(Finance) – The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States today directed the stock exchanges and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to file a new National Market System Plan (NMS Plan) to replace the three existing plans regulating the public dissemination of real-time consolidated data on the stock market.
Consolidated stock market data produced under NMS plans is a critical component of the national market system through which stock investments are priced and traded, the SEC explains. Technological developments and changes in the stock markets have accentuated conflicts of interest inherent between the regulatory responsibilities of stock exchanges to oversee existing NMS plans and their individual interests in maximizing the viability of the proprietary data products they sell.
This – also according to the SEC – has raised questions about whether the current NMS plans for stock market data continue to meet their regulatory purpose of ensuring the availability of information with respect to quotes and securities transactions.
Today’s ordinance intends address conflicts of interest inherent in the current governance structure of existing equity data plans and aims to improve the efficiency of NMS plan operations.