Time Synchronization: Time is at the Heart of Regulation

New regulatory requirements from MiFID II in Europe to the Consolidated Audit Trail in the US, mandate that reportable events must be timestamped to much more accurate levels than ever before and that regulated organizations must have a clear understanding of time for all information they are required to report. Regulators want a better ability to reconstruct trades for the purpose of market surveillance. Europe’s MiFID II, in particular, is far more prescriptive with regards to timestamping and synchronization with a recognized source.

This Market Note examines how firms are meeting these obligations and explores the relationship between timestamp granularity and accuracy.