[computator]

Do all trades get reported to some agency of the government (including those done in private rooms)?

Do companies themselves know who owns their shares (including those done in private rooms)?

If the answer is no to either or both of the above, doesn't that create all sorts of ownership problems? As an analogy, I'm imagining a country where there is no reliable municipal property registry, and no one knows who owns a particular house. Wouldn't that create chaos?

[hobermallow]

Yes there is a record for most trades done. The regulating body depends on the type of instrument (equities, options, futures, fixed income, etc.)

The Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) is the primary location for this data as it relates to equities. https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/key-topics/consolidated...

The settlement cycle also dictates the frequency of reporting for many investment instruments. https://www.finra.org/investors/insights/understanding-settl...

[gruez]

>As an analogy, I'm imagining a country where there is no reliable municipal property registry, and no one knows who owns a particular house. Wouldn't that create chaos?

That's basically how it works in many (most?) US states. There's no authoritative record of all claims on a property. Land registries exist, but they're not authoritative. Liens can exist without being registered on it, and surface later. Hence the need for "title insurance".

https://www.bitsaboutmoney.com/archive/working-title-insuran...