FINRA requested feedback on a proposed pilot program "to study changes to corporate bond block trade dissemination based on recommendations of the SEC Fixed Income Market Structure Advisory Committee (the "FIMSAC")."
The FIMSAC recommendations include increasing block sizes from $5 million to $10 million for investment-grade ("IG") corporate bonds and from $1 million to $5 million for non-IG corporate bonds. The FIMSAC recommendations also add a 48-hour delay for dissemination of data regarding trades above the block-size caps.
The proposed pilot program would consist of three test groups:
- Group 1 would study a 48-hour dissemination delay with no change to current block-size caps.
- Group 2 would study an increase in the block sizes, without applying a 48-hour dissemination delay.
- Group 3 would study both a 48-hour dissemination delay and an increase in block sizes.
Comments must be submitted by June 11, 2019.
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