Order Audit Trail System - OATS
Categories: Trading, Regulations
To keep track of your transactions, you might take notes on your phone, or scribble details on Post-Its, or maybe keep a detailed diary in one of those flower-decaled journals with a little lock on the cover.
A stock exchange has to keep track of transactions as well. Instead of Post-Its or a diary, the National Association of Security Dealers, or NASD, has the Order Audit Trail System, or OATS.
The program represents a computer system that automatically records details of transactions. It logs orders and quotes, as well as all the other pertinent details of trading on the NASDAQ. This information can be used for audits.
The OATS system also compiles info for over-the-counter trading.
