82_FR_11305 82 FR 11272 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX PEARL, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend the MIAX PEARL Fee Schedule To Establish an Options Regulatory Fee (“ORF”)

82 FR 11272 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX PEARL, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend the MIAX PEARL Fee Schedule To Establish an Options Regulatory Fee (“ORF”)

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 33 (February 21, 2017)

Page Range11272-11274
FR Document2017-03300

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 33 (Tuesday, February 21, 2017)
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 33 (Tuesday, February 21, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11272-11274]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03300]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-80035; File No. SR-PEARL-2017-09]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX PEARL, LLC; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend the MIAX 
PEARL Fee Schedule To Establish an Options Regulatory Fee (``ORF'')

February 14, 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 February 3, 2017, MIAX PEARL, LLC (``MIAX PEARL'' or 
``Exchange'') 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 
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 is filing a proposal rule change to amend the MIAX 
PEARL Fee Schedule (the ``Fee Schedule'') by establishing an Options 
Regulatory Fee (``ORF'').
    While changes to the Fee Schedule pursuant to this proposal are 
effective upon filing, the Exchange has designated these changes to be 
operative February 6, 2017.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's 
Web site at http://www.miaxoptions.com/rule-filings/pearl, at MIAX's 
principal office, 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 the 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The purpose of the proposed rule change is to establish an ORF in 
the amount of $0.0010 per contract side. The per-contract ORF will be 
assessed by MIAX PEARL to each MIAX PEARL Member for all options 
transactions executed, cleared, or ultimately cleared by the Member 
which are cleared by OCC in the ``customer'' range, regardless of the 
exchange on which the transaction occurs. The ORF will be collected 
indirectly from Members through their clearing firms by OCC on behalf 
of MIAX PEARL.
    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. Further, the ORF 
will be assessed on transactions that are not executed by a Member, but 
are ultimately cleared by a Member. The Exchange notes that, in the 
limited circumstance in which a Member executes or clears a transaction 
and then ``gives-up'' or ``CMTAs'' the trade to a non-member of MIAX 
PEARL (which non-member becomes the ultimate clearing firm for the 
transaction), MIAX PEARL will collect the ORF from such non-member 
involving [sic] that transaction. However, for the avoidance of doubt, 
the Exchange will not assess the ORF when the transaction is not 
executed on the Exchange and neither the executing clearing firm nor 
the ultimate clearing firm (e.g., such as when the Member is ``given-
up'' or ``CMTAed'' and then subsequently ``gives-up'' or ``CMTAs'' the 
transaction to another non-member via a CMTA reversal) is a Member. 
Further, the Exchange will not assess the ORF on linkage trades, 
whether executed at the Exchange or an away exchange. A customer order 
routed to another exchange results in two customer trades, one from the 
originating exchange and one from the recipient exchange. Charging ORF 
on both trades could result in double-billing of ORF for a single 
customer order, thus the Exchange chooses not to charge ORF on the 
trade from the originating exchange in a linkage scenario. This 
assessment practice will be identical to the assessment practice 
currently utilized by the Exchange's affiliate, Miami International 
Securities Exchange, LLC (``MIAX Options'').
    As a practical matter, when a transaction that is subject to the 
ORF is not executed on the Exchange, the Exchange lacks the information 
necessary to identify the executing member for that transaction. There 
are countless executing market participants, and each day such 
participants can and often do drop their connection to one market 
center and establish themselves as participants on another. For these 
reasons, it is not possible for the Exchange to identify, and thus 
assess fees such as an ORF on, executing participants on away markets 
on a given trading day.
    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 collect the ORF 
from clearing members.
    As discussed below, 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 violations and

[[Page 11273]]

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 (``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 MIAX PEARL 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 via regulatory circular 
at least 30 days prior to the effective date of the change.
    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'') \3\ system in order to surveil a Member's 
activities across markets.
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    \3\ 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''),\4\ 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.\5\
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    \4\ 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.
    \5\ 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 MIAX PEARL.\6\
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    \6\ Similar regulatory fees have been instituted by PHLX (See 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 61133 (December 9, 2009), 74 FR 
66715 (December 16, 2009) (SR-Phlx-2009-100)); ISE (See Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 61154 (December 11, 2009), 74 FR 67278 
(December 18, 2009) (SR-ISE-2009-105)); and ISE Gemini (See 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70200 (August 14, 2013) 78 FR 
51242 (August 20, 2013) (SR-Topaz-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 \7\ 
and the NYSE Amex, NYSE Arca, CBOE, PHLX, ISE, ISE Gemini and BOX ORF. 
While the Exchange does not have all 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, supports 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.
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    \7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 47946 (May 30, 
2003), 68 FR 34021 (June 6, 2003) (SR-NASD-2002-148).
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    Additionally, the Exchange proposes to specify in the Fee Schedule 
that 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. In addition to submitting a proposed rule change to 
the Commission as required by the Act to increase or decrease the ORF, 
the Exchange will notify participants via a Regulatory Circular of any 
anticipated change in the amount of the fee at least 30 calendar days 
prior to the effective date of the change. The Exchange believes that 
by providing guidance on the timing of any changes to the ORF, the 
Exchange would make it easier for participants to ensure their systems 
are configured to properly account for the ORF.
2. Statutory Basis
    MIAX PEARL believes that its proposal to amend its Fee Schedule is 
consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act \8\ in general, and furthers 
the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of the Act \9\ in particular, in that 
it is an equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other 
charges among its members and issuers and other persons using its 
facilities. The Exchange also believes the proposal furthers the 
objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act \10\ in that it is designed to 
promote just and equitable principles of trade, to remove impediments 
to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national 
market system, and, in general to protect investors and the public 
interest and is not designed to permit unfair discrimination between 
customers, issuers, brokers and dealers.
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    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
    \10\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    The Exchange believes the ORF is equitable and not unfairly 
discriminatory because it is objectively allocated to Members in that 
it is charged to all Members on all their transactions that clear as 
customer 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-

[[Page 11274]]

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 costs associated with administering the non-
customer component (e.g., Member proprietary transactions) of its 
regulatory program.
    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. 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.
    The Exchange believes that the proposal to limit changes to the ORF 
to twice a year on specific dates with advance notice is reasonable 
because it will give participants certainty on the timing of changes, 
if any, and better enable them to properly account for ORF charges 
among their customers. The Exchange believes that the proposed change 
is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it will apply in 
the same manner to all Members that are subject to the ORF and provide 
them with additional advance notice of changes to that fee.

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. Unilateral action by MIAX PEARL in establishing fees for 
services provided to its Members and others using its facilities will 
not have an impact on competition. As a new entrant in the already 
highly competitive environment for equity options trading, MIAX PEARL 
does not have the market power necessary to set prices for services 
that are unreasonable or unfairly discriminatory in violation of the 
Act. MIAX PEARL's proposed ORF, as described herein, are comparable to 
fees charged by other options exchanges for the same or similar 
services. The proposal to limit the changes to the ORF to twice a year 
on specific dates with advance notice is not intended to address a 
competitive issue but rather to provide Members with better notice of 
any change that the Exchange may make to the ORF.

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

    Written comments were neither solicited nor 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,\11\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \12\ thereunder. 
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. If the Commission takes such 
action, the Commission shall institute proceedings to determine whether 
the proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.
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    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \12\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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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-PEARL-2017-09 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-PEARL-2017-09. 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-PEARL-2017-09, and should be 
submitted on or before March 14, 2017.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\13\
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    \13\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-03300 Filed 2-17-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P



                                                11272                       Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 33 / Tuesday, February 21, 2017 / Notices

                                                filing also will be available for                       filings/pearl, at MIAX’s principal office,            ‘‘CMTAed’’ and then subsequently
                                                inspection and copying at the principal                 and at the Commission’s Public                        ‘‘gives-up’’ or ‘‘CMTAs’’ the transaction
                                                office of the Exchange. All comments                    Reference Room.                                       to another non-member via a CMTA
                                                received will be posted without change;                                                                       reversal) is a Member. Further, the
                                                                                                        II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                the Commission does not edit personal                                                                         Exchange will not assess the ORF on
                                                                                                        Statement of the Purpose of, and
                                                identifying information from                                                                                  linkage trades, whether executed at the
                                                submissions. You should submit only                     Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                                                                                                                              Exchange or an away exchange. A
                                                information that you wish to make                       Change
                                                                                                                                                              customer order routed to another
                                                available publicly. All submissions                       In its filing with the Commission, the              exchange results in two customer trades,
                                                should refer to File Number SR–CHX–                     Exchange included statements                          one from the originating exchange and
                                                2017–04 and should be submitted on or                   concerning the purpose of and basis for               one from the recipient exchange.
                                                before March 14, 2017.                                  the proposed rule change and discussed                Charging ORF on both trades could
                                                  For the Commission, by the Division of                any comments it received on the                       result in double-billing of ORF for a
                                                Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated              proposed rule change. The text of these               single customer order, thus the
                                                authority.143                                           statements may be examined at the                     Exchange chooses not to charge ORF on
                                                Eduardo A. Aleman,                                      places specified in Item IV below. The                the trade from the originating exchange
                                                Assistant Secretary.                                    Exchange has prepared summaries, set                  in a linkage scenario. This assessment
                                                [FR Doc. 2017–03296 Filed 2–17–17; 8:45 am]
                                                                                                        forth in sections A, B, and C below, of               practice will be identical to the
                                                BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                                                                        the most significant aspects of such                  assessment practice currently utilized
                                                                                                        statements.                                           by the Exchange’s affiliate, Miami
                                                                                                        A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                     International Securities Exchange, LLC
                                                SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE                                 Statement of the Purpose of, and the                  (‘‘MIAX Options’’).
                                                COMMISSION                                              Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule                   As a practical matter, when a
                                                                                                        Change                                                transaction that is subject to the ORF is
                                                [Release No. 34–80035; File No. SR–
                                                PEARL–2017–09]                                                                                                not executed on the Exchange, the
                                                                                                        1. Purpose                                            Exchange lacks the information
                                                Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX                        The purpose of the proposed rule                   necessary to identify the executing
                                                PEARL, LLC; Notice of Filing and                        change is to establish an ORF in the                  member for that transaction. There are
                                                Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed                   amount of $0.0010 per contract side.                  countless executing market participants,
                                                Rule Change To Amend the MIAX                           The per-contract ORF will be assessed                 and each day such participants can and
                                                PEARL Fee Schedule To Establish an                      by MIAX PEARL to each MIAX PEARL                      often do drop their connection to one
                                                Options Regulatory Fee (‘‘ORF’’)                        Member for all options transactions                   market center and establish themselves
                                                                                                        executed, cleared, or ultimately cleared              as participants on another. For these
                                                February 14, 2017.                                                                                            reasons, it is not possible for the
                                                                                                        by the Member which are cleared by
                                                   Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the                  OCC in the ‘‘customer’’ range, regardless             Exchange to identify, and thus assess
                                                Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the                    of the exchange on which the                          fees such as an ORF on, executing
                                                ‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2                  transaction occurs. The ORF will be                   participants on away markets on a given
                                                notice is hereby given that on February                 collected indirectly from Members                     trading day.
                                                3, 2017, MIAX PEARL, LLC (‘‘MIAX                        through their clearing firms by OCC on                   Clearing members, however, are
                                                PEARL’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the                 behalf of MIAX PEARL.                                 distinguished from executing
                                                Securities and Exchange Commission                         In the case where a non-Member                     participants because they remain
                                                (the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule                  executes a transaction and a Member                   identified to the Exchange regardless of
                                                change as described in Items I, II, and                 clears the transaction, the ORF will be               the identity of the initiating executing
                                                III below, which Items have been                        assessed to the Member who clears the                 participant, their location, and the
                                                prepared by the Exchange. The                           transaction. In the case where a Member               market center on which they execute
                                                Commission is publishing this notice to                 executes a transaction and another                    transactions. Therefore, the Exchange
                                                solicit comments on the proposed rule                   Member clears the transaction, the ORF                believes it is more efficient for the
                                                change from interested persons.                         will be assessed to the Member who                    operation of the Exchange and for the
                                                I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                       clears the transaction. Further, the ORF              marketplace as a whole to collect the
                                                Statement of the Terms of Substance of                  will be assessed on transactions that are             ORF from clearing members.
                                                the Proposed Rule Change                                not executed by a Member, but are                        As discussed below, the Exchange
                                                   The Exchange is filing a proposal rule               ultimately cleared by a Member. The                   believes it is appropriate to charge the
                                                change to amend the MIAX PEARL Fee                      Exchange notes that, in the limited                   ORF only to transactions that clear as
                                                Schedule (the ‘‘Fee Schedule’’) by                      circumstance in which a Member                        customer at the OCC. The Exchange
                                                establishing an Options Regulatory Fee                  executes or clears a transaction and then             believes that its broad regulatory
                                                (‘‘ORF’’).                                              ‘‘gives-up’’ or ‘‘CMTAs’’ the trade to a              responsibilities with respect to a
                                                   While changes to the Fee Schedule                    non-member of MIAX PEARL (which                       Member’s activities supports applying
                                                pursuant to this proposal are effective                 non-member becomes the ultimate                       the ORF to transactions cleared but not
                                                upon filing, the Exchange has                           clearing firm for the transaction), MIAX              executed by a Member. The Exchange’s
                                                designated these changes to be operative                PEARL will collect the ORF from such                  regulatory responsibilities are the same
                                                                                                        non-member involving [sic] that                       regardless of whether a Member
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES




                                                February 6, 2017.
                                                   The text of the proposed rule change                 transaction. However, for the avoidance               executes a transaction or clears a
                                                is available on the Exchange’s Web site                 of doubt, the Exchange will not assess                transaction executed on its behalf. The
                                                at http://www.miaxoptions.com/rule-                     the ORF when the transaction is not                   Exchange regularly reviews all such
                                                                                                        executed on the Exchange and neither                  activities, including performing
                                                  143 17CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).                            the executing clearing firm nor the                   surveillance for position limit
                                                  1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).                                ultimate clearing firm (e.g., such as                 violations, manipulation, front-running,
                                                  2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.                                   when the Member is ‘‘given-up’’ or                    contrary exercise advice violations and


                                           VerDate Sep<11>2014   17:15 Feb 17, 2017   Jkt 241001   PO 00000   Frm 00102   Fmt 4703   Sfmt 4703   E:\FR\FM\21FEN1.SGM   21FEN1


                                                                            Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 33 / Tuesday, February 21, 2017 / Notices                                             11273

                                                insider trading. These activities span                  (‘‘COATS’’) 3 system in order to surveil               irrespective of where their transactions
                                                across multiple exchanges.                              a Member’s activities across markets.                  take place, supports a regulatory fee
                                                   The ORF is designed to recover a                        In addition to its own surveillance                 applicable to transactions on other
                                                material portion of the costs to the                    programs, the Exchange works with                      markets. Unlike FINRA’s Trading
                                                Exchange of the supervision and                         other SROs and exchanges on                            Activity Fee, the ORF would apply only
                                                regulation of Members’ customer                         intermarket surveillance related issues.               to a Member’s customer options
                                                options business, including performing                  Through its participation in the                       transactions.
                                                routine surveillances and investigations,               Intermarket Surveillance Group                            Additionally, the Exchange proposes
                                                as well as policy, rulemaking,                          (‘‘ISG’’),4 the Exchange shares                        to specify in the Fee Schedule that the
                                                interpretive and enforcement activities.                information and coordinates inquiries                  Exchange may only increase or decrease
                                                The Exchange believes that revenue                      and investigations with other exchanges                the ORF semi-annually, and any such
                                                generated from the ORF, when                            designed to address potential                          fee change will be effective on the first
                                                combined with all of the Exchange’s                     intermarket manipulation and trading                   business day of February or August. In
                                                other regulatory fees and fines, will                   abuses. The Exchange’s participation in                addition to submitting a proposed rule
                                                cover a material portion, but not all, of               ISG helps it to satisfy the requirement                change to the Commission as required
                                                the Exchange’s regulatory costs. The                    that it has coordinated surveillance with              by the Act to increase or decrease the
                                                Exchange notes that its regulatory                      markets on which security futures are                  ORF, the Exchange will notify
                                                responsibilities with respect to Member                 traded and markets on which any                        participants via a Regulatory Circular of
                                                compliance with options sales practice                  security underlying security futures are               any anticipated change in the amount of
                                                rules have been allocated to the                        traded to detect manipulation and                      the fee at least 30 calendar days prior to
                                                Financial Industry Regulatory Authority                 insider trading.5                                      the effective date of the change. The
                                                (‘‘FINRA’’) under a 17d–2 Agreement.                       The Exchange believes that charging                 Exchange believes that by providing
                                                The ORF is not designed to cover the                    the ORF across markets will avoid                      guidance on the timing of any changes
                                                cost of options sales practice regulation.              having Members direct their trades to                  to the ORF, the Exchange would make
                                                   The Exchange will continue to                        other markets in order to avoid the fee                it easier for participants to ensure their
                                                monitor the amount of revenue                           and to thereby avoid paying for their fair             systems are configured to properly
                                                collected from the ORF to ensure that it,               share for regulation. If the ORF did not               account for the ORF.
                                                in combination with its other regulatory                apply to activity across markets then a                2. Statutory Basis
                                                fees and fines, does not exceed the                     Member would send their orders to the
                                                                                                        least cost, least regulated exchange.                     MIAX PEARL believes that its
                                                Exchange’s total regulatory costs. The
                                                                                                        Other exchanges do impose a similar fee                proposal to amend its Fee Schedule is
                                                Exchange expects to monitor MIAX
                                                                                                        on their member’s activity, including                  consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act 8
                                                PEARL regulatory costs and revenues at
                                                                                                        the activity of those members on MIAX                  in general, and furthers the objectives of
                                                a minimum on a semi-annual basis. If
                                                                                                        PEARL.6                                                Section 6(b)(4) of the Act 9 in particular,
                                                the Exchange determines regulatory
                                                                                                           The Exchange notes that there is                    in that it is an equitable allocation of
                                                revenues exceed or are insufficient to
                                                                                                        established precedent for an SRO                       reasonable dues, fees, and other charges
                                                cover a material portion of its regulatory
                                                                                                        charging a fee across markets, namely,                 among its members and issuers and
                                                costs, the Exchange will adjust the ORF
                                                                                                        FINRAs Trading Activity Fee 7 and the                  other persons using its facilities. The
                                                by submitting a fee change filing to the
                                                                                                        NYSE Amex, NYSE Arca, CBOE, PHLX,                      Exchange also believes the proposal
                                                Commission. The Exchange will notify
                                                                                                        ISE, ISE Gemini and BOX ORF. While                     furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5)
                                                Members of adjustments to the ORF via
                                                                                                        the Exchange does not have all the same                of the Act 10 in that it is designed to
                                                regulatory circular at least 30 days prior
                                                                                                        regulatory responsibilities as FINRA, the              promote just and equitable principles of
                                                to the effective date of the change.
                                                                                                        Exchange believes that, like other                     trade, to remove impediments to and
                                                   The Exchange believes it is reasonable
                                                                                                        exchanges that have adopted an ORF, its                perfect the mechanism of a free and
                                                and appropriate for the Exchange to
                                                                                                        broad regulatory responsibilities with                 open market and a national market
                                                charge the ORF for options transactions
                                                                                                        respect to a Member’s activities,                      system, and, in general to protect
                                                regardless of the exchange on which the
                                                                                                                                                               investors and the public interest and is
                                                transactions occur. The Exchange has a
                                                                                                           3 COATS effectively enhances intermarket            not designed to permit unfair
                                                statutory obligation to enforce
                                                                                                        options surveillance by enabling the options           discrimination between customers,
                                                compliance by Members and their                         exchanges to reconstruct the market promptly to        issuers, brokers and dealers.
                                                associated persons under the Act and                    effectively surveil certain rules.                        The Exchange believes the ORF is
                                                the rules of the Exchange and to surveil                   4 ISG is an industry organization formed in 1983
                                                                                                                                                               equitable and not unfairly
                                                for other manipulative conduct by                       to coordinate intermarket surveillance among the
                                                                                                        SROs by co-operatively sharing regulatory              discriminatory because it is objectively
                                                market participants (including non-
                                                                                                        information pursuant to a written agreement            allocated to Members in that it is
                                                Members) trading on the Exchange. The                   between the parties. The goal of the ISG’s             charged to all Members on all their
                                                Exchange cannot effectively surveil for                 information sharing is to coordinate regulatory
                                                                                                                                                               transactions that clear as customer at the
                                                such conduct without looking at and                     efforts to address potential intermarket trading
                                                                                                        abuses and manipulations.                              OCC. Moreover, the Exchange believes
                                                evaluating activity across all options                     5 See Section 6(h)(3)(I) of the Act.                the ORF ensures fairness by assessing
                                                markets. Many of the Exchange’s market                     6 Similar regulatory fees have been instituted by   fees to those Members that are directly
                                                surveillance programs require the                       PHLX (See Securities Exchange Act Release No.          based on the amount of customer
                                                Exchange to look at and evaluate                        61133 (December 9, 2009), 74 FR 66715 (December
                                                                                                                                                               options business they conduct.
                                                activity across all options markets, such               16, 2009) (SR–Phlx–2009–100)); ISE (See Securities
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                                                                                                        Exchange Act Release No. 61154 (December 11,           Regulating customer trading activity is
                                                as surveillance for position limit
                                                                                                        2009), 74 FR 67278 (December 18, 2009) (SR–ISE–        much more labor intensive and requires
                                                violations, manipulation, front-running                 2009–105)); and ISE Gemini (See Securities             greater expenditure of human and
                                                and contrary exercise advice violations/                Exchange Act Release No. 70200 (August 14, 2013)
                                                                                                                                                               technical resources than regulating non-
                                                expiring exercise declarations. Also, the               78 FR 51242 (August 20, 2013) (SR–Topaz–2013–
                                                Exchange and the other options                          01)).
                                                                                                           7 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 47946      8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
                                                exchanges are required to populate a                    (May 30, 2003), 68 FR 34021 (June 6, 2003) (SR–         9 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
                                                consolidated options audit trail                        NASD–2002–148).                                         10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).




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                                                11274                       Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 33 / Tuesday, February 21, 2017 / Notices

                                                customer trading activity, which tends                  exceed regulatory costs. Unilateral                        • Send an email to rule-comments@
                                                to be more automated and less labor-                    action by MIAX PEARL in establishing                     sec.gov. Please include File No. SR–
                                                intensive. As a result, the costs                       fees for services provided to its                        PEARL–2017–09 on the subject line.
                                                associated with administering the                       Members and others using its facilities
                                                customer component of the Exchange’s                    will not have an impact on competition.                  Paper Comments
                                                overall regulatory program are                          As a new entrant in the already highly                     • Send paper comments in triplicate
                                                materially higher than the costs                        competitive environment for equity                       to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
                                                associated with administering the non-                  options trading, MIAX PEARL does not
                                                                                                                                                                 Commission, 100 F Street NE.,
                                                customer component (e.g., Member                        have the market power necessary to set
                                                proprietary transactions) of its                                                                                 Washington, DC 20549–1090.
                                                                                                        prices for services that are unreasonable
                                                regulatory program.                                     or unfairly discriminatory in violation                  All submissions should refer to File No.
                                                   The ORF is designed to recover a                     of the Act. MIAX PEARL’s proposed                        SR–PEARL–2017–09. This file number
                                                material portion of the costs of                        ORF, as described herein, are                            should be included on the subject line
                                                supervising and regulating Members’                     comparable to fees charged by other                      if email is used. To help the
                                                customer options business including                     options exchanges for the same or                        Commission process and review your
                                                performing routine surveillances,                       similar services. The proposal to limit                  comments more efficiently, please use
                                                investigations, examinations, financial                 the changes to the ORF to twice a year                   only one method. The Commission will
                                                monitoring, and policy, rulemaking,                     on specific dates with advance notice is
                                                interpretive, and enforcement activities.                                                                        post all comments on the Commission’s
                                                                                                        not intended to address a competitive                    Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/
                                                The Exchange will monitor, on at least                  issue but rather to provide Members
                                                a semi-annual basis the amount of                                                                                rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
                                                                                                        with better notice of any change that the                submission, all subsequent
                                                revenue collected from the ORF to                       Exchange may make to the ORF.
                                                ensure that it, in combination with its                                                                          amendments, all written statements
                                                other regulatory fees and fines, does not               C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                        with respect to the proposed rule
                                                exceed the Exchange’s total regulatory                  Statement on Comments on the                             change that are filed with the
                                                costs. The Exchange has designed the                    Proposed Rule Change Received From                       Commission, and all written
                                                ORF to generate revenues that, when                     Members, Participants, or Others                         communications relating to the
                                                combined with all of the Exchange’s                                                                              proposed rule change between the
                                                other regulatory fees, will be less than                  Written comments were neither                          Commission and any person, other than
                                                or equal to the Exchange’s regulatory                   solicited nor received.
                                                                                                                                                                 those that may be withheld from the
                                                costs, which is consistent with the                     III. Date of Effectiveness of the                        public in accordance with the
                                                Commission’s view that regulatory fees                  Proposed Rule Change and Timing for                      provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
                                                be used for regulatory purposes and not                 Commission Action                                        available for Web site viewing and
                                                to support the Exchange’s business side.                                                                         printing in the Commission’s Public
                                                In this regard, the Exchange believes                      The foregoing rule change has become                  Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,
                                                that the initial level of the fee is                    effective pursuant to Section                            Washington, DC 20549, on official
                                                reasonable.                                             19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act,11 and Rule                   business days between the hours of
                                                   The Exchange believes that the                       19b–4(f)(2) 12 thereunder. At any time
                                                proposal to limit changes to the ORF to                                                                          10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
                                                                                                        within 60 days of the filing of the
                                                twice a year on specific dates with                                                                              filing also will be available for
                                                                                                        proposed rule change, the Commission
                                                advance notice is reasonable because it                 summarily may temporarily suspend                        inspection and copying at the principal
                                                will give participants certainty on the                 such rule change if it appears to the                    office of the Exchange. All comments
                                                timing of changes, if any, and better                   Commission that such action is                           received will be posted without change;
                                                enable them to properly account for                     necessary or appropriate in the public                   the Commission does not edit personal
                                                ORF charges among their customers.                      interest, for the protection of investors,               identifying information from
                                                The Exchange believes that the                          or otherwise in furtherance of the                       submissions. You should submit only
                                                proposed change is equitable and not                    purposes of the Act. If the Commission                   information that you wish to make
                                                unfairly discriminatory because it will                 takes such action, the Commission shall                  available publicly. All submissions
                                                apply in the same manner to all                         institute proceedings to determine                       should refer to File No. SR–PEARL–
                                                Members that are subject to the ORF and                 whether the proposed rule should be                      2017–09, and should be submitted on or
                                                provide them with additional advance                    approved or disapproved.                                 before March 14, 2017.
                                                notice of changes to that fee.
                                                                                                        IV. Solicitation of Comments                               For the Commission, by the Division of
                                                B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                                                                                Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
                                                Statement on Burden on Competition                        Interested persons are invited to                      authority.13
                                                   The Exchange does not believe that                   submit written data, views, and                          Eduardo A. Aleman,
                                                the proposed rule change will impose                    arguments concerning the foregoing,                      Assistant Secretary.
                                                any burden on competition not                           including whether the proposed rule                      [FR Doc. 2017–03300 Filed 2–17–17; 8:45 am]
                                                necessary or appropriate in furtherance                 change is consistent with the Act.
                                                                                                                                                                 BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                of the purposes of the Act. The ORF is                  Comments may be submitted by any of
                                                not intended to have any impact on                      the following methods:
                                                competition. Rather, it is designed to
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                                                                                                        Electronic Comments
                                                enable the Exchange to recover a
                                                material portion of the Exchange’s cost                   • Use the Commission’s Internet
                                                related to its regulatory activities. The               comment form (http://www.sec.gov/
                                                Exchange is obligated to ensure that the                rules/sro.shtml); or
                                                amount of regulatory revenue collected
                                                from the ORF, in combination with its                     11 15   U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
                                                other regulatory fees and fines, does not                 12 17   CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).                             13 17   CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).



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Document Created: 2018-02-01 15:04:16
Document Modified: 2018-02-01 15:04:16
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 11272 

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