81 FR 2264 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a Trading License Fee for Calendar Year 2016, Effective January 4, 2016

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 10 (January 15, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 10 (Friday, January 15, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2264-2266]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00642]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-76865; File No. SR-NYSE-2016-06]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To 
Adopt a Trading License Fee for Calendar Year 2016, Effective January 
4, 2016

January 11, 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 January 4, 2016, New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE'' or the 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``SEC'' or ``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in 
Items I, II, and III 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 adopt a trading license fee for calendar 
year 2016. The Exchange proposes to make the rule change operative on 
January 4, 2016. The proposed rule change is available on the 
Exchange's Web site at www.nyse.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 self-regulatory organization 
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 those 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,

[[Page 2265]]

of the most significant parts of such statements.

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

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to amend its Price List to adopt a trading 
license fee for calendar year 2016. The Exchange proposes to make the 
rule change operative on January 4, 2016.
    NYSE Rule 300(b) provides that, in each annual offering, up to 1366 
trading licenses for the following calendar year will be sold annually 
at a price per trading license to be established each year by the 
Exchange pursuant to a rule filing submitted to the Securities and 
Exchange Commission (``Commission'') and that the price per trading 
license will be published each year in the Exchange's price list.
    The Exchange proposes to leave the current trading license fees in 
place for 2016: $50,000 for the first license held by a member 
organization and $15,000 for each additional license held by a member 
organization. Such trading license fees have been in place since March 
1, 2015.\3\ Fees will continue to be prorated for any portion of the 
year that a license may be outstanding. For a trading license that is 
in place for 10 calendar days or less in a calendar month, proration 
for that month will continue to be at a flat rate of $100 per day with 
no tier pricing involved. For a trading license that is in place for 11 
calendar days or more in a calendar month, proration for that month 
will continue to be computed based on the number of days as applied to 
the applicable annual fee for the license.
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 74407 [sic] (March 
2, 2015), 80 FR 12228 (March 6, 2015) (SR-NYSE-2015-08). The trading 
license fee was initially set at $40,000 in January 2009. See 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59140, 73 FR 80488 (December 31, 
2008) (SR-NYSE-2008-130). In June 2011, the fee was changed to 
$40,000 per license for the first two licenses and $25,000 per 
license for any additional trading licenses. See Securities Exchange 
Act Release Nos. 64582 (June 2, 2011), 76 FR 33390 (June 8, 2011) 
(SR-NYSE-2011-23) and 66108 (January 5, 2012), 77 FR 1768 (January 
11, 2012) (SR-NYSE-2011-71).
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    The proposed changes are not otherwise intended to address any 
other problem, and the Exchange is not aware of any significant problem 
that the affected market participants would have in complying with the 
proposed changes.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b) of the Act,\4\ in general, and Section 6(b)(4) of the 
Act,\5\ in particular, in that it is designed to provide for the 
equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among 
its members and other persons using its facilities. The Exchange 
believes that the trading license fee is reasonable because it 
maintains the existing fee schedule, which has been in place since 
March 1, 2015. The Exchange also believes that the proposal to maintain 
the current fee schedule is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory 
because all similarly situated member organizations would continue to 
be subject to the same trading license fee structure and because access 
to the Exchange's market would continue to be offered on fair and non-
discriminatory terms. The Exchange also believes that the proposal to 
maintain the current fee schedule is equitable and not unfairly 
discriminatory because all member organizations would continue to have 
the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the fee relief with respect to 
additional trading licenses.
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    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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    The Exchange believes that it is subject to significant competitive 
forces, as described below in the Exchange's statement regarding the 
burden on competition.
    For the foregoing reasons, the Exchange believes that the proposal 
is consistent with the Exchange Act.

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 that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The proposed rule change 
will keep trading license fees the same as they have been since March 
1, 2015. As a result, the Exchange does not believe that the proposed 
rule change will place an unreasonable burden on current members 
because their trading license fees will remain the same. In addition, 
the Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will place 
an unreasonable burden on potential members because a potential 
member's fees will be the same as for a current member and pro-rated 
for licenses held for less than a year.
    Finally, the Exchange notes that it operates in a highly 
competitive market in which market participants can readily favor 
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be 
excessive or rebate opportunities available at other venues to be more 
favorable. In such an environment, the Exchange must continually adjust 
its fees and rebates to remain competitive with other exchanges and 
with alternative trading systems that have been exempted from 
compliance with the statutory standards applicable to exchanges. 
Because competitors are free to modify their own fees and credits in 
response, and because market participants may readily adjust their 
order routing practices, the Exchange believes that the degree to which 
fee changes in this market may impose any burden on competition is 
extremely limited. As a result of all of these considerations, the 
Exchange does not believe that the proposed changes will impair the 
ability of member organizations or competing order execution venues to 
maintain their competitive standing in the financial markets.

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

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

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

    The foregoing rule change is effective upon filing pursuant to 
Section 19(b)(3)(A) \6\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-
4 \7\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other charge 
imposed by the Exchange.
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \7\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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    At any time within 60 days of the filing of such proposed rule 
change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule 
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or 
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or 
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission 
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings under 
Section 19(b)(2)(B) \8\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed 
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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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.

[[Page 2266]]

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-NYSE-2016-06 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSE-2016-06. 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 offices 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-NYSE-2016-06, 
and should be submitted on or before February 5, 2016.
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    \9\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\9\
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-00642 Filed 1-14-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P