Order audit trail

An order audit trail is the complete, timestamped, attributed record of every order message sent to a venue. It is the evidentiary foundation of every spoofing and layering case, because it lets investigators reconstruct exactly what a trader saw and did.

market microstructure · updated 2026-09-08

Where does order audit trail come up?

This term is used in the following manipulation techniques, each explained in full on its own page.

• Spoofing — Spoofing is placing orders a trader intends to cancel before execution, to create a false impression of supply or demand and move the price toward a smaller genuine order on the other side.
• Layering — Layering is placing multiple orders at several consecutive price levels with no intention of trading them, building an apparent wall of depth that pushes the price toward a genuine order on the other side.

Enforcement actions involving these techniques

See also

• Consolidated Audit Trail — The Consolidated Audit Trail is the US system that collects order and trade data across all national securities exchanges and FINR…
• Surveillance — Surveillance, in a market context, is the automated monitoring of order and trade data for patterns that suggest abuse. Exchanges,…

Terms that refer here

Consolidated Audit Trail · Offshore venue · Surveillance · Trade reconstruction

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