83_FR_61931 83 FR 61700 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq PHLX LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Exchange's Provisions for Excluding Days for Purposes of Pricing Tiers

83 FR 61700 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq PHLX LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Exchange's Provisions for Excluding Days for Purposes of Pricing Tiers

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 231 (November 30, 2018)

Page Range61700-61705
FR Document2018-25997

Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 231 (Friday, November 30, 2018)
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 231 (Friday, November 30, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 61700-61705]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-25997]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-84645; File No. SR-Phlx-2018-73]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq PHLX LLC; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the 
Exchange's Provisions for Excluding Days for Purposes of Pricing Tiers

November 26, 2018.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\, and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that on November 14, 2018, Nasdaq PHLX LLC (``Phlx'' or ``Exchange'') 
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or 
``Commission'') 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 on the 
proposed rule change from interested persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to amend the Exchange's provisions for 
excluding a day from its volume calculations for purposes of 
determining pricing tiers.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's 
website at http://nasdaqphlx.cchwallstreet.com/, at the principal 
office of the Exchange, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

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

    In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements 
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and 
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The 
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in 
Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in 
sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such 
statements.

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

1. Purpose
    The purpose of the proposed rule change is to amend the Exchange's

[[Page 61701]]

provisions for excluding a day from its volume calculations for 
purposes of determining pricing tiers, as further discussed below.
Background
    To avoid penalizing members when aberrant low volume days result 
from systems or other issues at the Exchange, or where the Exchange 
closes early for holiday observance, the Exchange currently has 
language in its Pricing Schedule allowing it to exclude certain days 
from its average daily volume (``ADV'') calculations or calculations 
that are based on a percentage of industry volume. Currently, Section 
1(b) of the Exchange's Pricing Schedule provides that for Phlx options, 
any day that the market is not open for the entire trading day or the 
Exchange instructs members in writing to route their orders to other 
markets may be excluded from the ADV calculation or calculation based 
on a percentage of industry volume; provided that the Exchange will 
only remove the day for members that would have a lower ADV or 
percentage of industry volume with the day included. If a day is 
removed from a calculation based on a percentage of monthly industry 
volume, volume executed that day will be removed from both the 
numerator and the denominator of the calculation.\3\ The proviso 
language in Section 1(b) (hereinafter, the ``better of rule'') ensures 
that members would only have the day removed when doing so is 
beneficial for the member. As such, the Exchange only applies the 
better of rule to ADV calculations and calculations based on a 
percentage of industry volume, and not for other volume-based pricing 
where members would not benefit from having the day excluded (e.g., 
straight volume accumulations).
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    \3\ The Exchange removes the day from both the numerator and 
denominator to ensure that members benefit from this rule as 
removing the day from the numerator only (i.e., the member's volume) 
without removing it from the denominator (i.e., industry volume) 
would penalize the member.
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    In a recent review of the rule, the Exchange determined that it 
would be beneficial to further expand upon and provide additional 
detail regarding how the Exchange applies this rule.
Proposal
    The Exchange first proposes to delete the lead-in ``For Phlx 
Options'' in Section 1(b) of Options 7, and retitle this section as 
``Removal of Days for Purposes of Pricing Tiers.'' The fees for Phlx 
options and PSX equities are no longer included in the same pricing 
schedule, and the Exchange therefore believes that the current 
clarifying lead-in is no longer necessary.\4\ The Exchange also 
proposes to adopt the following language to replace current rule text 
in Section 1(b):
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    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 84495 (October 29, 
2018), 83 FR 55210 (November 2, 2018) (SR-Phlx-2018-66).
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    (1)(A) Any day that the Exchange announces in advance that it will 
not be open for trading will be excluded from the options tier 
calculations set forth in its Pricing Schedule; and (B) any day with a 
scheduled early market close (``Scheduled Early Close'') may be 
excluded from the options tier calculations only pursuant to paragraph 
(3) below.
    (2) The Exchange may exclude the following days (``Unanticipated 
Events'') from the options tier calculations only pursuant to paragraph 
(3) below, specifically any day that: (A) the market is not open for 
the entire trading day, (B) the Exchange instructs members in writing 
to route their orders to other markets, (C) the Exchange is 
inaccessible to members during the 30-minute period before the opening 
of trade due to an Exchange system disruption, or (D) the Exchange's 
system experiences a disruption that lasts for more than 60 minutes 
during regular trading hours.
    (3) If a day is to be excluded as a result of paragraph (1)(B) or 
(2) above, the Exchange will exclude the day from any member's monthly 
options tier calculations as follows:
    (A) the Exchange may exclude from the ADV calculation any Scheduled 
Early Close or Unanticipated Event;
    (B) the Exchange may exclude from the calculation based on a 
percentage of industry volume any Scheduled Early Close or 
Unanticipated Event; and
    (C) the Exchange may exclude from any other applicable options tier 
calculation provided for in its Schedule of Fees (together with (3)(A) 
and (3)(B), ``Tier Calculations'') any Scheduled Early Close or 
Unanticipated Event; provided, in each case, that the Exchange will 
only remove the day for members that would have a lower Tier 
Calculation with the day included. If a day is removed from a 
calculation based on a percentage of monthly industry volume, volume 
executed that day will be removed from both the numerator and the 
denominator of the calculation.
    The proposed rule change: (i) Expands upon the existing scenarios 
where the Exchange may remove a day to adopt two additional situations 
related to Exchange systems disruptions, (ii) categorizes the scenarios 
into days that are known in advance (i.e., days in proposed paragraph 
(1), including Scheduled Early Closes) and days that are not (i.e., 
Unanticipated Events in proposed paragraph (2)), (iii) clarifies how 
each scenario would apply to the options tier calculations in the 
Pricing Schedule, (iv) adds a ``catch-all'' provision for other volume 
based options tier calculations set forth in its Pricing Schedule, but 
are not specified within paragraphs (3)(A) and (3)(B), to clarify how 
the Exchange would exclude days for other such Tier Calculations going 
forward, and (v) generally adds more detail to clarify the application 
of the better of rule. As it relates to Unanticipated Events, the 
Exchange will inform all members if any such day will be excluded from 
its Tier Calculations through a publicly published alert. The Exchange 
notes that it is not proposing any changes to the existing rebates or 
to the current tier calculation thresholds required to achieve each 
rebate tier.
Exchange Systems Disruptions
    The Exchange proposes to adopt two additional scenarios as 
``Unanticipated Events'' that the Exchange may determine to exclude 
from its Tier Calculations. First, the Exchange proposes to exclude 
days where the Exchange is inaccessible to members during the 30-minute 
period before the opening of trade (i.e., between 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 
a.m. Eastern Time) due to an Exchange system disruption, even if the 
Exchange does not instruct members to route away to other markets. As 
discussed above, the Exchange's current ability to remove days from its 
calculations of ADV and industry volume percentages is limited to days 
where the market is not open for the entire trading day, and where the 
Exchange instructs members to route away to other markets. This allows 
the Exchange to exclude days, for example, where the Exchange honors a 
market-wide trading halt declared by another market, closes early for 
holiday observance, or instructs members to route away to other markets 
because of a systems issue in the morning, which ultimately does not 
carry over into the trading day. The Exchange notes, however, that it 
may not always instruct members to route away. For instance, the 
Exchange may be inaccessible to members in the morning due to a systems 
disruption but the Exchange resolves the issue shortly before 9:30 a.m. 
and as a result, the Exchange does not instruct members to route away. 
In such cases, the Exchange is not permitted to exclude the day from 
its ADV calculation or calculation based on a percentage of industry 
volume. The Exchange generally experiences a high

[[Page 61702]]

volume of member participation within the 30-minute window leading up 
to the opening of trade from members who submit eligible interest be 
included in the Exchange's opening process. As a result, days where 
members are precluded from submitting eligible interest during this 30-
minute time period due to an Exchange systems disruption, even if the 
issue is ultimately resolved by the Exchange before the market opens 
(and members therefore are not instructed to route away), are likely to 
have lower trading volume. Including such days in calculations of ADV 
or percentage of industry volume will therefore make it more difficult 
for members to achieve particular pricing tiers for that month. 
Accordingly, excluding such days from the monthly tier calculations 
will diminish the likelihood of a cost increase occurring because a 
member is not able to reach a pricing tier on that date that it would 
reach on other trading days during the month.
    Second, the Exchange proposes to exclude days where there is an 
Exchange system disruption that lasts for more than 60 minutes during 
regular trading hours (i.e., 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time), even 
if such disruption would not be categorized as a complete outage of the 
Exchange's system. Such a disruption may occur where a certain options 
series traded on the Exchange is unavailable for trading due to an 
Exchange systems issue, or where the Exchange may be able to perform 
certain functions with respect to accepting and processing orders, but 
may have a failure to another significant process, such as routing to 
other market centers, that would lead members who rely on such 
processes to avoid using the Exchange until the Exchange's entire 
system was operational. The Exchange believes that certain system 
disruptions that are not complete system outages could preclude some 
members from submitting orders to the Exchange. The Exchange notes that 
this proposal is consistent with the rules of other options 
exchanges.\5\
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    \5\ See, e.g., BATS BZX Options Exchange Fee Schedule (defining 
an ``Exchange System Disruption'' as any day that the exchange's 
system experiences a disruption that lasts for more than 60 minutes 
during regular trading hours); and NYSE Arca Options Fee Schedule 
(defining an ``Exchange System Disruption'' as a disruption affects 
an Exchange system that lasts for more than 60 minutes during 
regular trading hours).
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    The Exchange believes that the two scenarios proposed above are 
reasonable and equitable because the intent of the current rule has 
always been to avoid penalizing members that might otherwise qualify 
for certain tiered pricing but that because of aberrant low volume days 
resulting, for instance, from Exchange systems disruptions, did not 
participate on the Exchange to the extent they might have otherwise 
participated.
    In addition, to avoid penalizing members that step up and trade on 
a day with artificially low volume, the Exchange currently only removes 
days for members that would have a lower ADV calculation or calculation 
based on a percentage of industry volume with the day included (i.e., 
the better of rule). The Exchange believes that applying the better of 
rule to the proposed system disruption-related scenarios would be 
similarly helpful as it would ensure that members that continue to 
execute a large volume of contracts on such days are not inadvertently 
disadvantaged when the Exchange removes a systems disruption-related 
day from its calculations of ADV or industry volume percentages.
    The Exchange also proposes that if a systems disruption-related day 
is removed from a calculation based on a percentage of monthly industry 
volume, volume executed that day will be removed from both the 
numerator and denominator of the calculation. Removing the day from 
both the numerator and denominator of the calculation will ensure that 
members benefit from this rule as removing the day from the numerator 
only (i.e., the member's volume) without removing it from the 
denominator (i.e., industry volume) would penalize the member. The 
Exchange takes the same approach for removing days from such 
calculations under the current rule.
Categories of Excluded Days
    In light of the foregoing proposal to adopt two additional 
situations that the Exchange may exclude from its pricing tier 
calculations, the Exchange seeks to restructure the existing rule by 
separating out the different scenarios between days that are known in 
paragraph (1) and days that are not in paragraph (2), and define the 
latter as Unanticipated Events.
    For planned days, the Exchange proposes to further distinguish 
between days that the Exchange announces in advance that it will not be 
open for trading in paragraph (1)(A) (e.g., Thanksgiving), and 
Scheduled Early Closes in paragraph (1)(B) (e.g., the trading day after 
Thanksgiving). The Exchange notes that it currently considers Scheduled 
Early Closes as a subset of days that the market is not open for the 
entire trading day. The Exchange believes it would be more clear to 
distinguish Scheduled Early Closes in paragraph (1) as a day that is 
planned for in advance, and separately consider days that are not open 
for the entire trading day as Unanticipated Events in paragraph (2)(A). 
As proposed, (2)(A) would continue to cover unplanned days where the 
Exchange declares a trading halt in all securities or honors a market-
wide trading halt declared by another market. The other scenarios that 
will be categorized as Unanticipated Events in paragraph (2) are the 
two systems-related disruptions proposed above, and days that the 
Exchange instructs members in writing to route their orders to other 
markets, which is an existing scenario covered under the current rule 
as described above.
Exclusion of Days by Tier Calculation
    The Exchange proposes to further amend the existing rule to specify 
how the days in paragraphs (1) and (2) will be excluded from its tier 
calculations. As discussed above, the Exchange currently removes the 
days set forth in paragraphs (1)(B), (2)(A), and (2)(B) from its 
calculations of ADV and industry volume percentages only for members 
that would have a lower ADV or percentage of industry volume with the 
day included. The Exchange is not changing how it currently excludes 
these days from these calculations. And as further discussed above, the 
Exchange is proposing to adopt the same principle-based approach for 
excluding the system disruption-related days in paragraphs (2)(C) and 
(2)(D). As such, proposed paragraph (3) will specify for the ADV 
calculation and calculation based on a percentage of industry volume 
that the Exchange may exclude any Scheduled Early Close or 
Unanticipated Event, subject, in each case, to the better of rule.
    As it relates to days where the Exchange announces in advance that 
it will not be open for trading, the Exchange notes that it will 
exclude those days from all options tier calculations set forth in its 
Pricing Schedule. This is also the case today since no trading activity 
occurs on those days, and the Exchange is only clarifying its current 
practice within the proposed rule text in paragraph (1)(A).
Catch-All Provision
    The proposal also adds a ``catch-all'' provision in paragraph 
(3)(C) that would apply to other applicable options tier calculations 
that are set forth in its Pricing Schedule (``Tier Calculations''), but 
are not specified within paragraphs (3)(A) and (3)(B) (i.e., not an ADV 
calculation or calculation based on a percentage of industry volume). 
This

[[Page 61703]]

catch-all provision is to provide the Exchange with flexibility to 
apply the better of rule going forward to all pricing programs 
administered by the Exchange that are based on volume calculations.\6\ 
Specifically, the Exchange may exclude any Scheduled Early Close or 
Unanticipated Event from such other Tier Calculations only if the 
member will have a lower Tier Calculation with the day included. This 
is the same principle-based approach that the Exchange currently takes 
for its ADV calculation and calculation based on a percentage of 
industry volume, and is similarly intended to ensure that days are 
removed from a member's volume calculations only if doing so would be 
beneficial for the member.
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    \6\ As such, the proposed language will not apply to straight 
volume accumulations, and the Exchange will continue to not exclude 
days from such calculations, as is current practice, since members 
do not benefit when a day is removed from straight volume 
accumulations.
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Clarifying Changes
    The Exchange proposes to add further detail throughout the rule 
text to bring greater transparency as to how the Exchange will apply 
the better of rule when removing days from its tier calculations. The 
Exchange proposes to make clear that it will only remove days pursuant 
to the better of rule by specifying in paragraphs (1)(B) and (2) that 
such days may be excluded from the Tier Calculations only pursuant to 
paragraph (3). Paragraph (3) will then provide that if a day is to be 
excluded as a result of paragraph (1)(B) or (2), the Exchange will be 
required to exclude the day from any member's monthly options tier 
calculations as detailed within paragraph (3) (i.e., excluding a 
Scheduled Early Close or Unanticipated Event from a specified tier 
calculation only for members that would have a lower tier calculation 
with the day included). With the proposed changes, the Exchange seeks 
to clarify current practice by expressing that it will exclude days 
from any member's tier calculations in a uniform manner to ensure that 
days are removed only in situations where the member benefits. 
Currently, the Exchange looks at each potential excluded day in a month 
and calculates for every member their ADV or industry volume percentage 
based on their trading volume on that day. If any member would have a 
lower ADV or percentage of industry volume with the particular day 
included, the Exchange will exclude that day for that member. As such, 
the proposed changes specify that the Exchange will apply the better of 
rule in a uniform manner for all members, and that there is no 
arbitrary selection of ``winners'' or ``losers'' when the Exchange 
excludes days. Lastly, the Exchange proposes to make two technical 
changes within the better of rule; first, to clarify that the rule 
applies in each case of the tier calculations specified in paragraph 
(3), and second, to use the defined term ``Tier Calculations'' instead 
of ``ADV or percentage of industry volume'' to reflect the changes 
proposed herein.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 
6(b) of the Act,\7\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Sections 
6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5) of the Act,\8\ in particular, in that it provides 
for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges 
among members and issuers and other persons using any facility, and is 
not designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, 
issuers, brokers, or dealers.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
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    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is reasonable 
and equitable as it provides a framework for removing days from the 
Exchange's volume calculations that the Exchange believes is beneficial 
to members. The proposed rule change would permit the Exchange to 
remove a day from its Tier Calculations in more circumstances, and 
ensures that the Exchange will only do so in circumstances where 
beneficial for the member due to the member executing a lower ADV or 
percentage of industry volume during the excluded day. The Exchange 
believes it is reasonable and equitable to exclude a day from its tier 
calculations when the Exchange's system experiences a disruption during 
the 30-minute period prior to the opening of trade that renders the 
Exchange inaccessible to members as this preserves the Exchange's 
intent behind adopting volume-based pricing. Without this change, 
members that are precluded from submitting eligible interest during the 
30-minute window before the opening of trade may be negatively 
impacted, even if the Exchange resolves the issue before the market 
opens and as a result, does not instruct members to route away. The 
proposed change to exclude such days will diminish the likelihood of a 
cost increase occurring because a member is not able to reach a volume 
tier calculation on that date that it would reach on other trading days 
during the month. Furthermore, while the Exchange may have resolved the 
systems disruption from its perspective prior to the opening of trade, 
a member may now have issues managing their orders with the Exchange as 
a result of the original disruption, causing a downstream ripple 
effect.
    Similarly, excluding a day where the Exchange's system experiences 
a disruption that lasts for more than 60 minutes intra-day is 
reasonable and equitable because the proposal seeks to avoid penalizing 
members that might otherwise qualify for certain tiered pricing but 
that, because of an Exchange systems disruption, did not participate on 
the Exchange to the extent they might have otherwise participated. The 
Exchange believes that certain systems disruptions could preclude some 
members from submitting orders to the Exchange even if such issue is 
not actually a complete systems outage. Other options exchanges 
similarly exclude exchange systems disruptions from their pricing 
tiers.\9\
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    \9\ See footnote 5 above.
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    In addition, the Exchange believes that it is reasonable and 
equitable to apply the better of rule to both systems disruption-
related scenarios. Without these changes, members that step up and 
trade significant volume on excluded trading days may be negatively 
impacted, resulting in an effective cost increase for those members. 
The proposal would align the Exchange's approach to how it applies this 
rule today for days where the market is not open for the entire trading 
day or where the Exchange instructs members to route away. Furthermore, 
removing the proposed days from both the numerator and denominator of a 
calculation based on a percentage of industry volume is reasonable and 
equitable as this treatment ensures that the member actually benefits 
from having the day removed. Again, this would align the Exchange's 
current approach to how it removes days from such calculations.
    In light of the Exchange's proposal to adopt the two additional 
scenarios related to systems disruptions, the Exchange is making 
related, restructuring changes to the existing language in Options 7, 
Section 1(b) to bring greater transparency to the application of its 
rule. Specifically, the Exchange is distinguishing between planned and 
unplanned days in paragraphs (1) and (2), defining the latter as 
Unanticipated Events, and stipulating how the Exchange will exclude 
such days pursuant to this rule. Categorizing days in this manner will 
clarify the application of its rule in light of the Exchange's proposal 
to expand the rule to adopt additional days that

[[Page 61704]]

may be excluded from its tier calculations. Similarly, the Exchange 
believes that the proposed changes to specify how each of the days in 
paragraphs (1) and (2) will be excluded from its tier calculations will 
bring greater transparency to the application of the rule by clearly 
delineating the various circumstances in which the rule will apply. 
Providing in paragraph (1)(A) that the Exchange will always exclude 
from its tier calculations days that it announces in advance it will 
not be open for trading will clarify current practice. Providing in 
paragraph (3) that the Exchange may exclude any Scheduled Early Close 
or Unanticipated Event from the specified tier calculations, subject to 
the better of rule, will make clear that the Exchange will take a 
consistent approach when excluding days for purposes of its volume 
based pricing tiers. Furthermore, the clean-up changes specifying that 
the days in paragraphs (1)(B) and (2) may be excluded only pursuant to 
paragraph (3), and requiring the Exchange to exclude such days pursuant 
to the specifications in paragraph (3) will likewise make clear that 
the Exchange will take a consistent approach with respect to excluding 
days from its tier calculations. As discussed above, these 
modifications will clarify that the Exchange will apply the better of 
rule in a uniform manner to all members, and that there is no arbitrary 
selection of ``winners'' or ``losers.'' The Exchange also believes that 
the two technical changes proposed in the better of rule to reflect the 
changes proposed herein will likewise bring greater clarity to its 
rule. For the foregoing reasons, the Exchange believes that the 
proposed changes to clarify and restructure its existing rule are 
reasonable and equitable.
    Furthermore, the Exchange believes that the proposed changes to 
adopt a catch-all provision in paragraph (3)(C) to other Tier 
Calculations not already specified in the rule to allow the Exchange to 
apply the better of rule going forward to all pricing programs based on 
other volume calculations is reasonable and equitable for the same 
reasons as allowing the Exchange to apply the better of rule for 
calculations based on ADV and industry volume percentages. The Exchange 
notes that aberrant low volume days resulting from, for instance, an 
Unanticipated Event, impacts all volume-based calculations, and 
allowing the Exchange to exclude such days from any volume-based tier 
calculation if the member would have a lower tier calculation with the 
day excluded will further protect members from being inadvertently 
penalized.
    Finally, the Exchange further believes that the proposed rule 
change is not unfairly discriminatory because it will apply equally to 
all members. While the Exchange currently has rules in place for 
removing a day from its pricing, the Exchange believes that the 
proposed changes will benefit all members by providing more 
circumstances to remove a day, and ensuring that days are removed only 
in situations where the member benefits.

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 proposed rule change is 
designed to protect members from the possibility of a cost increase by 
excluding days when overall member participation might be significantly 
lower than a typical trading day. The Exchange believes that the 
proposed modifications to its tier calculations are pro-competitive and 
will result in lower total costs to end users, a positive outcome of 
competitive markets. The Exchange operates in a highly competitive 
market in which market participants can readily direct their order flow 
to competing venues. In such an environment, the Exchange must 
continually review, and consider adjusting, its fees and rebates to 
remain competitive with other exchanges. For the reasons described 
above, the Exchange believes that the proposed fee changes reflect this 
competitive environment.

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

    No written comments were either solicited or received.

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

    The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 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.

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 rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File Number SR-Phlx-2018-73 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-Phlx-2018-73. 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-Phlx-2018-73, and should be submitted on 
or before December 21, 2018.


[[Page 61705]]


    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-25997 Filed 11-29-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P



                                              61700                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 231 / Friday, November 30, 2018 / Notices

                                              B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                       change is consistent with the Act.                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
                                              Statement on Burden on Competition                      Comments may be submitted by any of                      COMMISSION
                                                 The Exchange does not believe that                   the following methods:
                                                                                                                                                               [Release No. 34–84645; File No. SR–Phlx–
                                              the proposed rule change will impose                    Electronic Comments                                      2018–73]
                                              any burden on competition not
                                              necessary or appropriate in furtherance                   • Use the Commission’s internet                        Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq
                                              of the purposes of the Act. The                         comment form (http://www.sec.gov/                        PHLX LLC; Notice of Filing and
                                              Exchange believes the proposed routing                  rules/sro.shtml); or                                     Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
                                              fee changes will not impose an undue                      • Send an email to rule-comments@                      Rule Change To Amend the
                                              burden on competition because the                       sec.gov. Please include File Number SR-                  Exchange’s Provisions for Excluding
                                              Exchange will uniformly assess the                      CboeBZX–2018–083 on the subject line.                    Days for Purposes of Pricing Tiers
                                              affected routing fees on all Members.
                                                                                                      Paper Comments                                           November 26, 2018.
                                              Additionally, Members may opt to
                                                                                                                                                                  Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
                                              disfavor the Exchange’s pricing if they                    • Send paper comments in triplicate
                                                                                                                                                               Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                                              believe that alternatives offer them                    to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
                                                                                                                                                               (‘‘Act’’) 1, and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
                                              better value or if they view the proposed               Commission, 100 F Street NE,
                                                                                                                                                               notice is hereby given that on November
                                              fee as excessive. The Exchange also                     Washington, DC 20549–1090.
                                                                                                                                                               14, 2018, Nasdaq PHLX LLC (‘‘Phlx’’ or
                                              notes the proposed changes to the                       All submissions should refer to File                     ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities
                                              EDGA-related routing fees are meant to                  Number SR–CboeBZX–2018–083. This                         and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or
                                              pass through the fees and rebates
                                                                                                      file number should be included on the                    ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule
                                              associated with executing orders on that
                                                                                                      subject line if email is used. To help the               change as described in Items I and II,
                                              market, and is therefore not designed to
                                                                                                      Commission process and review your                       below, which Items have been prepared
                                              have any significant impact on
                                                                                                      comments more efficiently, please use                    by the Exchange. The Commission is
                                              competition. Further, excessive fees for
                                                                                                      only one method. The Commission will                     publishing this notice to solicit
                                              participation would serve to impair an
                                                                                                      post all comments on the Commission’s                    comments on the proposed rule change
                                              exchange’s ability to compete for order
                                                                                                      internet website (http://www.sec.gov/                    from interested persons.
                                              flow and members rather than
                                                                                                      rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
                                              burdening competition.                                                                                           I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                                                                                      submission, all subsequent
                                                                                                                                                               Statement of the Terms of Substance of
                                              C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                       amendments, all written statements
                                                                                                                                                               the Proposed Rule Change
                                              Statement on Comments on the                            with respect to the proposed rule
                                              Proposed Rule Change Received From                      change that are filed with the                              The Exchange proposes to amend the
                                              Members, Participants, or Others                        Commission, and all written                              Exchange’s provisions for excluding a
                                                                                                      communications relating to the                           day from its volume calculations for
                                                The Exchange has not solicited, and
                                                                                                      proposed rule change between the                         purposes of determining pricing tiers.
                                              does not intend to solicit, comments on
                                                                                                      Commission and any person, other than                       The text of the proposed rule change
                                              this proposed rule change. The
                                                                                                      those that may be withheld from the                      is available on the Exchange’s website at
                                              Exchange has not received any written
                                                                                                      public in accordance with the                            http://nasdaqphlx.cchwallstreet.com/,
                                              comments from members or other
                                                                                                      provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                      at the principal office of the Exchange,
                                              interested parties.
                                                                                                      available for website viewing and                        and at the Commission’s Public
                                              III. Date of Effectiveness of the                       printing in the Commission’s Public                      Reference Room.
                                              Proposed Rule Change and Timing for                     Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,                         II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                              Commission Action                                       Washington, DC 20549 on official                         Statement of the Purpose of, and
                                                 The foregoing rule change has become                 business days between the hours of                       Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                              effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)               10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the                   Change
                                              of the Act 5 and paragraph (f) of Rule                  filing also will be available for
                                                                                                                                                                  In its filing with the Commission, the
                                              19b–4 6 thereunder. At any time within                  inspection and copying at the principal
                                                                                                                                                               Exchange included statements
                                              60 days of the filing of the proposed rule              office of the Exchange. All comments
                                                                                                                                                               concerning the purpose of and basis for
                                              change, the Commission summarily may                    received will be posted without change.
                                                                                                                                                               the proposed rule change and discussed
                                              temporarily suspend such rule change if                 Persons submitting comments are
                                                                                                                                                               any comments it received on the
                                              it appears to the Commission that such                  cautioned that we do not redact or edit
                                                                                                                                                               proposed rule change. The text of these
                                              action is necessary or appropriate in the               personal identifying information from
                                                                                                                                                               statements may be examined at the
                                              public interest, for the protection of                  comment submissions. You should
                                                                                                                                                               places specified in Item IV below. The
                                              investors, or otherwise in furtherance of               submit only information that you wish
                                                                                                                                                               Exchange has prepared summaries, set
                                              the purposes of the Act. If the                         to make available publicly. All
                                                                                                                                                               forth in sections A, B, and C below, of
                                              Commission takes such action, the                       submissions should refer to File
                                                                                                                                                               the most significant aspects of such
                                              Commission will institute proceedings                   Number SR–CboeBZX–2018–083 and
                                                                                                                                                               statements.
                                              to determine whether the proposed rule                  should be submitted on or before
                                              change should be approved or                            December 21, 2018.                                       A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                              disapproved.                                              For the Commission, by the Division of                 Statement of the Purpose of, and
                                                                                                      Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated               Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                              IV. Solicitation of Comments
                                                                                                                                                               Change
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                                                                                                      authority.7
                                                Interested persons are invited to
                                                                                                      Eduardo A. Aleman,                                       1. Purpose
                                              submit written data, views, and
                                                                                                      Assistant Secretary.
                                              arguments concerning the foregoing,                                                                                 The purpose of the proposed rule
                                              including whether the proposed rule                     [FR Doc. 2018–26002 Filed 11–29–18; 8:45 am]             change is to amend the Exchange’s
                                                                                                      BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                5 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).                                                                                        1 15   U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                                                6 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f).                                  7 17   CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).                              2 17   CFR 240.19b–4.



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                                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 231 / Friday, November 30, 2018 / Notices                                           61701

                                              provisions for excluding a day from its                 in is no longer necessary.4 The                       paragraph (1), including Scheduled
                                              volume calculations for purposes of                     Exchange also proposes to adopt the                   Early Closes) and days that are not (i.e.,
                                              determining pricing tiers, as further                   following language to replace current                 Unanticipated Events in proposed
                                              discussed below.                                        rule text in Section 1(b):                            paragraph (2)), (iii) clarifies how each
                                                                                                         (1)(A) Any day that the Exchange                   scenario would apply to the options tier
                                              Background
                                                                                                      announces in advance that it will not be              calculations in the Pricing Schedule,
                                                 To avoid penalizing members when                     open for trading will be excluded from                (iv) adds a ‘‘catch-all’’ provision for
                                              aberrant low volume days result from                    the options tier calculations set forth in            other volume based options tier
                                              systems or other issues at the Exchange,                its Pricing Schedule; and (B) any day                 calculations set forth in its Pricing
                                              or where the Exchange closes early for                  with a scheduled early market close                   Schedule, but are not specified within
                                              holiday observance, the Exchange                        (‘‘Scheduled Early Close’’) may be                    paragraphs (3)(A) and (3)(B), to clarify
                                              currently has language in its Pricing                   excluded from the options tier                        how the Exchange would exclude days
                                              Schedule allowing it to exclude certain                 calculations only pursuant to paragraph               for other such Tier Calculations going
                                              days from its average daily volume                      (3) below.                                            forward, and (v) generally adds more
                                              (‘‘ADV’’) calculations or calculations                     (2) The Exchange may exclude the                   detail to clarify the application of the
                                              that are based on a percentage of                       following days (‘‘Unanticipated                       better of rule. As it relates to
                                              industry volume. Currently, Section 1(b)                Events’’) from the options tier                       Unanticipated Events, the Exchange will
                                              of the Exchange’s Pricing Schedule                      calculations only pursuant to paragraph               inform all members if any such day will
                                              provides that for Phlx options, any day                 (3) below, specifically any day that: (A)             be excluded from its Tier Calculations
                                              that the market is not open for the entire              the market is not open for the entire                 through a publicly published alert. The
                                              trading day or the Exchange instructs                   trading day, (B) the Exchange instructs               Exchange notes that it is not proposing
                                              members in writing to route their orders                members in writing to route their orders              any changes to the existing rebates or to
                                              to other markets may be excluded from                   to other markets, (C) the Exchange is                 the current tier calculation thresholds
                                              the ADV calculation or calculation                      inaccessible to members during the 30-                required to achieve each rebate tier.
                                              based on a percentage of industry                       minute period before the opening of
                                              volume; provided that the Exchange                                                                            Exchange Systems Disruptions
                                                                                                      trade due to an Exchange system
                                              will only remove the day for members                    disruption, or (D) the Exchange’s system                 The Exchange proposes to adopt two
                                              that would have a lower ADV or                          experiences a disruption that lasts for               additional scenarios as ‘‘Unanticipated
                                              percentage of industry volume with the                  more than 60 minutes during regular                   Events’’ that the Exchange may
                                              day included. If a day is removed from                  trading hours.                                        determine to exclude from its Tier
                                              a calculation based on a percentage of                     (3) If a day is to be excluded as a                Calculations. First, the Exchange
                                              monthly industry volume, volume                         result of paragraph (1)(B) or (2) above,              proposes to exclude days where the
                                              executed that day will be removed from                  the Exchange will exclude the day from                Exchange is inaccessible to members
                                              both the numerator and the                              any member’s monthly options tier                     during the 30-minute period before the
                                              denominator of the calculation.3 The                    calculations as follows:                              opening of trade (i.e., between 9:00 a.m.
                                              proviso language in Section 1(b)                           (A) the Exchange may exclude from                  to 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time) due to an
                                              (hereinafter, the ‘‘better of rule’’)                   the ADV calculation any Scheduled                     Exchange system disruption, even if the
                                              ensures that members would only have                    Early Close or Unanticipated Event;                   Exchange does not instruct members to
                                              the day removed when doing so is                           (B) the Exchange may exclude from                  route away to other markets. As
                                              beneficial for the member. As such, the                 the calculation based on a percentage of              discussed above, the Exchange’s current
                                              Exchange only applies the better of rule                industry volume any Scheduled Early                   ability to remove days from its
                                              to ADV calculations and calculations                    Close or Unanticipated Event; and                     calculations of ADV and industry
                                              based on a percentage of industry                          (C) the Exchange may exclude from                  volume percentages is limited to days
                                              volume, and not for other volume-based                  any other applicable options tier                     where the market is not open for the
                                              pricing where members would not                         calculation provided for in its Schedule              entire trading day, and where the
                                              benefit from having the day excluded                    of Fees (together with (3)(A) and (3)(B),             Exchange instructs members to route
                                              (e.g., straight volume accumulations).                  ‘‘Tier Calculations’’) any Scheduled                  away to other markets. This allows the
                                                 In a recent review of the rule, the                  Early Close or Unanticipated Event;                   Exchange to exclude days, for example,
                                              Exchange determined that it would be                    provided, in each case, that the                      where the Exchange honors a market-
                                              beneficial to further expand upon and                   Exchange will only remove the day for                 wide trading halt declared by another
                                              provide additional detail regarding how                 members that would have a lower Tier                  market, closes early for holiday
                                              the Exchange applies this rule.                         Calculation with the day included. If a               observance, or instructs members to
                                                                                                      day is removed from a calculation based               route away to other markets because of
                                              Proposal                                                                                                      a systems issue in the morning, which
                                                                                                      on a percentage of monthly industry
                                                The Exchange first proposes to delete                 volume, volume executed that day will                 ultimately does not carry over into the
                                              the lead-in ‘‘For Phlx Options’’ in                     be removed from both the numerator                    trading day. The Exchange notes,
                                              Section 1(b) of Options 7, and retitle                  and the denominator of the calculation.               however, that it may not always instruct
                                              this section as ‘‘Removal of Days for                      The proposed rule change: (i)                      members to route away. For instance,
                                              Purposes of Pricing Tiers.’’ The fees for               Expands upon the existing scenarios                   the Exchange may be inaccessible to
                                              Phlx options and PSX equities are no                    where the Exchange may remove a day                   members in the morning due to a
                                              longer included in the same pricing                     to adopt two additional situations                    systems disruption but the Exchange
                                              schedule, and the Exchange therefore                                                                          resolves the issue shortly before 9:30
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                                                                                                      related to Exchange systems
                                              believes that the current clarifying lead-              disruptions, (ii) categorizes the                     a.m. and as a result, the Exchange does
                                                                                                      scenarios into days that are known in                 not instruct members to route away. In
                                                3 The Exchange removes the day from both the
                                                                                                      advance (i.e., days in proposed                       such cases, the Exchange is not
                                              numerator and denominator to ensure that members                                                              permitted to exclude the day from its
                                              benefit from this rule as removing the day from the
                                              numerator only (i.e., the member’s volume) without        4 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 84495     ADV calculation or calculation based on
                                              removing it from the denominator (i.e., industry        (October 29, 2018), 83 FR 55210 (November 2, 2018)    a percentage of industry volume. The
                                              volume) would penalize the member.                      (SR–Phlx–2018–66).                                    Exchange generally experiences a high


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                                              61702                       Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 231 / Friday, November 30, 2018 / Notices

                                              volume of member participation within                   pricing but that because of aberrant low              Closes in paragraph (1) as a day that is
                                              the 30-minute window leading up to the                  volume days resulting, for instance,                  planned for in advance, and separately
                                              opening of trade from members who                       from Exchange systems disruptions, did                consider days that are not open for the
                                              submit eligible interest be included in                 not participate on the Exchange to the                entire trading day as Unanticipated
                                              the Exchange’s opening process. As a                    extent they might have otherwise                      Events in paragraph (2)(A). As
                                              result, days where members are                          participated.                                         proposed, (2)(A) would continue to
                                              precluded from submitting eligible                         In addition, to avoid penalizing                   cover unplanned days where the
                                              interest during this 30-minute time                     members that step up and trade on a day               Exchange declares a trading halt in all
                                              period due to an Exchange systems                       with artificially low volume, the                     securities or honors a market-wide
                                              disruption, even if the issue is                        Exchange currently only removes days                  trading halt declared by another market.
                                              ultimately resolved by the Exchange                     for members that would have a lower                   The other scenarios that will be
                                              before the market opens (and members                    ADV calculation or calculation based on               categorized as Unanticipated Events in
                                              therefore are not instructed to route                   a percentage of industry volume with                  paragraph (2) are the two systems-
                                              away), are likely to have lower trading                 the day included (i.e., the better of rule).          related disruptions proposed above, and
                                              volume. Including such days in                          The Exchange believes that applying the               days that the Exchange instructs
                                              calculations of ADV or percentage of                    better of rule to the proposed system                 members in writing to route their orders
                                              industry volume will therefore make it                  disruption-related scenarios would be                 to other markets, which is an existing
                                              more difficult for members to achieve                   similarly helpful as it would ensure that             scenario covered under the current rule
                                              particular pricing tiers for that month.                members that continue to execute a                    as described above.
                                              Accordingly, excluding such days from                   large volume of contracts on such days
                                                                                                      are not inadvertently disadvantaged                   Exclusion of Days by Tier Calculation
                                              the monthly tier calculations will
                                              diminish the likelihood of a cost                       when the Exchange removes a systems                      The Exchange proposes to further
                                              increase occurring because a member is                  disruption-related day from its                       amend the existing rule to specify how
                                              not able to reach a pricing tier on that                calculations of ADV or industry volume                the days in paragraphs (1) and (2) will
                                              date that it would reach on other trading               percentages.                                          be excluded from its tier calculations.
                                              days during the month.                                     The Exchange also proposes that if a               As discussed above, the Exchange
                                                 Second, the Exchange proposes to                     systems disruption-related day is                     currently removes the days set forth in
                                              exclude days where there is an                          removed from a calculation based on a                 paragraphs (1)(B), (2)(A), and (2)(B) from
                                              Exchange system disruption that lasts                   percentage of monthly industry volume,                its calculations of ADV and industry
                                              for more than 60 minutes during regular                 volume executed that day will be                      volume percentages only for members
                                              trading hours (i.e., 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.             removed from both the numerator and                   that would have a lower ADV or
                                              Eastern Time), even if such disruption                  denominator of the calculation.                       percentage of industry volume with the
                                              would not be categorized as a complete                  Removing the day from both the                        day included. The Exchange is not
                                              outage of the Exchange’s system. Such                   numerator and denominator of the                      changing how it currently excludes
                                              a disruption may occur where a certain                  calculation will ensure that members                  these days from these calculations. And
                                              options series traded on the Exchange is                benefit from this rule as removing the                as further discussed above, the
                                              unavailable for trading due to an                       day from the numerator only (i.e., the                Exchange is proposing to adopt the
                                              Exchange systems issue, or where the                    member’s volume) without removing it                  same principle-based approach for
                                              Exchange may be able to perform certain                 from the denominator (i.e., industry                  excluding the system disruption-related
                                              functions with respect to accepting and                 volume) would penalize the member.                    days in paragraphs (2)(C) and (2)(D). As
                                              processing orders, but may have a                       The Exchange takes the same approach                  such, proposed paragraph (3) will
                                              failure to another significant process,                 for removing days from such                           specify for the ADV calculation and
                                              such as routing to other market centers,                calculations under the current rule.                  calculation based on a percentage of
                                              that would lead members who rely on                                                                           industry volume that the Exchange may
                                                                                                      Categories of Excluded Days
                                              such processes to avoid using the                                                                             exclude any Scheduled Early Close or
                                                                                                         In light of the foregoing proposal to              Unanticipated Event, subject, in each
                                              Exchange until the Exchange’s entire                    adopt two additional situations that the
                                              system was operational. The Exchange                                                                          case, to the better of rule.
                                                                                                      Exchange may exclude from its pricing                    As it relates to days where the
                                              believes that certain system disruptions                tier calculations, the Exchange seeks to              Exchange announces in advance that it
                                              that are not complete system outages                    restructure the existing rule by                      will not be open for trading, the
                                              could preclude some members from                        separating out the different scenarios                Exchange notes that it will exclude
                                              submitting orders to the Exchange. The                  between days that are known in                        those days from all options tier
                                              Exchange notes that this proposal is                    paragraph (1) and days that are not in                calculations set forth in its Pricing
                                              consistent with the rules of other                      paragraph (2), and define the latter as               Schedule. This is also the case today
                                              options exchanges.5                                     Unanticipated Events.                                 since no trading activity occurs on those
                                                 The Exchange believes that the two                      For planned days, the Exchange                     days, and the Exchange is only
                                              scenarios proposed above are reasonable                 proposes to further distinguish between               clarifying its current practice within the
                                              and equitable because the intent of the                 days that the Exchange announces in                   proposed rule text in paragraph (1)(A).
                                              current rule has always been to avoid                   advance that it will not be open for
                                              penalizing members that might                           trading in paragraph (1)(A) (e.g.,                    Catch-All Provision
                                              otherwise qualify for certain tiered                    Thanksgiving), and Scheduled Early                      The proposal also adds a ‘‘catch-all’’
                                                                                                      Closes in paragraph (1)(B) (e.g., the                 provision in paragraph (3)(C) that would
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                                                5 See, e.g., BATS BZX Options Exchange Fee

                                              Schedule (defining an ‘‘Exchange System
                                                                                                      trading day after Thanksgiving). The                  apply to other applicable options tier
                                              Disruption’’ as any day that the exchange’s system      Exchange notes that it currently                      calculations that are set forth in its
                                              experiences a disruption that lasts for more than 60    considers Scheduled Early Closes as a                 Pricing Schedule (‘‘Tier Calculations’’),
                                              minutes during regular trading hours); and NYSE         subset of days that the market is not                 but are not specified within paragraphs
                                              Arca Options Fee Schedule (defining an ‘‘Exchange
                                              System Disruption’’ as a disruption affects an
                                                                                                      open for the entire trading day. The                  (3)(A) and (3)(B) (i.e., not an ADV
                                              Exchange system that lasts for more than 60             Exchange believes it would be more                    calculation or calculation based on a
                                              minutes during regular trading hours).                  clear to distinguish Scheduled Early                  percentage of industry volume). This


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                                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 231 / Friday, November 30, 2018 / Notices                                               61703

                                              catch-all provision is to provide the                   selection of ‘‘winners’’ or ‘‘losers’’ when             trade, a member may now have issues
                                              Exchange with flexibility to apply the                  the Exchange excludes days. Lastly, the                 managing their orders with the
                                              better of rule going forward to all                     Exchange proposes to make two                           Exchange as a result of the original
                                              pricing programs administered by the                    technical changes within the better of                  disruption, causing a downstream ripple
                                              Exchange that are based on volume                       rule; first, to clarify that the rule applies           effect.
                                              calculations.6 Specifically, the Exchange               in each case of the tier calculations                      Similarly, excluding a day where the
                                              may exclude any Scheduled Early Close                   specified in paragraph (3), and second,                 Exchange’s system experiences a
                                              or Unanticipated Event from such other                  to use the defined term ‘‘Tier                          disruption that lasts for more than 60
                                              Tier Calculations only if the member                    Calculations’’ instead of ‘‘ADV or                      minutes intra-day is reasonable and
                                              will have a lower Tier Calculation with                 percentage of industry volume’’ to                      equitable because the proposal seeks to
                                              the day included. This is the same                      reflect the changes proposed herein.                    avoid penalizing members that might
                                              principle-based approach that the                                                                               otherwise qualify for certain tiered
                                                                                                      2. Statutory Basis                                      pricing but that, because of an Exchange
                                              Exchange currently takes for its ADV
                                              calculation and calculation based on a                     The Exchange believes that its                       systems disruption, did not participate
                                              percentage of industry volume, and is                   proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)                on the Exchange to the extent they
                                              similarly intended to ensure that days                  of the Act,7 in general, and furthers the               might have otherwise participated. The
                                              are removed from a member’s volume                      objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5)              Exchange believes that certain systems
                                              calculations only if doing so would be                  of the Act,8 in particular, in that it                  disruptions could preclude some
                                              beneficial for the member.                              provides for the equitable allocation of                members from submitting orders to the
                                                                                                      reasonable dues, fees and other charges                 Exchange even if such issue is not
                                              Clarifying Changes                                      among members and issuers and other                     actually a complete systems outage.
                                                 The Exchange proposes to add further                 persons using any facility, and is not                  Other options exchanges similarly
                                              detail throughout the rule text to bring                designed to permit unfair                               exclude exchange systems disruptions
                                              greater transparency as to how the                      discrimination between customers,                       from their pricing tiers.9
                                              Exchange will apply the better of rule                  issuers, brokers, or dealers.                              In addition, the Exchange believes
                                              when removing days from its tier                           The Exchange believes that the                       that it is reasonable and equitable to
                                              calculations. The Exchange proposes to                  proposed rule change is reasonable and                  apply the better of rule to both systems
                                              make clear that it will only remove days                equitable as it provides a framework for                disruption-related scenarios. Without
                                              pursuant to the better of rule by                       removing days from the Exchange’s                       these changes, members that step up
                                              specifying in paragraphs (1)(B) and (2)                 volume calculations that the Exchange                   and trade significant volume on
                                              that such days may be excluded from                     believes is beneficial to members. The                  excluded trading days may be
                                              the Tier Calculations only pursuant to                  proposed rule change would permit the                   negatively impacted, resulting in an
                                              paragraph (3). Paragraph (3) will then                  Exchange to remove a day from its Tier                  effective cost increase for those
                                              provide that if a day is to be excluded                 Calculations in more circumstances, and                 members. The proposal would align the
                                              as a result of paragraph (1)(B) or (2), the             ensures that the Exchange will only do                  Exchange’s approach to how it applies
                                              Exchange will be required to exclude                    so in circumstances where beneficial for                this rule today for days where the
                                              the day from any member’s monthly                       the member due to the member                            market is not open for the entire trading
                                              options tier calculations as detailed                   executing a lower ADV or percentage of                  day or where the Exchange instructs
                                              within paragraph (3) (i.e., excluding a                 industry volume during the excluded                     members to route away. Furthermore,
                                              Scheduled Early Close or Unanticipated                  day. The Exchange believes it is                        removing the proposed days from both
                                              Event from a specified tier calculation                 reasonable and equitable to exclude a                   the numerator and denominator of a
                                              only for members that would have a                      day from its tier calculations when the                 calculation based on a percentage of
                                              lower tier calculation with the day                     Exchange’s system experiences a                         industry volume is reasonable and
                                              included). With the proposed changes,                   disruption during the 30-minute period                  equitable as this treatment ensures that
                                              the Exchange seeks to clarify current                   prior to the opening of trade that                      the member actually benefits from
                                              practice by expressing that it will                     renders the Exchange inaccessible to                    having the day removed. Again, this
                                              exclude days from any member’s tier                     members as this preserves the                           would align the Exchange’s current
                                              calculations in a uniform manner to                     Exchange’s intent behind adopting                       approach to how it removes days from
                                              ensure that days are removed only in                    volume-based pricing. Without this                      such calculations.
                                              situations where the member benefits.                   change, members that are precluded                         In light of the Exchange’s proposal to
                                              Currently, the Exchange looks at each                   from submitting eligible interest during                adopt the two additional scenarios
                                              potential excluded day in a month and                   the 30-minute window before the                         related to systems disruptions, the
                                              calculates for every member their ADV                   opening of trade may be negatively                      Exchange is making related,
                                              or industry volume percentage based on                  impacted, even if the Exchange resolves                 restructuring changes to the existing
                                              their trading volume on that day. If any                the issue before the market opens and as                language in Options 7, Section 1(b) to
                                              member would have a lower ADV or                        a result, does not instruct members to                  bring greater transparency to the
                                              percentage of industry volume with the                  route away. The proposed change to                      application of its rule. Specifically, the
                                              particular day included, the Exchange                   exclude such days will diminish the                     Exchange is distinguishing between
                                              will exclude that day for that member.                  likelihood of a cost increase occurring                 planned and unplanned days in
                                              As such, the proposed changes specify                   because a member is not able to reach                   paragraphs (1) and (2), defining the
                                              that the Exchange will apply the better                 a volume tier calculation on that date                  latter as Unanticipated Events, and
                                              of rule in a uniform manner for all                     that it would reach on other trading                    stipulating how the Exchange will
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                                              members, and that there is no arbitrary                 days during the month. Furthermore,                     exclude such days pursuant to this rule.
                                                                                                      while the Exchange may have resolved                    Categorizing days in this manner will
                                                6 As such, the proposed language will not apply
                                                                                                      the systems disruption from its                         clarify the application of its rule in light
                                              to straight volume accumulations, and the Exchange                                                              of the Exchange’s proposal to expand
                                              will continue to not exclude days from such
                                                                                                      perspective prior to the opening of
                                              calculations, as is current practice, since members                                                             the rule to adopt additional days that
                                                                                                        7 15   U.S.C. 78f(b).
                                              do not benefit when a day is removed from straight
                                              volume accumulations.                                     8 15   U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).                        9 See   footnote 5 above.



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                                              61704                       Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 231 / Friday, November 30, 2018 / Notices

                                              may be excluded from its tier                           members from being inadvertently                      IV. Solicitation of Comments
                                              calculations. Similarly, the Exchange                   penalized.
                                              believes that the proposed changes to                                                                           Interested persons are invited to
                                                                                                        Finally, the Exchange further believes              submit written data, views, and
                                              specify how each of the days in                         that the proposed rule change is not
                                              paragraphs (1) and (2) will be excluded                                                                       arguments concerning the foregoing,
                                                                                                      unfairly discriminatory because it will
                                              from its tier calculations will bring                                                                         including whether the proposed rule
                                                                                                      apply equally to all members. While the
                                              greater transparency to the application                 Exchange currently has rules in place                 change is consistent with the Act.
                                              of the rule by clearly delineating the                  for removing a day from its pricing, the              Comments may be submitted by any of
                                              various circumstances in which the rule                 Exchange believes that the proposed                   the following methods:
                                              will apply. Providing in paragraph                      changes will benefit all members by                   Electronic Comments
                                              (1)(A) that the Exchange will always                    providing more circumstances to
                                              exclude from its tier calculations days                 remove a day, and ensuring that days                    • Use the Commission’s internet
                                              that it announces in advance it will not                are removed only in situations where                  comment form (http://www.sec.gov/
                                              be open for trading will clarify current                the member benefits.                                  rules/sro.shtml); or
                                              practice. Providing in paragraph (3) that
                                              the Exchange may exclude any                            B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                       • Send an email to rule-comments@
                                              Scheduled Early Close or Unanticipated                  Statement on Burden on Competition                    sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
                                              Event from the specified tier                                                                                 Phlx–2018–73 on the subject line.
                                              calculations, subject to the better of rule,               The Exchange does not believe that
                                                                                                      the proposed rule change will impose                  Paper Comments
                                              will make clear that the Exchange will
                                              take a consistent approach when                         any burden on competition not                           • Send paper comments in triplicate
                                              excluding days for purposes of its                      necessary or appropriate in furtherance
                                                                                                                                                            to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
                                              volume based pricing tiers.                             of the purposes of the Act. The
                                                                                                                                                            Commission, 100 F Street NE,
                                              Furthermore, the clean-up changes                       proposed rule change is designed to
                                                                                                                                                            Washington, DC 20549–1090.
                                              specifying that the days in paragraphs                  protect members from the possibility of
                                              (1)(B) and (2) may be excluded only                     a cost increase by excluding days when                All submissions should refer to File
                                              pursuant to paragraph (3), and requiring                overall member participation might be                 Number SR–Phlx–2018–73. This file
                                              the Exchange to exclude such days                       significantly lower than a typical                    number should be included on the
                                              pursuant to the specifications in                       trading day. The Exchange believes that               subject line if email is used. To help the
                                              paragraph (3) will likewise make clear                  the proposed modifications to its tier                Commission process and review your
                                              that the Exchange will take a consistent                calculations are pro-competitive and                  comments more efficiently, please use
                                              approach with respect to excluding days                 will result in lower total costs to end               only one method. The Commission will
                                              from its tier calculations. As discussed                users, a positive outcome of competitive              post all comments on the Commission’s
                                              above, these modifications will clarify                 markets. The Exchange operates in a                   internet website (http://www.sec.gov/
                                              that the Exchange will apply the better                 highly competitive market in which                    rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
                                              of rule in a uniform manner to all                      market participants can readily direct
                                                                                                                                                            submission, all subsequent
                                              members, and that there is no arbitrary                 their order flow to competing venues. In
                                                                                                                                                            amendments, all written statements
                                              selection of ‘‘winners’’ or ‘‘losers.’’ The             such an environment, the Exchange
                                                                                                                                                            with respect to the proposed rule
                                              Exchange also believes that the two                     must continually review, and consider
                                                                                                      adjusting, its fees and rebates to remain             change that are filed with the
                                              technical changes proposed in the better                                                                      Commission, and all written
                                              of rule to reflect the changes proposed                 competitive with other exchanges. For
                                                                                                      the reasons described above, the                      communications relating to the
                                              herein will likewise bring greater clarity                                                                    proposed rule change between the
                                              to its rule. For the foregoing reasons, the             Exchange believes that the proposed fee
                                                                                                      changes reflect this competitive                      Commission and any person, other than
                                              Exchange believes that the proposed                                                                           those that may be withheld from the
                                              changes to clarify and restructure its                  environment.
                                                                                                                                                            public in accordance with the
                                              existing rule are reasonable and                        C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                     provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
                                              equitable.                                              Statement on Comments on the                          available for website viewing and
                                                 Furthermore, the Exchange believes                   Proposed Rule Change Received From                    printing in the Commission’s Public
                                              that the proposed changes to adopt a                    Members, Participants, or Others                      Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,
                                              catch-all provision in paragraph (3)(C)                                                                       Washington, DC 20549, on official
                                              to other Tier Calculations not already                    No written comments were either
                                                                                                      solicited or received.                                business days between the hours of
                                              specified in the rule to allow the
                                                                                                                                                            10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
                                              Exchange to apply the better of rule                    III. Date of Effectiveness of the
                                              going forward to all pricing programs                                                                         filing also will be available for
                                                                                                      Proposed Rule Change and Timing for                   inspection and copying at the principal
                                              based on other volume calculations is                   Commission Action
                                              reasonable and equitable for the same                                                                         office of the Exchange. All comments
                                              reasons as allowing the Exchange to                        The foregoing rule change has become               received will be posted without change.
                                              apply the better of rule for calculations               effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)             Persons submitting comments are
                                              based on ADV and industry volume                        of the Act and paragraph (f) of Rule                  cautioned that we do not redact or edit
                                              percentages. The Exchange notes that                    19b–4 thereunder. At any time within                  personal identifying information from
                                              aberrant low volume days resulting                      60 days of the filing of the proposed rule            comment submissions. You should
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1




                                              from, for instance, an Unanticipated                    change, the Commission summarily may                  submit only information that you wish
                                              Event, impacts all volume-based                         temporarily suspend such rule change if               to make available publicly. All
                                              calculations, and allowing the Exchange                 it appears to the Commission that such                submissions should refer to File
                                              to exclude such days from any volume-                   action is necessary or appropriate in the             Number SR–Phlx–2018–73, and should
                                              based tier calculation if the member                    public interest, for the protection of                be submitted on or before December 21,
                                              would have a lower tier calculation with                investors, or otherwise in furtherance of             2018.
                                              the day excluded will further protect                   the purposes of the Act.


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                                                                          Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 231 / Friday, November 30, 2018 / Notices                                                     61705

                                                For the Commission, by the Division of                  For the Commission, by the Division of               A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                              Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated              Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated             Statement of the Purpose of, and the
                                              authority.10                                            authority.6                                            Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                              Eduardo A. Aleman,                                      Eduardo A. Aleman,                                     Change
                                              Assistant Secretary.                                    Assistant Secretary.
                                                                                                      [FR Doc. 2018–26001 Filed 11–29–18; 8:45 am]
                                                                                                                                                             1. Purpose
                                              [FR Doc. 2018–25997 Filed 11–29–18; 8:45 am]
                                              BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                                                                      BILLING CODE 8011–01–P                                    The purpose of this filing is to amend
                                                                                                                                                             Rule 903, Series of Options Open for
                                                                                                                                                             Trading, to permit the listing and
                                              SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE                                 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE                                trading of up to ten expiration months
                                                                                                      COMMISSION                                             for long term options on the SPDR® S&P
                                              COMMISSION
                                                                                                                                                             500® Exchange-Traded Fund (the ‘‘SPY
                                                                                                      [Release No. 34–84649; File No. SR–                    ETF’’).
                                              [Release No. 34–84650; File No. SR–MIAX–
                                                                                                      NYSEAMER–2018–51]
                                              2018–25]                                                                                                          Commentary .03(a) of Rule 903
                                                                                                      Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE                    (‘‘Commentary .03’’) provides that the
                                              Self-Regulatory Organizations; Miami                    American LLC; Notice of Filing and                     Exchange may list, with respect to any
                                              International Securities Exchange LLC;                  Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed                    class of stock or Exchange-Traded Fund
                                              Notice of Withdrawal of a Proposed                      Rule Change To Amend Rule 903,                         Share options series, options having
                                              Rule Change To Amend the Fee                            Series of Options Open for Trading                     from twelve up to thirty-nine months
                                              Schedule Regarding Connectivity Fees                                                                           from the time they are listed until
                                              for Members and Non-Members                             November 26, 2018.                                     expiration (‘‘LEAPS’’). Under the
                                                                                                         Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the               current Rule, the Exchange may list up
                                              November 26, 2018.
                                                                                                      Securities Exchange Act of 1934 2 and                  to six LEAPS expiration months.4 The
                                                 On September 18, 2018, Miami                         Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3 notice is                      Exchange proposes to amend
                                              International Securities Exchange LLC                   hereby given that on November 19,                      Commentary .03 to permit up to ten
                                              (‘‘MIAX’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with               2018, NYSE American LLC                                LEAPS expiration months for options on
                                              the Securities and Exchange                             (‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities               the SPY ETF.5 This proposal, which is
                                              Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant                   and Exchange Commission                                substantially the same as a recent rule
                                              to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities                   (‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule                     amendment submitted by Nasdaq PHLX
                                              Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’),1 and                    change as described in Items I and II                  LLC (‘‘PHLX’’) and driven by customer
                                              Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule                 below, which Items have been prepared                  demand,6 would add liquidity to the
                                              change to amend the MIAX Fee                            by the self-regulatory organization. The               SPY ETF options market by allowing
                                              Schedule to increase certain                            Commission is publishing this notice to                market participants to hedge risks
                                              connectivity fees. The proposed rule                    solicit comments on the proposed rule                  relating to SPY ETF positions over a
                                              change was immediately effective upon                   change from interested persons.                        potentially longer time period with a
                                              filing with the Commission pursuant to                  I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                      known and limited cost.
                                              Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act.3 On                     Statement of the Terms of Substance of                    The SPY ETF options market today is
                                              October 10, 2018 the proposed rule                      the Proposed Rule Change                               characterized by its tremendous daily
                                              change was published for comment in                                                                            and annual liquidity. As a consequence,
                                              the Federal Register and, pursuant to                     The Exchange proposes to amend                       the Exchange believes that the listing of
                                              Section 19(b)(3)(C) of the Act, the                     Rule 903. The proposed rule change is
                                                                                                                                                             additional SPY ETF LEAPS expiration
                                              Commission: (1) Temporarily                             available on the Exchange’s website at
                                                                                                                                                             months would be well received by
                                              suspended the proposed rule change;                     www.nyse.com, at the principal office of
                                                                                                                                                             investors. This proposal to expand the
                                                                                                      the Exchange, and at the Commission’s
                                              and (2) instituted proceedings to                                                                              number of permitted SPY ETF LEAPS
                                                                                                      Public Reference Room.
                                              determine whether to approve or                                                                                would not apply to LEAPS on any other
                                              disapprove the proposal.4 The                           II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                              Commission received one comment                         Statement of the Purpose of, and                          4 Strike price interval, bid/ask differential and

                                              letter on the proposal.5 On November                    Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule                 continuity rules shall not apply to such options
                                                                                                      Change                                                 series until the time to expiration is less than nine
                                              23, 2018, the Exchange withdrew the                                                                            months. See Commentary .03(a) of Rule 903.
                                              proposed rule change (SR–MIAX–2018–                                                                               5 See proposed Commentary .03(a) of Rule 903
                                                                                                        In its filing with the Commission, the
                                              25).                                                                                                           (providing in relevant part, that ‘‘[t]here may be up
                                                                                                      self-regulatory organization included                  to ten expiration months for options on the [SPY
                                                                                                      statements concerning the purpose of,                  ETF] and up to six extended far term expiration
                                                                                                      and basis for, the proposed rule change                months for options on any other index, Exchange-
                                                                                                      and discussed any comments it received                 Trade Fund Share, or equity option class’’). The
                                                                                                                                                             Exchange also proposes a technical change to
                                                10 17
                                                                                                      on the proposed rule change. The text                  remove the errant period that appears after
                                                      CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
                                                1 15
                                                                                                      of those statements may be examined at                 ‘‘(LEAPS)’’ in the title of Commentary .03, which
                                                     U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                                                2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
                                                                                                      the places specified in Item IV below.                 would add clarity and consistency to Exchange
                                                                                                      The Exchange has prepared summaries,                   rules. See proposed Commentary .03 of Rule 903.
                                                3 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).                                                                                       6 See also Securities Exchange Act Release No.
                                                                                                      set forth in sections A, B, and C below,
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                                                4 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 84357                                                              84449 (October 18, 2018), 83 FR 53699 (October 24,
                                              (October 3, 2018), 83 FR 50976.
                                                                                                      of the most significant parts of such                  2018) (SR–Phlx–2018–64) (‘‘PHLX Rule Change’’).
                                                5 See Letter from Theodore R. Lazo, Managing          statements.                                            The Exchange notes that the PHLX Rule Change
                                                                                                                                                             does not apply to LEAPS on index options, as PHLX
                                              Director and Associate General Counsel, and Ellen                                                              already provided for up to ten expirations in LEAPS
                                                                                                        6 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
                                              Greene, Managing Director, The Securities Industry                                                             on index options in PHLX Rule 1101A(b)(iii).
                                              and Financial Markets Association, to Brent J.            1 15 U.S.C.78s(b)(1).                                Because Commentary .03 includes index options,
                                              Fields, Secretary, Commission, dated October 15,          2 15 U.S.C. 78a.
                                                                                                                                                             this proposal is consistent with both the PHLX Rule
                                              2018.                                                     3 17 CFR 240.19b–4.                                  Change and PHLX Rule 1101A(b)(iii).



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Document Created: 2018-11-30 04:36:23
Document Modified: 2018-11-30 04:36:23
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 Citation83 FR 61700 

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