Three associations representing the U.S. financial services industry sent securities regulators on Thursday a template for improving the disclosure to institutional investors of how and where their orders are routed, a hot topic on Wall Street.

Three associations representing the U.S. financial services industry sent securities regulators on Thursday a template for improving the disclosure to institutional investors of how and where their orders are routed, a hot topic on Wall Street.

The template was sent to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to help staff prepare a recommendation for a rule to enhance order routing disclosures that SEC Chair Mary Jo White requested earlier this year.

White said in June that a rule is necessary to ensure that information from a broker is useful, reliable and uniformly available on request by all institutional customers.

Stuart Kaswell, general counsel at the Managed Funds Association, one of three associations that created the template, said the SEC should set a minimum industry-wide standard, even though the information is generally available.

"We urge the SEC to expand the framework that it established a number of years ago. Adopting this template would set a high standard and enhance investor protection," Kaswell said.

The template is a checklist for brokers to provide their clients to help analyze both execution quality by venue and by the algorithms that are used to execute a trade.

The letter from MFA, the Investment Company Institute and the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association highlights efforts to standardize order routing information.

"We hope that this template will be of assistance to the Commission's staff as it prepares recommendations for rule-making in this area," the letter said.

Several dozen industry representatives, organized by ICI, have been working informally for about a year to improve order routing transparency and venue performance, an ICI spokeswoman said.

The ICI is a lobby for the mutual fund industry. The MFA represents hedge funds and other alternative investors while SIFMA is a lobby for brokerages, with asset management companies, among others, also members.

Investors have been clamoring for better information to measure both the performance of the brokers who handle their orders and the venues where their orders are executed.

In early September, consultancy TABB Group launched "Clarity," a trading venue and routing analytics service, while consultants KOR Group announced a best execution accreditation service geared to analyzing trading policies and procedure.

Also last month, brokerage watchdog the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority approved new rules to improve transparency at broker-run alternative trading systems, or "dark pools," as well as among firms that use algorithmic trading strategies.