A new disclosure data model has just been proposed by the SEC for U.S. securities lenders. Adoption of the model, called 10c-1 after the revised regulation, would be “one of the most drastic adjustments in the history of the securities lending industry,” writes Sidley Austin, a leading Wall Street law firm and advisor to broker-dealers. Previously, we have explained the proposal and intended benefits. Now we begin to analyze the proposed 10c-1 disclosure system’s value proposition. Will disclosure help more than it will cost to create and manage the network that supports the new disclosure system?

Make no mistake. The new 10c-1 disclosure proposal by the SEC is an Investor Protection Rule on steroids. It is also a profound escalation of regulatory support for Investor Self-Protection. Nothing less than a near real-time stock loan ticker will result, if enacted, that is intended to reveal U.S. loan rates and liquidity to the investing public for the first time in history.

Certain challenges in securities finance can only be met with better data and newer data models. Market regulators now coping with investor demands for ESG-compliance will have to monitor the disclosures of regulated entities by combing through vast pools of stock loan and proxy voting data. Bank custodians and brokers, if tasked with validating the social propriety of their stock loans, will have to dive deep into customer profile data, deeper than either regulators or vendors can today access efficiently.