diff --git a/bench/ex_fix_bench.exs b/bench/ex_fix_bench.exs
index 0a31b4f..3cbdcf5 100644
--- a/bench/ex_fix_bench.exs
+++ b/bench/ex_fix_bench.exs
@@ -42,6 +42,21 @@ defmodule ExFixBench do
     Parser.parse(data, @dictionary, nil, false)
   end
 
+  bench "Parse - Stage 1 (with SendingTime validation)", [data: get_parse_data_with_sending_time()] do
+    Parser.parse1(data, @dictionary, 12_345, true, true) # Assuming validate_sending_time is the 5th arg
+  end
+
+  bench "Parse - Full Msg (with SendingTime validation)", [data: get_parse_data_with_sending_time()] do
+    Parser.parse(data, @dictionary, 12_345, true, true) # Assuming validate_sending_time is the 5th arg
+  end
+
+  bench "Parse - Stage 1 (without SendingTime validation)", [data: get_parse_data_with_sending_time()] do
+    Parser.parse1(data, @dictionary, 12_345, true, false) # Assuming validate_sending_time is the 5th arg
+  end
+
+  bench "Parse - Full Msg (without SendingTime validation)", [data: get_parse_data_with_sending_time()] do
+    Parser.parse(data, @dictionary, 12_345, true, false) # Assuming validate_sending_time is the 5th arg
+  end
   ##
   ## Private functions
   ##
@@ -58,6 +73,22 @@ defmodule ExFixBench do
     :binary.replace(str_data, "|", << 1 >>, [:global])
   end
 
+  defp get_parse_data_with_sending_time() do
+    # Similar to get_parse_data but ensures SendingTime (tag 52) is present
+    # For the benchmark, we'll use a valid SendingTime relative to now.
+    # Benchfella executes functions in `setup` block before each run,
+    # so we can't directly use DateTime.utc_now() here as it would be fixed at compile time.
+    # Instead, we'll construct a string that's highly likely to be valid.
+    # A more robust way would be to pass the current time into this function if Benchfella allowed it,
+    # or modify the parser to accept a "current time" for validation purposes in tests.
+    # For now, this simplification should be acceptable for benchmarking the validation logic itself.
+    sending_time = DateTime.utc_now() |> DateTime.to_iso8601() |> String.slice(0, 17) # YYYYMMDD-HH:MM:SS
+    str_data = "8=FIXT.1.1|9=131|35=8|34=12345|49=SELL|52=#{sending_time}.000|" <>
+                 "56=BUY|1=531|11=99|14=5|17=872|31=1.2|32=5|37=456|38=5|39=2|54=1|55=ABC|" <>
+                 "150=F|151=0|10=240|"
+    :binary.replace(str_data, "|", << 1 >>, [:global])
+  end
+
   def get_serialize_data() do
     out_message = "D"
     |> OutMessage.new()
diff --git a/lib/ex_fix/parser.ex b/lib/ex_fix/parser.ex
index 2167c05..709d7db 100644
--- a/lib/ex_fix/parser.ex
+++ b/lib/ex_fix/parser.ex
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ defmodule ExFix.Parser do
   @doc """
   Parse full message
   """
-  def parse(data, dictionary, expected_seqnum \\ nil, validate \\ true) do
-    with %InMessage{valid: true} = msg1 <- parse1(data, dictionary, expected_seqnum, validate),
+  def parse(data, dictionary, expected_seqnum \\ nil, validate \\ true, validate_sending_time \\ true) do
+    with %InMessage{valid: true} = msg1 <- parse1(data, dictionary, expected_seqnum, validate, validate_sending_time),
          msg2 <- parse2(msg1) do
       msg2
     end
@@ -23,9 +23,9 @@ defmodule ExFix.Parser do
   @doc """
   Parse - stage1
   """
-  def parse1(data, dictionary, expected_seqnum \\ nil, validate \\ true)
+  def parse1(data, dictionary, expected_seqnum \\ nil, validate \\ true, validate_sending_time \\ true)
 
-  def parse1(<<"8=FIXT.1.1", @soh, "9=", rest::binary>>, dictionary, expected_seqnum, validate) do
+  def parse1(<<"8=FIXT.1.1", @soh, "9=", rest::binary>>, dictionary, expected_seqnum, validate, _validate_sending_time) do
     [str_len, rest1] = :binary.split(rest, <<@soh>>)
     {len, _} = Integer.parse(str_len)
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ defmodule ExFix.Parser do
     end
   end
 
-  def parse1(<<"8=", _rest::binary>> = orig_msg, _dictionary, _expected_seqnum, _validate) do
+  def parse1(<<"8=", _rest::binary>> = orig_msg, _dictionary, _expected_seqnum, _validate, _validate_sending_time) do
     %InMessage{
       valid: false,
       msg_type: nil,
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ defmodule ExFix.Parser do
     }
   end
 
-  def parse1(data, _dictionary, _expected_seqnum, _validate) do
+  def parse1(data, _dictionary, _expected_seqnum, _validate, _validate_sending_time) do
     %InMessage{
       valid: false,
       msg_type: nil,
diff --git a/lib/ex_fix/session.ex b/lib/ex_fix/session.ex
index 1e923f0..a4d7803 100644
--- a/lib/ex_fix/session.ex
+++ b/lib/ex_fix/session.ex
@@ -224,6 +224,7 @@ defmodule ExFix.Session do
           config: %SessionConfig{
             name: session_name,
             validate_incoming_message: validate,
+          validate_sending_time: validate_sending_time,
             log_incoming_msg: log_incoming_msg,
             dictionary: dictionary
           },
@@ -239,7 +240,8 @@ defmodule ExFix.Session do
         <<extra_bytes::binary, data::binary>>,
         dictionary,
         expected_seqnum,
-        validate
+      validate,
+      validate_sending_time
       )
 
     case msg.valid do
@@ -719,6 +721,10 @@ defmodule ExFix.Session do
     |> binary_part(0, len)
   end
 
+  defp validate_sending_time(_session_name, %Session{config: %SessionConfig{validate_sending_time: false}}, _msg, _expected_seqnum) do
+    :ok
+  end
+
   defp validate_sending_time(session_name, %Session{config: config, out_lastseq: out_lastseq} = session, %InMessage{fields: fields, other_msgs: other}, expected_seqnum) do
     %SessionConfig{time_service: time_service, session_handler: handler, env: env} = config
 
diff --git a/lib/ex_fix/session_config.ex b/lib/ex_fix/session_config.ex
index 585ffa9..0256d24 100644
--- a/lib/ex_fix/session_config.ex
+++ b/lib/ex_fix/session_config.ex
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@ defmodule ExFix.SessionConfig do
             reconnect_interval: 15,
             reset_on_logon: true,
             validate_incoming_message: true,
+            validate_sending_time: true,
             transport_mod: :gen_tcp,
             transport_options: [],
             time_service: nil,