Disorder Protection Rule: Statement on the Proposed Amendments to Rule 611 and Other Provisions of Regulation NMS
AI Analysis
The SEC proposed rescinding Regulation NMS Rule 611, the trade-through/order protection rule, and Rule 610(e), the locked and crossed markets prohibition, along with related definitions and conforming amendments. Commissioner Peirce supported the package as a simplification measure, and the proposal matters because it would materially change core U.S. equity market-structure obligations if adopted.
Key dates
- 2026-06-11
- SEC issued the proposal to rescind Rules 611 and 610(e) of Regulation NMS and related conforming changes
- 2026-08-10 Deadline
- Comment period end date if counted as 60 days from the June 17, 2026 Federal Register publication date stated in the source materials
Suggested considerations
- Compliance teams may wish to review any policies and procedures built around Rule 611 trade-through prevention and Rule 610(e) locked/crossed quote handling.
- Firms may wish to assess whether market-structure controls, best-execution surveillance, and routing logic would need revision if the proposal is finalized.
- Trading and legal teams may wish to track the Federal Register publication date to determine the 60-day comment window.
- Broker-dealers and exchanges may wish to inventory downstream rulebook, system, and disclosure references to Rule 611, Rule 610(e), and related Rule 600 definitions for conforming updates.
What changed
The Commission proposed to rescind Rule 611 of Regulation NMS in its entirety, eliminating the federal trade-through prohibition for national market system stocks. It also proposed to rescind Rule 610(e) in its entirety, which would remove the federal prohibition on locked and crossed quotations in NMS stocks. In addition, the proposal would rescind related defined terms in Rule 600 and make conforming changes to other related provisions. The SEC also stated that the public comment period would remain open for 60 days after publication of the proposing release in the Federal Register.
Compliance impact
The proposal is potentially high-impact for U.S. equity market-structure compliance because it would remove two foundational Regulation NMS obligations if adopted. The SEC describes the changes as removing rules that technological advances have rendered unnecessary and as simplifying and fostering innovation in markets.
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
Commissioner Hester M. Peirce
Published by SEC . Read the full notice at the source for the authoritative text.