A national market system plan (or
NMS plan) is a structured method of transmitting
securities
A security is a tradable financial asset. The term commonly refers to any form of financial instrument, but its legal definition varies by jurisdiction. In some countries and languages people commonly use the term "security" to refer to any for ...
transactions in real-time. In the United States, national market systems are governed by section 11A of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (also called the Exchange Act, '34 Act, or 1934 Act) (, codified at et seq.) is a law governing the secondary trading of securities (stocks, bonds, and debentures) in the United States of America. A land ...
.
In addition to processing the transactions themselves, these plans also emit the price, volume data, and regulatory auditing information
for these transactions. Information on each securities trade is sent to a central network at the
Securities Industry Automation Corporation The Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC) is a subsidiary of the NYSE Euronext. Its purpose is to provide technical services for the exchanges themselves, members and other financial institutions. In this role, SIAC provides the comput ...
(SIAC) where it is then distributed, consolidated with other trades on the same "tape".
There are three major tapes in the United States: Tape A and Tape B (which together are called the "Consolidated Tape"), and Tape C.
CTA Plan
The CTA SIP handles Tape A and Tape B securities and provides two feeds: the Consolidated Quotation System (CQS) for quotes and, the NBBO, and the Consolidated Tape System (CTS) for trades.
UTP Plan
The UTP SIP handles Tape C securities and provides two feeds, the UQDF for quotes and the NBBO and the UTDF for trades. Tape C contains stocks listed on
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
, and is overseen by the UTP Plsn.
OPRA Plan
The
Options Price Reporting Authority
The Options Price Reporting Authority (OPRA) oversees the Securities Information Processor (SIP) that provides last sale information and current options quotations from a committee of participant exchanges. In turn, this committee is designated ...
provides trade and quote information for all U.S. options exchanges.
See also
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Consolidated Tape System
The Consolidated Tape System (CTS) is the United States electronic service, introduced in April 1976, that provides last sale and trade data for issues admitted to dealings on the American Stock Exchange, New York Stock Exchange, and U.S. region ...
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Ticker tape
Ticker tape was the earliest electrical dedicated financial communications medium, transmitting stock price information over electrical telegraph, telegraph lines, in use from around 1870 to 1970. It consisted of a paper strip that ran through ...
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Securities information processor
A securities information processor (SIP) is a part of the infrastructure of public market data providers in the United States that process, consolidate, and disseminate quotes and trade data from different US securities exchanges and market centers ...
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UTP Plan
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CTA Plan
References
Financial markets
External links Limit Up/Limit Down
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