Big exchanges cut customer data in audit system for safety
Published Date: 3/19/2025
Notice
Summary
Big stock market players are teaming up to share less customer info in their audit system to keep things safer and simpler. This change affects all the major exchanges and trading groups, aiming to cut down on extra data without messing up security. The plan is up for review now, so watch for updates and possible cost changes soon!
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Ban on Reporting Customer PII to CAIS
The amendment would prohibit Industry Members from submitting Customer names, Customer addresses, account names, account addresses, authorized trader names, and years of birth to the CAT Customer and Account Information System (CAIS). This prohibition would apply to all Customers, including all natural persons (including foreign natural persons) and all legal entity Customers.
Deletion of Previously Stored Customer PII
The amendment would require CAT LLC to direct the Plan Processor to delete from CAIS all existing stored Customer data attributes covered by the proposal, including Customer name, Customer address, account name, account address, authorized trader names list, account number, day of birth, month of birth, year of birth, and ITIN/SSN. The rule also states such data do not constitute records required to be retained under Exchange Act Rule 17a-1 for the purposes of CAIS.
Regulators Keep Customer Tracking Ability
The amendment preserves the Plan Processor's ability to assign and use a unique CAT-Customer-ID (CCID) so regulators can continue cross-market and cross-account surveillance. Regulators could still identify and obtain sensitive customer information by contacting Industry Members directly when needed.
Estimated CAIS Cost Savings and One-Time Fees
CAT LLC and the Plan Processor estimate the amendment would reduce CAIS operating fees from about $20.7 million to $15.7 million (≈$5 million savings) and cut CAIS cloud hosting fees from about $12 million to $5–7 million (≈$5–7 million savings), for total CAIS-related savings of roughly $10–12 million per year compared to 2024 actuals. The Plan Processor also proposes a one-time implementation fee of about $4.5–5.5 million and estimates full implementation would take approximately 9–12 months.
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