However, the regulator said the costs of operating the system have been steadily rising in recent years and it is now trying to reverse that trend. SEC chairman Paul Atkins noted that the CAT’s annual operating costs have climbed to an estimated US$228 million this year from the US$55 million forecast when it was established in 2016, making participation in the equities and options markets more expensive. “CAT must be more efficient and cost-effective.”The regulator’s order aims to address rising costs by easing requirements on the processing of late records, allowing exchanges to cease providing certain functionality, deleting certain CAT data and more cost-effectively storing older data. The SEC said the changes are estimated to enable annual savings of between US$20 million and US$27 million on the CAT budget. Atkins noted that he has also instructed the regulator’s staff to undertake a comprehensive review of the CAT to identify additional possible cost savings.