One of the world’s most important financial markets, the U.S. Treasury market, is getting a transparency boost, with the U.S. Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) stepping up post-trade reporting.
The self-regulatory organization has started publishing Treasuries trading data for individual transactions on a daily basis, and will begin providing historical data on a six-month delay starting April 1.
The daily trade reports, which include price, transaction size and data on the counterparty type but not trade participant identities, are available to FINRA members and professional subscribers on the same day, and are publicly available for free on the following day.
“Given the unique and fundamental role of the U.S. Treasury securities market in the global economy, promoting the market’s transparency is important for both Treasury market participants and the broader financial system,” said Stephanie Dumont, executive vice-president of market regulation and transparency services with FINRA, in a release.
Public reporting of individual trades is the latest in a series of steps designed to improve transparency in the Treasury market. In 2017 brokers began reporting trade data to the regulators, in 2020 FINRA started disclosing aggregated volume data on a weekly basis, and in early 2023 it began daily volume reporting.
“Consistent with our long-standing practice, FINRA is introducing greater transparency in a calibrated and careful manner, benefiting liquidity and resilience in this critical market while also mitigating potential information leakage concerns,” Dumont said.