OTC Trading: Description of Non-ATS OTC Trading in National Market System Stocks
March 20, 2014
Laura Tuttle
Abstract:
This paper provides general information on non-ATS over-the-counter (OTC) trading of NMS stocks. Press articles and academic research dealing with OTC trading tend to focus on ATSs rather than the larger share of off-exchange trading that occurs outside of ATSs. In addition, when non-ATS OTC trading is described, it is often assumed to consist primarily of internalized retail order flow.3 This may be a consequence of the lack of public data describing non-ATS OTC trading, particularly the trading that is not directly related to retail trading. The purpose of this paper is to provide basic descriptive statistics on this segment of the equity markets and to serve as a resource to Staff of the Commission and commenters.