Amid ever-faster trading speeds, global securities regulators are proposing a common standard for syncing industry clocks.
The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) issued a proposal on Wednesday that calls on trading venues and industry firms that synchronize their clocks to sync with a common time, known as coordinated universal time (UTC).
UTC is calculated by taking the weighted average of more than 300 atomic clocks from around the world.
In its proposal, IOSCO said that syncing clocks “is important for establishing a clear audit trail of when trading events occur in the secondary markets.”
“This process is increasingly important as more trading takes place across multiple venues, in different jurisdictions and at faster speeds,” it said.
Amid increasing trading velocity, various jurisdictions have introduced clock syncing requirements in recent years, IOSCO noted.
For instance, the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada (IIROC) issued guidance in 2016 setting out UTC as the accepted timing source under the trading rules.
IOSCO is seeking comments on its proposal by Nov. 13.