Nasdaq Exchange Adds Tiny Per-Share CAT Fee
Published Date: 5/18/2026
Notice
Summary
Nasdaq MRX is setting new fees to cover leftover historical costs from the National Market System Plan for the Consolidated Audit Trail that weren’t paid before 2022. Industry members who trade shares will now pay a tiny fee per share to help cover nearly $39 million in past expenses. These fees kick in right away and show up on the Exchange’s fee schedule under a new category.
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Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Per‑Share Fee to Cover $38.96M
Nasdaq MRX is charging Industry Members who act as CAT Executing Brokers a new fee called Historical CAT Assessment 1A to collect $38,964,855.34 in unpaid historical Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) costs. The fee rate is $0.000002 per executed equivalent share, is payable to Consolidated Audit Trail, LLC, and will appear on the Exchange fee schedule under "Consolidated Audit Trail Funding Fees."
Who Pays: Buyer/Seller Brokers Split
The outstanding $38,964,855.34 of Historical CAT Costs 1 will be recovered from CAT Executing Brokers with CEBBs collectively responsible for $19,482,427.67 and CEBSs collectively responsible for $19,482,427.67. Participants (the exchanges) remain responsible for one‑third of Historical CAT Costs through cancellation of loans rather than an Industry Member fee.
How Shares Are Counted for Fees
The fee is applied per executed equivalent share: each executed share in NMS stocks counts as 1; each executed contract in listed options counts by the contract multiplier (for example, 100 executed equivalent shares per options contract); and each executed share in OTC equity securities counts as 0.01 executed equivalent share. The Historical CAT Assessment multiplies executed equivalent shares by one‑third and by the fee rate when invoicing.
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