June 11, 2019 – In a letter submitted to FINRA today, FIA PTG opposed delaying the reporting of block transactions in corporate bonds for 48 hours and the proposed pilot to test the impact of the delay. FIA PTG said “In our experience, transparent markets are more efficient, competitive, and liquid. Therefore, while we acknowledge the statements by certain members of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (“SEC”) Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee (“FIMSAC”) regarding block trade liquidity challenges in the corporate bond market, we strongly disagree that the solution is to reduce market transparency. Any observed liquidity challenges are more likely due to other elements of market structure, such as regulatory capital requirements, an incomplete transition to electronic trading (including all-to-all platforms), limited competition among liquidity providers, and the lack of a market-wide central clearing solution for corporate bonds.”
The full letter is available in Resources on the right.
