Exemption From the Requirement to Report Certain Personally Identifiable Information to the Consolidated Audit Trail

The Securities and Exchange Commission today provided an exemption from the requirement to report certain personally identifiable information (PII) – names, addresses, and years of birth – to the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) for natural persons. Bad actors have become increasingly sophisticated and, in the event of a breach, may be able to use the names, addresses, and years of birth to impersonate a customer or broker-dealer and gain access to a customer’s account. Providing an exemption from the requirement to report this PII to the CAT will help mitigate potential security risks. “Over 12 years ago, the CAT was designed with the goal of creating a modernized audit trail system to enable regulators to analyze and reconstruct market events,” said SEC Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda.