Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated Options Last Sale Reports and Quotation Information To Amend the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees Set Forth in OPRA's Fee Schedule, 22668-22669 [2016-08816]
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<![CDATA[
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
22668
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 74 / Monday, April 18, 2016 / Notices
passed through to the Investing
Management Company.
6. No Fund of Funds or Fund of
Funds Affiliate (except to the extent it
is acting in its capacity as an investment
adviser to a Fund) will cause a Fund, or
its respective Master Fund, to purchase
a security in any Affiliated
Underwriting.
7. The Board of a Fund, or its
respective Master Fund, including a
majority of the non-interested Board
members, will adopt procedures
reasonably designed to monitor any
purchases of securities by the Fund, or
its respective Master Fund, in an
Affiliated Underwriting, once an
investment by a Fund of Funds in the
securities of the Fund exceeds the limit
of section 12(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act,
including any purchases made directly
from an Underwriting Affiliate. The
Board will review these purchases
periodically, but no less frequently than
annually, to determine whether the
purchases were influenced by the
investment by the Fund of Funds in the
Fund. The Board will consider, among
other things: (i) Whether the purchases
were consistent with the investment
objectives and policies of the Fund, or
its respective Master Fund; (ii) how the
performance of securities purchased in
an Affiliated Underwriting compares to
the performance of comparable
securities purchased during a
comparable period of time in
underwritings other than Affiliated
Underwritings or to a benchmark such
as a comparable market index; and (iii)
whether the amount of securities
purchased by the Fund, or its respective
Master Fund, in Affiliated
Underwritings and the amount
purchased directly from an
Underwriting Affiliate have changed
significantly from prior years. The
Board will take any appropriate actions
based on its review, including, if
appropriate, the institution of
procedures designed to ensure that
purchases of securities in Affiliated
Underwritings are in the best interest of
shareholders of the Fund.
8. Each Fund, or its respective Master
Fund, will maintain and preserve
permanently in an easily accessible
place a written copy of the procedures
described in the preceding condition,
and any modifications to such
procedures, and will maintain and
preserve for a period of not less than six
years from the end of the fiscal year in
which any purchase in an Affiliated
Underwriting occurred, the first two
years in an easily accessible place, a
written record of each purchase of
securities in Affiliated Underwritings
once an investment by a Fund of Funds
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:54 Apr 15, 2016
Jkt 238001
in the securities of the Fund exceeds the
limit of section 12(d)(1)(A)(i) of the Act,
setting forth from whom the securities
were acquired, the identity of the
underwriting syndicate’s members, the
terms of the purchase, and the
information or materials upon which
the Board’s determinations were made.
9. Before investing in a Fund in
excess of the limit in section
12(d)(1)(A), a Fund of Funds and the
Trust will execute a FOF Participation
Agreement stating without limitation
that their respective boards of directors
or trustees and their investment
advisers, or trustee and Sponsor, as
applicable, understand the terms and
conditions of the order, and agree to
fulfill their responsibilities under the
order. At the time of its investment in
Shares of a Fund in excess of the limit
in section 12(d)(1)(A)(i), a Fund of
Funds will notify the Fund of the
investment. At such time, the Fund of
Funds will also transmit to the Fund a
list of the names of each Fund of Funds
Affiliate and Underwriting Affiliate. The
Fund of Funds will notify the Fund of
any changes to the list of the names as
soon as reasonably practicable after a
change occurs. The Fund and the Fund
of Funds will maintain and preserve a
copy of the order, the FOF Participation
Agreement, and the list with any
updated information for the duration of
the investment and for a period of not
less than six years thereafter, the first
two years in an easily accessible place.
10. Before approving any advisory
contract under section 15 of the Act, the
board of directors or trustees of each
Investing Management Company
including a majority of the disinterested
directors or trustees, will find that the
advisory fees charged under such
contract are based on services provided
that will be in addition to, rather than
duplicative of, the services provided
under the advisory contract(s) of any
Fund, or its respective Master Fund, in
which the Investing Management
Company may invest. These findings
and their basis will be fully recorded in
the minute books of the appropriate
Investing Management Company.
11. Any sales charges and/or service
fees charged with respect to shares of a
Fund of Funds will not exceed the
limits applicable to a fund of funds as
set forth in NASD Conduct Rule 2830.
12. No Fund, or its respective Master
Fund, will acquire securities of an
investment company or company
relying on section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of
the Act in excess of the limits contained
in section 12(d)(1)(A) of the Act, except
to the extent (i) the Fund, or its
respective Master Fund, acquires
securities of another investment
PO 00000
Frm 00102
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
company pursuant to exemptive relief
from the Commission permitting the
Fund, or its respective Master Fund, to
acquire securities of one or more
investment companies for short-term
cash management purposes or (ii) the
Fund acquires securities of the Master
Fund pursuant to the Master-Feeder
Relief.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Investment Management, under delegated
authority.
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016–08826 Filed 4–15–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–77585; File No. SR–OPRA–
2015–02]
Options Price Reporting Authority;
Notice of Filing and Immediate
Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment
to the Plan for Reporting of
Consolidated Options Last Sale
Reports and Quotation Information To
Amend the Professional Subscriber
Device-Based Fees Set Forth in
OPRA’s Fee Schedule
April 12, 2016.
Pursuant to Section 11A of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 608 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on
September 22, 2015, the Options Price
Reporting Authority (‘‘OPRA’’)
submitted to the Securities and
Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’)
an amendment to the Plan for Reporting
of Consolidated Options Last Sale
Reports and Quotation Information
(‘‘OPRA Plan’’).3 Effective January 1,
2016, the OPRA Plan Amendment
established a new Professional
Subscriber Device-Based Fee. The
1 15
U.S.C. 78k–1.
CFR 242.608.
3 The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan
approved by the Commission pursuant to Section
11A of the Act and Rule 608 thereunder (formerly
Rule 11Aa3–2). See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 17638 (March 18, 1981), 22 S.E.C.
Docket 484 (March 31, 1981). The full text of the
OPRA Plan is available at https://
www.opradata.com. The OPRA Plan provides for
the collection and dissemination of last sale and
quotation information on options that are traded on
the participant exchanges. The fourteen participants
to the OPRA Plan are BATS Exchange, Inc., BOX
Options Exchange, LLC, Chicago Board Options
Exchange, Incorporated, C2 Options Exchange,
Incorporated, EDGX Exchange, Inc., International
Securities Exchange, LLC, ISE Gemini, LLC, ISE
Mercury, LLC, Miami International Securities
Exchange, LLC, NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc., NASDAQ
OMX PHLX LLC, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC,
NYSE MKT LLC, and NYSE Arca, Inc.
2 17
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
18APN1
Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 74 / Monday, April 18, 2016 / Notices
Commission is publishing this notice to
provide interested persons an
opportunity to submit written
comments on the OPRA Plan
amendment.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
I. Description and Purpose of the Plan
Amendment
The OPRA Plan amendment revised
the OPRA Fee Schedule to establish
OPRA’s Professional Subscriber DeviceBased Fee and made conforming
changes in OPRA’s Enterprise Rate
Professional Subscriber Fee. OPRA’s
Enterprise Rate Professional Subscriber
Fee is available to those Professional
Subscribers that elect that rate in place
of the regular OPRA device-based fees.4
Specifically, effective January 1, 2016,
the OPRA Plan Amendment: increased
the current $28.50 monthly per device
fee by $1.00; increased the Enterprise
Rate, from a monthly fee of $28.50 times
the number of a Professional
Subscriber’s U.S.-based registered
representatives, to a monthly fee of
$29.50 times the number of the
Subscriber’s U.S.-based registered
representatives; and made conforming
changes to the minimum monthly fee
under the Enterprise Rate. ‘‘Professional
Subscribers’’ are persons who subscribe
to OPRA data, do not qualify for the
reduced fees charged to
‘‘Nonprofessional Subscribers,’’ and do
not redistribute the OPRA data to third
parties. OPRA permits the counting of
‘‘User IDs’’ as a surrogate for counting
‘‘devices’’ for purposes of its
Professional Subscriber Device-based
Fees.5
The number of devices reported to
OPRA as subject to Professional
Subscriber Device-Based Fees has been
steadily trending downwards over many
years. In 2008, OPRA received devicebased fees, including enterprise fees,
with respect to approximately 210,500
devices. In 2014, OPRA received devicebased fees, including enterprise fees,
with respect to approximately 148,400
devices. OPRA was receiving devicebased fees in the third calendar quarter
of 2015 with respect to approximately
134,000 devices—already a reduction of
approximately 9.7% from 2014. OPRA
believes that this long-term downward
trend is the result of the increasing use
of trading algorithms and automated
trading platforms and other
4 OPRA’s
Enterprise Rate is based on the number
of a Professional Subscriber’s U.S. registered
representatives and independent investment
advisers who contract with the Subscriber to
provide advisory services to the Subscriber’s
customers.
5 See footnote 2 in the OPRA Fee Schedule and
OPRA’s ‘‘Policies with respect to Device-based
Fees,’’ which are available on the OPRA Web site,
www.opradata.com, under the ‘‘Policies’’ tab.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:54 Apr 15, 2016
Jkt 238001
fundamental changes in the securities
industry, and OPRA anticipates that this
trend is likely to continue.
The increase in the Professional
Subscriber Device-Based Fees is
consistent with OPRA’s past practice of
making incremental $1.00 increases in
its monthly Professional Subscriber
Device-Based Fees.6 The increase in the
Professional Subscriber Device-Based
Fee—which is an increase of
approximately 3.5%—will partially
offset the impact on revenue of the
reduction in the number of devices in
2015 as compared to 2014.7
The text of the amendment to the
OPRA Plan is available at OPRA, the
Commission’s Public Reference Room,
the OPRA Web site at https://
opradata.com, and on the Commission’s
Web site at www.sec.gov.
II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan
Amendment
Pursuant to paragraph (b)(3)(i) of Rule
608 of Regulation NMS under the Act,
OPRA designated this amendment as
establishing or changing fees or other
charges collected on behalf of all of the
OPRA participants in connection with
access to or use of OPRA facilities.
OPRA put the change in the
Professional Subscriber Device-Based
Fee into effect as of January 1, 2016.
III. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the OPRA Plan
amendment is consistent with the Act.8
6 The year 2015 was an exception: for 2015,
OPRA implemented an increase of $1.50 in its
Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee, because
during 2015 one of OPRA’s member exchanges
initiated after-hours trading, causing OPRA to incur
additional expenses associated with data
dissemination during expanded trading hours. Prior
to 2015, OPRA implemented $1.00/month increases
in its Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee
during each of the years 2008–2014. See Securities
Exchange Act Release No. File 72826 (August 12,
2014), 79 FR 48777 (August 18, 2014) (SR–OPRA–
2014–06).
7 OPRA submitted a separate filing in which
OPRA restructured and increased its ‘‘non-display
use’’ fees in order to provide additional offset to the
continuing reductions in the numbers of devices
subject to OPRA’s Professional Subscriber DeviceBased Fees. See File No. OPRA–2015–01.
8 Pursuant to Rule 608(b)(3)(iii) of Regulation
NMS, the Commission may summarily abrogate an
immediately effective NMS Plan amendment within
sixty days of its filing and require refiling and
approval of the amendment if it appears to the
Commission that such action is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection
of investors, or the maintenance of fair and orderly
markets, to remove impediments to, and perfect the
mechanisms of, a national market system, or
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. See 17 CFR
242.608(b)(3)(iii). The abrogation period for the
OPRA Plan amendment has expired. Interested
PO 00000
Frm 00103
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
22669
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 No. SR–
OPRA–2015–02 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–OPRA–2015–02. 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 OPRA Plan
amendment that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the OPRA
Plan amendment 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 OPRA. 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–OPRA–
2015–02 and should be submitted on or
before May 9, 2016.
By the Commission.
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016–08816 Filed 4–15–16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
persons may nevertheless submit written comments
on the OPRA Plan amendment.
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
18APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 74 (Monday, April 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22668-22669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08816]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-77585; File No. SR-OPRA-2015-02]
Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate
Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment to the Plan for Reporting of
Consolidated Options Last Sale Reports and Quotation Information To
Amend the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees Set Forth in OPRA's
Fee Schedule
April 12, 2016.
Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 608 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that
on September 22, 2015, the Options Price Reporting Authority (``OPRA'')
submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') an
amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated Options Last Sale
Reports and Quotation Information (``OPRA Plan'').\3\ Effective January
1, 2016, the OPRA Plan Amendment established a new Professional
Subscriber Device-Based Fee. The
[[Page 22669]]
Commission is publishing this notice to provide interested persons an
opportunity to submit written comments on the OPRA Plan amendment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
\2\ 17 CFR 242.608.
\3\ The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan approved by
the Commission pursuant to Section 11A of the Act and Rule 608
thereunder (formerly Rule 11Aa3-2). See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 17638 (March 18, 1981), 22 S.E.C. Docket 484 (March 31,
1981). The full text of the OPRA Plan is available at https://www.opradata.com. The OPRA Plan provides for the collection and
dissemination of last sale and quotation information on options that
are traded on the participant exchanges. The fourteen participants
to the OPRA Plan are BATS Exchange, Inc., BOX Options Exchange, LLC,
Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated, C2 Options Exchange,
Incorporated, EDGX Exchange, Inc., International Securities
Exchange, LLC, ISE Gemini, LLC, ISE Mercury, LLC, Miami
International Securities Exchange, LLC, NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc., NASDAQ
OMX PHLX LLC, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, NYSE MKT LLC, and NYSE
Arca, Inc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Description and Purpose of the Plan Amendment
The OPRA Plan amendment revised the OPRA Fee Schedule to establish
OPRA's Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee and made conforming
changes in OPRA's Enterprise Rate Professional Subscriber Fee. OPRA's
Enterprise Rate Professional Subscriber Fee is available to those
Professional Subscribers that elect that rate in place of the regular
OPRA device-based fees.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ OPRA's Enterprise Rate is based on the number of a
Professional Subscriber's U.S. registered representatives and
independent investment advisers who contract with the Subscriber to
provide advisory services to the Subscriber's customers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Specifically, effective January 1, 2016, the OPRA Plan Amendment:
increased the current $28.50 monthly per device fee by $1.00; increased
the Enterprise Rate, from a monthly fee of $28.50 times the number of a
Professional Subscriber's U.S.-based registered representatives, to a
monthly fee of $29.50 times the number of the Subscriber's U.S.-based
registered representatives; and made conforming changes to the minimum
monthly fee under the Enterprise Rate. ``Professional Subscribers'' are
persons who subscribe to OPRA data, do not qualify for the reduced fees
charged to ``Nonprofessional Subscribers,'' and do not redistribute the
OPRA data to third parties. OPRA permits the counting of ``User IDs''
as a surrogate for counting ``devices'' for purposes of its
Professional Subscriber Device-based Fees.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See footnote 2 in the OPRA Fee Schedule and OPRA's
``Policies with respect to Device-based Fees,'' which are available
on the OPRA Web site, www.opradata.com, under the ``Policies'' tab.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The number of devices reported to OPRA as subject to Professional
Subscriber Device-Based Fees has been steadily trending downwards over
many years. In 2008, OPRA received device-based fees, including
enterprise fees, with respect to approximately 210,500 devices. In
2014, OPRA received device-based fees, including enterprise fees, with
respect to approximately 148,400 devices. OPRA was receiving device-
based fees in the third calendar quarter of 2015 with respect to
approximately 134,000 devices--already a reduction of approximately
9.7% from 2014. OPRA believes that this long-term downward trend is the
result of the increasing use of trading algorithms and automated
trading platforms and other fundamental changes in the securities
industry, and OPRA anticipates that this trend is likely to continue.
The increase in the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees is
consistent with OPRA's past practice of making incremental $1.00
increases in its monthly Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees.\6\
The increase in the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee--which is
an increase of approximately 3.5%--will partially offset the impact on
revenue of the reduction in the number of devices in 2015 as compared
to 2014.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ The year 2015 was an exception: for 2015, OPRA implemented
an increase of $1.50 in its Professional Subscriber Device-Based
Fee, because during 2015 one of OPRA's member exchanges initiated
after-hours trading, causing OPRA to incur additional expenses
associated with data dissemination during expanded trading hours.
Prior to 2015, OPRA implemented $1.00/month increases in its
Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee during each of the years
2008-2014. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. File 72826
(August 12, 2014), 79 FR 48777 (August 18, 2014) (SR-OPRA-2014-06).
\7\ OPRA submitted a separate filing in which OPRA restructured
and increased its ``non-display use'' fees in order to provide
additional offset to the continuing reductions in the numbers of
devices subject to OPRA's Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees.
See File No. OPRA-2015-01.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The text of the amendment to the OPRA Plan is available at OPRA,
the Commission's Public Reference Room, the OPRA Web site at https://opradata.com, and on the Commission's Web site at www.sec.gov.
II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan Amendment
Pursuant to paragraph (b)(3)(i) of Rule 608 of Regulation NMS under
the Act, OPRA designated this amendment as establishing or changing
fees or other charges collected on behalf of all of the OPRA
participants in connection with access to or use of OPRA facilities.
OPRA put the change in the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee
into effect as of January 1, 2016.
III. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the OPRA Plan
amendment is consistent with the Act.\8\ Comments may be submitted by
any of the following methods:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ Pursuant to Rule 608(b)(3)(iii) of Regulation NMS, the
Commission may summarily abrogate an immediately effective NMS Plan
amendment within sixty days of its filing and require refiling and
approval of the amendment if it appears to the Commission that such
action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the
protection of investors, or the maintenance of fair and orderly
markets, to remove impediments to, and perfect the mechanisms of, a
national market system, or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. See 17 CFR
242.608(b)(3)(iii). The abrogation period for the OPRA Plan
amendment has expired. Interested persons may nevertheless submit
written comments on the OPRA Plan amendment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 No. SR-OPRA-2015-02 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-OPRA-2015-02. 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 OPRA Plan amendment that are
filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to
the OPRA Plan amendment 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 OPRA. 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-OPRA-2015-02 and should be
submitted on or before May 9, 2016.
By the Commission.
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-08816 Filed 4-15-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
