On December 16, 2020, the Commission issued two orders pursuant to Section 36 of the Exchange Act and Rule 608(e) of Regulation NMS under the Exchange Act: (1) an Order Granting Temporary Conditional Exemptive Relief Pursuant to Section 36 of the Exchange Act and Rule 608(e) of Regulation NMS Under the Exchange Act Relating to Certain Requirements of the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail, Release No. 34-90688 (Dec. 16, 2020) (the “First Order”); and (2) an Order Granting Temporary Conditional Exemptive Relief Pursuant to Section 36 of the Exchange Act and Rule 608(e) of Regulation NMS Under the Exchange Act From Section 8.1.1 and Section 8.1.2 of Appendix D of the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail, Release No. 34-90689 (Dec. 16, 2020) (the “Second Order”) (together, the “prior Orders”). On February 14, 2021, Petitioner Consolidated Audit Trail, LLC (“Petitioner” or “CAT LLC”), on behalf of itself and a majority of the Participants in the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail (“CAT NMS Plan” or “Plan”) (together, “Petitioners”) ^[1] filed with the Commission the pending motions for partial stays of the prior Orders. That same day, Petitioners ^[2] filed petitions in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking review of the Orders. See Case Nos. 21-1065, 21-1066. Petitioners sought a partial stay of the prior Orders until the Commission “had an opportunity to consider all the Participants' arguments and supporting evidence” and “reevaluate whether the Order[s] [are] appropriate in light of that information,” or, in the alternative, pending resolution of the petitions for judicial review. Since that time, the Participants and Commission staff have been engaged in ongoing discussions with the goal of resolving or narrowing their differences with respect to the issues raised in the Participants' stay motions. On January 12, 2022, the Participants requested that the Commission supplement the record to include certain additional materials prepared in connection with those discussions.^[3]

On July 8, 2022, after careful review of the arguments and evidence proffered by the Participants, the Commission issued an Order Granting Temporary Conditional Exemptive Relief, Pursuant to Section 36 of the Exchange Act and Rule 608(e) of Regulation NMS under the Exchange Act, from Certain Requirements of the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail (the “Third Order”), which supersedes the prior Orders. The Third Order clarifies certain aspects of the prior Orders and modifies ( printed page 42243) other aspects of the prior Orders in light of subsequent developments and/or additional information provided by the Participants. It also gives the Participants until July 31, 2024 to either come into compliance with the relevant provisions of the CAT NMS Plan or to develop alternative solutions that achieve the regulatory goals of Rule 613 and the CAT NMS Plan in a more cost-effective manner. Because the terms of the Third Order now govern, the terms of the prior Orders are no longer in force, and the pending motions are moot.^[4]

Accordingly, it is ordered that the motions for a stay of the prior Orders be denied as moot.