ACT is the platform where all equity trades are reported. Participants executing a transaction must either input trade reports to ACT or browse the inputted report and either accept or reject it. Reports must be filed within 10 seconds of execution. The contra-party must accept or decline the trade within 20 minutes of execution.
Information submitted in a transaction report includes the following: (1) the symbol of the security, (2) the number of shares or bonds, (3) the price of the transaction, (4) a symbol indicating whether the transaction is a buy, sell, or cross, and if applicable, short sell, and (5) the time of execution. Additional information may be required as well, but transaction reports consistently include the five components listed above.
Both parties may submit reports. However, only one is assigned the specific reporting responsibilities for standard trades. See below.