Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Related to Market Data Fees, 6290-6294 [2018-02861]

Download as PDF 6290 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2018 / Notices sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES higher volumes of orders into the price and volume discovery processes. In particular, the proposed changes are intended to further incentivize Members to send increased order flow to the Exchange in an effort to qualify for the enhanced rebates made available by the tiers, in turn contributing to the growth of the Exchange. Because ADAV of particular category of orders (e.g., Market Maker, Non-Customer, or Customer) generally makes up a smaller range than the previously required ADV of all orders that add liquidity submitted by the Member, the Exchange proposes to amend the percentage of ADAV necessary to achieve the tier so that it is substantially identical to the previously required percentage of OCV. The Exchange believes that those changes are equitable and reasonable because they will keep the difficulty to achieve each tier’s criteria relatively unchanged from its current requirements. Also, limiting the ADAV requirement to a category of orders is designed to align the tier with the fee code it is associated with so that a rebate provide to a certain type of liquidity adding order is based on meeting criteria reasonably related to that type of order flow the tier is designed to attract. Lastly, the Exchange believes that eliminating tiers are proposed herein is reasonable, fair, and equitable because this tier was not providing the desired result of incentivizing Members to increase their participation on the Exchange. As such, the Exchange also believes that the proposed elimination of this tier would be non-discriminatory in that it currently applies equally to all Members and, upon elimination, would no longer be available to any Members. Further, its elimination could allow the Exchange to explore other pricing mechanisms such as those described herein, in which it may enhance market quality for all Members. B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Burden on Competition The Exchange believes the proposed amendment to its fee schedule would not impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange does not believe that the proposed changes represent a significant departure from previous pricing offered by the Exchange or pricing offered by the Exchange’s competitors. Additionally, Members may opt to disfavor the Exchange’s pricing if they believe that alternatives offer them better value. Accordingly, the Exchange does not believe that the proposed changes will impair the ability of VerDate Sep<11>2014 23:12 Feb 12, 2018 Jkt 244001 Members or competing venues to maintain their competitive standing in the financial markets. The Exchange does not believe that the proposed changes burdens competition, but instead, enhances competition as it is intended to increase the competitiveness of the Exchange. 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 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) of the Act 16 and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b–4 thereunder.17 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. 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– CboeBZX–2018–009 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–CboeBZX–2018–009. 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 website (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 website 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. Persons submitting comments are cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying information from comment submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions should refer to File Number SR–CboeBZX–2018–009, and should be submitted on or before March 6, 2018. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.18 Eduardo A. Aleman, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2018–02862 Filed 2–12–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–82650; File No. SR–CBOE– 2018–013] Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Related to Market Data Fees February 7, 2018. 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 January 30, 2018, Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the ‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘Cboe’’) 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 18 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 16 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 17 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f). PO 00000 Frm 00132 Fmt 4703 1 15 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\13FEN1.SGM 13FEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2018 / Notices 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 Cboe Data Services (‘‘CDS’’) fee schedule to increase the fees for the BBO, Book Depth, and Complex Order Book (‘‘COB’’) data feeds. The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the Exchange’s website (https://www.cboe.com/About CBOE/CBOELegalRegulatory Home.aspx), 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 sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES 1. Purpose The Exchange proposes to amend the CDS fee schedule to increase the fees for the BBO, Book Depth, and COB data feeds. BBO and Book Depth Data Feed The BBO Data Feed is a real-time data feed that includes the following information: (i) Outstanding quotes and standing orders at the best available price level on each side of the market; (ii) executed trades time, size, and price; (iii) totals of customer versus noncustomer contracts at the best bid and offer (‘‘BBO’’); (iv) all-or-none contingency orders priced better than or equal to the BBO; (v) expected opening price and expected opening size; (vi) end-of-day summaries by product, including open, high, low, and closing price during the trading session; (vi) recap messages any time there is a change in the open, high, low or last sale price of a listed option; (vii) COB information; and (viii) product IDs and codes for all listed options contracts. The quote and last sale data contained VerDate Sep<11>2014 23:12 Feb 12, 2018 Jkt 244001 in the BBO data feed is identical to the data sent to the Options Price Reporting Authority (‘‘OPRA’’) for redistribution to the public. The Book Depth Data Feed is a realtime, low latency data feed that includes all data contained in the BBO Data Feed described above plus outstanding quotes and standing orders up to the first four price levels on each side of the market, with aggregate size (‘‘Book Depth’’). CDS currently charges a Data Fee, payable by a Customer, of $7,000 per month for internal use and external redistribution of the BBO and/or Book Depth data feeds.3 The Data Fee entitles a Customer to provide the BBO and/or the Book Depth data feed to an unlimited number of internal users and Devices 4 within the Customer. A Customer receiving the BBO and/or Book Depth data feeds from another Customer is assessed the Data Fee by CDS pursuant to its own market data agreement with CDS, and is entitled to use the Data internally and/or distribute it externally.5 All Customers have the same rights to utilize the data internally and/or distribute it externally as long as the Customer has entered into a written agreement with CDS for the data and pays the Data Fee. The Exchange proposes to increase the Data Fee for both the BBO and Book Depth data feeds from $7,000 per month to $9,000 per month.6 The Exchange is not proposing to amend the User Fee for either the BBO or Book Depth data feeds. The Data Fee for the Book Depth data feed will continue to be waived for Customers who also purchase the companion BBO data feed.7 COB Data Feed The COB Data Feed is a real-time data feed that includes data regarding the 3 A BBO Data Feed ‘‘Customer’’ is any person, company or other entity that, pursuant to a market data agreement with CDS, is entitled to receive data, either directly from CDS or through an authorized redistributor (i.e., a Customer or an extranet service provider), whether that data is distributed externally or used internally. The CDS fee schedule for Exchange data is located at https:// www.cboe.org/general-info/pdfframed?content=/ publish/mdxfees/cboe-cds-fees-schedule-for-cboedatafeeds.pdf&section=SEC_MDX_CSM&title= Cboe%20CDS%20Fees%20Schedule. 4 A ‘‘Device’’ means any computer, workstation or other item of equipment, fixed or portable, that receives, accesses and/or displays data in visual, audible or other form. 5 A Customer may choose to receive the data from another Customer rather than directly from CDS’s system because it does not want to or is not equipped to manage the technology necessary to establish a direct connection to CDS. 6 The Exchange also proposes to amend the first column of the BBO Data Feed fees to identify Cboe as ‘‘Cboe Options’’ to be consistent with the Depth Book and COB data feed fee descriptions. 7 Such COB Data Feed Customers are still subject to User Fees. PO 00000 Frm 00133 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 6291 Exchange’s Complex Order Book and related complex order information. The COB Data Feed contains the following information for all Exchange-traded complex order strategies (multi-leg strategies such as spreads, straddles and buy-writes): (i) Outstanding quotes and standing orders on each side of the market with aggregate size, (ii) data with respect to executed trades (‘‘last sale data’’), and (iii) totals of customer versus non-customer contracts. CDS currently charges Customers 8 of the COB Data Feed a Data Fee of $100 per month plus applicable User Fees. The Exchange now proposes to increase the Data Fee for the COB data feed from $100 to $3,000 per month. The Exchange notes that it had previously charged a Data Fee of $3,000 per month for the COB Feed 9 and later reduced that fee to its current rate to incentive further redistribution of the data feed.10 The Exchange now proposes to return the fee for the COB data feed to its original rate to bring the cost of the data feed in line with that of similar data feeds offered by other exchanges. The Exchange is not proposing to amend the User Fee for either the COB data feed. The Data Fee for the COB Data Feed would continue to be waived for Customers of the BBO and/or Book Depth data feeds.11 Implementation Date The Exchange intends to implement the proposed fees on February 1, 2018. 2. Statutory Basis The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,12 in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4),13 in particular, as it is designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges among its members and other recipients of Exchange data. The Exchange believes that the proposed 8 A Customer is any person, company or other entity that, pursuant to a market data agreement with CDS, is entitled to receive data, either directly from CDS or through an authorized redistributor (i.e., a Customer or an extranet service provider), whether that data is distributed externally or used internally. The CDS fee schedule for Exchange data is located at https://www.cboe.org/general-info/ pdfframed?content=/publish/mdxfees/cboe-cdsfees-schedule-for-cboe-datafeeds.pdf&section=SEC_ MDX_CSM&title=Cboe%20CDS%20Fees%20 Schedule. 9 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70683 (October 15, 2013), 78 FR 62798 (October 22, 2013) (SR–CBOE–2013–087). 10 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73955 (December 30, 2014), 80 FR 598 (January 6, 2015) (SR–CBOE–2014–094). 11 Such COB Data Feed Customers are still subject to User Fees. 12 15 U.S.C. 78f. 13 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). E:\FR\FM\13FEN1.SGM 13FEN1 sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES 6292 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2018 / Notices rates are equitable and nondiscriminatory in that they apply uniformly to all recipients of Exchange data. The Exchange believes the proposed fees are competitive with those charged by other venues and, therefore, reasonable and equitably allocated to recipients. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 11(A) of the Act 14 in that it supports (i) fair competition among brokers and dealers, among exchange markets, and between exchange markets and markets other than exchange markets and (ii) the availability to brokers, dealers, and investors of information with respect to quotations for and transactions in securities. Furthermore, the proposed rule change is consistent with Rule 603 of Regulation NMS,15 which provides that any national securities exchange that distributes information with respect to quotations for or transactions in an NMS stock do so on terms that are not unreasonably discriminatory. In adopting Regulation NMS, the Commission granted self-regulatory organizations and broker-dealers increased authority and flexibility to offer new and unique market data to the public. It was believed that this authority would expand the amount of data available to consumers, and also spur innovation and competition for the provision of market data. In addition, the proposed fees would not permit unfair discrimination because all of the Exchange’s customers and market data vendors who subscribe to the above data feeds will be subject to the proposed fees. The above data feeds are distributed and purchased on a voluntary basis, in that neither the Exchange nor market data distributors are required by any rule or regulation purchase this data or to make this data available. Accordingly, distributors and users can discontinue use at any time and for any reason, including due to an assessment of the reasonableness of fees charged. Firms have a wide variety of alternative market data products from which to choose, such as similar proprietary data products offered by other exchanges and consolidated data. Moreover, the Exchange is not required to make any proprietary data products available or to offer any specific pricing alternatives to any customers. In addition, the fees that are the subject of this rule filing are constrained by competition. As explained below in the Exchange’s Statement on Burden on Competition, the existence of 14 15 15 17 U.S.C. 78k–1. CFR 242.603. VerDate Sep<11>2014 23:12 Feb 12, 2018 Jkt 244001 alternatives to the above data feeds further ensure that the Exchange cannot set unreasonable fees, or fees that are unreasonably discriminatory, when vendors and subscribers can elect such alternatives. That is, the Exchange competes with other exchanges (and their affiliates) that provide similar market data products. For example, the above data feeds provide investors with alternative market data and competes with similar market data product currently offered by other exchanges. If another exchange (or its affiliate) were to charge less to distribute its similar product than the Exchange charges for the above data feeds, prospective users likely would not subscribe to, or would cease subscribing to either market data product. The Exchange notes that the Commission is not required to undertake a cost-of-service or ratemaking approach. The Exchange believes that, even if it were possible as a matter of economic theory, cost-based pricing for non-core market data would be so complicated that it could not be done practically.16 BBO Data Feed The Exchange believes the proposed increase in the Data Fee for BBO data is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it would apply equally to all Customers. The Exchange believes the proposed Data Fee is 16 The Exchange believes that cost-based pricing would be impractical because it would create enormous administrative burdens for all parties, including the Commission, to cost-regulate a large number of participants and standardize and analyze extraordinary amounts of information, accounts, and reports. In addition, it is impossible to regulate market data prices in isolation from prices charged by markets for other services that are joint products. Cost-based rate regulation would also lead to litigation and may distort incentives, including those to minimize costs and to innovate, leading to further waste. Under cost-based pricing, the Commission would be burdened with determining a fair rate of return, and the industry could experience frequent rate increases based on escalating expense levels. Even in industries historically subject to utility regulation, cost-based ratemaking has been discredited. As such, the Exchange believes that cost-based ratemaking would be inappropriate for proprietary market data and inconsistent with Congress’s direction that the Commission use its authority to foster the development of the national market system, and that market forces will continue to provide appropriate pricing discipline. See Appendix C to NYSE’s comments to the Commission’s 2000 Concept Release on the Regulation of Market Information Fees and Revenues, which can be found on the Commission’s website at https:// www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s72899/buck1.htm. See also Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73816 (December 11, 2014), 79 FR 75200 (December 17, 2014) (SR–NYSE–2014–64) (Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to Establish an Access Fee for the NYSE Best Quote and Trades Data Feed, Operative December 1, 2014). PO 00000 Frm 00134 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 reasonable because it compares favorably to fees that other markets charge for similar products. For example, Nasdaq PHLX LLC (‘‘PHLX’’) charges Internal Distributors a monthly fee of $4,500 per organization and External Distributors a monthly fee of $5,000 per organization for its ‘‘TOPO Plus Orders’’ data feed, which like the BBO Data Feed includes top-of-book data (including orders, quotes and trades) and other market data.17 Nasdaq ISE, LLC (‘‘ISE’’) offers a ‘‘Top Quote Feed’’, which includes top-of-book data, and a separate ‘‘Spread Feed’’, which like the BBO Data Feed includes order and quote data for complex strategies. ISE charges distributors of its Top Quote Feed a base monthly fee of $3,000 and distributors of its Spread Feed a base monthly fee of $3,000 18 (totally $6,000 in the aggregate to receive the same data as offered by the BBO feed). The Exchange believes the proposed rate is reasonable based on the value of the market data included in the BBO feed and the market share that the data represents. The Exchange also notes that Customers who receive the BBO feed may also receive the Book Depth and COB data feeds at no extra charge. Book Depth Data Feed The Exchange believes the proposed Data Fee for the Book Depth Data Feed is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it would apply equally to all Customers. The Exchange believes the proposed Data Fee is reasonable because it compares favorably to fees that other markets charge for similar products. For example, PHLX charges Internal Distributors a monthly fee of $4,000 and External Distributors a monthly fee of a $4,500 for its Depth data feed that includes full depth of quotes and orders and last sale data for options listed on PHLX.19 In addition, ISE charges a $5,000 per month distributor fee for its Real-time Depth of Market data feed.20 The Exchange also notes that Customers who receive the Book Depth feed may also receive the BBO and COB data feeds at no extra charge. The Exchange believes the proposed rate is reasonable based on the value of the market data included in the BBO feed and the market share that the data represents. 17 See Section IX of the PHLX Pricing Schedule (setting forth the fees for proprietary market data). 18 See Sections VIII(h) and (I) of the Nasdaq ISE Schedule of Fees. 19 See supra note 17. 20 See Section VIII(f) of the Nasdaq ISE Schedule of Fees. E:\FR\FM\13FEN1.SGM 13FEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2018 / Notices sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES COB Data Feed The Exchange believes the proposed Data Fee for the COB Data Feed is equitable, reasonable, and not unfairly discriminatory because they would apply equally to all Customers of the COB Data Feed. The Exchange notes that it had previously charged a Data Fee of $3,000 per month for the COB Feed 21 and later reduced that fee to its current rate to incentive further redistribution of the data feed.22 The Exchange now proposes to return the fee for the COB data feed to its original rate to bring the cost of the data feed in line with that of similar data feeds offered by other exchanges. For example, ISE charges distributors of its Spread Feed a base monthly fee of $3,000,23 equal to what the Exchange proposes to charge for the COB data feed. The Exchange also notes that Customers who receive the BBO and Book Depth feeds may also receive the COB data feed at no extra charge. The Exchange believes the proposed rate is reasonable based on the value of the market data included in the COB feed and the market share that the data represents. B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Burden on Competition The Exchange 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, as amended. The Exchange’s ability to price the BBO, Book Depth, ad COB data feeds is constrained by: (i) Competition among exchanges that compete with each other in a variety of dimensions; (ii) the existence of inexpensive real-time consolidated data and market-specific data and free delayed data; and (iii) the inherent contestability of the market for proprietary data. An exchange’s ability to price its proprietary data feed products is constrained by (1) the existence of actual competition for the sale of such data, (2) the joint product nature of exchange platforms, and (3) the existence of alternatives to proprietary data. The Existence of Actual Competition. The Exchange believes competition provides an effective constraint on the market data fees that the Exchange, through CDS, has the ability and the incentive to charge. The Exchange has a 21 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70683 (October 15, 2013), 78 FR 62798 (October 22, 2013) (SR–CBOE–2013–087). 22 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73955 (December 30, 2014), 80 FR 598 (January 6, 2015) (SR–CBOE–2014–094). 23 See Sections VIII(I) of the Nasdaq ISE Schedule of Fees. VerDate Sep<11>2014 23:12 Feb 12, 2018 Jkt 244001 compelling need to attract order flow from market participants in order to maintain its share of trading volume. This compelling need to attract order flow imposes significant pressure on the Exchange to act reasonably in setting its fees for market data, particularly given that the market participants that will pay such fees often will be the same market participants from whom the Exchange must attract order flow. These market participants include brokerdealers that control the handling of a large volume of customer and proprietary order flow. Given the portability of order flow from one exchange to another, any exchange that sought to charge unreasonably high data fees would risk alienating many of the same customers on whose orders it depends for competitive survival. The Exchange currently competes with fourteen options exchanges (including its affiliate, C2) for order flow.24 In addition, in the case of products that are distributed through market data vendors, the market data vendors themselves provide additional price discipline for proprietary data products because they control the primary means of access to certain end users. These vendors impose price discipline based upon their business models. For example, vendors that assess a surcharge on data they sell are able to refuse to offer proprietary products that their end users do not or will not purchase in sufficient numbers. Internet portals, such as Google, impose price discipline by providing only data that they believe will enable them to attract ‘‘eyeballs’’ that contribute to their advertising revenue. Similarly, Customers will not offer the BBO, Book Depth or COB Data Feeds unless these products will help them maintain current users or attract new ones. For example, a broker-dealer will not choose to offer the BBO, Book Depth or COB Data Feeds to its retail customers unless the broker-dealer believes that the retail customers will use and value the data and the provision of such data will help the broker-dealer maintain the customer relationship, which allows the brokerdealer to generate profits for itself. Professional users will not request any of these feeds from Customers unless they can use the data for profitgenerating purposes in their businesses. All of these operate as constraints on pricing proprietary data products. 24 The Commission has previously made a finding that the options industry is subject to significant competitive forces. See e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59949 (May 20, 2009), 74 FR 25593 (May 28, 2009) (SR–ISE–2009–97) (order approving ISE’s proposal to establish fees for a real-time depth of market data offering). PO 00000 Frm 00135 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 6293 Joint Product Nature of Exchange Platform. Transaction execution and proprietary data products are complementary in that market data is both an input and a byproduct of the execution service. In fact, market data and trade executions are a paradigmatic example of joint products with joint costs. The decision whether and on which platform to post an order will depend on the attributes of the platforms where the order can be posted, including the execution fees, data quality, and price and distribution of their data products. The more trade executions a platform does, the more valuable its market data products become. The costs of producing market data include not only the costs of the data distribution infrastructure, but also the costs of designing, maintaining, and operating the exchange’s transaction execution platform and the cost of regulating the exchange to ensure its fair operation and maintain investor confidence. The total return that a trading platform earns reflects the revenues it receives from both products and the joint costs it incurs. Moreover, an exchange’s broker-dealer customers view the costs of transaction executions and market data as a unified cost of doing business with the exchange. Analyzing the cost of market data product production and distribution in isolation from the cost of all of the inputs supporting the creation of market data and market data products will inevitably underestimate the cost of the data and data products. Thus, because it is impossible to obtain the data inputs to create market data products without a fast, technologically robust, and wellregulated execution system, system costs and regulatory costs affect the price of both obtaining the market data itself and creating and distributing market data products. It would be equally misleading, however, to attribute all of an exchange’s costs to the market data portion of an exchange’s joint products. Rather, all of an exchange’s costs are incurred for the unified purposes of attracting order flow, executing and/or routing orders, and generating and selling data about market activity. The total return that an exchange earns reflects the revenues it receives from the joint products and the total costs of the joint products. The level of competition and contestability in the market is evident in the numerous alternative venues that compete for order flow, including 15 options self-regulatory organization (‘‘SRO’’) markets, as well as internalizing broker-dealers (‘‘BDs’’) and various forms of alternative trading systems (‘‘ATSs’’), including dark pools E:\FR\FM\13FEN1.SGM 13FEN1 sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES 6294 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 30 / Tuesday, February 13, 2018 / Notices and electronic communication networks (‘‘ECNs’’). Competition among trading platforms can be expected to constrain the aggregate return that each platform earns from the sale of its joint products, but different platforms may choose from a range of possible, and equally reasonable, pricing strategies as the means of recovering total costs. For example, some platforms may choose to pay rebates to attract orders, charge relatively low prices for market data products (or provide market data products free of charge), and charge relatively high prices for accessing posted liquidity. Other platforms may choose a strategy of paying lower rebates (or no rebates) to attract orders, setting relatively high prices for market data products, and setting relatively low prices for accessing posted liquidity. In this environment, there is no economic basis for regulating maximum prices for one of the joint products in an industry in which suppliers face competitive constraints with regard to the joint offering. The Existence of Alternatives. The Exchange is constrained in pricing the BBO, Book Depth and COB Data Feeds by the availability to market participants of alternatives to purchasing these products. The Exchange must consider the extent to which market participants would choose one or more alternatives instead of purchasing the exchange’s data. Other options exchanges can and have produced their own top-of-book, book depth and complex strategies market data products, and thus are sources of potential competition for CDS. For example, as noted above, ISE and PHLX offer market data products that compete with the BBO, Book Depth and COB Data Feeds. The large number of SROs, BDs, and ATSs that currently produce proprietary data or are currently capable of producing it provides further pricing discipline for proprietary data products. Each SRO, ATS, and BD is currently permitted to produce proprietary data products, and many currently do. In addition, the OPRA data feed is a significant competitive alternative to the BBO and last sale data included in the BBO and Book Depth Data Feeds. The existence of numerous alternatives to the Exchange’s products, including proprietary data from other sources, ensures that the Exchange cannot set unreasonable fees, or fees that are unreasonably discriminatory, when vendors and subscribers can elect these alternatives or choose not to purchase a specific proprietary data product if its cost to purchase is not justified by the returns any particular VerDate Sep<11>2014 23:12 Feb 12, 2018 Jkt 244001 vendor or subscriber would achieve through the purchase. C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others The Exchange has neither solicited nor received written 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 25 and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b–4 26 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. 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: 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 website 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. Persons submitting comments are cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying information from comment submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions should refer to File Number SR–CBOE–2018–013 and should be submitted on or before March 6, 2018. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.27 Eduardo A. Aleman, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2018–02861 Filed 2–12–18; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION 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– CBOE–2018–013 on the subject line. [Release No. 34–82646; File No. SR–CBOE– 2018–010] 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–CBOE–2018–013. 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 website (https://www.sec.gov/ rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements February 7, 2018. Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Delete Obsolete Rules 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 January 25, 2018, Cboe Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘Cboe Options’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Exchange filed the proposal as a ‘‘noncontroversial’’ proposed rule change pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 3 and Rule 19b–4(f)(6) 27 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 3 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii). 1 15 25 15 26 17 PO 00000 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). CFR 240.19b–4(f). Frm 00136 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\13FEN1.SGM 13FEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 30 (Tuesday, February 13, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6290-6294]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-02861]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-82650; File No. SR-CBOE-2018-013]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Related to 
Market Data Fees

February 7, 2018.
    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 January 30, 2018, Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or 
``Cboe'') 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

[[Page 6291]]

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 Cboe Data Services (``CDS'') fee 
schedule to increase the fees for the BBO, Book Depth, and Complex 
Order Book (``COB'') data feeds.
    The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the 
Exchange's website (https://www.cboe.com/About CBOE/
CBOELegalRegulatoryHome.aspx), 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 proposes to amend the CDS fee schedule to increase the 
fees for the BBO, Book Depth, and COB data feeds.
BBO and Book Depth Data Feed
    The BBO Data Feed is a real-time data feed that includes the 
following information: (i) Outstanding quotes and standing orders at 
the best available price level on each side of the market; (ii) 
executed trades time, size, and price; (iii) totals of customer versus 
non-customer contracts at the best bid and offer (``BBO''); (iv) all-
or-none contingency orders priced better than or equal to the BBO; (v) 
expected opening price and expected opening size; (vi) end-of-day 
summaries by product, including open, high, low, and closing price 
during the trading session; (vi) recap messages any time there is a 
change in the open, high, low or last sale price of a listed option; 
(vii) COB information; and (viii) product IDs and codes for all listed 
options contracts. The quote and last sale data contained in the BBO 
data feed is identical to the data sent to the Options Price Reporting 
Authority (``OPRA'') for redistribution to the public.
    The Book Depth Data Feed is a real-time, low latency data feed that 
includes all data contained in the BBO Data Feed described above plus 
outstanding quotes and standing orders up to the first four price 
levels on each side of the market, with aggregate size (``Book 
Depth'').
    CDS currently charges a Data Fee, payable by a Customer, of $7,000 
per month for internal use and external redistribution of the BBO and/
or Book Depth data feeds.\3\ The Data Fee entitles a Customer to 
provide the BBO and/or the Book Depth data feed to an unlimited number 
of internal users and Devices \4\ within the Customer. A Customer 
receiving the BBO and/or Book Depth data feeds from another Customer is 
assessed the Data Fee by CDS pursuant to its own market data agreement 
with CDS, and is entitled to use the Data internally and/or distribute 
it externally.\5\ All Customers have the same rights to utilize the 
data internally and/or distribute it externally as long as the Customer 
has entered into a written agreement with CDS for the data and pays the 
Data Fee.
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    \3\ A BBO Data Feed ``Customer'' is any person, company or other 
entity that, pursuant to a market data agreement with CDS, is 
entitled to receive data, either directly from CDS or through an 
authorized redistributor (i.e., a Customer or an extranet service 
provider), whether that data is distributed externally or used 
internally. The CDS fee schedule for Exchange data is located at 
https://www.cboe.org/general-info/pdfframed?content=/publish/mdxfees/cboe-cds-fees-schedule-for-cboe-datafeeds.pdf§ion=SEC_MDX_CSM&title=Cboe%20CDS%20Fees%20Schedule.

    \4\ A ``Device'' means any computer, workstation or other item 
of equipment, fixed or portable, that receives, accesses and/or 
displays data in visual, audible or other form.
    \5\ A Customer may choose to receive the data from another 
Customer rather than directly from CDS's system because it does not 
want to or is not equipped to manage the technology necessary to 
establish a direct connection to CDS.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange proposes to increase the Data Fee for both the BBO and 
Book Depth data feeds from $7,000 per month to $9,000 per month.\6\ The 
Exchange is not proposing to amend the User Fee for either the BBO or 
Book Depth data feeds. The Data Fee for the Book Depth data feed will 
continue to be waived for Customers who also purchase the companion BBO 
data feed.\7\
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    \6\ The Exchange also proposes to amend the first column of the 
BBO Data Feed fees to identify Cboe as ``Cboe Options'' to be 
consistent with the Depth Book and COB data feed fee descriptions.
    \7\ Such COB Data Feed Customers are still subject to User Fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

COB Data Feed
    The COB Data Feed is a real-time data feed that includes data 
regarding the Exchange's Complex Order Book and related complex order 
information. The COB Data Feed contains the following information for 
all Exchange-traded complex order strategies (multi-leg strategies such 
as spreads, straddles and buy-writes): (i) Outstanding quotes and 
standing orders on each side of the market with aggregate size, (ii) 
data with respect to executed trades (``last sale data''), and (iii) 
totals of customer versus non-customer contracts.
    CDS currently charges Customers \8\ of the COB Data Feed a Data Fee 
of $100 per month plus applicable User Fees. The Exchange now proposes 
to increase the Data Fee for the COB data feed from $100 to $3,000 per 
month. The Exchange notes that it had previously charged a Data Fee of 
$3,000 per month for the COB Feed \9\ and later reduced that fee to its 
current rate to incentive further redistribution of the data feed.\10\ 
The Exchange now proposes to return the fee for the COB data feed to 
its original rate to bring the cost of the data feed in line with that 
of similar data feeds offered by other exchanges. The Exchange is not 
proposing to amend the User Fee for either the COB data feed. The Data 
Fee for the COB Data Feed would continue to be waived for Customers of 
the BBO and/or Book Depth data feeds.\11\
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    \8\ A Customer is any person, company or other entity that, 
pursuant to a market data agreement with CDS, is entitled to receive 
data, either directly from CDS or through an authorized 
redistributor (i.e., a Customer or an extranet service provider), 
whether that data is distributed externally or used internally. The 
CDS fee schedule for Exchange data is located at https://www.cboe.org/general-info/pdfframed?content=/publish/mdxfees/cboe-cds-fees-schedule-for-cboe-datafeeds.pdf§ion=SEC_MDX_CSM&title=Cboe%20CDS%20Fees%20 
Schedule.
    \9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70683 (October 15, 
2013), 78 FR 62798 (October 22, 2013) (SR-CBOE-2013-087).
    \10\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73955 (December 30, 
2014), 80 FR 598 (January 6, 2015) (SR-CBOE-2014-094).
    \11\ Such COB Data Feed Customers are still subject to User 
Fees.
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Implementation Date
    The Exchange intends to implement the proposed fees on February 1, 
2018.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,\12\ in general, and 
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4),\13\ in particular, as it is 
designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, 
fees and other charges among its members and other recipients of 
Exchange data. The Exchange believes that the proposed

[[Page 6292]]

rates are equitable and non-discriminatory in that they apply uniformly 
to all recipients of Exchange data. The Exchange believes the proposed 
fees are competitive with those charged by other venues and, therefore, 
reasonable and equitably allocated to recipients.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
    \13\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 11(A) of the Act \14\ in that it supports (i) fair 
competition among brokers and dealers, among exchange markets, and 
between exchange markets and markets other than exchange markets and 
(ii) the availability to brokers, dealers, and investors of information 
with respect to quotations for and transactions in securities. 
Furthermore, the proposed rule change is consistent with Rule 603 of 
Regulation NMS,\15\ which provides that any national securities 
exchange that distributes information with respect to quotations for or 
transactions in an NMS stock do so on terms that are not unreasonably 
discriminatory. In adopting Regulation NMS, the Commission granted 
self-regulatory organizations and broker-dealers increased authority 
and flexibility to offer new and unique market data to the public. It 
was believed that this authority would expand the amount of data 
available to consumers, and also spur innovation and competition for 
the provision of market data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \15\ 17 CFR 242.603.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, the proposed fees would not permit unfair 
discrimination because all of the Exchange's customers and market data 
vendors who subscribe to the above data feeds will be subject to the 
proposed fees. The above data feeds are distributed and purchased on a 
voluntary basis, in that neither the Exchange nor market data 
distributors are required by any rule or regulation purchase this data 
or to make this data available. Accordingly, distributors and users can 
discontinue use at any time and for any reason, including due to an 
assessment of the reasonableness of fees charged. Firms have a wide 
variety of alternative market data products from which to choose, such 
as similar proprietary data products offered by other exchanges and 
consolidated data. Moreover, the Exchange is not required to make any 
proprietary data products available or to offer any specific pricing 
alternatives to any customers.
    In addition, the fees that are the subject of this rule filing are 
constrained by competition. As explained below in the Exchange's 
Statement on Burden on Competition, the existence of alternatives to 
the above data feeds further ensure that the Exchange cannot set 
unreasonable fees, or fees that are unreasonably discriminatory, when 
vendors and subscribers can elect such alternatives. That is, the 
Exchange competes with other exchanges (and their affiliates) that 
provide similar market data products. For example, the above data feeds 
provide investors with alternative market data and competes with 
similar market data product currently offered by other exchanges. If 
another exchange (or its affiliate) were to charge less to distribute 
its similar product than the Exchange charges for the above data feeds, 
prospective users likely would not subscribe to, or would cease 
subscribing to either market data product.
    The Exchange notes that the Commission is not required to undertake 
a cost-of-service or rate-making approach. The Exchange believes that, 
even if it were possible as a matter of economic theory, cost-based 
pricing for non-core market data would be so complicated that it could 
not be done practically.\16\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ The Exchange believes that cost-based pricing would be 
impractical because it would create enormous administrative burdens 
for all parties, including the Commission, to cost-regulate a large 
number of participants and standardize and analyze extraordinary 
amounts of information, accounts, and reports. In addition, it is 
impossible to regulate market data prices in isolation from prices 
charged by markets for other services that are joint products. Cost-
based rate regulation would also lead to litigation and may distort 
incentives, including those to minimize costs and to innovate, 
leading to further waste. Under cost-based pricing, the Commission 
would be burdened with determining a fair rate of return, and the 
industry could experience frequent rate increases based on 
escalating expense levels. Even in industries historically subject 
to utility regulation, cost-based ratemaking has been discredited. 
As such, the Exchange believes that cost-based ratemaking would be 
inappropriate for proprietary market data and inconsistent with 
Congress's direction that the Commission use its authority to foster 
the development of the national market system, and that market 
forces will continue to provide appropriate pricing discipline. See 
Appendix C to NYSE's comments to the Commission's 2000 Concept 
Release on the Regulation of Market Information Fees and Revenues, 
which can be found on the Commission's website at https://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s72899/buck1.htm. See also Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 73816 (December 11, 2014), 79 FR 75200 
(December 17, 2014) (SR-NYSE-2014-64) (Notice of Filing and 
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to Establish an 
Access Fee for the NYSE Best Quote and Trades Data Feed, Operative 
December 1, 2014).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

BBO Data Feed
    The Exchange believes the proposed increase in the Data Fee for BBO 
data is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it would 
apply equally to all Customers. The Exchange believes the proposed Data 
Fee is reasonable because it compares favorably to fees that other 
markets charge for similar products. For example, Nasdaq PHLX LLC 
(``PHLX'') charges Internal Distributors a monthly fee of $4,500 per 
organization and External Distributors a monthly fee of $5,000 per 
organization for its ``TOPO Plus Orders'' data feed, which like the BBO 
Data Feed includes top-of-book data (including orders, quotes and 
trades) and other market data.\17\ Nasdaq ISE, LLC (``ISE'') offers a 
``Top Quote Feed'', which includes top-of-book data, and a separate 
``Spread Feed'', which like the BBO Data Feed includes order and quote 
data for complex strategies. ISE charges distributors of its Top Quote 
Feed a base monthly fee of $3,000 and distributors of its Spread Feed a 
base monthly fee of $3,000 \18\ (totally $6,000 in the aggregate to 
receive the same data as offered by the BBO feed). The Exchange 
believes the proposed rate is reasonable based on the value of the 
market data included in the BBO feed and the market share that the data 
represents. The Exchange also notes that Customers who receive the BBO 
feed may also receive the Book Depth and COB data feeds at no extra 
charge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ See Section IX of the PHLX Pricing Schedule (setting forth 
the fees for proprietary market data).
    \18\ See Sections VIII(h) and (I) of the Nasdaq ISE Schedule of 
Fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Book Depth Data Feed
    The Exchange believes the proposed Data Fee for the Book Depth Data 
Feed is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it would 
apply equally to all Customers. The Exchange believes the proposed Data 
Fee is reasonable because it compares favorably to fees that other 
markets charge for similar products. For example, PHLX charges Internal 
Distributors a monthly fee of $4,000 and External Distributors a 
monthly fee of a $4,500 for its Depth data feed that includes full 
depth of quotes and orders and last sale data for options listed on 
PHLX.\19\ In addition, ISE charges a $5,000 per month distributor fee 
for its Real-time Depth of Market data feed.\20\ The Exchange also 
notes that Customers who receive the Book Depth feed may also receive 
the BBO and COB data feeds at no extra charge. The Exchange believes 
the proposed rate is reasonable based on the value of the market data 
included in the BBO feed and the market share that the data represents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ See supra note 17.
    \20\ See Section VIII(f) of the Nasdaq ISE Schedule of Fees.

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[[Page 6293]]

COB Data Feed
    The Exchange believes the proposed Data Fee for the COB Data Feed 
is equitable, reasonable, and not unfairly discriminatory because they 
would apply equally to all Customers of the COB Data Feed. The Exchange 
notes that it had previously charged a Data Fee of $3,000 per month for 
the COB Feed \21\ and later reduced that fee to its current rate to 
incentive further redistribution of the data feed.\22\ The Exchange now 
proposes to return the fee for the COB data feed to its original rate 
to bring the cost of the data feed in line with that of similar data 
feeds offered by other exchanges. For example, ISE charges distributors 
of its Spread Feed a base monthly fee of $3,000,\23\ equal to what the 
Exchange proposes to charge for the COB data feed. The Exchange also 
notes that Customers who receive the BBO and Book Depth feeds may also 
receive the COB data feed at no extra charge. The Exchange believes the 
proposed rate is reasonable based on the value of the market data 
included in the COB feed and the market share that the data represents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70683 (October 15, 
2013), 78 FR 62798 (October 22, 2013) (SR-CBOE-2013-087).
    \22\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73955 (December 30, 
2014), 80 FR 598 (January 6, 2015) (SR-CBOE-2014-094).
    \23\ See Sections VIII(I) of the Nasdaq ISE Schedule of Fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

    The Exchange 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, as amended. The 
Exchange's ability to price the BBO, Book Depth, ad COB data feeds is 
constrained by: (i) Competition among exchanges that compete with each 
other in a variety of dimensions; (ii) the existence of inexpensive 
real-time consolidated data and market-specific data and free delayed 
data; and (iii) the inherent contestability of the market for 
proprietary data.
    An exchange's ability to price its proprietary data feed products 
is constrained by (1) the existence of actual competition for the sale 
of such data, (2) the joint product nature of exchange platforms, and 
(3) the existence of alternatives to proprietary data.
    The Existence of Actual Competition. The Exchange believes 
competition provides an effective constraint on the market data fees 
that the Exchange, through CDS, has the ability and the incentive to 
charge. The Exchange has a compelling need to attract order flow from 
market participants in order to maintain its share of trading volume. 
This compelling need to attract order flow imposes significant pressure 
on the Exchange to act reasonably in setting its fees for market data, 
particularly given that the market participants that will pay such fees 
often will be the same market participants from whom the Exchange must 
attract order flow. These market participants include broker-dealers 
that control the handling of a large volume of customer and proprietary 
order flow. Given the portability of order flow from one exchange to 
another, any exchange that sought to charge unreasonably high data fees 
would risk alienating many of the same customers on whose orders it 
depends for competitive survival. The Exchange currently competes with 
fourteen options exchanges (including its affiliate, C2) for order 
flow.\24\
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    \24\ The Commission has previously made a finding that the 
options industry is subject to significant competitive forces. See 
e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59949 (May 20, 2009), 74 
FR 25593 (May 28, 2009) (SR-ISE-2009-97) (order approving ISE's 
proposal to establish fees for a real-time depth of market data 
offering).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, in the case of products that are distributed through 
market data vendors, the market data vendors themselves provide 
additional price discipline for proprietary data products because they 
control the primary means of access to certain end users. These vendors 
impose price discipline based upon their business models. For example, 
vendors that assess a surcharge on data they sell are able to refuse to 
offer proprietary products that their end users do not or will not 
purchase in sufficient numbers. Internet portals, such as Google, 
impose price discipline by providing only data that they believe will 
enable them to attract ``eyeballs'' that contribute to their 
advertising revenue. Similarly, Customers will not offer the BBO, Book 
Depth or COB Data Feeds unless these products will help them maintain 
current users or attract new ones. For example, a broker-dealer will 
not choose to offer the BBO, Book Depth or COB Data Feeds to its retail 
customers unless the broker-dealer believes that the retail customers 
will use and value the data and the provision of such data will help 
the broker-dealer maintain the customer relationship, which allows the 
broker-dealer to generate profits for itself. Professional users will 
not request any of these feeds from Customers unless they can use the 
data for profit-generating purposes in their businesses. All of these 
operate as constraints on pricing proprietary data products.
    Joint Product Nature of Exchange Platform. Transaction execution 
and proprietary data products are complementary in that market data is 
both an input and a byproduct of the execution service. In fact, market 
data and trade executions are a paradigmatic example of joint products 
with joint costs. The decision whether and on which platform to post an 
order will depend on the attributes of the platforms where the order 
can be posted, including the execution fees, data quality, and price 
and distribution of their data products. The more trade executions a 
platform does, the more valuable its market data products become. The 
costs of producing market data include not only the costs of the data 
distribution infrastructure, but also the costs of designing, 
maintaining, and operating the exchange's transaction execution 
platform and the cost of regulating the exchange to ensure its fair 
operation and maintain investor confidence. The total return that a 
trading platform earns reflects the revenues it receives from both 
products and the joint costs it incurs. Moreover, an exchange's broker-
dealer customers view the costs of transaction executions and market 
data as a unified cost of doing business with the exchange.
    Analyzing the cost of market data product production and 
distribution in isolation from the cost of all of the inputs supporting 
the creation of market data and market data products will inevitably 
underestimate the cost of the data and data products. Thus, because it 
is impossible to obtain the data inputs to create market data products 
without a fast, technologically robust, and well-regulated execution 
system, system costs and regulatory costs affect the price of both 
obtaining the market data itself and creating and distributing market 
data products. It would be equally misleading, however, to attribute 
all of an exchange's costs to the market data portion of an exchange's 
joint products. Rather, all of an exchange's costs are incurred for the 
unified purposes of attracting order flow, executing and/or routing 
orders, and generating and selling data about market activity. The 
total return that an exchange earns reflects the revenues it receives 
from the joint products and the total costs of the joint products.
    The level of competition and contestability in the market is 
evident in the numerous alternative venues that compete for order flow, 
including 15 options self-regulatory organization (``SRO'') markets, as 
well as internalizing broker-dealers (``BDs'') and various forms of 
alternative trading systems (``ATSs''), including dark pools

[[Page 6294]]

and electronic communication networks (``ECNs''). Competition among 
trading platforms can be expected to constrain the aggregate return 
that each platform earns from the sale of its joint products, but 
different platforms may choose from a range of possible, and equally 
reasonable, pricing strategies as the means of recovering total costs. 
For example, some platforms may choose to pay rebates to attract 
orders, charge relatively low prices for market data products (or 
provide market data products free of charge), and charge relatively 
high prices for accessing posted liquidity. Other platforms may choose 
a strategy of paying lower rebates (or no rebates) to attract orders, 
setting relatively high prices for market data products, and setting 
relatively low prices for accessing posted liquidity. In this 
environment, there is no economic basis for regulating maximum prices 
for one of the joint products in an industry in which suppliers face 
competitive constraints with regard to the joint offering.
    The Existence of Alternatives. The Exchange is constrained in 
pricing the BBO, Book Depth and COB Data Feeds by the availability to 
market participants of alternatives to purchasing these products. The 
Exchange must consider the extent to which market participants would 
choose one or more alternatives instead of purchasing the exchange's 
data. Other options exchanges can and have produced their own top-of-
book, book depth and complex strategies market data products, and thus 
are sources of potential competition for CDS. For example, as noted 
above, ISE and PHLX offer market data products that compete with the 
BBO, Book Depth and COB Data Feeds. The large number of SROs, BDs, and 
ATSs that currently produce proprietary data or are currently capable 
of producing it provides further pricing discipline for proprietary 
data products. Each SRO, ATS, and BD is currently permitted to produce 
proprietary data products, and many currently do. In addition, the OPRA 
data feed is a significant competitive alternative to the BBO and last 
sale data included in the BBO and Book Depth Data Feeds.
    The existence of numerous alternatives to the Exchange's products, 
including proprietary data from other sources, ensures that the 
Exchange cannot set unreasonable fees, or fees that are unreasonably 
discriminatory, when vendors and subscribers can elect these 
alternatives or choose not to purchase a specific proprietary data 
product if its cost to purchase is not justified by the returns any 
particular vendor or subscriber would achieve through the purchase.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    The Exchange has neither solicited nor received written 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 \25\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \26\ 
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \26\ 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 [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-CBOE-2018-013 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-CBOE-2018-013. 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 website (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 website 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. Persons submitting comments are 
cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying 
information from comment submissions. You should submit only 
information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions 
should refer to File Number SR-CBOE-2018-013 and should be submitted on 
or before March 6, 2018.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\27\
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    \27\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-02861 Filed 2-12-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


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