82_FR_11113 82 FR 11081 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Bats EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Adopt Option Regulatory Fees as They Relate to the Equity Options Platform

82 FR 11081 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Bats EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Adopt Option Regulatory Fees as They Relate to the Equity Options Platform

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 32 (February 17, 2017)

Page Range11081-11083
FR Document2017-03178

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 32 (Friday, February 17, 2017)
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 32 (Friday, February 17, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11081-11083]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03178]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-80025; File No. SR-BatsEDGX-2017-04]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Bats EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice 
of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To 
Adopt Option Regulatory Fees as They Relate to the Equity Options 
Platform

February 13, 2017.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the ``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that on January 30, 2017, Bats EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or 
``EDGX'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, 
and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The 
Exchange has designated the proposed rule change as one establishing or 
changing a member due, fee, or other charge imposed by the Exchange 
under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act \3\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) 
thereunder,\4\ which renders the proposed rule change effective upon 
filing with the Commission. 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.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange filed a proposal to amend the fee schedule applicable 
to Members \5\ and non-Members of the Exchange pursuant to Exchange 
Rules 15.1(a) and (c) to adopt an Options Regulatory Fee (``ORF'').
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    \5\ The term ``Member'' is defined as ``any registered broker or 
dealer that has been admitted to membership in the Exchange.'' See 
Exchange Rule 1.5(n).
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    The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange's 
Web site at www.batstrading.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 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 modify its fee schedule applicable to its 
equity options platform (``EDGX Options'') to adopt an ORF in the 
amount of $0.0004 per contract side.\6\ The per-contract ORF will be 
assessed by the Exchange to each Member for all options transactions 
executed and cleared, or simply cleared, by the Member, that are 
cleared by OCC in the ``customer'' range, regardless of the exchange on 
which the transaction occurs.\7\ The ORF will be collected indirectly 
from Members through their clearing firms by OCC on behalf of the 
Exchange.
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    \6\ The Exchange notes that it previously proposed to adopt an 
ORF of $0.0002 per contract in August 2016 which would have been 
assessed to each Member and non-Member for all options transactions 
cleared by OCC in the ``customer'' range, regardless of the exchange 
on which the transaction occurred. See Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 78452 (August 1, 2016), 81 FR 51951 (August 5, 2016) 
(SR-BatsEDGX-2016-33). The Exchange then filed to delay the 
implementation of SR-BatsEDGX-2016-33 until February 1, 2017. See 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 78745 (September 1, 2016), 81 FR 
62185 (September 8, 2016) (SR-BatsEDGX-2016-48). The Commission 
later issued an order suspending and [sic] SR-BatsEDGX-2016-33 and 
instituted proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove 
the proposed rule change asking whether the [sic] ``a sufficient 
regulatory nexus exists between the Exchange and a non-Member to 
justify imposition of the ORF on such non-Member.'' See Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 78850 (September 15, 2016), 81 FR 64963 
(September 21, 2016). On January 10, 2017, the Exchange withdrew SR-
Bats-EDGX-2016-33. The Exchange also proposes in this filing to 
remove text from its fee schedule adopted in SR-BatsEDGX-2016-48 
which delayed the implementation of SR-Bats-EDGX-2016-33 until 
February 1, 2017.
    \7\ The Exchange also proposes to insert a colon after the title 
``Options Regulatory Fee''.
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    The ORF also will be charged for transactions that are not executed 
by a Member but are ultimately cleared by a Member. In the case where a 
non-Member executes a transaction and a Member clears the transaction, 
the ORF will be assessed to the Member who clears the transaction. In 
the case where a Member executes a transaction and another Member 
clears the transaction, the ORF will be assessed to the Member who 
clears the transaction.
    Clearing members, however, are distinguished from executing 
participants because they remain identified to the Exchange regardless 
of the identity of the initiating executing participant, their 
location, and the market center on which they execute transactions. 
Therefore, the Exchange believes it is more efficient for the operation 
of the Exchange and for the marketplace as a whole to assess the ORF to 
clearing members.
    The Exchange believes it is appropriate to charge the ORF only to 
transactions that clear as customer at the OCC. The Exchange believes 
that its broad regulatory responsibilities with respect to a Member's 
activities supports applying the ORF to transactions cleared but not 
executed by a Member. The Exchange's regulatory responsibilities are 
the same regardless of whether a Member executes a transaction or 
clears a transaction executed on its behalf. The Exchange regularly 
reviews all such activities, including performing surveillance for 
position limit violations, manipulation, front-running, contrary 
exercise advice

[[Page 11082]]

violations and insider trading. These activities span across multiple 
exchanges.
    The ORF is designed to recover a material portion of the costs to 
the Exchange of the supervision and regulation of Members' customer 
options business, including performing routine surveillances and 
investigations, as well as 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 and fines, will cover a material portion, but not all, of the 
Exchange's regulatory costs. The Exchange notes that its regulatory 
responsibilities with respect to Member compliance with options sales 
practice rules have been allocated to the Financial Industry Regulatory 
Authority, Inc. (``FINRA'') under a 17d-2 Agreement. The ORF is not 
designed to cover the cost of options sales practice regulation.
    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 the Exchange's total 
regulatory costs. The Exchange expects to monitor its regulatory costs 
and revenues at a minimum on a semi-annual basis. If the Exchange 
determines regulatory revenues exceed or are insufficient to cover a 
material portion of its regulatory costs, the Exchange will adjust the 
ORF by submitting a fee change filing to the Commission. The Exchange 
will notify Members of adjustments to the ORF at least 30 calendar days 
prior to the effective date of the change.\8\
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    \8\ The Exchange announced its intent to charge an ORF on 
December 30, 2016. See Bats Options Exchange Regulatory Fee Schedule 
Update Effective February 1, 2017, available at http://cdn.batstrading.com/resources/fee_schedule/2017/Bats-Options-Exchange-Regulatory-Fee-Schedule-Update-Effective-February-1-2017.pdf. The semi-annual review and notice provisions are similar 
to those adopted by NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE Arca''). See Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 70500 (September 25, 2013), 78 FR 60361 
(October 1, 2013) (SR-NYSEArca-2013-91).
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    The Exchange believes it is reasonable and appropriate for the 
Exchange to charge the ORF for options transactions regardless of the 
exchange on which the transactions occur. The Exchange has a statutory 
obligation to enforce compliance by Members and their associated 
persons under the Act and the rules of the Exchange and to surveil for 
other manipulative conduct by market participants (including non-
Members) trading on the Exchange. The Exchange cannot effectively 
surveil for such conduct without looking at and evaluating activity 
across all options markets. Many of the Exchange's market surveillance 
programs require the Exchange to look at and evaluate activity across 
all options markets, such as surveillance for position limit 
violations, manipulation, front-running and contrary exercise advice 
violations/expiring exercise declarations. Also, the Exchange and the 
other options exchanges are required to populate a consolidated options 
audit trail (``COATS'') \9\ system in order to surveil a Member's 
activities across markets.
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    \9\ COATS effectively enhances intermarket options surveillance 
by enabling the options exchanges to reconstruct the market promptly 
to effectively surveil certain rules.
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    In addition to its own surveillance programs, the Exchange works 
with other SROs and exchanges on intermarket surveillance related 
issues. Through its participation in the Intermarket Surveillance Group 
(``ISG''),\10\ the Exchange shares information and coordinates 
inquiries and investigations with other exchanges designed to address 
potential intermarket manipulation and trading abuses. The Exchange's 
participation in ISG helps it to satisfy the requirement that it has 
coordinated surveillance with markets on which security futures are 
traded and markets on which any security underlying security futures 
are traded to detect manipulation and insider trading.\11\
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    \10\ ISG is an industry organization formed in 1983 to 
coordinate intermarket surveillance among the SROs by co-operatively 
sharing regulatory information pursuant to a written agreement 
between the parties. The goal of the ISG's information sharing is to 
coordinate regulatory efforts to address potential intermarket 
trading abuses and manipulations.
    \11\ See Section 6(h)(3)(I) of the Act.
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    The Exchange believes that charging the ORF across markets will 
avoid having Members direct their trades to other markets in order to 
avoid the fee and to thereby avoid paying for their fair share for 
regulation. If the ORF did not apply to activity across markets then a 
Member would send their orders to the least cost, least regulated 
exchange. Other exchanges do impose a similar fee on their member's 
activity, including the activity of those members on the Exchange.\12\
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    \12\ Similar regulatory fees have been instituted by PHLX, ISE, 
and MIAX. See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 61133 (December 
9, 2009), 74 FR 66715 (December 16, 2009) (SR-Phlx-2009-100); 61154 
(December 11, 2009), 74 FR 67278 (December 18, 2009) (SR-ISE-2009-
105); and 68711 (January 23, 2013), 78 FR 6155 (January 29, 2013) 
(SR-MIAX-2013-01).
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    The Exchange notes that there is established precedent for an SRO 
charging a fee across markets, namely, FINRAs Trading Activity Fee \13\ 
and the MIAX, NYSE Amex, NYSE Arca, CBOE, PHLX, ISE and BOX ORFs. While 
the Exchange does not have all of the same regulatory responsibilities 
as FINRA, the Exchange believes that, like other exchanges that have 
adopted an ORF, its broad regulatory responsibilities with respect to a 
Member's activities, irrespective of where their transactions take 
place, support a regulatory fee applicable to transactions on other 
markets. Unlike FINRA's Trading Activity Fee, the ORF would apply only 
to a Member's customer options transactions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 47946 (May 30, 
2003), 68 FR 34021 (June 6, 2003).
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Implementation Date
    The Exchange proposes to implement the ORF on February 1, 2017.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations 
thereunder that are applicable to a national securities exchange, and, 
in particular, with the requirements of Section 6 of the Act.\14\ 
Specifically, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is 
consistent with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,\15\ in that it provides for 
the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges 
among members and other persons using its facilities. The Exchange 
notes that it operates in a highly competitive market in which market 
participants can readily direct order flow to competing venues or 
providers of routing services if they deem fee levels to be excessive.
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    \14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
    \15\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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    The Exchange believes the ORF is equitable and not unfairly 
discriminatory because it would be objectively allocated to Members in 
that it would be charged to all Members on all their transactions that 
clear as customer transactions at the OCC. Moreover, the Exchange 
believes the ORF ensures fairness by assessing fees to those Members 
that are directly based on the amount of customer options business they 
conduct. Regulating customer trading activity is much more labor 
intensive and requires greater expenditure of human and technical 
resources than regulating non-customer trading activity, which 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 materially higher than the

[[Page 11083]]

costs associated with administering the non-customer component (e.g., 
Member proprietary transactions) of its regulatory program. In 
addition, the Exchange believes the amount of the ORF is reasonable as 
it is lower than ORFs charged by other exchanges. By way of comparison, 
MIAX charges an ORF of $0.0045 per contract side,\16\ and both NYSE 
Arca and NYSE Amex charge an ORF of $0.0055 per contract side.\17\
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    \16\ See MIAX fee schedule available at http://www.miaxoptions.com/sites/default/files/MIAX_Options_Fee_Schedule_01012017.pdf (last visited January 10, 
2017).
    \17\ See NYSE Arca Options fee schedule available at https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/arca-options/NYSE_Arca_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf (last visited January 10, 2017); 
and NYSE Amex fee schedule available at https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/amex-options/NYSE_Amex_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf (last visited January 10, 2017).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The ORF is designed to recover a material portion of the costs of 
supervising and regulating Members' customer options business including 
performing routine surveillances, investigations, examinations, 
financial monitoring, and policy, rulemaking, interpretive, and 
enforcement activities. The Exchange will monitor, on at least a semi-
annual basis the amount of revenue collected from the ORF to ensure 
that it, in combination with its other regulatory fees and fines, does 
not exceed the Exchange's total regulatory costs. If the Exchange 
determines regulatory revenues exceed or are insufficient to cover a 
material portion of its regulatory costs, the Exchange will adjust the 
ORF by submitting a fee change filing to the Commission. The Exchange 
will notify Members of adjustments to the ORF via regulatory circular.
    The Exchange has designed the ORF to generate revenues that, when 
combined with all of the Exchange's other regulatory fees, will be less 
than or equal to the Exchange's regulatory costs, which is consistent 
with the Commission's view that regulatory fees be used for regulatory 
purposes and not to support the Exchange's business side. In this 
regard, the Exchange believes that the initial level of the fee is 
reasonable.

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 ORF is not intended to have 
any impact on competition. Rather, it is designed to enable the 
Exchange to recover a material portion of the Exchange's cost related 
to its regulatory activities. 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.
    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. 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 proposed ORF is also 
comparable to ORF charged by other options exchanges for the same or 
similar service.

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

    The Exchange has not solicited, and does not intend to solicit, 
comments on this proposed rule change. The Exchange has not received 
any written comments from members or other interested parties.

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) of the Act \18\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 
thereunder.\19\ 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 
necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of 
investors, or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
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    \18\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \19\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
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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. 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 No. SR-BatsEDGX-2017-04 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 No. SR-BatsEDGX-2017-04. 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 No. SR-BatsEDGX-2017-04, and should be 
submitted on or before March 10, 2017.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\20\
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    \20\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-03178 Filed 2-16-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P



                                                                                   Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 32 / Friday, February 17, 2017 / Notices                                                 11081

                                                  Applicants’ Conditions                                     charge imposed by the Exchange under                  will be assessed by the Exchange to each
                                                     Applicants agree that the requested                     Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act 3 and              Member for all options transactions
                                                  exemption will be subject to the                           Rule 19b–4(f)(2) thereunder,4 which                   executed and cleared, or simply cleared,
                                                  following conditions:                                      renders the proposed rule change                      by the Member, that are cleared by OCC
                                                     1. European Holdco will not engage in                   effective upon filing with the                        in the ‘‘customer’’ range, regardless of
                                                  the trading of securities for short-term                   Commission. The Commission is                         the exchange on which the transaction
                                                  speculative purposes;                                      publishing this notice to solicit                     occurs.7 The ORF will be collected
                                                     2. European Holdco will not hold                        comments on the proposed rule change                  indirectly from Members through their
                                                  itself out as being engaged primarily in                   from interested persons.                              clearing firms by OCC on behalf of the
                                                  the business of investing, reinvesting, or                                                                       Exchange.
                                                                                                             I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                  trading in securities; and                                                                                          The ORF also will be charged for
                                                                                                             Statement of the Terms of Substance of
                                                     3. European Holdco will have no                                                                               transactions that are not executed by a
                                                                                                             the Proposed Rule Change
                                                  securities outstanding while it is relying                                                                       Member but are ultimately cleared by a
                                                  on the order other than (i) guarantees of                     The Exchange filed a proposal to                   Member. In the case where a non-
                                                  FinCo debt that is also guaranteed by                      amend the fee schedule applicable to                  Member executes a transaction and a
                                                  GE, (ii) debt securities (including                        Members 5 and non-Members of the                      Member clears the transaction, the ORF
                                                  commercial paper) guaranteed by GE                         Exchange pursuant to Exchange Rules                   will be assessed to the Member who
                                                  and (iii) securities held by European                      15.1(a) and (c) to adopt an Options                   clears the transaction. In the case where
                                                  Holdco’s affiliates.                                       Regulatory Fee (‘‘ORF’’).                             a Member executes a transaction and
                                                     4. European Holdco will seek to                            The text of the proposed rule change               another Member clears the transaction,
                                                  decrease the percentage of its total                       is available at the Exchange’s Web site               the ORF will be assessed to the Member
                                                  assets comprised of investment                             at www.batstrading.com, at the                        who clears the transaction.
                                                  securities so as not to be an investment                   principal office of the Exchange, and at                 Clearing members, however, are
                                                  company within the meaning of the Act                      the Commission’s Public Reference                     distinguished from executing
                                                  and the rules and regulations                              Room.                                                 participants because they remain
                                                  thereunder as soon as reasonably                           II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                    identified to the Exchange regardless of
                                                  possible and in any event within three                     Statement of the Purpose of, and                      the identity of the initiating executing
                                                  years from the date of the requested                       Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule                participant, their location, and the
                                                  order.                                                     Change                                                market center on which they execute
                                                                                                                                                                   transactions. Therefore, the Exchange
                                                    For the Commission, by the Division of                     In its filing with the Commission, the
                                                  Investment Management, under delegated
                                                                                                                                                                   believes it is more efficient for the
                                                                                                             Exchange included statements                          operation of the Exchange and for the
                                                  authority.
                                                                                                             concerning the purpose of and basis for               marketplace as a whole to assess the
                                                  Eduardo A. Aleman,                                         the proposed rule change and discussed                ORF to clearing members.
                                                  Assistant Secretary.                                       any comments it received on the                          The Exchange believes it is
                                                  [FR Doc. 2017–03184 Filed 2–16–17; 8:45 am]                proposed rule change. The text of these               appropriate to charge the ORF only to
                                                  BILLING CODE 8011–01–P                                     statements may be examined at the                     transactions that clear as customer at the
                                                                                                             places specified in Item IV below. The                OCC. The Exchange believes that its
                                                                                                             Exchange has prepared summaries, set                  broad regulatory responsibilities with
                                                  SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE                                    forth in Sections A, B, and C below, of               respect to a Member’s activities
                                                  COMMISSION                                                 the most significant parts of such                    supports applying the ORF to
                                                  [Release No. 34–80025; File No. SR–                        statements.                                           transactions cleared but not executed by
                                                  BatsEDGX–2017–04]                                                                                                a Member. The Exchange’s regulatory
                                                                                                             A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                                                                             Statement of the Purpose of, and the                  responsibilities are the same regardless
                                                  Self-Regulatory Organizations; Bats                                                                              of whether a Member executes a
                                                  EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing                      Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                                                                             Change                                                transaction or clears a transaction
                                                  and Immediate Effectiveness of a                                                                                 executed on its behalf. The Exchange
                                                  Proposed Rule Change To Adopt                              1. Purpose                                            regularly reviews all such activities,
                                                  Option Regulatory Fees as They Relate                                                                            including performing surveillance for
                                                                                                               The Exchange proposes to modify its
                                                  to the Equity Options Platform                                                                                   position limit violations, manipulation,
                                                                                                             fee schedule applicable to its equity
                                                  February 13, 2017.                                         options platform (‘‘EDGX Options’’) to                front-running, contrary exercise advice
                                                     Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the                     adopt an ORF in the amount of $0.0004
                                                                                                             per contract side.6 The per-contract ORF              Securities Exchange Act Release No. 78745
                                                  Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the                                                                             (September 1, 2016), 81 FR 62185 (September 8,
                                                  ‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2                                                                           2016) (SR–BatsEDGX–2016–48). The Commission
                                                                                                               3 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
                                                  notice is hereby given that on January                                                                           later issued an order suspending and [sic] SR–
                                                                                                               4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
                                                  30, 2017, Bats EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the                                                                          BatsEDGX–2016–33 and instituted proceedings to
                                                                                                                5 The term ‘‘Member’’ is defined as ‘‘any          determine whether to approve or disapprove the
                                                  ‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘EDGX’’) filed with the                   registered broker or dealer that has been admitted    proposed rule change asking whether the [sic] ‘‘a
                                                  Securities and Exchange Commission                         to membership in the Exchange.’’ See Exchange         sufficient regulatory nexus exists between the
                                                  (the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule                     Rule 1.5(n).                                          Exchange and a non-Member to justify imposition
                                                  change as described in Items I, II, and                       6 The Exchange notes that it previously proposed   of the ORF on such non-Member.’’ See Securities
                                                                                                             to adopt an ORF of $0.0002 per contract in August     Exchange Act Release No. 78850 (September 15,
mstockstill on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES




                                                  III below, which Items have been                           2016 which would have been assessed to each           2016), 81 FR 64963 (September 21, 2016). On
                                                  prepared by the Exchange. The                              Member and non-Member for all options                 January 10, 2017, the Exchange withdrew SR–Bats–
                                                  Exchange has designated the proposed                       transactions cleared by OCC in the ‘‘customer’’       EDGX–2016–33. The Exchange also proposes in this
                                                  rule change as one establishing or                         range, regardless of the exchange on which the        filing to remove text from its fee schedule adopted
                                                                                                             transaction occurred. See Securities Exchange Act     in SR–BatsEDGX–2016–48 which delayed the
                                                  changing a member due, fee, or other                       Release No. 78452 (August 1, 2016), 81 FR 51951       implementation of SR–Bats–EDGX–2016–33 until
                                                                                                             (August 5, 2016) (SR–BatsEDGX–2016–33). The           February 1, 2017.
                                                    1 15   U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).                                 Exchange then filed to delay the implementation of       7 The Exchange also proposes to insert a colon
                                                    2 17   CFR 240.19b–4.                                    SR–BatsEDGX–2016–33 until February 1, 2017. See       after the title ‘‘Options Regulatory Fee’’.



                                             VerDate Sep<11>2014      17:38 Feb 16, 2017   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00082   Fmt 4703   Sfmt 4703   E:\FR\FM\17FEN1.SGM   17FEN1


                                                  11082                         Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 32 / Friday, February 17, 2017 / Notices

                                                  violations and insider trading. These                   evaluating activity across all options                  FINRAs Trading Activity Fee 13 and the
                                                  activities span across multiple                         markets. Many of the Exchange’s market                  MIAX, NYSE Amex, NYSE Arca, CBOE,
                                                  exchanges.                                              surveillance programs require the                       PHLX, ISE and BOX ORFs. While the
                                                     The ORF is designed to recover a                     Exchange to look at and evaluate                        Exchange does not have all of the same
                                                  material portion of the costs to the                    activity across all options markets, such               regulatory responsibilities as FINRA, the
                                                  Exchange of the supervision and                         as surveillance for position limit                      Exchange believes that, like other
                                                  regulation of Members’ customer                         violations, manipulation, front-running                 exchanges that have adopted an ORF, its
                                                  options business, including performing                  and contrary exercise advice violations/                broad regulatory responsibilities with
                                                  routine surveillances and investigations,               expiring exercise declarations. Also, the               respect to a Member’s activities,
                                                  as well as policy, rulemaking,                          Exchange and the other options                          irrespective of where their transactions
                                                  interpretive and enforcement activities.                exchanges are required to populate a                    take place, support a regulatory fee
                                                  The Exchange believes that revenue                      consolidated options audit trail                        applicable to transactions on other
                                                  generated from the ORF, when                            (‘‘COATS’’) 9 system in order to surveil                markets. Unlike FINRA’s Trading
                                                  combined with all of the Exchange’s                     a Member’s activities across markets.                   Activity Fee, the ORF would apply only
                                                  other regulatory fees and fines, will                                                                           to a Member’s customer options
                                                                                                             In addition to its own surveillance
                                                  cover a material portion, but not all, of                                                                       transactions.
                                                                                                          programs, the Exchange works with
                                                  the Exchange’s regulatory costs. The
                                                                                                          other SROs and exchanges on                             Implementation Date
                                                  Exchange notes that its regulatory
                                                                                                          intermarket surveillance related issues.
                                                  responsibilities with respect to Member                                                                           The Exchange proposes to implement
                                                                                                          Through its participation in the
                                                  compliance with options sales practice                                                                          the ORF on February 1, 2017.
                                                                                                          Intermarket Surveillance Group
                                                  rules have been allocated to the
                                                                                                          (‘‘ISG’’),10 the Exchange shares                        2. Statutory Basis
                                                  Financial Industry Regulatory
                                                  Authority, Inc. (‘‘FINRA’’) under a 17d–                information and coordinates inquiries                      The Exchange believes that the
                                                  2 Agreement. The ORF is not designed                    and investigations with other exchanges                 proposed rule change is consistent with
                                                  to cover the cost of options sales                      designed to address potential                           the requirements of the Act and the
                                                  practice regulation.                                    intermarket manipulation and trading                    rules and regulations thereunder that
                                                     The Exchange will continue to                        abuses. The Exchange’s participation in                 are applicable to a national securities
                                                  monitor the amount of revenue                           ISG helps it to satisfy the requirement                 exchange, and, in particular, with the
                                                  collected from the ORF to ensure that it,               that it has coordinated surveillance with               requirements of Section 6 of the Act.14
                                                  in combination with its other regulatory                markets on which security futures are                   Specifically, the Exchange believes that
                                                  fees and fines, does not exceed the                     traded and markets on which any                         the proposed rule change is consistent
                                                  Exchange’s total regulatory costs. The                  security underlying security futures are                with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,15 in that
                                                  Exchange expects to monitor its                         traded to detect manipulation and                       it provides for the equitable allocation
                                                  regulatory costs and revenues at a                      insider trading.11                                      of reasonable dues, fees and other
                                                  minimum on a semi-annual basis. If the                     The Exchange believes that charging                  charges among members and other
                                                  Exchange determines regulatory                          the ORF across markets will avoid                       persons using its facilities. The
                                                  revenues exceed or are insufficient to                  having Members direct their trades to                   Exchange notes that it operates in a
                                                  cover a material portion of its regulatory              other markets in order to avoid the fee                 highly competitive market in which
                                                  costs, the Exchange will adjust the ORF                 and to thereby avoid paying for their fair              market participants can readily direct
                                                  by submitting a fee change filing to the                share for regulation. If the ORF did not                order flow to competing venues or
                                                  Commission. The Exchange will notify                    apply to activity across markets then a                 providers of routing services if they
                                                  Members of adjustments to the ORF at                    Member would send their orders to the                   deem fee levels to be excessive.
                                                  least 30 calendar days prior to the                     least cost, least regulated exchange.                      The Exchange believes the ORF is
                                                  effective date of the change.8                          Other exchanges do impose a similar fee                 equitable and not unfairly
                                                     The Exchange believes it is reasonable               on their member’s activity, including                   discriminatory because it would be
                                                  and appropriate for the Exchange to                     the activity of those members on the                    objectively allocated to Members in that
                                                  charge the ORF for options transactions                 Exchange.12                                             it would be charged to all Members on
                                                  regardless of the exchange on which the                    The Exchange notes that there is                     all their transactions that clear as
                                                  transactions occur. The Exchange has a                  established precedent for an SRO                        customer transactions at the OCC.
                                                  statutory obligation to enforce                         charging a fee across markets, namely,                  Moreover, the Exchange believes the
                                                  compliance by Members and their                                                                                 ORF ensures fairness by assessing fees
                                                  associated persons under the Act and                       9 COATS effectively enhances intermarket             to those Members that are directly based
                                                  the rules of the Exchange and to surveil                options surveillance by enabling the options            on the amount of customer options
                                                  for other manipulative conduct by                       exchanges to reconstruct the market promptly to         business they conduct. Regulating
                                                  market participants (including non-                     effectively surveil certain rules.
                                                                                                             10 ISG is an industry organization formed in 1983
                                                                                                                                                                  customer trading activity is much more
                                                  Members) trading on the Exchange. The                                                                           labor intensive and requires greater
                                                                                                          to coordinate intermarket surveillance among the
                                                  Exchange cannot effectively surveil for                 SROs by co-operatively sharing regulatory               expenditure of human and technical
                                                  such conduct without looking at and                     information pursuant to a written agreement             resources than regulating non-customer
                                                                                                          between the parties. The goal of the ISG’s              trading activity, which tends to be more
                                                    8 The Exchange announced its intent to charge an      information sharing is to coordinate regulatory
                                                                                                          efforts to address potential intermarket trading        automated and less labor-intensive. As a
                                                  ORF on December 30, 2016. See Bats Options
                                                  Exchange Regulatory Fee Schedule Update Effective       abuses and manipulations.                               result, the costs associated with
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                                                  February 1, 2017, available at http://                     11 See Section 6(h)(3)(I) of the Act.                administering the customer component
                                                  cdn.batstrading.com/resources/fee_schedule/2017/           12 Similar regulatory fees have been instituted by
                                                                                                                                                                  of the Exchange’s overall regulatory
                                                  Bats-Options-Exchange-Regulatory-Fee-Schedule-          PHLX, ISE, and MIAX. See Securities Exchange Act        program are materially higher than the
                                                  Update-Effective-February-1-2017.pdf. The semi-         Release Nos. 61133 (December 9, 2009), 74 FR
                                                  annual review and notice provisions are similar to      66715 (December 16, 2009) (SR–Phlx–2009–100);
                                                                                                                                                                    13 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 47946
                                                  those adopted by NYSE Arca, Inc. (‘‘NYSE Arca’’).       61154 (December 11, 2009), 74 FR 67278 (December
                                                  See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70500           18, 2009) (SR–ISE–2009–105); and 68711 (January         (May 30, 2003), 68 FR 34021 (June 6, 2003).
                                                                                                                                                                    14 15 U.S.C. 78f.
                                                  (September 25, 2013), 78 FR 60361 (October 1,           23, 2013), 78 FR 6155 (January 29, 2013) (SR–
                                                  2013) (SR–NYSEArca–2013–91).                            MIAX–2013–01).                                            15 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).




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                                                                                Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 32 / Friday, February 17, 2017 / Notices                                                    11083

                                                  costs associated with administering the                 material portion of the Exchange’s cost                   Electronic Comments
                                                  non-customer component (e.g., Member                    related to its regulatory activities. The
                                                  proprietary transactions) of its                        Exchange is obligated to ensure that the                    • Use the Commission’s Internet
                                                  regulatory program. In addition, the                    amount of regulatory revenue collected                    comment form (http://www.sec.gov/
                                                  Exchange believes the amount of the                     from the ORF, in combination with its                     rules/sro.shtml); or
                                                  ORF is reasonable as it is lower than                   other regulatory fees and fines, does not                   • Send an email to rule-comments@
                                                  ORFs charged by other exchanges. By                     exceed regulatory costs.                                  sec.gov. Please include File No. SR–
                                                  way of comparison, MIAX charges an                         The Exchange notes that it operates in                 BatsEDGX–2017–04 on the subject line.
                                                  ORF of $0.0045 per contract side,16 and                 a highly competitive market in which
                                                  both NYSE Arca and NYSE Amex                            market participants can readily favor                     Paper Comments
                                                  charge an ORF of $0.0055 per contract                   competing venues if they deem fee
                                                  side.17                                                                                                             • Send paper comments in triplicate
                                                                                                          levels at a particular venue to be                        to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
                                                     The ORF is designed to recover a                     excessive, or rebate opportunities
                                                  material portion of the costs of                                                                                  Commission, 100 F Street NE.,
                                                                                                          available at other venues to be more
                                                  supervising and regulating Members’                                                                               Washington, DC 20549–1090.
                                                                                                          favorable. In such an environment, the
                                                  customer options business including                     Exchange must continually adjust its                      All submissions should refer to File No.
                                                  performing routine surveillances,                       fees to remain competitive with other                     SR–BatsEDGX–2017–04. This file
                                                  investigations, examinations, financial                 exchanges. Because competitors are free                   number should be included on the
                                                  monitoring, and policy, rulemaking,                     to modify their own fees in response,                     subject line if email is used. To help the
                                                  interpretive, and enforcement activities.               and because market participants may
                                                  The Exchange will monitor, on at least                                                                            Commission process and review your
                                                                                                          readily adjust their order routing                        comments more efficiently, please use
                                                  a semi-annual basis the amount of                       practices, the Exchange believes that the
                                                  revenue collected from the ORF to                                                                                 only one method. The Commission will
                                                                                                          degree to which fee changes in this                       post all comments on the Commission’s
                                                  ensure that it, in combination with its                 market may impose any burden on
                                                  other regulatory fees and fines, does not                                                                         Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/
                                                                                                          competition is extremely limited. The                     rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
                                                  exceed the Exchange’s total regulatory                  proposed ORF is also comparable to
                                                  costs. If the Exchange determines                                                                                 submission, all subsequent
                                                                                                          ORF charged by other options
                                                  regulatory revenues exceed or are                                                                                 amendments, all written statements
                                                                                                          exchanges for the same or similar
                                                  insufficient to cover a material portion                                                                          with respect to the proposed rule
                                                                                                          service.
                                                  of its regulatory costs, the Exchange will                                                                        change that are filed with the
                                                  adjust the ORF by submitting a fee                      C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                         Commission, and all written
                                                  change filing to the Commission. The                    Statement on Comments on the                              communications relating to the
                                                  Exchange will notify Members of                         Proposed Rule Change Received From                        proposed rule change between the
                                                  adjustments to the ORF via regulatory                   Members, Participants, or Others                          Commission and any person, other than
                                                  circular.                                                                                                         those that may be withheld from the
                                                     The Exchange has designed the ORF                      The Exchange has not solicited, and
                                                                                                          does not intend to solicit, comments on                   public in accordance with the
                                                  to generate revenues that, when                                                                                   provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
                                                  combined with all of the Exchange’s                     this proposed rule change. The
                                                                                                          Exchange has not received any written                     available for Web site viewing and
                                                  other regulatory fees, will be less than
                                                                                                          comments from members or other                            printing in the Commission’s Public
                                                  or equal to the Exchange’s regulatory
                                                                                                          interested parties.                                       Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,
                                                  costs, which is consistent with the
                                                  Commission’s view that regulatory fees                                                                            Washington, DC 20549, on official
                                                                                                          III. Date of Effectiveness of the
                                                  be used for regulatory purposes and not                                                                           business days between the hours of
                                                                                                          Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
                                                  to support the Exchange’s business side.                                                                          10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
                                                                                                          Commission Action
                                                  In this regard, the Exchange believes                                                                             filing also will be available for
                                                  that the initial level of the fee is                       The foregoing rule change has become                   inspection and copying at the principal
                                                  reasonable.                                             effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)                 office of the Exchange. All comments
                                                                                                          of the Act 18 and paragraph (f) of Rule                   received will be posted without change;
                                                  B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                       19b–4 thereunder.19 At any time within                    the Commission does not edit personal
                                                  Statement on Burden on Competition                      60 days of the filing of the proposed rule                identifying information from
                                                    The Exchange does not believe that                    change, the Commission summarily may                      submissions. You should submit only
                                                  the proposed rule change will impose                    temporarily suspend such rule change if                   information that you wish to make
                                                  any burden on competition not                           it appears to the Commission that such                    available publicly. All submissions
                                                  necessary or appropriate in furtherance                 action is necessary or appropriate in the                 should refer to File No. SR–BatsEDGX–
                                                  of the purposes of the Act. The ORF is                  public interest, for the protection of
                                                                                                                                                                    2017–04, and should be submitted on or
                                                  not intended to have any impact on                      investors, or otherwise in furtherance of
                                                                                                                                                                    before March 10, 2017.
                                                  competition. Rather, it is designed to                  the purposes of the Act.
                                                  enable the Exchange to recover a                                                                                    For the Commission, by the Division of
                                                                                                          IV. Solicitation of Comments                              Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
                                                     16 See MIAX fee schedule available at http://          Interested persons are invited to                       authority.20
                                                  www.miaxoptions.com/sites/default/files/MIAX_           submit written data, views, and                           Eduardo A. Aleman,
                                                  Options_Fee_Schedule_01012017.pdf (last visited         arguments concerning the foregoing,
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                                                  January 10, 2017).                                                                                                Assistant Secretary.
                                                     17 See NYSE Arca Options fee schedule available      including whether the proposed rule                       [FR Doc. 2017–03178 Filed 2–16–17; 8:45 am]
                                                  at https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/        change is consistent with the Act.                        BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                  arca-options/NYSE_Arca_Options_Fee_                     Comments may be submitted by any of
                                                  Schedule.pdf (last visited January 10, 2017); and       the following methods:
                                                  NYSE Amex fee schedule available at https://
                                                  www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/amex-
                                                                                                            18 15   U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
                                                  options/NYSE_Amex_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf
                                                  (last visited January 10, 2017).                          19 17   CFR 240.19b–4(f).                                 20 17   CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).



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Document Created: 2017-02-17 00:29:02
Document Modified: 2017-02-17 00:29:02
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 Citation82 FR 11081 

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