SEC Files Fuzzy Amendment to Financial Audit Trail System
Published Date: 12/5/2025
Notice
Summary
Big stock market players are updating how they handle customer info in the Consolidated Audit Trail system to keep things simpler and safer. This change means less personal data is stored, helping protect investors while still tracking trades accurately. The update kicks in soon and won’t cost extra, making the system smarter without extra hassle.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.
Personal Data Removed from CAIS
If you are an investor, the plan would delete or make inaccessible specific personal data from the CAT Customer and Account Information System (CAIS). The listed attributes to be deleted or made inaccessible are: 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.
Access and Deletion Audit Trails Required
The Plan Processor must record all access to and all queries of data in the Reference Database and generate periodic reports of that access. The Plan Processor must also document all deletions of customer information from the Reference Database and provide periodic reports of those deletions to the Operating Committee.
Stronger Security Rules for CAT Data
The plan requires stronger technical security for CAT data: all CAT Data must be encrypted at rest and in flight using industry best practices (e.g., SSL/TLS) and symmetric encryption with a minimum key size of 128 bits (e.g., AES-128). All logins must use multi-factor authentication (MFA). If public cloud services are used, key management and auditing of cloud-provider access must be documented and monitored in real time.
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