Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Relating to Amendments to the EDGX Exchange, Inc. Fee Schedule, 56890-56894 [2012-22643]
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56890
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 179 / Friday, September 14, 2012 / Notices
communications relating to the
proposed rule change between the
Commission and any person, other than
those that may be withheld from the
public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
available for Web site viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549, on official
business days between the hours of
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal
office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change;
the Commission does not edit personal
identifying information from
submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make
available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR–NSX–
2012–14 and should be submitted on or
before October 5, 2012.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.12
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–22641 Filed 9–13–12; 8:45 am]
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGX
Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
Rule Change Relating to Amendments
to the EDGX Exchange, Inc. Fee
Schedule
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September 10, 2012.
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 August
31, 2012 the EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or the ‘‘EDGX’’) filed with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the
proposed rule change as described in
Items I, II and III below, which items
have been prepared by the selfregulatory organization. The
Commission is publishing this notice to
solicit comments on the proposed rule
change from interested persons.
16:39 Sep 13, 2012
In its filing with the Commission, the
self-regulatory organization included
statements concerning the purpose of,
and basis for, the proposed rule change
and discussed any comments it received
on the proposed rule change. The text
of these statements may be examined at
the places specified in Item IV below.
The self-regulatory organization has
prepared summaries, set forth in
sections A, B and C below, of the most
significant aspects of such statements.
The Exchange proposes to append
Footnote 1 to Flag PI, where Flag PI
removes liquidity from the EDGX book
against the Midpoint Match. This charge
would signal a rate change for Flag PI
if the conditions for achieving the Mega
Tier 4 are not satisfied. The Exchange
also proposes to amend the text of
Footnote 1 to add Flags BB and PI to the
list of removal flags and to add text to
specify that Members that do not meet
the thresholds for the Mega Tier in the
first paragraph of Footnote 1 will be
charged the standard removal rate of
$0.0030 per share.
The Exchange proposes to assess a fee
of $0.0006 per share in lieu of the
current rebate of $0.0003 per share for
Members who utilize Flag RA to route
orders to EDGA Exchange, Inc.
(‘‘EDGA’’) and add liquidity. The
Exchange also proposes to offer a rebate
of $0.0004 per share in lieu of the
current charge of $0.0007 per share for
Members who utilize Flag RR to route
orders to EDGA using routing strategies
IOCX or IOCT on EDGX and remove
3 As
defined in Exchange Rule 1.5(n).
Mega Tier conditions are discussed below
in this filing.
1 15
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II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
[Release No. 34–67818; File No. SR–EDGX–
2012–39]
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
The Exchange proposes to amend its
fees and rebates applicable to Members 3
of the Exchange pursuant to EDGX Rule
15.1(a) and (c). All of the changes
described herein are applicable to EDGX
Members. The text of the proposed rule
change is available on the Exchange’s
Internet Web site at https://
www.directedge.com, at the Exchange’s
principal office, and at the Public
Reference Room of the Commission.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
12 17
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
liquidity from EDGA. These proposed
changes represent pass-throughs of the
Exchange’s rates for routing orders to
EDGA via its affiliated routing brokerdealer, Direct Edge ECN LLC d/b/a DE
Route (‘‘DE Route’’), and these proposed
changes are in response to pricing
changes in EDGA’s filing with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(the ‘‘SEC’’).5
The Exchange proposes to delete Flag
RM from the fee schedule. Accordingly,
Members that route to the Chicago Stock
Exchange (the ‘‘CHX’’) will be assessed
the default charge for routing liquidity
of $0.0029 per share, as represented by
Flag X.
The Exchange proposes to increase
the rebate and to modify the thresholds
associated with the Mega Tier in
Footnote 1. The Exchange proposes to
offer Members a rebate of $0.0035 per
share for all liquidity posted on EDGX
where Members add or route at least 2
million shares of average daily volume
(‘‘ADV’’) prior to 9:30 a.m. or after 4:00
p.m. (includes all flags except 6) and
add a minimum of 35 million shares of
ADV on EDGX in total, including during
both market hours and pre and posttrading hours. Members will continue to
also qualify for the Mega Tier but will
earn a rebate of $0.0032 per share for all
liquidity posted on EDGX if they add or
route at least 4 million shares of ADV
prior to 9:30 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m.
(includes all flags except 6) and add a
minimum of .20% of the Total
Consolidated Volume (‘‘TCV’’) on a
daily basis measured monthly,
including during both market hours and
pre and post-trading hours.
The Exchange proposes to
discontinue the Tape B tiers described
in Footnote 1 on the Exchange’s fee
schedule. Accordingly, the Exchange
proposes to delete the following
language from its fee schedule:
‘‘Members can qualify for the Mega
Tape B Tier and be provided a $0.0034
rebate per share for liquidity added on
EDGX in Tape B securities if the
Member on a daily basis, measured
monthly: (i) Posts greater than or equal
to .10% of the TCV in ADV more than
their January 2012 ADV added to EDGX;
and (ii) posts greater than or equal to
.10% of the TCV in ADV in Tape B
securities more than their January 2012
ADV added to EDGX.’’ In addition, the
Exchange also proposes to delete the
following language from its fee
schedule: ‘‘Members can qualify for the
Mini Tape B Tier and be provided a
$0.0030 rebate per share for liquidity
added on EDGX in Tape B securities if
the Member on a daily basis, measured
4 The
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monthly: (i) Posts greater than or equal
to .05% of the TCV in ADV more than
their January 2012 ADV added to EDGX;
and (ii) posts greater than or equal to
.05% of the TCV in ADV in Tape B
securities more than their January 2012
ADV added to EDGX.’’ As a result of the
discontinuation of the Tape B tiers in
Footnote 1, Tape B securities do not
have a specific tier and are subject to the
remaining EDGX tier structure, as
applicable.
The Exchange proposes to codify on
the top of its fee schedule the premise
that it uses footnotes to provide further
explanatory text or, where annotated to
flags, to indicate variable rate changes,
provided the conditions in the footnote
are met. In connection with this
premise, the Exchange proposes to
delete Footnote 12 that is appended to
Flags B, V, Y, 3, 4, HA and MM because
the rates for Flags B, V, Y, 3, 4, HA and
MM 6 do not change where a Market
Participant Identifier (‘‘MPID’’) achieves
an add liquidity ratio equal to or greater
than 10%. The Exchange will continue
to append Footnote 12 to Flags N, W, 6,
BB and PI, which denotes that the
Exchange will charge a removal rate of
$0.0029 per share where an MPID
achieves an add liquidity ratio equal to
or greater than 10%. Finally, the
Exchange proposes to delete Footnote 6
that is appended to Flag M to also
signify that a rate change is not
signaled.7 These amendments support
the Exchange’s efforts to annotate flags
with footnotes to signify a potential rate
change, rather than annotating every
flag to denote which flags contribute
towards the volume threshold and/or
conditions necessary to achieve a
potential rate change.
The Exchange proposes to delete
Footnote 1 that is appended to Flags HA
and MM in order to specify that these
non-displayed order types would not be
eligible for the increased rebates for
displayed orders in the tiers in Footnote
1 of the Exchange’s fee schedule. Rather,
Flag HA is rebated $0.0015 per share
and Flag MM is charged $0.0012 per
share, regardless of whether the tiers in
Footnote 1 are met.8
The Exchange also proposes to amend
the text of Footnote 12 to include Flag
PR, where Flag PR removes liquidity
from the EDGX book using the ROUQ
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6 The
Exchange notes that the volume from these
flags will count towards achieving the add liquidity
ratio in Footnote 12 of the Exchange’s fee schedule.
7 The Exchange notes that the volume from Flag
M counts toward the tier in Footnote 6, which
changes the rate charged on Flag U.
8 However, the Exchange notes that the volume
from these flags will count towards the volume
required to earn the rebates associated with the
tiered pricing in Footnote 1; the rates for Flags HA
and MM do not change.
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routing strategy, as part of the ‘‘removal
flags.’’ 9 These removal flags are used to
calculate whether an MPID satisfied the
‘‘add liquidity’’ ratio calculation 10 to
qualify for a removal rate of $0.0029 per
share instead of $0.0030 per share.
The Exchange proposes to implement
these amendments to its fee schedule on
September 1, 2012.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change is consistent with
the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,11
in general, and furthers the objectives of
Section 6(b)(4),12 in particular, as it is
designed to provide for the equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees and
other charges among its Members and
other persons using its facilities.
The Exchange believes that its
proposal to append Footnote 1 to Flag
PI, to make changes to the text of
Footnote 1 to add Flags BB and PI to the
list of removal flags, and to specify the
default rate of $0.0030 per share (if the
Mega tier’s conditions are not met) will
incentivize Members to add liquidity to
the Exchange. In turn, by posting
liquidity, Members using these flags
will achieve the discounted removal
charge of $0.0029 per share for meeting
the tier’s conditions rather than the
default charge of $0.0030 per share.
Such amendment represents an
equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees, and other charges because the
resulting increased volume increases
potential revenue to the Exchange, and
would allow the Exchange to spread its
administrative and infrastructure costs
over a greater number of shares, leading
to lower per share costs. In addition, by
providing the ability to obtain the lower
removal charge, which is a more
favorable rate, the Exchange is
encouraging posting of liquidity, which
benefits the market as a whole by
contributing to increased price
discovery and market depth. These
lower per share costs in turn would
allow the Exchange to pass on the
savings to Members in the form of lower
fees (for example, $0.0029 per share for
Flags BB and PI instead of $0.0030 per
share). The increased liquidity benefits
all investors by deepening EDGX’s
liquidity pool, offering additional
9 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67379
(July 10, 2012), 77 FR 41864 (July 16, 2012) (SR–
EDGX–2012–26) (introducing Flag PR to the
Exchange’s fee schedule for orders that remove
liquidity from the EDGX book using the ROUQ
routing strategy).
10 The ‘‘add liquidity’’ ratio is the ratio of the
‘‘added’’ flags/(‘‘added’’ flags + ‘‘removal’’ flags) ×
100. If the resulting ratio is equal to or greater than
10%, the MPID qualifies for the lower rate.
11 15 U.S.C. 78f.
12 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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flexibility for all investors to enjoy cost
savings, supporting the quality of price
discovery, promoting market
transparency and improving investor
protection. Discounts based on volume
such as the one proposed herein have
been widely adopted in the cash
equities markets, and are equitable
because they are open to all Members on
an equal basis and provide discounts
that are reasonably related to the value
to an exchange’s market quality
associated with higher levels of market
activity, such as higher levels of
liquidity provision and introduction of
higher volumes of orders into the price
and volume discovery processes. In
addition, the Exchange also believes
that these proposed amendments are
non-discriminatory because they apply
uniformly to all Members.
The rates and rebates associated with
routing orders to EDGA through DE
Route on the Exchange’s fee schedule
are pass-through rates from DE Route to
the Exchange and represent an equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and
other charges among Members of the
Exchange and other persons using its
facilities because the Exchange does not
levy additional fees or offer additional
rebates for orders that it routes to EDGA
through DE Route. The Exchange notes
that routing through DE Route is
voluntary and DE Route is treated like
any other Member of EDGA. Currently,
for orders yielding Flag RA, EDGA
rebates DE Route $0.0003 per share,
which, in turn, is passed through to the
Exchange. The Exchange, in turn,
rebates its Members $0.0003 per share
as a pass-through. In EDGA’s September
1, 2012 fee filing, SR–EDGA–2012–39,
EDGA proposed to amend the rate it
charges its Members, such as DE Route,
for orders that are routed to EDGA and
add liquidity to $0.0006 per share.
Therefore, the Exchange believes that
the proposed change for Flag RA from
a rebate of $0.0003 per share to a charge
of $0.0006 per share is equitable and
reasonable because it accounts for the
pricing changes on EDGA. In addition,
the proposal allows the Exchange to
continue to charge its Members a passthrough rate for routing orders to EDGA
via DE Route that add liquidity. Lastly,
the Exchange also believes that the
proposed amendment is nondiscriminatory because it applies
uniformly to all Members.
Similarly, for orders yielding Flag RR,
EDGA currently charges its Members,
such as DE Route, $0.0007 per share,
which, in turn it passes through to the
Exchange. The Exchange, in turn,
charges its Members $0.0007 per share
as a pass-through. In EDGA’s September
1, 2012 fee filing, SR–EDGA–2012–39,
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EDGA proposed to amend the rate it
charges its Members for orders that are
routed to EDGA using routing strategies
IOCX or IOCT on EDGX and remove
liquidity from EDGA to a rebate of
$0.0004 per share. Therefore, the
Exchange believes that the proposed
change for Flag RR from a charge of
$0.0007 per share to a rebate of $0.0004
per share is equitable and reasonable
because it accounts for the pricing
changes on EDGA. In addition, the
proposal allows the Exchange to
continue to charge its Members a passthrough rate for routing orders to EDGA
using routing strategies IOCX or IOCT
on EDGX and that remove liquidity from
EDGA. Lastly, the Exchange also
believes that the proposed amendment
is non-discriminatory because it applies
uniformly to all Members.
Exchange Rule 11.9(b)(3) defines the
‘‘System routing table’’ as the
proprietary process for determining the
specific trading venues to which the
System 13 routes orders and the order in
which the System routes to them.
Specifically, the Exchange reserves the
right to maintain a different System
routing table for different routing
options and to modify the System
routing table at any time without notice.
The Exchange proposes to delete the
CHX as a posting destination on the
System routing table. The Exchange
previously charged no fee nor assessed
a rebate to its Members when DE Route
routed to the CHX. This was a pass
through by the Exchange of the no
rebate/fee provided to DE Route by CHX
when liquidity was added to CHX.
Since CHX is no longer on the System
routing table, the Exchange proposes to
delete Flag RM from the Exchange’s fee
schedule. The Exchange notes that it
will continue to comply with its
obligations under Regulation NMS;
however, it will not continue to offer
Flag RM as a routing strategy to post
liquidity to the CHX. Rather, the
Exchange will now pass back Flag X
($0.0029 charge per share) as the
standard default routing flag should an
order be routed to CHX as a result of the
Exchange’s Regulation NMS obligations.
The Exchange believes that the
proposed amendment is nondiscriminatory because it applies
uniformly to all Members.
The Exchange believes that its
proposal to increase the rebate and
modify the thresholds associated with
the Mega Tier in Footnote 1, where the
Exchange proposes to increase the
rebate to $0.0035 per share for all
liquidity posted on EDGX and to modify
the volume thresholds for Members that
13 See
Exchange Rule 1.5(cc).
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add or route at least 2 million shares of
ADV during pre and post-trading hours
and add a minimum of 35 million
shares of ADV on EDGX in total,
represents an equitable allocation of
reasonable dues, fees, and other charges
because it incentivizes Members to add
liquidity to the EDGX book.
Furthermore, such increased volume
increases potential revenue to the
Exchange, and would allow the
Exchange to spread its administrative
and infrastructure costs over a greater
number of shares, leading to lower per
share costs. These lower per share costs
in turn would allow the Exchange to
pass on the savings to Members in the
form of higher rebates and lower fees.
The increased liquidity benefits all
investors by deepening EDGX’s liquidity
pool, offering additional flexibility for
all investors to enjoy cost savings,
supporting the quality of price
discovery, promoting market
transparency and improving investor
protection. Volume-based rebates such
as the one proposed herein have been
widely adopted in the cash equities
markets, and are equitable because they
are open to all Members on an equal
basis and provide discounts that are
reasonably related to the value to an
exchange’s market quality associated
with higher levels of market activity,
such as higher levels of liquidity
provision and introduction of higher
volumes of orders into the price and
volume discovery processes. In
addition, the Exchange also believes
that these proposed amendments are
non-discriminatory because they apply
uniformly to all Members.
The Exchange also believes that the
rebate of $0.0035 per share and volume
thresholds that require Members to add
or route at least 2 million shares of ADV
during pre and post-trading hours and
to add a minimum of 35 million shares
of ADV on EDGX in total also represent
an equitable allocation of reasonable
dues, fees, and other charges since
higher rebates are directly correlated
with more stringent criteria.
As proposed, the Mega Tier rebate of
$0.0035 per share will continue to have
the most stringent criteria associated
with it, and Members will receive
$0.0002 more per share than the next
best tiered rebate, the Market Depth Tier
($0.0033 per share).
For example, in order for a Member to
qualify for the Mega Tier rebate of
$0.0035 per share, the Member would
have to add or route at least 2 million
shares of ADV during pre and posttrading hours and add a minimum of 35
million shares of ADV on EDGX in total,
including during both market hours and
pre and post-trading hours. The criteria
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for this tier is the most stringent as
fewer Members generally trade during
pre and post-trading hours because of
the limited time parameters associated
with these trading sessions, which
generally results in less liquidity. In
addition, the Exchange assigns a higher
value to this resting liquidity because
liquidity received prior to the regular
trading session typically remains
resident on the Exchange throughout the
remainder of the entire trading day.
Furthermore, liquidity received during
pre and post-trading hours is an
important contributor to price discovery
and acts as an important indication of
price for the market as a whole
considering the relative illiquidity of the
pre and post-trading hour sessions. The
Exchange believes that offering a higher
rebate incentivizes Members to provide
liquidity during these trading sessions.
In order to qualify for the next best
tier after the Mega Tier (at $0.0035), the
Market Depth Tier, a Member would
receive a rebate of $0.0033 per share for
displayed liquidity added on EDGX if
they post greater than or equal to 0.50%
of the TCV in ADV on EDGX, at least 2
million shares of which are NonDisplayed Orders that yield Flag HA on
EDGX in total. Assuming a TCV of 8
billion shares for July 2012, this would
amount to 40 million shares, at least 2
million shares of which are NonDisplayed Orders. The criteria for this
tier is less stringent then the proposed
volume thresholds for the Mega Tier
because Members must add a minimum
of 35 million shares of ADV in addition
to adding or routing at least 2 million
shares of ADV during pre and posttrading hours to earn a rebate of $0.0035
per share. As discussed, the criteria for
the Mega Tier is the most stringent as
fewer Members generally trade during
pre and post-trading hours because of
the limited time parameters associated
with these trading sessions, which
generally results in less liquidity.
The Exchange believes that its
proposal to discontinue the Tape B tiers
described in Footnote 1 on the
Exchange’s fee schedule represents an
equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees, and other charges among its
Members and other persons using its
facilities because the Exchange notes
that the Tape B tiered pricing has not
incentivized Members to add liquidity
to the EDGX book since its inception in
March 2012.14 Because the Tape B tiers
have not satisfied the justifications
behind their creation, such as deepening
EDGX’s liquidity pool, offering
14 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 66558
(March 9, 2012), 77 FR 15432 (March 15, 2012) (SR–
EDGX–2012–06).
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additional flexibility for all investors to
enjoy cost savings, supporting the
quality of price discovery, promoting
market transparency and improving
investor protection increasing volume,
the Exchange proposes to discontinue
the Tape B tiers and delete the
corresponding text from its fee
schedule. The Exchange notes that
Members will be subject to the current
tiered pricing structure on EDGX as a
result, which is reasonable and
equitable because more favorable rates
are associated with more stringent
criteria that are designed to incent
increased volume. In addition, the
Exchange also believes that these
proposed amendments are nondiscriminatory because they apply
uniformly to all Members.
The Exchange’s proposal to add
language to the top of its fee schedule
to state that it uses footnotes to provide
further explanatory text, or where
annotated to flags, to indicate variable
rate changes, provided the conditions in
the footnote are met, provides
additional transparency to Members
when reading the fee schedule. This is
in line with the Exchange’s proposal to
delete Footnote 12 that is appended to
Flags B, V, Y, 3, 4, HA and MM because
a rate change is not signified; thus, the
rates for Flags B, V, Y, 3, 4, HA and MM
do not change where an MPID achieves
an add liquidity ratio equal to or greater
than 10%. Similarly, the Exchange’s
proposal to delete footnote 6 that is
appended to Flag M also signifies that
a rate change is not signaled on Flag M.
The Exchange believes these
amendments support the Exchange’s
efforts to achieve consistent application
among the flags on the fee schedule. In
addition, these amendments support the
Exchange’s efforts to annotate flags with
footnotes to signify a potential rate
change, rather than annotating every
flag to denote which flags contribute
towards the volume threshold and/or
conditions necessary to achieve a
potential rate change. The Exchange
also believes that these proposed
amendments are non-discriminatory
because they apply to all Members.
The Exchange’s deletion of Footnote 1
that is appended to Flags HA and MM
in order to specify that these nondisplayed order types would not be
eligible for the increased rebates for
displayed orders in the tiers in Footnote
1 of the fee schedule is reasonable and
equitable since non-displayed liquidity
is not often eligible for the same rebates
that displayed liquidity qualifies for
because the Exchange places a higher
value on displayed liquidity because
displayed liquidity is a public good that
benefits investors and traders generally
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by providing greater price transparency
and enhancing public price discovery,
which ultimately lead to substantial
reductions in transaction costs.15 The
proposed change is non-discriminatory
because it applies uniformly to all
Members.
The Exchange also proposes to amend
the text of Footnote 12 to include Flag
PR, where Flag PR removes liquidity
from EDGX book using the ROUQ
routing strategy, as part of the ‘‘removal
flags.’’ 16 The Exchange notes that the
liquidity ratio is intended to capture the
PR removal flag as one of several
removal flags in the calculation of the
‘‘add liquidity’’ ratio. The Exchange
believes this amendment supports the
Exchange’s efforts to achieve consistent
application and specificity among the
flags on the fee schedule and provide
transparency for its Members. In SR–
EDGX–2011–31, the Exchange included
‘‘removal flags’’ in its calculation of the
‘‘add liquidity’’ ratio.17 Since Flag PR is
a removal flag, the Exchange believes it
is appropriate to include the removal
volume from Flag PR in its calculation
of the ‘‘add liquidity’’ ratio. The
Exchange also believes that these
proposed amendments are nondiscriminatory because they apply to all
Members.
The Exchange also notes that it
operates in a highly-competitive market
in which market participants can
readily direct order flow to competing
venues if they deem fee levels at a
particular venue to be excessive. The
proposed rule change reflects a
competitive pricing structure designed
to incent market participants to direct
their order flow to the Exchange. The
Exchange believes that the proposed
rates are equitable and nondiscriminatory in that they apply
uniformly to all Members. The
Exchange believes the fees and credits
remain competitive with those charged
by other venues and therefore continue
to be reasonable and equitably allocated
to Members.
15 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808
(June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496, 37516 (June 29, 2005);
See also Securities Exchange Act Release No. 42450
(February 23, 2000), 65 FR 10577, 10584 n. 53
(February 28, 2000) (SR–NYSE–99–48) (citing
academic studies finding that the required display
of customer limit orders, by providing greater price
transparency and enhancing public price discovery,
led to substantial reductions in transaction costs for
both retail and institutional investors).
16 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 65541
(October 12, 2011), 76 FR 64409 (October 18, 2011)
(SR–EDGX–2011–31).
17 Id.
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56893
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
This proposed rule change does not
impose 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
The Exchange has not solicited, and
does not intend to solicit, comments on
this proposed rule change. The
Exchange has not received any
unsolicited written comments from
Members or other interested parties.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3) of
the Act 18 and Rule 19b–4(f)(2) 19
thereunder. At any time within 60 days
of the filing of such 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 (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File
Number SR–EDGX–2012–39 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–EDGX–2012–39. 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
18 15
19 17
E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
14SEN1
56894
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 179 / Friday, September 14, 2012 / Notices
Internet Web site (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent
amendments, all written statements
with respect to the proposed rule
change that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the
proposed rule change between the
Commission and any person, other than
those that may be withheld from the
public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
available for Web site viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549, on official
business days between the hours of
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal
office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change;
the Commission does not edit personal
identifying information from
submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make
available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR–EDGX–
2012–39 and should be submitted on or
before October 5, 2012.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.20
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012–22643 Filed 9–13–12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–67812; File No. SR–NYSE–
2012–29]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; New
York Stock Exchange LLC; Order
Approving Proposed Rule Change
Amending NYSE Rule 76 To Add
Supplementary Material Relating to a
Cross Function That Provides a
Regulation NMS Rule 611—Compliant
Tool for Floor Brokers
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
September 10, 2012.
I. Introduction
On July 13, 2012, New York Stock
Exchange LLC (‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE ’’)
filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant
to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule
19b–4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule
change amending NYSE Rule 76 to add
20 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
1 15
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:39 Sep 13, 2012
Jkt 226001
supplementary material to provide Floor
Brokers with a new functionality
through which to effect manual cross
transactions of block size. The proposed
rule change was published for comment
in the Federal Register on July 27,
2012.3 The Commission received no
comment letters regarding the proposed
rule change. This order approves the
proposed rule change.
II. Description of the Proposal
Currently, the Floor Broker and
Designated Market Maker (‘‘DMM’’),
after announcing a proposed cross
transaction to the trading crowd,4 must
manually monitor the protected best bid
or offer to ensure that the proposed
cross can be executed in accordance
with the customer’s instructions and in
compliance with Rule 611 of Regulation
NMS (‘‘Rule 611’’).5 The Exchange
contends that, in today’s fast-moving
electronic markets, this manual
monitoring process may not be the
optimal manner by which to facilitate
and evidence compliance with Rule
611.
Accordingly, the Exchange proposes
to add a new Supplementary Material to
NYSE Rule 76.6 The proposed
Supplementary Material would allow
Floor Brokers to enter a cross
transaction into their hand held device
(‘‘HHD’’); the Exchange would provide a
quote minder function that would
monitor protected bids and offers to
3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67488
(July 23, 2012), 77 FR 44302 (‘‘Notice’’).
4 According to the Exchange, a DMM, on behalf
of a Floor Broker, will enter a cross transaction into
the Exchange’s Display Book system as a completed
transaction in situations where no one in the
trading crowd otherwise breaks up a proposed
cross. The completed transaction is printed to the
consolidated tape (‘‘Tape’’) at that price.
5 17 CFR 242.611. Commission staff has issued
guidance pertaining to the manual execution of
orders under staff FAQ 3.23 of Rule 611 (‘‘FAQ
3.23’’).
6 NYSE Rule 76 governs the execution of ‘‘cross’’
or ‘‘crossing’’ orders by Floor Brokers. NYSE Rule
76 applies only to manual transactions executed at
the point of sale on the trading floor and provides
that when a member has an order to buy and an
order to sell the same security that can be crossed
at the same price, the member is required to
announce to the trading crowd the proposed cross
by offering the security at a price that is higher than
his or her bid by a minimum variation permitted
in the security before crossing the orders. Any other
member, including the Designated Market Maker
(‘‘DMM’’), can break up the announced bid and
offer by trading with either side of the proposed
cross transaction. According to the Exchange, an
agency ‘‘cross’’ of 10,000 shares or more at or
between the Exchange best bid or offer has priority
and can only be broken up to provide price
improvement that is better than the cross price as
to all or part of such bid or offer. A buy and sell
order to be crossed pursuant to NYSE Rule 72(d) is
subject to Rule 76, including the requirement that
such a proposed cross be announced to the crowd.
See Notice, supra note 3 at 44302; see also, NYSE
Rule 72(d).
PO 00000
Frm 00087
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
determine when the limit price assigned
to the proposed crossed transaction is
such that the orders may be executed
consistent with Regulation NMS Rule
611.
When the trade can be effected at or
between the protected bid and offer, the
Exchange-provided quote minder will:
(i) Deliver an alert message to the Floor
Broker’s HHD indicating that the orders
may be crossed; (ii) capture a timestamped quote within Exchange systems
that includes the time that the alert was
sent to the HHD and the protected bid
and offer at that time; (iii) commence a
20-second timer from the moment a
cross trade may be executed at or
between the protected and bid offer; and
(iv) enable a print key function in the
HHD permitting the Floor Broker to
cross the orders and print the trade
through Exchange systems to the Tape
within that 20-second time period.
When the Floor Broker receives the
alert message mentioned above, the
Floor Broker must first announce the
proposed cross transaction to the
trading crowd; if the crowd or the DMM
does not break up the proposed cross
trade, the Floor Broker may then
execute the trade using the print key
function of the HHD before the
expiration of the 20-second time period.
The proposed Supplementary
Material would require the proposed
cross transaction to consist of at least
10,000 shares or a quantity of stock
having a market value of $200,000 or
more. Further, the proposed cross
transaction may not be for the account
of the member or member organization,
an account of an associated person, or
an account with respect to which the
member, member organization or
associated person exercises investment
discretion. The Exchange has
represented that this restriction would
help ensure that the functionality would
not be used for affiliated principal order
flow.
III. Discussion and Commission
Findings
After careful review, the Commission
finds that the proposed rule change is
consistent with the requirements of the
Act and the rules and regulations
thereunder applicable to a national
securities exchange.7 Specifically, the
Commission finds that the proposed
rule change is consistent with Section
6(b)(5) of the Act,8 in that it is designed
to foster cooperation and coordination
with persons engaged in regulating,
7 In approving this proposed rule change, the
Commission has considered the proposed rule’s
impact on efficiency, competition and capital
formation. 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM
14SEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 179 (Friday, September 14, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56890-56894]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-22643]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-67818; File No. SR-EDGX-2012-39]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Relating to
Amendments to the EDGX Exchange, Inc. Fee Schedule
September 10, 2012.
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 August 31, 2012 the EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or
the ``EDGX'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II
and III below, which items have been prepared by the self-regulatory
organization. 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
The Exchange proposes to amend its fees and rebates applicable to
Members \3\ of the Exchange pursuant to EDGX Rule 15.1(a) and (c). All
of the changes described herein are applicable to EDGX Members. The
text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's
Internet Web site at https://www.directedge.com, at the Exchange's
principal office, and at the Public Reference Room of the Commission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ As defined in Exchange Rule 1.5(n).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 self-regulatory organization
included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the
proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the
proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at
the places specified in Item IV below. The self-regulatory organization
has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B and C below, of the
most significant aspects of such statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to append Footnote 1 to Flag PI, where Flag
PI removes liquidity from the EDGX book against the Midpoint Match.
This charge would signal a rate change for Flag PI if the conditions
for achieving the Mega Tier \4\ are not satisfied. The Exchange also
proposes to amend the text of Footnote 1 to add Flags BB and PI to the
list of removal flags and to add text to specify that Members that do
not meet the thresholds for the Mega Tier in the first paragraph of
Footnote 1 will be charged the standard removal rate of $0.0030 per
share.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The Mega Tier conditions are discussed below in this filing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange proposes to assess a fee of $0.0006 per share in lieu
of the current rebate of $0.0003 per share for Members who utilize Flag
RA to route orders to EDGA Exchange, Inc. (``EDGA'') and add liquidity.
The Exchange also proposes to offer a rebate of $0.0004 per share in
lieu of the current charge of $0.0007 per share for Members who utilize
Flag RR to route orders to EDGA using routing strategies IOCX or IOCT
on EDGX and remove liquidity from EDGA. These proposed changes
represent pass-throughs of the Exchange's rates for routing orders to
EDGA via its affiliated routing broker-dealer, Direct Edge ECN LLC d/b/
a DE Route (``DE Route''), and these proposed changes are in response
to pricing changes in EDGA's filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the ``SEC'').\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See SR-EDGA-2012-39 (August 30, 2012).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange proposes to delete Flag RM from the fee schedule.
Accordingly, Members that route to the Chicago Stock Exchange (the
``CHX'') will be assessed the default charge for routing liquidity of
$0.0029 per share, as represented by Flag X.
The Exchange proposes to increase the rebate and to modify the
thresholds associated with the Mega Tier in Footnote 1. The Exchange
proposes to offer Members a rebate of $0.0035 per share for all
liquidity posted on EDGX where Members add or route at least 2 million
shares of average daily volume (``ADV'') prior to 9:30 a.m. or after
4:00 p.m. (includes all flags except 6) and add a minimum of 35 million
shares of ADV on EDGX in total, including during both market hours and
pre and post-trading hours. Members will continue to also qualify for
the Mega Tier but will earn a rebate of $0.0032 per share for all
liquidity posted on EDGX if they add or route at least 4 million shares
of ADV prior to 9:30 a.m. or after 4:00 p.m. (includes all flags except
6) and add a minimum of .20% of the Total Consolidated Volume (``TCV'')
on a daily basis measured monthly, including during both market hours
and pre and post-trading hours.
The Exchange proposes to discontinue the Tape B tiers described in
Footnote 1 on the Exchange's fee schedule. Accordingly, the Exchange
proposes to delete the following language from its fee schedule:
``Members can qualify for the Mega Tape B Tier and be provided a
$0.0034 rebate per share for liquidity added on EDGX in Tape B
securities if the Member on a daily basis, measured monthly: (i) Posts
greater than or equal to .10% of the TCV in ADV more than their January
2012 ADV added to EDGX; and (ii) posts greater than or equal to .10% of
the TCV in ADV in Tape B securities more than their January 2012 ADV
added to EDGX.'' In addition, the Exchange also proposes to delete the
following language from its fee schedule: ``Members can qualify for the
Mini Tape B Tier and be provided a $0.0030 rebate per share for
liquidity added on EDGX in Tape B securities if the Member on a daily
basis, measured
[[Page 56891]]
monthly: (i) Posts greater than or equal to .05% of the TCV in ADV more
than their January 2012 ADV added to EDGX; and (ii) posts greater than
or equal to .05% of the TCV in ADV in Tape B securities more than their
January 2012 ADV added to EDGX.'' As a result of the discontinuation of
the Tape B tiers in Footnote 1, Tape B securities do not have a
specific tier and are subject to the remaining EDGX tier structure, as
applicable.
The Exchange proposes to codify on the top of its fee schedule the
premise that it uses footnotes to provide further explanatory text or,
where annotated to flags, to indicate variable rate changes, provided
the conditions in the footnote are met. In connection with this
premise, the Exchange proposes to delete Footnote 12 that is appended
to Flags B, V, Y, 3, 4, HA and MM because the rates for Flags B, V, Y,
3, 4, HA and MM \6\ do not change where a Market Participant Identifier
(``MPID'') achieves an add liquidity ratio equal to or greater than
10%. The Exchange will continue to append Footnote 12 to Flags N, W, 6,
BB and PI, which denotes that the Exchange will charge a removal rate
of $0.0029 per share where an MPID achieves an add liquidity ratio
equal to or greater than 10%. Finally, the Exchange proposes to delete
Footnote 6 that is appended to Flag M to also signify that a rate
change is not signaled.\7\ These amendments support the Exchange's
efforts to annotate flags with footnotes to signify a potential rate
change, rather than annotating every flag to denote which flags
contribute towards the volume threshold and/or conditions necessary to
achieve a potential rate change.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ The Exchange notes that the volume from these flags will
count towards achieving the add liquidity ratio in Footnote 12 of
the Exchange's fee schedule.
\7\ The Exchange notes that the volume from Flag M counts toward
the tier in Footnote 6, which changes the rate charged on Flag U.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange proposes to delete Footnote 1 that is appended to
Flags HA and MM in order to specify that these non-displayed order
types would not be eligible for the increased rebates for displayed
orders in the tiers in Footnote 1 of the Exchange's fee schedule.
Rather, Flag HA is rebated $0.0015 per share and Flag MM is charged
$0.0012 per share, regardless of whether the tiers in Footnote 1 are
met.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ However, the Exchange notes that the volume from these flags
will count towards the volume required to earn the rebates
associated with the tiered pricing in Footnote 1; the rates for
Flags HA and MM do not change.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange also proposes to amend the text of Footnote 12 to
include Flag PR, where Flag PR removes liquidity from the EDGX book
using the ROUQ routing strategy, as part of the ``removal flags.'' \9\
These removal flags are used to calculate whether an MPID satisfied the
``add liquidity'' ratio calculation \10\ to qualify for a removal rate
of $0.0029 per share instead of $0.0030 per share.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67379 (July 10,
2012), 77 FR 41864 (July 16, 2012) (SR-EDGX-2012-26) (introducing
Flag PR to the Exchange's fee schedule for orders that remove
liquidity from the EDGX book using the ROUQ routing strategy).
\10\ The ``add liquidity'' ratio is the ratio of the ``added''
flags/(``added'' flags + ``removal'' flags) x 100. If the resulting
ratio is equal to or greater than 10%, the MPID qualifies for the
lower rate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange proposes to implement these amendments to its fee
schedule on September 1, 2012.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,\11\ in general, and
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4),\12\ in particular, as it is
designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees and other charges among its Members and other persons using its
facilities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
\12\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange believes that its proposal to append Footnote 1 to
Flag PI, to make changes to the text of Footnote 1 to add Flags BB and
PI to the list of removal flags, and to specify the default rate of
$0.0030 per share (if the Mega tier's conditions are not met) will
incentivize Members to add liquidity to the Exchange. In turn, by
posting liquidity, Members using these flags will achieve the
discounted removal charge of $0.0029 per share for meeting the tier's
conditions rather than the default charge of $0.0030 per share. Such
amendment represents an equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees,
and other charges because the resulting increased volume increases
potential revenue to the Exchange, and would allow the Exchange to
spread its administrative and infrastructure costs over a greater
number of shares, leading to lower per share costs. In addition, by
providing the ability to obtain the lower removal charge, which is a
more favorable rate, the Exchange is encouraging posting of liquidity,
which benefits the market as a whole by contributing to increased price
discovery and market depth. These lower per share costs in turn would
allow the Exchange to pass on the savings to Members in the form of
lower fees (for example, $0.0029 per share for Flags BB and PI instead
of $0.0030 per share). The increased liquidity benefits all investors
by deepening EDGX's liquidity pool, offering additional flexibility for
all investors to enjoy cost savings, supporting the quality of price
discovery, promoting market transparency and improving investor
protection. Discounts based on volume such as the one proposed herein
have been widely adopted in the cash equities markets, and are
equitable because they are open to all Members on an equal basis and
provide discounts that are reasonably related to the value to an
exchange's market quality associated with higher levels of market
activity, such as higher levels of liquidity provision and introduction
of higher volumes of orders into the price and volume discovery
processes. In addition, the Exchange also believes that these proposed
amendments are non-discriminatory because they apply uniformly to all
Members.
The rates and rebates associated with routing orders to EDGA
through DE Route on the Exchange's fee schedule are pass-through rates
from DE Route to the Exchange and represent an equitable allocation of
reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among Members of the Exchange
and other persons using its facilities because the Exchange does not
levy additional fees or offer additional rebates for orders that it
routes to EDGA through DE Route. The Exchange notes that routing
through DE Route is voluntary and DE Route is treated like any other
Member of EDGA. Currently, for orders yielding Flag RA, EDGA rebates DE
Route $0.0003 per share, which, in turn, is passed through to the
Exchange. The Exchange, in turn, rebates its Members $0.0003 per share
as a pass-through. In EDGA's September 1, 2012 fee filing, SR-EDGA-
2012-39, EDGA proposed to amend the rate it charges its Members, such
as DE Route, for orders that are routed to EDGA and add liquidity to
$0.0006 per share. Therefore, the Exchange believes that the proposed
change for Flag RA from a rebate of $0.0003 per share to a charge of
$0.0006 per share is equitable and reasonable because it accounts for
the pricing changes on EDGA. In addition, the proposal allows the
Exchange to continue to charge its Members a pass-through rate for
routing orders to EDGA via DE Route that add liquidity. Lastly, the
Exchange also believes that the proposed amendment is non-
discriminatory because it applies uniformly to all Members.
Similarly, for orders yielding Flag RR, EDGA currently charges its
Members, such as DE Route, $0.0007 per share, which, in turn it passes
through to the Exchange. The Exchange, in turn, charges its Members
$0.0007 per share as a pass-through. In EDGA's September 1, 2012 fee
filing, SR-EDGA-2012-39,
[[Page 56892]]
EDGA proposed to amend the rate it charges its Members for orders that
are routed to EDGA using routing strategies IOCX or IOCT on EDGX and
remove liquidity from EDGA to a rebate of $0.0004 per share. Therefore,
the Exchange believes that the proposed change for Flag RR from a
charge of $0.0007 per share to a rebate of $0.0004 per share is
equitable and reasonable because it accounts for the pricing changes on
EDGA. In addition, the proposal allows the Exchange to continue to
charge its Members a pass-through rate for routing orders to EDGA using
routing strategies IOCX or IOCT on EDGX and that remove liquidity from
EDGA. Lastly, the Exchange also believes that the proposed amendment is
non-discriminatory because it applies uniformly to all Members.
Exchange Rule 11.9(b)(3) defines the ``System routing table'' as
the proprietary process for determining the specific trading venues to
which the System \13\ routes orders and the order in which the System
routes to them. Specifically, the Exchange reserves the right to
maintain a different System routing table for different routing options
and to modify the System routing table at any time without notice. The
Exchange proposes to delete the CHX as a posting destination on the
System routing table. The Exchange previously charged no fee nor
assessed a rebate to its Members when DE Route routed to the CHX. This
was a pass through by the Exchange of the no rebate/fee provided to DE
Route by CHX when liquidity was added to CHX. Since CHX is no longer on
the System routing table, the Exchange proposes to delete Flag RM from
the Exchange's fee schedule. The Exchange notes that it will continue
to comply with its obligations under Regulation NMS; however, it will
not continue to offer Flag RM as a routing strategy to post liquidity
to the CHX. Rather, the Exchange will now pass back Flag X ($0.0029
charge per share) as the standard default routing flag should an order
be routed to CHX as a result of the Exchange's Regulation NMS
obligations. The Exchange believes that the proposed amendment is non-
discriminatory because it applies uniformly to all Members.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ See Exchange Rule 1.5(cc).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange believes that its proposal to increase the rebate and
modify the thresholds associated with the Mega Tier in Footnote 1,
where the Exchange proposes to increase the rebate to $0.0035 per share
for all liquidity posted on EDGX and to modify the volume thresholds
for Members that add or route at least 2 million shares of ADV during
pre and post-trading hours and add a minimum of 35 million shares of
ADV on EDGX in total, represents an equitable allocation of reasonable
dues, fees, and other charges because it incentivizes Members to add
liquidity to the EDGX book. Furthermore, such increased volume
increases potential revenue to the Exchange, and would allow the
Exchange to spread its administrative and infrastructure costs over a
greater number of shares, leading to lower per share costs. These lower
per share costs in turn would allow the Exchange to pass on the savings
to Members in the form of higher rebates and lower fees. The increased
liquidity benefits all investors by deepening EDGX's liquidity pool,
offering additional flexibility for all investors to enjoy cost
savings, supporting the quality of price discovery, promoting market
transparency and improving investor protection. Volume-based rebates
such as the one proposed herein have been widely adopted in the cash
equities markets, and are equitable because they are open to all
Members on an equal basis and provide discounts that are reasonably
related to the value to an exchange's market quality associated with
higher levels of market activity, such as higher levels of liquidity
provision and introduction of higher volumes of orders into the price
and volume discovery processes. In addition, the Exchange also believes
that these proposed amendments are non-discriminatory because they
apply uniformly to all Members.
The Exchange also believes that the rebate of $0.0035 per share and
volume thresholds that require Members to add or route at least 2
million shares of ADV during pre and post-trading hours and to add a
minimum of 35 million shares of ADV on EDGX in total also represent an
equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges since
higher rebates are directly correlated with more stringent criteria.
As proposed, the Mega Tier rebate of $0.0035 per share will
continue to have the most stringent criteria associated with it, and
Members will receive $0.0002 more per share than the next best tiered
rebate, the Market Depth Tier ($0.0033 per share).
For example, in order for a Member to qualify for the Mega Tier
rebate of $0.0035 per share, the Member would have to add or route at
least 2 million shares of ADV during pre and post-trading hours and add
a minimum of 35 million shares of ADV on EDGX in total, including
during both market hours and pre and post-trading hours. The criteria
for this tier is the most stringent as fewer Members generally trade
during pre and post-trading hours because of the limited time
parameters associated with these trading sessions, which generally
results in less liquidity. In addition, the Exchange assigns a higher
value to this resting liquidity because liquidity received prior to the
regular trading session typically remains resident on the Exchange
throughout the remainder of the entire trading day. Furthermore,
liquidity received during pre and post-trading hours is an important
contributor to price discovery and acts as an important indication of
price for the market as a whole considering the relative illiquidity of
the pre and post-trading hour sessions. The Exchange believes that
offering a higher rebate incentivizes Members to provide liquidity
during these trading sessions.
In order to qualify for the next best tier after the Mega Tier (at
$0.0035), the Market Depth Tier, a Member would receive a rebate of
$0.0033 per share for displayed liquidity added on EDGX if they post
greater than or equal to 0.50% of the TCV in ADV on EDGX, at least 2
million shares of which are Non-Displayed Orders that yield Flag HA on
EDGX in total. Assuming a TCV of 8 billion shares for July 2012, this
would amount to 40 million shares, at least 2 million shares of which
are Non-Displayed Orders. The criteria for this tier is less stringent
then the proposed volume thresholds for the Mega Tier because Members
must add a minimum of 35 million shares of ADV in addition to adding or
routing at least 2 million shares of ADV during pre and post-trading
hours to earn a rebate of $0.0035 per share. As discussed, the criteria
for the Mega Tier is the most stringent as fewer Members generally
trade during pre and post-trading hours because of the limited time
parameters associated with these trading sessions, which generally
results in less liquidity.
The Exchange believes that its proposal to discontinue the Tape B
tiers described in Footnote 1 on the Exchange's fee schedule represents
an equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges
among its Members and other persons using its facilities because the
Exchange notes that the Tape B tiered pricing has not incentivized
Members to add liquidity to the EDGX book since its inception in March
2012.\14\ Because the Tape B tiers have not satisfied the
justifications behind their creation, such as deepening EDGX's
liquidity pool, offering
[[Page 56893]]
additional flexibility for all investors to enjoy cost savings,
supporting the quality of price discovery, promoting market
transparency and improving investor protection increasing volume, the
Exchange proposes to discontinue the Tape B tiers and delete the
corresponding text from its fee schedule. The Exchange notes that
Members will be subject to the current tiered pricing structure on EDGX
as a result, which is reasonable and equitable because more favorable
rates are associated with more stringent criteria that are designed to
incent increased volume. In addition, the Exchange also believes that
these proposed amendments are non-discriminatory because they apply
uniformly to all Members.
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\14\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 66558 (March 9,
2012), 77 FR 15432 (March 15, 2012) (SR-EDGX-2012-06).
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The Exchange's proposal to add language to the top of its fee
schedule to state that it uses footnotes to provide further explanatory
text, or where annotated to flags, to indicate variable rate changes,
provided the conditions in the footnote are met, provides additional
transparency to Members when reading the fee schedule. This is in line
with the Exchange's proposal to delete Footnote 12 that is appended to
Flags B, V, Y, 3, 4, HA and MM because a rate change is not signified;
thus, the rates for Flags B, V, Y, 3, 4, HA and MM do not change where
an MPID achieves an add liquidity ratio equal to or greater than 10%.
Similarly, the Exchange's proposal to delete footnote 6 that is
appended to Flag M also signifies that a rate change is not signaled on
Flag M. The Exchange believes these amendments support the Exchange's
efforts to achieve consistent application among the flags on the fee
schedule. In addition, these amendments support the Exchange's efforts
to annotate flags with footnotes to signify a potential rate change,
rather than annotating every flag to denote which flags contribute
towards the volume threshold and/or conditions necessary to achieve a
potential rate change. The Exchange also believes that these proposed
amendments are non-discriminatory because they apply to all Members.
The Exchange's deletion of Footnote 1 that is appended to Flags HA
and MM in order to specify that these non-displayed order types would
not be eligible for the increased rebates for displayed orders in the
tiers in Footnote 1 of the fee schedule is reasonable and equitable
since non-displayed liquidity is not often eligible for the same
rebates that displayed liquidity qualifies for because the Exchange
places a higher value on displayed liquidity because displayed
liquidity is a public good that benefits investors and traders
generally by providing greater price transparency and enhancing public
price discovery, which ultimately lead to substantial reductions in
transaction costs.\15\ The proposed change is non-discriminatory
because it applies uniformly to all Members.
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\15\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37516 (June 29, 2005); See also Securities
Exchange Act Release No. 42450 (February 23, 2000), 65 FR 10577,
10584 n. 53 (February 28, 2000) (SR-NYSE-99-48) (citing academic
studies finding that the required display of customer limit orders,
by providing greater price transparency and enhancing public price
discovery, led to substantial reductions in transaction costs for
both retail and institutional investors).
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The Exchange also proposes to amend the text of Footnote 12 to
include Flag PR, where Flag PR removes liquidity from EDGX book using
the ROUQ routing strategy, as part of the ``removal flags.'' \16\ The
Exchange notes that the liquidity ratio is intended to capture the PR
removal flag as one of several removal flags in the calculation of the
``add liquidity'' ratio. The Exchange believes this amendment supports
the Exchange's efforts to achieve consistent application and
specificity among the flags on the fee schedule and provide
transparency for its Members. In SR-EDGX-2011-31, the Exchange included
``removal flags'' in its calculation of the ``add liquidity''
ratio.\17\ Since Flag PR is a removal flag, the Exchange believes it is
appropriate to include the removal volume from Flag PR in its
calculation of the ``add liquidity'' ratio. The Exchange also believes
that these proposed amendments are non-discriminatory because they
apply to all Members.
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\16\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 65541 (October 12,
2011), 76 FR 64409 (October 18, 2011) (SR-EDGX-2011-31).
\17\ Id.
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The Exchange also notes that it operates in a highly-competitive
market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be
excessive. The proposed rule change reflects a competitive pricing
structure designed to incent market participants to direct their order
flow to the Exchange. The Exchange believes that the proposed rates are
equitable and non-discriminatory in that they apply uniformly to all
Members. The Exchange believes the fees and credits remain competitive
with those charged by other venues and therefore continue to be
reasonable and equitably allocated to Members.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
This proposed rule change does not impose 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
The Exchange has not solicited, and does not intend to solicit,
comments on this proposed rule change. The Exchange has not received
any unsolicited written comments from Members or other interested
parties.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section
19(b)(3) of the Act \18\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \19\ thereunder. At any
time within 60 days of the filing of such proposed rule change, the
Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule change if it
appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate
in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
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\18\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\19\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
Use the Commission's Internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an email to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please
include File Number SR-EDGX-2012-39 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-EDGX-2012-39. 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
[[Page 56894]]
Internet Web site (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements with
respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with the Commission,
and all written communications relating to the proposed rule change
between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be
withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C.
552, will be available for Web site viewing and printing in the
Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC
20549, on official business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and
3:00 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection
and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change; the Commission does not edit
personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit
only information that you wish to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File Number SR-EDGX-2012-39 and should be
submitted on or before October 5, 2012.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\20\
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
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\20\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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[FR Doc. 2012-22643 Filed 9-13-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P