Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Waive Trade Reporting Fees Under Rule 7710 Due to an OTC Reporting Facility Systems Issue, 22243-22245 [2015-09070]
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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 76 / Tuesday, April 21, 2015 / Notices
Finally, Amendment No. 1 deletes the
section in the Notice titled ‘‘Information
Sharing Procedures,’’ in which the
Exchange stated that its ability to
monitor trading in the Fund would not
be affected by the listing and trading of
Actively-Traded Securities on non-ISGmember markets, or by the absence of
CSSAs with markets on which
‘‘Actively-Traded Securities’’ are listed
or traded.16
In all other material respects, the
proposed rule change as set forth in
Amendment No. 1 is otherwise identical
to the original proposed rule change set
forth in the Notice.17
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
II. Description of Amendment 2 to the
Proposed Rule Change
As noted above, the Exchange filed
Amendment No. 2 to the proposed rule
change on April 7, 2015. The specific
changes effected by Amendment No. 2
are described below.
First, Amendment No. 2 adds a
statement to the proposed rule change
requiring, under normal circumstances,
the Portfolio 18 to include a minimum of
20 exchange-listed and -traded equity
securities. Second, Amendment No. 2
company, which evidence ownership of underlying
securities issued by a foreign corporation. For
ADRs, the depository is typically a U.S. financial
institution and the underlying securities are issued
by a foreign issuer. For other Depositary Receipts,
the depository may be a foreign or a U.S. entity, and
the underlying securities may have a foreign or a
U.S. issuer. Depositary Receipts will not necessarily
be denominated in the same currency as their
underlying securities. Generally, ADRs, in
registered form, are designed for use in the U.S.
securities market, and EDRs, in bearer form, are
designated for use in European securities markets.
GDRs are tradable both in the United States and in
Europe and are designed for use throughout the
world. The Fund’s portfolio may invest in
unsponsored Depositary Receipts. The issuers of
unsponsored Depositary Receipts are not obligated
to disclose material information in the United
States, and, therefore, there may be less information
available regarding such issuers and there may not
be a correlation between such information and the
market value of the Depositary Receipts.
Unsponsored Depositary Receipts will not exceed
10% of the Fund’s net assets. See Notice, supra note
3, at 57162, n.10.
16 See Notice, supra note 3, at 57167–57169.
17 See Notice, supra note 3.
18 The ‘‘Portfolio’’ is defined as SSgA Global
Managed Volatility Portfolio, a separate series of the
SSgA Master Trust with an identical investment
objective as the Fund. See Notice, supra note 3, at
57162. In general, the Portfolio (i.e., the master
fund) will be where investments will be held,
which investments will primarily consist of equity
securities, and may, to a lesser extent, include other
investments as described under ‘‘Non-Principal
Investment Policies.’’ The Fund (i.e., the feeder
fund) will invest in shares of the Portfolio and will
not invest in investments described under ‘‘NonPrincipal Investment Policies,’’ but may be exposed
to such investments by means of the Fund’s
investment in shares of the Portfolio. In
extraordinary instances, the Fund reserves the right
to make direct investments in equity securities and
other investments. See Notice, supra note 3, at id.,
n.11.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:07 Apr 20, 2015
Jkt 235001
22243
(a) deletes the statement in the original
filing that pricing information regarding
each asset class in which the Fund or
Portfolio will invest will generally be
available through nationally recognized
data service providers through
subscription arrangements, and (b)
replaces the deleted language described
in (a) above with a statement clarifying
that pricing information regarding each
asset class in which the Fund or
Portfolio will invest, including Rule
144A securities, repurchase agreements,
reverse repurchase agreements, and
securities of investment companies
(other than ETFs registered under the
1940 Act), will generally be available
through nationally recognized data
service providers through subscription
arrangements.
Additional information regarding the
Trust, Fund, Portfolio, and the Shares,
including investment strategies, risks,
creation and redemption procedures,
fees, portfolio holdings disclosure
policies, trading halts, dissemination
and availability of information,
distributions, and taxes can be found in
Amendment No.1 to the proposed rule
change and the Registration Statement,
as applicable.19
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 will also 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–
NYSEArca–2014–100 and should be
submitted on or before May 12, 2015.
III. Solicitation of Comments
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.20
Brent J. Fields,
Secretary.
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the filing, as
modified by Amendment Nos. 1 and 2,
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–
NYSEArca–2014–100 on the subject
line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSEArca–2014–100. 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
19 See supra note 9; see also Notice, supra note
3, at 57161 n.6 (referring to the Registration
Statement on Form N–1A relating to the Fund (File
Nos. 333–173276 and 811–22542)).
PO 00000
Frm 00082
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
[FR Doc. 2015–09065 Filed 4–20–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–74734; File No. SR–FINRA–
2015–007]
Self-Regulatory Organizations;
Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed
Rule Change To Waive Trade
Reporting Fees Under Rule 7710 Due
to an OTC Reporting Facility Systems
Issue
April 15, 2015.
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 April 10,
2015, Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc. (‘‘FINRA’’) filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed
rule change as described in Items I, II,
and III below, which Items have been
20 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(57).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
1 15
E:\FR\FM\21APN1.SGM
21APN1
22244
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 76 / Tuesday, April 21, 2015 / Notices
prepared by FINRA. FINRA has
designated the proposed rule change as
‘‘establishing or changing a due, fee or
other charge’’ under Section
19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act 3 and Rule 19b–
4(f)(2) thereunder,4 which renders the
proposal effective upon receipt of this
filing by the Commission. 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
FINRA is proposing to waive fees
under Rule 7710 for trade reporting to
the OTC Reporting Facility (‘‘ORF’’) due
to an ORF systems issue on March 24,
2015. The proposed rule change does
not make any changes to the text of
FINRA rules.
The text of the proposed rule change
is available on FINRA’s Web site at
https://www.finra.org, at the principal
office of FINRA and at the
Commission’s Public Reference Room.
[sic]
II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
In its filing with the Commission,
FINRA included statements concerning
the purpose of and basis for the
proposed rule change and discussed any
comments it received on the proposed
rule change. The text of these statements
may be examined at the places specified
in Item IV below. FINRA has prepared
summaries, set forth in sections A, B,
and C below, of the most significant
aspects of such statements.
Reporting of transactions not subject to comparison through the OTC
Reporting Facility.
Submission of non-tape, non-clearing (regulatory) reports ......................
Clearing report to transfer a transaction fee charged by one member to
another member pursuant to Rule 7330(i).
Comparison ..............................................................................................
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Late Report—T+N ....................................................................................
Corrective Transaction Charge ................................................................
On March 24, 2015, the ORF
experienced a systems issue that
impacted trade reporting. Specifically,
following a server failover, the ORF
system erroneously reprocessed and
resubmitted trades that had previously
been processed and sent to FINRA’s
Trade Data Dissemination Service for
public dissemination.5 FINRA staff
identified approximately 70,000
duplicate trades and worked with
members to cancel them. FINRA also
determined that, following the server
failover, some timely reported trades
were incorrectly processed and marked
as ‘‘late,’’ and for some trades that were
designated for submission to clearing,
the system erroneously cancelled the
clearing information that had been
submitted to the National Securities
Clearing Corporation. FINRA continues
to work with firms to identify trades
that were erroneously marked late and
clearing submissions that were
inadvertently cancelled by the system.
Approximately 322 firms reported
trades to the ORF from 2:20 p.m. (the
time of the server failover) until the
close of the system on March 24, 2015
3 15
4 17
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
18:07 Apr 20, 2015
Frm 00083
Fmt 4703
FINRA rules require that members
report trades in OTC equity securities,
as defined under Rule 6420, to the ORF
for public dissemination purposes.
Members also may be required or may
choose to submit one or more ‘‘nontape’’ reports in connection with the
trade (i.e., the transaction is not reported
to the tape for publication but is
reported for clearing or regulatory
purposes). Pursuant to Rule 7710,
FINRA charges members various fees for
using the ORF, including, e.g., for
reporting trades and cancelling or
correcting previously reported trades, as
set forth below:
No fee.
$0.03/side.
$0.0144/side per 100 shares (minimum 400 shares; maximum 7,500
shares).
$0.288/trade (charged to the Executing Party).
$0.25/Cancel, Correct transaction, paid by reporting side; $0.25/Break,
Decline transaction, paid by each party.
and thus potentially were impacted by
the ORF systems issue on that date.
During this time frame, there were over
120,000 trade submissions, which
include original and duplicate trade
reports and cancellations.
As a result of the ORF systems issue,
some members were required to take
corrective action by making additional
submissions to the ORF to cancel
duplicate trades or resubmit cancelled
clearing transactions. To ensure that
members are not charged for such
additional submissions, and in
recognition that members have had to
expend resources to take corrective
action as a result of the ORF systems
issue, FINRA is proposing to waive all
ORF trade reporting fees under Rule
7710 for March 24, 2015, the date the
ORF systems issues occurred. As such,
fees under Rule 7710 will be waived for
all submissions to the ORF made on
March 24, 2015, including fees for ‘‘as/
of’’ reports submitted on March 24, 2015
for trades that were executed prior to
that date.
In addition, FINRA recognizes that
some members may have been unable to
PO 00000
1. Purpose
$0.029/side.
5 See ORF Technical Notices dated March 24,
2015 and March 25, 2015, available at
www.finra.org/industry/orf/orf-technical-notices.
Jkt 235001
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
Sfmt 4703
take the necessary corrective steps on
March 24, 2015, i.e., some members may
not have cancelled the duplicate trades
or resubmitted trades for clearing until
T+1 or later. Accordingly, FINRA also is
proposing to waive the trade reporting
fees under Rule 7710 for trades
submitted to the ORF with a trade
execution date of March 24, 2015 or an
original report date of March 24, 2015,
provided that such trades were
submitted by March 31, 2015. Because
the pertinent billing cycle ended on
March 31, 2015, trades submitted on or
after April 1, 2015 would not be entitled
to the fee relief proposed herein, even
if they were executed or originally
reported on March 24, 2015.6 FINRA
believes that it is most equitable to
provide such additional relief to
members.
FINRA has filed the proposed rule
change for immediate effectiveness. The
operative date will be the date of filing.
2. Statutory Basis
FINRA believes that the proposed rule
change is consistent with the provisions
of Section 15A(b)(5) of the Act,7 which
requires, among other things, that
6 FINRA believes that only a small number of
trades were not cancelled or resubmitted, as
necessary, by March 31, 2015.
7 15 U.S.C. 78o–3(b)(5).
E:\FR\FM\21APN1.SGM
21APN1
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 76 / Tuesday, April 21, 2015 / Notices
FINRA rules provide for the equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees and
other charges among members and
issuers and other persons using any
facility or system that FINRA operates
or controls. FINRA believes that the
proposed rule change to waive trade
reporting fees under Rule 7710, as
described herein, is appropriate in light
of the ORF systems issue on March 24,
2015. FINRA does not believe that
members should incur fees for the
corrective action they were required to
take following the ORF systems issue.
FINRA believes that this limited waiver
results in reasonable fees and financial
benefits that are equitably allocated. The
financial benefit of the trade reporting
fee waiver is available to all firms that
reported to the ORF on March 24, 2015
and to all firms that reported trades with
an execution date or original report date
of March 24, 2015, provided that such
reports were received by March 31,
2015. The proposed rule change is
reasonable because the waiver of ORF
trade reporting fees—and the financial
benefit from such waiver—is of limited
amount, duration and application, as
noted above. Finally, the proposed trade
reporting fee waiver does not unfairly
discriminate between or among
members in that the waiver is available
to any such member that reported
transactions to the ORF on the relevant
dates.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
FINRA does not believe that the
proposed rule change will result in any
burden on competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act. FINRA
believes that the proposed rule change
to waive the trade reporting fees is
appropriate in light of the ORF systems
issue, which required members to take
corrective action and make additional
submissions to the ORF. FINRA believes
that the limited trade reporting fee
waiver would not place an unreasonable
fee burden on members, nor confer an
uncompetitive benefit to members that
have their trade reporting fees waived,
in that such waiver would be available
for a very limited period and the
financial impact of such a waiver would
be de minimis.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Comments on the
Proposed Rule Change Received From
Members, Participants, or Others
Written comments were neither
solicited nor received.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:31 Apr 20, 2015
Jkt 235001
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)(2) of Rule
19b–4 thereunder.9 At any time within
60 days of the filing of the proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may
temporarily suspend such rule change if
it appears to the Commission that such
action is necessary or appropriate in the
public interest, for the protection of
investors, or otherwise in furtherance of
the purposes of the Act. If the
Commission takes such action, the
Commission shall institute proceedings
to determine whether the proposed rule
should be approved or disapproved.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s Internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
FINRA–2015–007 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Securities
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street
NE., Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–FINRA–2015–007. 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.,
8 15
9 17
PO 00000
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
Frm 00084
Fmt 4703
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
offices 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–FINRA–
2015–007, and should be submitted on
or before May 12, 2015.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.10
Brent J. Fields,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015–09070 Filed 4–20–15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Investment Company Act Release No.
31552; File No. 812–14302]
Voya Retirement Insurance and
Annuity Company et al.; Notice of
Application
April 15, 2015.
Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’).
ACTION: Notice of application for an
order approving the substitution of
certain securities pursuant to section
26(c) of the Investment Company Act of
1940, as amended (the ‘‘1940 Act’’ or
‘‘Act’’).
AGENCY:
Applicants: Voya Retirement
Insurance and Annuity Company
(‘‘Voya Retirement’’), Voya Insurance
and Annuity Company (‘‘Voya
Insurance’’), ReliaStar Life Insurance
Company of New York (‘‘ReliaStar
NY’’), and Security Life of Denver
Insurance Company (‘‘Security Life’’)
(each a ‘‘Company’’ and together, the
‘‘Companies’’), Variable Annuity
Account B of Voya Retirement (‘‘Voya
Retirement B’’), Variable Annuity
Account I of Voya Retirement (‘‘Voya
Retirement I’’), Separate Account B of
Voya Insurance (‘‘Voya Insurance B’’),
Separate Account EQ of Voya Insurance
(‘‘Voya Insurance EQ’’), ReliaStar Life
Insurance Company of New York
Separate Account NY–B (‘‘ReliaStar
NY–B’’), Security Life Separate Account
A1 (‘‘Security Life A1’’), Security Life
Separate Accounts S–A1 (‘‘Security Life
S–A1’’) (each, an ‘‘Account’’ and
10 17
Sfmt 4703
22245
E:\FR\FM\21APN1.SGM
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
21APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 76 (Tuesday, April 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22243-22245]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-09070]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-74734; File No. SR-FINRA-2015-007]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a
Proposed Rule Change To Waive Trade Reporting Fees Under Rule 7710 Due
to an OTC Reporting Facility Systems Issue
April 15, 2015.
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 April 10, 2015, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.
(``FINRA'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC''
or ``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I,
II, and III below, which Items have been
[[Page 22244]]
prepared by FINRA. FINRA has designated the proposed rule change as
``establishing or changing a due, fee or other charge'' under Section
19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act \3\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) thereunder,\4\
which renders the proposal effective upon receipt of this filing by the
Commission. 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.
\3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
\4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of the
Substance of the Proposed Rule Change
FINRA is proposing to waive fees under Rule 7710 for trade
reporting to the OTC Reporting Facility (``ORF'') due to an ORF systems
issue on March 24, 2015. The proposed rule change does not make any
changes to the text of FINRA rules.
The text of the proposed rule change is available on FINRA's Web
site at https://www.finra.org, at the principal office of FINRA and at
the Commission's Public Reference Room. [sic]
II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
In its filing with the Commission, FINRA included statements
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in
Item IV below. FINRA has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A,
B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
FINRA rules require that members report trades in OTC equity
securities, as defined under Rule 6420, to the ORF for public
dissemination purposes. Members also may be required or may choose to
submit one or more ``non-tape'' reports in connection with the trade
(i.e., the transaction is not reported to the tape for publication but
is reported for clearing or regulatory purposes). Pursuant to Rule
7710, FINRA charges members various fees for using the ORF, including,
e.g., for reporting trades and cancelling or correcting previously
reported trades, as set forth below:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reporting of transactions not subject $0.029/side.
to comparison through the OTC
Reporting Facility.
Submission of non-tape, non-clearing No fee.
(regulatory) reports.
Clearing report to transfer a $0.03/side.
transaction fee charged by one member
to another member pursuant to Rule
7330(i).
Comparison............................. $0.0144/side per 100 shares
(minimum 400 shares; maximum
7,500 shares).
Late Report--T+N....................... $0.288/trade (charged to the
Executing Party).
Corrective Transaction Charge.......... $0.25/Cancel, Correct
transaction, paid by reporting
side; $0.25/Break, Decline
transaction, paid by each
party.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
On March 24, 2015, the ORF experienced a systems issue that
impacted trade reporting. Specifically, following a server failover,
the ORF system erroneously reprocessed and resubmitted trades that had
previously been processed and sent to FINRA's Trade Data Dissemination
Service for public dissemination.\5\ FINRA staff identified
approximately 70,000 duplicate trades and worked with members to cancel
them. FINRA also determined that, following the server failover, some
timely reported trades were incorrectly processed and marked as
``late,'' and for some trades that were designated for submission to
clearing, the system erroneously cancelled the clearing information
that had been submitted to the National Securities Clearing
Corporation. FINRA continues to work with firms to identify trades that
were erroneously marked late and clearing submissions that were
inadvertently cancelled by the system. Approximately 322 firms reported
trades to the ORF from 2:20 p.m. (the time of the server failover)
until the close of the system on March 24, 2015 and thus potentially
were impacted by the ORF systems issue on that date. During this time
frame, there were over 120,000 trade submissions, which include
original and duplicate trade reports and cancellations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See ORF Technical Notices dated March 24, 2015 and March 25,
2015, available at www.finra.org/industry/orf/orf-technical-notices.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As a result of the ORF systems issue, some members were required to
take corrective action by making additional submissions to the ORF to
cancel duplicate trades or resubmit cancelled clearing transactions. To
ensure that members are not charged for such additional submissions,
and in recognition that members have had to expend resources to take
corrective action as a result of the ORF systems issue, FINRA is
proposing to waive all ORF trade reporting fees under Rule 7710 for
March 24, 2015, the date the ORF systems issues occurred. As such, fees
under Rule 7710 will be waived for all submissions to the ORF made on
March 24, 2015, including fees for ``as/of'' reports submitted on March
24, 2015 for trades that were executed prior to that date.
In addition, FINRA recognizes that some members may have been
unable to take the necessary corrective steps on March 24, 2015, i.e.,
some members may not have cancelled the duplicate trades or resubmitted
trades for clearing until T+1 or later. Accordingly, FINRA also is
proposing to waive the trade reporting fees under Rule 7710 for trades
submitted to the ORF with a trade execution date of March 24, 2015 or
an original report date of March 24, 2015, provided that such trades
were submitted by March 31, 2015. Because the pertinent billing cycle
ended on March 31, 2015, trades submitted on or after April 1, 2015
would not be entitled to the fee relief proposed herein, even if they
were executed or originally reported on March 24, 2015.\6\ FINRA
believes that it is most equitable to provide such additional relief to
members.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ FINRA believes that only a small number of trades were not
cancelled or resubmitted, as necessary, by March 31, 2015.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
FINRA has filed the proposed rule change for immediate
effectiveness. The operative date will be the date of filing.
2. Statutory Basis
FINRA believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the
provisions of Section 15A(b)(5) of the Act,\7\ which requires, among
other things, that
[[Page 22245]]
FINRA rules provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees and other charges among members and issuers and other persons
using any facility or system that FINRA operates or controls. FINRA
believes that the proposed rule change to waive trade reporting fees
under Rule 7710, as described herein, is appropriate in light of the
ORF systems issue on March 24, 2015. FINRA does not believe that
members should incur fees for the corrective action they were required
to take following the ORF systems issue. FINRA believes that this
limited waiver results in reasonable fees and financial benefits that
are equitably allocated. The financial benefit of the trade reporting
fee waiver is available to all firms that reported to the ORF on March
24, 2015 and to all firms that reported trades with an execution date
or original report date of March 24, 2015, provided that such reports
were received by March 31, 2015. The proposed rule change is reasonable
because the waiver of ORF trade reporting fees--and the financial
benefit from such waiver--is of limited amount, duration and
application, as noted above. Finally, the proposed trade reporting fee
waiver does not unfairly discriminate between or among members in that
the waiver is available to any such member that reported transactions
to the ORF on the relevant dates.
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\7\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-3(b)(5).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
FINRA does not believe that the proposed rule change will result in
any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. FINRA believes that the
proposed rule change to waive the trade reporting fees is appropriate
in light of the ORF systems issue, which required members to take
corrective action and make additional submissions to the ORF. FINRA
believes that the limited trade reporting fee waiver would not place an
unreasonable fee burden on members, nor confer an uncompetitive benefit
to members that have their trade reporting fees waived, in that such
waiver would be available for a very limited period and the financial
impact of such a waiver would be de minimis.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
Written comments were neither solicited nor received.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \8\ and paragraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-4
thereunder.\9\ At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed
rule change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings to
determine whether the proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.
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\8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\9\ 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-FINRA-2015-007 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Brent J. Fields,
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-FINRA-2015-007. 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 offices 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-FINRA-2015-
007, and should be submitted on or before May 12, 2015.
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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Brent J. Fields,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-09070 Filed 4-20-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
