FINRA Rule 6300

FINRA Rule 6300 sits within the 6000 Quotation, Order, and Transaction Reporting Facilities series, immediately following the ADF sub-series (FINRA Rule 6200) and immediately preceding FINRA Rule 6400's Quoting and Trading in OTC Equity Securities sub-series. It organizes two parallel sub-sub-series: FINRA Rule 6300A (FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facilities) and FINRA Rule 6300B (FINRA/NYSE Trade Reporting Facility).

The Three FINRA Trade Reporting Facilities

FINRA Rule 6300 organizes reporting rules for three distinct facilities across its two sub-sub-series.

Under FINRA Rule 6300A, there are two FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facilities — the FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility Carteret and the FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility Chicago.

As confirmed directly from the operative text of FINRA Rule 6300A: the term "FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility" means either the FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility Carteret or FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility Chicago, as applicable, depending on the facility to which the Participant elects to report.

The two FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facilities are separate and distinct facilities — the correction, cancellation or reversal of a trade can only be reported to the FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility to which the trade was originally reported.

Under FINRA Rule 6300B, there is one FINRA/NYSE Trade Reporting Facility, operated jointly with NYSE.

In total, FINRA Rule 6300 governs three TRF facilities: FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Carteret, FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Chicago, and the FINRA/NYSE TRF.

What TRFs Are and What They Do

The Trade Reporting Facilities are pure reporting facilities — they accept last-sale reports from member firms, disseminate transaction information to the consolidated tape through the Securities Information Processor (SIP), and lock in bilateral trade reports for clearance and settlement through the National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC). Unlike the Alternative Display Facility (FINRA Rule 6200), which provides both quotation display and transaction reporting, the TRFs provide transaction reporting only — no quotation display, no order matching, no order routing.

As confirmed from FINRA Rule 6310A's operative text: members may use the FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility to report transactions executed otherwise than on an exchange in all NMS stocks as defined in Rule 600(b) of SEC Regulation NMS, referred to as designated securities.

FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Operating Hours — Current Effective March 30, 2026

This is a critical update that must be stated precisely. Effective March 30, 2026, pursuant to SR-FINRA-2025-011 and SR-FINRA-2026-005, the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF opening time was extended from 8:00 a.m. ET to 4:00 a.m. ET. The current confirmed operating hours for the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF are 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET on business days. This represents a significant expansion from the prior 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET window.

Normal market hours remain defined as 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET — unchanged by the TRF opening hour extension.

The ADF operating hours of 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET are unchanged. Accordingly, the session-hours comparison among FINRA facilities as of the current operative date is:

• FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Carteret and Chicago: 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET
• FINRA/NYSE TRF: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET (closing time unchanged; opening time extension proposals are pending)
• ADF: 8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET
• OTC Reporting Facility (ORF): 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET

FINRA Rule 6380A: Transaction Reporting — The Complete Operative Framework

FINRA Rule 6380A is the operative heart of FINRA Rule 6300A. The complete, confirmed current operative text — effective March 30, 2026 — establishes the following framework.

Paragraph (a)(1) — The 10-Second Requirement During Normal Market Hours. 

Trade Reporting Facility Participants shall, as soon as practicable but no later than 10 seconds after execution, transmit to the FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility — or if the TRF is unavailable due to system or transmission failure, by telephone to the FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility Operations Department — last sale reports of transactions in designated securities executed during normal market hours. Transactions not reported within 10 seconds after execution shall be designated as late.

Paragraph (a)(2) — Outside Normal Market Hours Reporting (Current, Effective March 30, 2026). 

Four windows apply:

(A) Transactions executed between 4:00 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. ET: report as soon as practicable but no later than 10 seconds after execution; append the unique trade report modifier denoting execution outside normal market hours.

(B) Transactions executed between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. ET: report as soon as practicable but no later than 10 seconds after execution; append the unique trade report modifier denoting execution outside normal market hours.

(C) Transactions executed between midnight and 4:00 a.m. ET: report by 4:15 a.m. ET on trade date; append the unique trade report modifier denoting execution outside normal market hours.

(D) Transactions executed (i) between 8:00 p.m. and midnight ET or (ii) on any non-business day: report the following business day by 4:15 a.m. ET; designate as as/of trades; append the unique trade report modifier denoting execution outside normal market hours.

Note that the as/of next-day deadline is 4:15 a.m. ET — not 8:15 a.m. ET as was applicable under the prior version. This change was implemented effective March 30, 2026 in connection with the 4:00 a.m. TRF opening.

Paragraph (a)(3) — Timestamp Requirements. Members shall time-stamp all trade tickets at the time of execution. Execution time shall be reported in hours, minutes, and seconds based on Eastern Time in military format, unless another provision of FINRA rules requires a different time. Per Supplementary Material .04, all time fields must be reported in hours, minutes, seconds, and milliseconds if the member's system captures time in milliseconds. Pursuant to FINRA Rule 6860 (CAT Compliance Rule), members must report time fields using the same timestamp granularity used for CAT order execution events — up to nanoseconds.

Paragraph (a)(4) — Late Designation and Pattern of Late Reporting. Transactions not reported within 10 seconds shall be designated as late. Any transaction required to be reported on trade date but reported on a subsequent date (T+N) shall be designated as late. Any transaction required to be reported as/of the following business day (T+1) but reported on a later date (T+N) shall be designated as late. A pattern or practice of late reporting without reasonable justification or exceptional circumstances may be considered conduct inconsistent with high standards of commercial honor and just and equitable principles of trade in violation of FINRA Rule 2010.

Paragraph (a)(5) — Trade Report Modifiers. Members shall append applicable trade report modifiers to all last sale reports, including as/of trade reports. The confirmed complete list of modifier triggers includes: (A) trade executed during normal market hours and reported more than 10 seconds late; (B) Seller's Option Trade (denoting number of days for delivery); (C) Cash Trade; (D) Reserved; (E) trade at a price based on average weighting or special pricing formula; (F) Stop Stock Transaction (report must include both time parties agreed to Stop Stock Price and actual execution time — modifier not appended if executed and reported within 10 seconds of agreement); (G) price based on a prior reference point in time (report must include execution time and prior reference time — modifier not appended if executed and reported within 10 seconds of reference time); (H) pre-opening or after-hours trade (4:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m. or 4:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. ET) reported more than 10 seconds late; (I) trade-through of a protected quotation qualifying for a Rule 611 Regulation NMS exception or exemption; (J) in addition to (I), the specific applicable Rule 611 exception or exemption; (K) any other modifier specified by FINRA or the SEC. Where modifiers conflict, FINRA provides guidance regarding priority and members must report accordingly.

Paragraph (a)(6) — Automatic Modifier Appending. The FINRA/Nasdaq TRF will automatically append the appropriate modifier to indicate that a trade was executed outside normal market hours or that a report was submitted late, where the report contains the execution time but lacks the appropriate modifier.

Paragraph (a)(8) — Form T Reporting. All members shall report as soon as practicable to FINRA's Market Regulation Department on Form T, last sale reports for transactions in designated securities for which electronic submission to the TRF is not possible (e.g., the ticker symbol for the security is no longer available or a market participant identifier is no longer active). Transactions that can be reported to the TRF — whether on trade date or subsequently on an as/of basis — shall not be reported on Form T.

Paragraph (b) — Which Party Reports the Transaction

In transactions between two members, the executing party shall report the trade. The executing party means the member that receives an order for handling or execution or is presented an order against its quote, does not subsequently re-route the order, and executes the transaction.

In a transaction between two members where both members may satisfy the definition of executing party — for example, manually negotiated transactions via the telephone — the member representing the sell-side shall report the transaction, unless the parties agree otherwise and the member representing the sell-side contemporaneously documents such agreement.

In transactions between a member and a non-member or customer, the member shall report the trade.

The member with the reporting obligation remains responsible even where it has agreed to allow a participant to report and lock-in trades on its behalf. Both the member with the reporting obligation and the member submitting the trade are responsible for ensuring the information submitted complies with all applicable rules and regulations.

Paragraph (c) — Required Report Content

Each last sale report must contain: (1) stock symbol of the designated security; (2) number of shares or bonds; (3) price of the transaction as required by paragraph (d); (4) a symbol indicating whether the transaction is a buy, sell, or cross, and if applicable, sell short or sell short exempt; (5) execution time in hours, minutes, and seconds in Eastern Time military format; and (6) for any transaction subject to CAT recording and reporting obligations under FINRA Rules 6830 and 6870, an order identifier that uniquely identifies the order for the date it was received.

Paragraph (d) — Price Reporting Standards

Agency transactions: Report the number of shares and the price excluding the commission charged.

Principal transactions: Report each purchase and sale separately at the price excluding the mark-up, mark-down, or service charge. The reported price must be reasonably related to the prevailing market, taking into consideration all relevant circumstances including market conditions, number of shares, published bids and offers with size at time of execution including the reporting firm's own quotation, cost of execution, and expenses involved in clearing the transaction.

Riskless principal transactions: Report as one transaction in the same manner as an agency transaction, excluding the mark-up, mark-down, commission-equivalent, or other fee. Alternatively, report by submitting: (i) a last sale report for the initial leg; and (ii) for the offsetting riskless portion, either a clearing-only report or a non-tape, non-clearing report, each with a riskless principal capacity indicator.

Prohibition on aggregation (paragraph (f)): Individual executions of orders in a security at the same price may not be aggregated into a single transaction report.

Paragraph (e) — Transactions That Must Not Be Reported to the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF

The following transactions must not be reported: (A) transactions that are part of a primary distribution by an issuer or registered secondary distribution (other than shelf distributions) or unregistered secondary distribution (the term distribution has the meaning under Rule 100 of SEC Regulation M — members relying on this exception must provide FINRA notice no later than three business days following trade date per Supplementary Material .01); (B) transactions made in reliance on Securities Act Section 4(2); (C) transactions reported on or through an exchange; (D) acquisition of securities as principal in anticipation of making an immediate exchange distribution or offering; (E) purchases off the floor of an exchange pursuant to a tender offer; (F) certain transfers pursuant to an asset purchase agreement subject to court jurisdiction in insolvency matters; and (G) transfers of equity securities solely to create or redeem an instrument evidencing ownership of or otherwise tracking underlying securities transferred (e.g., an ADR or ETF).

Paragraph (g) — Cancellation and Reversal Reporting Deadlines

These are confirmed from the full primary source text and are highly specific:

(A) Normal-hours trades cancelled at or before 4:00 p.m. on execution date: report cancellation as soon as practicable but no later than 10 seconds after cancellation.

(B) Normal-hours trades cancelled after 4:00 p.m. but before 8:00 p.m. on execution date: use best efforts to report by 8:00 p.m. on execution date; otherwise report by 8:00 p.m. the following business day.

(C) Normal-hours trades cancelled at or after 8:00 p.m. on execution date: report by 8:00 p.m. the following business day.

(D) Outside-normal-hours trades cancelled before 8:00 p.m. on execution date: report by 8:00 p.m.

(E) Outside-normal-hours trades cancelled at or after 8:00 p.m. on execution date: report by 8:00 p.m. the following business day.

(F) Trades cancelled on any date after the execution date: report by 8:00 p.m. on the date of cancellation if cancelled before 8:00 p.m.; report by 8:00 p.m. the following business day if cancelled at or after 8:00 p.m.

The term cancelled means the first of: (i) the time the member with reporting responsibility informs or is informed by the contra party; (ii) the time both parties agree to cancel (where neither can unilaterally cancel); or (iii) the time the member takes action to cancel on its books and records.

Supplementary Material .05 — Temporary Exception for Qualifying Overnight Transactions

Effective with the March 30, 2026 TRF hour extensions, Supplementary Material .05 establishes a temporary exception for qualifying overnight transactions — transactions either resulting from an overnight batch process or involving ETF shares agreed upon during normal market hours and executed based on NAV published after TRF close — that carry the average weighting/special pricing formula modifier under paragraph (a)(5)(E). Such transactions may be reported:

(1) If executed between midnight and 4:00 a.m. ET: by 8:15 a.m. ET on trade date with the outside-normal-hours modifier.
(2) If executed between 8:00 p.m. and midnight ET or on a non-business day: the following business day by 8:15 a.m. ET, designated as/of, with the outside-normal-hours modifier.

This Supplementary Material .05 remains in effect until the earlier of further TRF hour extension amendments or December 31, 2027.

The FINRA/NYSE TRF — FINRA Rule 6300B

FINRA Rule 6300B governs the FINRA/NYSE Trade Reporting Facility. As of the current operative date, FINRA Rule 6380B's requirements are substantially parallel to FINRA Rule 6380A — the same 10-second reporting requirement, the same executing-party-reports default for inter-member transactions (with sell-side default where both parties satisfy the executing party definition), the same required content elements, the same price-reporting standards for agency, principal, and riskless principal transactions, the same prohibition on aggregation, and the same prohibited-transaction categories.

The FINRA/NYSE TRF current operating hours are 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET. A proposal to extend the FINRA/NYSE TRF opening time from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. ET (mirroring the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF extension) was filed but with implementation expected in a subsequent phase — candidates should confirm current operative status as of the date of their examination.

The Suspension Cascade — Both FINRA/Nasdaq TRFs Treated as One for Regulatory Purposes

As confirmed from the FINRA Rule 6300A operative text: any determination made by FINRA to suspend, condition, limit or terminate a participant's ability to use one of the FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facilities shall also apply to the other FINRA/Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility with respect to that participant. The forms of agreements required under the Rule 6300A Series — including the give-up agreement under FINRA Rule 6380A(h) — are identical for both FINRA/Nasdaq TRFs and a single agreement can be used for both. Members electing to participate in both FINRA/Nasdaq TRFs must amend existing agreements to reflect application to both facilities.

The Consolidated Tape and TRF Reports

TRF trade reports feed the consolidated tape through the SIP — specifically Tape A (NYSE-listed securities), Tape B (NYSE American and other regional exchange-listed securities), and Tape C (Nasdaq-listed securities) governed respectively by the Consolidated Tape Association Plan (CTA Plan) and the Nasdaq Unlisted Trading Privileges Plan (UTP Plan). Off-exchange transactions in NMS stocks reported to the TRFs contribute to the same real-time last-sale data stream as exchange-reported transactions, ensuring that consolidated tape data reflects all trading activity across both exchange and off-exchange venues.

Recordkeeping and Audit Trail Obligations

TRF participants are subject to the books and records requirements of SEC Rule 17a-3 and SEC Rule 17a-4, FINRA Rule 4511, and the CAT compliance obligations of the FINRA Rule 6800 Series. Trade reports, trade ticket time-stamps, give-up agreements, and related compliance documentation must be maintained for the periods prescribed under SEC Rule 17a-4 — generally three years, with the first two years in an easily accessible place — in a format complying with FINRA Rule 4511(c). The CAT audit trail requirements under FINRA Rules 6830 and 6870 apply to order events associated with TRF-reported transactions, with the order identifier required on FINRA Rule 6380A(c)(6) trade reports serving as the linkage between the TRF trade report and the CAT order lifecycle data.

Connection to FINRA Rules 2010, 4511, 5190, 6000, 6100, 6181, 6200, 6380A, 6380B, 6400, 6800, 6830, 6860, 6870, 7200A, 7200B, and SEC Regulation NMS Rule 600(b) and Rule 611

FINRA Rule 6300 connects to FINRA Rule 6000 as its parent series marker. It connects to FINRA Rule 6181 — the overarching timely reporting rule establishing the 10-second standard that FINRA Rules 6380A and 6380B implement at the facility level. 

It connects to FINRA Rule 2010 — whose violation is the consequence of a pattern or practice of late reporting under FINRA Rule 6380A(a)(4). It connects to FINRA Rule 5190 — establishing the recordkeeping framework for TRF-related records — wait, that connection belongs to FINRA Rule 4511; FINRA Rule 5190's distribution notification requirements must be evidenced in the records maintained for unregistered secondary distribution trade reporting exception reliance under Supplementary Material .01. 

It connects to FINRA Rule 6200 — the parallel ADF sub-series with distinct operating hours (8:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. ET) contrasting with the current FINRA/Nasdaq TRF hours (4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET). It connects to FINRA Rules 6380A and 6380B as its primary operative child rules. It connects to FINRA Rule 6800 and FINRA Rule 6860 — the CAT compliance rules whose timestamp granularity requirements govern the precision of execution times in TRF trade reports. 

It connects to FINRA Rules 6830 and 6870 — whose CAT recording and reporting obligations require inclusion of the CAT order identifier on TRF trade reports. It connects to FINRA Rules 7200A and 7200B — the fee rules for the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF and FINRA/NYSE TRF respectively. 

And it connects to SEC Regulation NMS Rule 600(b) — whose NMS stock definition establishes the universe of designated securities reportable to the TRFs — and Rule 611 — whose trade-through prohibition generates the exception and exemption modifiers required under FINRA Rule 6380A(a)(5)(I) and (J).

Examination Relevance and Key Takeaways

FINRA Rule 6300 is tested on the Series 7, Series 24, and Series 57 examinations as the Trade Reporting Facilities sub-series marker — with the specific operative details of FINRA Rule 6380A being among the most directly testable provisions in the entire 6000 series.

The key points to retain are these: 

FINRA Rule 6300 organizes three TRF facilities — FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Carteret, FINRA/Nasdaq TRF Chicago, and the FINRA/NYSE TRF; the two FINRA/Nasdaq TRFs are separate and distinct — corrections, cancellations, and reversals must go to the same facility as the original report; a FINRA suspension applicable to one FINRA/Nasdaq TRF automatically applies to the other; the TRFs are pure reporting facilities — no quotation display, no order routing, no execution; as of March 30, 2026, the FINRA/Nasdaq TRF operating hours are 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET — extended from the prior 8:00 a.m. opening.

FINRA Rule 6380A(a)(1) requires transactions in designated securities executed during normal market hours (9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET) to be reported within 10 seconds of execution — transactions not reported within 10 seconds are designated as late; outside normal market hours, transactions executed 4:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m. ET and 4:00 p.m.–8:00 p.m. ET must be reported within 10 seconds with the outside-normal-hours modifier; transactions executed midnight–4:00 a.m. ET must be reported by 4:15 a.m. ET on trade date; transactions executed 8:00 p.m.–midnight ET or on non-business days must be reported the following business day by 4:15 a.m. ET as/of; the reporting party is the executing party in inter-member transactions (the member that receives the order, does not re-route it, and executes it), with the sell-side as default where both parties satisfy the executing party definition; principal transaction prices must exclude mark-ups and mark-downs and must be reasonably related to the prevailing market.

Individual executions at the same price may not be aggregated into a single report; a pattern or practice of late reporting without reasonable justification or exceptional circumstances violates FINRA Rule 2010; timestamp granularity must match CAT reporting precision up to nanoseconds per FINRA Rule 6860; cancellation reporting deadlines are tiered and specific — normal-hours trades cancelled before 4:00 p.m. must be reported within 10 seconds; and TRF participant records must be maintained for three years under SEC Rule 17a-4, with the first two years in an easily accessible place.