Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Schedule of Fees, 69501-69503 [2013-27625]
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Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2013 / 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 Section, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549–1090, on official
business days between the hours of
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
filing will also be available for
inspection and copying at the
Exchange’s principal office and on its
Internet Web site at www.nyse.com. 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–NYSEMKT–2013–89 and
should be submitted on or before
December 10, 2013.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.13
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013–27630 Filed 11–18–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–70859; File No. SR–ISE–
2013–54]
Self-Regulatory Organizations;
International Securities Exchange,
LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate
Effectiveness of Proposed Rule
Change To Amend the Schedule of
Fees
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
November 13, 2013.
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 November
1, 2013, the International Securities
Exchange, LLC (the ‘‘Exchange’’ or the
‘‘ISE’’) filed with the Securities and
Exchange 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.
13 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
1 15
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17:21 Nov 18, 2013
Jkt 232001
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The ISE proposes to decrease its
Options Regulatory Fee. The text of the
proposed rule change is available on the
Exchange’s Web site (https://
www.ise.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
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 decrease its
Options Regulatory Fee (‘‘ORF’’). The
Exchange has reevaluated the current
amount of the ORF in light of increased
trading volumes year-to-date. In order to
ensure that revenue collected from the
ORF, in combination with other
regulatory fees and fines, does not
exceed the Exchange’s total regulatory
costs, the Exchange is proposing to
decrease the ORF from $0.0042 per
contract to $0.0039 per contract. The
Exchange is also proposing to remove
language from its Schedule of Fees that
indicates that the ORF is effective
starting on January 1, 2010 as this
effective date has passed.
The ORF is designed to recover a
material portion of the costs to the
Exchange of the supervision and
regulation of members’ customer
options business, including performing
routine surveillance and investigations,
as well as policy, rulemaking,
interpretive and enforcement activities.
The Exchange believes that revenue
generated from the proposed ORF, when
combined with all of the Exchange’s
other regulatory fees and fines, will
cover a material portion, but not all, of
the Exchange’s regulatory costs. The
Exchange notes that its regulatory
responsibilities with respect to member
compliance with options sales practice
rules have been allocated to the
PO 00000
Frm 00140
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
69501
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
(‘‘FINRA’’) under a 17d–2 Agreement.
The ORF is not designed to cover the
cost of options sales practice regulation.
The ORF is assessed by the Exchange
to each member for all options
transactions in both Standard Options
and Mini Options executed or cleared
by the member that are cleared by The
Options Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’)
in the customer range, i.e., transactions
that clear in the customer account of the
member’s clearing firm at OCC,
regardless of the exchange on which the
transaction occurs. In other words, ISE
imposes the ORF on all customer-range
transactions executed by a member,
even if the transactions do not take
place on the Exchange.3 The ORF also
is charged for transactions that are not
executed by a member but are
ultimately cleared by a member. In the
case where a non-member executes a
transaction and a member clears the
transaction, the ORF will be assessed to
the member who clears the transaction.
In the case where a member executes a
transaction and another member clears
the transaction, the ORF will similarly
be assessed to the member who clears
the transaction.
The ORF is collected indirectly from
members through their clearing firms by
OCC on behalf of the Exchange. As a
practical matter, it is not feasible or
reasonable for the Exchange (or any
SRO) to identify each executing member
that submits an order on a trade-bytrade basis. There are countless
executing market participants, and each
day such participants can and often do
drop their connection to one market
center and establish themselves as
participants on another. It is virtually
impossible for any exchange to identify
each executing participant on a given
trading day. Clearing members,
however, are distinguished from
executing participants because they
remain identified to the Exchange
regardless of the identity of the
initiating executing participant, their
location, and the market center on
which they execute transactions.
Therefore, the Exchange believes it is
more efficient for the operation of the
Exchange and for the marketplace as a
whole to collect the ORF indirectly from
members through their clearing firms.
The Exchange also believes that its
broad regulatory responsibilities with
respect to a member’s activities supports
3 Exchange rules require each member to submit
trade information in order to allow the Exchange to
properly prioritize and match orders and quotations
and report resulting transactions to the OCC. See
ISE Rule 712. The Exchange represents that it has
surveillance in place to verify that members comply
with the rule.
E:\FR\FM\19NON1.SGM
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TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
69502
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2013 / Notices
applying the ORF to transactions
cleared but not executed by a member.
The Exchange’s regulatory
responsibilities are the same regardless
of whether a member executes a
transaction or clears a transaction
executed on its behalf. The Exchange
regularly reviews all such activities,
including performing surveillance for
position limit violations, manipulation,
front-running, contrary exercise advice
violations and insider trading.
The Exchange further believes it is
reasonable and appropriate for the
Exchange to charge the ORF for options
transactions regardless of the exchange
on which the transactions occur. The
Exchange has a statutory obligation to
enforce compliance by members and
their associated persons under the Act
and the rules of the Exchange, and to
surveil for other manipulative conduct
by market participants (including nonmembers) trading on the Exchange.
Many of the Exchange’s market
surveillance programs require the
Exchange to look at and evaluate
activity across all options markets, such
as surveillance for position limit
violations, manipulation, front-running
and contrary exercise advice violations/
expiring exercise declarations. The
Exchange cannot effectively surveil for
such conduct without looking at and
evaluating activity across all options
markets. Also, the Exchange and the
other options exchanges are required to
populate a consolidated options audit
trail (‘‘COATS’’) system in order to
surveil a member’s activities across
markets.4
The Exchange believes that charging
the ORF across markets will avoid
having members direct their trades to
other markets in order to avoid the fee
and to thereby avoid paying for their fair
share for regulation. If the ORF did not
apply to activity across markets then a
member would send their orders to the
least cost, least regulated exchange.
Other exchanges do impose a similar fee
on their member’s activity, including
the activity of those members on the
ISE.5
The Exchange will continue to
monitor the amount of revenue
collected from the ORF to ensure that it,
in combination with its other regulatory
fees and fines, does not exceed the
Exchange’s total regulatory costs. The
Exchange expects to monitor its
4 COATS effectively enhances intermarket
options surveillance by enabling the options
exchanges to promptly reconstruct the market to
effectively surveil certain rules.
5 See e.g. Securities Exchange Act Release Nos.
61133 (Dec. 9, 2009), 74 FR 66715 (December 16,
2009) (SR–Phlx–2009–100); 68711 (Jan. 23, 2013),
78 FR 6155 (Jan. 29, 2013) (SR–MIAX–2013–01)).
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:21 Nov 18, 2013
Jkt 232001
regulatory costs and revenues at a
minimum on an annual basis. If the
Exchange determines regulatory
revenues exceed regulatory costs, the
Exchange will adjust the ORF by
submitting a fee change filing to the
Commission. The Exchange will notify
members of adjustments to the ORF via
circular.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that its
proposal to amend its Schedule of Fees
is consistent with Section 6(b) of the
Exchange Act 6 in general, and furthers
the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of the
Exchange Act 7 in particular, in that it is
an equitable allocation of reasonable
dues, fees and other charges among
Exchange members and other persons
using its facilities. The Exchange
believes that the proposed fee is
reasonable in that it would help the
Exchange to ensure that revenue
collected from the ORF, in combination
with other regulatory fees and fines,
does not exceed the Exchange’s total
regulatory costs in light of increased
trading volumes. The Exchange has
designed the ORF to generate revenues
that, when combined with all of the
Exchange’s other regulatory fees, will be
less than or equal to the Exchange’s
regulatory costs, which is consistent
with the Commission’s view that
regulatory fees be used for regulatory
purposes and not to support the
Exchange’s business.
The Exchange believes the ORF is
equitable and not unfairly
discriminatory because it is objectively
allocated to members in that it is
charged to all members on all their
transactions that clear as customer at the
OCC. Moreover, the Exchange believes
the ORF ensures fairness by assessing
fees to those members that require more
Exchange regulatory services based on
the amount of customer options
business they conduct. Regulating
customer trading activity is much more
labor intensive and requires greater
expenditure of human and technical
resources than regulating non-customer
trading activity, which tends to be more
automated and less labor-intensive. As a
result, the costs associated with
administering the customer component
of the Exchange’s overall regulatory
program are materially higher than the
costs associated with administering the
non-customer component of its
regulatory program (e.g., member
proprietary transactions).
6 15
7 15
PO 00000
U.S.C. 78f(b).
U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
Frm 00141
Fmt 4703
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
The proposed rule change does not
impose any burden on competition that
is not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
The proposed rule change is not
designed to address any competitive
issues. Rather, the proposed rule change
is designed to help the Exchange to
adequately fund its regulatory activities
while seeking to ensure that total
regulatory revenues do not exceed total
regulatory costs.
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)(A)(ii) of the Act 8 and
subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b–4
thereunder,9 because it establishes a
due, fee, or other charge imposed by
ISE.
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. 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 (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
ISE–2013–54 on the subject line.
8 15
9 17
Sfmt 4703
E:\FR\FM\19NON1.SGM
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
19NON1
Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2013 / Notices
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–ISE–2013–54. 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 (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–ISE–
2013–54 and should be submitted on or
before December 10, 2013.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.10
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013–27625 Filed 11–18–13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–70871; File No. SR–
NYSEArca–2013–118]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed
Rule Change, As Modified By
Amendment No. 1 Thereto, To List and
Trade of Shares of the Market Vectors
Short High-Yield Municipal Index ETF
Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule
5.2(j)(3), Commentary .02
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3
notice is hereby given that, on October
30, 2013, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE Arca’’) filed with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the
proposed rule change as described in
Items I and II below, which Items have
been prepared by the self-regulatory
organization. On November 8, 2013, the
Exchange filed Amendment No. 1 to the
proposed rule change.4 The Commission
is publishing this notice to solicit
comments on the proposed rule change,
as modified by Amendment No. 1
thereto, from interested persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to list and
trade under NYSE Arca Equities Rule
5.2(j)(3), Commentary .02, the shares of
the Market Vectors Short High-Yield
Municipal Index ETF. The text of the
proposed rule change is available on the
Exchange’s Web site at www.nyse.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
self-regulatory organization included
statements concerning the purpose of,
and basis for, the proposed rule change
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
U.S.C. 78a.
3 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
4 By Amendment No. 1, the Exchange: (1) Deleted
a sentence relating to the Fund holding depositary
receipts and to-be-announced transactions; (2)
added a phrase that states that the Administrator,
through the NSCC, will make available Indicative
Per Share Portfolio Value on a continuous basis
throughout the day; (3) made clarifying changes to
reflect that the Fund will limit itself to holding up
to 15% of its net assets in illiquid assets, not just
illiquid securities; and (4) modified certain crossreferences.
TKELLEY on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
2 15
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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17:21 Nov 18, 2013
Jkt 232001
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Frm 00142
Fmt 4703
and discussed any comments it received
on the proposed rule change. The text
of those 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 the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
November 14, 2013.
1 15
10 17
69503
Sfmt 4703
The Exchange proposes to list and
trade shares (‘‘Shares’’) of the Market
Vectors Short High Yield Municipal
Index ETF (‘‘Fund’’) under NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3), Commentary .02,
which governs the listing and trading of
Investment Company Units (‘‘Units’’)
based on fixed income securities
indexes.5 The Fund is a series of the
Market Vectors ETF Trust (‘‘Trust’’).6
Van Eck Associates Corporation will
be the investment adviser (‘‘Adviser’’)
for the Fund. Van Eck Securities
Corporation will be the Fund’s
distributor (‘‘Distributor’’). Van Eck
Associates Corporation also will be the
administrator for the Fund (the
‘‘Administrator’’), and will be
responsible for certain clerical,
recordkeeping and/or bookkeeping
services. The Bank of New York Mellon
will be the custodian of the Fund’s
assets and provides transfer agency and
fund accounting services to the Fund.
The investment objective of the Fund
will be to seek to replicate as closely as
possible, before fees and expenses, the
price and yield performance of the
Barclays Municipal High Yield Short
Duration Index (the ‘‘Short High Yield
Index’’ or ‘‘Index’’). The Fund
5 The Commission previously has approved a
proposed rule change relating to listing and trading
on the Exchange of Units based on municipal bond
indexes. See Securities Exchange Act Release No.
67985 (October 4, 2012), 77 FR 61804 (October 11,
2012) (SR–NYSEArca–2012–92) (order approving
proposed rule change relating to the listing and
trading of iShares 2018 S&P AMT-Free Municipal
Series and iShares 2019 S&P AMT-Free Municipal
Series under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3),
Commentary .02).
6 On August 27, 2012, the Trust filed an
amendment to its registration statement on Form
N–1A under the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C.
77a) and the Investment Company Act of 1940
(‘‘1940 Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 80a–1) (File Nos. 333–
123257 and 811–10325) (the ‘‘Registration
Statement’’). The description of the operation of the
Trust and the Fund herein is based, in part, on the
Registration Statement. In addition, the
Commission has issued an order granting certain
exemptive relief to the Trust under the 1940 Act.
See Investment Company Act Release No. 28021
(October 24, 2007) (File No. 812–13426)
(‘‘Exemptive Order’’).
E:\FR\FM\19NON1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 223 (Tuesday, November 19, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69501-69503]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-27625]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-70859; File No. SR-ISE-2013-54]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange,
LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule
Change To Amend the Schedule of Fees
November 13, 2013.
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 November 1, 2013, the International Securities Exchange, LLC
(the ``Exchange'' or the ``ISE'') filed with the Securities and
Exchange 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 ISE proposes to decrease its Options Regulatory Fee. The text
of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site
(https://www.ise.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 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 decrease its Options Regulatory Fee
(``ORF''). The Exchange has reevaluated the current amount of the ORF
in light of increased trading volumes year-to-date. In order to ensure
that revenue collected from the ORF, in combination with other
regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed the Exchange's total
regulatory costs, the Exchange is proposing to decrease the ORF from
$0.0042 per contract to $0.0039 per contract. The Exchange is also
proposing to remove language from its Schedule of Fees that indicates
that the ORF is effective starting on January 1, 2010 as this effective
date has passed.
The ORF is designed to recover a material portion of the costs to
the Exchange of the supervision and regulation of members' customer
options business, including performing routine surveillance and
investigations, as well as policy, rulemaking, interpretive and
enforcement activities. The Exchange believes that revenue generated
from the proposed ORF, when combined with all of the Exchange's other
regulatory fees and fines, will cover a material portion, but not all,
of the Exchange's regulatory costs. The Exchange notes that its
regulatory responsibilities with respect to member compliance with
options sales practice rules have been allocated to the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (``FINRA'') under a 17d-2 Agreement. The
ORF is not designed to cover the cost of options sales practice
regulation.
The ORF is assessed by the Exchange to each member for all options
transactions in both Standard Options and Mini Options executed or
cleared by the member that are cleared by The Options Clearing
Corporation (``OCC'') in the customer range, i.e., transactions that
clear in the customer account of the member's clearing firm at OCC,
regardless of the exchange on which the transaction occurs. In other
words, ISE imposes the ORF on all customer-range transactions executed
by a member, even if the transactions do not take place on the
Exchange.\3\ The ORF also is charged for transactions that are not
executed by a member but are ultimately cleared by a member. In the
case where a non-member executes a transaction and a member clears the
transaction, the ORF will be assessed to the member who clears the
transaction. In the case where a member executes a transaction and
another member clears the transaction, the ORF will similarly be
assessed to the member who clears the transaction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Exchange rules require each member to submit trade
information in order to allow the Exchange to properly prioritize
and match orders and quotations and report resulting transactions to
the OCC. See ISE Rule 712. The Exchange represents that it has
surveillance in place to verify that members comply with the rule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ORF is collected indirectly from members through their clearing
firms by OCC on behalf of the Exchange. As a practical matter, it is
not feasible or reasonable for the Exchange (or any SRO) to identify
each executing member that submits an order on a trade-by-trade basis.
There are countless executing market participants, and each day such
participants can and often do drop their connection to one market
center and establish themselves as participants on another. It is
virtually impossible for any exchange to identify each executing
participant on a given trading day. Clearing members, however, are
distinguished from executing participants because they remain
identified to the Exchange regardless of the identity of the initiating
executing participant, their location, and the market center on which
they execute transactions. Therefore, the Exchange believes it is more
efficient for the operation of the Exchange and for the marketplace as
a whole to collect the ORF indirectly from members through their
clearing firms.
The Exchange also believes that its broad regulatory
responsibilities with respect to a member's activities supports
[[Page 69502]]
applying the ORF to transactions cleared but not executed by a member.
The Exchange's regulatory responsibilities are the same regardless of
whether a member executes a transaction or clears a transaction
executed on its behalf. The Exchange regularly reviews all such
activities, including performing surveillance for position limit
violations, manipulation, front-running, contrary exercise advice
violations and insider trading.
The Exchange further believes it is reasonable and appropriate for
the Exchange to charge the ORF for options transactions regardless of
the exchange on which the transactions occur. The Exchange has a
statutory obligation to enforce compliance by members and their
associated persons under the Act and the rules of the Exchange, and to
surveil for other manipulative conduct by market participants
(including non-members) trading on the Exchange. Many of the Exchange's
market surveillance programs require the Exchange to look at and
evaluate activity across all options markets, such as surveillance for
position limit violations, manipulation, front-running and contrary
exercise advice violations/expiring exercise declarations. The Exchange
cannot effectively surveil for such conduct without looking at and
evaluating activity across all options markets. Also, the Exchange and
the other options exchanges are required to populate a consolidated
options audit trail (``COATS'') system in order to surveil a member's
activities across markets.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ COATS effectively enhances intermarket options surveillance
by enabling the options exchanges to promptly reconstruct the market
to effectively surveil certain rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange believes that charging the ORF across markets will
avoid having members direct their trades to other markets in order to
avoid the fee and to thereby avoid paying for their fair share for
regulation. If the ORF did not apply to activity across markets then a
member would send their orders to the least cost, least regulated
exchange. Other exchanges do impose a similar fee on their member's
activity, including the activity of those members on the ISE.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See e.g. Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 61133 (Dec. 9,
2009), 74 FR 66715 (December 16, 2009) (SR-Phlx-2009-100); 68711
(Jan. 23, 2013), 78 FR 6155 (Jan. 29, 2013) (SR-MIAX-2013-01)).
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The Exchange will continue to monitor the amount of revenue
collected from the ORF to ensure that it, in combination with its other
regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed the Exchange's total
regulatory costs. The Exchange expects to monitor its regulatory costs
and revenues at a minimum on an annual basis. If the Exchange
determines regulatory revenues exceed regulatory costs, the Exchange
will adjust the ORF by submitting a fee change filing to the
Commission. The Exchange will notify members of adjustments to the ORF
via circular.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that its proposal to amend its Schedule of
Fees is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Exchange Act \6\ in
general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of the Exchange
Act \7\ in particular, in that it is an equitable allocation of
reasonable dues, fees and other charges among Exchange members and
other persons using its facilities. The Exchange believes that the
proposed fee is reasonable in that it would help the Exchange to ensure
that revenue collected from the ORF, in combination with other
regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed the Exchange's total
regulatory costs in light of increased trading volumes. The Exchange
has designed the ORF to generate revenues that, when combined with all
of the Exchange's other regulatory fees, will be less than or equal to
the Exchange's regulatory costs, which is consistent with the
Commission's view that regulatory fees be used for regulatory purposes
and not to support the Exchange's business.
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\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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The Exchange believes the ORF is equitable and not unfairly
discriminatory because it is objectively allocated to members in that
it is charged to all members on all their transactions that clear as
customer at the OCC. Moreover, the Exchange believes the ORF ensures
fairness by assessing fees to those members that require more Exchange
regulatory services based on the amount of customer options business
they conduct. Regulating customer trading activity is much more labor
intensive and requires greater expenditure of human and technical
resources than regulating non-customer trading activity, which tends to
be more automated and less labor-intensive. As a result, the costs
associated with administering the customer component of the Exchange's
overall regulatory program are materially higher than the costs
associated with administering the non-customer component of its
regulatory program (e.g., member proprietary transactions).
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The proposed rule change does not impose any burden on competition
that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of
the Act. The proposed rule change is not designed to address any
competitive issues. Rather, the proposed rule change is designed to
help the Exchange to adequately fund its regulatory activities while
seeking to ensure that total regulatory revenues do not exceed total
regulatory costs.
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)(A)(ii) of the Act \8\ and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-4
thereunder,\9\ because it establishes a due, fee, or other charge
imposed by ISE.
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\8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
\9\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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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. 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 (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an email to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include
File Number SR-ISE-2013-54 on the subject line.
[[Page 69503]]
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-ISE-2013-54. 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 (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-ISE-2013-54 and should be
submitted on or before December 10, 2013.
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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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-27625 Filed 11-18-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P