SIP Operating Committees Welcome Newly Elected Advisory Committee Members

NEW YORK, Dec. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Operating Committees ("OCs") of the Securities Information Processors ("SIPs") today announced that the following individuals have been elected to fill Advisory Committee positions:

• Kerry Baker Relf, LSEG Data & Analytics (Data Vendor Representative)
• Bill Conti, Goldman Sachs (Institutional Broker-Dealer Representative)
• Kelly Littlepage, OneChronos (ATS Representative)
• Thomas J. Jordan, Jordan & Jordan (Investor Representative)
• Chris Nielsen, Charles Schwab (Retail Broker-Dealer Representative)

"On behalf of the Operating Committees, I would like to welcome back the current Advisors who were re-elected and extend a special welcome to our new member of the Advisory Committee, Kelly Littlepage," said Bob Books, Chairman of the SIP OCs. "The SIP Operating Committees regularly benefit from the efforts and insights of the Advisory Committee. We appreciate the willingness of these busy executives to devote time to the industry in this way."

The SIP Advisory Committee meets quarterly with the CTA and UTP Operating Committees and the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to review SIP performance and discuss policy matters. The ten-member Advisory Committee represents the diverse viewpoints of the marketplace, with five Participant-selected members joining representatives drawn from the vendor, ATS, investor and retail and institutional broker-dealer communities.

The newly elected members join the following Participant-selected members:

• Hubert DeJesus, BlackRock
• Edmund Flynn, Citadel
• Melissa Hinmon, Glenmede Investment Management
• Thomas Merritt, Virtu Financial
• Patricia Sachs, Citigroup Global Markets

ABOUT THE SIPs

The "SIPs" (Securities Information Processors) link the U.S. markets by processing and consolidating equities bid/ask quotes and trades from every registered exchange and FINRA's Alternative Display Facility (ADF) into a single, easily consumable data feed. The SIPs are an asset unique to U.S. market structure and play a critical role in making the U.S. equities markets transparent and accessible to investors worldwide.

Although often referred to in the singular, there are actually two SIPs: the combined CTA (Consolidated Tape Association) and CQ (Consolidated Quotation System) SIP, and the UTP (Unlisted Trading Privileges) SIP. The CTA/CQ SIP is responsible for the dissemination of real‐time quote and trade information in New York Stock Exchange listed securities (sometimes called "Network A" or "Tape A" securities) and Cboe, NYSE Arca, NYSE American and other regional exchange listed securities (sometimes called "Network B" or "Tape B" securities). The UTP SIP handles Nasdaq listed securities (sometimes called "Network C" or "Tape C" securities). This structure has been in place since the late 1970s, when the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") mandated that all registered exchanges that trade Network A, B, or C securities send their trades and quotes to the SIPs for consolidated worldwide distribution. 

Per the SEC, each SIP is governed by a Plan and run by an Operating Committee ("OC") comprised of its Plan Participants. The OCs are counseled by an Advisory Committee made up of individuals representing firms from across the industry and representing the diverse viewpoints of the market. Among other duties, the OCs set their individual Plan policies, select a Processor that is responsible for providing the technology to power it, and review the performance of both the Processor and the network administrators, which are responsible for the administrative functions for each SIP, such as contracting, billing, auditing, policy development and vendor relations. New York Stock Exchange serves as the Administrator for the CTA/CQ SIP Plans and the Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC) is the Processor. Nasdaq business units serve as the Administrator and Processor for the UTP SIP.

One of the primary objectives of both SIPs is transparency. Both the CTA/CQ Operating Committee and UTP Operating Committee meet quarterly, and the summary of the General Sessions of those meetings are posted to their respective websites: www.ctaplan.com and www.utpplan.com. Also provided on those websites are their Plans' announcements, policies, revenues, quarterly and monthly performance metrics, the pricing schedules, technical specifications and more.

Media Contact

Rafi Reguer
Forefront Communications for the SIP Operating Committees
Phone: 718-781-4946
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE SIP Operating Committees