Arch Therapeutics Inc (ARTH)

[ahab333]

I wonder what effect the new program that starts on Oct. 3rd this year on ARTH and all stocks for a 2 year quality and liquidity measure. It's called:

Tick Size Pilot Program where many stocks must trade in .05 increments but can also trade in smaller increments. Very confusing to say the least. Here it is and here is the link from Finra:

http://www.finra.org/industry/tick-size-pilot-program



On May 6, 2015, the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) issued an order approving the National Market System (NMS) Plan to implement a Tick Size Pilot Program by the National Securities Exchanges and FINRA. The Order approved the NMS Plan for a two-year period and will officially commence on October 3, 2016. The Tick Size Pilot is a data-driven test to evaluate whether or not widening the tick size for securities of smaller capitalization companies would impact trading, liquidity, and market quality of those securities. The pilot will consist of a control group and three test groups, with each test group having approximately 400 securities.

The groups are defined as follows:

The control group will be quoted and trade at their current tick size increment.
The first test group will be quoted in $0.05 increments, but will continue to trade at their current price increment.
The second test group will be quoted and trade in $0.05 minimum increments, but would allow certain exemptions for midpoint executions, retail investor executions, and negotiated trades.
The third test group will adhere to the requirements of the second test group, but will also be subject to a "trade-at" requirement. There will also be an exemption for block size orders.

Market quality statistics, market and marketable limit order data, and market maker profitability will be collected and provided to the SEC on a monthly basis. Market quality data and aggregated market maker profitability data will also be made publicly available on a monthly basis by each Plan Participant that acts as the designated examining authority for a Trading Center or Market Maker that is required to submit data under the plan.

The participants to the plan are required to submit their initial tick pilot assessment 18 months after the plan begins based on data generated during the first 12 months of operation.

NMS Plan
SRO Rule Filings
Proposed Rule Change to Amend FINRA Rule 6191 Relating to the Data Collection Requirements of the Regulation NMS Plan to Implement A Tick Size Pilot Program
Proposed Rule Change to Adopt FINRA Rule 6191(b) and Amend FINRA Rule 7440 to Implement the Data Collection Requirements of the Regulation NMS Plan to Implement A Tick Size Pilot Program
Proposed Rule Change to Adopt FINRA Rule 6191(a) to Implement the Quoting and Trading Requirements of the Regulation NMS Plan to Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program
Timeline
Tick Size Pilot Implementation Timeline
Announcements
Tick Size Pilot Program Implementation Plan
Tick Size Pilot Firm Review Files
Tick Size Pilot Firm Review Files – Update
Notices
Regulatory Notices
Technical Notices
FINRA Guidance on Linking Market Maker Transaction Data
Testing for Tick Size OATS Data Collection and Market Maker Transaction Files
Tick Size Pilot Market Maker Transaction Reporting User Entitlement
Market Maker Transaction Data - Additional Guidance on Submission and Feedback
Frequently Asked Questions
Data Collection FAQ
Tick Size Pilot OATS Data Collection FAQ
Market Maker Reporting FAQ
Appendix B and C Statistics FAQ
Trading and Quoting FAQ
Pilot Securities List
Daily List of Pilot Securities
Test Group Assignments
Symbol List Announcements
Tick Size Pilot File Updates - 9/21/16
Tick Size Pilot Security List
Tick Size Pre-Pilot Data Collection Security List
Specifications
Market Maker Transaction Data Technical Specification
OATS Technical Specifications
OATS Report: Proposed OATS Changes for Members that Operate Tick Size Pilot Trading Centers
OATS Report: Tick Size Pilot: Exchange Route Matching for the Chicago Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange
Appendix B and C Reporting Requirements
Market Maker Transaction Reporting System Status
Publicly Available Pilot Data
Retail Investor Order Exception Attestation