SIFMA today issued the following statement from Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO, on the SEC No-Action Letter Regarding Amended Rule 15c2-11 in Relation to Fixed Income Securities:

“SIFMA appreciates that the SEC has granted no-action relief on Rule 15c2-11 in relation to fixed income securities.  Applying the Rule to fixed income securities when heretofore that has not been the case, and the rule has not been designed to be applied to them, would have had potentially significant negative effects on fixed income market participants including to its investors, market makers, and issuers.  There are significant differences between trading in the equity and the fixed income markets.  While we appreciate the relief, we continue to believe that for the Rule to be applied to fixed income securities it should be amended to reflect the differences between fixed income markets and OTC equity markets, and we believe that process will take additional time.”