SIFMA provides comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s (FINRA’s) notice of filing of proposed rule change to require alternative trading systems (ATSs) to report volume information to FINRA and use unique market participant identifiers (MPIDs), File No. SR–FINRA–2013–042.

Under the proposal, FINRA would require every ATS to report to FINRA weekly volume information on the ATS’s securities transactions. In addition, FINRA would require every ATS to acquire and use a single, MPIDs when reporting information to FINRA.

SIFMA supports FINRA’s proposal. The subject of market quality has recently been a topic of wide discussion, and a central point of this discussion has been the effect of off exchange equity trading on overall market quality. SIFMA believes that an increase in transparency about trading volumes and characteristics will contribute to a thoughtful evaluation of market quality that is based on consistent and objective data and facts.