FINRA provided interpretive guidance to its members regarding the "as soon as practicable" requirements for OTC trades in National Market System stocks. The guidance concerns generally-listed equity securities that are executed during the hours that a FINRA trade reporting facility is open and that must be reported for dissemination purposes "as soon as practicable," but not later than ten seconds, following trade execution. FINRA explained that it interprets the "as soon as practicable" requirement to require that a firm release information relating to OTC transactions to other market participants no sooner than a firm releases such information to a FINRA trade reporting facility for dissemination purposes.
FINRA confirmed that firms generally would be considered in compliance with the "as soon as practicable" requirement as long as they release the trade information to a FINRA trade reporting facility and the firm's subscribers or other market participants contemporaneously, even if the information is received at different times. This clarification was developed in response to public comments received on the guidance proposed November 2014 in Regulatory Notice 14-46.
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