ASA Urges SEC to Reject SROs’ CAT Funding Proposal

WASHINGTON – The American Securities Association (ASA) today released a comment letter urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reject a proposed “new” Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) funding plan recently submitted by self-regulatory organizations (SROs).

“The SROs’ misguided and unlawful CAT funding proposal ignores the realities of the 11th Circuit’s decision and would once again subject every American investor to a tax hike to shoulder the continuing costs of operating the CAT,” said ASA President and CEO Chris Iacovella. “ASA urges the SEC to reject the SROs’ proposal, conduct a full audit of CAT operations, and finish Chairman Atkins’ comprehensive review of the CAT before moving forward with another funding model.”

Key Recommendations from ASA’s Comments:

• The SEC must first determine whether the CAT is legal.

  
  

• The SEC should perform a full financial audit of CAT costs.

  

• The SEC should determine how legacy costs of the CAT should be reimbursed, with possible mechanisms including a direct reimbursement fund administered by the SEC, an offset through reduced or waived regulatory fees, or through the congressional appropriations process.  

Read ASA’s full submission here.

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The American Securities Association (ASA) represents the retail and institutional capital markets interests of regional financial services firms who provide Main Street businesses with access to capital and advise hardworking Americans how to create and preserve wealth. ASA’s mission is to promote trust and confidence among investors, facilitate capital formation, and support efficient and competitively balanced capital markets. This mission advances financial independence, stimulates job creation, and increases prosperity. The ASA has a geographically diverse membership of almost one hundred members that spans the Heartland, Southwest, Southeast, Atlantic, and Pacific Northwest regions of the United States.