SEC Approves NMS Plan To Implement Tick Size Pilot For Small Cap Stocks

In June 2014, the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC" or "Commission") issued an order directing the national securities exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (collectively, the "Participants") to act jointly in developing and filing with the Commission a national market system plan to implement a tick size pilot program ("Order").¹ On November 7, 2014, the SEC published for comment the Participants' proposal to establish a national market system plan ("Plan") to implement the Order.² After considering the 77 comment letters submitted in response to the proposal, the SEC amended the Plan in several ways, and approved the Plan in its modified form on May 13, 2015.³ The Plan describes a two-year pilot program to widen the minimum quoting and trading increments for some stocks with smaller capitalizations ("Pilot"). The Plan sets forth proposed procedures for selecting a representative group of stocks of small capitalization companies ("Pilot