Title 17

SECTION 242.606

242.606 Disclosure of order routing information.

§ 242.606 Disclosure of order routing information.

(a) Quarterly report on order routing. (1) Every broker or dealer shall make publicly available for each calendar quarter a report on its routing of non-directed orders in NMS stocks that are submitted on a held basis and of non-directed orders that are customer orders in NMS securities that are option contracts during that quarter broken down by calendar month and keep such report posted on an internet website that is free and readily accessible to the public for a period of three years from the initial date of posting on the internet website. Such report shall include a section for NMS stocks - separated by securities that are included in the S&P 500 Index as of the first day of that quarter and other NMS stocks - and a separate section for NMS securities that are option contracts. Such report shall be made available using the most recent versions of the XML schema and the associated PDF renderer as published on the Commission's website for all reports required by this section. Each section in a report shall include the following information:

(i) The percentage of total orders for the section that were non-directed orders, and the percentages of total non-directed orders for the section that were market orders, marketable limit orders, non-marketable limit orders, and other orders;

(ii) The identity of the ten venues to which the largest number of total non-directed orders for the section were routed for execution and of any venue to which five percent or more of non-directed orders were routed for execution, the percentage of total non-directed orders for the section routed to the venue, and the percentages of total non-directed market orders, total non-directed marketable limit orders, total non-directed non-marketable limit orders, and total non-directed other orders for the section that were routed to the venue;

(iii) For each venue identified pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section, the net aggregate amount of any payment for order flow received, payment from any profit-sharing relationship received, transaction fees paid, and transaction rebates received, both as a total dollar amount and per share, for each of the following non-directed order types:

(A) Market orders;

(B) Marketable limit orders;

(D) Other orders.

(iv) A discussion of the material aspects of the broker's or dealer's relationship with each venue identified pursuant to paragraph (a)(1)(ii) of this section, including a description of any arrangement for payment for order flow and any profit-sharing relationship and a description of any terms of such arrangements, written or oral, that may influence a broker's or dealer's order routing decision including, among other things:

(A) Incentives for equaling or exceeding an agreed upon order flow volume threshold, such as additional payments or a higher rate of payment;

(B) Disincentives for failing to meet an agreed upon minimum order flow threshold, such as lower payments or the requirement to pay a fee;

(D) Agreements regarding the minimum amount of order flow that the broker-dealer would send to a venue.

(2) A broker or dealer shall make the report required by paragraph (a)(1) of this section publicly available within one month after the end of the quarter addressed in the report.

(b) Customer requests for information on order routing. (1) Every broker or dealer shall, on request of a customer, disclose to its customer, for:

(i) Orders in NMS stocks that are submitted on a held basis;

(ii) Orders in NMS stocks that are submitted on a not held basis and the broker or dealer is not required to provide the customer a report under paragraph (b)(3) of this section; and

(iii) Orders in NMS securities that are option contracts, the identity of the venue to which the customer's orders were routed for execution in the six months prior to the request, whether the orders were directed orders or non-directed orders, and the time of the transactions, if any, that resulted from such orders. Such disclosure shall be made available using the most recent versions of the XML schema and the associated PDF renderer as published on the Commission's website for all reports required by this section.

(2) A broker or dealer shall notify customers in writing at least annually of the availability on request of the information specified in paragraph (b)(1) of this section.

(3) Except as provided for in paragraphs (b)(4) and (5) of this section, every broker or dealer shall, on request of a customer that places, directly or indirectly, one or more orders in NMS stocks that are submitted on a not held basis with the broker or dealer, disclose to such customer within seven business days of receiving the request, a report on its handling of such orders for that customer for the prior six months by calendar month. Such report shall be made available using the most recent versions of the XML schema and the associated PDF renderer as published on the Commission's website for all reports required by this section. For purposes of such report, the handling of a NMS stock order submitted by a customer to a broker-dealer on a not held basis includes the handling of all child orders derived from that order. Such report shall be divided into two sections: One for directed orders and one for non-directed orders. Each section of such report shall include, with respect to such order flow sent by the customer to the broker or dealer, the total number of shares sent to the broker or dealer by the customer during the relevant period; the total number of shares executed by the broker or dealer as principal for its own account; the total number of orders exposed by the broker or dealer through an actionable indication of interest; and the venue or venues to which orders were exposed by the broker or dealer through an actionable indication of interest, provided that, where applicable, a broker or dealer must disclose that it exposed a customer's order through an actionable indication of interest to other customers but need not disclose the identity of such customers. Each section of such report also shall include the following columns of information for each venue to which the broker or dealer routed such orders for the customer, in the aggregate:

(i) Information on Order Routing.(A) Total shares routed;

(B) Total shares routed marked immediate or cancel;

(D) Average order size routed.

(ii) Information on Order Execution. (A) Total shares executed;

(B) Fill rate (shares executed divided by the shares routed);

(D) Average net execution fee or rebate (cents per 100 shares, specified to four decimal places);

(E) Total number of shares executed at the midpoint;

(F) Percentage of shares executed at the midpoint;

(G) Total number of shares executed that were priced on the side of the spread more favorable to the order;

(H) Percentage of total shares executed that were priced at the side of the spread more favorable to the order;

(I) Total number of shares executed that were priced on the side of the spread less favorable to the order; and

(J) Percentage of total shares executed that were priced on the side of the spread less favorable to the order.

(iii) Information on Orders that Provided Liquidity. (A) Total number of shares executed of orders providing liquidity;

(B) Percentage of shares executed of orders providing liquidity;

(C) Average time between order entry and execution or cancellation, for orders providing liquidity (in milliseconds); and

(D) Average net execution rebate or fee for shares of orders providing liquidity (cents per 100 shares, specified to four decimal places).

(iv) Information on Orders that Removed Liquidity. (A) Total number of shares executed of orders removing liquidity;

(B) Percentage of shares executed of orders removing liquidity; and

(C) Average net execution fee or rebate for shares of orders removing liquidity (cents per 100 shares, specified to four decimal places).

(4) Except as provided below, no broker or dealer shall be required to provide reports pursuant to paragraph (b)(3) of this section if the percentage of shares of not held orders in NMS stocks the broker or dealer received from its customers over the prior six calendar months was less than five percent of the total shares in NMS stocks the broker or dealer received from its customers during that time (the “five percent threshold” for purposes of this paragraph). A broker or dealer that equals or exceeds this five percent threshold shall be required (subject to paragraph (b)(5) of this section) to provide reports pursuant to paragraph (b)(3) of this section for at least six calendar months (“Compliance Period”) regardless of the percentage of shares of not held orders in NMS stocks the broker or dealer receives from its customers during the Compliance Period. The Compliance Period shall begin the first calendar day of the next calendar month after the broker or dealer equaled or exceeded the five percent threshold, unless it is the first time the broker or dealer has equaled or exceeded the five percent threshold, in which case the Compliance Period shall begin the first calendar day four calendar months later. A broker or dealer shall not be required to provide reports pursuant to paragraph (b)(3) of this section for orders that the broker or dealer did not receive during a Compliance Period. If, at any time after the end of a Compliance Period, the percentage of shares of not held orders in NMS stocks the broker or dealer received from its customers was less than five percent of the total shares in NMS stocks the broker or dealer received from its customers over the prior six calendar months, the broker or dealer shall not be required to provide reports pursuant to paragraph (b)(3) of this section, except for orders that the broker or dealer received during the portion of a Compliance Period that remains covered by paragraph (b)(3) of this section.

(5) No broker or dealer shall be subject to the requirements of paragraph (b)(3) of this section with respect to a customer that traded on average each month for the prior six months less than $1,000,000 of notional value of not held orders in NMS stocks through the broker or dealer.

(c) Exemptions. The Commission may, by order upon application, conditionally or unconditionally exempt any person, security, or transaction, or any class or classes of persons, securities, or transactions, from any provision or provisions of this section, if the Commission determines that such exemption is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, and is consistent with the protection of investors.

[62 FR 544, Jan. 3, 1997, as amended at 83 FR 58427, Nov. 19, 2018]