Your 0.5 Fractional Apple Shares Just Gave Brokers a February 23 Headache

The US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reminded member firms this week that new fractional share reporting requirements take effect February 23, giving broker-dealers just over five weeks to comply with technical changes designed to capture granular trading data that current systems cannot handle.

FINRA first announced plans for the reporting overhaul in March 2024, acknowledging that while firms can execute fractional share transactions, the organization's Trade Reporting Facility, Alternative Display Facility, and OTC Reporting Facility don't support entering fractional quantities.

Under current guidance, trades involving 100.5 shares get rounded to whole numbers, obscuring the actual transaction size.

Retail Trading Surge Drives Reporting Changes

Fractional share trading has reshaped how retail investors access equity markets, particularly for high-priced stocks that were previously out of reach for smaller accounts. The global fractional investing market reached $14.3 billion in 2025 and analysts project growth to $66.3 billion by 2032, expanding at a compound annual rate of 24.5%.

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Research shows fractional trading triggered a surge in tiny trades among expensive stocks after major brokers introduced the capability. When, for example, Swissquote enabled fractional trading in October 2024, the Swiss broker became one of the last major retail trading Retail Trading In finance, retail trading refers to individual traders, trading through a broker, or on a platform. This can include novice traders and experienced traders. Trading and investing are divided into two categories, retail and institutional. Institutions include investment banks like JP Morgan or Citibank and global central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. When we talk about retail trading however, we usually are referring to forex trading, but there are retail trade In finance, retail trading refers to individual traders, trading through a broker, or on a platform. This can include novice traders and experienced traders. Trading and investing are divided into two categories, retail and institutional. Institutions include investment banks like JP Morgan or Citibank and global central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank. When we talk about retail trading however, we usually are referring to forex trading, but there are retail trade Read this Term platforms to join the pack, catching up with industry leaders like Robinhood and Charles Schwab in offering access to stocks priced at $200 or more for investors with as little as $5 to deploy.

Data from Q3 2025 indicates 45% of retail investors now hold fractional shares in their portfolios.

The trend gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic, and since then a wave of firms have rolled out fractional trading, including XTB, Interactive Brokers, Saxo Bank, Webull, RoboMarkets, and many others. Brokers report higher trading volumes and deeper client engagement when customers can diversify across more securities without needing full share prices.

Brokers report higher trading volumes and deeper client engagement when customers can diversify across more securities without needing full share prices.

Dual Reporting Fields Replace Single Entry System

Starting next month, firms must populate two separate fields when reporting fractional trades. The existing "Quantity" field will continue to show whole numbers, but a new "Fractional Share Quantity" field must capture the complete transaction amount, including up to six digits after the decimal point.

A trade of 100.573278 shares, for example, requires entering "100" in the quantity field and "100.573278" in the fractional field. Trades involving only whole shares should leave the fractional field blank. Submissions showing whole numbers in the fractional field without decimal components will be rejected.

The reporting requirements address an edge case that could otherwise create regulatory gaps. When a transaction involves less than one share and truncating to six decimals would yield Yield A yield is defined as the earnings generated by an investment or security over a particular time period. This is in typically displayed in percentage terms and is in the form of interest or dividends received from it.Yields do not include the price variations, which differentiates it from the total return. As such, a yield applies to various stated rates of return on stocks, fixed income instruments such as bonds, and other types of investment products.Yields can be calculated as a ratio or as a A yield is defined as the earnings generated by an investment or security over a particular time period. This is in typically displayed in percentage terms and is in the form of interest or dividends received from it.Yields do not include the price variations, which differentiates it from the total return. As such, a yield applies to various stated rates of return on stocks, fixed income instruments such as bonds, and other types of investment products.Yields can be calculated as a ratio or as a Read this Term zero - such as a trade of 0.0000004 shares - firms must report "0.000001" in the fractional field and "1" in the quantity field.

But if a multi-share trade includes a fractional component smaller than six decimals, like 100.0000004 shares, firms should report it as 100 whole shares and leave the fractional field empty.

Phased Rollout Begins With NMS Stocks

The February 23 implementation covers only NMS stocks, securities listed on national exchanges like NYSE and Nasdaq. FINRA will announce a separate effective date for OTC Equity Securities, creating a phased approach that gives firms time to update systems across different asset classes.

Firms that don't engage in fractional trading face no reporting changes and can continue submitting data exactly as they do now. The National Securities Clearing Corporation doesn't currently support clearing fractional share trades, so any report submitted with both a fractional component and clearing status will be rejected.

The regulatory framework for fractional shares continues evolving across jurisdictions. Cyprus financial regulator CySEC issued guidance in September 2024 clarifying when fractional investments qualify as direct share ownership under MiFID II, addressing questions about how investment firms should classify these products.

A trend for brokers in 2026 may be even stronger. Research in the UK has shown that one in five adults wants to start investing this year with small amounts, beginning at £10–£50 per month. Fractional shares are particularly well suited to this approach.