The UTP Plan (Plan) governs the collection, consolidation and dissemination of Quotation and Transaction Information
for Nasdaq-listed Securities Traded on Exchanges on an Unlisted Trading Privilege (UTP) Basis. The Plan is administered
by the participant exchanges and associations listed under Participant section of this web page. These organizations
determine policy matters and oversee system operations. The Plan has been approved by the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC).
Amendments to the plan are file with the SEC in accordance with Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The Plan Data Services consist of one network, Tape C, which is the single source of consolidated market data for
Nasdaq-listed securities. The plan selected Securities Information Processor (SIP) shall make available
the UTP Data Services:
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UTP Data Services are comprised of the UTP Quotation Data which provides
(i) National Best Bid and Offers;
(ii) each Member’s Best Bid and Offer and their sizes and the Member’s identifier; and
(iii) in the case of FINRA Alternative Display Facility (“FINRA ADF”), the identifier of
the FINRA ADF Participant(s) that constitute(s) FINRA’s ADF Best Bid and Offer quotations,
in each case for Nasdaq-listed securities.
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Along with the UTP Trade Data which provides Transaction Reports in Nasdaq-listed securities.
Facts about the Securities Information Processor (SIP):
The Securities Information Processor (SIP) links the U.S. markets by processing and consolidating all protected bid/ask quotes and trades from every trading venue into a single, easily consumed data feed.
The SIP disseminates and calculates critical regulatory information including the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO), and Limit Up Limit Down (LULD) price bands among other important regulatory information such as short sale restrictions, and regulatory halts.
System resiliency for the SIP consists of:
- Secondary back-up server running in parallel (hot/hot) to the primary server, which allows exchanges to immediately reconnect if there is a primary service disruption.
- Fully redundant back-up site running hot/warm with a 10 minute recovery time requirement or less if there is a full system failure at the primary site.
- System availability requirement of 99.98%.
- 100% System availability in 48 of the last 58 quarters for Trade Metrics and 48 of the last 58 quarters for Quote Metrics.
- Current capacity messages per 100 milliseconds of 2,483,800 for quote feed and 2,765,000 for trade feed.
- Capacity above peak with capacity-to-peak ratio of 20.8:1 for the quote feed and 56.2:1 for the trade feed.
- Current latency at the median is about 12.3-13.6 microseconds for the UTP Data Services.
As of Q1, 2025, this data is available monthly and historically in the Metrics.
Other facts about the Consolidated Tape:
Competitive fees providing access to consolidated protected quotes and trades for every market. Pricing information can be located at UTP Data Policies.
Millions of professional and nonprofessional investors have access to real-time prices via the consolidated tapes. Most nonprofessional investors do not pay fees because the low cost allows for brokerage firms to include real-time prices as part of their service.
The consolidated tapes simplify compliance and implementation with regulations such as Reg NMS, short sale, limit up/limit down and best execution.
The Operating Committee and the Advisory Committee meet quarterly with the SEC and the members of the CTA Advisory Committee to review SIP performance and discuss policy matters.
The Advisory Committee consists of representatives from a Retail Institution, the Vendor community, Institutional Brokerage Community, the ATS’s and an Individual Investor. All Advisory members are also members of securities industry groups (e.g. the Financial Information Forum (FIF) and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).