Self-Regulatory Organizations; C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Exchange's Fee Schedule, 1409-1410 [2014-00069]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 2014 / Notices SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–71225; File No. SR–C2– 2013–042] Self-Regulatory Organizations; C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Exchange’s Fee Schedule January 2, 2014. 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 December 24, 2013, C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated (the ‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘C2’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons. I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change The Exchange proposes to amend the Options Regulatory Fee. The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange’s Web site (https:// www.c2exchange.com/Legal/), at the Exchange’s Office of the Secretary, and at the Commission’s Public Reference Room. mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such statements. A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 1. Purpose The Exchange has reevaluated the current amount of the Options Regulatory Fee (‘‘ORF’’) in connection 1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:42 Jan 07, 2014 Jkt 232001 with its annual budget review. In light of a recent reevaluation of regulatory costs and the expected volume levels for 2014, the Exchange proposes to decrease the ORF from $.0017 (effective January 1, 2014) to $.0012 per contract. This proposed fee change would be operative on February 1, 2014. The ORF is assessed by the Exchange to each Permit Holder for all options transactions executed or cleared by the Permit Holder that are cleared by The Options Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) in the customer range (i.e., transactions that clear in a customer account at OCC) regardless of the marketplace of execution. In other words, the Exchange imposes the ORF on all customer-range transactions executed by a Permit Holder, 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 Permit Holder but are ultimately cleared by a Permit Holder. In the case where a Permit Holder executes a transaction and a different Permit Holder clears the transaction, the ORF is assessed to the Permit Holder who executed the transaction. In the case where a non-Permit Holder executes a transaction and a Permit Holder clears the transaction, the ORF is assessed to the Permit Holder who clears the transaction. The ORF is collected indirectly from Permit Holders through their clearing firms by OCC on behalf of the Exchange. The ORF is designed to recover a material portion of the costs to the Exchange of the supervision and regulation of Permit Holder customer options business, including performing routine surveillances, investigations, examinations, financial monitoring, as well as policy, rulemaking, interpretive and enforcement activities. The Exchange believes that revenue generated from the 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 Permit Holder compliance with options sales practice rules have largely been allocated to FINRA under a 17d–2 agreement. The ORF is not designed to 3 Exchange rules require each Permit Holder to record the appropriate account origin code on all orders at the time of entry in order to allow the Exchange to properly prioritize and route orders and assess transaction fees pursuant to the rules of the Exchange and report resulting transactions to the OCC. C2 order origin codes are defined in C2 Regulatory Circular RG13–015. The Exchange represents that it has surveillances in place to verify that Trading Permit Holders mark orders with the correct account origin code. PO 00000 Frm 00048 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 1409 cover the cost of that options sales practice regulation. The Exchange will 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. 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 notifies Permit Holders of adjustments to the ORF via regulatory circular. 2. Statutory Basis The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ‘‘Act’’) and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to the Exchange and, in particular, the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act.4 Specifically, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,5 which provides that Exchange rules may provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among its Permit Holders and other persons using its facilities. Additionally, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) 6 requirement that the rules of an exchange not be designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers. The Exchange believes the proposed fee change is reasonable because it would more effectively help the Exchange offset regulatory expenses and would not result in total regulatory revenue exceeding total regulatory costs. The Exchange believes the ORF is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory in that it is charged to all Permit Holders on all their transactions that clear in the customer range at the OCC. Moreover, the Exchange believes the ORF ensures fairness by assessing higher fees to those Permit Holders 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 4 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 6 Id. [sic] 5 15 E:\FR\FM\08JAN1.SGM 08JAN1 1410 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 5 / Wednesday, January 8, 2014 / Notices program are materially higher than the costs associated with administering the non-customer component (e.g., Permit Holder proprietary transactions) of its regulatory program.7 B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Burden on Competition C2 does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 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 neither solicited nor received comments on the proposed rule change. III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for Commission Action The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 8 and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b–4 9 thereunder. At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission takes such action, the Commission will institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or disapproved. mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 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: 7 If the Exchange changes its method of funding regulation or if circumstances otherwise change in the future, the Exchange may decide to modify the ORF or assess a separate regulatory fee on Permit Holder proprietary transactions if the Exchange deems it advisable. 8 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 9 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f). VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:42 Jan 07, 2014 Jkt 232001 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– C2–2013–042 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–C2–2013–042. 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 such filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to make publicly available. All submissions should refer to File Number SR–C2– 2013–042 and should be submitted on or before January 29, 2014. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.10 Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2014–00069 Filed 1–7–14; 8:45 am] SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–71226; File No. SR– NASDAQ–2013–164] Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to Further Describe the Application of Fees Assessed for Connectivity to the Carteret Test Environment under Rule 7030(d) January 2, 2014. Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that on December 23, 2013, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (‘‘NASDAQ’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) a proposed rule change as described in Items I and II below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons. I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Terms of the Substance of the Proposed Rule Change The Exchange proposes a proposed rule change to further describe the application of fees assessed pursuant to Rule 7030(d)(1)(C). The text of the proposed rule change is below. Proposed new language is italicized. Proposed deletions are in brackets. * * * * * 7030. Other Services (a)–(c) No change. (d) Nasdaq Testing Facilities Nasdaq operates two testing environments. One is located in Ashburn, Virginia and the other in Carteret, New Jersey. Unless otherwise noted, reference to the ‘‘Nasdaq Testing Facility’’ or ‘‘NTF’’ applies to both environments. (1) The following fees are assessed for access to the Nasdaq Testing Facility: (A) Subscribers that conduct tests of the computer-to-computer interface (CTCI) and the Financial Information Exchange (FIX) interface to ACT and ACES access protocols through the Nasdaq Testing Facility (NTF) shall pay the following charges: $285/hour BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 1 15 10 17 PO 00000 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). Frm 00049 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 2 17 E:\FR\FM\08JAN1.SGM For Active Connection testing during the normal operating hours of the NTF; U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). CFR 240.19b–4. 08JAN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 5 (Wednesday, January 8, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1409-1410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-00069]



[[Page 1409]]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-71225; File No. SR-C2-2013-042]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change 
Relating to the Exchange's Fee Schedule

January 2, 2014.
    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 December 24, 2013, C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated (the 
``Exchange'' or ``C2'') filed with the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (the ``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described 
in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared by the 
Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments 
on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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 the Options Regulatory Fee. The text 
of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site 
(https://www.c2exchange.com/Legal/), at the Exchange's Office of the 
Secretary, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

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

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

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

1. Purpose
    The Exchange has reevaluated the current amount of the Options 
Regulatory Fee (``ORF'') in connection with its annual budget review. 
In light of a recent reevaluation of regulatory costs and the expected 
volume levels for 2014, the Exchange proposes to decrease the ORF from 
$.0017 (effective January 1, 2014) to $.0012 per contract. This 
proposed fee change would be operative on February 1, 2014.
    The ORF is assessed by the Exchange to each Permit Holder for all 
options transactions executed or cleared by the Permit Holder that are 
cleared by The Options Clearing Corporation (``OCC'') in the customer 
range (i.e., transactions that clear in a customer account at OCC) 
regardless of the marketplace of execution. In other words, the 
Exchange imposes the ORF on all customer-range transactions executed by 
a Permit Holder, 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 Permit Holder but are ultimately cleared by a Permit 
Holder. In the case where a Permit Holder executes a transaction and a 
different Permit Holder clears the transaction, the ORF is assessed to 
the Permit Holder who executed the transaction. In the case where a 
non-Permit Holder executes a transaction and a Permit Holder clears the 
transaction, the ORF is assessed to the Permit Holder who clears the 
transaction. The ORF is collected indirectly from Permit Holders 
through their clearing firms by OCC on behalf of the Exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Exchange rules require each Permit Holder to record the 
appropriate account origin code on all orders at the time of entry 
in order to allow the Exchange to properly prioritize and route 
orders and assess transaction fees pursuant to the rules of the 
Exchange and report resulting transactions to the OCC. C2 order 
origin codes are defined in C2 Regulatory Circular RG13-015. The 
Exchange represents that it has surveillances in place to verify 
that Trading Permit Holders mark orders with the correct account 
origin code.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The ORF is designed to recover a material portion of the costs to 
the Exchange of the supervision and regulation of Permit Holder 
customer options business, including performing routine surveillances, 
investigations, examinations, financial monitoring, as well as policy, 
rulemaking, interpretive and enforcement activities. The Exchange 
believes that revenue generated from the 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 Permit 
Holder compliance with options sales practice rules have largely been 
allocated to FINRA under a 17d-2 agreement. The ORF is not designed to 
cover the cost of that options sales practice regulation.
    The Exchange will 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. 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 notifies Permit Holders of adjustments to 
the ORF via regulatory circular.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``Act'') and the rules and 
regulations thereunder applicable to the Exchange and, in particular, 
the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act.\4\ Specifically, the 
Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 
6(b)(4) of the Act,\5\ which provides that Exchange rules may provide 
for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other 
charges among its Permit Holders and other persons using its 
facilities. Additionally, the Exchange believes the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) \6\ requirement that the 
rules of an exchange not be designed to permit unfair discrimination 
between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
    \6\ Id. [sic]
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes the proposed fee change is reasonable because 
it would more effectively help the Exchange offset regulatory expenses 
and would not result in total regulatory revenue exceeding total 
regulatory costs. The Exchange believes the ORF is equitable and not 
unfairly discriminatory in that it is charged to all Permit Holders on 
all their transactions that clear in the customer range at the OCC. 
Moreover, the Exchange believes the ORF ensures fairness by assessing 
higher fees to those Permit Holders 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

[[Page 1410]]

program are materially higher than the costs associated with 
administering the non-customer component (e.g., Permit Holder 
proprietary transactions) of its regulatory program.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ If the Exchange changes its method of funding regulation or 
if circumstances otherwise change in the future, the Exchange may 
decide to modify the ORF or assess a separate regulatory fee on 
Permit Holder proprietary transactions if the Exchange deems it 
advisable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

    C2 does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any 
burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 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 neither solicited nor received comments on the 
proposed rule change.

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

    The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \8\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \9\ 
thereunder. At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed 
rule change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule 
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or 
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or 
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission 
takes such action, the Commission will institute proceedings to 
determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or 
disapproved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \9\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Solicitation of Comments

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

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File Number SR-C2-2013-042 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-C2-2013-042. 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 such filing also will be available 
for inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All 
comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does 
not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should 
submit only information that you wish to make publicly available. All 
submissions should refer to File Number SR-C2-2013-042 and should be 
submitted on or before January 29, 2014.

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

    \10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-00069 Filed 1-7-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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