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Special Topics

4.1 CAT Events


Table 4.1.1 Order Events Reported to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) and Surveilled by FINRA SRO – Monthly Total Events1

(January 3, 2022 − December 30, 2022; Millions of Events)

 

  Exchange Industry Member
Month Order Modify Route Executions Cancellations Total Order Modify Route Executions Cancellations Total
January 129,782 48,237 4,517 3,006 126,588 312,130 241,576 22,032 352,639 1,445 219,236 836,928
February 132,573 46,287 4,326 2,815 125,257 311,258 236,997 20,833 370,249 1,304 216,501 845,884
March 156,025 54,734 4,844 3,563 148,578 367,744 278,626 24,884 438,394 1,649 253,224 996,777
April 140,376 46,974 3,934 2,758 133,678 327,721 248,399 18,567 389,070 1,311 228,672 886,020
May 177,562 67,418 4,643 3,347 169,283 422,253 313,480 28,675 498,264 1,459 289,616 1,131,494
June 152,302 54,987 4,445 2,951 145,354 360,039 273,945 22,277 431,467 1,361 252,840 981,889
July 137,197 45,514 5,882 2,341 128,060 318,994 238,598 17,566 373,229 1,149 218,158 848,700
August 149,240 52,207 6,078 2,676 135,478 345,679 248,738 18,229 382,148 1,411 224,159 874,685
September 175,171 68,326 5,947 2,719 159,236 411,399 297,744 19,761 457,049 1,299 271,786 1,047,640
October 171,430 67,418 5,998 2,675 155,897 403,418 286,161 18,947 440,329 1,274 257,354 1,004,065
November 150,231 54,953 5,236 2,613 134,688 347,721 247,735 14,951 379,324 1,334 220,765 864,109
December 146,726 54,342 4,709 2,406 134,217 342,400 242,171 14,588 372,035 1,281 214,582 844,657

Source: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Data as of February 2023.

1 These figures are based on event data reported to CAT. The Exchange table reflects order events reported by Exchanges to CAT via the Plan Participant Specification and the Industry Member table reflects order events reported by Industry Members to CAT via the Industry Member Specification. Quotation activity is not included here except in instances where listed options quotations result in trade activity. During 2022, additional event types became reportable and are reflected here.

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Table 4.1.2 Order Events Reported to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) and Surveilled by FINRA SRO – Daily Average Events1

(January 3, 2022 − December 30, 2022; Millions of Events)

 

    Exchange Industry Member
Month Number of Business Days Order Modify Route Executions Cancellations Total Order Modify Route Executions Cancellations Total
January 20 6,489 2,412 226 150 6,329 15,607 12,079 1,102 17,632 72 10,962 41,846
February 19 6,978 2,436 228 148 6,592 16,382 12,474 1,096 19,487 69 11,395 44,520
March 23 6,784 2,380 211 155 6,460 15,989 12,114 1,082 19,061 72 11,010 43,338
April 20 7,019 2,349 197 138 6,684 16,386 12,420 928 19,454 66 11,434 44,301
May 21 8,455 3,210 221 159 8,061 20,107 14,928 1,365 23,727 69 13,791 53,881
June 21 7,252 2,618 212 141 6,922 17,145 13,045 1,061 20,546 65 12,040 46,757
July 20 6,860 2,276 294 117 6,403 15,950 11,930 878 18,661 57 10,908 42,435
August 23 6,489 2,270 264 116 5,890 15,030 10,815 793 16,615 61 9,746 38,030
September 21 8,341 3,254 283 129 7,583 19,590 14,178 941 21,764 62 12,942 49,888
October 21 8,163 3,210 286 127 7,424 19,210 13,627 902 20,968 61 12,255 47,813
November 21 7,154 2,617 249 124 6,414 16,558 11,797 712 18,063 64 10,513 41,148
December 21 6,987 2,588 224 115 6,391 16,305 11,532 695 17,716 61 10,218 40,222

Source: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Data as of February 2023.

1 These figures are based on event data reported to CAT. The Exchange table reflects order events reported by Exchanges to CAT via the Plan Participant Specification and the Industry Member table reflects order events reported by Industry Members to CAT via the Industry Member Specification. Quotation activity is not included here except in instances where listed options quotations result in trade activity. During 2022, additional event types became reportable and are reflected here.

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4.2 Options Activity


Figure 4.2.1 Options Trading Activity By Originating Account Owner Type, 20221

(January 3, 2022 − December 30, 2022)

 

Options Trading Activity By Originating Account Owner Type 2022

Source: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Data as of February 2023.

1 Includes trades but not orders or quotations. Account Owner Type follows the “accountHolderType” categories in the CAT Reporting Technical Specifications for Industry Members. “Proprietary” activity is made up of the other proprietary, market making and error account categories as well as trades that do not have an explicit account owner type value (these are presumed to be market making trades). “Other Customer” includes the foreign and firm agency average price account categories.

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Figure 4.2.2 Put/Call Ratio by Volume and Transaction Count, 20221

(January 3, 2022 − December 30, 2022)

 

Put Call Ratio by Volume and Transaction Count 2022

Source: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority. Data as of February 2023.

1 Based on trading activity as reported to CAT and processed by FINRA. The Put/Call ratio is defined as the monthly sum of puts divided by the monthly sum of calls in either measurement mode.

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4.3 Demographic Changes


Figure 4.3.1 Age Distribution of U.S. Population and FINRA-Registered Representatives, 2010 & 20201

(Percent as of year-end)

 

Age Distribution of U.S. Population and FINRA-Registered Representatives 2010 and 2020

Sources: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and U.S. Census Bureau.

1 Age distributions were truncated to represent individuals between 25 and 69 years old as of year-end. Percentages represented are from truncated age distributions for individuals between 25 and 69 years old as of year-end.

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Figure 4.3.2 Age Distribution of FINRA-Registered Representives By Year and Firm Size

(Count as of year-end)

 

Alt Text

Source: Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

1 Age distributions were truncated to represent individuals between 25 and 69 years old as of year-end. Individuals registered with multiple firms are counted once for each firm size they represent, potentially in multiple size classes depending on the sizes of the employing firms. Large Firm = 500 or more registered representatives; Mid-Size Firm = 151-499 registered representatives; Small Firm = 1-150 registered representatives.

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4.4 Supplementary Liquidity Schedule


Figure 4.4.1 Providers of the Supplementary Liquidity Schedule – Type and Size, 20221

(Number of firms as of year-end)

 

Alt Text

Source: Supplementary Liquidity Schedule

1 The SLS is designed to improve FINRA’s ability to monitor for events that signal adverse changes in the liquidity risk of FINRA’s members with the largest customer and counterparty exposures. The SLS must be filed by each FINRA-registered firm with $25 million or more in free credit balances, as defined under SEA Rule 15c3-3(a)(8), and also by each member whose aggregate amount outstanding under repurchase agreements, securities loan contracts and bank loans is equal to or greater than $1 billion. There were 105 such firms at the end of December 2022.

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Figure 4.4.2 Collateral Types Used by Providers of the Supplementary Liquidity Schedule, 20221

(In billions of USD as of year-end)

 

Collateral Types Used by Providers of the Supplementary Liquidity Schedule 2022

Source: Supplementary Liquidity Schedule

1 The SLS is designed to improve FINRA’s ability to monitor for events that signal adverse changes in the liquidity risk of FINRA’s members with the largest customer and counterparty exposures. The SLS must be filed by each FINRA-registered firm with $25 million or more in free credit balances, as defined under SEA Rule 15c3-3(a)(8), and also by each member whose aggregate amount outstanding under repurchase agreements, securities loan contracts and bank loans is equal to or greater than $1 billion. There were 105 such firms at the end of December 2022.

2 These statistics are appropriate for comparing and contrasting collateral types, but not for observing their total use in the market, as firms below the size threshold to submit the SLS are excluded. Noncash Activity Includes all exchanges without a cash component, including equity for equity repurchases.

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4.5 National Financial Capability Study


Figure 4.5.1 Taxable Investment Account Ownership By Year1

(Estimated percentage of US adults)

 

Taxable Investment Account Ownership By Year

Source: 2012-2021 National Financial Capability Study

1 Taxable investments include investments in stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other securities outside of retirement accounts. Respondents were recruited via non-probability quota sampling using established online panels consisting of millions of individuals who have been recruited to join and who are offered incentives in exchange for participating in online surveys, with over 25,000 such individuals in each wave. Figures are weighted to be representative of the national population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, education and Census Division. Adults includes all individuals over the age of 18.

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Figure 4.5.2 Taxable Investment Account Ownership By Year and Generation1,2

(Estimated percentage of US adults in each generation)

 

Alt Text

Source: 2012-2021 National Financial Capability Study

1 Taxable investments include investments in stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other securities outside of retirement accounts. Respondents were recruited via non-probability quota sampling using established online panels consisting of millions of individuals who have been recruited to join and who are offered incentives in exchange for participating in online surveys, with over 25,000 such individuals in each wave. Figures are weighted to be representative of the national population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, education and Census Division. Adults includes all individuals over the age of 18.

2 Generation Definitions are provided by Pew Research. No Gen Z individuals were considered adults during the 2012 or 2015 waves.

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Figure 4.5.3 Taxable Investment Account Ownership By Year, Race and Ethnicity1,2

(Estimated percentage of US adults in this ethnic group)

 

Alt Text

Source: 2012-2021 National Financial Capability Study

1 Taxable investments include investments in stocks, bonds, mutual funds or other securities outside of retirement accounts. Respondents were recruited via non-probability quota sampling using established online panels consisting of millions of individuals who have been recruited to join and who are offered incentives in exchange for participating in online surveys, with over 25,000 such individuals in each wave. Figures are weighted to be representative of the national population in terms of age, gender, ethnicity, education and Census Division. Adults includes all individuals over the age of 18.

2 Racial/Ethnic group based on self-identification. AIAN represents those who identify as American Indian or Alaska Natives. Multiethnic individuals are classified as "Other" unless they at partially identified as Hispanic, in which case they are classified in the Hispanic category.

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