Last week, several securities industry groups filed critical
responses to the SEC's plan for an audit trail. While
most groups that commented on the SEC's proposed regulation
supported implementing the proposal, several had concerns regarding
the cost for investors and firms, and the protection of private
data.
The SEC audit trail, approved for public comment on April 27, 2016,
is a proposed national market system plan to create a single,
comprehensive database that would enable regulators to efficiently
track all trading activity in the United States equity and options
market. When the plan was announced, SEC Chair Mary Jo White
commented that the plan "will enable regulators to harness
today's technology to enhance the regulation and oversight of
[] trading markets" and "will significantly increase the
ability of regulators to conduct research, reconstruct market
events, monitor market behavior, and identify and investigate
misconduct." The SEC's proposed audit
