SEC Requests Stay of CAT-Related Class Action Proceedings

On June 11, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested a stay of proceedings in a pending class action lawsuit challenging the SEC’s implementation of the Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT). The SEC’s rationale for the request was that it is considering potential changes to CAT that may render the class action moot.

As background, the case, Davidson et al. v. Atkins et al., case number 6:24-cv-00197, filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas, raises constitutional and statutory objections to the CAT, a centralized data repository designed to track all trading activity in US equities and options markets. The SEC’s stay request is another signal that the agency is actively reevaluating certain aspects of the CAT program, potentially including its scope, collection of private information or data protections, among other things.