FIF Set January 20 for Regulation NMS Roundtable Discussion.

December 3, 2004 Anticipating the Securities and Exchange Commission’s release of a revised Regulation NMS on December 15, the Financial Information Forum (FIF) has announced that it will conduct a Regulation NMS roundtable discussion in New York on January 20, 2005. FIF had conducted such a roundtable when the proposed rules were issued in February and testified at the SEC’s hearings in New York in April. The group filed a formal comment letter listing the concerns of key industry organizations. FIF participants include broker-dealers, exchanges, vendors and others. The group focuses on managing the impact of regulatory changes and other events on the industry’s information systems.

The meeting agenda will include an overview of changes incorporated in the SEC’s latest proposed rules versus the original proposal and the impact of these changes on the markets and the industry’s information infrastructure including real-time order and market data systems. Meeting details and conferencing arrangements will be sent to FIF subscribers.

According to Leo McBlain, FIF Chairman, "The current Regulation NMS proposal presents the SEC with a unique opportunity to modernize the US financial markets. Depending on how the SEC resolves some major open issues, the financial marketplace after the implementation of Regulation NMS could be significantly different than the current structure."

The current Regulation NMS proposal addresses changes to key parts of the US Financial marketplace by proposing to:
• Update the trade trough rule
• Restrict sub-penny quotations
• Modernize the data revenue model
• Review and simplify market access rules and plans
Chairman McBlain adds "While Regulation NMS rule changes have the potential to produce positive changes in the marketplace; they also have the potential to require service delivery organizations across the financial marketplace to update their processes and interactions. "

Tom Jordan, FIF Executive Director, added "The FIF’s role will be to determine and present subscriber comments to the SEC, help subscriber organizations interpret updated rules to understand their relevance to individual organizations, identify and resolve implementation issues, and help subscribers manage the changes that new regulations may present".

The FIF has taken a lead role in proactively facilitating Regulation NMS analysis and discussions. Summaries of roundtable meetings, whitepapers, and PowerPoint presentations are available on the FIF website. The diverse FIF subscriber base (which includes key exchanges, ECNs, market data vendors, broker dealers, asset managers, service bureau providers, market utility and software vendors), places FIF in a unique position to help its subscribers navigate through these complex rule changes.