82_FR_60173 82 FR 59933 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 2 to the Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Schedule of Fees and Assessments To Adopt a Fee Schedule To Establish Fees for Industry Members Related to the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail

82 FR 59933 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 2 to the Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Schedule of Fees and Assessments To Adopt a Fee Schedule To Establish Fees for Industry Members Related to the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 82, Issue 240 (December 15, 2017)

Page Range59933-59936
FR Document2017-27019

Federal Register, Volume 82 Issue 240 (Friday, December 15, 2017)
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 240 (Friday, December 15, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59933-59936]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2017-27019]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-82259; File No. SR-IEX-2017-16]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of 
Filing of Amendment No. 2 to the Proposed Rule Change To Amend the 
Schedule of Fees and Assessments To Adopt a Fee Schedule To Establish 
Fees for Industry Members Related to the National Market System Plan 
Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail

December 11, 2017.
    On May 9, 2017, Investors Exchange LLC (``IEX'' or ``Exchange'') 
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission''), 
pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ a proposed rule change to 
adopt a fee schedule to establish the fees for Industry Members related 
to the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit 
Trail (``CAT NMS Plan''). The proposed rule change was published in the 
Federal Register for comment on May 22, 2017.\3\ The Commission 
received seven comment letters on the proposed

[[Page 59934]]

rule change,\4\ and a response to comments from the CAT NMS Plan 
Participants.\5\ On June 30, 2017, the Commission temporarily suspended 
and initiated proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove 
the proposed rule change.\6\ The Commission thereafter received seven 
comment letters,\7\ and a response to comments from the 
Participants.\8\ On October 31, 2017, the Exchange filed Amendment No. 
1 to the proposed rule change.\9\ On November 9, 2017, the Commission 
extended the time period within which to approve the proposed rule 
change or disapprove the proposed rule change to January 14, 2018.\10\ 
On December 4, 2017, the Exchange filed Amendment No. 2 to the proposed 
rule change, as described in Items I and II below, which Items have 
been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice 
to solicit comments from interested persons on Amendment No. 2.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 80692 (May 16, 
2017), 82 FR 23325 (May 22, 2017) (``Original Proposal'').
    \4\ Since the CAT NMS Plan Participants' proposed rule changes 
to adopt fees to be charged to Industry Members to fund the 
consolidated audit trail are substantively identical, the Commission 
is considering all comments received on the proposed rule changes 
regardless of the comment file to which they were submitted. See 
text accompanying note infra, for a list of the CAT NMS Plan 
Participants. See Letter from Theodore R. Lazo, Managing Director 
and Associate General Counsel, Securities Industry and Financial 
Markets Association, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission 
(dated June 6, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbzx-2017-38/batsbzx201738-1788188-153228.pdf; Letter from 
Patricia L. Cerny and Steven O'Malley, Compliance Consultants, to 
Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated June 12, 2017), 
available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-cboe-2017-040/cboe2017040-1799253-153675.pdf; Letter from Daniel Zinn, General 
Counsel, OTC Markets Group Inc., to Eduardo A. Aleman, Assistant 
Secretary, Commission (dated June 13, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2017-011/finra2017011-1801717-153703.pdf; Letter from Joanna Mallers, Secretary, FIA Principal 
Traders Group, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated June 
22, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-cboe-2017-040/cboe2017040-1819670-154195.pdf; Letter from Stuart J. Kaswell, 
Executive Vice President and Managing Director, General Counsel, 
Managed Funds Association, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission 
(dated June 23, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2017-011/finra2017011-1822454-154283.pdf; and Letter from 
Suzanne H. Shatto, Investor, to Commission (dated June 27, 2017), 
available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsedgx-2017-22/batsedgx201722-154443.pdf. The Commission also received a comment 
letter which is not pertinent to these proposed rule changes. See 
Letter from Christina Crouch, Smart Ltd., to Brent J. Fields, 
Secretary, Commission (dated June 5, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbzx-2017-38/batsbzx201738-1785545-153152.htm.
    \5\ See Letter from CAT NMS Plan Participants to Brent J. 
Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated June 29, 2017), available at: 
https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-1832632-154584.pdf.
    \6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 81067 (June 30, 
2017), 82 FR 31656 (July 7, 2017).
    \7\ See Letter from W. Hardy Callcott, Partner, Sidley Austin 
LLP, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated July 27, 
2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-2148338-157737.pdf; Letter from Kevin Coleman, 
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, Belvedere Trading LLC, 
to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated July 28, 2017), 
available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-2148360-157740.pdf; Letter from Joanna Mallers, 
Secretary, FIA Principal Traders Group, to Brent J. Fields, 
Secretary, Commission (dated July 28, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-2151228-157745.pdf; Letter from Theodore R. Lazo, Managing Director and 
Associate General Counsel, SIFMA, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, 
Commission (dated July 28, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-2150977-157744.pdf; Letter 
from Stuart J. Kaswell, Executive Vice President and Managing 
Director, General Counsel, Managed Funds Association, to Brent J. 
Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated July 28, 2017), available at: 
https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-2150818-157743.pdf; Letter from John Kinahan, Chief Executive 
Officer, Group One Trading, L.P., to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, 
Commission (dated August 10, 2017), available at: https://
www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2017-011/finra2017011-2214568-160619.pdf; Letter from Joseph Molluso, Executive Vice President and 
CFO, Virtu Financial, to Brent J. Fields, Commission (dated August 
18, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2017-011/finra2017011-2238648-160830.pdf.
    \8\ See Letter from Michael Simon, Chair, CAT NMS Plan Operating 
Committee, to Brent J. Fields, Commission, Secretary (dated November 
2, 2017), available at https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-2674608-161412.pdf.
    \9\ Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule change replaced and 
superseded the Original Proposal in its entirety. See Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 82258 (December 11, 2017).
    \10\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 82049 (November 9, 
2017), 82 FR 53549 (November 16, 2017).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    On May 9, 2017, Investors Exchange LLC (``IEX'' or the 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``Commission'' or ``SEC'') proposed rule change SR-IEX-2017-16 (the 
``Original Proposal''), pursuant to which IEX proposed to adopt a fee 
schedule to establish the fees for Industry Members related to the 
National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail (the 
``CAT NMS Plan'' or ``Plan'').\11\ On October 31, 2017, IEX filed an 
amendment to the Original Proposal (``First Amendment'') to amend the 
Original Proposal. IEX files this proposed rule change (the ``Second 
Amendment'') to amend the Original Proposal as amended by the First 
Amendment.
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    \11\ Unless otherwise specified, capitalized terms used in this 
fee filing are defined as set forth herein, the CAT Compliance Rule 
Series, in the CAT NMS Plan, or the Original Proposal.
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    The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange's 
website at www.iextrading.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 the 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization 
included statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the 
proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the 
proposed rule change. The text of these statement may be examined at 
the places specified in Item IV below. The self-regulatory organization 
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
    BOX Options Exchange LLC, Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc., Cboe BZX 
Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc., 
Cboe C2 Exchange, Inc., Cboe Exchange, Inc., Chicago Stock Exchange, 
Inc., Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (``FINRA''), 
Investors' Exchange LLC, Miami International Securities Exchange, LLC, 
MIAX PEARL, LLC, NASDAQ BX, Inc., Nasdaq GEMX, LLC, Nasdaq ISE, LLC, 
Nasdaq MRX, LLC, NASDAQ PHLX LLC, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, New York 
Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE American LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc. and NYSE 
National, Inc.\12\ (collectively, the ``Participants'') filed with the 
Commission, pursuant to Section 11A of the Exchange Act \13\ and Rule 
608 of Regulation NMS thereunder,\14\ the CAT NMS Plan.\15\ The 
Participants filed the Plan to comply with Rule 613 of Regulation NMS 
under the Exchange Act. The Plan was

[[Page 59935]]

published for comment in the Federal Register on May 17, 2016,\16\ and 
approved by the Commission, as modified, on November 15, 2016.\17\ The 
Plan is designed to create, implement and maintain a consolidated audit 
trail (``CAT'') that would capture customer and order event information 
for orders in NMS Securities and OTC Equity Securities, across all 
markets, from the time of order inception through routing, 
cancellation, modification, or execution in a single consolidated data 
source. The Plan accomplishes this by creating CAT NMS, LLC (the 
``Company''), of which each Participant is a member, to operate the 
CAT.\18\ Under the CAT NMS Plan, the Operating Committee of the Company 
(``Operating Committee'') has discretion to establish funding for the 
Company to operate the CAT, including establishing fees that the 
Participants will pay, and establishing fees for Industry Members that 
will be implemented by the Participants (``CAT Fees'').\19\ The 
Participants are required to file with the SEC under Section 19(b) of 
the Exchange Act any such CAT Fees applicable to Industry Members that 
the Operating Committee approves.\20\ Accordingly, IEX submitted the 
Original Proposal to propose the Consolidated Audit Trail Funding Fees, 
which would require Industry Members that are Exchange members to pay 
the CAT Fees determined by the Operating Committee.
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    \12\ Note that Bats BYX Exchange, Inc., Bats BZX Exchange, Inc., 
Bats EDGA Exchange, Inc., Bats EDGX Exchange, Inc., LLC, C2 Options 
Exchange, Incorporated, and Chicago Board Options Exchange, 
Incorporated, have been renamed Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc., Cboe BZX 
Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc., 
Cboe C2 Exchange, Inc., Cboe Exchange, Inc., respectively.
    \13\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \14\ 17 CFR 242.608.
    \15\ See Letter from the Participants to Brent J. Fields, 
Secretary, Commission, dated September 30, 2014; and Letter from 
Participants to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission, dated 
February 27, 2015. On December 24, 2015, the Participants submitted 
an amendment to the CAT NMS Plan. See Letter from Participants to 
Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission, dated December 23, 2015.
    \16\ Securities Exchange Act Rel. No. 77724 (Apr. 27, 2016), 81 
FR 30614 (May 17, 2016).
    \17\ Securities Exchange Act Rel. No. 79318 (Nov. 15, 2016), 81 
FR 84696 (Nov. 23, 2016) (``Approval Order'').
    \18\ The Plan also serves as the limited liability company 
agreement for the Company.
    \19\ Section 11.1(b) of the CAT NMS Plan.
    \20\ Id.
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    The Commission published the Original Proposal for public comment 
in the Federal Register on May 16, 2017,\21\ and received comments in 
response to the Original Proposal or similar fee filings by other 
Participants.\22\ On June 30, 2017, the Commission suspended, and 
instituted proceedings to determine whether to approve or disapprove, 
the Original Proposal.\23\ The Commission received seven comment 
letters in response to those proceedings.\24\
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    \21\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 80692 (May 16, 2017), 
82 FR 23325 (May 22, 2017) (SR-IEX-2017-16).
    \22\ For a summary of comments, see generally Securities 
Exchange Act Rel. No. 81067 (June 30, 2017), 82 FR 31656 (July 7, 
2017) (``Suspension Order'').
    \23\ Suspension Order.
    \24\ See Letter from Stuart J. Kaswell, Executive Vice 
President, Managing Director and General Counsel, Managed Funds 
Association, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 28, 2017); 
Letter from Theodore R. Lazo, Managing Director and Associate 
General Counsel, SIFMA, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 28, 
2017); Joanna Mallers, Secretary, FIA Principal Traders Group, to 
Brent J. Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 28, 2017); Letter from Kevin 
Coleman, General Counsel & Chief Compliance Officer, Belvedere 
Trading LLC, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 28, 2017); 
Letter from W. Hardy Callcott, Sidley Austin LLP, to Brent J. 
Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 27, 2017); Letter from John Kinahan, 
Chief Executive Officer, Group One Trading, L.P., to Brent J. 
Fields, Secretary, SEC (Aug. 10, 2017); and Letter from Joseph 
Molluso, Executive Vice President, Virtu Financial, to Brent J. 
Fields, Secretary, SEC (Aug. 18, 2017).
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    In response to the comments on the Original Proposal, the Operating 
Committee determined to make the following changes to the funding 
model: (1) Adds two additional CAT Fee tiers for Equity Execution 
Venues; (2) discounts the market share of Execution Venue ATSs 
exclusively trading OTC Equity Securities as well as the market share 
of the FINRA over-the-counter reporting facility (``ORF'') by the 
average shares per trade ratio between NMS Stocks and OTC Equity 
Securities (calculated as 0.17% based on available data from the second 
quarter of 2017) when calculating the market share of Execution Venue 
ATS exclusively trading OTC Equity Securities and FINRA; (3) discounts 
the Options Market Maker quotes by the trade to quote ratio for options 
(calculated as 0.01% based on available data for June 2016 through June 
2017) when calculating message traffic for Options Market Makers; (4) 
discounts equity market maker quotes by the trade to quote ratio for 
equities (calculated as 5.43% based on available data for June 2016 
through June 2017) when calculating message traffic for equity market 
makers; (5) decreases the number of tiers for Industry Members (other 
than the Execution Venue ATSs) from nine to seven; (6) changes the 
allocation of CAT costs between Equity Execution Venues and Options 
Execution Venues from 75%/25% to 67%/33%; (7) adjusts tier percentages 
and recovery allocations for Equity Execution Venues, Options Execution 
Venues and Industry Members (other than Execution Venue ATSs); (8) 
focuses the comparability of CAT Fees on the individual entity level, 
rather than primarily on the comparability of affiliated entities; (9) 
commences invoicing of CAT Reporters as promptly as possible following 
the latest of the operative date of the Consolidated Audit Trail 
Funding Fees for each of the Participants and the operative date of the 
CAT NMS Plan amendment adopting CAT Fees for Participants; and (10) 
requires the proposed fees to automatically expire two years from the 
operative date of the CAT NMS Plan amendment adopting CAT Fees for 
Participants. On October 31, 2017, IEX filed the First Amendment and 
proposed to amend the Original Proposal to reflect these changes.
    IEX submits this Second Amendment to the revise the proposal as set 
forth in the First Amendment to discount the OTC Equity Securities 
market share of all Execution Venue ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities, 
rather than applying the discount solely to those Execution Venue ATSs 
that exclusively trade OTC Equity Securities, when calculating the 
market share of Execution Venue ATS trading OTC Equity Securities. As 
discussed in the First Amendment:

    The Operating Committee determined to discount the market share 
of Execution Venue ATSs exclusively trading OTC Equity Securities as 
well as the market share of the FINRA ORF in recognition of the 
different trading characteristics of the OTC Equity Securities 
market as compared to the market in NMS Stocks. Many OTC Equity 
Securities are priced at less than one dollar--and a significant 
number at less than one penny--per share and low-priced shares tend 
to trade in larger quantities. Accordingly, a disproportionately 
large number of shares are involved in transactions involving OTC 
Equity Securities versus NMS Stocks. Because the proposed fee tiers 
are based on market share calculated by share volume, Execution 
Venue ATSs exclusively trading OTC Equity Securities and FINRA would 
likely be subject to higher tiers than their operations may 
warrant.\25\
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    \25\ See SR-IEX-2017-16, Amendment 2, Section 3(a), at page 23.

    The Operating Committee believes that this argument applies equally 
to both Execution Venue ATSs exclusively trading OTC Equity Securities 
and to Execution Venue ATSs that trade OTC Equity Securities as well as 
other securities. Accordingly, IEX proposes to amend paragraph (b)(2) 
of the Consolidated Audit Trail Funding Fees to apply the discount to 
all Execution Venue ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities. Specifically, 
IEX proposes to change the parenthetical regarding the OTC Equity 
Securities discount in paragraph (b)(2) of the proposed fee schedule 
from ``with a discount for Equity ATSs exclusively trading OTC Equity 
Securities based on the average shares per trade ratio between NMS 
Stocks and OTC Equity Securities'' to ``with a discount for OTC Equity 
Securities market share of Equity ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities 
based on the average shares per trade ratio between NMS Stocks and OTC 
Equity Securities.''
2. Statutory Basis
    IEX believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the 
provisions

[[Page 59936]]

of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,\26\ which require, among other things, 
that the Exchange's rules must be designed to prevent fraudulent and 
manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable 
principles of trade, and, in general, to protect investors and the 
public interest, and not designed to permit unfair discrimination 
between customers, issuers, brokers and dealer, and Section 6(b)(4) of 
the Act, \27\ which requires that the Exchange's rules provide for the 
equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among 
members and issuers and other persons using its facilities. IEX 
believes that the proposed change is consistent with the Act, and that 
the proposed fees are reasonable, equitably allocated and not unfairly 
discriminatory. In particular, IEX believes that the proposed change 
would treat all Equity ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities in a 
comparable manner when calculating applicable fees. In addition, the 
fee structure takes into consideration distinctions in securities 
trading operations of CAT Reporters, including all ATSs trading OTC 
Equity Securities.
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    \26\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
    \27\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    Section 6(b)(8) of the Act \28\ require that the Exchange's rules 
not impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or 
appropriate. IEX does not believe that the proposed rule change will 
result in any burden on competition that is not necessary or 
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. As previously 
described, IEX believes that the proposed rule change fairly and 
equitably allocates costs among CAT Reporters. In particular, the 
proposed fee schedule is structured to impose comparable fees on 
similarly situated CAT Reporters. IEX believes that the proposed change 
would treat all Equity ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities in a 
comparable manner when calculating applicable fees. In addition, the 
fee structure takes into consideration distinctions in securities 
trading operations of CAT Reporters, including all ATSs trading OTC 
Equity Securities. Moreover, the Operating Committee believes that the 
proposed changes address certain competitive concerns raised by 
commenters related to ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities.
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    \28\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
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C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    IEX set forth responses to comments received regarding the Original 
Proposal in the First Amendment. In addition, the proposed changes set 
forth in this Second Amendment further respond to comments made 
regarding ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities.

III. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposal, as 
amended by Amendment No. 1 and Amendment No. 2, is consistent with the 
Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-IEX-2017-16 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-IEX-2017-16. 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 website (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 website 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. Persons submitting comments are 
cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying 
information from comment submissions. You should submit only 
information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions 
should refer to File Number SR-IEX-2017-16, and should be submitted on 
or before January 5, 2018.
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    \29\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\29\
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-27019 Filed 12-14-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P



                                                                            Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 240 / Friday, December 15, 2017 / Notices                                                   59933

                                                Participants, and then each Participant                   (20) Commenters’ views on whether                   available for website viewing and
                                                charging its own members as it deems                    the fees could affect competition                     printing in the Commission’s Public
                                                appropriate, taking into consideration                  between and among national securities                 Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,
                                                the possibility of inconsistency in                     exchanges and FINRA, in light of the                  Washington, DC 20549, on official
                                                charges, the potential for lack of                      fact that implementation of the fees does             business days between the hours of
                                                transparency, and the impracticality of                 not require the unanimous consent of all              10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
                                                multiple SROs submitting invoices for                   such entities, and, specifically:                     filing also will be available for
                                                CAT charges.                                              (a) Whether any of the national                     inspection and copying at the principal
                                                                                                        securities exchanges or FINRA are                     office of the Exchange. All comments
                                                Burden on Competition and Barriers to                   disadvantaged by the fees; and                        received will be posted without change.
                                                Entry                                                     (b) If so, whether any such                         Persons submitting comments are
                                                   (12) Commenters’ views as to whether                 disadvantages would be of a magnitude                 cautioned that we do not redact or edit
                                                the allocation of 75% of CAT costs to                   that would alter the competitive                      personal identifying information from
                                                Industry Members (other than Execution                  landscape.                                            comment submissions. You should
                                                Venue ATSs) imposes any burdens on                        (21) Commenters’ views on any                       submit only information that you wish
                                                competition to Industry Members,                        potential burden imposed by the fees on               to make available publicly. All
                                                including views on what baseline                        competitive quoting and other liquidity               submissions should refer to File
                                                competitive landscape the Commission                    provision in the market, including,                   Number SR–NYSE–2017–22, and
                                                should consider when analyzing the                      specifically:                                         should be submitted on or before
                                                proposed allocation of CAT costs.                         (a) Commenters’ views on the kinds of               January 5, 2018.
                                                   (13) Commenters’ views on the                        disincentives that discourage liquidity
                                                                                                        provision and/or disincentives that the                 For the Commission, by the Division of
                                                burdens on competition, including the                                                                         Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
                                                relevant markets and services and the                   Commission should consider in its                     authority.101
                                                impact of such burdens on the baseline                  analysis;
                                                                                                                                                              Robert W. Errett,
                                                competitive landscape in those relevant                   (b) Commenters’ views as to whether
                                                                                                        the fees could disincentivize the                     Deputy Secretary.
                                                markets and services.
                                                   (14) Commenters’ views on any                        provision of liquidity; and                           [FR Doc. 2017–27020 Filed 12–14–17; 8:45 am]
                                                potential burdens imposed by the fees                     (c) Commenters’ views as to whether                 BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                on competition between and among                        the fees limit any disincentives to
                                                CAT Reporters, including views on                       provide liquidity.
                                                which baseline markets and services the                   (22) Commenters’ views as to whether                SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
                                                fees could have competitive effects on                  the amendment adequately responds to                  COMMISSION
                                                and whether the fees are designed to                    and/or addresses comments received on
                                                minimize such effects.                                  related filings.                                      [Release No. 34–82259; File No. SR–IEX–
                                                   (15) Commenters’ general views on                                                                          2017–16]
                                                                                                        Electronic Comments
                                                the impact of the proposed fees on
                                                economies of scale and barriers to entry.                 • Use the Commission’s internet                     Self-Regulatory Organizations;
                                                   (16) Commenters’ views on the                        comment form (http://www.sec.gov/                     Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of
                                                baseline economies of scale and barriers                rules/sro.shtml); or                                  Filing of Amendment No. 2 to the
                                                to entry for Industry Members and                         • Send an email to rule-comments@                   Proposed Rule Change To Amend the
                                                Execution Venues and the relevant                       sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–               Schedule of Fees and Assessments To
                                                markets and services over which these                   NYSE–2017–22 on the subject line.                     Adopt a Fee Schedule To Establish
                                                economies of scale and barriers to entry                                                                      Fees for Industry Members Related to
                                                                                                        Paper Comments                                        the National Market System Plan
                                                exist.
                                                   (17) Commenters’ views as to whether                   • Send paper comments in triplicate                 Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail
                                                a tiered fee structure necessarily results              to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
                                                                                                        Commission, 100 F Street NE,                          December 11, 2017.
                                                in less active tiers paying more per unit                                                                       On May 9, 2017, Investors Exchange
                                                than those in more active tiers, thus                   Washington, DC 20549–1090.
                                                                                                        All submissions should refer to File                  LLC (‘‘IEX’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with
                                                creating economies of scale, with                                                                             the Securities and Exchange
                                                supporting information if possible.                     Number SR–NYSE–2017–22. This file
                                                                                                        number should be included on the                      Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant
                                                   (18) Commenters’ views as to how the                                                                       to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities
                                                level of the fees for the least active tiers            subject line if email is used. To help the
                                                                                                        Commission process and review your                    Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule
                                                would or would not affect barriers to                                                                         19b–4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule
                                                entry.                                                  comments more efficiently, please use
                                                                                                        only one method. The Commission will                  change to adopt a fee schedule to
                                                   (19) Commenters’ views on whether
                                                                                                        post all comments on the Commission’s                 establish the fees for Industry Members
                                                the difference between the cost per unit
                                                                                                        internet website (http://www.sec.gov/                 related to the National Market System
                                                (messages or market share) in less active
                                                                                                        rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the                       Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit
                                                tiers compared to the cost per unit in
                                                                                                        submission, all subsequent                            Trail (‘‘CAT NMS Plan’’). The proposed
                                                more active tiers creates regulatory
                                                                                                        amendments, all written statements                    rule change was published in the
                                                economies of scale that favor larger
                                                                                                        with respect to the proposed rule                     Federal Register for comment on May
                                                competitors and, if so:
                                                                                                        change that are filed with the                        22, 2017.3 The Commission received
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES




                                                   (a) How those economies of scale
                                                                                                        Commission, and all written                           seven comment letters on the proposed
                                                compare to operational economies of
                                                scale; and                                              communications relating to the
                                                                                                                                                                101 17  CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
                                                   (b) Whether those economies of scale                 proposed rule change between the                        1 15  U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                                                reduce or increase the current                          Commission and any person, other than                    2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
                                                advantages enjoyed by larger                            those that may be withheld from the                      3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 80692
                                                competitors or otherwise alter the                      public in accordance with the                         (May 16, 2017), 82 FR 23325 (May 22, 2017)
                                                competitive landscape.                                  provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                   (‘‘Original Proposal’’).



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                                                59934                       Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 240 / Friday, December 15, 2017 / Notices

                                                rule change,4 and a response to                         from the Participants.8 On October 31,                        The text of the proposed rule change
                                                comments from the CAT NMS Plan                          2017, the Exchange filed Amendment                         is available at the Exchange’s website at
                                                Participants.5 On June 30, 2017, the                    No. 1 to the proposed rule change.9 On                     www.iextrading.com, at the principal
                                                Commission temporarily suspended and                    November 9, 2017, the Commission                           office of the Exchange, and at the
                                                initiated proceedings to determine                      extended the time period within which                      Commission’s Public Reference Room.
                                                whether to approve or disapprove the                    to approve the proposed rule change or                     II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                proposed rule change.6 The Commission                   disapprove the proposed rule change to                     Statement of the Purpose of, and the
                                                thereafter received seven comment                       January 14, 2018.10 On December 4,                         Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                letters,7 and a response to comments                    2017, the Exchange filed Amendment                         Change
                                                                                                        No. 2 to the proposed rule change, as
                                                   4 Since the CAT NMS Plan Participants’ proposed
                                                                                                        described in Items I and II below, which                      In its filing with the Commission, the
                                                rule changes to adopt fees to be charged to Industry    Items have been prepared by the                            self-regulatory organization included
                                                Members to fund the consolidated audit trail are                                                                   statements concerning the purpose of
                                                substantively identical, the Commission is              Exchange. The Commission is
                                                considering all comments received on the proposed       publishing this notice to solicit                          and basis for the proposed rule change
                                                rule changes regardless of the comment file to          comments from interested persons on                        and discussed any comments it received
                                                which they were submitted. See text accompanying
                                                                                                        Amendment No. 2.                                           on the proposed rule change. The text
                                                note infra, for a list of the CAT NMS Plan                                                                         of these statement may be examined at
                                                Participants. See Letter from Theodore R. Lazo,
                                                Managing Director and Associate General Counsel,
                                                                                                        I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                          the places specified in Item IV below.
                                                Securities Industry and Financial Markets               Statement of the Terms of Substance of                     The self-regulatory organization has
                                                Association, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary,             the Proposed Rule Change                                   prepared summaries, set forth in
                                                Commission (dated June 6, 2017), available at:                                                                     Sections A, B, and C below, of the most
                                                https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbzx-2017-38/           On May 9, 2017, Investors Exchange
                                                batsbzx201738-1788188-153228.pdf; Letter from                                                                      significant aspects of such statements.
                                                Patricia L. Cerny and Steven O’Malley, Compliance
                                                                                                        LLC (‘‘IEX’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed
                                                Consultants, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary,             with the Securities and Exchange                           A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                Commission (dated June 12, 2017), available at:         Commission (‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘SEC’’)                     Statement of the Purpose of, and the
                                                https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-cboe-2017-040/          proposed rule change SR–IEX–2017–16                        Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                                cboe2017040-1799253-153675.pdf; Letter from                                                                        Change
                                                Daniel Zinn, General Counsel, OTC Markets Group
                                                                                                        (the ‘‘Original Proposal’’), pursuant to
                                                Inc., to Eduardo A. Aleman, Assistant Secretary,        which IEX proposed to adopt a fee                          1. Purpose
                                                Commission (dated June 13, 2017), available at:         schedule to establish the fees for
                                                https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2017-011/         Industry Members related to the                               BOX Options Exchange LLC, Cboe
                                                finra2017011-1801717-153703.pdf; Letter from
                                                                                                        National Market System Plan Governing                      BYX Exchange, Inc., Cboe BZX
                                                Joanna Mallers, Secretary, FIA Principal Traders                                                                   Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGA Exchange,
                                                Group, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission        the Consolidated Audit Trail (the ‘‘CAT
                                                                                                                                                                   Inc., Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc., Cboe
                                                (dated June 22, 2017), available at: https://           NMS Plan’’ or ‘‘Plan’’).11 On October 31,
                                                www.sec.gov/comments/sr-cboe-2017-040/                                                                             C2 Exchange, Inc., Cboe Exchange, Inc.,
                                                                                                        2017, IEX filed an amendment to the
                                                cboe2017040-1819670-154195.pdf; Letter from                                                                        Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc., Financial
                                                Stuart J. Kaswell, Executive Vice President and         Original Proposal (‘‘First Amendment’’)
                                                                                                                                                                   Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.
                                                Managing Director, General Counsel, Managed             to amend the Original Proposal. IEX
                                                Funds Association, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary,
                                                                                                                                                                   (‘‘FINRA’’), Investors’ Exchange LLC,
                                                                                                        files this proposed rule change (the
                                                Commission (dated June 23, 2017), available at:                                                                    Miami International Securities
                                                                                                        ‘‘Second Amendment’’) to amend the
                                                https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2017-011/                                                                    Exchange, LLC, MIAX PEARL, LLC,
                                                finra2017011-1822454-154283.pdf; and Letter from        Original Proposal as amended by the
                                                                                                                                                                   NASDAQ BX, Inc., Nasdaq GEMX, LLC,
                                                Suzanne H. Shatto, Investor, to Commission (dated       First Amendment.
                                                June 27, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/                                                                 Nasdaq ISE, LLC, Nasdaq MRX, LLC,
                                                comments/sr-batsedgx-2017-22/batsedgx201722-                                                                       NASDAQ PHLX LLC, The NASDAQ
                                                154443.pdf. The Commission also received a              batsbyx201711-2150977-157744.pdf; Letter from              Stock Market LLC, New York Stock
                                                comment letter which is not pertinent to these          Stuart J. Kaswell, Executive Vice President and
                                                                                                        Managing Director, General Counsel, Managed                Exchange LLC, NYSE American LLC,
                                                proposed rule changes. See Letter from Christina
                                                Crouch, Smart Ltd., to Brent J. Fields, Secretary,      Funds Association, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary,          NYSE Arca, Inc. and NYSE National,
                                                Commission (dated June 5, 2017), available at:          Commission (dated July 28, 2017), available at:            Inc.12 (collectively, the ‘‘Participants’’)
                                                https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbzx-2017-38/        https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/           filed with the Commission, pursuant to
                                                batsbzx201738-1785545-153152.htm.                       batsbyx201711-2150818-157743.pdf; Letter from
                                                   5 See Letter from CAT NMS Plan Participants to       John Kinahan, Chief Executive Officer, Group One           Section 11A of the Exchange Act 13 and
                                                Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated June      Trading, L.P., to Brent J. Fields, Secretary,              Rule 608 of Regulation NMS
                                                29, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/           Commission (dated August 10, 2017), available at:          thereunder,14 the CAT NMS Plan.15 The
                                                comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-              https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2017-011/            Participants filed the Plan to comply
                                                1832632-154584.pdf.                                     finra2017011-2214568-160619.pdf; Letter from
                                                                                                        Joseph Molluso, Executive Vice President and CFO,          with Rule 613 of Regulation NMS under
                                                   6 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 81067
                                                                                                        Virtu Financial, to Brent J. Fields, Commission            the Exchange Act. The Plan was
                                                (June 30, 2017), 82 FR 31656 (July 7, 2017).
                                                   7 See Letter from W. Hardy Callcott, Partner,
                                                                                                        (dated August 18, 2017), available at: https://
                                                                                                        www.sec.gov/comments/sr-finra-2017-011/                       12 Note that Bats BYX Exchange, Inc., Bats BZX
                                                Sidley Austin LLP, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary,
                                                                                                        finra2017011-2238648-160830.pdf.                           Exchange, Inc., Bats EDGA Exchange, Inc., Bats
                                                Commission (dated July 27, 2017), available at:            8 See Letter from Michael Simon, Chair, CAT
                                                https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/                                                                   EDGX Exchange, Inc., LLC, C2 Options Exchange,
                                                batsbyx201711-2148338-157737.pdf; Letter from           NMS Plan Operating Committee, to Brent J. Fields,          Incorporated, and Chicago Board Options Exchange,
                                                Kevin Coleman, General Counsel and Chief                Commission, Secretary (dated November 2, 2017),            Incorporated, have been renamed Cboe BYX
                                                Compliance Officer, Belvedere Trading LLC, to           available at https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-              Exchange, Inc., Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., Cboe
                                                Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated July      batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-2674608-                     EDGA Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.,
                                                28, 2017), available at: https://www.sec.gov/           161412.pdf.                                                Cboe C2 Exchange, Inc., Cboe Exchange, Inc.,
                                                comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-
                                                                                                           9 Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule change           respectively.
                                                2148360-157740.pdf; Letter from Joanna Mallers,         replaced and superseded the Original Proposal in              13 15 U.S.C. 78k–1.
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES




                                                Secretary, FIA Principal Traders Group, to Brent J.     its entirety. See Securities Exchange Act Release             14 17 CFR 242.608.

                                                Fields, Secretary, Commission (dated July 28, 2017),    No. 82258 (December 11, 2017).                                15 See Letter from the Participants to Brent J.
                                                                                                           10 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 82049
                                                available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-                                                                     Fields, Secretary, Commission, dated September 30,
                                                batsbyx-2017-11/batsbyx201711-2151228-                  (November 9, 2017), 82 FR 53549 (November 16,              2014; and Letter from Participants to Brent J. Fields,
                                                157745.pdf; Letter from Theodore R. Lazo,               2017).                                                     Secretary, Commission, dated February 27, 2015.
                                                Managing Director and Associate General Counsel,           11 Unless otherwise specified, capitalized terms        On December 24, 2015, the Participants submitted
                                                SIFMA, to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Commission        used in this fee filing are defined as set forth herein,   an amendment to the CAT NMS Plan. See Letter
                                                (dated July 28, 2017), available at: https://           the CAT Compliance Rule Series, in the CAT NMS             from Participants to Brent J. Fields, Secretary,
                                                www.sec.gov/comments/sr-batsbyx-2017-11/                Plan, or the Original Proposal.                            Commission, dated December 23, 2015.



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                                                                            Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 240 / Friday, December 15, 2017 / Notices                                                   59935

                                                published for comment in the Federal                       In response to the comments on the                     amendment adopting CAT Fees for
                                                Register on May 17, 2016,16 and                         Original Proposal, the Operating                          Participants. On October 31, 2017, IEX
                                                approved by the Commission, as                          Committee determined to make the                          filed the First Amendment and
                                                modified, on November 15, 2016.17 The                   following changes to the funding model:                   proposed to amend the Original
                                                Plan is designed to create, implement                   (1) Adds two additional CAT Fee tiers                     Proposal to reflect these changes.
                                                and maintain a consolidated audit trail                 for Equity Execution Venues; (2)                             IEX submits this Second Amendment
                                                (‘‘CAT’’) that would capture customer                   discounts the market share of Execution                   to the revise the proposal as set forth in
                                                and order event information for orders                  Venue ATSs exclusively trading OTC                        the First Amendment to discount the
                                                in NMS Securities and OTC Equity                        Equity Securities as well as the market                   OTC Equity Securities market share of
                                                Securities, across all markets, from the                share of the FINRA over-the-counter                       all Execution Venue ATSs trading OTC
                                                time of order inception through routing,                reporting facility (‘‘ORF’’) by the average               Equity Securities, rather than applying
                                                cancellation, modification, or execution                shares per trade ratio between NMS                        the discount solely to those Execution
                                                in a single consolidated data source.                   Stocks and OTC Equity Securities                          Venue ATSs that exclusively trade OTC
                                                The Plan accomplishes this by creating                  (calculated as 0.17% based on available                   Equity Securities, when calculating the
                                                CAT NMS, LLC (the ‘‘Company’’), of                      data from the second quarter of 2017)                     market share of Execution Venue ATS
                                                which each Participant is a member, to                  when calculating the market share of                      trading OTC Equity Securities. As
                                                operate the CAT.18 Under the CAT NMS                    Execution Venue ATS exclusively                           discussed in the First Amendment:
                                                Plan, the Operating Committee of the                    trading OTC Equity Securities and                            The Operating Committee determined to
                                                Company (‘‘Operating Committee’’) has                   FINRA; (3) discounts the Options                          discount the market share of Execution
                                                discretion to establish funding for the                 Market Maker quotes by the trade to                       Venue ATSs exclusively trading OTC Equity
                                                Company to operate the CAT, including                   quote ratio for options (calculated as                    Securities as well as the market share of the
                                                establishing fees that the Participants                 0.01% based on available data for June                    FINRA ORF in recognition of the different
                                                will pay, and establishing fees for                     2016 through June 2017) when                              trading characteristics of the OTC Equity
                                                                                                                                                                  Securities market as compared to the market
                                                Industry Members that will be                           calculating message traffic for Options                   in NMS Stocks. Many OTC Equity Securities
                                                implemented by the Participants (‘‘CAT                  Market Makers; (4) discounts equity                       are priced at less than one dollar—and a
                                                Fees’’).19 The Participants are required                market maker quotes by the trade to                       significant number at less than one penny—
                                                to file with the SEC under Section 19(b)                quote ratio for equities (calculated as                   per share and low-priced shares tend to trade
                                                of the Exchange Act any such CAT Fees                   5.43% based on available data for June                    in larger quantities. Accordingly, a
                                                applicable to Industry Members that the                 2016 through June 2017) when                              disproportionately large number of shares are
                                                Operating Committee approves.20                         calculating message traffic for equity                    involved in transactions involving OTC
                                                                                                                                                                  Equity Securities versus NMS Stocks.
                                                Accordingly, IEX submitted the Original                 market makers; (5) decreases the                          Because the proposed fee tiers are based on
                                                Proposal to propose the Consolidated                    number of tiers for Industry Members                      market share calculated by share volume,
                                                Audit Trail Funding Fees, which would                   (other than the Execution Venue ATSs)                     Execution Venue ATSs exclusively trading
                                                require Industry Members that are                       from nine to seven; (6) changes the                       OTC Equity Securities and FINRA would
                                                Exchange members to pay the CAT Fees                    allocation of CAT costs between Equity                    likely be subject to higher tiers than their
                                                determined by the Operating                             Execution Venues and Options                              operations may warrant.25
                                                Committee.                                              Execution Venues from 75%/25% to                             The Operating Committee believes
                                                   The Commission published the                         67%/33%; (7) adjusts tier percentages                     that this argument applies equally to
                                                Original Proposal for public comment in                 and recovery allocations for Equity                       both Execution Venue ATSs exclusively
                                                the Federal Register on May 16, 2017,21                 Execution Venues, Options Execution                       trading OTC Equity Securities and to
                                                and received comments in response to                    Venues and Industry Members (other                        Execution Venue ATSs that trade OTC
                                                the Original Proposal or similar fee                    than Execution Venue ATSs); (8)                           Equity Securities as well as other
                                                filings by other Participants.22 On June                focuses the comparability of CAT Fees                     securities. Accordingly, IEX proposes to
                                                30, 2017, the Commission suspended,                     on the individual entity level, rather                    amend paragraph (b)(2) of the
                                                and instituted proceedings to determine                 than primarily on the comparability of                    Consolidated Audit Trail Funding Fees
                                                whether to approve or disapprove, the                   affiliated entities; (9) commences                        to apply the discount to all Execution
                                                Original Proposal.23 The Commission                     invoicing of CAT Reporters as promptly                    Venue ATSs trading OTC Equity
                                                received seven comment letters in                       as possible following the latest of the                   Securities. Specifically, IEX proposes to
                                                response to those proceedings.24                        operative date of the Consolidated Audit                  change the parenthetical regarding the
                                                                                                        Trail Funding Fees for each of the                        OTC Equity Securities discount in
                                                  16 Securities Exchange Act Rel. No. 77724 (Apr.
                                                                                                        Participants and the operative date of                    paragraph (b)(2) of the proposed fee
                                                27, 2016), 81 FR 30614 (May 17, 2016).
                                                  17 Securities Exchange Act Rel. No. 79318 (Nov.
                                                                                                        the CAT NMS Plan amendment                                schedule from ‘‘with a discount for
                                                15, 2016), 81 FR 84696 (Nov. 23, 2016) (‘‘Approval      adopting CAT Fees for Participants; and                   Equity ATSs exclusively trading OTC
                                                Order’’).                                               (10) requires the proposed fees to                        Equity Securities based on the average
                                                  18 The Plan also serves as the limited liability
                                                                                                        automatically expire two years from the                   shares per trade ratio between NMS
                                                company agreement for the Company.                      operative date of the CAT NMS Plan                        Stocks and OTC Equity Securities’’ to
                                                  19 Section 11.1(b) of the CAT NMS Plan.
                                                  20 Id.
                                                                                                                                                                  ‘‘with a discount for OTC Equity
                                                  21 Securities Exchange Act Release No. 80692
                                                                                                        General Counsel, SIFMA, to Brent J. Fields,               Securities market share of Equity ATSs
                                                                                                        Secretary, SEC (July 28, 2017); Joanna Mallers,           trading OTC Equity Securities based on
                                                (May 16, 2017), 82 FR 23325 (May 22, 2017) (SR–         Secretary, FIA Principal Traders Group, to Brent J.
                                                IEX–2017–16).                                                                                                     the average shares per trade ratio
                                                                                                        Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 28, 2017); Letter from
                                                  22 For a summary of comments, see generally
                                                                                                        Kevin Coleman, General Counsel & Chief                    between NMS Stocks and OTC Equity
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES




                                                Securities Exchange Act Rel. No. 81067 (June 30,        Compliance Officer, Belvedere Trading LLC, to             Securities.’’
                                                2017), 82 FR 31656 (July 7, 2017) (‘‘Suspension         Brent J. Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 28, 2017); Letter
                                                Order’’).                                               from W. Hardy Callcott, Sidley Austin LLP, to Brent       2. Statutory Basis
                                                  23 Suspension Order.
                                                                                                        J. Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 27, 2017); Letter from       IEX believes that the proposed rule
                                                  24 See Letter from Stuart J. Kaswell, Executive       John Kinahan, Chief Executive Officer, Group One
                                                Vice President, Managing Director and General           Trading, L.P., to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, SEC         change is consistent with the provisions
                                                Counsel, Managed Funds Association, to Brent J.         (Aug. 10, 2017); and Letter from Joseph Molluso,
                                                Fields, Secretary, SEC (July 28, 2017); Letter from     Executive Vice President, Virtu Financial, to Brent         25 See SR–IEX–2017–16, Amendment 2, Section

                                                Theodore R. Lazo, Managing Director and Associate       J. Fields, Secretary, SEC (Aug. 18, 2017).                3(a), at page 23.



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                                                59936                        Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 240 / Friday, December 15, 2017 / Notices

                                                of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,26 which                   C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                     personal identifying information from
                                                require, among other things, that the                    Statement on Comments on the                          comment submissions. You should
                                                Exchange’s rules must be designed to                     Proposed Rule Change Received From                    submit only information that you wish
                                                prevent fraudulent and manipulative                      Members, Participants, or Others                      to make available publicly. All
                                                acts and practices, to promote just and                    IEX set forth responses to comments                 submissions should refer to File
                                                equitable principles of trade, and, in                   received regarding the Original Proposal              Number SR–IEX–2017–16, and should
                                                general, to protect investors and the                    in the First Amendment. In addition,                  be submitted on or before January 5,
                                                public interest, and not designed to                     the proposed changes set forth in this                2018.
                                                permit unfair discrimination between                     Second Amendment further respond to                     For the Commission, by the Division of
                                                customers, issuers, brokers and dealer,                  comments made regarding ATSs trading                  Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
                                                and Section 6(b)(4) of the Act, 27 which                 OTC Equity Securities.                                authority.29
                                                requires that the Exchange’s rules                                                                             Robert W. Errett,
                                                                                                         III. Solicitation of Comments                         Deputy Secretary.
                                                provide for the equitable allocation of
                                                reasonable dues, fees, and other charges                   Interested persons are invited to                   [FR Doc. 2017–27019 Filed 12–14–17; 8:45 am]
                                                among members and issuers and other                      submit written data, views and                        BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                persons using its facilities. IEX believes               arguments concerning the foregoing,
                                                that the proposed change is consistent                   including whether the proposal, as
                                                with the Act, and that the proposed fees                 amended by Amendment No. 1 and
                                                                                                         Amendment No. 2, is consistent with                   SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
                                                are reasonable, equitably allocated and
                                                                                                         the Act. Comments may be submitted by
                                                not unfairly discriminatory. In
                                                                                                         any of the following methods:                         [Disaster Declaration #15293 and #15294;
                                                particular, IEX believes that the
                                                proposed change would treat all Equity                   Electronic Comments                                   U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS Disaster Number VI–
                                                                                                                                                               00009]
                                                ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities in                      • Use the Commission’s internet
                                                a comparable manner when calculating                     comment form (http://www.sec.gov/                     Presidential Declaration Amendment of
                                                applicable fees. In addition, the fee                    rules/sro.shtml); or                                  a Major Disaster for the U.S. Virgin
                                                structure takes into consideration                         • Send an email to rule-comments@                   Islands
                                                distinctions in securities trading                       sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
                                                operations of CAT Reporters, including                   IEX–2017–16 on the subject line.                      AGENCY:U.S. Small Business
                                                all ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities.                                                                        Administration.
                                                                                                         Paper Comments
                                                B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                                                                              ACTION:     Amendment 4.
                                                                                                            • Send paper comments in triplicate
                                                Statement on Burden on Competition                       to Secretary, Securities and Exchange                 SUMMARY:   This is an amendment of the
                                                   Section 6(b)(8) of the Act 28 require                 Commission, 100 F Street NE,                          Presidential declaration of a major
                                                                                                         Washington, DC 20549–1090.                            disaster for the U.S. Virgin Islands
                                                that the Exchange’s rules not impose
                                                any burden on competition that is not                    All submissions should refer to File                  (FEMA–4335–DR), dated 09/07/2017.
                                                necessary or appropriate. IEX does not                   Number SR–IEX–2017–16. This file                        Incident: Hurricane Irma.
                                                believe that the proposed rule change                    number should be included on the
                                                                                                         subject line if email is used. To help the              Incident Period: 09/05/2017 through
                                                will result in any burden on                                                                                   09/07/2017.
                                                                                                         Commission process and review your
                                                competition that is not necessary or
                                                                                                         comments more efficiently, please use                 DATES: Issued on 12/08/2017.
                                                appropriate in furtherance of the
                                                                                                         only one method. The Commission will                    Physical Loan Application Deadline
                                                purposes of the Act. As previously                       post all comments on the Commission’s
                                                described, IEX believes that the                                                                               Date: 01/08/2018.
                                                                                                         internet website (http://www.sec.gov/
                                                proposed rule change fairly and                                                                                  Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan
                                                                                                         rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
                                                equitably allocates costs among CAT                                                                            Application Deadline Date: 06/07/2018.
                                                                                                         submission, all subsequent
                                                Reporters. In particular, the proposed                   amendments, all written statements                    ADDRESSES:  Submit completed loan
                                                fee schedule is structured to impose                     with respect to the proposed rule                     applications to: U.S. Small Business
                                                comparable fees on similarly situated                    change that are filed with the                        Administration, Processing and
                                                CAT Reporters. IEX believes that the                     Commission, and all written                           Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport
                                                proposed change would treat all Equity                   communications relating to the                        Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155.
                                                ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities in                    proposed rule change between the                      FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:     A.
                                                a comparable manner when calculating                     Commission and any person, other than                 Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance,
                                                applicable fees. In addition, the fee                    those that may be withheld from the                   U.S. Small Business Administration,
                                                structure takes into consideration                       public in accordance with the                         409 3rd Street SW, Suite 6050,
                                                distinctions in securities trading                       provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                   Washington, DC 20416, (202) 205–6734.
                                                operations of CAT Reporters, including                   available for website viewing and
                                                                                                         printing in the Commission’s Public                   SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:      The notice
                                                all ATSs trading OTC Equity Securities.
                                                                                                         Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,                      of the President’s major disaster
                                                Moreover, the Operating Committee
                                                                                                         Washington, DC 20549, on official                     declaration for the U.S. Virgin Islands,
                                                believes that the proposed changes                                                                             dated 09/07/2017, is hereby amended to
                                                                                                         business days between the hours of
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES




                                                address certain competitive concerns                                                                           extend the deadline for filing
                                                raised by commenters related to ATSs                     10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
                                                                                                         filing also will be available for                     applications for physical damages as a
                                                trading OTC Equity Securities.                                                                                 result of this disaster to 01/08/2018.
                                                                                                         inspection and copying at the principal
                                                                                                         office of the Exchange. All comments                    All other information in the original
                                                  26 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).                                received will be posted without change.               declaration remains unchanged.
                                                  27 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).                                Persons submitting comments are
                                                  28 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).                                cautioned that we do not redact or edit                 29 17   CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).



                                           VerDate Sep<11>2014    23:42 Dec 14, 2017   Jkt 244001   PO 00000   Frm 00362   Fmt 4703   Sfmt 4703   E:\FR\FM\15DEN1.SGM     15DEN1



Document Created: 2017-12-15 03:37:39
Document Modified: 2017-12-15 03:37:39
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 59933 

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