81_FR_18976 81 FR 18913 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt Rule 4770 To Implement the Regulation NMS Plan To Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program

81 FR 18913 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt Rule 4770 To Implement the Regulation NMS Plan To Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 63 (April 1, 2016)

Page Range18913-18919
FR Document2016-07334

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 63 (Friday, April 1, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 63 (Friday, April 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18913-18919]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07334]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-77457; File No. SR-BX-2016-019]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt Rule 4770 
To Implement the Regulation NMS Plan To Implement a Tick Size Pilot 
Program

March 28, 2016.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on March 23, 2016, NASDAQ BX, Inc. (``Exchange'') filed with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission'') the 
proposed rule change as described in Items I and II below, which Items 
have been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this 
notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested 
persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to a proposal to adopt Exchange Rule 4770 to 
implement the Regulation NMS Plan to Implement a Tick Size Pilot 
Program. The proposed rule change is substantially similar to proposed 
rule changes recently approved or published by the Commission by the 
Bats BZX Exchange, Inc. f/k/a BATS Exchange, Inc. (``BZX'') to adopt 
BZX Rule 11.27(b) which also sets forth requirements for the collection 
and transmission of data pursuant to Appendices B and C of the Plan.\3\
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 77105 (February 10, 
2016), 81 FR 8112 (February 17, 2016) (order approving SR-BATS-2015-
102); see also Securities Exchange Act Release No. 77310 (March 7, 
2016), 81 FR 13012 (March 11, 2016) (notice for comment and 
immediate effectiveness of SR-BATS-2016-27).
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    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's 
Web site at http://nasdaqomxbx.cchwallstreet.com/, at the principal 
office of the Exchange, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements 
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and 
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The 
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in 
Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in 
sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such 
statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    On August 25, 2014, NYSE Group, Inc., on behalf of BATS Exchange, 
Inc., BATS Y-Exchange, Inc., Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc., EDGA 
Exchange, Inc., EDGX Exchange, Inc., Financial Industry Regulatory 
Authority, Inc. (``FINRA''), NASDAQ BX, Inc., NASDAQ PHLX LLC, the 
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE''), NYSE 
MKT LLC, and NYSE Arca, Inc. (collectively ``Participants''), filed 
with the Commission, pursuant to Section 11A of the Act \4\ and Rule 
608 of Regulation NMS thereunder,\5\ the Plan to Implement a Tick Size 
Pilot Program (``Pilot'').\6\
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    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \5\ 17 CFR 242.608.
    \6\ See Letter from Brendon J. Weiss, Vice President, 
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., to Secretary, Commission, dated 
August 25, 2014.
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    The Participants filed the Plan to comply with an order issued by 
the

[[Page 18914]]

Commission on June 24, 2014.\7\ The Plan \8\ was published for comment 
in the Federal Register on November 7, 2014, and approved by the 
Commission, as modified, on May 6, 2015.\9\
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    \7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 72460 (June 24, 
2014), 79 FR 36840 (June 30, 2014).
    \8\ Capitalized terms used in this rule filing are defined in 
the Plan, unless otherwise specified herein.
    \9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 74892 (May 6, 2015), 
80 FR 27513 (May 13, 2015) (``Approval Order'').
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    The Plan is designed to allow the Commission, market participants, 
and the public to study and assess the impact of increment conventions 
on the liquidity and trading of the common stocks of small-
capitalization companies. Each Participant is required to comply, and 
to enforce compliance by its member organizations, as applicable, with 
the provisions of the Plan. As is described more fully below, the 
proposed rules would require Members \10\ to comply with the applicable 
data collection requirements of the Plan.\11\
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    \10\ The term ``Member'' or ``Exchange Member'' is defined as 
``any registered broker or dealer that has been admitted to 
membership in the Exchange.'' See Exchange Rule 0120(i).
    \11\ The Exchange proposes Commentary .11 to Rule 4770 to 
provide that the Rule shall be in effect during a pilot period to 
coincide with the pilot period for the Plan (including any 
extensions to the pilot period for the Plan).
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    The Pilot will include stocks of companies with $3 billion or less 
in market capitalization, an average daily trading volume of one 
million shares or less, and a volume weighted average price of at least 
$2.00 for every trading day. The Pilot will consist of a control group 
of approximately 1400 Pilot Securities and three test groups with 400 
Pilot Securities in each (selected by a stratified random sampling 
process).\12\ During the pilot, Pilot Securities in the control group 
will be quoted at the current tick size increment of $0.01 per share 
and will trade at the currently permitted increments.
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    \12\ See Section V of the Plan for identification of Pilot 
Securities, including criteria for selection and grouping.
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    Pilot Securities in the first test group (``Test Group One'') will 
be quoted in $0.05 minimum increments but will continue to trade at any 
price increment that is currently permitted.\13\ Pilot Securities in 
the second test group (``Test Group Two'') will be quoted in $0.05 
minimum increments and will trade at $0.05 minimum increments subject 
to a midpoint exception, a retail investor order exception, and a 
negotiated trade exception.\14\ Pilot Securities in the third test 
group (``Test Group Three'') will be subject to the same quoting and 
trading increments as Test Group Two and also will be subject to the 
``Trade-at'' requirement to prevent price matching by a market 
participant that is not displaying at a Trading Center's ``Best 
Protected Bid'' or ``Best Protected Offer,'' unless an enumerated 
exception applies.\15\ In addition to the exceptions provided under 
Test Group Two, an exception for Block Size orders and exceptions that 
mirror those under Rule 611 of Regulation NMS \16\ will apply to the 
Trade-at requirement.
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    \13\ See Section VI(B) of the Plan.
    \14\ See Section VI(C) of the Plan.
    \15\ See Section VI(D) of the Plan.
    \16\ 17 CFR 242.611.
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    In approving the Plan, the Commission noted that the Trading Center 
data reporting requirements would facilitate an analysis of the effects 
of the Pilot on liquidity (e.g., transaction costs by order size), 
execution quality (e.g., speed of order executions), market maker 
activity, competition between trading venues (e.g., routing frequency 
of market orders), transparency (e.g., choice between displayed and 
hidden orders), and market dynamics (e.g., rates and speed of order 
cancellations).\17\
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    \17\ See Approval Order, 80 FR at 27543.
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    The Commission also noted that Market Maker profitability data 
would assist the Commission in evaluating the effect, if any, of a 
widened tick increment on market marker profits and any corresponding 
changes in the liquidity of small-capitalization securities.\18\
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    \18\ Id.
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Compliance With the Data Collection Requirements of the Plan
    The Plan contains requirements for collecting and transmitting data 
to the Commission and to the public.\19\ Specifically, Appendix B.I of 
the Plan (Market Quality Statistics) requires Trading Centers \20\ to 
submit variety of market quality statistics, including information 
about an order's original size, whether the order was displayable or 
not, the cumulative number of orders, the cumulative number of shares 
of orders, and the cumulative number of shares executed within specific 
time increments, e.g., from 30 seconds to less than 60 seconds after 
the time of order receipt. This information shall be categorized by 
security, order type, original order size, hidden status, and coverage 
under Rule 605.\21\
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    \19\ The Exchange is also required by the Plan to establish, 
maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures that are 
reasonably designed to comply with applicable quoting and trading 
requirements specified in the Plan. The Exchange intends to 
separately propose rules that would require compliance by its 
Members with the applicable quoting and trading requirements 
specified in the Plan, and has reserved Paragraph (a) for such 
rules.
    \20\ The Plan incorporates the definition of a ``Trading 
Center'' from Rule 600(b)(78) of Regulation NMS. Regulation NMS 
defines a ``Trading Center'' as ``a national securities exchange or 
national securities association that operates an SRO trading 
facility, an alternative trading system, an exchange market maker, 
an OTC market maker, or any other broker or dealer that executes 
orders internally by trading as principal or crossing orders as 
agent.'' See 17 CFR 242.600(b).
    \21\ 17 CFR 242.605.
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    Appendix B.I of the Plan also contains additional requirements for 
market orders and marketable limit orders, including the share-weighted 
average effective spread for executions of orders; the cumulative 
number of shares of orders executed with price improvement; and, for 
shares executed with price improvement, the share-weighted average 
amount per share that prices were improved.
    Appendix B.II of the Plan (Market and Marketable Limit Order Data) 
requires Trading Centers to submit information relating to market 
orders and marketable limit orders, including the time of order 
receipt, order type, the order size, the National Best Bid and National 
Best Offer (``NBBO'') quoted price, the NBBO quoted depth, the average 
execution price-share-weighted average, and the average execution time-
share-weighted average.
    The Plan requires Appendix B.I and B.II data to be submitted by 
Participants that operate a Trading Center, and by members of the 
Participants that operate Trading Centers. The Plan provides that each 
Participant that is the Designated Examining Authority (``DEA'') for a 
member of the Participant that operates a Trading Center shall collect 
such data in a pipe delimited format, beginning six months prior to the 
Pilot Period and ending six months after the end of the Pilot Period. 
The Plan also requires the Participant, operating as DEA, to transmit 
this information to the SEC within 30 calendar days following month 
end.
    The Exchange is therefore proposing Rule 4770(b) to set forth the 
requirements for the collection and transmission of data pursuant to 
Appendices B and C of the Plan. Proposed Rule 4770(b) is substantially 
similar to proposed rule changes by BZX that were recently approved or 
published by the Commission to adopt BZX Rule 11.27(b) which also sets 
forth requirements for the collection and transmission of data pursuant 
to Appendices B and C of the Plan.\22\
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    \22\ See supra note 3.
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    Proposed Rule 4770(b)(1) requires that a Member that operates a 
Trading Center shall establish, maintain, and enforce

[[Page 18915]]

written policies and procedures that are reasonably designed to comply 
with the data collection and transmission requirements of Items I and 
II to Appendix B of the Plan, and a Member that is a Market Maker shall 
establish, maintain, and enforce written policies and procedures that 
are reasonably designed to comply with the data collection and 
transmission requirements of Item IV of Appendix B of the Plan and Item 
I of Appendix C of the Plan.
    Proposed Rule 4770(b)(2) provides that the Exchange shall collect 
and transmit to the SEC the data described in Items I and II of 
Appendix B of the Plan relating to trading activity in Pre-Pilot 
Securities and Pilot Securities on a Trading Center operated by the 
Exchange. The Exchange shall transmit such data to the SEC in a pipe 
delimited format, on a disaggregated basis by Trading Center, within 30 
calendar days following month end for: (i) Each Pre-Pilot Data 
Collection Security for the period beginning six months prior to the 
Pilot Period through the trading day immediately preceding the Pilot 
Period; and (ii) each Pilot Security for the period beginning on the 
first day of the Pilot Period through six months after the end of the 
Pilot Period. The Exchange also shall make such data publicly available 
on the Exchange Web site on a monthly basis at no charge and will not 
identify the Member that generated the data.
    Appendix B.IV (Daily Market Maker Participation Statistics) 
requires a Participant to collect data related to Market Maker 
participation from each Market Maker \23\ engaging in trading activity 
on a Trading Center operated by the Participant. The Exchange is 
therefore proposing Rule 4770(b)(3) to gather data about a Market 
Maker's participation in Pilot Securities and Pre-Pilot Data Collection 
Securities. Proposed Rule 4770(b)(3)(A) provides that a Member that is 
a Market Maker shall collect and transmit to their DEA data relating to 
Item IV of Appendix B of the Plan with respect to activity conducted on 
any Trading Center in Pilot Securities and Pre-Pilot Data Collection 
Securities in furtherance of its status as a registered Market Maker, 
including a Trading Center that executes trades otherwise than on a 
national securities exchange, for transactions that have settled or 
reached settlement date.
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    \23\ The Plan defines a Market Maker as ``a dealer registered 
with any self-regulatory organization, in accordance with the rules 
thereof, as (i) a market maker or (ii) a liquidity provider with an 
obligation to maintain continuous, two-sided trading interest.''
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    The proposed rule requires Market Makers to transmit such data in a 
format required by their DEA, by 12:00 p.m. EST on T + 4 for: (i) 
Transactions in each Pre-Pilot Data Collection Security for the period 
beginning six months prior to the Pilot Period through the trading day 
immediately preceding the Pilot Period; and (ii) for transactions in 
each Pilot Security for the period beginning on the first day of the 
Pilot Period through six months after the end of the Pilot Period.
    The Exchange understands that some Members may utilize a DEA that 
is not a Participant to the Plan and that their DEA would not be 
subject to the Plan's data collection requirements. In such case, a DEA 
that is not a Participant of the Plan would not have an obligation to 
collect the data required under subparagraph (b)(3)(A) of Rule 4770 and 
in accordance with Item IV of Appendix B of the Plan. Therefore, the 
Exchange proposes to adopt subparagraph (b)(3)(B) to Rule 4770 to 
require a Member that is a Market Maker whose DEA is not a Participant 
to the Plan to transmit the data collected pursuant to paragraph (3)(A) 
of Rule 4770(b) to FINRA, which is a Participant to the Plan and is to 
collect data relating to Item IV of Appendix B of the Plan on behalf of 
the Participants. For Market Makers for which it is the DEA, FINRA 
issued a Market Maker Transaction Data Technical Specification to 
collect data on Pre-Pilot Data Collection Securities and Pilot 
Securities from Trading Centers to comply with the Plan's data 
collection requirements.\24\
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    \24\ FINRA members for which FINRA is their DEA should refer to 
the Market Maker Transaction Data Technical Specification on the 
FINRA Web site at http://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/market-maker-transaction-data-tech-specs.pdf.
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    Proposed Rule 4770(b)(3)(C) provides that the Exchange shall 
transmit the data collected by the DEA or FINRA pursuant to Rule 
4770(b)(3)(A) and (B) above relating to Market Maker activity on a 
Trading Center operated by the Exchange to the SEC in a pipe delimited 
format within 30 calendar days following month end. The Exchange shall 
also make such data publicly available on the Exchange Web site on a 
monthly basis at no charge and shall not identify the Trading Center 
that generated the data.
    Appendix C.I (Market Maker Profitability) requires a Participant to 
collect data related to Market Maker profitability from each Market 
Maker for which it is the DEA. Specifically, the Participant is 
required to collect the total number of shares of orders executed by 
the Market Maker; the raw Market Maker realized trading profits, and 
the raw Market Maker unrealized trading profits. Data shall be 
collected for dates starting six months prior to the Pilot Period 
through six months after the end of the Pilot Period. This data shall 
be collected on a monthly basis, to be provided in a pipe delimited 
format to the Participant, as DEA, within 30 calendar days following 
month end.
    Appendix C.II (Aggregated Market Maker Profitability) requires the 
Participant, as DEA, to aggregate the Appendix C.I data, and to 
categorize this data by security as well as by the control group and 
each Test Group. That aggregated data shall contain information 
relating to total raw Market Maker realized trading profits, volume-
weighted average of raw Market Maker realized trading profits, the 
total raw Market Maker unrealized trading profits, and the volume-
weighted average of Market Maker unrealized trading profits.
    The Exchange is therefore proposing Rule 4770(b)(4) to set forth 
the requirements for the collection and transmission of data pursuant 
to Appendix C.I of the Plan. Proposed Rule 4770(b)(4)(A) requires that 
a Member that is a Market Maker shall collect and transmit to their DEA 
the data described in Item I of Appendix C of the Plan with respect to 
executions in Pilot Securities that have settled or reached settlement 
date that were executed on any Trading Center.
    The proposed rule also requires Members to provide such data in a 
format required by their DEA by 12 p.m. EST on T+4 for executions 
during and outside of Regular Trading Hours in each: (i) Pre-Pilot Data 
Collection Security for the period beginning six months prior to the 
Pilot Period through the trading day immediately preceding the Pilot 
Period; and (ii) Pilot Security for the period beginning on the first 
day of the Pilot Period through six months after the end of the Pilot 
Period.
    For the same reasons set forth above for subparagraph (b)(3)(B) to 
Rule 4770, the Exchange proposes to adopt subparagraph (b)(4)(B) to 
Rule 4770 to require a Member that is a Market Maker whose DEA is not a 
Participant to the Plan to transmit the data collected pursuant to 
paragraph (4)(A) of Rule 4770(b) to FINRA. As stated above, FINRA is a 
Participant to the Plan and is to collect data relating to Item I of 
Appendix C of the Plan on behalf of the Participants. For Market Makers 
for which it is the DEA, FINRA issued a Market Maker Transaction Data 
Technical Specification to collect data on Pre-Pilot Data Collection 
Securities and Pilot Securities from Trading

[[Page 18916]]

Centers to comply with the Plan's data collection requirements.\25\
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    \25\ Id.
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    The Exchange is also adopting a rule setting forth the manner in 
which Market Maker participation will be calculated. Item III of 
Appendix B of the Plan requires each Participant that is a national 
securities exchange to collect daily Market Maker registration 
statistics categorized by security, including the following 
information: (i) Ticker symbol; (ii) the Participant exchange; (iii) 
number of registered market makers; and (iv) the number of other 
registered liquidity providers.
    Therefore, the Exchange proposes to adopt Rule 4770(b)(5) providing 
that the Exchange shall collect and transmit to the SEC the data 
described in Item III of Appendix B of the Plan relating to daily 
Market Maker registration statistics in a pipe delimited format within 
30 calendar days following month end for: (i) Transactions in each Pre-
Pilot Data Collection Security for the period beginning six months 
prior to the Pilot Period through the trading day immediately preceding 
the Pilot Period; and (ii) transactions in each Pilot Security for the 
period beginning on the first day of the Pilot Period through six 
months after the end of the Pilot Period.
    The Exchange is also proposing, through Commentary, to clarify 
other aspects of the data collection requirements.\26\ Proposed 
Commentary .02 relates to the use of the retail investor order flag for 
purposes of Appendix B.II(n) reporting. The Plan currently states that 
market and marketable limit orders shall include a ``yes/no'' field 
relating to the Retail Investor Order flag. The Exchange is proposing 
Commentary .02 to clarify that, for purposes of the reporting 
requirement in Appendix B.II(n), a Trading Center shall report ``y'' to 
their DEA where it is relying upon the Retail Investor Order exception 
to Test Groups Two and Three, and ``n'' for all other instances.\27\ 
The Exchange believes that requiring the identification of a Retail 
Investor Orders only where the exception may apply (i.e., Pilot 
Securities in Test Groups Two and Three) is consistent with Appendix 
B.II(n).
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    \26\ The Exchange is also proposing Commentary .01 to Rule 4770 
to clarify that certain enumerated terms used throughout Rule 4770 
shall have the same meaning as set forth in the Plan.
    \27\ FINRA, on behalf of the Plan Participants submitted a 
letter to Commission requesting exemption from certain provisions of 
the Plan related to data collection. See letter from Marcia E. 
Asquith, Senior Vice President and Corporate Secretary, FINRA dated 
December 9, 2015 to Robert W. Errett, Deputy Secretary, Commission 
(``Exemption Request''). The Commission, pursuant to its authority 
under Rule 608(e) of Regulation NMS, granted BZX a limited exemption 
from the requirement to comply with certain provisions of the Plan 
as specified in the letter and noted herein. See letter from David 
Shillman, Associate Director, Division of Trading and Markets, 
Commission, to Eric Swanson, General Counsel, BZX, dated February 
10, 2016 (``Exemption Letter'').
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    Commentary .03 requires that Members populate a field to identify 
to their DEA whether an order is affected by the bands in place 
pursuant to the National Market System Plan to Address Extraordinary 
Market Volatility.\28\ Pursuant to the Limit-Up Limit-Down Plan, 
between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., the Securities Information Processor 
(``SIP'') calculates a lower price band and an upper price band for 
each NMS stock. These price bands represent a specified percentage 
above or below the stock's reference price, which generally is 
calculated based on reported transactions in that stock over the 
preceding five minutes. When one side of the market for an individual 
security is outside the applicable price band, the SIP identifies that 
quotation as non-executable. When the other side of the market reaches 
the applicable price band (e.g., the offer reaches the lower price 
band), the security enters a Limit State. The stock would exit a Limit 
State if, within 15 seconds of entering the Limit State, all Limit 
State Quotations were executed or canceled in their entirety. If the 
security does not exit a Limit State within 15 seconds, then the 
primary listing exchange declares a five-minute trading pause, which 
would be applicable to all markets trading the security.
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    \28\ See National Market System Plan to Address Extraordinary 
Market Volatility, Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67091 (May 
31, 2012), 77 FR 33498 (June 6, 2012) (File No. 4-631) (``Limit-Up 
Limit-Down Plan'').
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    The Exchange and the other Participants have determined that it is 
appropriate to create a new flag for reporting orders that are affected 
by the Limit-Up Limit-Down bands. Accordingly, a Trading Center shall 
report a value of ``Y'' to their DEA when the ability of an order to 
execute has been affected by the Limit-Up Limit-Down bands in effect at 
the time of order receipt. A Trading Center shall report a value of 
``N'' to their DEA when the ability of an order to execute has not been 
affected by the Limit-Up Limit-Down bands in effect at the time of 
order receipt.
    Commentary .03 also requires, for securities that may trade in a 
foreign market, that the Participant indicate whether the order was 
handled domestically, or routed to a foreign venue. Accordingly, the 
Participant will indicate, for purposes of Appendix B.I, whether the 
order was: (1) Fully executed domestically, or (2) fully or partially 
executed on a foreign market. For purposes of Appendix B.II, the 
Participant will classify all orders in securities that may trade in a 
foreign market Pilot and Pre-Pilot Securities as: (1) Directed to a 
domestic venue for execution; (2) may only be directed to a foreign 
venue for execution; or (3) was fully or partially directed to a 
foreign venue at the discretion of the member. The Exchange believes 
that this proposed flag will better identify orders in securities that 
may trade in a foreign market, as such orders that were routed to 
foreign venues would not be subject to the Plan's quoting and trading 
requirements, and could otherwise compromise the integrity of the data.
    Commentary .04 relates to the time ranges specified in Appendix 
B.I.a(14), B.I.a(15), B.I.a(21) and B.I.a(22).\29\ The Exchange and the 
other Participants have determined that it is appropriate to change the 
reporting times in these provisions to require more granular reporting 
for these categories. Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to add 
Appendix B.I.a(14A), which will require Trading Centers to report the 
cumulative number of shares of orders executed from 100 microseconds to 
less than 1 millisecond after the time of order receipt. Appendix 
B.I.a(15) will be changed to require the cumulative number of shares of 
orders executed from 1 millisecond to less than 100 milliseconds after 
the time of order receipt. The Exchange also proposes to add Appendix 
B.I.a(21A), which will require Trading Centers to report the cumulative 
number of shares of orders canceled from 100 microseconds to less than 
1 millisecond after the time of order receipt. Appendix B.I.a(22) will 
be changed to require the cumulative number of shares of orders 
canceled from 1 millisecond to less than 100 milliseconds after the 
time of order receipt. The Exchange believes that these new reporting 
requirements will contribute to a meaningful analysis of

[[Page 18917]]

the Pilot by producing more granular data on these points.\30\
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    \29\ Specifically, Appendix B.I.a(14) requires reporting of the 
cumulative number of shares of orders executed from 0 to less than 
100 microseconds after the time of order receipt; Appendix B.I.a(15) 
requires reporting of the cumulative number of shares of orders 
executed from 100 microseconds to less than 100 milliseconds after 
the time of order receipt; Appendix B.I.a(21) requires reporting of 
the cumulative number of shares of orders cancelled from 0 to less 
than 100 microseconds after the time of order receipt; and Appendix 
B.I.a(22) requires reporting of the cumulative number of shares of 
orders cancelled from 100 microseconds to less than 100 milliseconds 
after the time of order receipt.
    \30\ The Commission granted BZX an exemption from Rule 608(c) 
related to this provision. See Exemption Letter, supra note 27.
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    Commentary .05 relates to the relevant measurement for purposes of 
Appendix B.I.a(31)-(33) reporting. Currently, the Plan states that this 
data shall be reported as of the time of order execution. The Exchange 
and the other Participants believe that this information should more 
properly be captured at the time of order receipt as evaluating share-
weighted average prices at the time of order receipt is more consistent 
with the goal of observing the effect of the Pilot on the liquidity of 
Pilot Securities. The Exchange is therefore proposing to make this 
change through Commentary .05.\31\ This change will make these 
provisions consistent with the remainder of the statistics in Appendix 
B.I.a, which are all based on order receipt.
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    \31\ The Commission granted BZX an exemption from Rule 608(c) 
related to this provision. See Exemption Letter, supra note 27.
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    Commentary .06 addresses the status of not-held and auction orders 
for purposes of Appendix B.I reporting. Currently, Appendix B.I sets 
forth eight categories of orders, including market orders, marketable 
limit orders, and inside-the-quote resting limit orders, for which 
daily market quality statistics must be reported. Currently, Appendix 
B.I does not provide a category for not held orders, clean cross 
orders, auction orders, or orders received when the NBBO is crossed.
    The Exchange and the other Participants have determined that it is 
appropriate to include separate categories for these orders types for 
purposes of Appendix B reporting. The Exchange is therefore proposing 
Commentary .06 to provide that not held orders shall be included as an 
order type for purposes of Appendix B reporting, and shall be assigned 
the number (18). Clean cross orders shall be included as an order type 
for purposes of Appendix B reporting, and shall be assigned the number 
(19); auction orders shall be included an as order type for purposes of 
Appendix B reporting, and shall be assigned the number (20); and orders 
that cannot otherwise be classified, including, for example, orders 
received when the NBBO is crossed shall be included as an order type 
for purposes of Appendix B reporting, and shall be assigned the number 
(21). All of these orders already are included in the scope of Appendix 
B; however, without this proposed change, these order types would be 
categorized with other orders, such as regular held orders, that should 
be able to be fully executed upon receipt, which would compromise the 
value of this data.
    The Exchange is proposing Commentary .07 to clarify the scope of 
the Plan as it relates to Members that only execute orders limited 
purposes. Specifically, The Exchange and the other Participants believe 
that a Member that only executes orders otherwise than on a national 
securities exchange for the purpose of: (1) Correcting a bona fide 
error related to the execution of a customer order; (2) purchasing a 
security from a customer at a nominal price solely for purposes of 
liquidating the customer's position; or (3) completing the fractional 
share portion of an order \32\ shall not be deemed a Trading Center for 
purposes of Appendix B to the Plan. The Exchange is therefore proposing 
Commentary .07 to make this clarification.
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    \32\ The Exchange notes that where a Member purchases a 
fractional share from a customer, the Trading Center that executes 
the remaining whole shares of that customer order would subject to 
subject to Appendix B of the Plan.
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    The Exchange is proposing Commentary .08 to clarify that, for 
purposes of the Plan, Trading Centers must begin the data collection 
required pursuant to Appendix B.I.a(1) through B.II.(y) of the Plan and 
Item I of Appendix C of the Plan on April 4, 2016. While the Exchange 
or the Member's DEA will provide the information required by Appendix B 
and C of the Plan during the Pilot Period, the requirement that the 
Exchange or their DEA provide information to the SEC within 30 days 
following month end and make such data publicly available on its Web 
site pursuant to Appendix B and C shall commence six months prior to 
the beginning of the Pilot Period.\33\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \33\ In its order approving the Plan, the SEC noted that the 
Pilot shall be implemented within one year of the date of 
publication of its order, e.g., by May 6, 2016. See Approval Order, 
80 FR at 27545. However, on November 6, 2015, the SEC extended the 
implementation date approximately five months to October 3, 2016. 
See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76382 (November 6, 2015), 80 
FR 70284 (File No. 4-657) (Order Granting Exemption From Compliance 
With the National Market System Plan To Implement a Tick Size Pilot 
Program). See also Letter from Brendon J. Weiss, Co-Head, Government 
Affairs, Intercontinental Exchange/NYSE, to Brent J. Fields, 
Secretary, Commission, dated November 4, 2015 (requesting the data 
collection period be extended until six months after the requisite 
SRO rules are approved, and the implementation data of the Tick Size 
Pilot until six months thereafter).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange is proposing Commentary .09 to address the requirement 
in Appendix C.I(b) of the Plan that the calculation of raw Market Maker 
realized trading profits utilize a last in, first out (``LIFO'')-like 
method to determine which share prices shall be used in that 
calculation. The Exchange and the other Participants believe that it is 
more appropriate to utilize a methodology that yields LIFO-like 
results, rather than utilizing a LIFO-like method, and the Exchange is 
therefore proposing Commentary .09 to make this change.\34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \34\ Appendix C.I currently requires Market Maker profitability 
statistics to include (1) the total number of shares of orders 
executed by the Market Maker; (2) raw Market Maker realized trading 
profits, which is the difference between the market value of Market 
Maker shares and the market value of Market Maker purchases, using a 
LIFO-like method; and (3) raw Market Maker unrealized trading 
profits, which is the difference between the purchase or sale price 
of the end-of-day inventory position of the Market Maker and the 
Closing Price. In the case of a short position, the Closing Price 
from the sale will be subtracted; in the case of a long position, 
the purchase price will be subtracted from the Closing Price.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange is proposing that, for purposes of Item I of Appendix 
C, the Participants shall calculate daily Market Maker realized 
profitability statistics for each trading day on a daily LIFO basis 
using reported trade price and shall include only trades executed on 
the subject trading day. The daily LIFO calculation shall not include 
any positions carried over from previous trading days. For purposes of 
Item I.c of Appendix C, the Participants shall calculate daily Market 
Maker unrealized profitability statistics for each trading day on an 
average price basis.
    Specifically, the Participants must calculate the volume weighted 
average price of the excess (deficit) of buy volume over sell volume 
for the current trading day using reported trade price. The gain (loss) 
of the excess (deficit) of buy volume over sell volume shall be 
determined by using the volume weighted average price compared to the 
closing price of the security as reported by the primary listing 
exchange. In reporting unrealized trading profits, the Participant 
shall also report the number of excess (deficit) shares held by the 
Market Maker, the volume weighted average price of that excess 
(deficit) and the closing price of the security as reported by the 
primary listing exchange used in reporting unrealized profit.\35\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \35\ The Commission granted BZX an exemption from Rule 608(c) 
related to this provision. See Exemption Letter, supra note 27.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Finally, the Exchange is proposing Commentary .10 to address the 
securities that will be used for data collection purposes prior to the 
commencement of the Pilot. The Exchange and the other Participants have 
determined that it is appropriate to collect data for a group of 
securities that is larger, and using different

[[Page 18918]]

quantitative thresholds, than the group of securities that will be 
Pilot Securities.
    The Exchange is therefore proposing Commentary .10 to define ``Pre-
Pilot Data Collection Securities'' as the securities designated by the 
Participants for purposes of the data collection requirements described 
in Items I, II and IV of Appendix B and Item I of Appendix C of the 
Plan for the period beginning six months prior to the Pilot Period and 
ending on the trading day immediately preceding the Pilot Period.
    The Participants shall compile the list of Pre-Pilot Data 
Collection Securities by selecting all NMS stocks with a market 
capitalization of $5 billion or less, a Consolidated Average Daily 
Volume (CADV) of 2 million shares or less and a closing price of $1 per 
share or more. The market capitalization and the closing price 
thresholds shall be applied to the last day of the Pre-Pilot 
measurement period, and the CADV threshold shall be applied to the 
duration of the Pre-Pilot measurement period. The Pre-Pilot measurement 
period shall be the three calendar months ending on the day when the 
Pre-Pilot Data Collection Securities are selected. The Pre-Pilot Data 
Collection Securities shall be selected thirty days prior to the 
commencement of the six-month Pre-Pilot Period. On the trading day that 
is the first trading day of the Pilot Period through six months after 
the end of the Pilot Period, the data collection requirements will 
become applicable to the Pilot Securities only. A Pilot Security will 
only be eligible to be included in a Test Group if it was a Pre-Pilot 
Security.
Implementation Date
    The proposed rule change will be effective on April 4, 2016.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 
6(b) of the Act,\36\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act,\37\ in particular, in that it is designed to 
promote just and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation 
and coordination with persons engaged in facilitating transactions in 
securities, to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a 
free and open market and a national market system and, in general, to 
protect investors and the public interest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \36\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \37\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that this proposal is consistent with the Act 
because it implements and clarifies the provisions of the Plan, and is 
designed to assist the Exchange in meeting its regulatory obligations 
pursuant of the Plan. In approving the Plan, the SEC noted that the 
Pilot was an appropriate, data-driven test that was designed to 
evaluate the impact of a wider tick size on trading, liquidity, and the 
market quality of securities of smaller capitalization companies, and 
was therefore in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
    The Exchange believes that this proposal is in furtherance of the 
objectives of the Plan, as identified by the SEC, and is therefore 
consistent with the Act because the proposal implements and clarifies 
the requirements of the Plan and applies specific obligations to 
Members in furtherance of compliance with the Plan.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will 
impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange notes that the 
proposed rule change implements the provisions of the Plan, and is 
designed to assist the Exchange in meeting its regulatory obligations 
pursuant of the Plan. The Exchange also notes that the data collection 
requirements for Members that operate Trading Centers will apply 
equally to all such Members, as will the data collection requirements 
for Market Makers.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    No written comments were either solicited or received.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Because the foregoing proposed rule change does not: (i) 
Significantly affect the protection of investors or the public 
interest; (ii) impose any significant burden on competition; and (iii) 
become operative for 30 days from the date on which it was filed, or 
such shorter time as the Commission may designate, it has become 
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \38\ and 
subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b-4 thereunder.\39\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \38\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(a)(iii).
    \39\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6) 
requires a self-regulatory organization to give the Commission 
written notice of its intent to file the proposed rule change at 
least five business days prior to the date of filing of the proposed 
rule change, or such shorter time as designated by the Commission. 
The Exchange has satisfied this requirement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A proposed rule change filed pursuant to Rule 19b-4(f)(6) under the 
Act \40\ normally does not become operative for 30 days after the date 
of its filing. However, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) \41\ permits the 
Commission to designate a shorter time if such action is consistent 
with the protection of investors and the public interest. The Exchange 
has asked the Commission to waive the 30-day operative delay. The 
Commission believes that waiver of the operative delay is consistent 
with the protection of investors and the public interest because it 
would allow the Exchange to implement the proposed amendments by April 
4, 2016, the date upon which the data collection requirements of the 
Plan become effective.\42\ Therefore, the Commission hereby waives the 
operative delay and designates the proposal operative on April 4, 
2016.\43\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
    \41\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii).
    \42\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76382 (November 6, 
2015), 80 FR 70284 (File No. 4-657) (Order Granting Exemption From 
Compliance With the National Market System Plan To Implement a Tick 
Size Pilot Program).
    \43\ For purposes only of waiving the 30-day operative delay, 
the Commission has also considered the proposed rule's impact on 
efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 
78c(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule 
change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule 
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is: (i) 
Necessary or appropriate in the public interest; (ii) for the 
protection of investors; or (iii) otherwise in furtherance of the 
purposes of the Act. If the Commission takes such action, the 
Commission shall institute proceedings to determine whether the 
proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of 
the following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-BX-2016-019 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Brent J. Fields, 
Secretary, Securities

[[Page 18919]]

and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-BX-2016-019. This file 
number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To help 
the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, 
please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on 
the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml).
    Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written 
statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with 
the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed 
rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those 
that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions 
of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for Web site viewing and printing in 
the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE., Washington, 
DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 
3:00 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection 
and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments 
received will be posted without change; the Commission does not edit 
personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit 
only information that you wish to make available publicly. All 
submissions should refer to File Number SR-BX-2016-019 and should be 
submitted on or before April 22, 2016.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\44\
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \44\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[FR Doc. 2016-07334 Filed 3-31-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P



                                                                                       Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices                                                 18913

                                                    19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 9 and                         available for Web site viewing and                   by the Commission by the Bats BZX
                                                    subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b–4                         printing in the Commission’s Public                  Exchange, Inc. f/k/a BATS Exchange,
                                                    thereunder.10                                             Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,                    Inc. (‘‘BZX’’) to adopt BZX Rule 11.27(b)
                                                       At any time within 60 days of the                      Washington, DC 20549, on official                    which also sets forth requirements for
                                                    filing of the proposed rule change, the                   business days between the hours of                   the collection and transmission of data
                                                    Commission summarily may                                  10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the               pursuant to Appendices B and C of the
                                                    temporarily suspend such rule change if                   filing also will be available for                    Plan.3
                                                    it appears to the Commission that such                    inspection and copying at the principal
                                                                                                                                                                      The text of the proposed rule change
                                                    action is: (i) Necessary or appropriate in                office of the Exchange. All comments
                                                                                                                                                                   is available on the Exchange’s Web site
                                                    the public interest; (ii) for the protection              received will be posted without change;
                                                                                                                                                                   at http://nasdaqomxbx.cchwall
                                                    of investors; or (iii) otherwise in                       the Commission does not edit personal
                                                                                                                                                                   street.com/, at the principal office of the
                                                    furtherance of the purposes of the Act.                   identifying information from
                                                                                                                                                                   Exchange, and at the Commission’s
                                                    If the Commission takes such action, the                  submissions. You should submit only
                                                                                                              information that you wish to make                    Public Reference Room.
                                                    Commission shall institute proceedings
                                                    to determine whether the proposed rule                    available publicly. All submissions                  II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                    should be approved or disapproved.                        should refer to File Number SR–                      Statement of the Purpose of, and
                                                                                                              NASDAQ–2016–039 and should be                        Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                    IV. Solicitation of Comments                              submitted on or before April 22, 2016.               Change
                                                      Interested persons are invited to                         For the Commission, by the Division of
                                                    submit written data, views and                            Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated             In its filing with the Commission, the
                                                    arguments concerning the foregoing,                       authority.11                                         Exchange included statements
                                                    including whether the proposed rule                       Robert W. Errett,                                    concerning the purpose of and basis for
                                                    change is consistent with the Act.                        Deputy Secretary.                                    the proposed rule change and discussed
                                                    Comments may be submitted by any of                       [FR Doc. 2016–07331 Filed 3–31–16; 8:45 am]          any comments it received on the
                                                    the following methods:                                    BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                                                                                                                                   proposed rule change. The text of these
                                                                                                                                                                   statements may be examined at the
                                                    Electronic Comments
                                                                                                                                                                   places specified in Item IV below. The
                                                      • Use the Commission’s Internet                         SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE                              Exchange has prepared summaries, set
                                                    comment form (http://www.sec.gov/                         COMMISSION                                           forth in sections A, B, and C below, of
                                                    rules/sro.shtml); or                                                                                           the most significant aspects of such
                                                      • Send an email to rule-comments@                       [Release No. 34–77457; File No. SR–BX–               statements.
                                                    sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–                   2016–019]
                                                    NASDAQ–2016–039 on the subject line.                                                                           A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                                                                              Self-Regulatory Organizations;                       Statement of the Purpose of, and
                                                    Paper Comments                                            NASDAQ BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing and                Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                                                                              Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
                                                       • Send paper comments in triplicate                                                                         Change
                                                                                                              Rule Change To Adopt Rule 4770 To
                                                    to Secretary, Securities and Exchange                                                                          1. Purpose
                                                                                                              Implement the Regulation NMS Plan To
                                                    Commission, 100 F Street NE.,
                                                                                                              Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program
                                                    Washington, DC 20549–1090.                                                                                        On August 25, 2014, NYSE Group,
                                                    All submissions should refer to File                      March 28, 2016.                                      Inc., on behalf of BATS Exchange, Inc.,
                                                    Number SR–NASDAQ–2016–039. This                              Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the               BATS Y-Exchange, Inc., Chicago Stock
                                                    file number should be included on the                     Securities Exchange Act of 1934                      Exchange, Inc., EDGA Exchange, Inc.,
                                                    subject line if email is used. To help the                (‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2              EDGX Exchange, Inc., Financial
                                                    Commission process and review your                        notice is hereby given that on March 23,             Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.
                                                    comments more efficiently, please use                     2016, NASDAQ BX, Inc. (‘‘Exchange’’)                 (‘‘FINRA’’), NASDAQ BX, Inc.,
                                                    only one method. The Commission will                      filed with the Securities and Exchange               NASDAQ PHLX LLC, the Nasdaq Stock
                                                    post all comments on the Commission’s                     Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)               Market LLC, New York Stock Exchange
                                                    Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/                    the proposed rule change as described                LLC (‘‘NYSE’’), NYSE MKT LLC, and
                                                    rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the                           in Items I and II below, which Items                 NYSE Arca, Inc. (collectively
                                                    submission, all subsequent                                have been prepared by the Exchange.                  ‘‘Participants’’), filed with the
                                                    amendments, all written statements                        The Commission is publishing this                    Commission, pursuant to Section 11A of
                                                    with respect to the proposed rule                         notice to solicit comments on the                    the Act 4 and Rule 608 of Regulation
                                                    change that are filed with the                            proposed rule change from interested                 NMS thereunder,5 the Plan to
                                                    Commission, and all written                               persons.                                             Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program
                                                    communications relating to the                            I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                    (‘‘Pilot’’).6
                                                    proposed rule change between the                          Statement of the Terms of Substance of                  The Participants filed the Plan to
                                                    Commission and any person, other than                     the Proposed Rule Change                             comply with an order issued by the
                                                    those that may be withheld from the
                                                    public in accordance with the                                The Exchange proposes to a proposal
                                                                                                                                                                      3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 77105
                                                    provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                       to adopt Exchange Rule 4770 to                       (February 10, 2016), 81 FR 8112 (February 17, 2016)
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                                                                              implement the Regulation NMS Plan to                 (order approving SR–BATS–2015–102); see also
                                                      9 15  U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(a)(iii) [sic].                   Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program.                 Securities Exchange Act Release No. 77310 (March
                                                      10 17  CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b–      The proposed rule change is                          7, 2016), 81 FR 13012 (March 11, 2016) (notice for
                                                                                                                                                                   comment and immediate effectiveness of SR–
                                                    4(f)(6) requires a self-regulatory organization to give   substantially similar to proposed rule               BATS–2016–27).
                                                    the Commission written notice of its intent to file       changes recently approved or published                  4 15 U.S.C. 78k–1.
                                                    the proposed rule change at least five business days
                                                                                                                                                                      5 17 CFR 242.608.
                                                    prior to the date of filing of the proposed rule
                                                                                                                11 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
                                                    change, or such shorter time as designated by the                                                                 6 See Letter from Brendon J. Weiss, Vice
                                                                                                                1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                                                    Commission. The Exchange has satisfied this                                                                    President, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., to
                                                    requirement.                                                2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.                                Secretary, Commission, dated August 25, 2014.



                                               VerDate Sep<11>2014    17:25 Mar 31, 2016   Jkt 238001   PO 00000   Frm 00091   Fmt 4703   Sfmt 4703   E:\FR\FM\01APN1.SGM   01APN1


                                                    18914                              Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices

                                                    Commission on June 24, 2014.7 The                        Group Three’’) will be subject to the                    or not, the cumulative number of orders,
                                                    Plan 8 was published for comment in the                  same quoting and trading increments as                   the cumulative number of shares of
                                                    Federal Register on November 7, 2014,                    Test Group Two and also will be subject                  orders, and the cumulative number of
                                                    and approved by the Commission, as                       to the ‘‘Trade-at’’ requirement to prevent               shares executed within specific time
                                                    modified, on May 6, 2015.9                               price matching by a market participant                   increments, e.g., from 30 seconds to less
                                                       The Plan is designed to allow the                     that is not displaying at a Trading                      than 60 seconds after the time of order
                                                    Commission, market participants, and                     Center’s ‘‘Best Protected Bid’’ or ‘‘Best                receipt. This information shall be
                                                    the public to study and assess the                       Protected Offer,’’ unless an enumerated                  categorized by security, order type,
                                                    impact of increment conventions on the                   exception applies.15 In addition to the                  original order size, hidden status, and
                                                    liquidity and trading of the common                      exceptions provided under Test Group                     coverage under Rule 605.21
                                                    stocks of small-capitalization                           Two, an exception for Block Size orders                     Appendix B.I of the Plan also contains
                                                    companies. Each Participant is required                  and exceptions that mirror those under                   additional requirements for market
                                                    to comply, and to enforce compliance                     Rule 611 of Regulation NMS 16 will                       orders and marketable limit orders,
                                                    by its member organizations, as                          apply to the Trade-at requirement.                       including the share-weighted average
                                                    applicable, with the provisions of the                      In approving the Plan, the                            effective spread for executions of orders;
                                                    Plan. As is described more fully below,                  Commission noted that the Trading                        the cumulative number of shares of
                                                    the proposed rules would require                         Center data reporting requirements                       orders executed with price
                                                    Members 10 to comply with the                            would facilitate an analysis of the                      improvement; and, for shares executed
                                                    applicable data collection requirements                  effects of the Pilot on liquidity (e.g.,                 with price improvement, the share-
                                                    of the Plan.11                                           transaction costs by order size),                        weighted average amount per share that
                                                       The Pilot will include stocks of                      execution quality (e.g., speed of order                  prices were improved.
                                                    companies with $3 billion or less in                     executions), market maker activity,                         Appendix B.II of the Plan (Market and
                                                    market capitalization, an average daily                  competition between trading venues                       Marketable Limit Order Data) requires
                                                    trading volume of one million shares or                  (e.g., routing frequency of market                       Trading Centers to submit information
                                                    less, and a volume weighted average                      orders), transparency (e.g., choice                      relating to market orders and marketable
                                                    price of at least $2.00 for every trading                between displayed and hidden orders),                    limit orders, including the time of order
                                                    day. The Pilot will consist of a control                 and market dynamics (e.g., rates and                     receipt, order type, the order size, the
                                                    group of approximately 1400 Pilot                        speed of order cancellations).17                         National Best Bid and National Best
                                                    Securities and three test groups with                       The Commission also noted that                        Offer (‘‘NBBO’’) quoted price, the NBBO
                                                    400 Pilot Securities in each (selected by                Market Maker profitability data would                    quoted depth, the average execution
                                                    a stratified random sampling process).12                 assist the Commission in evaluating the                  price-share-weighted average, and the
                                                    During the pilot, Pilot Securities in the                effect, if any, of a widened tick                        average execution time-share-weighted
                                                    control group will be quoted at the                      increment on market marker profits and                   average.
                                                    current tick size increment of $0.01 per                 any corresponding changes in the                            The Plan requires Appendix B.I and
                                                    share and will trade at the currently                    liquidity of small-capitalization                        B.II data to be submitted by Participants
                                                    permitted increments.                                    securities.18                                            that operate a Trading Center, and by
                                                       Pilot Securities in the first test group                                                                       members of the Participants that operate
                                                                                                             Compliance With the Data Collection
                                                    (‘‘Test Group One’’) will be quoted in                                                                            Trading Centers. The Plan provides that
                                                                                                             Requirements of the Plan
                                                    $0.05 minimum increments but will                                                                                 each Participant that is the Designated
                                                    continue to trade at any price increment                   The Plan contains requirements for                     Examining Authority (‘‘DEA’’) for a
                                                    that is currently permitted.13 Pilot                     collecting and transmitting data to the                  member of the Participant that operates
                                                    Securities in the second test group                      Commission and to the public.19                          a Trading Center shall collect such data
                                                    (‘‘Test Group Two’’) will be quoted in                   Specifically, Appendix B.I of the Plan                   in a pipe delimited format, beginning
                                                    $0.05 minimum increments and will                        (Market Quality Statistics) requires                     six months prior to the Pilot Period and
                                                    trade at $0.05 minimum increments                        Trading Centers 20 to submit variety of                  ending six months after the end of the
                                                    subject to a midpoint exception, a retail                market quality statistics, including                     Pilot Period. The Plan also requires the
                                                    investor order exception, and a                          information about an order’s original                    Participant, operating as DEA, to
                                                    negotiated trade exception.14 Pilot                      size, whether the order was displayable                  transmit this information to the SEC
                                                    Securities in the third test group (‘‘Test                                                                        within 30 calendar days following
                                                                                                               15 See   Section VI(D) of the Plan.                    month end.
                                                                                                               16 17   CFR 242.611.
                                                      7 See  Securities Exchange Act Release No. 72460                                                                   The Exchange is therefore proposing
                                                                                                                17 See Approval Order, 80 FR at 27543.
                                                    (June 24, 2014), 79 FR 36840 (June 30, 2014).               18 Id.
                                                                                                                                                                      Rule 4770(b) to set forth the
                                                       8 Capitalized terms used in this rule filing are
                                                                                                                19 The Exchange is also required by the Plan to
                                                                                                                                                                      requirements for the collection and
                                                    defined in the Plan, unless otherwise specified                                                                   transmission of data pursuant to
                                                    herein.                                                  establish, maintain, and enforce written policies
                                                       9 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 74892       and procedures that are reasonably designed to           Appendices B and C of the Plan.
                                                    (May 6, 2015), 80 FR 27513 (May 13, 2015)
                                                                                                             comply with applicable quoting and trading               Proposed Rule 4770(b) is substantially
                                                                                                             requirements specified in the Plan. The Exchange         similar to proposed rule changes by
                                                    (‘‘Approval Order’’).
                                                                                                             intends to separately propose rules that would
                                                       10 The term ‘‘Member’’ or ‘‘Exchange Member’’ is
                                                                                                             require compliance by its Members with the               BZX that were recently approved or
                                                    defined as ‘‘any registered broker or dealer that has    applicable quoting and trading requirements              published by the Commission to adopt
                                                    been admitted to membership in the Exchange.’’
                                                    See Exchange Rule 0120(i).
                                                                                                             specified in the Plan, and has reserved Paragraph        BZX Rule 11.27(b) which also sets forth
                                                                                                             (a) for such rules.
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                       11 The Exchange proposes Commentary .11 to
                                                                                                                20 The Plan incorporates the definition of a
                                                                                                                                                                      requirements for the collection and
                                                    Rule 4770 to provide that the Rule shall be in effect    ‘‘Trading Center’’ from Rule 600(b)(78) of
                                                                                                                                                                      transmission of data pursuant to
                                                    during a pilot period to coincide with the pilot         Regulation NMS. Regulation NMS defines a                 Appendices B and C of the Plan.22
                                                    period for the Plan (including any extensions to the     ‘‘Trading Center’’ as ‘‘a national securities exchange      Proposed Rule 4770(b)(1) requires that
                                                    pilot period for the Plan).                              or national securities association that operates an
                                                       12 See Section V of the Plan for identification of
                                                                                                                                                                      a Member that operates a Trading Center
                                                                                                             SRO trading facility, an alternative trading system,
                                                    Pilot Securities, including criteria for selection and   an exchange market maker, an OTC market maker,
                                                                                                                                                                      shall establish, maintain, and enforce
                                                    grouping.                                                or any other broker or dealer that executes orders
                                                       13 See Section VI(B) of the Plan.                                                                               21 17   CFR 242.605.
                                                                                                             internally by trading as principal or crossing orders
                                                       14 See Section VI(C) of the Plan.                     as agent.’’ See 17 CFR 242.600(b).                        22 See   supra note 3.



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                                                                                      Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices                                          18915

                                                    written policies and procedures that are                required by their DEA, by 12:00 p.m.                  for dates starting six months prior to the
                                                    reasonably designed to comply with the                  EST on T + 4 for: (i) Transactions in                 Pilot Period through six months after
                                                    data collection and transmission                        each Pre-Pilot Data Collection Security               the end of the Pilot Period. This data
                                                    requirements of Items I and II to                       for the period beginning six months                   shall be collected on a monthly basis, to
                                                    Appendix B of the Plan, and a Member                    prior to the Pilot Period through the                 be provided in a pipe delimited format
                                                    that is a Market Maker shall establish,                 trading day immediately preceding the                 to the Participant, as DEA, within 30
                                                    maintain, and enforce written policies                  Pilot Period; and (ii) for transactions in            calendar days following month end.
                                                    and procedures that are reasonably                      each Pilot Security for the period
                                                    designed to comply with the data                        beginning on the first day of the Pilot                  Appendix C.II (Aggregated Market
                                                    collection and transmission                             Period through six months after the end               Maker Profitability) requires the
                                                    requirements of Item IV of Appendix B                   of the Pilot Period.                                  Participant, as DEA, to aggregate the
                                                    of the Plan and Item I of Appendix C of                    The Exchange understands that some                 Appendix C.I data, and to categorize
                                                    the Plan.                                               Members may utilize a DEA that is not                 this data by security as well as by the
                                                       Proposed Rule 4770(b)(2) provides                    a Participant to the Plan and that their              control group and each Test Group. That
                                                    that the Exchange shall collect and                     DEA would not be subject to the Plan’s                aggregated data shall contain
                                                    transmit to the SEC the data described                  data collection requirements. In such                 information relating to total raw Market
                                                    in Items I and II of Appendix B of the                  case, a DEA that is not a Participant of              Maker realized trading profits, volume-
                                                    Plan relating to trading activity in Pre-               the Plan would not have an obligation                 weighted average of raw Market Maker
                                                    Pilot Securities and Pilot Securities on                to collect the data required under                    realized trading profits, the total raw
                                                    a Trading Center operated by the                        subparagraph (b)(3)(A) of Rule 4770 and               Market Maker unrealized trading profits,
                                                    Exchange. The Exchange shall transmit                   in accordance with Item IV of Appendix                and the volume-weighted average of
                                                    such data to the SEC in a pipe delimited                B of the Plan. Therefore, the Exchange                Market Maker unrealized trading profits.
                                                    format, on a disaggregated basis by                     proposes to adopt subparagraph
                                                                                                                                                                     The Exchange is therefore proposing
                                                    Trading Center, within 30 calendar days                 (b)(3)(B) to Rule 4770 to require a
                                                                                                                                                                  Rule 4770(b)(4) to set forth the
                                                    following month end for: (i) Each Pre-                  Member that is a Market Maker whose
                                                    Pilot Data Collection Security for the                  DEA is not a Participant to the Plan to               requirements for the collection and
                                                    period beginning six months prior to the                transmit the data collected pursuant to               transmission of data pursuant to
                                                    Pilot Period through the trading day                    paragraph (3)(A) of Rule 4770(b) to                   Appendix C.I of the Plan. Proposed Rule
                                                    immediately preceding the Pilot Period;                 FINRA, which is a Participant to the                  4770(b)(4)(A) requires that a Member
                                                    and (ii) each Pilot Security for the                    Plan and is to collect data relating to               that is a Market Maker shall collect and
                                                    period beginning on the first day of the                Item IV of Appendix B of the Plan on                  transmit to their DEA the data described
                                                    Pilot Period through six months after                   behalf of the Participants. For Market                in Item I of Appendix C of the Plan with
                                                    the end of the Pilot Period. The                        Makers for which it is the DEA, FINRA                 respect to executions in Pilot Securities
                                                    Exchange also shall make such data                      issued a Market Maker Transaction Data                that have settled or reached settlement
                                                    publicly available on the Exchange Web                  Technical Specification to collect data               date that were executed on any Trading
                                                    site on a monthly basis at no charge and                on Pre-Pilot Data Collection Securities               Center.
                                                    will not identify the Member that                       and Pilot Securities from Trading                        The proposed rule also requires
                                                    generated the data.                                     Centers to comply with the Plan’s data                Members to provide such data in a
                                                       Appendix B.IV (Daily Market Maker                    collection requirements.24                            format required by their DEA by 12 p.m.
                                                    Participation Statistics) requires a                       Proposed Rule 4770(b)(3)(C) provides
                                                                                                                                                                  EST on T+4 for executions during and
                                                    Participant to collect data related to                  that the Exchange shall transmit the
                                                                                                                                                                  outside of Regular Trading Hours in
                                                    Market Maker participation from each                    data collected by the DEA or FINRA
                                                    Market Maker 23 engaging in trading                     pursuant to Rule 4770(b)(3)(A) and (B)                each: (i) Pre-Pilot Data Collection
                                                    activity on a Trading Center operated by                above relating to Market Maker activity               Security for the period beginning six
                                                    the Participant. The Exchange is                        on a Trading Center operated by the                   months prior to the Pilot Period through
                                                    therefore proposing Rule 4770(b)(3) to                  Exchange to the SEC in a pipe delimited               the trading day immediately preceding
                                                    gather data about a Market Maker’s                      format within 30 calendar days                        the Pilot Period; and (ii) Pilot Security
                                                    participation in Pilot Securities and Pre-              following month end. The Exchange                     for the period beginning on the first day
                                                    Pilot Data Collection Securities.                       shall also make such data publicly                    of the Pilot Period through six months
                                                    Proposed Rule 4770(b)(3)(A) provides                    available on the Exchange Web site on                 after the end of the Pilot Period.
                                                    that a Member that is a Market Maker                    a monthly basis at no charge and shall                   For the same reasons set forth above
                                                    shall collect and transmit to their DEA                 not identify the Trading Center that                  for subparagraph (b)(3)(B) to Rule 4770,
                                                    data relating to Item IV of Appendix B                  generated the data.                                   the Exchange proposes to adopt
                                                    of the Plan with respect to activity                       Appendix C.I (Market Maker                         subparagraph (b)(4)(B) to Rule 4770 to
                                                    conducted on any Trading Center in                      Profitability) requires a Participant to              require a Member that is a Market Maker
                                                    Pilot Securities and Pre-Pilot Data                     collect data related to Market Maker
                                                                                                                                                                  whose DEA is not a Participant to the
                                                    Collection Securities in furtherance of                 profitability from each Market Maker for
                                                                                                                                                                  Plan to transmit the data collected
                                                    its status as a registered Market Maker,                which it is the DEA. Specifically, the
                                                                                                            Participant is required to collect the                pursuant to paragraph (4)(A) of Rule
                                                    including a Trading Center that executes
                                                                                                            total number of shares of orders                      4770(b) to FINRA. As stated above,
                                                    trades otherwise than on a national
                                                    securities exchange, for transactions that              executed by the Market Maker; the raw                 FINRA is a Participant to the Plan and
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    have settled or reached settlement date.                Market Maker realized trading profits,                is to collect data relating to Item I of
                                                       The proposed rule requires Market                    and the raw Market Maker unrealized                   Appendix C of the Plan on behalf of the
                                                    Makers to transmit such data in a format                trading profits. Data shall be collected              Participants. For Market Makers for
                                                                                                                                                                  which it is the DEA, FINRA issued a
                                                      23 The Plan defines a Market Maker as ‘‘a dealer        24 FINRA members for which FINRA is their DEA       Market Maker Transaction Data
                                                    registered with any self-regulatory organization, in    should refer to the Market Maker Transaction Data     Technical Specification to collect data
                                                    accordance with the rules thereof, as (i) a market      Technical Specification on the FINRA Web site at      on Pre-Pilot Data Collection Securities
                                                    maker or (ii) a liquidity provider with an obligation   http://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/market-
                                                    to maintain continuous, two-sided trading interest.’’   maker-transaction-data-tech-specs.pdf.                and Pilot Securities from Trading


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                                                    18916                             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices

                                                    Centers to comply with the Plan’s data                  requiring the identification of a Retail              executed domestically, or (2) fully or
                                                    collection requirements.25                              Investor Orders only where the                        partially executed on a foreign market.
                                                       The Exchange is also adopting a rule                 exception may apply (i.e., Pilot                      For purposes of Appendix B.II, the
                                                    setting forth the manner in which                       Securities in Test Groups Two and                     Participant will classify all orders in
                                                    Market Maker participation will be                      Three) is consistent with Appendix                    securities that may trade in a foreign
                                                    calculated. Item III of Appendix B of the               B.II(n).                                              market Pilot and Pre-Pilot Securities as:
                                                    Plan requires each Participant that is a                   Commentary .03 requires that                       (1) Directed to a domestic venue for
                                                    national securities exchange to collect                 Members populate a field to identify to               execution; (2) may only be directed to
                                                    daily Market Maker registration                         their DEA whether an order is affected
                                                                                                                                                                  a foreign venue for execution; or (3) was
                                                    statistics categorized by security,                     by the bands in place pursuant to the
                                                                                                                                                                  fully or partially directed to a foreign
                                                    including the following information:                    National Market System Plan to Address
                                                    (i) Ticker symbol; (ii) the Participant                 Extraordinary Market Volatility.28                    venue at the discretion of the member.
                                                    exchange; (iii) number of registered                    Pursuant to the Limit-Up Limit-Down                   The Exchange believes that this
                                                    market makers; and (iv) the number of                   Plan, between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,                proposed flag will better identify orders
                                                    other registered liquidity providers.                   the Securities Information Processor                  in securities that may trade in a foreign
                                                       Therefore, the Exchange proposes to                  (‘‘SIP’’) calculates a lower price band               market, as such orders that were routed
                                                    adopt Rule 4770(b)(5) providing that the                and an upper price band for each NMS                  to foreign venues would not be subject
                                                    Exchange shall collect and transmit to                  stock. These price bands represent a                  to the Plan’s quoting and trading
                                                    the SEC the data described in Item III of               specified percentage above or below the               requirements, and could otherwise
                                                    Appendix B of the Plan relating to daily                stock’s reference price, which generally              compromise the integrity of the data.
                                                    Market Maker registration statistics in a               is calculated based on reported                          Commentary .04 relates to the time
                                                    pipe delimited format within 30                         transactions in that stock over the                   ranges specified in Appendix B.I.a(14),
                                                    calendar days following month end for:                  preceding five minutes. When one side                 B.I.a(15), B.I.a(21) and B.I.a(22).29 The
                                                    (i) Transactions in each Pre-Pilot Data                 of the market for an individual security
                                                                                                                                                                  Exchange and the other Participants
                                                    Collection Security for the period                      is outside the applicable price band, the
                                                    beginning six months prior to the Pilot                                                                       have determined that it is appropriate to
                                                                                                            SIP identifies that quotation as non-
                                                    Period through the trading day                          executable. When the other side of the                change the reporting times in these
                                                    immediately preceding the Pilot Period;                 market reaches the applicable price                   provisions to require more granular
                                                    and (ii) transactions in each Pilot                     band (e.g., the offer reaches the lower               reporting for these categories.
                                                    Security for the period beginning on the                price band), the security enters a Limit              Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to
                                                    first day of the Pilot Period through six               State. The stock would exit a Limit State             add Appendix B.I.a(14A), which will
                                                    months after the end of the Pilot Period.               if, within 15 seconds of entering the                 require Trading Centers to report the
                                                       The Exchange is also proposing,                      Limit State, all Limit State Quotations               cumulative number of shares of orders
                                                    through Commentary, to clarify other                    were executed or canceled in their                    executed from 100 microseconds to less
                                                    aspects of the data collection                          entirety. If the security does not exit a             than 1 millisecond after the time of
                                                    requirements.26 Proposed Commentary                     Limit State within 15 seconds, then the               order receipt. Appendix B.I.a(15) will be
                                                    .02 relates to the use of the retail                    primary listing exchange declares a five-             changed to require the cumulative
                                                    investor order flag for purposes of                     minute trading pause, which would be                  number of shares of orders executed
                                                    Appendix B.II(n) reporting. The Plan                    applicable to all markets trading the                 from 1 millisecond to less than 100
                                                    currently states that market and                        security.                                             milliseconds after the time of order
                                                    marketable limit orders shall include a                    The Exchange and the other                         receipt. The Exchange also proposes to
                                                    ‘‘yes/no’’ field relating to the Retail                 Participants have determined that it is               add Appendix B.I.a(21A), which will
                                                    Investor Order flag. The Exchange is                    appropriate to create a new flag for                  require Trading Centers to report the
                                                    proposing Commentary .02 to clarify                     reporting orders that are affected by the             cumulative number of shares of orders
                                                    that, for purposes of the reporting                     Limit-Up Limit-Down bands.                            canceled from 100 microseconds to less
                                                    requirement in Appendix B.II(n), a                      Accordingly, a Trading Center shall                   than 1 millisecond after the time of
                                                    Trading Center shall report ‘‘y’’ to their              report a value of ‘‘Y’’ to their DEA when
                                                    DEA where it is relying upon the Retail                                                                       order receipt. Appendix B.I.a(22) will be
                                                                                                            the ability of an order to execute has
                                                    Investor Order exception to Test Groups                                                                       changed to require the cumulative
                                                                                                            been affected by the Limit-Up Limit-
                                                    Two and Three, and ‘‘n’’ for all other                  Down bands in effect at the time of                   number of shares of orders canceled
                                                    instances.27 The Exchange believes that                 order receipt. A Trading Center shall                 from 1 millisecond to less than 100
                                                                                                            report a value of ‘‘N’’ to their DEA when             milliseconds after the time of order
                                                      25 Id.
                                                                                                            the ability of an order to execute has not            receipt. The Exchange believes that
                                                       26 The Exchange is also proposing Commentary
                                                                                                            been affected by the Limit-Up Limit-                  these new reporting requirements will
                                                    .01 to Rule 4770 to clarify that certain enumerated                                                           contribute to a meaningful analysis of
                                                    terms used throughout Rule 4770 shall have the          Down bands in effect at the time of
                                                    same meaning as set forth in the Plan.                  order receipt.
                                                       27 FINRA, on behalf of the Plan Participants            Commentary .03 also requires, for                     29 Specifically, Appendix B.I.a(14) requires

                                                    submitted a letter to Commission requesting             securities that may trade in a foreign                reporting of the cumulative number of shares of
                                                    exemption from certain provisions of the Plan                                                                 orders executed from 0 to less than 100
                                                                                                            market, that the Participant indicate                 microseconds after the time of order receipt;
                                                    related to data collection. See letter from Marcia E.
                                                    Asquith, Senior Vice President and Corporate            whether the order was handled                         Appendix B.I.a(15) requires reporting of the
                                                                                                            domestically, or routed to a foreign
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    Secretary, FINRA dated December 9, 2015 to Robert                                                             cumulative number of shares of orders executed
                                                    W. Errett, Deputy Secretary, Commission                 venue. Accordingly, the Participant will              from 100 microseconds to less than 100
                                                    (‘‘Exemption Request’’). The Commission, pursuant                                                             milliseconds after the time of order receipt;
                                                                                                            indicate, for purposes of Appendix B.I,               Appendix B.I.a(21) requires reporting of the
                                                    to its authority under Rule 608(e) of Regulation
                                                    NMS, granted BZX a limited exemption from the           whether the order was: (1) Fully                      cumulative number of shares of orders cancelled
                                                    requirement to comply with certain provisions of                                                              from 0 to less than 100 microseconds after the time
                                                    the Plan as specified in the letter and noted herein.     28 See National Market System Plan to Address       of order receipt; and Appendix B.I.a(22) requires
                                                    See letter from David Shillman, Associate Director,     Extraordinary Market Volatility, Securities           reporting of the cumulative number of shares of
                                                    Division of Trading and Markets, Commission, to         Exchange Act Release No. 67091 (May 31, 2012), 77     orders cancelled from 100 microseconds to less
                                                    Eric Swanson, General Counsel, BZX, dated               FR 33498 (June 6, 2012) (File No. 4–631) (‘‘Limit-    than 100 milliseconds after the time of order
                                                    February 10, 2016 (‘‘Exemption Letter’’).               Up Limit-Down Plan’’).                                receipt.



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                                                                                     Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices                                                      18917

                                                    the Pilot by producing more granular                    regular held orders, that should be able                determine which share prices shall be
                                                    data on these points.30                                 to be fully executed upon receipt, which                used in that calculation. The Exchange
                                                       Commentary .05 relates to the                        would compromise the value of this                      and the other Participants believe that it
                                                    relevant measurement for purposes of                    data.                                                   is more appropriate to utilize a
                                                    Appendix B.I.a(31)–(33) reporting.                         The Exchange is proposing                            methodology that yields LIFO-like
                                                    Currently, the Plan states that this data               Commentary .07 to clarify the scope of                  results, rather than utilizing a LIFO-like
                                                    shall be reported as of the time of order               the Plan as it relates to Members that                  method, and the Exchange is therefore
                                                    execution. The Exchange and the other                   only execute orders limited purposes.                   proposing Commentary .09 to make this
                                                    Participants believe that this                          Specifically, The Exchange and the                      change.34
                                                    information should more properly be                     other Participants believe that a Member                   The Exchange is proposing that, for
                                                    captured at the time of order receipt as                that only executes orders otherwise than                purposes of Item I of Appendix C, the
                                                    evaluating share-weighted average                       on a national securities exchange for the               Participants shall calculate daily Market
                                                    prices at the time of order receipt is                  purpose of: (1) Correcting a bona fide                  Maker realized profitability statistics for
                                                    more consistent with the goal of                        error related to the execution of a                     each trading day on a daily LIFO basis
                                                    observing the effect of the Pilot on the                customer order; (2) purchasing a                        using reported trade price and shall
                                                    liquidity of Pilot Securities. The                      security from a customer at a nominal                   include only trades executed on the
                                                    Exchange is therefore proposing to make                 price solely for purposes of liquidating                subject trading day. The daily LIFO
                                                    this change through Commentary .05.31                   the customer’s position; or (3)                         calculation shall not include any
                                                    This change will make these provisions                  completing the fractional share portion                 positions carried over from previous
                                                    consistent with the remainder of the                    of an order 32 shall not be deemed a                    trading days. For purposes of Item I.c of
                                                    statistics in Appendix B.I.a, which are                 Trading Center for purposes of                          Appendix C, the Participants shall
                                                    all based on order receipt.                             Appendix B to the Plan. The Exchange                    calculate daily Market Maker unrealized
                                                       Commentary .06 addresses the status                  is therefore proposing Commentary .07                   profitability statistics for each trading
                                                    of not-held and auction orders for                      to make this clarification.                             day on an average price basis.
                                                    purposes of Appendix B.I reporting.                        The Exchange is proposing
                                                    Currently, Appendix B.I sets forth eight                Commentary .08 to clarify that, for                        Specifically, the Participants must
                                                    categories of orders, including market                  purposes of the Plan, Trading Centers                   calculate the volume weighted average
                                                    orders, marketable limit orders, and                    must begin the data collection required                 price of the excess (deficit) of buy
                                                    inside-the-quote resting limit orders, for              pursuant to Appendix B.I.a(1) through                   volume over sell volume for the current
                                                    which daily market quality statistics                   B.II.(y) of the Plan and Item I of                      trading day using reported trade price.
                                                    must be reported. Currently, Appendix                   Appendix C of the Plan on April 4,                      The gain (loss) of the excess (deficit) of
                                                    B.I does not provide a category for not                 2016. While the Exchange or the                         buy volume over sell volume shall be
                                                    held orders, clean cross orders, auction                Member’s DEA will provide the                           determined by using the volume
                                                    orders, or orders received when the                     information required by Appendix B                      weighted average price compared to the
                                                    NBBO is crossed.                                        and C of the Plan during the Pilot                      closing price of the security as reported
                                                       The Exchange and the other                           Period, the requirement that the                        by the primary listing exchange. In
                                                    Participants have determined that it is                 Exchange or their DEA provide                           reporting unrealized trading profits, the
                                                    appropriate to include separate                         information to the SEC within 30 days                   Participant shall also report the number
                                                    categories for these orders types for                   following month end and make such                       of excess (deficit) shares held by the
                                                    purposes of Appendix B reporting. The                   data publicly available on its Web site                 Market Maker, the volume weighted
                                                    Exchange is therefore proposing                         pursuant to Appendix B and C shall                      average price of that excess (deficit) and
                                                    Commentary .06 to provide that not                      commence six months prior to the                        the closing price of the security as
                                                    held orders shall be included as an                     beginning of the Pilot Period.33                        reported by the primary listing exchange
                                                    order type for purposes of Appendix B                      The Exchange is proposing                            used in reporting unrealized profit.35
                                                    reporting, and shall be assigned the                    Commentary .09 to address the                              Finally, the Exchange is proposing
                                                    number (18). Clean cross orders shall be                requirement in Appendix C.I(b) of the                   Commentary .10 to address the
                                                    included as an order type for purposes                  Plan that the calculation of raw Market                 securities that will be used for data
                                                    of Appendix B reporting, and shall be                   Maker realized trading profits utilize a                collection purposes prior to the
                                                    assigned the number (19); auction                       last in, first out (‘‘LIFO’’)-like method to            commencement of the Pilot. The
                                                    orders shall be included an as order                                                                            Exchange and the other Participants
                                                    type for purposes of Appendix B                            32 The Exchange notes that where a Member            have determined that it is appropriate to
                                                    reporting, and shall be assigned the                    purchases a fractional share from a customer, the       collect data for a group of securities that
                                                    number (20); and orders that cannot                     Trading Center that executes the remaining whole        is larger, and using different
                                                                                                            shares of that customer order would subject to
                                                    otherwise be classified, including, for                 subject to Appendix B of the Plan.
                                                    example, orders received when the                          33 In its order approving the Plan, the SEC noted       34 Appendix C.I currently requires Market Maker

                                                    NBBO is crossed shall be included as an                 that the Pilot shall be implemented within one year     profitability statistics to include (1) the total
                                                    order type for purposes of Appendix B                   of the date of publication of its order, e.g., by May   number of shares of orders executed by the Market
                                                    reporting, and shall be assigned the                    6, 2016. See Approval Order, 80 FR at 27545.            Maker; (2) raw Market Maker realized trading
                                                                                                            However, on November 6, 2015, the SEC extended          profits, which is the difference between the market
                                                    number (21). All of these orders already                the implementation date approximately five months       value of Market Maker shares and the market value
                                                    are included in the scope of Appendix                   to October 3, 2016. See Securities Exchange Act         of Market Maker purchases, using a LIFO-like
                                                    B; however, without this proposed                                                                               method; and (3) raw Market Maker unrealized
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                                                                            Release No. 76382 (November 6, 2015), 80 FR 70284
                                                    change, these order types would be                      (File No. 4–657) (Order Granting Exemption From         trading profits, which is the difference between the
                                                                                                            Compliance With the National Market System Plan         purchase or sale price of the end-of-day inventory
                                                    categorized with other orders, such as                  To Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program). See also       position of the Market Maker and the Closing Price.
                                                                                                            Letter from Brendon J. Weiss, Co-Head, Government       In the case of a short position, the Closing Price
                                                       30 The Commission granted BZX an exemption
                                                                                                            Affairs, Intercontinental Exchange/NYSE, to Brent J.    from the sale will be subtracted; in the case of a
                                                    from Rule 608(c) related to this provision. See         Fields, Secretary, Commission, dated November 4,        long position, the purchase price will be subtracted
                                                    Exemption Letter, supra note 27.                        2015 (requesting the data collection period be          from the Closing Price.
                                                       31 The Commission granted BZX an exemption           extended until six months after the requisite SRO          35 The Commission granted BZX an exemption

                                                    from Rule 608(c) related to this provision. See         rules are approved, and the implementation data of      from Rule 608(c) related to this provision. See
                                                    Exemption Letter, supra note 27.                        the Tick Size Pilot until six months thereafter).       Exemption Letter, supra note 27.



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                                                    18918                               Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices

                                                    quantitative thresholds, than the group                    to assist the Exchange in meeting its                        A proposed rule change filed
                                                    of securities that will be Pilot Securities.               regulatory obligations pursuant of the                    pursuant to Rule 19b–4(f)(6) under the
                                                      The Exchange is therefore proposing                      Plan. In approving the Plan, the SEC                      Act 40 normally does not become
                                                    Commentary .10 to define ‘‘Pre-Pilot                       noted that the Pilot was an appropriate,                  operative for 30 days after the date of its
                                                    Data Collection Securities’’ as the                        data-driven test that was designed to                     filing. However, Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii) 41
                                                    securities designated by the Participants                  evaluate the impact of a wider tick size                  permits the Commission to designate a
                                                    for purposes of the data collection                        on trading, liquidity, and the market                     shorter time if such action is consistent
                                                    requirements described in Items I, II and                  quality of securities of smaller                          with the protection of investors and the
                                                    IV of Appendix B and Item I of                             capitalization companies, and was                         public interest. The Exchange has asked
                                                    Appendix C of the Plan for the period                      therefore in furtherance of the purposes                  the Commission to waive the 30-day
                                                    beginning six months prior to the Pilot                    of the Act.                                               operative delay. The Commission
                                                    Period and ending on the trading day                         The Exchange believes that this                         believes that waiver of the operative
                                                    immediately preceding the Pilot Period.                    proposal is in furtherance of the                         delay is consistent with the protection
                                                      The Participants shall compile the list                  objectives of the Plan, as identified by                  of investors and the public interest
                                                    of Pre-Pilot Data Collection Securities                    the SEC, and is therefore consistent with                 because it would allow the Exchange to
                                                    by selecting all NMS stocks with a                         the Act because the proposal                              implement the proposed amendments
                                                    market capitalization of $5 billion or                     implements and clarifies the                              by April 4, 2016, the date upon which
                                                    less, a Consolidated Average Daily                         requirements of the Plan and applies                      the data collection requirements of the
                                                    Volume (CADV) of 2 million shares or                       specific obligations to Members in                        Plan become effective.42 Therefore, the
                                                    less and a closing price of $1 per share                   furtherance of compliance with the                        Commission hereby waives the
                                                    or more. The market capitalization and                     Plan.                                                     operative delay and designates the
                                                    the closing price thresholds shall be                                                                                proposal operative on April 4, 2016.43
                                                                                                               B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                            At any time within 60 days of the
                                                    applied to the last day of the Pre-Pilot                   Statement on Burden on Competition
                                                    measurement period, and the CADV                                                                                     filing of the proposed rule change, the
                                                    threshold shall be applied to the                            The Exchange does not believe that                      Commission summarily may
                                                    duration of the Pre-Pilot measurement                      the proposed rule change will impose                      temporarily suspend such rule change if
                                                    period. The Pre-Pilot measurement                          any burden on competition not                             it appears to the Commission that such
                                                    period shall be the three calendar                         necessary or appropriate in furtherance                   action is: (i) Necessary or appropriate in
                                                    months ending on the day when the Pre-                     of the purposes of the Act. The                           the public interest; (ii) for the protection
                                                    Pilot Data Collection Securities are                       Exchange notes that the proposed rule                     of investors; or (iii) otherwise in
                                                    selected. The Pre-Pilot Data Collection                    change implements the provisions of the                   furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
                                                    Securities shall be selected thirty days                   Plan, and is designed to assist the                       If the Commission takes such action, the
                                                    prior to the commencement of the six-                      Exchange in meeting its regulatory                        Commission shall institute proceedings
                                                    month Pre-Pilot Period. On the trading                     obligations pursuant of the Plan. The                     to determine whether the proposed rule
                                                    day that is the first trading day of the                   Exchange also notes that the data                         should be approved or disapproved.
                                                    Pilot Period through six months after                      collection requirements for Members
                                                                                                                                                                         IV. Solicitation of Comments
                                                    the end of the Pilot Period, the data                      that operate Trading Centers will apply
                                                    collection requirements will become                        equally to all such Members, as will the                    Interested persons are invited to
                                                    applicable to the Pilot Securities only. A                 data collection requirements for Market                   submit written data, views, and
                                                                                                               Makers.                                                   arguments concerning the foregoing,
                                                    Pilot Security will only be eligible to be
                                                                                                                                                                         including whether the proposed rule
                                                    included in a Test Group if it was a Pre-                  C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                         change is consistent with the Act.
                                                    Pilot Security.                                            Statement on Comments on the                              Comments may be submitted by any of
                                                    Implementation Date                                        Proposed Rule Change Received From                        the following methods:
                                                                                                               Members, Participants, or Others
                                                       The proposed rule change will be                                                                                  Electronic Comments
                                                    effective on April 4, 2016.                                  No written comments were either
                                                                                                               solicited or received.                                      • Use the Commission’s Internet
                                                    2. Statutory Basis                                                                                                   comment form (http://www.sec.gov/
                                                                                                               III. Date of Effectiveness of the                         rules/sro.shtml); or
                                                       The Exchange believes that its
                                                    proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)
                                                                                                               Proposed Rule Change and Timing for                         • Send an email to rule-comments@
                                                                                                               Commission Action                                         sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
                                                    of the Act,36 in general, and furthers the
                                                    objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,37                   Because the foregoing proposed rule                    BX–2016–019 on the subject line.
                                                    in particular, in that it is designed to                   change does not: (i) Significantly affect                 Paper Comments
                                                    promote just and equitable principles of                   the protection of investors or the public
                                                                                                               interest; (ii) impose any significant                       • Send paper comments in triplicate
                                                    trade, to foster cooperation and                                                                                     to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Securities
                                                    coordination with persons engaged in                       burden on competition; and (iii) become
                                                    facilitating transactions in securities, to                operative for 30 days from the date on
                                                                                                                                                                         change, or such shorter time as designated by the
                                                    remove impediments to and perfect the                      which it was filed, or such shorter time                  Commission. The Exchange has satisfied this
                                                    mechanism of a free and open market                        as the Commission may designate, it has                   requirement.
                                                    and a national market system and, in                       become effective pursuant to Section                         40 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6).

                                                                                                               19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 38 and                           41 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii).
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                                                    general, to protect investors and the                                                                                   42 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76382
                                                    public interest.                                           subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b–4
                                                                                                                                                                         (November 6, 2015), 80 FR 70284 (File No. 4–657)
                                                       The Exchange believes that this                         thereunder.39                                             (Order Granting Exemption From Compliance With
                                                    proposal is consistent with the Act                                                                                  the National Market System Plan To Implement a
                                                                                                                 38 15  U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(a)(iii).
                                                    because it implements and clarifies the                                                                              Tick Size Pilot Program).
                                                                                                                 39 17  CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b–         43 For purposes only of waiving the 30-day
                                                    provisions of the Plan, and is designed                    4(f)(6) requires a self-regulatory organization to give   operative delay, the Commission has also
                                                                                                               the Commission written notice of its intent to file       considered the proposed rule’s impact on
                                                      36 15   U.S.C. 78f(b).                                   the proposed rule change at least five business days      efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See
                                                      37 15   U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).                                prior to the date of filing of the proposed rule          15 U.S.C. 78c(f).



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                                                                                       Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices                                                 18919

                                                    and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street                     (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), the Securities                 a comprehensive or even a
                                                    NE., Washington, DC 20549–1090.                           and Exchange Commission (the                          representative survey or study. An
                                                    All submissions should refer to File                      ‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the                  agency may not conduct or sponsor, and
                                                    Number SR–BX–2016–019. This file                          Office of Management and Budget                       a person is not required to respond to,
                                                    number should be included on the                          (‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension of the              a collection of information unless it
                                                    subject line if email is used. To help the                previously approved collection of                     displays a currently valid OMB control
                                                    Commission process and review your                        information discussed below.                          number.
                                                    comments more efficiently, please use                        Rule 17a–8 (17 CFR 270.17a–8) under
                                                                                                              the Investment Company Act of 1940                      The public may view the background
                                                    only one method. The Commission will
                                                                                                              (the ‘‘Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 80a) is entitled             documentation for this information
                                                    post all comments on the Commission’s
                                                                                                              ‘‘Mergers of affiliated companies.’’ Rule             collection at the following Web site,
                                                    Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/
                                                                                                              17a–8 exempts certain mergers and                     www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be
                                                    rules/sro.shtml).
                                                       Copies of the submission, all                          similar business combinations                         directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the
                                                    subsequent amendments, all written                        (‘‘mergers’’) of affiliated registered                Securities and Exchange Commission,
                                                    statements with respect to the proposed                   investment companies (‘‘funds’’) from                 Office of Information and Regulatory
                                                    rule change that are filed with the                       prohibitions under section 17(a) of the               Affairs, Office of Management and
                                                    Commission, and all written                               Act (15 U.S.C. 80a–17(a)) on purchases                Budget, Room 10102, New Executive
                                                    communications relating to the                            and sales between a fund and its                      Office Building, Washington, DC 20503,
                                                    proposed rule change between the                          affiliates. The rule requires fund                    or by sending an email to: Shagufta_
                                                    Commission and any person, other than                     directors to consider certain issues and              Ahmed@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Pamela
                                                    those that may be withheld from the                       to record their findings in board                     Dyson, Director/Chief Information
                                                    public in accordance with the                             minutes. The rule requires the directors              Officer, Securities and Exchange
                                                    provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                       of any fund merging with an                           Commission, c/o Remi Pavlik-Simon,
                                                    available for Web site viewing and                        unregistered entity to approve
                                                                                                                                                                    100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549
                                                    printing in the Commission’s Public                       procedures for the valuation of assets
                                                                                                                                                                    or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@
                                                    Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,                         received from that entity. These
                                                                                                              procedures must provide for the                       sec.gov. Comments must be submitted to
                                                    Washington, DC 20549, on official                                                                               OMB within 30 days of this notice.
                                                    business days between the hours of                        preparation of a report by an
                                                    10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the                    independent evaluator that sets forth the               Dated: March 29, 2016.
                                                                                                              fair value of each such asset for which               Robert W. Errett,
                                                    filing also will be available for
                                                                                                              market quotations are not readily                     Deputy Secretary.
                                                    inspection and copying at the principal
                                                                                                              available. The rule also requires a fund
                                                    office of the Exchange. All comments                                                                            [FR Doc. 2016–07355 Filed 3–31–16; 8:45 am]
                                                                                                              being acquired to obtain approval of the
                                                    received will be posted without change;                                                                         BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                                                                              merger transaction by a majority of its
                                                    the Commission does not edit personal
                                                                                                              outstanding voting securities, except in
                                                    identifying information from
                                                                                                              certain situations, and requires any
                                                    submissions. You should submit only                                                                             SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
                                                                                                              surviving fund to preserve written
                                                    information that you wish to make                                                                               COMMISSION
                                                                                                              records describing the merger and its
                                                    available publicly. All submissions
                                                                                                              terms for six years after the merger (the
                                                    should refer to File Number SR–BX–                        first two in an easily accessible place).             [Release No. 34–77458; File No. SR–Phlx–
                                                    2016–019 and should be submitted on                          The average annual burden of meeting               2016–39]
                                                    or before April 22, 2016.                                 the requirements of rule 17a–8 is
                                                      For the Commission, by the Division of                  estimated to be 7 hours for each fund.                Self-Regulatory Organizations;
                                                    Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated                The Commission staff estimates that                   NASDAQ PHLX LLC; Notice of Filing
                                                    authority.44                                              each year approximately 766 funds rely                and Immediate Effectiveness of
                                                    Robert W. Errett,                                         on the rule. The estimated total average              Proposed Rule Change To Adopt Rule
                                                    Deputy Secretary.                                         annual burden for all respondents                     3317 To Implement the Regulation
                                                    [FR Doc. 2016–07334 Filed 3–31–16; 8:45 am]               therefore is 5,362 hours.                             NMS Plan To Implement a Tick Size
                                                    BILLING CODE 8011–01–P                                       The average cost burden of preparing               Pilot Program
                                                                                                              a report by an independent evaluator in
                                                                                                              a merger with an unregistered entity is               March 28, 2016.
                                                    SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE                                   estimated to be $15,000. The average net                 Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
                                                    COMMISSION                                                cost burden of obtaining approval of a
                                                                                                                                                                    Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                                                                                                              merger transaction by a majority of a
                                                                                                                                                                    (‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
                                                    Submission for OMB Review;                                fund’s outstanding voting securities is
                                                    Comment Request                                                                                                 notice is hereby given that on March 23,
                                                                                                              estimated to be $100,000. The
                                                                                                              Commission staff estimates that each                  2016, NASDAQ PHLX LLC
                                                    Upon Written Request, Copies Available                                                                          (‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities
                                                                                                              year approximately 0 mergers with
                                                     From: Securities and Exchange                                                                                  and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or
                                                                                                              unregistered entities occur and
                                                     Commission, Office of FOIA Services,                                                                           ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule
                                                                                                              approximately 15 funds hold
                                                     100 F Street NE., Washington, DC                                                                               change as described in Items I and II
                                                                                                              shareholder votes that would not
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                                                     20549–2736.                                                                                                    below, which Items have been prepared
                                                                                                              otherwise have held a shareholder vote.
                                                    Extension:                                                The total annual cost burden of meeting               by the Exchange. The Commission is
                                                      Rule 17a–8. OMB Control No. 3235–0235,                  these requirements is estimated to be                 publishing this notice to solicit
                                                        SEC File No. 270–225.                                 $1,500,000.                                           comments on the proposed rule change
                                                      Notice is hereby given that, pursuant                      The estimates of average burden hours              from interested persons.
                                                    to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995                    and average cost burdens are made
                                                                                                              solely for the purposes of the Paperwork                1 15   U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                                                      44 17   CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).                            Reduction Act, and are not derived from                 2 17   CFR 240.19b–4.



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Document Created: 2016-04-06 00:07:58
Document Modified: 2016-04-06 00:07:58
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
FR Citation81 FR 18913 

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