Yesterday the US Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the rule for a national market system plan governing the public dissemination of consolidated equity market data:

SEC adopts rules to modernize key market infrastructure responsible for collecting, consolidating, and disseminating equity market data https://t.co/gKapKiWbCU

— SEC_News (@SEC_News) December 9, 2020

In an 898-page final rule filing, the SEC opens up the market data can of worms with the not-thought-all-the-way-through competing consolidator model. Good to include depth-of-book in SIP data. Round lot proposal not as bad as first proposed. https://t.co/eATAwIY0zl pic.twitter.com/h2uF5Uvur0

— James J. Angel (@GuFinProf) December 9, 2020

Joe Wald, Co-Head of Electronic Trading, BMO Capital Markets, said in an email that the firm is supportive of the final rule and commended the SEC for seeking out industry feedback and incorporating that into the final rule.

“This marks a historic moment in rule making and we are proud to have been engaged in the process, submitting several comment letters, and with many citations in the final rule,” he added. “As Commissioner Roisman suggested, we encourage the SEC to move forward with the annual round table discussions to assess the impact of the rule on the markets and we look forward to continuing to provide a voice for transparent, fair and equitable markets as the rule is rolled out.”

SIFMA issued the following statement from SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. on the SEC’s adoption of market data infrastructure rules under Regulation NMS:

SIFMA supports the newly approved market data infrastructure rule from @SEC_News. It's a positive step for investors and modernizes market data. Read more: https://t.co/gsC1Ts7hXF https://t.co/6yqaxiwfTZ

— SIFMA (@SIFMA) December 9, 2020

“SIFMA strongly supports the SEC’s unanimous approval of its infrastructure proposal, as it is a positive step to provide investors with critical additional market data and to address current conflicts of interests for exchanges between the SIP data and exchange proprietary feeds.  We appreciate that the final Infrastructure rule will include additional content including depth of book, auction information for open/close auctions and odd lots, as well as the SEC’s move away from the centralized approach to the distribution of SIP data to a competitive, decentralized model with competing consolidators.  We further appreciate that it appears the final rule will not change the application of the order protection rule (OPR) and will provide for the protection of the new smaller round lot sizes under the OPR.  We have long advocated for the modernization of market data and welcome today’s announcement.”

MFA Supports SEC Market Data Rule

MFA statement on the adoption of the SEC’s rule for a national market system plan governing the public dissemination of consolidated equity market data: https://t.co/NLFo1yosXw pic.twitter.com/9UCmFS5AWC

— Managed Funds Association (@MFAupdates) December 9, 2020

Jennifer Han, MFA Managing Director & Counsel, Regulatory Affairs issued the following statement on the adoption of the SEC’s rule for a national market system plan governing the public dissemination of consolidated equity market data:

“MFA applauds the SEC’s adoption of a market data infrastructure rule that will bring needed competition to the market for consolidated equity data and increase detail and depth of book information available to market participants.  Enhanced access to market data, including the ability of investment managers to be self-aggregators, will enable more market participants to make better investment decisions and improve market efficiency. MFA members use this data to deliver reliable returns over time for investors like pensions, foundations, and endowments.”

With two new rules SEC expands and updates NMS market data for the first time since 1975! #SEC #NMS #SIP #SRO #FINRA https://t.co/iRN1k3qGRX

— RegAlytics (@RegAlytics) December 10, 2020

Justin Schack, partner at Rosenblatt Securities:

Here's hoping the next few years' regulatory agenda will reflect the full scope of inequities built into and underlying our complex equity market structure.

— Justin Schack (@JustinRBLT) December 9, 2020