Regulators have halted a plan to test whether delayed disclosure of corporate bond trades would boost market liquidity after BDA and others lobbied against the proposal. The move comes after widespread opposition from firms like Vanguard, Citadel, and others. BDA was the only sell-side trade group to join in opposition to the proposal.
You can view BDA’s comment letter here.
The TRACE pilot, as proposed, was to review the impact of giving traders two full days before having to reveal the largest block trade transactions.
BDA opposed the pilot program as BDA member firms believe the proposed 48-hour delay in disseminating trade information would introduce significant and damaging opacity to the market, disadvantage retail investors, and include no incentive for middle-market firms to increase their capital commitment or provision of liquidity. We are very pleased with the decision to halt this proposal.
