Statement at the SEC Open Meeting on the Trade-Through Rule and Locked and Crossed Markets Provisions of Regulation NMS
AI Analysis
The SEC Chairman used the June 11, 2026 open meeting to signal support for a proposal that would rescind Regulation NMS Rule 611 (the Order Protection / trade-through rule) and Rule 610(e) (the locked and crossed markets provision). For compliance professionals, this is a significant market-structure signal because it could remove core intermarket price-protection and quotation-handling obligations that have applied to NMS stocks since 2005.
Key dates
- 2026-06-11
- SEC open meeting at which Chairman Atkins discussed the proposed rescission of Rules 611 and 610(e)
- 2026-08-10 Deadline
- Comment period deadline if measured as 60 days after the June 11, 2026 Federal Register publication date reflected in the SEC materials
Suggested considerations
- Compliance teams may wish to inventory policies, procedures, surveillance logic, and supervisory manuals that reference Rule 611, Rule 610(e), or related Rule 600 definitions.
- Broker-dealers and ATS operators may wish to assess whether current routing and execution-quality models assume protected-quotation routing obligations that could change if the proposal is finalized.
- Market structure and legal teams may want to map client disclosures, best execution policies, and venue-selection standards that rely on the current trade-through regime.
- Surveillance and technology teams may wish to test how lock/cross alerts, protected-quote checks, and trade-through exception logic would operate under a rescinded Rule 611/610(e) framework.
- Firms may want to monitor the Federal Register publication and comment process, since the proposal states comments would be due 60 days after publication.
What changed
The publication is not a final rule; it is a policy statement accompanying a proposed rulemaking. The SEC said the proposal would rescind Rule 611, rescind Rule 610(e), remove related defined terms in Rule 600 of Regulation NMS, and make conforming amendments to related provisions. Rule 611 currently requires trading centers to maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent trade-throughs of protected quotations in NMS stocks, subject to exceptions, and Rule 610(e) addresses locking and crossing quotations. If adopted, the framework would move away from mandatory trade-through prevention and away from the current rule-based treatment of locked/crossed quotes, which would affect routing, execution, surveillance, and best-execution processes.
Compliance impact
The practical impact is potentially high, but the publication itself does not create new obligations because it is a proposal, not a final rule. If adopted, the rescission could materially change routing behavior, best-execution analysis, market surveillance, and handling of locked and crossed markets in NMS stocks.
Who is affected
Related regulations
References
AI-generated analysis. May contain errors or omissions — verify with the original SEC source before acting. Full disclaimer.
What the SEC said
SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins
Published by SEC . Read the full notice at the source for the authoritative text.