BATS Trading, Inc. (CRD #136734, Lenexa, Kansas)

Fraud, Misrepresentation and Negligent Supervision FINRA Arbitration and Litigation Attorney, Russell L. Forkey, Esq.

October, 2011:

BATS Trading, Inc. (CRD #136734, Lenexa, Kansas) submitted a Letter of Acceptance, Waiver and Consent in which the firm was censured and fined $307,500. Without admitting or denying the findings, the firm consented to the described sanctions and to the entry of findings that it executed numerous short sale transactions on its subscribers’ behalf and failed to report each such transaction as short; as a result, the firm failed to report each of these transactions to the NASDAQ Market Center with the correct symbol indicating whether the transaction was a buy, sell, sell short or cross. The findings stated that the firm executed numerous short sale transactions and failed to report each of these transactions to the NASD/NASDAQ Trade Reporting Facility® (NNTRF) with the correct symbol indicating whether the transaction was a buy, sell, sell short or cross. The findings also stated that the firm executed over 10 million short sale transactions and failed to report each of these transactions to the FINRA/New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Trade Reporting Facility with the correct symbol indicating whether the transaction was a buy, sell, sell short or cross. The findings also included that the firm failed to accept or decline in the NNTRF transactions in reportable securities within 20 minutes after execution that the firm had an obligation to accept or decline as the order entry identification (OEID) firm. (FINRA Case #2006006862401).