81_FR_18988 81 FR 18925 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; 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 18925 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; 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 Range18925-18931
FR Document2016-07333

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 63 (Friday, April 1, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 63 (Friday, April 1, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18925-18931]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07333]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-77456; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2016-043]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; 
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, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq'' or 
``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 (``Plan''). 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://nasdaq.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.

[[Page 18926]]

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 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 ``Nasdaq Member'' is defined as 
``any registered broker or dealer that has been admitted to 
membership in Nasdaq. A Nasdaq Member is not a member of Nasdaq 
within the meaning of the Delaware Limited Liability Company Act by 
reason of being admitted to membership in Nasdaq.'' 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\ 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.
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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.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

[[Page 18927]]

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 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.

[[Page 18928]]

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 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.

[[Page 18929]]

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 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

[[Page 18930]]

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 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 on 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

[[Page 18931]]

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-NASDAQ-2016-043 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Brent J. Fields, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE., 
Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NASDAQ-2016-043. 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-NASDAQ-2016-043 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. 2016-07333 Filed 3-31-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P



                                                                                     Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices                                                  18925

                                                       A proposed rule change filed                         and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street                 (‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
                                                    pursuant to Rule 19b–4(f)(6) under the                  NE., Washington, DC 20549–1090.                       notice is hereby given that on March 23,
                                                    Act 40 normally does not become                         All submissions should refer to File                  2016, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
                                                    operative for 30 days after the date of its             Number SR–Phlx–2016–39. This file                     (‘‘Nasdaq’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the
                                                    filing. However, Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii) 41               number should be included on the                      Securities and Exchange Commission
                                                    permits the Commission to designate a                                                                         (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed
                                                                                                            subject line if email is used. To help the
                                                    shorter time if such action is consistent                                                                     rule change as described in Items I and
                                                                                                            Commission process and review your
                                                    with the protection of investors and the                                                                      II below, which Items have been
                                                                                                            comments more efficiently, please use
                                                    public interest. The Exchange has asked                                                                       prepared by the Exchange. The
                                                                                                            only one method. The Commission will
                                                    the Commission to waive the 30-day
                                                                                                            post all comments on the Commission’s                 Commission is publishing this notice to
                                                    operative delay. The Commission
                                                                                                            Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/                solicit comments on the proposed rule
                                                    believes that waiver of the operative
                                                                                                            rules/sro.shtml).                                     change from interested persons.
                                                    delay is consistent with the protection
                                                    of investors and the public interest                       Copies of the submission, all                      I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                    because it would allow the Exchange to                  subsequent amendments, all written                    Statement of the Terms of Substance of
                                                    implement the proposed amendments                       statements with respect to the proposed               the Proposed Rule Change
                                                    on April 4, 2016, the date upon which                   rule change that are filed with the
                                                    the data collection requirements of the                 Commission, and all written                              The Exchange proposes to a proposal
                                                    Plan become effective.42 Therefore, the                 communications relating to the                        to adopt Exchange Rule 4770 to
                                                    Commission hereby waives the                            proposed rule change between the                      implement the Regulation NMS Plan to
                                                    operative delay and designates the                      Commission and any person, other than                 Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program
                                                    proposal operative on April 4, 2016.43                  those that may be withheld from the                   (‘‘Plan’’). The proposed rule change is
                                                       At any time within 60 days of the                    public in accordance with the                         substantially similar to proposed rule
                                                    filing of the proposed rule change, the                 provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                   changes recently approved or published
                                                    Commission summarily may                                available for Web site viewing and                    by the Commission by the Bats BZX
                                                    temporarily suspend such rule change if                 printing in the Commission’s Public                   Exchange, Inc. f/k/a BATS Exchange,
                                                    it appears to the Commission that such                  Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,                     Inc. (‘‘BZX’’) to adopt BZX Rule 11.27(b)
                                                    action is: (i) Necessary or appropriate in              Washington, DC 20549, on official
                                                    the public interest; (ii) for the protection                                                                  which also sets forth requirements for
                                                                                                            business days between the hours of
                                                    of investors; or (iii) otherwise in                                                                           the collection and transmission of data
                                                                                                            10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
                                                    furtherance of the purposes of the Act.                                                                       pursuant to Appendices B and C of the
                                                                                                            filing also will be available for
                                                    If the Commission takes such action, the                                                                      Plan.3
                                                                                                            inspection and copying at the principal
                                                    Commission shall institute proceedings                  office of the Exchange. All comments                     The text of the proposed rule change
                                                    to determine whether the proposed rule                  received will be posted without change;               is available on the Exchange’s Web site
                                                    should be approved or disapproved.                      the Commission does not edit personal                 at http://nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com, at
                                                    IV. Solicitation of Comments                            identifying information from                          the principal office of the Exchange, and
                                                                                                            submissions. You should submit only                   at the Commission’s Public Reference
                                                      Interested persons are invited to                     information that you wish to make                     Room.
                                                    submit written data, views, and                         available publicly. All submissions
                                                    arguments concerning the foregoing,                     should refer to File Number SR–Phlx–                  II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                    including whether the proposed rule                                                                           Statement of the Purpose of, and
                                                                                                            2016–39 and should be submitted on or
                                                    change is consistent with the Act.                                                                            Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                                                                            before April 22, 2016.
                                                    Comments may be submitted by any of                                                                           Change
                                                    the following methods:                                    For the Commission, by the Division of
                                                                                                            Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated              In its filing with the Commission, the
                                                    Electronic Comments                                     authority.44
                                                                                                                                                                  Exchange included statements
                                                      • Use the Commission’s Internet                       Robert W. Errett,                                     concerning the purpose of and basis for
                                                    comment form (http://www.sec.gov/                       Deputy Secretary.                                     the proposed rule change and discussed
                                                    rules/sro.shtml); or                                    [FR Doc. 2016–07335 Filed 3–31–16; 8:45 am]           any comments it received on the
                                                      • Send an email to rule-comments@                     BILLING CODE 8011–01–P                                proposed rule change. The text of these
                                                    sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
                                                                                                                                                                  statements may be examined at the
                                                    Phlx–2016–39 on the subject line.
                                                                                                                                                                  places specified in Item IV below. The
                                                    Paper Comments                                          SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
                                                                                                                                                                  Exchange has prepared summaries, set
                                                                                                            COMMISSION
                                                      • Send paper comments in triplicate                                                                         forth in sections A, B, and C below, of
                                                    to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Securities                                                                     the most significant aspects of such
                                                                                                            [Release No. 34–77456; File No. SR–                   statements.
                                                                                                            NASDAQ–2016–043]
                                                    change, or such shorter time as designated by the
                                                    Commission. The Exchange has satisfied this
                                                    requirement.                                            Self-Regulatory Organizations; The
                                                       40 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6).                           NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of
                                                       41 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii).                      Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                                                                                                                                    1 15  U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                                                       42 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76382
                                                                                                            Proposed Rule Change To Adopt Rule
                                                    (November 6, 2015), 80 FR 70284 (File No. 4–657)        4770 To Implement the Regulation                        2 17  CFR 240.19b–4.
                                                    (Order Granting Exemption from Compliance With                                                                   3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 77105
                                                    the National Market System Plan To Implement a          NMS Plan To Implement a Tick Size
                                                                                                            Pilot Program                                         (February 10, 2016), 81 FR 8112 (February 17, 2016)
                                                    Tick Size Pilot Program).
                                                       43 For purposes only of waiving the 30-day                                                                 (order approving SR–BATS–2015–102); see also
                                                    operative delay, the Commission has also                March 28, 2016.                                       Securities Exchange Act Release No. 77310 (March
                                                    considered the proposed rule’s impact on                                                                      7, 2016), 81 FR 13012 (March 11, 2016) (notice for
                                                    efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See
                                                                                                              Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the                 comment and immediate effectiveness of SR–
                                                    15 U.S.C. 78c(f).                                       Securities Exchange Act of 1934                       BATS–2016–27).



                                               VerDate Sep<11>2014   17:25 Mar 31, 2016   Jkt 238001   PO 00000   Frm 00103   Fmt 4703   Sfmt 4703   E:\FR\FM\01APN1.SGM   01APN1


                                                    18926                             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices

                                                    A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                          The Pilot will include stocks of                      increment on market marker profits and
                                                    Statement of the Purpose of, and                        companies with $3 billion or less in                     any corresponding changes in the
                                                    Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule                  market capitalization, an average daily                  liquidity of small-capitalization
                                                    Change                                                  trading volume of one million shares or                  securities.18
                                                                                                            less, and a volume weighted average
                                                    1. Purpose                                                                                                       Compliance With the Data Collection
                                                                                                            price of at least $2.00 for every trading
                                                                                                                                                                     Requirements of the Plan
                                                       On August 25, 2014, NYSE Group,                      day. The Pilot will consist of a control
                                                    Inc., on behalf of BATS Exchange, Inc.,                 group of approximately 1400 Pilot                          The Plan contains requirements for
                                                    BATS Y-Exchange, Inc., Chicago Stock                    Securities and three test groups with                    collecting and transmitting data to the
                                                    Exchange, Inc., EDGA Exchange, Inc.,                    400 Pilot Securities in each (selected by                Commission and to the public.19
                                                    EDGX Exchange, Inc., Financial                          a stratified random sampling process).12                 Specifically, Appendix B.I of the Plan
                                                    Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.                     During the pilot, Pilot Securities in the                (Market Quality Statistics) requires
                                                    (‘‘FINRA’’), NASDAQ BX, Inc.,                           control group will be quoted at the                      Trading Centers 20 to submit variety of
                                                    NASDAQ PHLX LLC, the Nasdaq Stock                       current tick size increment of $0.01 per                 market quality statistics, including
                                                    Market LLC, New York Stock Exchange                     share and will trade at the currently                    information about an order’s original
                                                    LLC (‘‘NYSE’’), NYSE MKT LLC, and                       permitted increments.                                    size, whether the order was displayable
                                                    NYSE Arca, Inc. (collectively                              Pilot Securities in the first test group              or not, the cumulative number of orders,
                                                    ‘‘Participants’’), filed with the                       (‘‘Test Group One’’) will be quoted in                   the cumulative number of shares of
                                                    Commission, pursuant to Section 11A of                  $0.05 minimum increments but will                        orders, and the cumulative number of
                                                    the Act 4 and Rule 608 of Regulation                    continue to trade at any price increment                 shares executed within specific time
                                                    NMS thereunder,5 the Plan to                            that is currently permitted.13 Pilot                     increments, e.g., from 30 seconds to less
                                                    Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program                     Securities in the second test group                      than 60 seconds after the time of order
                                                                                                            (‘‘Test Group Two’’) will be quoted in                   receipt. This information shall be
                                                    (‘‘Pilot’’).6
                                                                                                            $0.05 minimum increments and will                        categorized by security, order type,
                                                       The Participants filed the Plan to                                                                            original order size, hidden status, and
                                                                                                            trade at $0.05 minimum increments
                                                    comply with an order issued by the                      subject to a midpoint exception, a retail                coverage under Rule 605.21 Appendix
                                                    Commission on June 24, 2014.7 The                       investor order exception, and a                          B.I of the Plan also contains additional
                                                    Plan 8 was published for comment in the                 negotiated trade exception.14 Pilot                      requirements for market orders and
                                                    Federal Register on November 7, 2014,                   Securities in the third test group (‘‘Test               marketable limit orders, including the
                                                    and approved by the Commission, as                      Group Three’’) will be subject to the                    share-weighted average effective spread
                                                    modified, on May 6, 2015.9                              same quoting and trading increments as                   for executions of orders; the cumulative
                                                       The Plan is designed to allow the                    Test Group Two and also will be subject                  number of shares of orders executed
                                                    Commission, market participants, and                    to the ‘‘Trade-at’’ requirement to prevent               with price improvement; and, for shares
                                                    the public to study and assess the                      price matching by a market participant                   executed with price improvement, the
                                                    impact of increment conventions on the                  that is not displaying at a Trading                      share-weighted average amount per
                                                    liquidity and trading of the common                     Center’s ‘‘Best Protected Bid’’ or ‘‘Best                share that prices were improved.
                                                    stocks of small-capitalization                          Protected Offer,’’ unless an enumerated                    Appendix B.II of the Plan (Market and
                                                    companies. Each Participant is required                 exception applies.15 In addition to the                  Marketable Limit Order Data) requires
                                                    to comply, and to enforce compliance                    exceptions provided under Test Group                     Trading Centers to submit information
                                                    by its member organizations, as                         Two, an exception for Block Size orders                  relating to market orders and marketable
                                                    applicable, with the provisions of the                  and exceptions that mirror those under                   limit orders, including the time of order
                                                    Plan. As is described more fully below,                 Rule 611 of Regulation NMS 16 will                       receipt, order type, the order size, the
                                                    the proposed rules would require                        apply to the Trade-at requirement.                       National Best Bid and National Best
                                                    Members 10 to comply with the                              In approving the Plan, the                            Offer (‘‘NBBO’’) quoted price, the NBBO
                                                    applicable data collection requirements                 Commission noted that the Trading                        quoted depth, the average execution
                                                    of the Plan.11                                          Center data reporting requirements                       price-share-weighted average, and the
                                                                                                            would facilitate an analysis of the                      average execution time-share-weighted
                                                      4 15  U.S.C. 78k–1.                                   effects of the Pilot on liquidity (e.g.,                 average.
                                                      5 17  CFR 242.608.                                    transaction costs by order size),                          The Plan requires Appendix B.I and
                                                       6 See Letter from Brendon J. Weiss, Vice
                                                                                                            execution quality (e.g., speed of order                  B.II data to be submitted by Participants
                                                    President, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc., to          executions), market maker activity,
                                                    Secretary, Commission, dated August 25, 2014.                                                                      18 Id.
                                                       7 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 72460
                                                                                                            competition between trading venues
                                                                                                                                                                        19 The Exchange is also required by the Plan to
                                                    (June 24, 2014), 79 FR 36840 (June 30, 2014).           (e.g., routing frequency of market
                                                                                                                                                                     establish, maintain, and enforce written policies
                                                       8 Capitalized terms used in this rule filing are     orders), transparency (e.g., choice                      and procedures that are reasonably designed to
                                                    defined in the Plan, unless otherwise specified         between displayed and hidden orders),                    comply with applicable quoting and trading
                                                    herein.                                                 and market dynamics (e.g., rates and                     requirements specified in the Plan. The Exchange
                                                       9 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 74892                                                               intends to separately propose rules that would
                                                                                                            speed of order cancellations).17
                                                    (May 6, 2015), 80 FR 27513 (May 13, 2015)                                                                        require compliance by its Members with the
                                                    (‘‘Approval Order’’).
                                                                                                               The Commission also noted that                        applicable quoting and trading requirements
                                                       10 The term ‘‘Member’’ or ‘‘Nasdaq Member’’ is       Market Maker profitability data would                    specified in the Plan, and has reserved Paragraph
                                                    defined as ‘‘any registered broker or dealer that has   assist the Commission in evaluating the                  (a) for such rules.
                                                    been admitted to membership in Nasdaq. A Nasdaq         effect, if any, of a widened tick                           20 The Plan incorporates the definition of a
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    Member is not a member of Nasdaq within the                                                                      ‘‘Trading Center’’ from Rule 600(b)(78) of
                                                    meaning of the Delaware Limited Liability                 12 See Section V of the Plan for identification of
                                                                                                                                                                     Regulation NMS. Regulation NMS defines a
                                                    Company Act by reason of being admitted to                                                                       ‘‘Trading Center’’ as ‘‘a national securities exchange
                                                                                                            Pilot Securities, including criteria for selection and
                                                    membership in Nasdaq.’’ See Exchange Rule                                                                        or national securities association that operates an
                                                                                                            grouping.
                                                    0120(i).                                                  13 See Section VI(B) of the Plan.
                                                                                                                                                                     SRO trading facility, an alternative trading system,
                                                       11 The Exchange proposes Commentary .11 to                                                                    an exchange market maker, an OTC market maker,
                                                                                                              14 See Section VI(C) of the Plan.
                                                    Rule 4770 to provide that the Rule shall be in effect                                                            or any other broker or dealer that executes orders
                                                                                                              15 See Section VI(D) of the Plan.
                                                    during a pilot period to coincide with the pilot                                                                 internally by trading as principal or crossing orders
                                                                                                              16 17 CFR 242.611.                                     as agent.’’ See 17 CFR 242.600(b).
                                                    period for the Plan (including any extensions to the
                                                    pilot period for the Plan).                               17 See Approval Order, 80 FR at 27543.                    21 17 CFR 242.605.




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                                                                                       Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices                                                   18927

                                                    that operate a Trading Center, and by                     will not identify the Member that                       Centers to comply with the Plan’s data
                                                    members of the Participants that operate                  generated the data.                                     collection requirements.24
                                                    Trading Centers. The Plan provides that                      Appendix B.IV (Daily Market Maker                       Proposed Rule 4770(b)(3)(C) provides
                                                    each Participant that is the Designated                   Participation Statistics) requires a                    that the Exchange shall transmit the
                                                    Examining Authority (‘‘DEA’’) for a                       Participant to collect data related to                  data collected by the DEA or FINRA
                                                    member of the Participant that operates                   Market Maker participation from each                    pursuant to Rule 4770(b)(3)(A) and (B)
                                                    a Trading Center shall collect such data                  Market Maker 23 engaging in trading                     above relating to Market Maker activity
                                                    in a pipe delimited format, beginning                     activity on a Trading Center operated by                on a Trading Center operated by the
                                                    six months prior to the Pilot Period and                  the Participant. The Exchange is                        Exchange to the SEC in a pipe delimited
                                                    ending six months after the end of the                    therefore proposing Rule 4770(b)(3) to                  format within 30 calendar days
                                                    Pilot Period. The Plan also requires the                  gather data about a Market Maker’s                      following month end. The Exchange
                                                    Participant, operating as DEA, to                         participation in Pilot Securities and Pre-              shall also make such data publicly
                                                    transmit this information to the SEC                      Pilot Data Collection Securities.                       available on the Exchange Web site on
                                                    within 30 calendar days following                         Proposed Rule 4770(b)(3)(A) provides                    a monthly basis at no charge and shall
                                                    month end.                                                that a Member that is a Market Maker                    not identify the Trading Center that
                                                       The Exchange is therefore proposing                    shall collect and transmit to their DEA                 generated the data.
                                                    Rule 4770(b) to set forth the                             data relating to Item IV of Appendix B                     Appendix C.I (Market Maker
                                                    requirements for the collection and                       of the Plan with respect to activity                    Profitability) requires a Participant to
                                                    transmission of data pursuant to                          conducted on any Trading Center in                      collect data related to Market Maker
                                                    Appendices B and C of the Plan.                           Pilot Securities and Pre-Pilot Data                     profitability from each Market Maker for
                                                    Proposed Rule 4770(b) is substantially                    Collection Securities in furtherance of                 which it is the DEA. Specifically, the
                                                    similar to proposed rule changes by                       its status as a registered Market Maker,                Participant is required to collect the
                                                    BZX that were recently approved or                        including a Trading Center that executes                total number of shares of orders
                                                    published by the Commission to adopt                      trades otherwise than on a national                     executed by the Market Maker; the raw
                                                    BZX Rule 11.27(b) which also sets forth                   securities exchange, for transactions that              Market Maker realized trading profits,
                                                    requirements for the collection and                       have settled or reached settlement date.                and the raw Market Maker unrealized
                                                    transmission of data pursuant to                             The proposed rule requires Market                    trading profits. Data shall be collected
                                                    Appendices B and C of the Plan.22                         Makers to transmit such data in a format                for dates starting six months prior to the
                                                       Proposed Rule 4770(b)(1) requires that                 required by their DEA, by 12:00 p.m.                    Pilot Period through six months after
                                                    a Member that operates a Trading Center                   EST on T+4 for: (i) Transactions in each                the end of the Pilot Period. This data
                                                    shall establish, maintain, and enforce                    Pre-Pilot Data Collection Security for                  shall be collected on a monthly basis, to
                                                    written policies and procedures that are                  the period beginning six months prior to                be provided in a pipe delimited format
                                                    reasonably designed to comply with the                    the Pilot Period through the trading day                to the Participant, as DEA, within 30
                                                    data collection and transmission                          immediately preceding the Pilot Period;                 calendar days following month end.
                                                    requirements of Items I and II to                         and (ii) for transactions in each Pilot                    Appendix C.II (Aggregated Market
                                                    Appendix B of the Plan, and a Member                      Security for the period beginning on the                Maker Profitability) requires the
                                                    that is a Market Maker shall establish,                   first day of the Pilot Period through six               Participant, as DEA, to aggregate the
                                                    maintain, and enforce written policies                    months after the end of the Pilot Period.               Appendix C.I data, and to categorize
                                                    and procedures that are reasonably                           The Exchange understands that some                   this data by security as well as by the
                                                    designed to comply with the data                          Members may utilize a DEA that is not                   control group and each Test Group. That
                                                    collection and transmission                               a Participant to the Plan and that their                aggregated data shall contain
                                                    requirements of Item IV of Appendix B                     DEA would not be subject to the Plan’s                  information relating to total raw Market
                                                    of the Plan and Item I of Appendix C of                   data collection requirements. In such                   Maker realized trading profits, volume-
                                                    the Plan.                                                 case, a DEA that is not a Participant of                weighted average of raw Market Maker
                                                       Proposed Rule 4770(b)(2) provides                      the Plan would not have an obligation                   realized trading profits, the total raw
                                                    that the Exchange shall collect and                       to collect the data required under                      Market Maker unrealized trading profits,
                                                    transmit to the SEC the data described                    subparagraph (b)(3)(A) of Rule 4770 and                 and the volume-weighted average of
                                                    in Items I and II of Appendix B of the                    in accordance with Item IV of Appendix                  Market Maker unrealized trading profits.
                                                    Plan relating to trading activity in Pre-                 B of the Plan. Therefore, the Exchange                     The Exchange is therefore proposing
                                                    Pilot Securities and Pilot Securities on                  proposes to adopt subparagraph                          Rule 4770(b)(4) to set forth the
                                                    a Trading Center operated by the                          (b)(3)(B) to Rule 4770 to require a                     requirements for the collection and
                                                    Exchange. The Exchange shall transmit                     Member that is a Market Maker whose                     transmission of data pursuant to
                                                    such data to the SEC in a pipe delimited                  DEA is not a Participant to the Plan to                 Appendix C.I of the Plan. Proposed Rule
                                                    format, on a disaggregated basis by                       transmit the data collected pursuant to                 4770(b)(4)(A) requires that a Member
                                                    Trading Center, within 30 calendar days                   paragraph (3)(A) of Rule 4770(b) to                     that is a Market Maker shall collect and
                                                    following month end for: (i) Each Pre-                    FINRA, which is a Participant to the                    transmit to their DEA the data described
                                                    Pilot Data Collection Security for the                    Plan and is to collect data relating to                 in Item I of Appendix C of the Plan with
                                                    period beginning six months prior to the                  Item IV of Appendix B of the Plan on                    respect to executions in Pilot Securities
                                                    Pilot Period through the trading day                      behalf of the Participants. For Market                  that have settled or reached settlement
                                                    immediately preceding the Pilot Period;                   Makers for which it is the DEA, FINRA                   date that were executed on any Trading
                                                    and (ii) each Pilot Security for the                      issued a Market Maker Transaction Data                  Center.
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    period beginning on the first day of the                  Technical Specification to collect data                    The proposed rule also requires
                                                    Pilot Period through six months after                     on Pre-Pilot Data Collection Securities                 Members to provide such data in a
                                                    the end of the Pilot Period. The                          and Pilot Securities from Trading                       format required by their DEA by 12 p.m.
                                                    Exchange also shall make such data
                                                                                                                23 The Plan defines a Market Maker as ‘‘a dealer        24 FINRA members for which FINRA is their DEA
                                                    publicly available on the Exchange Web
                                                                                                              registered with any self-regulatory organization, in    should refer to the Market Maker Transaction Data
                                                    site on a monthly basis at no charge and                  accordance with the rules thereof, as (i) a market      Technical Specification on the FINRA Web site at
                                                                                                              maker or (ii) a liquidity provider with an obligation   http://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/market-
                                                      22 See   supra note 3.                                  to maintain continuous, two-sided trading interest.’’   maker-transaction-data-tech-specs.pdf.



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                                                    18928                             Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices

                                                    EST on T+4 for executions during and                    .02 relates to the use of the retail                    primary listing exchange declares a five-
                                                    outside of Regular Trading Hours in                     investor order flag for purposes of                     minute trading pause, which would be
                                                    each: (i) Pre-Pilot Data Collection                     Appendix B.II(n) reporting. The Plan                    applicable to all markets trading the
                                                    Security for the period beginning six                   currently states that market and                        security.
                                                    months prior to the Pilot Period through                marketable limit orders shall include a                    The Exchange and the other
                                                    the trading day immediately preceding                   ‘‘yes/no’’ field relating to the Retail                 Participants have determined that it is
                                                    the Pilot Period; and (ii) Pilot Security               Investor Order flag. The Exchange is                    appropriate to create a new flag for
                                                    for the period beginning on the first day               proposing Commentary .02 to clarify                     reporting orders that are affected by the
                                                    of the Pilot Period through six months                  that, for purposes of the reporting                     Limit-Up Limit-Down bands.
                                                    after the end of the Pilot Period.                      requirement in Appendix B.II(n), a                      Accordingly, a Trading Center shall
                                                       For the same reasons set forth above                 Trading Center shall report ‘‘y’’ to their              report a value of ‘‘Y’’ to their DEA when
                                                    for subparagraph (b)(3)(B) to Rule 4770,                DEA where it is relying upon the Retail                 the ability of an order to execute has
                                                    the Exchange proposes to adopt                          Investor Order exception to Test Groups                 been affected by the Limit-Up Limit-
                                                    subparagraph (b)(4)(B) to Rule 4770 to                  Two and Three, and ‘‘n’’ for all other                  Down bands in effect at the time of
                                                    require a Member that is a Market Maker                 instances.27 The Exchange believes that                 order receipt. A Trading Center shall
                                                    whose DEA is not a Participant to the                   requiring the identification of a Retail                report a value of ‘‘N’’ to their DEA when
                                                    Plan to transmit the data collected                     Investor Orders only where the                          the ability of an order to execute has not
                                                    pursuant to paragraph (4)(A) of Rule                    exception may apply (i.e., Pilot                        been affected by the Limit-Up Limit-
                                                    4770(b) to FINRA. As stated above,                      Securities in Test Groups Two and                       Down bands in effect at the time of
                                                    FINRA is a Participant to the Plan and                  Three) is consistent with Appendix                      order receipt.
                                                    is to collect data relating to Item I of                B.II(n).                                                   Commentary .03 also requires, for
                                                    Appendix C of the Plan on behalf of the                    Commentary .03 requires that                         securities that may trade in a foreign
                                                    Participants. For Market Makers for                     Members populate a field to identify to                 market, that the Participant indicate
                                                    which it is the DEA, FINRA issued a                     their DEA whether an order is affected                  whether the order was handled
                                                    Market Maker Transaction Data                           by the bands in place pursuant to the                   domestically, or routed to a foreign
                                                    Technical Specification to collect data                 National Market System Plan to Address                  venue. Accordingly, the Participant will
                                                    on Pre-Pilot Data Collection Securities                 Extraordinary Market Volatility.28                      indicate, for purposes of Appendix B.I,
                                                    and Pilot Securities from Trading                       Pursuant to the Limit-Up Limit-Down                     whether the order was: (1) Fully
                                                    Centers to comply with the Plan’s data                  Plan, between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,                  executed domestically, or (2) fully or
                                                    collection requirements.25                              the Securities Information Processor                    partially executed on a foreign market.
                                                       The Exchange is also adopting a rule                 (‘‘SIP’’) calculates a lower price band                 For purposes of Appendix B.II, the
                                                    setting forth the manner in which                       and an upper price band for each NMS                    Participant will classify all orders in
                                                    Market Maker participation will be                      stock. These price bands represent a                    securities that may trade in a foreign
                                                    calculated. Item III of Appendix B of the               specified percentage above or below the                 market Pilot and Pre-Pilot Securities as:
                                                    Plan requires each Participant that is a                stock’s reference price, which generally                (1) Directed to a domestic venue for
                                                    national securities exchange to collect                 is calculated based on reported                         execution; (2) may only be directed to
                                                    daily Market Maker registration                         transactions in that stock over the                     a foreign venue for execution; or (3) was
                                                    statistics categorized by security,                     preceding five minutes. When one side                   fully or partially directed to a foreign
                                                    including the following information: (i)                of the market for an individual security                venue at the discretion of the member.
                                                    Ticker symbol; (ii) the Participant                     is outside the applicable price band, the               The Exchange believes that this
                                                    exchange; (iii) number of registered                    SIP identifies that quotation as non-                   proposed flag will better identify orders
                                                    market makers; and (iv) the number of                   executable. When the other side of the                  in securities that may trade in a foreign
                                                    other registered liquidity providers.                   market reaches the applicable price                     market, as such orders that were routed
                                                       Therefore, the Exchange proposes to                  band (e.g., the offer reaches the lower                 to foreign venues would not be subject
                                                    adopt Rule 4770(b)(5) providing that the                price band), the security enters a Limit                to the Plan’s quoting and trading
                                                    Exchange shall collect and transmit to                  State. The stock would exit a Limit State               requirements, and could otherwise
                                                    the SEC the data described in Item III of               if, within 15 seconds of entering the                   compromise the integrity of the data.
                                                    Appendix B of the Plan relating to daily                Limit State, all Limit State Quotations                    Commentary .04 relates to the time
                                                    Market Maker registration statistics in a               were executed or canceled in their                      ranges specified in Appendix B.I.a(14),
                                                    pipe delimited format within 30                         entirety. If the security does not exit a               B.I.a(15), B.I.a(21) and B.I.a(22).29 The
                                                    calendar days following month end for:                  Limit State within 15 seconds, then the                 Exchange and the other Participants
                                                    (i) Transactions in each Pre-Pilot Data                                                                         have determined that it is appropriate to
                                                    Collection Security for the period                         27 FINRA, on behalf of the Plan Participants         change the reporting times in these
                                                    beginning six months prior to the Pilot                 submitted a letter to Commission requesting             provisions to require more granular
                                                    Period through the trading day                          exemption from certain provisions of the Plan           reporting for these categories.
                                                                                                            related to data collection. See letter from Marcia E.
                                                    immediately preceding the Pilot Period;                 Asquith, Senior Vice President and Corporate
                                                    and (ii) transactions in each Pilot                     Secretary, FINRA dated December 9, 2015 to Robert          29 Specifically, Appendix B.I.a(14) requires

                                                    Security for the period beginning on the                W. Errett, Deputy Secretary, Commission                 reporting of the cumulative number of shares of
                                                                                                            (‘‘Exemption Request’’). The Commission, pursuant       orders executed from 0 to less than 100
                                                    first day of the Pilot Period through six               to its authority under Rule 608(e) of Regulation        microseconds after the time of order receipt;
                                                    months after the end of the Pilot Period.               NMS, granted BZX a limited exemption from the           Appendix B.I.a(15) requires reporting of the
                                                       The Exchange is also proposing,
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                                                                            requirement to comply with certain provisions of        cumulative number of shares of orders executed
                                                    through Commentary, to clarify other                    the Plan as specified in the letter and noted herein.   from 100 microseconds to less than 100
                                                    aspects of the data collection                          See letter from David Shillman, Associate Director,     milliseconds after the time of order receipt;
                                                                                                            Division of Trading and Markets, Commission, to         Appendix B.I.a(21) requires reporting of the
                                                    requirements.26 Proposed Commentary                     Eric Swanson, General Counsel, BZX, dated               cumulative number of shares of orders cancelled
                                                                                                            February 10, 2016 (‘‘Exemption Letter’’).               from 0 to less than 100 microseconds after the time
                                                      25 Id.                                                   28 See National Market System Plan to Address        of order receipt; and Appendix B.I.a(22) requires
                                                      26 The Exchange is also proposing Commentary          Extraordinary Market Volatility, Securities             reporting of the cumulative number of shares of
                                                    .01 to Rule 4770 to clarify that certain enumerated     Exchange Act Release No. 67091 (May 31, 2012), 77       orders cancelled from 100 microseconds to less
                                                    terms used throughout Rule 4770 shall have the          FR 33498 (June 6, 2012) (File No. 4–631) (‘‘Limit-      than 100 milliseconds after the time of order
                                                    same meaning as set forth in the Plan.                  Up Limit-Down Plan’’).                                  receipt.



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                                                                                     Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices                                                    18929

                                                    Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to                   categories for these orders types for                 data publicly available on its Web site
                                                    add Appendix B.I.a(14A), which will                     purposes of Appendix B reporting. The                 pursuant to Appendix B and C shall
                                                    require Trading Centers to report the                   Exchange is therefore proposing                       commence six months prior to the
                                                    cumulative number of shares of orders                   Commentary .06 to provide that not                    beginning of the Pilot Period.33
                                                    executed from 100 microseconds to less                  held orders shall be included as an                      The Exchange is proposing
                                                    than 1 millisecond after the time of                    order type for purposes of Appendix B                 Commentary .09 to address the
                                                    order receipt. Appendix B.I.a(15) will be               reporting, and shall be assigned the                  requirement in Appendix C.I(b) of the
                                                    changed to require the cumulative                       number (18). Clean cross orders shall be              Plan that the calculation of raw Market
                                                    number of shares of orders executed                     included as an order type for purposes                Maker realized trading profits utilize a
                                                    from 1 millisecond to less than 100                     of Appendix B reporting, and shall be                 last in, first out (‘‘LIFO’’)-like method to
                                                    milliseconds after the time of order                    assigned the number (19); auction                     determine which share prices shall be
                                                    receipt. The Exchange also proposes to                  orders shall be included an as order                  used in that calculation. The Exchange
                                                    add Appendix B.I.a(21A), which will                     type for purposes of Appendix B                       and the other Participants believe that it
                                                    require Trading Centers to report the                   reporting, and shall be assigned the                  is more appropriate to utilize a
                                                    cumulative number of shares of orders                   number (20); and orders that cannot                   methodology that yields LIFO-like
                                                    canceled from 100 microseconds to less                  otherwise be classified, including, for               results, rather than utilizing a LIFO-like
                                                    than 1 millisecond after the time of                    example, orders received when the                     method, and the Exchange is therefore
                                                    order receipt. Appendix B.I.a(22) will be               NBBO is crossed shall be included as an               proposing Commentary .09 to make this
                                                    changed to require the cumulative                       order type for purposes of Appendix B                 change.34
                                                    number of shares of orders canceled                     reporting, and shall be assigned the                     The Exchange is proposing that, for
                                                    from 1 millisecond to less than 100                     number (21). All of these orders already              purposes of Item I of Appendix C, the
                                                    milliseconds after the time of order                    are included in the scope of Appendix                 Participants shall calculate daily Market
                                                    receipt. The Exchange believes that                     B; however, without this proposed                     Maker realized profitability statistics for
                                                    these new reporting requirements will                   change, these order types would be                    each trading day on a daily LIFO basis
                                                    contribute to a meaningful analysis of                  categorized with other orders, such as                using reported trade price and shall
                                                    the Pilot by producing more granular                    regular held orders, that should be able              include only trades executed on the
                                                    data on these points.30                                 to be fully executed upon receipt, which              subject trading day. The daily LIFO
                                                       Commentary .05 relates to the                        would compromise the value of this                    calculation shall not include any
                                                    relevant measurement for purposes of                    data.                                                 positions carried over from previous
                                                    Appendix B.I.a(31)-(33) reporting.                         The Exchange is proposing                          trading days. For purposes of Item I.c of
                                                    Currently, the Plan states that this data               Commentary .07 to clarify the scope of                Appendix C, the Participants shall
                                                    shall be reported as of the time of order               the Plan as it relates to Members that                calculate daily Market Maker unrealized
                                                    execution. The Exchange and the other                   only execute orders limited purposes.                 profitability statistics for each trading
                                                    Participants believe that this                          Specifically, The Exchange and the                    day on an average price basis.
                                                    information should more properly be                     other Participants believe that a Member                 Specifically, the Participants must
                                                    captured at the time of order receipt as                that only executes orders otherwise than              calculate the volume weighted average
                                                    evaluating share-weighted average                       on a national securities exchange for the             price of the excess (deficit) of buy
                                                    prices at the time of order receipt is                  purpose of: (1) Correcting a bona fide                volume over sell volume for the current
                                                    more consistent with the goal of                        error related to the execution of a                   trading day using reported trade price.
                                                    observing the effect of the Pilot on the                customer order; (2) purchasing a                      The gain (loss) of the excess (deficit) of
                                                    liquidity of Pilot Securities. The                      security from a customer at a nominal                 buy volume over sell volume shall be
                                                    Exchange is therefore proposing to make                 price solely for purposes of liquidating
                                                    this change through Commentary .05.31                   the customer’s position; or (3)                          33 In its order approving the Plan, the SEC noted

                                                    This change will make these provisions                  completing the fractional share portion               that the Pilot shall be implemented within one year
                                                                                                                                                                  of the date of publication of its order, e.g., by May
                                                    consistent with the remainder of the                    of an order 32 shall not be deemed a                  6, 2016. See Approval Order, 80 FR at 27545.
                                                    statistics in Appendix B.I.a, which are                 Trading Center for purposes of                        However, on November 6, 2015, the SEC extended
                                                    all based on order receipt.                             Appendix B to the Plan. The Exchange                  the implementation date approximately five months
                                                       Commentary .06 addresses the status                  is therefore proposing Commentary .07                 to October 3, 2016. See Securities Exchange Act
                                                    of not-held and auction orders for                                                                            Release No. 76382 (November 6, 2015), 80 FR 70284
                                                                                                            to make this clarification.                           (File No. 4–657) (Order Granting Exemption From
                                                    purposes of Appendix B.I reporting.                        The Exchange is proposing                          Compliance With the National Market System Plan
                                                    Currently, Appendix B.I sets forth eight                Commentary .08 to clarify that, for                   To Implement a Tick Size Pilot Program). See also
                                                    categories of orders, including market                  purposes of the Plan, Trading Centers                 Letter from Brendon J. Weiss, Co-Head, Government
                                                    orders, marketable limit orders, and                    must begin the data collection required               Affairs, Intercontinental Exchange/NYSE, to Brent J.
                                                                                                                                                                  Fields, Secretary, Commission, dated November 4,
                                                    inside-the-quote resting limit orders, for              pursuant to Appendix B.I.a(1) through                 2015 (requesting the data collection period be
                                                    which daily market quality statistics                   B.II.(y) of the Plan and Item I of                    extended until six months after the requisite SRO
                                                    must be reported. Currently, Appendix                   Appendix C of the Plan on April 4,                    rules are approved, and the implementation data of
                                                    B.I does not provide a category for not                 2016. While the Exchange or the                       the Tick Size Pilot until six months thereafter).
                                                                                                                                                                     34 Appendix C.I currently requires Market Maker
                                                    held orders, clean cross orders, auction                Member’s DEA will provide the
                                                                                                                                                                  profitability statistics to include (1) the total
                                                    orders, or orders received when the                     information required by Appendix B                    number of shares of orders executed by the Market
                                                    NBBO is crossed.                                        and C of the Plan during the Pilot                    Maker; (2) raw Market Maker realized trading
                                                       The Exchange and the other                           Period, the requirement that the
asabaliauskas on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                                                                                                                                  profits, which is the difference between the market
                                                    Participants have determined that it is                 Exchange or their DEA provide                         value of Market Maker shares and the market value
                                                                                                                                                                  of Market Maker purchases, using a LIFO-like
                                                    appropriate to include separate                         information to the SEC within 30 days                 method; and (3) raw Market Maker unrealized
                                                                                                            following month end and make such                     trading profits, which is the difference between the
                                                       30 The Commission granted BZX an exemption
                                                                                                                                                                  purchase or sale price of the end-of-day inventory
                                                    from Rule 608(c) related to this provision. See           32 The Exchange notes that where a Member           position of the Market Maker and the Closing Price.
                                                    Exemption Letter, supra note 27.                        purchases a fractional share from a customer, the     In the case of a short position, the Closing Price
                                                       31 The Commission granted BZX an exemption           Trading Center that executes the remaining whole      from the sale will be subtracted; in the case of a
                                                    from Rule 608(c) related to this provision. See         shares of that customer order would subject to        long position, the purchase price will be subtracted
                                                    Exemption Letter, supra note 27.                        subject to Appendix B of the Plan.                    from the Closing Price.



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                                                    18930                            Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices

                                                    determined by using the volume                          Implementation Date                                     C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                    weighted average price compared to the                                                                          Statement on Comments on the
                                                    closing price of the security as reported                  The proposed rule change will be                     Proposed Rule Change Received From
                                                    by the primary listing exchange. In                     effective on April 4, 2016.                             Members, Participants, or Others
                                                    reporting unrealized trading profits, the               2. Statutory Basis                                        No written comments were either
                                                    Participant shall also report the number                                                                        solicited or received.
                                                    of excess (deficit) shares held by the                     The Exchange believes that its
                                                    Market Maker, the volume weighted                       proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)                III. Date of Effectiveness of the
                                                    average price of that excess (deficit) and              of the Act,36 in general, and furthers the              Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
                                                    the closing price of the security as                    objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,37             Commission Action
                                                    reported by the primary listing exchange                in particular, in that it is designed to                   Because the foregoing proposed rule
                                                    used in reporting unrealized profit.35                  promote just and equitable principles of                change does not: (i) Significantly affect
                                                       Finally, the Exchange is proposing                   trade, to foster cooperation and                        the protection of investors or the public
                                                    Commentary .10 to address the                           coordination with persons engaged in                    interest; (ii) impose any significant
                                                    securities that will be used for data                   facilitating transactions in securities, to             burden on competition; and (iii) become
                                                                                                            remove impediments to and perfect the                   operative for 30 days from the date on
                                                    collection purposes prior to the
                                                                                                            mechanism of a free and open market                     which it was filed, or such shorter time
                                                    commencement of the Pilot. The
                                                                                                            and a national market system and, in                    as the Commission may designate, it has
                                                    Exchange and the other Participants
                                                                                                            general, to protect investors and the                   become effective pursuant to Section
                                                    have determined that it is appropriate to
                                                                                                            public interest.                                        19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 38 and
                                                    collect data for a group of securities that
                                                                                                                                                                    subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b–4
                                                    is larger, and using different                             The Exchange believes that this
                                                                                                                                                                    thereunder.39
                                                    quantitative thresholds, than the group                 proposal is consistent with the Act                        A proposed rule change filed
                                                    of securities that will be Pilot Securities.            because it implements and clarifies the                 pursuant to Rule 19b–4(f)(6) under the
                                                       The Exchange is therefore proposing                  provisions of the Plan, and is designed                 Act 40 normally does not become
                                                    Commentary .10 to define ‘‘Pre-Pilot                    to assist the Exchange in meeting its                   operative for 30 days after the date of its
                                                    Data Collection Securities’’ as the                     regulatory obligations pursuant of the                  filing. However, Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii) 41
                                                    securities designated by the Participants               Plan. In approving the Plan, the SEC                    permits the Commission to designate a
                                                    for purposes of the data collection                     noted that the Pilot was an appropriate,                shorter time if such action is consistent
                                                    requirements described in Items I, II,                  data-driven test that was designed to                   with the protection of investors and the
                                                    and IV of Appendix B and Item I of                      evaluate the impact of a wider tick size                public interest. The Exchange has asked
                                                    Appendix C of the Plan for the period                   on trading, liquidity, and the market                   the Commission to waive the 30-day
                                                    beginning six months prior to the Pilot                 quality of securities of smaller                        operative delay. The Commission
                                                    Period and ending on the trading day                    capitalization companies, and was                       believes that waiver of the operative
                                                    immediately preceding the Pilot Period.                 therefore in furtherance of the purposes                delay is consistent with the protection
                                                                                                            of the Act.                                             of investors and the public interest
                                                       The Participants shall compile the list
                                                    of Pre-Pilot Data Collection Securities                    The Exchange believes that this                      because it would allow the Exchange to
                                                                                                            proposal is in furtherance of the                       implement the proposed amendments
                                                    by selecting all NMS stocks with a
                                                                                                            objectives of the Plan, as identified by                on April 4, 2016, the date upon which
                                                    market capitalization of $5 billion or
                                                                                                            the SEC, and is therefore consistent with               the data collection requirements of the
                                                    less, a Consolidated Average Daily
                                                                                                            the Act because the proposal                            Plan become effective.42 Therefore, the
                                                    Volume (CADV) of 2 million shares or
                                                                                                            implements and clarifies the                            Commission hereby waives the
                                                    less and a closing price of $1 per share
                                                                                                            requirements of the Plan and applies                    operative delay and designates the
                                                    or more. The market capitalization and
                                                                                                            specific obligations to Members in                      proposal operative on April 4, 2016.43
                                                    the closing price thresholds shall be                                                                              At any time within 60 days of the
                                                                                                            furtherance of compliance with the
                                                    applied to the last day of the Pre-Pilot                                                                        filing of the proposed rule change, the
                                                                                                            Plan.
                                                    measurement period, and the CADV                                                                                Commission summarily may
                                                    threshold shall be applied to the                       B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                       temporarily suspend such rule change if
                                                    duration of the Pre-Pilot measurement                   Statement on Burden on Competition                      it appears to the Commission that such
                                                    period. The Pre-Pilot measurement                                                                               action is: (i) Necessary or appropriate in
                                                    period shall be the three calendar                        The Exchange does not believe that
                                                    months ending on the day when the Pre-                  the proposed rule change will impose                      38 15  U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(a)(iii).
                                                    Pilot Data Collection Securities are                    any burden on competition not                             39 17  CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b–
                                                    selected. The Pre-Pilot Data Collection                 necessary or appropriate in furtherance                 4(f)(6) requires a self-regulatory organization to give
                                                    Securities shall be selected thirty days                of the purposes of the Act. The                         the Commission written notice of its intent to file
                                                                                                            Exchange notes that the proposed rule                   the proposed rule change at least five business days
                                                    prior to the commencement of the six-                                                                           prior to the date of filing of the proposed rule
                                                    month Pre-Pilot Period. On the trading                  change implements the provisions of the                 change, or such shorter time as designated by the
                                                    day that is the first trading day of the                Plan, and is designed to assist the                     Commission. The Exchange has satisfied this
                                                    Pilot Period through six months after                   Exchange in meeting its regulatory                      requirement.
                                                    the end of the Pilot Period, the data                   obligations pursuant of the Plan. The                      40 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6).
                                                                                                                                                                       41 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii).
                                                                                                            Exchange also notes that the data
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                                                    collection requirements will become                                                                                42 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76382
                                                    applicable to the Pilot Securities only. A              collection requirements for Members
                                                                                                                                                                    (November 6, 2015), 80 FR 70284 (File No. 4–657)
                                                    Pilot Security will only be eligible to be              that operate Trading Centers will apply                 (Order Granting Exemption from Compliance With
                                                    included in a Test Group if it was a Pre-               equally to all such Members, as will the                the National Market System Plan To Implement a
                                                    Pilot Security.                                         data collection requirements for Market                 Tick Size Pilot Program).
                                                                                                                                                                       43 For purposes only of waiving the 30-day
                                                                                                            Makers.
                                                                                                                                                                    operative delay, the Commission has also
                                                       35 The Commission granted BZX an exemption                                                                   considered the proposed rule’s impact on
                                                                                                              36 15   U.S.C. 78f(b).
                                                    from Rule 608(c) related to this provision. See                                                                 efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See
                                                    Exemption Letter, supra note 27.                          37 15   U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).                             15 U.S.C. 78c(f).



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                                                                                     Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 63 / Friday, April 1, 2016 / Notices                                                   18931

                                                    the public interest; (ii) for the protection              For the Commission, by the Division of               written record of each transaction
                                                    of investors; or (iii) otherwise in                     Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated             subject to the rule, setting forth the
                                                    furtherance of the purposes of the Act.                 authority.44                                           amount and source of the commission,
                                                    If the Commission takes such action, the                Robert W. Errett,                                      fee, or other remuneration received; the
                                                    Commission shall institute proceedings                  Deputy Secretary.                                      identity of the broker; the terms of the
                                                    to determine whether the proposed rule                  [FR Doc. 2016–07333 Filed 3–31–16; 8:45 am]            transaction; and the materials used to
                                                    should be approved or disapproved.                      BILLING CODE 8011–01–P                                 determine that the transactions were
                                                                                                                                                                   effected in compliance with the
                                                    IV. Solicitation of Comments
                                                                                                                                                                   procedures adopted by the board. The
                                                      Interested persons are invited to                     SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE                                recordkeeping requirements under rule
                                                    submit written data, views, and                         COMMISSION                                             17e–1 enable the Commission to ensure
                                                    arguments concerning the foregoing,                                                                            that affiliated brokers receive
                                                    including whether the proposed rule                     [OMB Control No. 3235–0217, SEC File No.
                                                                                                            270–224]                                               compensation that does not exceed the
                                                    change is consistent with the Act.                                                                             usual and customary broker’s
                                                    Comments may be submitted by any of                     Submission for OMB Review;                             commission. Without the recordkeeping
                                                    the following methods:                                  Comment Request                                        requirements, Commission inspectors
                                                    Electronic Comments                                                                                            would have difficulty ascertaining
                                                                                                            Upon Written Request, Copies Available                 whether funds were complying with
                                                      • Use the Commission’s Internet                        From: Securities and Exchange                         rule 17e–1.
                                                    comment form (http://www.sec.gov/                        Commission, Office of FOIA Services,                     Based on an analysis of fund filings,
                                                    rules/sro.shtml); or                                     100 F Street NE., Washington, DC                      the staff estimates that approximately
                                                      • Send an email to rule-comments@                      20549–2736.                                           320 funds enter into subadvisory
                                                    sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–                                                                        agreements each year.1 Based on
                                                    NASDAQ–2016–043 on the subject line.                    Extension:
                                                                                                              Rule 17e–1.                                          discussions with industry
                                                    Paper Comments                                                                                                 representatives, the staff estimates that
                                                                                                               Notice is hereby given that, pursuant
                                                       • Send paper comments in triplicate                                                                         it will require approximately 3 attorney
                                                                                                            to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
                                                    to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Securities                                                                      hours to draft and execute additional
                                                                                                            (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (‘‘Paperwork
                                                    and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street                                                                          clauses in new subadvisory contracts in
                                                                                                            Reduction Act’’), the Securities and
                                                    NE., Washington, DC 20549–1090.                                                                                order for funds and subadvisers to be
                                                                                                            Exchange Commission (the
                                                                                                                                                                   able to rely on the exemptions in rule
                                                    All submissions should refer to File                    ‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the
                                                                                                                                                                   17e–1. Because these additional clauses
                                                    Number SR–NASDAQ–2016–043. This                         Office of Management and Budget
                                                                                                                                                                   are identical to the clauses that a fund
                                                    file number should be included on the                   (‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension of the
                                                                                                                                                                   would need to insert in their
                                                    subject line if email is used. To help the              previously approved collection of
                                                                                                                                                                   subadvisory contracts to rely on rules
                                                    Commission process and review your                      information described below.
                                                                                                                                                                   12d3–1, 10f–3, and 17a–10, and because
                                                    comments more efficiently, please use                      Rule 17e–1 (17 CFR 270.17e–1) under
                                                                                                                                                                   we believe that funds that use one such
                                                    only one method. The Commission will                    the Investment Company Act of 1940
                                                                                                                                                                   rule generally use all of these rules, we
                                                    post all comments on the Commission’s                   (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.) (the
                                                                                                                                                                   apportion this 3 hour time burden
                                                    Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/                  ‘‘Investment Company Act’’) deems a
                                                                                                                                                                   equally to all four rules. Therefore, we
                                                    rules/sro.shtml).                                       remuneration as ‘‘not exceeding the
                                                                                                                                                                   estimate that the burden allocated to
                                                       Copies of the submission, all                        usual and customary broker’s
                                                                                                                                                                   rule 17e–1 for this contract change
                                                    subsequent amendments, all written                      commission’’ for purposes of Section
                                                                                                                                                                   would be 0.75 hours.2 Assuming that all
                                                    statements with respect to the proposed                 17(e)(2)(A) if, among other things, a
                                                                                                                                                                   320 funds enter into new subadvisory
                                                    rule change that are filed with the                     registered investment company’s
                                                                                                                                                                   contracts each year make the
                                                    Commission, and all written                             (‘‘fund’s’’) board of directors has
                                                                                                                                                                   modification to their contract required
                                                    communications relating to the                          adopted procedures reasonably
                                                                                                                                                                   by the rule, we estimate that the rule’s
                                                    proposed rule change between the                        designed to provide that the
                                                                                                                                                                   contract modification requirement will
                                                    Commission and any person, other than                   remuneration to an affiliated broker is a
                                                                                                                                                                   result in 240 burden hours annually.3
                                                    those that may be withheld from the                     reasonable and fair amount compared to                    Based on an analysis of fund filings,
                                                    public in accordance with the                           that received by other brokers in                      we estimate that approximately 1,696
                                                    provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                     connection with comparable                             funds use at least one affiliated broker.
                                                    available for Web site viewing and                      transactions involving similar securities              Based on staff experience and
                                                    printing in the Commission’s Public                     being purchased or sold on a securities                conversations with fund representatives,
                                                    Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,                       exchange during a comparable period of                 the staff estimates approximately 40
                                                    Washington, DC 20549, on official                       time and the board makes and approves                  percent of transactions (and thus, 40%
                                                    business days between the hours of                      such changes as it deems necessary. In                 of funds) that occur under the rule 17e–
                                                    10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the                  addition, each quarter, the board must
                                                    filing also will be available for                       determine that all transactions effected                  1 Based on data from Morningstar, as of
                                                    inspection and copying at the principal                 under the rule during the preceding                    September, 2015, there are 12,426 registered funds
                                                    office of the Exchange. All comments                    quarter complied with the established                  (open-end funds, closed-end funds, and exchange-
                                                    received will be posted without change;                 procedures. Rule 17e–1 also requires the               traded funds), 4,683 funds of which have
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                                                                                                                                                                   subadvisory relationships (approximately 38%).
                                                    the Commission does not edit personal                   fund to (i) maintain permanently a                     Based on data from the 2015 ICI Factbook, 843 new
                                                    identifying information from                            written copy of the procedures adopted                 funds were established in 2014 (654 open-end
                                                    submissions. You should submit only                     by the board for complying with the                    funds + 176 exchange-traded funds + 13 closed-end
                                                    information that you wish to make                       requirements of the rule; and (ii)                     funds (from the ICI Research Perspective, April
                                                                                                                                                                   2015)). 843 new funds × 38% = 320 funds.
                                                    available publicly. All submissions                     maintain for a period of six years, the                   2 3 hours ÷ 4 rules = 0.75 hours.
                                                    should refer to File Number SR–                         first two in an easily accessible place, a                3 This estimate is based on the following
                                                    NASDAQ–2016–043 and should be                                                                                  calculation: 0.75 hours × 320 funds = 240 burden
                                                    submitted on or before April 22, 2016.                    44 17   CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).                         hours.



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Document Created: 2016-04-06 00:08:21
Document Modified: 2016-04-06 00:08:21
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 18925 

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