Virus Prompts SEC To Ease Deadlines For Delayed Audit Trail
Law360.com, 18 March 2020
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is extending a deadline for stock exchanges and other entities to enforce compliance rules involving a market surveillance project known as the “consolidated audit trail,” noting the massive stress on market participants caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
The consolidated audit trail, or CAT, is a massive database that will track real-time trading in the securities market. The project, which has been riddled with delays for years, is intended to help regulators prevent future market shocks like the May 6, 2010, “flash crash,” a brief but deep plunge in which the stock market lost about $1 trillion in wealth before recovering in 36 minutes.
