Automate validation, submission, and exception management across your TRACE reporting workflow.

Every FINRA-member broker-dealer must report OTC transactions in TRACE-eligible fixed income securities, regardless of firm size or trading volume.

Lean teams have to maintain accurate and timely reporting across every trade with limited capacity for manual checks and corrections.

Gresham automates TRACE reporting from validation through submission, with deadline monitoring and a complete audit trail built into the workflow.

• Real-time deadline monitoring flags trades approaching their reporting window.
• Pre-submission validation catches missing, incorrect or inconsistent trade data before it reaches TRACE.
• Native FIX connectivity supports direct, automated submission to FINRA.

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FINRA TRACE Reporting Overview for 2026

TRACE is FINRA’s system for reporting OTC transactions in eligible fixed income securities. Launched in July 2002, it also supports market transparency by disseminating reported trade data.

Every FINRA-member broker-dealer that is a party to a reportable trade has a reporting obligation. Certain depository institutions report U.S. Treasury transactions through the Federal Reserve instead.

For 2026, firms need to account for multiple reporting changes:

• Native FIX cutover: FINRA is moving TRACE reporting from legacy FIX ports to Native FIX as firms prepare for retirement of the legacy reporting infrastructure.
• Allocation reporting: Streamlined requirements for broker-dealer and investment adviser allocations took effect on June 8, 2026 under Regulatory Notice 25-17.
• Principal transaction indicator: Expanded reporting became voluntary on August 31, 2026, with mandatory use scheduled for August 2, 2027 under Regulatory Notice 26-16.
• Reporting window: The standard 15-minute deadline remains in place. FINRA withdrew the proposal to reduce it to one minute.

Gresham updates reporting logic and technical specifications as FINRA requirements change. Your team has less rule and connectivity maintenance to manage.

FINRA TRACE Reporting Rules for Fixed Income Securities in 2026

The FINRA Rule 6700 series governs TRACE. Rule 6710 defines the terms and securities in scope, Rule 6730 sets reporting requirements, Rule 6750 covers dissemination, and Rule 7730 sets TRACE-related fees.

Which Fixed Income Securities are TRACE-Eligible?

The following fixed income securities are TRACE-eligible:

• Corporate bonds, including Rule 144A securities
• Agency debt
• U.S. Treasury securities, which have been reportable since July 10, 2017
• Securitized products, including ABS, MBS, CMOs, CMBS, CDOs and TBA transactions
• Foreign sovereign debt, which entered TRACE reporting scope on November 6, 2023

Certain transactions remain outside the reporting requirement, including Treasury auction transactions, repos and reverse repos.

Municipal securities follow a separate reporting regime through the MSRB, so firms trading both fixed income categories need to manage two sets of reporting requirements.

Gresham can check each trade against security-master data and CUSIP-level eligibility rules before submission, helping prevent out-of-scope trades from being reported and reportable trades from being missed.

What Every TRACE Report Must Include

A TRACE report must contain the transaction data FINRA requires to identify the security, counterparties, economics, and execution details of the trade:

• CUSIP or other required security identifier
• Trade size and price or yield
• Buy or sell indicator
• Contra-party MPID
• Capacity
• Execution time
• Commission
• Settlement date
• ATS MPID, where required
• Applicable trade modifiers

Timestamp handling, “.B” and “.S” modifiers, disaggregated ATS reporting, and MPIDs for non-member subscribers can all cause a trade record to fail TRACE reporting rules even when the core transaction data is present.

Gresham validates timestamp rules, modifiers, ATS reporting fields, and MPID requirements before submission through:

• Field-level validation for required data and formats

• Modifier logic based on the transaction

• MPID controls for counterparties and ATS activity

• Amendment and cancellation workflows for reports that need correction
  
  

FINRA Rule 6730: TRACE Reporting Deadlines in 2026

Under FINRA Rule 6730, most TRACE-eligible trades executed between 8:00 a.m. and 6:29:59 p.m. ET must be reported as soon as practicable and no later than 15 minutes after execution.

FINRA withdrew its proposal to shorten the standard 15-minute reporting window to one minute, so the existing timeframe remains in place in 2026.

Where the 15-Minute Reporting Window Gets Consumed

Re-keying trade data, fixing validation errors, resolving exceptions and correcting CUSIP or timestamp mismatches all eat into the 15-minute reporting window.

Reduce Late-Reporting Risk and FINRA Scrutiny

Repeated late or inaccurate TRACE reports can lead to FINRA inquiries, closer examination of reporting controls, and more remediation work for compliance and operations teams.

Trade data moves through disconnected systems, and reporting errors often appear only after submission.

FINRA’s TRACE Report Cards show firms the quality and timeliness of their reporting, including late trades and other reporting exceptions. Gresham gives your team similar visibility across the reporting process and highlights recurring issues earlier.

The platform supports that control framework with:

• Exception reports that flag reporting issues for review
• Reconciliation between source trade data and submitted TRACE records
• Complete audit trails showing what was reported, corrected and resubmitted

That gives compliance teams a clearer record of reporting performance and the controls used to manage exceptions.

How It Works

1. Connect
   Bring trade data in from your OMS, EMS or ATS feed.
   
   
2. Validate and report
   Apply TRACE rules to each trade, flag missing or inconsistent data, and submit through Native FIX or API.
   
   
3. Monitor and reconcile
   Track reporting status in dashboards, work exceptions as they appear, and reconcile submitted records against source trade data and TRACE report-card metrics.

FINRA TRACE Reporting FAQs

What is TRACE reporting?

TRACE is FINRA’s system for reporting OTC transactions in eligible fixed income securities and supporting market transparency through trade-data dissemination.

What time is TRACE reporting for FINRA?

Most TRACE-eligible trades must be reported within 15 minutes of execution, although some securities have 60-minute or same-day deadlines.

Are 144A securities TRACE-reportable?

Yes. Rule 144A corporate bonds are included among TRACE-eligible securities.

Is TRACE data publicly available, and is it free?

FINRA disseminates TRACE transaction data to support price transparency. Access and pricing depend on the specific TRACE data product or service.

When did TRACE reporting start?

TRACE launched in July 2002. Its reporting scope has expanded since then to cover additional fixed income securities and transaction types.

Submit Accurate TRACE Reports on Time

Gresham helps your team submit TRACE reports accurately and on time, with automated validation, exception handling, and a complete audit trail built into the reporting process.

Reduce manual reporting work and give compliance teams clearer visibility across every submission.