SEC Charges Brokers for Old Stock-Tracking Debts: Time to Pay Up?
Published Date: 5/15/2026
Notice
Summary
MEMX is setting new fees for industry members to cover leftover historical costs from the National Market System’s Consolidated Audit Trail, which tracks stock trades. These fees, called Historical CAT Assessment 1A, will collect about $39 million that wasn’t billed before. The new charges start right away and will help pay off past expenses, so members should get ready to chip in.
Analyzed Economic Effects
2 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 2 costs, 0 mixed.
Brokers Face New $0.000002 Per-Share CAT Fee
If you are an Industry Member acting as a CAT Executing Broker, MEMX is establishing a new fee called Historical CAT Assessment 1A to collect $38,964,855.34 of past Consolidated Audit Trail costs. The fee rate is $0.000002 per executed equivalent share, payable to Consolidated Audit Trail, LLC, and will be listed under the Exchange fee schedule section titled "Consolidated Audit Trail Funding Fees."
Buyer and Seller Brokers Split $38.96M Equally
The unpaid $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. For each month that the Assessment is in effect, each CEBB and CEBS will be billed for prior-month transactions (first invoices in June 2026 based on May 2026 transactions), with each transaction's charge computed as (executed equivalent shares × one-third × $0.000002).
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