Exchange Slaps Industry With $39 Million CAT Bill
Published Date: 5/18/2026
Notice
Summary
24X National Exchange is setting new fees for industry members to cover leftover historical costs from the National Market System Plan for the Consolidated Audit Trail. These fees, called Historical CAT Assessment 1A, will collect about $39 million that wasn’t charged before. The new charges start right away and help pay for past expenses that keep the market running smoothly.
Analyzed Economic Effects
3 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 2 costs, 1 mixed.
New CAT Historical Fee on Brokers
If you are an Industry Member acting as a CAT Executing Broker, the Exchange will charge a new Historical CAT Assessment 1A fee of $0.000002 per executed equivalent share to recover $38,964,855.34 in leftover historical Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) costs incurred prior to January 1, 2022. CAT Executing Brokers will receive the first invoices in June 2026 based on May 2026 transactions.
Who Bears Participants' One-Third Share
The Participants (exchanges and FINRA) will not be invoiced for Historical CAT Assessment fees; instead, Participants will remain responsible for one-third of Historical CAT Costs 1 (which equals $106,019,939.67) and that one-third share will be paid by cancelling loans made by Participants to CAT LLC. Participants also remain 100% responsible for certain Excluded Costs totaling $83,253,090.
How the Fee Is Calculated
The Historical CAT Assessment 1A is calculated by multiplying executed equivalent shares by the fee rate. Executed equivalent shares count as: each executed share in NMS Stocks = 1; each executed listed option contract = multiplier (e.g., 100 executed equivalent shares); and each executed share in OTC Equity Securities = 0.01 executed equivalent share. The Assessment charges apply to transactions in Eligible Securities where CAT data identify the CAT Executing Broker.
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