Financial Markets and Funds Partner James Brady was quoted in The National Law Journal discussing the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) decision to scale back the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT), a database that tracks all activity in US equity and options markets. The SEC has taken steps to reduce the scope of the CAT, including eliminating the requirement to collect certain personally identifiable information and deleting records older than three years, citing high costs — approximately $250 million annually for broker-dealers — and data privacy concerns.
James noted that while the CAT makes data collected by firms readily available for the SEC or the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to see, "the sheer scope of it has made it so just incredibly expensive." He predicted that the CAT will likely continue to exist but at a smaller scale with reduced costs.
"SEC Scales Back Market Surveillance Tool, Raises Oversight Concerns," The National Law Journal, April 7, 2026
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