Apr. 16, 2026
I am concerned and worried about proposed changes to the Consolidated Audit Trail. The Consolidated Audit Trail is a critical part of US market integrity and needs to be enhanced to have real time, live reporting for investors, not weeks of delays before errors are reported and visible. The CAT also needs to show who is making those errors so that investors can avoid those with high error rates. The Consolidated Audit Trail is a record - an imperfect record, but a record nonetheless - where everyone can see the number of transactions, but crucially, errors from market participants. Arguably, there should be NO errors in today's free markets. But the fact that there are an alarming number of errors reported in both equities and options, every single month, shows that not only is there a need for a Consolidated Audit Trail, but there is a desperate need for enforcement action and movement towards error-free markets. Errors on the magnitude seen in CAT reporting simply should not happen at all. The fact that they do is shocking and a poor statement on the ability of the US to run free and fair markets. I do not understand why the SEC is turning a blind eye to the number of errors, and why the SEC does not make the names of the firms creating such errors public. The SEC should also make any enforcement action public, not behind closed doors. This would go a long way towards transparency. I am an American citizen overseas and so my ability to invest outside the US is limited due to tax reporting restrictions. The CAT is essential and needs MORE investment, not less, to instil confidence in free and fair markets. Market participants who seek to reduce the "burden" of CAT reporting have something to hide and are not on the side of transparency. Investors deserve transparency.