U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul S. Atkins said the agency plans a broad restructuring of the Consolidated Audit Trail, or CAT, with changes aimed at its governance, funding sources, and operating model.
In a letter to CAT Operating Committee Chair Robert Walley, Atkins said that during his tenure, the SEC has already cut CAT’s annual operating costs through exemptive actions and by approving amendments to the CAT NMS Plan. He also said the agency removed the requirement to report personally identifiable information, or PII, to the CAT system. Those steps, he said, reduced both system costs and the scope of data collection.
SEC says CAT still has structural issues
Even after those changes, the SEC said CAT continues to face fundamental problems in its cost structure, governance, and funding mechanism. To address those issues, the agency issued a concept release on April 16, 2026, launching a broad review of CAT and other audit trail systems and data sources used in oversight of the U.S. securities market.
The SEC said it has received hundreds of comments in response. One central point of agreement, according to the agency, is that investors and market participants want the SEC to take greater responsibility for CAT’s administration and funding arrangements.
Funding, Rule 613, and governance transfer are at the center of the plan
Atkins said he has directed SEC staff to develop deeper reform proposals for CAT, including:
- exploring new funding sources for CAT, including congressional appropriations and Section 31 transaction fees under the Securities Exchange Act;
- drafting a rule proposal that, if approved, would rescind Rule 613 and require exchanges, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and broker-dealers to continue using the existing CAT infrastructure and reporting standards while submitting CAT data directly to the SEC or an entity designated by the agency;
- assessing the SEC’s internal resource needs so the agency can prepare to assume CAT governance responsibilities in the future.
The SEC said the overhaul will touch multiple parts of the system and will need to move forward on several tracks at the same time. The full transition may not be completed until the end of 2027.