On November 15, 2021, FINRA/Nasdaq TRF¹ will begin supporting timestamps up to nanosecond (HH:MM:SS.sssssssss) granularity in accordance with recent amendments to FINRA’s equity trade reporting rules. Please refer to FINRA Regulatory Notice 20-41 for additional information on firms’ reporting obligations under the amendments.

Currently, FINRA/Nasdaq TRF supports timestamps up to milliseconds. Starting as early as late October or early November, FINRA/Nasdaq TRF will accept messages with up to nanosecond timestamp granularity as well as send all outbound messages, e.g. reject and acknowledgement messages, with nanosecond timestamp granularity, including system derived and appended timestamps to help firms transition and comply with FINRA’s equity trade reporting rules on November 15, 2021. More details to follow in a subsequent client notice.

The updated FIX trade reporting and Equity Trade Journal (ETJ) specifications in support of nanosecond timestamps are available with this notice. Firms will be able to commence testing for nanosecond timestamps in the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF in the Nasdaq Test Facility on weekdays starting August 16, 2021. Firms also have the opportunity to test in production on Saturday, October 2 and November 6, 2021. It is strongly encouraged that firms test prior to the November 15, 2021 go-live date.

Firms will be able to submit timestamps up to nanoseconds to the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF using TRF FIX 4.2 ports and Nasdaq WorkX^TM,. Timestamp reporting in nanoseconds will be available in ETJ reporting, TRF FIX 4.2 Ports Drop Copy, and TradeInfo.

If a firm is required to report to the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF in microseconds or nanoseconds pursuant to the FINRA rule amendments, the firm must migrate to TRF FIX 4.2 or Nasdaq WorkX^TM prior to November 15, 2021. Legacy TRF FIX 4.2, Nasdaq and ACT Workstations and CTCI ports will not support nanosecond timestamp reporting. Firms not required by FINRA rules to report to the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF in microseconds or nanoseconds will not have to migrate to a supported Nasdaq service(s) by November 15, 2021.

Customers are encouraged to test new Nasdaq service offerings:

• FIX Testing in the Nasdaq Test Facility: Customers can perform TRF FIX 4.2 tests in the Nasdaq Test Facility at any time. Customers can perform TRF FIX 4.2 nanosecond timestamp tests starting August 16, 2021. Customers may nanosecond timestamp test free of charge for a 30 consecutive day period in the Nasdaq Test Facility by registering their firm MPID and start date with NTFbilling@nasdaq.com prior to the commencement of testing. Please indicate the testing purpose when submitting the fee waiver request.
• FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Chicago and FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Carteret production systems will be available for User Acceptance Testing in accordance with the Nasdaq Saturday Testing Policy.

Service Requests

To request a new FIX port - production, test, or disaster recovery - please complete the FINRA Services Port Request Form and return to Nasdaq Subscriber Services. Note: New FIX production ports require new FIX test ports and new disaster recovery ports for compatibility between the production, disaster recovery and test environments, if each service is required.

To request WorkX^TM, please complete the WorkX^TM Request Form. If you have not already tested in preparation for WorkX^TM service migration, firms are encouraged to test the Nasdaq WorkX^TM service offering to become familiar with new features and functionality.

More Information

For technical questions about the nanosecond timestamp implementation on the FINRA/Nasdaq TRFs or impacts to other Nasdaq services, please contact Nasdaq Trading Services at +1 212 231 5180

For regulatory questions, please refer to listed contacts in FINRA’s regulatory notice.

If you would like to learn more about WorkX™, please refer to the WorkX™ product page or contact Nasdaq TRF Product Management to set up a product demonstration.

^{Notes:
1: “FINRA/Nasdaq TRF” means the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Carteret and the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Chicago, depending on the facility to which the member firm reports.}

^{FINRA™, Trade Reporting Facility™ and TRF™ are trademarks of Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; FINRA/NASDAQ TRF™ is used under license for Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.}