81_FR_4704 81 FR 4687 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Options Regulatory Fee

81 FR 4687 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Options Regulatory Fee

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 17 (January 27, 2016)

Page Range4687-4689
FR Document2016-01532

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 17 (Wednesday, January 27, 2016)
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 17 (Wednesday, January 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 4687-4689]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-01532]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-76950; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2016-003]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To 
Amend the Options Regulatory Fee

January 21, 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 8, 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, 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 amend Chapter XV, entitled ``Options 
Pricing,'' at Section 5, entitled ``NASDAQ Options Regulatory Fee,'' 
which governs pricing for Exchange Participants using the NASDAQ 
Options Market (``NOM''), the Exchange's facility for executing and 
routing standardized equity and index options. The Exchange proposes to 
increase the current Options Regulatory Fee.
    While changes to the Pricing Schedule pursuant to this proposal are 
effective upon filing, the Exchange has designated these changes to be 
operative on February 1, 2016.
    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.

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

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to (1) increase the ORF from $0.0015 to 
$0.0019 as of February 1, 2016 to balance the Exchange's regulatory 
revenue against the anticipated costs; and (2) remove the requirement 
that the ORF may only be modified semi-annually.
Background
    The ORF is assessed to each Participant for all options 
transactions executed or cleared by the Participant that are cleared at 
The Options Clearing Corporation (``OCC'') in the Customer range (i.e., 
that clear in the Customer account of the Participant's clearing firm 
at OCC). The Exchange monitors the amount of revenue collected from the 
ORF to ensure that it, in combination with other regulatory fees and 
fines, does not exceed regulatory costs. The ORF is imposed upon all 
transactions executed by a Participant, even if such transactions do 
not take place on the Exchange.\3\ The ORF also includes options 
transactions that are not executed by a Participant but are ultimately 
cleared by a Participant.\4\ The ORF is not charged for Participant 
proprietary options transactions because Participants incur the costs 
of owning memberships and through their membership are charged 
transaction fees, dues and other fees that are not applicable to non-
members. The dues and fees paid by Participants go into the general 
funds of the Exchange, a portion of which is used to help pay the costs 
of regulation. The ORF is collected indirectly from Participants 
through their clearing firms by OCC on behalf of the Exchange.
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    \3\ The ORF applies to all ``C'' account origin code orders 
executed by a Participant on the Exchange.
    \4\ In the case where one Participant both executes a 
transaction and clears the transaction, the ORF is assessed to the 
Participant only once on the execution. In the case where one 
Participant executes a transaction and a different Participant 
clears the transaction, the ORF is assessed only to the Participant 
who executes the transaction and is not assessed to the Participant 
who clears the transaction. In the case where a non-member executes 
a transaction and a Participant clears the transaction, the ORF is 
assessed to the Participant who clears the transaction.
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    The ORF is designed to recover a portion of the costs to the 
Exchange of the supervision and regulation of its Participants, 
including performing routine surveillances, investigations, 
examinations, financial monitoring, and policy, rulemaking, 
interpretive, and enforcement activities. The Exchange believes that 
revenue generated from the ORF, when combined with all of the 
Exchange's other regulatory fees, will cover a material portion, but 
not all, of the Exchange's regulatory costs. The Exchange will continue 
to monitor the amount of revenue collected from the ORF to ensure that 
it, in combination with its other regulatory fees and fines, does not 
exceed regulatory costs. If the Exchange determines regulatory revenues 
exceed regulatory costs, the Exchange will adjust the ORF by submitting 
a fee change filing to the Commission.
ORF Adjustments
    The Exchange proposes to increase the ORF from $0.0015 to $0.0019 
as of February 1, 2016 in order to balance the Exchange's regulatory 
revenue against the anticipated costs. The Exchange regularly reviews 
its ORF to ensure that the ORF, in combination with its other 
regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed regulatory costs. The 
Exchange believes this adjustment will permit the Exchange to cover a 
material portion of its regulatory costs, while not exceeding 
regulatory costs.
Semi-Annual Changes to ORF
    Currently, the ORF specifies the Exchange may only increase or 
decrease the ORF semi-annually, and any such fee change will be 
effective on the first business day of February or August.\5\ The 
Exchange is proposing to eliminate this requirement because the 
Exchange believes it requires the flexibility to amend its ORF to meet 
its regulatory requirements and adjust its ORF to account for the 
regulatory revenue that it receives and the costs that it incurs, as 
needed. While the Exchange is eliminating the requirement to adjust 
only semi-annually, it will continue to submit a rule proposal with the 
Commission for each modification to the ORF and notify participants via 
an Options Trader Alert of any anticipated

[[Page 4688]]

change in the amount of the fee at least thirty (30) calendar days 
prior to the effective date. The Exchange believes that the prior 
notification to market participants will provide guidance on the timing 
of any changes to the ORF and ensure market participants are prepared 
to configure their systems to properly account for the ORF. The 
Exchange notified Participants of this ORF adjustment thirty (30) 
calendar days prior to the proposed operative date.
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    \5\ See NOM Rules at Chapter XV, Section 5.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 
6(b) of the Act \6\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Sections 
6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5) of the Act \7\ in particular, in that it provides 
for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges 
among members and issuers and other persons using any facility or 
system which the Exchange operates or controls, and is not designed to 
permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or 
dealers.
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
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    The Exchange believes that increasing the ORF from $0.0015 to 
$0.0019 as of February 1, 2016 is reasonable because the Exchange's 
collection of ORF needs to be balanced against the amount of regulatory 
revenue collected by the Exchange. The Exchange believes that the 
proposed adjustments noted herein will serve to balance the Exchange's 
regulatory revenue against the anticipated regulatory costs.
    The Exchange believes that increasing the ORF from $0.0015 to 
$0.0019 as of February 1, 2016 is equitable and not unfairly 
discriminatory because this adjustment would be applicable to all 
members on all of their transactions that clear as Customer at OCC. In 
addition, the ORF seeks to recover the costs of supervising and 
regulating members, including performing routine surveillances, 
investigations, examinations, financial monitoring, and policy, 
rulemaking, interpretive, and enforcement activities.
    The ORF is not charged for member proprietary options transactions 
because members incur the costs of owning memberships and through their 
memberships are charged transaction fees, dues and other fees that are 
not applicable to non-members. Moreover, the Exchange believes the ORF 
ensures fairness by assessing higher fees to those members that require 
more Exchange regulatory services based on the amount of Customer 
options business they conduct.
    Regulating Customer trading activity is more labor intensive and 
requires greater expenditure of human and technical resources than 
regulating non-Customer trading activity. Surveillance, regulation and 
examination of non-Customer trading activity generally tends to be more 
automated and less labor intensive. As a result, the costs associated 
with administering the Customer component of the Exchange's overall 
regulatory program are anticipated to be higher than the costs 
associated with administering the non-Customer component of its 
regulatory program. The Exchange proposes assessing higher fees to 
those members that will require more Exchange regulatory services based 
on the amount of Customer options business they conduct.\8\ 
Additionally, the dues and fees paid by members go into the general 
funds of the Exchange, a portion of which is used to help pay the costs 
of regulation. The Exchange has in place a regulatory structure to 
surveil for, exam [sic] and monitor the marketplace for violations of 
Exchange Rules. The ORF assists the Exchange to fund the cost of this 
regulation of the marketplace.
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    \8\ The ORF is not charged for orders that clear in categories 
other than the Customer range at OCC (e.g., NOM Market Maker orders) 
because members incur the costs of memberships and through their 
memberships are charged transaction fees, dues and other fees that 
go into the general funds of the Exchange, a portion of which is 
used to help pay the costs of regulation.
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    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change to remove the 
limit to amend the ORF only semi-annually, with advance notice, is 
reasonable because the Exchange will continue to provide market 
participants with thirty (30) days advance notice of amending its ORF. 
Also, the Exchange is required to monitor the amount of revenue 
collected from the ORF to ensure that it, in combination with its other 
regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed regulatory costs. Therefore, 
the Exchange believes it is reasonable to remove the semi-annual limit 
to amend its ORF in order to permit the Exchange to make amendments to 
its ORF as necessary to comply with the Exchange's obligations.
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change to remove the 
limit to amend the ORF only semi-annually, with advance notice, is 
equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it will apply in the 
same manner to all members that are subject to the ORF. Also, all 
members will continue to receive advance notice of changes to the ORF.

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. In terms of inter-market 
competition, 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 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 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.
    The Exchange does not believe that increasing its ORF creates an 
undue burden on intra-market competition because the adjustment will 
apply to all members on all of their transactions that clear as 
Customer at OCC. The Exchange is obligated to ensure that the amount of 
regulatory revenue collected from the ORF, in combination with its 
other regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed regulatory costs. 
Additionally, the dues and fees paid by members go into the general 
funds of the Exchange, a portion of which is used to help pay the costs 
of regulation. The Exchange's members are subject to ORF on other 
options markets.\9\
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    \9\ The following options exchanges assess an ORF, [sic] Chicago 
Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (``CBOE''), C2 Options 
Exchange, Inc. (``C2''), the International Securities Exchange, LLC 
(``ISE''), NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSEArca'') and [sic] NYSE AMEX LLC 
(``NYSEAmex''), BATS Exchange, Inc. (``BATS'') and NASDAQ OMX PHLX 
LLC (``Phlx' [sic]'').
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    The Exchange does not believe that removing the limit to amend the 
ORF semi-annually, with advance notice, creates an undue burden on 
competition. The Exchange will continue to provide the same advance 
notice of changes to the ORF as it does today.

[[Page 4689]]

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

    The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act.\10\
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    \10\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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    At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule 
change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule 
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is: (i) 
Necessary or appropriate in the public interest; (ii) for the 
protection of investors; or (iii) otherwise in furtherance of the 
purposes of the Act. If the Commission takes such action, the 
Commission shall institute proceedings to determine whether the 
proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

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

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-NASDAQ-2016-003 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-NASDAQ-2016-003. 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-2016-003 and should 
be submitted on or before February 17, 2016.
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    \11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
Brent J. Fields,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-01532 Filed 1-26-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P



                                                                               Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 27, 2016 / Notices                                                      4687

                                                    submitted on or before February 17,                     II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                      applicable to non-members. The dues
                                                    2016.                                                   Statement of the Purpose of, and                        and fees paid by Participants go into the
                                                      For the Commission, by the Division of                Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule                  general funds of the Exchange, a portion
                                                    Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated              Change                                                  of which is used to help pay the costs
                                                    authority.18                                               In its filing with the Commission, the               of regulation. The ORF is collected
                                                    Brent J. Fields,                                        Exchange included statements                            indirectly from Participants through
                                                    Secretary.                                              concerning the purpose of and basis for                 their clearing firms by OCC on behalf of
                                                                                                            the proposed rule change and discussed                  the Exchange.
                                                    [FR Doc. 2016–01538 Filed 1–26–16; 8:45 am]
                                                                                                            any comments it received on the                           The ORF is designed to recover a
                                                    BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                                                                            proposed rule change. The text of these                 portion of the costs to the Exchange of
                                                                                                            statements may be examined at the                       the supervision and regulation of its
                                                                                                            places specified in Item IV below. The                  Participants, including performing
                                                    SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
                                                                                                            Exchange has prepared summaries, set                    routine surveillances, investigations,
                                                    COMMISSION
                                                                                                            forth in sections A, B, and C below, of                 examinations, financial monitoring, and
                                                                                                            the most significant aspects of such                    policy, rulemaking, interpretive, and
                                                    [Release No. 34–76950; File No. SR–                                                                             enforcement activities. The Exchange
                                                    NASDAQ–2016–003]                                        statements.
                                                                                                                                                                    believes that revenue generated from the
                                                                                                            A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                       ORF, when combined with all of the
                                                    Self-Regulatory Organizations; The                      Statement of the Purpose of, and                        Exchange’s other regulatory fees, will
                                                    NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of                      Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule                  cover a material portion, but not all, of
                                                    Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of                   Change                                                  the Exchange’s regulatory costs. The
                                                    Proposed Rule Change To Amend the
                                                                                                            1. Purpose                                              Exchange will continue to monitor the
                                                    Options Regulatory Fee                                                                                          amount of revenue collected from the
                                                    January 21, 2016.
                                                                                                               The Exchange proposes to (1) increase                ORF to ensure that it, in combination
                                                                                                            the ORF from $0.0015 to $0.0019 as of                   with its other regulatory fees and fines,
                                                       Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the                  February 1, 2016 to balance the
                                                    Securities Exchange Act of 1934                                                                                 does not exceed regulatory costs. If the
                                                                                                            Exchange’s regulatory revenue against                   Exchange determines regulatory
                                                    (‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2                 the anticipated costs; and (2) remove the
                                                    notice is hereby given that on January 8,                                                                       revenues exceed regulatory costs, the
                                                                                                            requirement that the ORF may only be                    Exchange will adjust the ORF by
                                                    2016, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC                       modified semi-annually.
                                                    (‘‘Nasdaq’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the                                                                     submitting a fee change filing to the
                                                    Securities and Exchange Commission                      Background                                              Commission.
                                                    (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed                   The ORF is assessed to each                          ORF Adjustments
                                                    rule change as described in Items I, II,                Participant for all options transactions                   The Exchange proposes to increase
                                                    and III, below, which Items have been                   executed or cleared by the Participant                  the ORF from $0.0015 to $0.0019 as of
                                                    prepared by the Exchange. The                           that are cleared at The Options Clearing                February 1, 2016 in order to balance the
                                                    Commission is publishing this notice to                 Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) in the Customer                   Exchange’s regulatory revenue against
                                                    solicit comments on the proposed rule                   range (i.e., that clear in the Customer                 the anticipated costs. The Exchange
                                                    change from interested persons.                         account of the Participant’s clearing                   regularly reviews its ORF to ensure that
                                                                                                            firm at OCC). The Exchange monitors                     the ORF, in combination with its other
                                                    I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                                                                            the amount of revenue collected from                    regulatory fees and fines, does not
                                                    Statement of the Terms of Substance of
                                                                                                            the ORF to ensure that it, in                           exceed regulatory costs. The Exchange
                                                    the Proposed Rule Change
                                                                                                            combination with other regulatory fees                  believes this adjustment will permit the
                                                       The Exchange proposes to amend                       and fines, does not exceed regulatory                   Exchange to cover a material portion of
                                                    Chapter XV, entitled ‘‘Options Pricing,’’               costs. The ORF is imposed upon all                      its regulatory costs, while not exceeding
                                                    at Section 5, entitled ‘‘NASDAQ                         transactions executed by a Participant,                 regulatory costs.
                                                    Options Regulatory Fee,’’ which governs                 even if such transactions do not take
                                                    pricing for Exchange Participants using                 place on the Exchange.3 The ORF also                    Semi-Annual Changes to ORF
                                                    the NASDAQ Options Market (‘‘NOM’’),                    includes options transactions that are                     Currently, the ORF specifies the
                                                    the Exchange’s facility for executing and               not executed by a Participant but are                   Exchange may only increase or decrease
                                                    routing standardized equity and index                   ultimately cleared by a Participant.4 The               the ORF semi-annually, and any such
                                                    options. The Exchange proposes to                       ORF is not charged for Participant                      fee change will be effective on the first
                                                    increase the current Options Regulatory                 proprietary options transactions because                business day of February or August.5
                                                    Fee.                                                    Participants incur the costs of owning                  The Exchange is proposing to eliminate
                                                       While changes to the Pricing                         memberships and through their                           this requirement because the Exchange
                                                    Schedule pursuant to this proposal are                  membership are charged transaction                      believes it requires the flexibility to
                                                    effective upon filing, the Exchange has                 fees, dues and other fees that are not                  amend its ORF to meet its regulatory
                                                    designated these changes to be operative                                                                        requirements and adjust its ORF to
                                                                                                               3 The ORF applies to all ‘‘C’’ account origin code
                                                    on February 1, 2016.                                                                                            account for the regulatory revenue that
                                                                                                            orders executed by a Participant on the Exchange.
                                                       The text of the proposed rule change                    4 In the case where one Participant both executes    it receives and the costs that it incurs,
                                                                                                                                                                    as needed. While the Exchange is
asabaliauskas on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES




                                                    is available on the Exchange’s Web site                 a transaction and clears the transaction, the ORF is
                                                    at http://nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com, at                  assessed to the Participant only once on the            eliminating the requirement to adjust
                                                                                                            execution. In the case where one Participant
                                                    the principal office of the Exchange, and               executes a transaction and a different Participant
                                                                                                                                                                    only semi-annually, it will continue to
                                                    at the Commission’s Public Reference                    clears the transaction, the ORF is assessed only to     submit a rule proposal with the
                                                    Room.                                                   the Participant who executes the transaction and is     Commission for each modification to
                                                                                                            not assessed to the Participant who clears the          the ORF and notify participants via an
                                                                                                            transaction. In the case where a non-member
                                                      18 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).                            executes a transaction and a Participant clears the
                                                                                                                                                                    Options Trader Alert of any anticipated
                                                      1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).                                transaction, the ORF is assessed to the Participant
                                                      2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.                                   who clears the transaction.                              5 See   NOM Rules at Chapter XV, Section 5.



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                                                    4688                           Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 27, 2016 / Notices

                                                    change in the amount of the fee at least                      Regulating Customer trading activity                B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                    thirty (30) calendar days prior to the                     is more labor intensive and requires                   Statement on Burden on Competition
                                                    effective date. The Exchange believes                      greater expenditure of human and
                                                    that the prior notification to market                      technical resources than regulating non-                  The Exchange does not believe that
                                                    participants will provide guidance on                      Customer trading activity. Surveillance,               the proposed rule change will impose
                                                    the timing of any changes to the ORF                       regulation and examination of non-                     any burden on competition not
                                                    and ensure market participants are                         Customer trading activity generally                    necessary or appropriate in furtherance
                                                    prepared to configure their systems to                     tends to be more automated and less                    of the purposes of the Act. In terms of
                                                    properly account for the ORF. The                          labor intensive. As a result, the costs                inter-market competition, the Exchange
                                                    Exchange notified Participants of this                     associated with administering the                      notes that it operates in a highly
                                                    ORF adjustment thirty (30) calendar                        Customer component of the Exchange’s                   competitive market in which market
                                                    days prior to the proposed operative                       overall regulatory program are                         participants can readily favor competing
                                                    date.                                                      anticipated to be higher than the costs                venues if they deem fee levels at a
                                                    2. Statutory Basis                                         associated with administering the non-                 particular venue to be excessive, or
                                                                                                               Customer component of its regulatory                   rebate opportunities available at other
                                                       The Exchange believes that its                          program. The Exchange proposes
                                                    proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)                                                                          venues to be more favorable. In such an
                                                                                                               assessing higher fees to those members                 environment, the Exchange must
                                                    of the Act 6 in general, and furthers the                  that will require more Exchange
                                                    objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5)                                                                        continually adjust its fees to remain
                                                                                                               regulatory services based on the amount                competitive with other exchanges and
                                                    of the Act 7 in particular, in that it                     of Customer options business they
                                                    provides for the equitable allocation of                                                                          with alternative trading systems that
                                                                                                               conduct.8 Additionally, the dues and
                                                    reasonable dues, fees and other charges                                                                           have been exempted from compliance
                                                                                                               fees paid by members go into the
                                                    among members and issuers and other                                                                               with the statutory standards applicable
                                                                                                               general funds of the Exchange, a portion
                                                    persons using any facility or system                                                                              to exchanges. Because competitors are
                                                                                                               of which is used to help pay the costs
                                                    which the Exchange operates or                             of regulation. The Exchange has in place               free to modify their own fees in
                                                    controls, and is not designed to permit                    a regulatory structure to surveil for,                 response, and because market
                                                    unfair discrimination between                              exam [sic] and monitor the marketplace                 participants may readily adjust their
                                                    customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.                   for violations of Exchange Rules. The                  order routing practices, the Exchange
                                                       The Exchange believes that increasing                                                                          believes that the degree to which fee
                                                                                                               ORF assists the Exchange to fund the
                                                    the ORF from $0.0015 to $0.0019 as of                                                                             changes in this market may impose any
                                                                                                               cost of this regulation of the
                                                    February 1, 2016 is reasonable because                                                                            burden on competition is extremely
                                                                                                               marketplace.
                                                    the Exchange’s collection of ORF needs                                                                            limited.
                                                    to be balanced against the amount of                          The Exchange believes that the
                                                    regulatory revenue collected by the                        proposed rule change to remove the                        The Exchange does not believe that
                                                    Exchange. The Exchange believes that                       limit to amend the ORF only semi-                      increasing its ORF creates an undue
                                                    the proposed adjustments noted herein                      annually, with advance notice, is                      burden on intra-market competition
                                                    will serve to balance the Exchange’s                       reasonable because the Exchange will                   because the adjustment will apply to all
                                                    regulatory revenue against the                             continue to provide market participants                members on all of their transactions that
                                                    anticipated regulatory costs.                              with thirty (30) days advance notice of                clear as Customer at OCC. The Exchange
                                                       The Exchange believes that increasing                   amending its ORF. Also, the Exchange                   is obligated to ensure that the amount of
                                                    the ORF from $0.0015 to $0.0019 as of                      is required to monitor the amount of                   regulatory revenue collected from the
                                                    February 1, 2016 is equitable and not                      revenue collected from the ORF to                      ORF, in combination with its other
                                                    unfairly discriminatory because this                       ensure that it, in combination with its                regulatory fees and fines, does not
                                                    adjustment would be applicable to all                      other regulatory fees and fines, does not              exceed regulatory costs. Additionally,
                                                    members on all of their transactions that                  exceed regulatory costs. Therefore, the                the dues and fees paid by members go
                                                    clear as Customer at OCC. In addition,                     Exchange believes it is reasonable to                  into the general funds of the Exchange,
                                                    the ORF seeks to recover the costs of                      remove the semi-annual limit to amend                  a portion of which is used to help pay
                                                    supervising and regulating members,                        its ORF in order to permit the Exchange
                                                                                                                                                                      the costs of regulation. The Exchange’s
                                                    including performing routine                               to make amendments to its ORF as
                                                                                                                                                                      members are subject to ORF on other
                                                    surveillances, investigations,                             necessary to comply with the
                                                                                                               Exchange’s obligations.                                options markets.9
                                                    examinations, financial monitoring, and
                                                    policy, rulemaking, interpretive, and                         The Exchange believes that the                         The Exchange does not believe that
                                                    enforcement activities.                                    proposed rule change to remove the                     removing the limit to amend the ORF
                                                       The ORF is not charged for member                       limit to amend the ORF only semi-                      semi-annually, with advance notice,
                                                    proprietary options transactions because                   annually, with advance notice, is                      creates an undue burden on
                                                    members incur the costs of owning                          equitable and not unfairly                             competition. The Exchange will
                                                    memberships and through their                              discriminatory because it will apply in                continue to provide the same advance
                                                    memberships are charged transaction                        the same manner to all members that are                notice of changes to the ORF as it does
                                                    fees, dues and other fees that are not                     subject to the ORF. Also, all members                  today.
                                                    applicable to non-members. Moreover,                       will continue to receive advance notice
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                                                    the Exchange believes the ORF ensures                      of changes to the ORF.
                                                    fairness by assessing higher fees to those
                                                                                                                                                                         9 The following options exchanges assess an ORF,
                                                    members that require more Exchange                           8 The  ORF is not charged for orders that clear in   [sic] Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated
                                                    regulatory services based on the amount                    categories other than the Customer range at OCC
                                                                                                                                                                      (‘‘CBOE’’), C2 Options Exchange, Inc. (‘‘C2’’), the
                                                    of Customer options business they                          (e.g., NOM Market Maker orders) because members
                                                                                                               incur the costs of memberships and through their       International Securities Exchange, LLC (‘‘ISE’’),
                                                    conduct.                                                   memberships are charged transaction fees, dues and     NYSE Arca, Inc. (‘‘NYSEArca’’) and [sic] NYSE
                                                                                                               other fees that go into the general funds of the       AMEX LLC (‘‘NYSEAmex’’), BATS Exchange, Inc.
                                                      6 15   U.S.C. 78f(b).                                                                                           (‘‘BATS’’) and NASDAQ OMX PHLX LLC (‘‘Phlx’
                                                                                                               Exchange, a portion of which is used to help pay
                                                      7 15   U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).                         the costs of regulation.                               [sic]’’).



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                                                                                   Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 17 / Wednesday, January 27, 2016 / Notices                                                      4689

                                                    C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                          those that may be withheld from the                    I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                    Statement on Comments on the                               public in accordance with the                          Statement of the Terms of Substance of
                                                    Proposed Rule Change Received From                         provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                    the Proposed Rule Change
                                                    Members, Participants, or Others                           available for Web site viewing and                        The Exchange proposes to establish
                                                      No written comments were either                          printing in the Commission’s Public                    the NYSE Arca Order Imbalances
                                                    solicited or received.                                     Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,                      proprietary market data product. The
                                                                                                               Washington, DC 20549, on official                      proposed rule change is available on the
                                                    III. Date of Effectiveness of the
                                                                                                               business days between the hours of                     Exchange’s Web site at www.nyse.com,
                                                    Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
                                                                                                               10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the                 at the principal office of the Exchange,
                                                    Commission Action
                                                                                                               filing also will be available for                      and at the Commission’s Public
                                                       The foregoing rule change has become                    inspection and copying at the principal                Reference Room.
                                                    effective pursuant to Section                              office of the Exchange. All comments
                                                    19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act.10                                                                                     II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                                                                               received will be posted without change;                Statement of the Purpose of, and
                                                       At any time within 60 days of the
                                                    filing of the proposed rule change, the                    the Commission does not edit personal                  Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                    Commission summarily may                                   identifying information from                           Change
                                                    temporarily suspend such rule change if                    submissions. You should submit only                       In its filing with the Commission, the
                                                    it appears to the Commission that such                     information that you wish to make                      self-regulatory organization included
                                                    action is: (i) Necessary or appropriate in                 available publicly. All submissions                    statements concerning the purpose of,
                                                    the public interest; (ii) for the protection               should refer to File Number SR–                        and basis for, the proposed rule change
                                                    of investors; or (iii) otherwise in                        NASDAQ–2016–003 and should be                          and discussed any comments it received
                                                    furtherance of the purposes of the Act.                    submitted on or before February 17,                    on the proposed rule change. The text
                                                    If the Commission takes such action, the                   2016.                                                  of those statements may be examined at
                                                    Commission shall institute proceedings                       For the Commission, by the Division of               the places specified in Item IV below.
                                                    to determine whether the proposed rule                     Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated             The Exchange has prepared summaries,
                                                    should be approved or disapproved.                         authority.11                                           set forth in sections A, B, and C below,
                                                    IV. Solicitation of Comments                                                                                      of the most significant parts of such
                                                                                                               Brent J. Fields,
                                                                                                                                                                      statements.
                                                      Interested persons are invited to                        Secretary.
                                                    submit written data, views and                             [FR Doc. 2016–01532 Filed 1–26–16; 8:45 am]            A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                    arguments concerning the foregoing,                                                                               Statement of the Purpose of, and
                                                                                                               BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                    including whether the proposed rule                                                                               Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                    change is consistent with the Act.                                                                                Change
                                                    Comments may be submitted by any of                        SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE                                1. Purpose
                                                    the following methods:                                     COMMISSION                                                The Exchange proposes to establish
                                                    Electronic Comments                                                                                               the NYSE Arca Order Imbalances
                                                      • Use the Commission’s Internet                          [Release No. 34–76968; File No. SR–                    datafeed as a separate, stand-alone
                                                                                                               NYSEArca–2016–10]                                      market data product. The NYSE Arca
                                                    comment form (http://www.sec.gov/
                                                    rules/sro.shtml); or                                                                                              Order Imbalances product would be a
                                                                                                               Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
                                                      • Send an email to rule-comments@                                                                               real-time datafeed of the information
                                                    sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–                    Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing and                       that the Exchange provides in advance
                                                    NASDAQ–2016–003 on the subject line.                       Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed                    of an auction.
                                                                                                               Rule Change Establishing the NYSE                         The Exchange is establishing the
                                                    Paper Comments                                             Arca Order Imbalances Proprietary                      NYSE Arca Order Imbalances product in
                                                       • Send paper comments in triplicate                     Market Data Product                                    connection with the implementation of
                                                    to Secretary, Securities and Exchange                                                                             Pillar, the Exchange’s proposed new
                                                    Commission, 100 F Street NE.,                              January 22, 2016.                                      technology trading platform.4 Pillar is
                                                    Washington, DC 20549–1090.                                    Pursuant to section 19(b)(1)1 of the                the integrated trading technology
                                                    All submissions should refer to File                       Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the                   platform designed to use a single
                                                    Number SR–NASDAQ–2016–003. This                            ‘‘Act’’),2 and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,3                 specification for connecting to the
                                                    file number should be included on the                      notice is hereby given that on January                 equities and options markets operated
                                                    subject line if email is used. To help the                 13, 2016, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the                         by NYSE Arca and its affiliates, New
                                                    Commission process and review your                         ‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE Arca’’) filed with              York Stock Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’) and
                                                    comments more efficiently, please use                      the Securities and Exchange                            NYSE MKT LLC (‘‘NYSE MKT’’). NYSE
                                                    only one method. The Commission will                       Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the                    Arca Equities would be the first trading
                                                    post all comments on the Commission’s                      proposed rule change as described in                      4 See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 74951
                                                    Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/                     Items I and II below, which Items have                 (May 13, 2015), 80 FR 28721 (May 19, 2015)
                                                    rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the                            been prepared by the self-regulatory                   (Notice) and 75494 (July 20, 2015), 80 FR 44170
                                                    submission, all subsequent                                 organization. The Commission is                        (July 24, 2015) (Order) (SR–NYSEArca-2015–38)
                                                    amendments, all written statements
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                                                                                                                                                                      (‘‘Pillar I Filing’’); 75497 (July 21, 2015), 80 FR
                                                                                                               publishing this notice to solicit                      45022 (July 28, 2015) (Notice) and 76267 (Oct. 26,
                                                    with respect to the proposed rule                          comments on the proposed rule change                   2015), 80 FR 66951 (Oct. 30, 2015) (Order) (SR–
                                                    change that are filed with the
                                                                                                               from interested persons.                               NYSEArca-2015–56)(‘‘Pillar II Filing’’); 75467 (July
                                                    Commission, and all written                                                                                       16, 2015), 80 FR 43515 (July 22, 2015) (Notice) and
                                                    communications relating to the                                                                                    76198 (Oct. 20, 2015), 80 FR 65274 (Oct. 26, 2015)
                                                    proposed rule change between the                             11 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).                           (Order) (SR–NYSEArca-2015–58) (‘‘Pillar III
                                                                                                                                                                      Filing’’); and 76085 (Oct. 6, 2015), 80 FR 61513
                                                    Commission and any person, other than                        1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                                                                                                                                                                      (Oct. 13, 2015) (Notice) and 76869 (Jan. 11, 2016)
                                                                                                                 2 15 U.S.C. 78a.
                                                                                                                                                                      (Order) (SR–NYSEArca-2015–86) (‘‘Pillar Auction
                                                      10 15   U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).                           3 17 CFR 240.19b-4.                                  Filing’’).



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Document Created: 2018-02-02 12:39:54
Document Modified: 2018-02-02 12:39:54
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 4687 

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