[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 248 (Tuesday, December 27, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 95226-95232]
[FR Doc No: 2016-31115]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-79623; File No. SR-BatsBYX-2016-39]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Bats BYX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend
the Market Data Section of Its Fee Schedule To Adopt Fees for BYX
Summary Depth and Amend Fees for BYX Depth

December 20, 2016.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(the ``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given
that on December 14, 2016, Bats BYX Exchange, Inc. (``BYX'' or the
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``SEC'' or ``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in
Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared by the
Exchange. The Exchange has designated the proposed rule change as one
establishing or changing a member due, fee, or other charge imposed by
the Exchange under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act \3\ and Rule 19b-
4(f)(2) thereunder,\4\ which renders the proposed rule change effective
upon filing with the Commission. The Commission is publishing this
notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested
persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange filed a proposal to amend the Market Data section of
its fee schedule to: (i) Adopt fees for a new market data product
called BYX Summary Depth; and (ii) amend the fees for BYX Depth.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange's
Web site at www.batstrading.com, at the principal office of the
Exchange, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

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

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

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

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to amend the Market Data section of its fee
schedule to: (i) Adopt fees for a new market data product called BYX
Summary Depth; and (ii) amend the fees for BYX Depth.
BYX Summary Depth
    BYX Summary Depth is a data feed that will provide aggregated two-
sided quotations for all displayed orders entered into the System \5\
for up to five (5) price levels for securities traded on the Exchange
and for which the Exchange reports quotes under the Consolidated Tape
Association (``CTA'') Plan or the Nasdaq/UTP Plan.\6\ BYX Summary Depth
will also contain the individual last sale information, Market Status,
Trading Status, and Trade Break messages. The individual last sale
information will include the price, size, and time of execution. The
last sale message will also include the cumulative number of shares
executed on the Exchange for that trading day. The Exchange intends to
begin to offer BYX Summary Depth on January 3, 2017.\7\
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    \5\ ``System'' is defined as the ``the electronic communications
and trading facility designated by the Board through which
securities orders of Users Are consolidated for ranking, execution
and, when applicable, routing away.'' See Exchange Rule 1.5(aa).
    \6\ See Exchange Rule 11.22(k).
    \7\ See Reminder: Bats Global Markets to Introduce Bats Summary
Depth Feeds on January 3, 2017, http://cdn.batstrading.com/resources/release_notes/2017/Reminder-Bats-Global-Markets-to-Introduce-Bats-Summary-Depth-Feeds-on-Jan-3-2017.pdf.
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    The Exchange now proposes to amend its fee schedule to incorporate
fees for distribution of BYX Summary Depth to subscribers.\8\ The
proposed fees include the following, each of which are described in
detail below: (i) Distribution Fees for both Internal and External
Distributors;\9\ (ii) Usage Fees for both Professional \10\ and Non-
Professional \11\ Users; (iii) an Enterprise Fee; and (iv) a Digital
Media Enterprise Fee.
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    \8\ The Exchange notes that its affiliated exchanges, Bats EDGX
Exchange, Inc. (``EDGX''), Bats EDGA Exchange, Inc. (``EDGA'') and
Bats BZX Exchange, Inc. (``BZX'', together with the Exchange, EDGX
and EDGA, the ``Bats Exchanges''), also intent to file proposed rule
changes with Commission to adopt similar fees for their respective
Summary Depth market data product.
    \9\ A ``Distributor'' is defined as ``any entity that receives
the Exchange Market Data product directly from the Exchange or
indirectly through another entity and then distributes it internally
or externally to a third party.'' See the Exchange's fee schedule
available at http://www.bats.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/byx/. An ``Internal Distributor'' is defined as ``a
Distributor that receives the Exchange Market Data product and then
distributes that data to one or more Users within the Distributor's
own entity.'' Id. An ``External Distributor'' is defined as ``a
Distributor that receives the Exchange Market Data product and then
distributes that data to a third party or one or more Users outside
the Distributor's own entity.'' Id.''
    \10\ A ``Professional User'' is defined as ``any User other than
a Non-Professional User.'' See the Exchange's fee schedule available
at http://www.bats.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/byx/.
    \11\ A ``Non-Professional User'' is defined as ``a natural
person who is not: (i) Registered or qualified in any capacity with
the Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, any state
securities agency, any securities exchange or association, or any
commodities or futures contract market or association; (ii) engaged
as an ``investment adviser'' as that term is defined in Section
202(a)(11) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (whether or not
registered or qualified under that Act); or (iii) employed by a bank
or other organization exempt from registration under federal or
state securities laws to perform functions that would require
registration or qualification if such functions were performed for
an organization not so exempt.'' Id.
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    Distribution Fees. As proposed, each Internal Distributor that
receives BYX Summary Depth shall pay a fee of $2,500 per month. The
Exchange does not propose to charge any User fees for BYX Summary Depth
where the data is received and subsequently internally distributed to
Professional or Non-Professional Users. In addition, the Exchange
proposes to charge also External Distributors that receive BYX Summary
Depth a fee of $2,500 per month.
    User Fees. The Exchange proposes to charge External Distributors
that redistribute BYX Summary Depth different fees for their
Professional Users and Non-Professional Users. The Exchange will assess
a monthly fee for Professional Users of $2.50 per User. Non-
Professional Users will be assessed a monthly fee of $0.10 per User.
The Exchange does not propose to charge per User fees to Internal
Distributors.
    External Distributors that receive BYX Summary Depth will be
required to count every Professional User and Non-Professional User to
which they provide BYX Summary Depth, the requirements for which are
identical to that currently in place for other market data products
offered by the Exchange.\12\ Thus, the

External Distributor's count will include every person and device that
accesses the data regardless of the purpose for which the individual or
device uses the data. External Distributors must report all
Professional and Non-Professional Users in accordance with the
following:
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    \12\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 74284 (February
18, 2015); 80 FR 9792 (February 24, 2015) (SR-BYX-2015-09)
(proposing fees for the Bats One Feed); 75407 (July 9, 2015), 80 FR
41532 (July 15, 2015) (SR-BYX-2015-30) (proposing user fees for the
BYX Top and Last Sale data feeds); and 75786 (August 28, 2015), 80
FR 53353 (September 3, 2015) (SR-BYX-2015-36) (proposing fees for
BYX Book Viewer).
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     In connection with an External Distributor's distribution
of BYX Summary Depth, the Distributor should count as one User each
unique User that the Distributor has entitled to have access to BYX
Summary Depth. However, where a device is dedicated specifically to a
single individual, the Distributor should count only the individual and
need not count the device.
     The External Distributor should identify and report each
unique User. If a User uses the same unique method to gain access to
BYX Summary Depth, the Distributor should count that as one User.
However, if a unique User uses multiple methods to gain access to BYX
Summary Depth (e.g., a single User has multiple passwords and user
identifications), the External Distributor should report all of those
methods as an individual User.
     External Distributors should report each unique individual
person who receives access through multiple devices as one User so long
as each device is dedicated specifically to that individual.
     If an External Distributor entitles one or more
individuals to use the same device, the External Distributor should
include only the individuals, and not the device, in the count.
    Each External Distributor will receive a credit against its monthly
Distribution Fee for BYX Summary Depth equal to the amount of its
monthly Usage Fees up to a maximum of the Distribution Fee for BYX
Summary Depth. For example, an External Distributor will be subject to
a $2,500 monthly Distribution Fee where they receive BYX Summary Depth.
If that External Distributor reports User quantities totaling $2,500 or
more of monthly usage of BYX Summary Depth, it will pay no net
Distribution Fee, whereas if that same External Distributor were to
report User quantities totaling $1,500 of monthly usage, it will pay a
net of $1,000 for the Distribution Fee. External Distributors will
remain subject to the per User fees discussed above.
    Enterprise Fee. The Exchange also proposes to establish a $20,000
per month Enterprise Fee that will permit a recipient firm who receives
BYX Summary Depth from an External Distributor to receive the data for
an unlimited number of Professional and Non-Professional Users. For
example, if a recipient firm had 15,000 Professional Users who each
receive BYX Summary Depth at $2.50 per month, then that recipient firm
will pay $37,500 per month in Professional Users fees. Under the
proposed Enterprise Fee, the recipient firm will pay a flat fee of
$20,000 for an unlimited number of Professional and Non-Professional
Users for BYX Summary Depth. A recipient firm must pay a separate
Enterprise Fee for each External Distributor that controls the display
of BYX Summary Depth if it wishes such User to be covered by an
Enterprise Fee rather than by per User fees. A recipient firm that pays
the Enterprise Fee will not have to report its number of such Users on
a monthly basis. However, every six months, a recipient firm must
provide the Exchange with a count of the total number of natural person
users of each product, including both Professional and Non-Professional
Users. Lastly, the proposed Enterprise Fee would be counted towards the
Distribution Fee credit described above, under which an External
Distributor receives a credit towards its Distribution Fee equal to the
amount of its monthly BYX Summary Depth User fees.
    Digital Media Enterprise Fee. The Exchange proposes to adopt a
Digital Media Enterprise Fee of $5,000 per month for BYX Summary Depth.
As an alternative to proposed User fees discussed above, a recipient
firm may purchase a monthly Digital Media Enterprise license to receive
BYX Summary Depth from an External Distributor to distribute to an
unlimited number of Professional and Non-Professional Users for viewing
via television, Web sites, and mobile devices for informational and
non-trading purposes only without having to account for the extent of
access to the data or the report the number of Users to the Exchange.
Lastly, the proposed Digital Media Enterprise Fee would be counted
towards the Distribution Fee credit described above, under which an
External Distributor receives a credit towards its Distribution Fee
equal to the amount of its monthly BYX Summary Depth User fees.
BYX Depth
    BYX Depth is an uncompressed market data feed that provides depth-
of-book quotations and execution information based on equity orders
entered into the System.\13\ Currently, the Exchange charges fees for
both internal and external distribution of BYX Depth. The cost of BYX
Depth for an Internal Distributor is currently $1,000 per month. The
Exchange also separately charges an External Distributor of BYX Depth a
flat fee of $2,500 per month. The Exchange does not currently charge
Internal and External Distributors separate display User fees. The
Exchange also charges a fee for Non-Display Usage \14\ by Trading
Platforms \15\ by which subscribers to BYX Depth are charged a fee of
$2,000 per months. This fee is assessed in addition to existing
Distribution fees. The Exchange now proposes to amend its fee schedule
to incorporate Usage Fees for both Professional and Non-Professional
Users and an Enterprise Fee for BYX Depth. Each of these changes are
described in detail below.
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    \13\ See Exchange Rule 11.22(a) and (c).
    \14\ The term ``Non-Display Usage'' is defined as ``any method
of accessing a Market Data product that involves access or use by a
machine or automated device without access or use of a display by a
natural person or persons.'' See the Exchange's fee schedule
available at http://www.bats.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/byx/.
    \15\ The term ``Trading Platform'' is defined as ``any execution
platform operated as or by a registered National Securities Exchange
(as defined in Section 3(a)(1) of the Exchange Act), an Alternative
Trading System (as defined in Rule 300(a) of Regulation ATS), or an
Electronic Communications Network (as defined in Rule 600(b)(23) of
Regulation NMS).'' See the Exchange's fee schedule available at
http://www.bats.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/byx/.
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    User Fees. The Exchange proposes to charge Internal and External
Distributors that redistribute BYX Depth different fees for their
Professional Users and Non-Professional Users.\16\ The Exchange will
assess a monthly fee for Professional Users of $10.00 per User. Non-
Professional Users will be assessed a monthly fee of $1.00 per User.
Distributors that receive BYX Depth will be required to count every
Professional User and Non-Professional User to which they provide BYX
Depth, the requirements for which are identical to that set forth above
for BYX Summary Depth and as currently in place for other market data
products offered by the Exchange.\17\
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    \16\ The Exchange notes that, unlike as proposed for BYX Summary
Depth described above, both Internal and External Distributors of
BYX Depth would be charged the same User fee for their Professional
and Non-Professional Users.
    \17\ See supra note 12 and accompanying text.
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    Enterprise Fee. The Exchange also proposes to establish a $25,000
per month Enterprise Fee that will permit an Internal Distributor,
External Distributor, or a recipient firm who receives BYX Depth from
an External Distributor to receive the data for an

unlimited number of Professional and Non-Professional Users. For
example, if a recipient firm had 15,000 Professional Users who each
receive BYX Depth at $10.00 per month, then that recipient firm will
pay $150,000 per month in Professional Users fees. Under the proposed
Enterprise Fee, the recipient firm will pay a flat fee of $25,000 for
an unlimited number of Professional and Non-Professional Users for BYX
Depth. Like proposed above for BYX Summary Depth, a recipient firm must
pay a separate Enterprise Fee for each External Distributor that
controls the display of BYX Depth if it wishes such User to be covered
by an Enterprise Fee rather than by per User fees. A recipient firm
that pays the Enterprise Fee will not have to report its number of such
Users on a monthly basis. However, every six months, a recipient firm
must provide the Exchange with a count of the total number of natural
person users of each product, including both Professional and Non-
Professional Users.
Implementation Date
    The Exchange intends to implement the proposed fee change on
January 3, 2017.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,\18\ in general, and
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4),\19\ in particular, as it is
designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees and other charges among its members and other recipients of
Exchange data. The Exchange believes that the proposed rates are
equitable and non-discriminatory in that they apply uniformly to all
recipients of Exchange data. The Exchange believes the proposed fees
are competitive with those charged by other venues and, therefore,
reasonable and equitably allocated to recipients. The Exchange also
believes it is reasonable to charge different rates for BYX Depth and
BYX Summary Depth as both products different levels of content (e.g.,
BYX Depth contains quotations for all individual orders while BYX
Summary Depth contains the aggregation quotation information for all
orders up to five (5) price levels). Lastly, the Exchange also believes
that the proposed fees are reasonable and non-discriminatory because
they will apply uniformly to all recipients of Exchange data.
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    \18\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
    \19\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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    The Exchange also believes that the proposed rule change is
consistent with Section 11(A) of the Act \20\ in that it supports (i)
fair competition among brokers and dealers, among exchange markets, and
between exchange markets and markets other than exchange markets and
(ii) the availability to brokers, dealers, and investors of information
with respect to quotations for and transactions in securities.
Furthermore, the proposed rule change is consistent with Rule 603 of
Regulation NMS,\21\ which provides that any national securities
exchange that distributes information with respect to quotations for or
transactions in an NMS stock do so on terms that are not unreasonably
discriminatory. In adopting Regulation NMS, the Commission granted
self-regulatory organizations and broker-dealers increased authority
and flexibility to offer new and unique market data to the public. It
was believed that this authority would expand the amount of data
available to consumers, and also spur innovation and competition for
the provision of market data.
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    \20\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \21\ 17 CFR 242.603.
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    In addition, the proposed fees would not permit unfair
discrimination because all of the Exchange's customers and market data
vendors will be subject to the proposed fees on an equivalent basis.
BYX Summary Depth and BYX Depth are distributed and purchased on a
voluntary basis, in that neither the Exchange nor market data
distributors are required by any rule or regulation to make this data
available. Accordingly, Distributors and Users can discontinue use at
any time and for any reason, including due to an assessment of the
reasonableness of fees charged. Firms have a wide variety of
alternative market data products from which to choose, such as similar
proprietary data products offered by other exchanges and consolidated
data. Moreover, the Exchange is not required to make any proprietary
data products available or to offer any specific pricing alternatives
to any customers.
    In addition, the fees that are the subject of this rule filing are
constrained by competition. As explained below in the Exchange's
Statement on Burden on Competition, the existence of alternatives to
BYX Summary Depth and BYX Depth further ensures that the Exchange
cannot set unreasonable fees, or fees that are unreasonably
discriminatory, when vendors and subscribers can elect such
alternatives. That is, the Exchange competes with other exchanges (and
their affiliates) that provide similar market data products. If another
exchange (or its affiliate) were to charge less to distribute its
similar product than the Exchange charges to consolidate and distribute
BYX Summary Depth and BYX Depth, prospective Users likely would not
subscribe to, or would cease subscribing to, BYX Summary Depth and BYX
Depth.
    The Exchange notes that the Commission is not required to undertake
a cost-of-service or rate-making approach. The Exchange believes that,
even if it were possible as a matter of economic theory, cost-based
pricing for non-core market data would be so complicated that it could
not be done practically.\22\
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    \22\ The Exchange believes that cost-based pricing would be
impractical because it would create enormous administrative burdens
for all parties, including the Commission, to cost-regulate a large
number of participants and standardize and analyze extraordinary
amounts of information, accounts, and reports. In addition, it is
impossible to regulate market data prices in isolation from prices
charged by markets for other services that are joint products. Cost-
based rate regulation would also lead to litigation and may distort
incentives, including those to minimize costs and to innovate,
leading to further waste. Under cost-based pricing, the Commission
would be burdened with determining a fair rate of return, and the
industry could experience frequent rate increases based on
escalating expense levels. Even in industries historically subject
to utility regulation, cost-based ratemaking has been discredited.
As such, the Exchange believes that cost-based ratemaking would be
inappropriate for proprietary market data and inconsistent with
Congress's direction that the Commission use its authority to foster
the development of the national market system, and that market
forces will continue to provide appropriate pricing discipline. See
Appendix C to NYSE's comments to the Commission's 2000 Concept
Release on the Regulation of Market Information Fees and Revenues,
which can be found on the Commission's Web site at http://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s72899/buck1.htm. See also Securities
Exchange Act Release No. 73816 (December 11, 2014), 79 FR 75200
(December 17, 2014) (SR-NYSE-2014-64) (Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to Establish an
Access Fee for the NYSE Best Quote and Trades Data Feed, Operative
December 1, 2014).
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BYX Summary Depth
    Distribution Fee. The Exchange believes that the proposed
Distribution Fees are also reasonable, equitably allocated, and not
unreasonably discriminatory. The fees for Members and non-Members are
uniform except with respect to reasonable distinctions with respect to
internal and external distribution. The Exchange believes that the
Distribution Fees for BYX Summary Depth are reasonable and fair in
light of alternatives offered by other market centers. For example, BYX
Summary Depth provides investors with

alternative market data and competes with similar market data product
currently offered by the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (``NYSE'') and
the Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq'').\23\ Specifically, the NYSE
charges an access fee of $5,000 per month for NYSE OpenBook,\24\ which
is more than the External Distribution fee proposed herein for BYX
Summary Depth.
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    \23\ See Nasdaq Rule 7023(a)(1)(C) (describing Nasdaq TotalView
is a depth-of-book data feed that includes all orders and quotes
from all Nasdaq members displayed in the Nasdaq Market Center as
well as the aggregate size of such orders and quotes at each price
level in the execution functionality of the Nasdaq Market Center).
See also Nasdaq Book Viewer, a description of which is available at
https://data.nasdaq.com/Book Viewer.aspx. See NYSE OpenBook
available at http://www.nyxdata.com/openbook (providing real-time
view of the NYSE limit order book).
    \24\ See NYSE Market Data Pricing dated November 2016 available
at http://www.nyxdata.com/. Nasdaq charges distribution fees ranging
from $375 for 1-39 subscribers to $75,000 for more than 250
subscribers. See Nasdaq Rule 7023(b)(4).
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    User Fees. The Exchange believes that implementing the Professional
and Non-Professional User fees for BYX Summary Depth are equitable and
reasonable because they will result in greater availability to
Professional and Non-Professional Users. Moreover, introducing a modest
Non-Professional User fee for BYX Summary Depth is reasonable because
it provides an additional method for retail investors to access BYX
Summary Depth data by providing the same data that is available to
Professional Users. The Exchange believes that the proposed fees are
equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because they will be charged
uniformly to recipient firms and Users. The fee structure of
differentiated Professional and Non-Professional fees is utilized by
the Exchange for the Bats One Feed and has long been used by other
exchanges for their proprietary data products, and by the Nasdaq UTP
and the CTA and CQ Plans in order to reduce the price of data to retail
investors and make it more broadly available.\25\ Offering BYX Summary
Depth to Non-Professional Users with the same data available to
Professional Users results in greater equity among data recipients.
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    \25\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 74285 (February
18, 2015), 80 FR 9828 (February 24, 2015) (SR-BATS-2015-11); 74283
(February 18, 2015), 80 FR 9809 (February 24, 2015) (SR-EDGA-2015-
09); 74282 (February 17, 2015), 80 FR 9487 (February 23, 2015) (SR-
EDGX-2015-09); and 74284 (February 18, 2015), 80 FR 9792 (February
24, 2015) (SR-BYX-2015-09) (``Initial BATS One Feed Fee Filings'').
See also, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 20002, File No.
S7-433 (July 22, 1983) (establishing nonprofessional fees for CTA
data); and Nasdaq Rules 7023(b), 7047.
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    In addition, the proposed fees are reasonable when compared to
similar fees for comparable products offered by the NYSE and Nasdaq.
Specifically, NYSE offers NYSE OpenBook for a monthly fee of $60.00 per
professional subscriber and $15 per non-professional subscriber.\26\
Nasdaq offers Nasdaq TotalView-Aggregated for a monthly fee of $70.00
per professional subscriber and $14 per non-professional
subscriber.\27\ The Exchange's proposed per User Fees for BYX Summary
Depth are less than the NYSE and Nasdaq fees.
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    \26\ See NYSE Market Data Pricing dated November 2016 available
at http://www.nyxdata.com/.
    \27\ See Nasdaq Rule 7023(b)(2).
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    Enterprise Fee. The proposed Enterprise Fee for BYX Summary Depth
is equitable and reasonable as the fees proposed are less than the
enterprise fees currently charged for Nasdaq TotalView-Aggregated.
Nasdaq charges an enterprise fee of $100,000 per month for Nasdaq
TotalView-Aggregated,\28\ which is far greater than the proposed
Enterprise Fee of $20,000 per month for BYX Summary Depth. In addition,
the Enterprise Fee proposed by the Exchange could result in a fee
reduction for recipient firms with a large number of Professional and
Non-Professional Users. If a recipient firm has a smaller number of
Professional Users of BYX Summary Depth, then it may continue using the
per User structure and benefit from the per User Fee reductions. By
reducing prices for recipient firms with a large number of Professional
and Non-Professional Users, the Exchange believes that more firms may
choose to receive and to distribute BYX Summary Depth, thereby
expanding the distribution of this market data for the benefit of
investors.
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    \28\ See Nasdaq Rule 7023(c)(2) (stating that a distributor that
is also a broker-dealer pays a monthly fee of $100,000 for the right
to provide Nasdaq TotalView and for display usage for internal
distribution, or for external distribution to both professional and
non-professional subscribers with whom the firm has a brokerage
relationship.) Nasdaq also charges an enterprise fee of $25,000 to
provide Nasdaq TotalView to an unlimited number of non-professional
subscribers only. See Nasdaq Rule 7023(c)(1).
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    The Exchange further believes that the proposed Enterprise Fee is
reasonable because it will simplify reporting for certain recipients
that have large numbers of Professional and Non-Professional Users.
Firms that pay the proposed Enterprise Fee will not have to report the
number of Users on a monthly basis as they currently do, but rather
will only have to count natural person users every six months, which is
a significant reduction in administrative burden. Finally, the Exchange
believes that it is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory to
establish an Enterprise Fee because it reduces the Exchange's costs and
the Distributor's administrative burdens in tracking and auditing large
numbers of Users.
    Digital Media Enterprise Fee. The Exchange believes that the
proposed Digital Media Enterprise Fee for BYX Summary Depth provides
for an equitable allocation of reasonable fees among recipients of the
data and is not designed to permit unfair discrimination among
customers, brokers, or dealers. In establishing the Digital Media
Enterprise Fee, the Exchange recognizes that there is demand for a more
seamless and easier-to-administer data distribution model that takes
into account the expanded variety of media and communication devices
that investors utilize today. The Exchange believes the Digital Media
Enterprise Fee will be easy to administer because data recipients that
purchase it would not be required to differentiate between Professional
and Non-Professional Users, account for the extent of access to the
data, or report the number of Users. This is a significant reduction on
a recipient firm's administrative burdens and is a significant value to
investors. For example, a television broadcaster could display BYX
Summary Depth data during market-related programming and on its Web
site or allow viewers to view the data via their mobile devices,
creating a more seamless distribution model that will allow investors
more choice in how they receive and view market data, all without
having to account for and/or measure who accesses the data and how
often they do so.
    The proposed Digital Media Enterprise Fee is equitable and
reasonable because it will also enable recipient firms to more widely
distribute data from BYX Summary Depth to investors for informational
purposes at a lower cost than is available today. For example, a
recipient firm may purchase an Enterprise license in the amount of
$20,000 per month for to receive BYX Summary Depth from an External
Distributor for an unlimited number of Professional and Non-
Professional Users, which is greater than the proposed Digital Media
Enterprise Fee. The Exchange also believes the amount of the Digital
Media Enterprise Fee is reasonable as compared to the existing
enterprise fees discussed above because the distribution of BYX Summary
Depth data is limited to television, Web sites, and mobile devices for
informational purposes only, while distribution of BYX Summary Depth
data pursuant to an Enterprise license contains no such limitation. The
Exchange also believes that the

proposed Digital Media Enterprise Fee is equitable and reasonable
because it is less than similar fees charged by other exchanges.\29\
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    \29\ Nasdaq offers proprietary data products for distribution
over the internet and television under alternative fee schedules
that are subject to maximum fee of $50,000 [sic] per month. See
Nasdaq Rule 7039(b). The NYSE charges a Digit Media Enterprise fee
of $40,000 per month for the NYSE Trade Digital Media product. See
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 69272 (April 2, 2013), 78 FR
20983 (April 8, 2013) (SR-NYSE-2013-23).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

BYX Depth
    User Fees. The Exchange believes that implementing the Professional
and Non-Professional User fees for BYX Depth are equitable and
reasonable because they will result in greater availability to
Professional and Non-Professional Users. Moreover, introducing a modest
Non-Professional User fee for BYX Depth is reasonable because it
provides an additional method for retail investors to access BYX Depth
data by providing the same data that is available to Professional
Users. The Exchange believes that the proposed fees are equitable and
not unfairly discriminatory because they will be charged uniformly to
recipient firms and Users. The fee structure of differentiated
Professional and Non-Professional fees is utilized by the Exchange and
has long been used by other exchanges for their proprietary data
products, and by the Nasdaq UTP and the CTA and CQ Plans in order to
reduce the price of data to retail investors and make it more broadly
available.\30\ Offering BYX Depth to Non-Professional Users with the
same data available to Professional Users results in greater equity
among data recipients. The Exchange also believes it is equitable,
reasonable, and not unfairly discriminatory to charge User fees to
Internal Distributors, as such fees are currently charged by NYSE and
Nasdaq.\31\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \30\ See supra note 24.
    \31\ See supra notes 24 and 25 (not limiting the application of
user fees to external distribution only).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, the proposed fees are reasonable when compared to
similar fees for comparable products offered by the NYSE and Nasdaq.
Specifically, NYSE offers NYSE OpenBook Ultra for a monthly fee of
$60.00 per professional subscriber and $15 per non-professional
subscriber.\32\ Nasdaq offers Nasdaq TotalView-ITCH for a monthly fee
of $70.00 per professional subscriber and $14 per non-professional
subscriber.\33\ The Exchange's proposed per User Fees for BYX Depth are
less than the NYSE and Nasdaq fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \32\ See supra note 25.
    \33\ See supra note 26.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Enterprise Fee. The proposed Enterprise Fee for BYX Depth is
equitable and reasonable as compared to the enterprise fees currently
charged for Nasdaq TotalView-ITCH. Nasdaq charges an enterprise fee of
$100,000 per month for Nasdaq TotalView-ITCH,\34\ which is greater than
the proposed Enterprise Fee of $25,000 per month for BYX Depth. In
addition, the Enterprise Fee proposed by the Exchange could result in a
fee reduction for recipient firms with a large number of Professional
and Non-Professional Users. If a recipient firm has a smaller number of
Professional Users of BYX Depth, then it may continue using the per
User structure and benefit from the per User Fee reductions. By
reducing prices for recipient firms with a large number of Professional
and Non-Professional Users, the Exchange believes that more firms may
choose to receive and to distribute BYX Depth, thereby expanding the
distribution of this market data for the benefit of investors.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \34\ See supra note 27.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange further believes that the proposed Enterprise Fee is
reasonable because it will simplify reporting for certain recipients
that have large numbers of Professional and Non-Professional Users.
Firms that pay the proposed Enterprise Fee will not have to report the
number of Users on a monthly basis as they currently do, but rather
will only have to count natural person users every six months, which is
a significant reduction in administrative burden. Finally, the Exchange
believes that it is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory to
establish an Enterprise Fee because it reduces the Exchange's costs and
the Distributor's administrative burdens in tracking and auditing large
numbers of Users.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will
result in any burden on competition that is not necessary or
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act, as amended. The
Exchange's ability to price BYX Depth and BYX Summary Depth is
constrained by: (i) Competition among exchanges, other trading
platforms, and Trade Reporting Facilities (``TRF'') that compete with
each other in a variety of dimensions; (ii) the existence of
inexpensive real-time consolidated data and market-specific data and
free delayed data; and (iii) the inherent contestability of the market
for proprietary data.
    The Exchange and its market data products are subject to
significant competitive forces and the proposed fees represent
responses to that competition. To start, the Exchange competes
intensely for order flow. It competes with the other national
securities exchanges that currently trade equities, with electronic
communication networks, with quotes posted in FINRA's Alternative
Display Facility, with alternative trading systems, and with securities
firms that primarily trade as principal with their customer order flow.
    In addition, BYX Summary Depth and BYX Depth compete with a number
of alternative products. For instance, BYX Summary Depth and BYX Depth
do provide a complete picture of all trading activity in a security.
Rather, the other national securities exchanges, the several TRFs of
FINRA, and Electronic Communication Networks (``ECN'') that produce
proprietary data all produce trades and trade reports. Each is
currently permitted to produce last sale information products, and many
currently do, including Nasdaq and NYSE. In addition, market
participants can gain access to BYX last sale and depth-of-book
quotations, though integrated with the prices of other markets, on
feeds made available through the SIPs.
    In sum, the availability of a variety of alternative sources of
information imposes significant competitive pressures on Exchange data
products and the Exchange's compelling need to attract order flow
imposes significant competitive pressure on the Exchange to act
equitably, fairly, and reasonably in setting the proposed data product
fees. The proposed data product fees are, in part, responses to that
pressure. The Exchange believes that the proposed fees would reflect an
equitable allocation of its overall costs to users of its facilities.
    In addition, when establishing the proposed fees, the Exchange
considered the competitiveness of the market for proprietary data and
all of the implications of that competition. The Exchange believes that
it has considered all relevant factors and has not considered
irrelevant factors in order to establish fair, reasonable, and not
unreasonably discriminatory fees and an equitable allocation of fees
among all Users. The existence of alternatives to BYX Depth and BYX
Summary Depth, including existing similar feeds by other exchanges,
consolidated data, and proprietary data from other sources, ensures
that the Exchange cannot set

unreasonable fees, or fees that are unreasonably discriminatory, when
vendors and subscribers can elect these alternatives or choose not to
purchase a specific proprietary data product if its cost to purchase is
not justified by the returns any particular vendor or subscriber would
achieve through the purchase.
    Lastly, the Exchange represents that the increase in pricing of BYX
Depth and the proposed pricing of the BYX Summary Feed would continue
to enable a competing vendor to create a competing product to the
Exchange's Bats One Feed on the same price and latency basis as the
Exchange. The Bats One Feed is a data feed that disseminates, on a
real-time basis, the aggregate BBO of all displayed orders for
securities traded on each of the Bats Exchanges and for the Bats
Exchanges report quotes under the CTA Plan or the Nasdaq/UTP Plan. The
Bats One Feed also contains the individual last sale information for
the Bats Exchanges (collectively with the aggregate BBO, the ``Bats One
Summary Feed''). In addition, the Bats One Feed contains optional
functionality which enables recipients to receive aggregated two-sided
quotations from the Bats Exchanges for up to five (5) price levels
(``Bats One Premium Feed'').\35\ The Exchange uses the following data
feeds to create the Bats One Feed, each of which are available to
vendors: EDGX Depth, EDGA Depth, BYX Depth, and the BZX Depth.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \35\ See Exchange Rule 11.22(i). See also Securities Exchange
Act Release No. 73918 (December 23, 2014), 79 FR 78920 (December 31,
2014) (File Nos. SR-EDGX-2014-25; SR-EDGA-2014-25; SR-BATS-2014-055;
SR-BYX-2014-030) (Notice of Amendments No. 2 and Order Granting
Accelerated Approval to Proposed Rule Changes, as Modified by
Amendments Nos. 1 and 2, to Establish a New Market Data Product
called the Bats One Feed) (``Bats One Approval Order'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    When adopting the Bats One Feed, the Exchange represented that a
vendor could create a competing product based in the data feed used to
construct the Bats One Feed on the same cost and latency basis as the
Exchange.\36\ Therefore, the Exchange designed the pricing of these
products so that their aggregate cost is not greater than the Bats One
Feed, thereby enabling a vendor to create a competing product to the
Bats One Feed on the same cost basis as the Exchange. However, the
Exchange now proposes to increase the cost of BYX Depth, which when
combined with the proposed increases by its affiliates for their depth
products, would cause their aggregate cost to be higher than the Bats
One Premium Feed.\37\ However, to ensure that a vendor could continue
to create a competing product to the Bats One Premium Feed at no
greater cost, that vendor could now utilize BYX Summary Depth, as well
as the Summary Depth feeds of BZX, EDGA, and EDGX to create a competing
product to the Bats One Premium Feed for less cost and on the same
latency basis as the Exchange.\38\ The Exchange has designed the
content and pricing of BYX Summary Depth, and related products by its
affiliates, so that a vendor could utilize those feeds, in lieu of the
Bats Exchange's existing depth-of-book products, to construct a
competing product on the same cost and latency basis as the Exchange.
The pricing the Exchange and its affiliates propose to charge for
Summary Depth feeds would be lower than the cost to obtain the Bats One
Premium Feed.\39\ Such pricing would continue to enable a vendor to
receive each of the Bats Exchange's Summary Depth feeds and offer a
similar product to the Bats One Premium Feed on a competitive basis and
at no greater cost than the Exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \36\ Id.
    \37\ The Exchange notes that a vendor seeking to create a
product to compete with the Bats One Summary Feed may continue to
utilize each of the Bats Exchange's Top and Last Sale data feeds,
the aggregate cost of which is less than the Bats One Summary Feed.
    \38\ While the proposed BYX Summary Depth feed does not contain
the symbol summary or consolidated volume data included in the Bats
One Feed, a vendor could include this information in a competing
product as this information is easily derivable from the proposed
feeds or can be obtained from the securities information processors
on the same terms as the Exchange.
    \39\ While the aggregate cost of each of the Bats Exchange's
Summary Depth Products equals the cost of the Bats One Premium Feed,
the cost of the Bats One Feed continues to be greater because
subscribers are required to pay an additional $1,000 aggregation
fee. See the Exchange's fee schedule available at http://www.bats.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/byx/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

    The Exchange has neither solicited nor received written comments on
the proposed rule change.

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 \40\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4
thereunder.\41\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \41\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Solicitation of Comments

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

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Please include
File No. SR-BatsBYX-2016-39 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-BatsBYX-2016-39. This
file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To
help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently,
please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on
the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all
written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are
filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to
the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other
than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for Web site viewing and
printing in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of such filing also will be available
for inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All
comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does
not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File Number SR-BatsBYX-2016-39, and should
be submitted on or before January 17, 2017.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\42\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \42\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-31115 Filed 12-23-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 110 (Friday, June 7, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 34362]
[FR Doc No: 2013-13579]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

Combined Notice of Filings 1

    Take notice that the Commission received the following electric
rate filings:

    Docket Numbers: ER13-1541-001.
    Applicants: Campo Verde Solar, LLC.
    Description: Amendment to Application and Initial Baseline Tariff
Filing to be effective 8/1/2013.
    Filed Date: 5/23/13.
    Accession Number: 20130523-5040.
    Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 6/13/13.

    Docket Numbers: ER13-1546-000.
    Applicants: Ameren Illinois Company.
    Description: Revised WVPA Meter Replacement Letter Agreement RS 141
to be effective 5/24/2013.
    Filed Date: 5/23/13.
    Accession Number: 20130523-5112.
    Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 6/13/13.

    Docket Numbers: ER13-1547-000.
    Applicants: Midcontinent Independent System Operator, Inc., Cleco
Power LLC.
    Description: 05-23-13 Cleco Rate Schedules.v2 to be effective 12/
19/2013.
    Filed Date: 5/23/13.
    Accession Number: 20130523-5113.
    Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 6/13/13.

    Docket Numbers: ER13-1549-000.
    Applicants: New England Power Company.
    Description: New England Power Company submits Notice of
Cancellation of Service Agreement for Network Integration Transmission
Service with Central Vermont Public Service Corporation.
    Filed Date: 5/23/13.
    Accession Number: 20130523-5137.
    Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 6/13/13.

    Docket Numbers: ER13-1550-000.
    Applicants: Massachusetts Electric Company.
    Description: Massachusetts Electric Company submits Notice of
Cancellation of Interconnection Agreement with Fortistar Methane Group
Gas Recovery Systems, LLC.
    Filed Date: 5/23/13.
    Accession Number: 20130523-5138.
    Comments Due: 5 p.m. ET 6/13/13.

    The filings are accessible in the Commission's eLibrary system by
clicking on the links or querying the docket number.
    Any person desiring to intervene or protest in any of the above
proceedings must file in accordance with Rules 211 and 214 of the
Commission's Regulations (18 CFR 385.211 and 385.214) on or before 5:00
p.m. Eastern time on the specified comment date. Protests may be
considered, but intervention is necessary to become a party to the
proceeding.
    eFiling is encouraged. More detailed information relating to filing
requirements, interventions, protests, service, and qualifying
facilities filings can be found at: http://www.ferc.gov/docs-filing/efiling/filing-req.pdf. For other information, call<PHONE_NUMBER>
(toll free). For TTY, call<PHONE_NUMBER>.

    Dated: May 24, 2013.
Nathaniel J. Davis, Sr.,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-13579 Filed 6-6-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P


[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 189 (Thursday, September 29, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60567-60569]
[FR Doc No: 2011-25072]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-65388; File No. SR-FINRA-2011-051]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Create an
Exemption From Certain Reporting Obligations Under the Equity Trade
Reporting Rules for Certain Alternative Trading Systems

September 23, 2011.
    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 September 16, 2011, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority,
Inc. (``FINRA'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``SEC'' or ``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in
Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared by FINRA.
The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the
proposed rule change from interested persons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change

    FINRA is proposing to adopt new Rules 6183 and 6625 to provide
FINRA with authority to exempt a member alternative trading system
(``ATS'') that meets the specified criteria from the trade reporting
obligation under the equity trade reporting rules. In addition, FINRA
is proposing a conforming change to Rule 9610 to specify that FINRA has
exemptive authority under proposed Rules 6183 and 6625.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on FINRA's Web
site at http://www.finra.org, at the principal office of FINRA 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, FINRA 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. FINRA 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
    FINRA trade reporting rules require that over-the-counter (``OTC'')
transactions in equity securities \3\ between members be reported to
FINRA by the ``executing party.'' \4\ ``Executing party'' is defined as
the member that receives an order for handling or execution or is
presented an order against its quote, does not subsequently re-route
the order, and executes the transaction. An ATS, which term includes
electronic communications networks, is the ``executing party'' and has
the trade reporting obligation where the transaction is executed on the
ATS.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Specifically, these transactions are: (1) Transactions in
NMS stocks, as defined in SEC Rule 600(b) of Regulation NMS,
effected otherwise than on an exchange, which are reported through
the Alternative Display Facility or a Trade Reporting Facility; and
(2) transactions in OTC Equity Securities and Restricted Equity
Securities, as those terms are defined in Rule 6420, which are
reported through the OTC Reporting Facility.
    FINRA notes that the proposed rule change applies to OTC
transactions in equity securities only. It does not apply to TRACE-
eligible securities, nor does it impact the reporting rules
applicable to transactions in TRACE-eligible securities, which are
subject to a separate reporting structure under the Rule 6700
Series.
    \4\ See Rules 6282(b), 6380A(b), 6380B(b) and 6622(b). For
transactions between a member and a non-member or customer, the
member must report the trade.
    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58903 (November 5,
2008), 73 FR 67905 (November 17, 2008) (Order Approving File No. SR-
FINRA-2008-011); and Regulatory Notice 09-08 (January 2009). See
also, e.g., Trade Reporting Frequently Asked Questions, Sections 307
and 308, available at http://www.finra.org/Industry/Regulation/Guidance/P038942.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FINRA is proposing to adopt new Rules 6183 and 6625 to provide
FINRA with authority to exempt, upon application and subject to
specified terms and conditions, a member ATS from the trade reporting
obligation under certain limited circumstances. FINRA will only grant
an exemption where all of the conditions set forth in the proposed rule
are satisfied.
    First, trades must be between ATS subscribers that are both FINRA
members. For any trades between non-members or a FINRA member and a
non-member, the exemption will not apply, and the ATS will have the
trade reporting obligation under FINRA rules.
    The ATS also must demonstrate that it meets the following criteria.
First, the member subscribers must be fully disclosed to one another at
all times on the ATS. Second, although the system brings together the
orders of buyers and sellers and uses established, non-discretionary
methods under which such orders interact with each other, the system
does not permit automatic execution. A member subscriber must take
affirmative steps beyond the submission of an order to agree to a trade
with another member subscriber. Third, the trade does not pass through
any ATS account, and the ATS does not in any way hold itself out to be
a party to the trade. Fourth, the ATS does not exchange shares or funds
on behalf of the member subscribers, take either side of the trade for
clearing or settlement purposes, including, but not limited to, at DTC
or otherwise, or in any other way insert itself into the trade.
    In addition, the ATS and the member subscribers must acknowledge
and agree in writing that the ATS shall not be deemed a party to the
trade for purposes of trade reporting and that trades shall be reported
by the member subscriber that, as between the two member subscribers,
would satisfy the definition of ``executing party'' under FINRA trade
reporting rules. An ATS that is granted an exemption must obtain such
written agreements from all of its member subscribers prior to relying
on the exemption.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ FINRA reminds members of their books and records obligations
under FINRA rules, the Exchange Act and applicable Exchange Act
rules. Thus, any ATS that is granted an exemption under the proposed
rule change would be required to retain the written agreements and
be able to produce them to FINRA upon request.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Finally, the ATS must agree to provide to FINRA on a monthly basis,
or such other basis as prescribed by FINRA, data relating to the volume
of trades by security executed by the ATS's member subscribers using
the ATS's system (e.g., number of trades, number of shares traded and
total settlement value for each security traded). Importantly, although
an ATS exempted under the proposed rule will not have trade reporting
obligations under FINRA rules, the trading occurring through the ATS is
still considered volume of the ATS for purposes of, among other

things, the recordkeeping requirements of Rule 302 of SEC Regulation
ATS \7\ and determining whether the ATS triggers the Fair Access
requirements under Rule 301(b)(5) of Regulation ATS or the Capacity,
Integrity and Security of Automated Systems requirements of Rule
301(b)(6) of Regulation ATS. The ATS also must acknowledge that failure
to report such data to FINRA, in addition to constituting a violation
of FINRA rules, will result in revocation of any exemption granted
pursuant to the proposed rule change.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ 17 CFR 242.300-303.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Where an exemption is granted, the ATS will not be deemed a party
to the trade for purposes of FINRA trade reporting rules and will not
be identified in trade reports submitted to FINRA. As expressly stated
in the proposed rule, the trade must be reported to FINRA by the member
subscriber that, as between the two member subscribers, satisfies the
definition of ``executing party'' under paragraph (b) of Rules 6282,
6380A, 6380B or 6622.\8\ For example, FINRA member BD1 displays a quote
through ATS X and member BD2 routes an order to BD1 for the price and
size of BD1's quote using a messaging system provided by ATS X. BD1
does not subsequently re-route the order and executes the trade.
Assuming that ATS X meets all of the criteria set forth in the proposed
rule and has been granted an exemption by FINRA, it will not be deemed
a party to the trade for trade reporting purposes and should not be
identified as such in the trade report submitted to FINRA. In this
example, BD1 is the ``executing party'' and has the obligation to
report the trade between BD1 and BD2.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ FINRA notes that where an ATS has been granted an exemption
under the proposed rule, the member subscribers, as the parties
identified in the trade report, will be assessed regulatory
transaction fees under Section 3 of Schedule A to the FINRA By-Laws
and the Trading Activity Fee under FINRA By-Laws, Schedule A, Sec.
1(b)(2). The ATS will not be assessed such fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FINRA believes that the proposed rule change will reduce potential
confusion and possible misreporting by clearly identifying the member
with the trade reporting obligation in this instance. FINRA believes
that an ATS that satisfies all conditions of the proposed rule change
has a more limited involvement in the trade execution than the member
subscribers and therefore the proposed exemption is appropriate in this
narrow instance. FINRA expects that a large majority of ATSs will not
qualify for the exemption, and the proposed rule change will not result
in a change to their reporting. These ATSs will continue to report, as
``executing party,'' trades that are matched and executed on their
systems.
    FINRA also is proposing a conforming change to Rule 9610 to add
proposed Rules 6183 and 6625 to the list of rules pursuant to which
FINRA has exemptive authority.
    FINRA is proposing that the proposed rule change will be effective
on the date of Commission approval.
2. Statutory Basis
    FINRA believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the
provisions of Section 15A(b)(6) of the Act,\9\ which requires, among
other things, that FINRA rules be designed to prevent fraudulent and
manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable
principles of trade, and, in general, to protect investors and the
public interest. FINRA believes that the proposed rule change will
reduce potential confusion and possible misreporting and enhance market
transparency by clearly identifying the member with the trade reporting
obligation (i.e., the party to the trade that meets the definition of
``executing party'' for purposes of trade reporting to FINRA).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-3(b)(6).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    FINRA does not believe that the proposed rule change will result in
any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

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

    Written comments were neither solicited nor received.

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

    Within 45 days of the date of publication of this notice in the
Federal Register or within such longer period (i) as the Commission may
designate up to 90 days of such date if it finds such longer period to
be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to
which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission will:
    (A) By order approve or disapprove such proposed rule change, or
    (B) Institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule
change should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

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

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an e-mail to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Please include
File Number SR-FINRA-2011-051 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-FINRA-2011-051. This
file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used.
To help the Commission process and review your comments more
efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all
comments on the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments,
all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that
are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating
to the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person,
other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance
with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for Web site
viewing and printing in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between
the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such filing also will be
available for inspection and copying at the principal office of FINRA.
All comments received will be posted without change; the Commission
does not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You
should submit only information that you wish to make available
publicly. All submissions should refer to File Number SR-FINRA-2011-051
and should be submitted on or before October 20, 2011.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\10\
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    \10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-25072 Filed 9-28-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 249 (Monday, December 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72054-72056]
[FR Doc No: 2019-28173]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-87845; File No. SR-MRX-2019-25]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq MRX, LLC; Notice of Filing
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a Mass
Cancellation Rule and Amend Other Sections of the Rulebook

December 23, 2019.
    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 December 9, 2019, Nasdaq MRX, LLC (``MRX'' 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 adopt a new rule at Options 3, Section 19
titled ``Mass Cancellation of Trading Interest.'' The Exchange also
proposes to amend definitions within General 1, Section 1, adopt a new
definition for ``Away Best Bid or Offer'' within Options 1, Section 1,
and update rule citations in various other rules.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's
website at http://nasdaqmrx.cchwallstreet.com/, at the principal office
of the Exchange, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

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

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

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

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to adopt a new rule at Options 3, Section 19
titled ``Mass Cancellation of Trading Interest.'' The Exchange also
proposes to amend definitions within General 1, Section 1, adopt a new
definition for ``Away Best Bid or Offer within Options 1, Section 1,
and update rule citations in various other rules.
Mass Cancellation of Trading Interest
    The Exchange proposes to adopt a new rule at Options 3, Section 19
titled ``Mass Cancellation of Trading Interest.'' The Nasdaq Options
Market LLC (``NOM'') and Nasdaq BX, Inc. (``BX'') rules at Chapter VII,
Section 11 permit Participants on those markets to contact market
operations and manually request cancellation of interest. The Exchange
proposes to adopt a rule which also permits Members to contact market
operations and request the Exchange to manually cancel interest. The
proposed new rule would state, ''A Member may cancel any bids, offers,
and orders in any series of options by requesting MRX Market Operations
\3\ staff to effect such cancellation as per the instructions of the
Member.'' This new rule reflects the Exchange's current practice of
allowing Members to contact MRX Market Operations and request the
Exchange to cancel any bid, offer or order in any series of options.
The Exchange would cancel such bid, offer or order pursuant to the
Member's instruction. The Exchange desires to memorialize the
availability of this service.
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    \3\ The request to Market Operations is a manual request which
is made telephonically.
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Definitions
    The Exchange proposes to make a technical amendment to General 1,
Section 1(a)(6) to note the acronym for an Electronic Access Member, an
``EAM'' within the definition. The acronym is utilized throughout the
Rulebook. Defining the acronym within the definition will add
transparency to the Rulebook.
    The Exchange proposes to add the definition of an ``Away Best Bid
or Offer'' or ``ABBO'' within Options 1, Section 1(a)(4). This term is
utilized throughout the Rulebook. Defining this term will bring greater
transparency to the Rulebook.

Other Changes
    The Exchange proposes to reserve certain rules \4\ in connection
with a Rulebook harmonization project which organizes the rules of the
Nasdaq affiliated markets.
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    \4\ Options 2, Section 3 and Options 3, Section 28 are being
reserved.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section
6(b) of the Act,\5\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section
6(b)(5) of the Act,\6\ in particular, in that it is designed to promote
just and equitable principles of trade, to remove impediments to and
perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market
system, and, in general to protect investors and the public interest.
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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Mass Cancellation of Trading Interest
    The Exchange's proposal to memorialize the Mass Cancellation of
Trading Interest rule within Options 3, Section 19 is consistent with
the Act because permitting Members to contact Market Operations as a
manual alternative to automated functionality which similarly allows
Members to cancel interest provides Members experiencing their own
system issues with a means to manage risk. Today, Members are able to
cancel interest, in an automated fashion through protocols \7\ and the
Kill Switch.\8\ This is a voluntary services offered to all Members.
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    \7\ See Options 3 at Supplementary Material .03 to Section 7.
    \8\ See Options 3, Section 17.
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    The Exchange notes that offering this service, which permits
Members to cancel interest, will not diminish a Market Maker's
obligation with respect to providing two-sided quotations and this rule
is not inconsistent with other firm quote obligations of the Market
Maker. Upon the request of a Member, MRX Market Operations will
manually input a mass cancellation message into the System consistent
with the Member's instruction to cancel trading interest. Once the mass
cancellation message is entered into the System by MRX Market
Operations, the message will be accepted by the System in the order of
receipt in the queue such that the interest that was already accepted
into the System will be processed prior to the mass cancellation
message. In addition, mass cancellation messages entered into the
System by MRX Market Operations are handled by the System through the
same queuing mechanism that a quote or order message is handled by the
System. The Exchange notes its processing of a mass cancellation
message inputted by MRX Market Operations and handled by the System is
consistent with firm quote and order handling rules.
    The Exchange notes that offering this service which permits Members
to cancel interest will not diminish a Member's obligation with respect
to providing two-sided quotations and this rule is not inconsistent
with other firm quote obligations of the Member. The Kill Switch
message will be accepted by the System in the order of receipt in the
queue and will be processed in that order so that interest that is
already accepted into the System will be processed prior to the Kill
Switch message. Messages sent to the System by the Kill Switch are
processed in the order they are received by the matching engine,
through the same queuing mechanism that a quote or order message is
processed. MRX Market Operations would process the cancellation request
when received.
    As noted above, NOM and BX Rules at Chapter VII, Section 11 allow
NOM and BX Participants to also contact market operations and request
cancellations of interest. This new rule reflects the Exchange's
current practice.
Definitions
    The Exchange's proposal to add the acronym for an Electronic Access
Member, an ``EAM'' within General 1, Section 1 and add the definition
of an ``Away Best Bid or Offer'' or ``ABBO'' within Options 1, Section
1(a)(4) are consistent with the Act because these amendments will add
transparency to the Rulebook.
Other Changes
    The Exchange's proposal to update the reference within Options 3,
Section 16(b) to refer to Options 3, Section 12 not just 12(a), and add
cross-references to the Solicited Order Mechanism and Price Improvement
Mechanism within Options 3, Section 16, are consistent with the Act and
add greater clarity to the Rules.

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 that is not necessary or appropriate
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
Mass Cancellation of Trading Interest
    The Exchange's proposal to memorialize the Mass Cancellation of
Trading Interest rule within Options 3, Section 19 does not impose an
undue burden on competition because all Members may utilize this
service. This new rule reflects the Exchange's current practice.
Definitions
    The Exchange's proposal to add the acronym for an Electronic Access
Member, an ``EAM'' within General 1, Section 1 and add the definition
of an ``Away Best Bid or Offer'' or ``ABBO'' within Options 1, Section
1(a)(4) do not impose an undue burden on competition because these
amendments will add transparency to the Rulebook.
Other Changes
    The Exchange's proposal to update the reference within Options 3,
Section 16(b) to refer to Options 3, Section 12 not just 12(a), and add
cross-references to the Solicited Order Mechanism and Price Improvement
Mechanism within Options 3, Section 16 do not impose an undue burden on
competition. The remainder of the changes to correct numbering and
citations are non-substantive.

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

    Because the foregoing proposed rule change does not: (i)
Significantly affect the protection of investors or the public
interest; (ii) impose any significant burden on competition; and (iii)
become operative for 30 days from the date on which it was filed, or
such shorter time as the Commission may designate, it has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \9\ and
subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b-4 thereunder.\10\
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
    \10\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)
requires the Exchange to give the Commission written notice of its
intent to file the proposed rule change, along with a brief
description and text of the proposed rule change, at least five
business days prior to the date of filing of the proposed rule
change, or such shorter time as designated by the Commission. The
Exchange has satisfied this requirement.
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    A proposed rule change filed under Rule 19b-4(f)(6) \11\ normally
does not become operative prior to 30 days after the date of the
filing. However, pursuant to Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii),\12\ the

Commission may designate a shorter time if such action is consistent
with the protection of investors and the public interest. The Exchange
requests that the Commission waive the 30-day operative delay so that
the proposal may become operative immediately upon filing. The Exchange
notes that NOM and BX currently have rules that permit NOM and BX
Participants to cancel interest,\13\ and that the Exchange proposes the
additional changes to provide greater clarity in its rules. The
Commission believes that waiving the 30-day operative delay is
consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest.
Accordingly, the Commission waives the 30-day operative delay and
designates the proposed rule change operative upon filing.\14\
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    \11\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
    \12\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii).
    \13\ See NOM and BX Rules at Chapter VII, Section 11.
    \14\ For purposes only of waiving the 30-day operative delay,
the Commission has considered the proposed rule's impact on
efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C.
78c(f).
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    At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings to
determine whether the proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

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

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Please include
File Number SR-MRX-2019-25 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-MRX-2019-25. 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-MRX-2019-25 and should be submitted on
or before January 21, 2020.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\15\
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    \15\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Eduardo A. Aleman,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-28173 Filed 12-27-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P