The Securities and Exchange Commission today approved an amendment to the National Market System Plan governing the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) (the “CAT NMS Plan”) to adopt a revised funding model, called the “Executed Share Model,” for the CAT and establish a fee schedule for CAT fees for the self-regulatory organizations that are participants to the CAT NMS Plan in accordance with the Executed Share Model.

“Prior to CAT’s creation, regulators lacked a consolidated view of the material information of all orders in NMS securities to trace orders from originations, modifications, cancellations, routings, and executions,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler. “Today’s amendments modify the method by which allowable costs associated with building and operating the CAT are allocated. I support the staff recommendation that the self-regulatory organizations’ NMS Plan amendments be approved as I believe they satisfy the requirements under the Exchange Act and the Commission’s Rule 608.”

The approved amendment establishes a framework that plan participants will use to recover the costs to create, develop, and maintain the CAT, including the method for allocating CAT costs among participants and the members of a national securities exchange or a member of a national securities association.

Once the Executed Share Model has been approved, the participants will submit filings pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 to impose fees on the industry members. Details of the fees, including the budgeted prospective CAT costs and certain of the costs previously covered entirely by the participants prior to the approval of a funding model, will be provided in those Section 19(b) filings submitted by the participants.

The order approving the amendment will be published in the Federal Register. The amendment became effective upon the Commission’s approval.