Fixed Income
FINRA plays an important role in regulating and providing transparency to the fixed income securities markets. For example, we operate and enforce FINRA rules regarding the Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE®), and enforce, for our member firms, federal securities regulations governing fixed income, including those promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB).
Most recently, the SEC designated FINRA as the examination and enforcement authority for municipal advisors that are FINRA members. Firms selling municipal securities or performing municipal advisory services must register with the MSRB.
FINRA Member Regulation is responsible for examining all FINRA members involved in the fixed income markets for compliance with applicable rules and regulations. Among other things, Member Regulation reviews firms' fixed-income sales practices to determine whether they have dealt fairly with customers and that their registered representatives are properly qualified and supervised, and ensures they are in compliance with net capital requirements.
Market Regulation, meanwhile, monitors trading activity in more than 2.5 million individual debt securities, including corporate bonds, municipal securities, government agency securities, U.S. Treasury Securities and mortgage- and asset-backed securities, for potential manipulative activity and to ensure customers receive fair prices.
Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine (TRACE)
TRACE, introduced in 2002, captures real-time consolidated transaction data for all eligible public and private (144A) corporate bonds—including investment grade, high yield and convertible debt—agency debt and U.S. Treasury Securities. Securitized products, such as mortgage-backed securities (MBS), traded in specified pool or To Be Announced (TBA) transactions also are part of the TRACE system.
As a result, TRACE brings transparency to the bond market. Individual investors and market professionals can access information on all over-the-counter (OTC) public and private activity representing more than 99 percent of total U.S. corporate bond debt, more than 16,000 agency debt securities, and more than one million asset and mortgage-backed securities.
FINRA licenses TRACE data to TRACE vendors and subscribers. The TRACE Content Licensing section provides information about data licensing options, agreements, technical specifications, and market data policies.
Comments?
Did you find what you were looking for? Do you have suggestions for how to make this page better? Tell our webmaster.