December 2022 to exclude from the fee those transactions of proprietary trading firms on exchanges of which the firms are members (please see EventID 18916 for more information). The action was aimed at reducing burdens on firms that are likely to come into the scope of the registration requirement and would then be subject to the additional TAF. FINRA subsequently filed and submitted a corresponding proposed rule change to the SEC for approval.
Having reviewed the the proposed change, the SEC has now determined to approve FINRA’s request which was submitted for „immediate effectiveness“. Nevertheless, the SEC welcomes comment from the public on the change until July 21, 2023.