SEC Proposes Amendments to Include Significant Treasury Markets Platforms Within Regulation ATS

The Securities and Exchange Commission today proposed rules to better protect investors and enhance cybersecurity by bringing more Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) that trade Treasuries and other government securities under the regulatory umbrella. The proposal builds upon a 2020 proposal and public comments received in response to that proposal. It would extend Regulation ATS to include systems that offer the use of non-firm trading interest and provide protocols to bring together buyers and sellers for trading any type of security. These Communication Protocol Systems would be required to either register as exchanges or register as broker-dealers and comply with Regulation ATS. “In 2020, the Commission put out a request for comment on a proposal to enhance transparency and oversight over ATSs that trade government securities,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.