The UTP Plan governs the collection, processing and distribution of all UTP Level 1 data. The UTP Plan is administered by the participant exchanges and associations listed under Participants. These organizations determine policy matters and oversee system operations. The UTP Plan has been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Amendments to the plan are filed with the SEC in accordance with Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The UTP data feeds consist of one network, Tape C, which is the single source of consolidated market data for Nasdaq-listed securities. The UTP Securities Information Processor (SIP) makes available the UTP Level 1 information on data feeds. The UTP Quote Data Feed (UQDF) provides continuous quotations from all market centers trading Nasdaq-listed securities. The UTP Trade Data Feed (UTDF) provides continuous last sale information from all market centers trading Nasdaq-listed securities.
If you have any questions regarding the UTP Plan, please send an email to [email protected]
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 100%.
100% System availability in 18 of the last 24 quarters for Trade Metrics and 19 of the last 24 quarters for Quote Metrics.
Current capacity messages per 100 milliseconds of 215,000 for quote feed and 132,800 for trade feed.
Capacity above peak with capacity-to-peak ratio of 5.2:1 for the quote feed and 7.1:1 for the trade feed.
Current average latency of about 500 microseconds.
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 Pricing.
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).