Consolidated Tape Association; Order Approving the Thirty-First Substantive Amendment to the Second Restatement of the CTA Plan Regarding Publication of Trade Reports During Race Conditions, 15836-15837 [2020-05706]
Download as PDF
<![CDATA[
15836
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 54 / Thursday, March 19, 2020 / Notices
any other person’s submission must file
that rebuttal by April 23, 2020. The
Commission asks that commenters
address the sufficiency of the
Exchange’s statements in support of the
proposal, in addition to any other
comments they may wish to submit
about the proposed rule change.
Comments may be submitted by any
of the following methods:
Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
NYSEArca–2019–77 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSEArca–2019–77. 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–NYSEArca–2019–77 and
should be submitted by April 9, 2020.
Rebuttal comments should be submitted
by April 23, 2020.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:05 Mar 18, 2020
Jkt 250001
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.22
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–05677 Filed 3–18–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–88384; File No. SR–CTA–
2019–02]
Consolidated Tape Association; Order
Approving the Thirty-First Substantive
Amendment to the Second
Restatement of the CTA Plan
Regarding Publication of Trade
Reports During Race Conditions
March 13, 2020.
I. Introduction
On September 11, 2019, participants 1
of the Consolidated Tape Association
Plan (‘‘CTA Plan’’ or ‘‘Plan’’) filed 2 with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’),
pursuant to Section 11A of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(‘‘Act’’) 3 and Rule 608 of Regulation
NMS thereunder,4 a proposal to amend
the Second Restatement of the CTA
Plan.5 This amendment represents the
Thirty-First Substantive Amendment to
the CTA Plan (‘‘Amendment’’). The
Participants have proposed to align
provisions of the Plan that govern
dissemination of last-sale price reports
by the Processor 6 during a Regulatory
Halt 7 with corresponding provisions of
22 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(57).
participants are: Cboe BYX Exchange,
Inc.; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Cboe EDGA
Exchange, Inc.; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Cboe
Exchange, Inc.; Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc.; The Investors’ Exchange LLC; LongTerm Stock Exchange, Inc.; Nasdaq BX, Inc.;
Nasdaq ISE, LLC; Nasdaq PHLX, Inc.; The Nasdaq
Stock Market LLC; New York Stock Exchange LLC;
NYSE American LLC; NYSE Arca, Inc.; NYSE
Chicago, Inc.; and NYSE National, Inc. (each a
‘‘Participant’’ and collectively, the ‘‘Participants’’).
2 See Letter from Robert Books, Chairman,
Operating Committee, CTA Plan, to Vanessa
Countryman, Secretary, Commission (dated
September 6, 2019).
3 15 U.S.C 78k–1(a)(3).
4 17 CFR 242.608.
5 The CTA Plan, pursuant to which markets
collect and disseminate last-sale price information
for non-NASDAQ-listed securities, is a ‘‘transaction
reporting plan’’ under Rule 601 of Regulation NMS,
17 CFR 242.601, and a ‘‘national market system
plan’’ under Rule 608 of Regulation NMS, 17 CFR
242.608. See Securities Exchange Act Release No.
10787 (May 10, 1974), 39 FR at 17799 (May 20,
1974) (declaring the CTA Plan effective).
6 See Section I(x) of the Plan (defining
‘‘Processor’’).
7 See Section XI(a) of the Plan (defining
‘‘Regulatory Halt’’).
1 These
PO 00000
Frm 00079
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
the Nasdaq/UTP Plan.8 The Amendment
was published for comment in the
Federal Register on January 28, 2020.9
One comment letter was received.10
This order approves the Amendment to
the Plan.
II. Description of the Proposal
The Plan currently prohibits the
Processor from disseminating last-sale
reports that are received by the
Processor during a Regulatory Halt.11
This prohibition applies even if a trade
occurs on the Participant just before the
Participant receives notification from
the Processor of a Regulatory Halt. If the
Participant reports the trade to the
Processor during this ‘‘race condition,’’
the Processor might not be able to
determine whether the trade occurred
before or after the Participant had
received notification of the Regulatory
Halt. Under the Nasdaq/UTP Plan, the
Processor immediately disseminates
trade reports in this instance.12
The Participants have proposed to
amend the Plan to provide that, during
a Regulatory Halt, the consolidated tape
shall include any last-sale report that is
received by the Processor during the
Regulatory Halt. Thus, the Processor
would act as a pass-through for
information received from the
Participants, and the Processor would
not have to attempt to ascertain whether
a trade reported to it by a Participant
happened before or after the Participant
had received notification of a Regulatory
Halt. This proposal by the CTA Plan
Participants is designed to harmonize
with Nasdaq/UTP Plan provisions for
how trades are handled by Plan
Processors during race conditions and
apply a uniform procedure for all
trading in NMS stocks throughout the
national market system.
8 The Joint Self-Regulatory Organization Plan
Governing the Collection, Consolidation and
Dissemination of Quotation and Transaction
Information for NASDAQ-Listed Securities Traded
on Exchanges on an Unlisted Trading Privilege
Basis (‘‘Nasdaq/UTP Plan’’) governs the collection,
consolidation, processing, and dissemination of
last-sale and quotation information for Network C
securities.
9 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88016
(January 23, 2020), 85 FR 5060 (January 28, 2020).
10 See Letter from Kelvin To, Founder and
President, Data Boiler Technologies LLC, to Vanessa
Countryman, Secretary, Commission (dated
February 4, 2020). The comment letter is not
germane to the Amendment.
11 See Section XI(a) of the Plan (providing, in
relevant part, that ‘‘[d]uring the period of any
Regulatory Halt in trading in any Eligible Security
by the listing market therefor, the consolidated tape
shall not include any reports of last-sale prices in
such Security received by the Processor during the
period of the Regulatory Halt’’).
12 See Section X.C of the Nasdaq/UTP Plan
(providing, in relevant part, that ‘‘[d]uring a
Regulatory Halt, the Processor shall collect and
disseminate Transaction Information’’).
E:\FR\FM\19MRN1.SGM
19MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 54 / Thursday, March 19, 2020 / Notices
The Participants also proposed to
update certain cross-references to
exchanges rules relating to re-opening
procedures.
jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
III. Discussion
After careful review, the Commission
finds that the Amendment is consistent
with the requirements of the Act and the
rules and regulations thereunder.13 In
particular, the Commission finds that
the Amendment is consistent with
Section 11A of the Act which provides,
among other things, that the
Commission may prescribe rules as
necessary or appropriate in the public
interest, for the protection of investors,
or otherwise in furtherance of the
purposes of the Act to assure the
prompt, accurate, reliable, and fair
collection, processing, distribution, and
publication of information with respect
to quotations for and transactions in
securities and the fairness and
usefulness of the form and content of
such information.14 The Commission
also finds that the Amendment is
consistent with Rule 608 of Regulation
NMS, which provides that the
Commission shall approve an
amendment to a Plan if it finds that
such amendment is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for
the protection of investors and 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 Act.15
The Commission believes that the
Amendment furthers these goals by
eliminating any burden on the Processor
to determine whether a trade that is
reported to the Processor during a race
condition occurred before or after the
Participant who reported the trade had
received notice of a Regulatory Halt.
Under the Amendment, the Processor
could presume that any such trades
occurred before the Regulatory Halt,
thereby allowing the Processor to
continue publishing those trade reports
to the consolidated tape. The
Commission believes that market
observers could derive benefits from
continuing to learn about trades
occurring just before a Regulatory Halt
that, under the existing Plan provisions,
the Plan Processor might not print to the
consolidated tape.
The Commission notes that it is also
approving today a similar proposal by
the Nasdaq/UTP Plan Participants to
13 The
Commission has considered the
Amendment’s impact on efficiency, competition,
and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
14 See 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(c)(1)(B).
15 See 17 CFR 240.608(b)(2).
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:05 Mar 18, 2020
Jkt 250001
eliminate an ambiguity in that Plan
regarding how the Processor handles
last-sale price reports during a
Regulatory Halt.16 As a result, both
Plans will have uniform provisions in
this regard. The Commission believes
that approving these two Plan
amendments furthers the principle set
forth in Section 11A of the Act that
‘‘[t]he linking of all markets for qualified
securities through communication and
data processing facilities will foster
efficiency, enhance competition,
increase the information available to
brokers, dealers, and investors, facilitate
the offsetting of investors’ orders, and
contribute to best execution of such
orders’’ 17 by harmonizing across the
entire national market system how lastsale price reports for all NMS stocks are
printed to the consolidated tape during
race conditions and by eliminating any
ambiguity in the duties of the Plan
Processors in this regard.
Finally, the Commission finds that
updating cross-references in the Plan is
consistent with the Act.
VI. Conclusion
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to
Section 11A of the Act and the rules
thereunder that the Amendment to the
Plan (File No. SR–CTA–2019–02) is
approved.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.18
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–05706 Filed 3–18–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–88380; File No. SR–DTC–
2020–005]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; The
Depository Trust Company; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of
a Proposed Rule Change To Amend
the DTC Fee Guide To Add Fees
Relating to the Provision of Status
Information for Institutional
Transactions to a Matching Utility
March 13, 2020.
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 March 6,
16 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 34–
88385 (March 13, 2020) (File No. S7–24–89).
17 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(1)(D).
18 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(29).
1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
PO 00000
Frm 00080
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
15837
2020, The Depository Trust Company
(‘‘DTC’’) filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’)
the proposed rule change as described
in Items I, II and III below, which Items
have been prepared by the clearing
agency. DTC filed the proposed rule
change pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)
of the Act.3 The Commission is
publishing this notice to solicit
comments on the proposed rule change
from interested persons.
I. Clearing Agency’s Statement of the
Terms of Substance of the Proposed
Rule Change
The proposed rule change of DTC is
attached hereto as Exhibit 5. The
proposed rule change would amend the
Guide to the DTC Fee Schedule (‘‘Fee
Guide’’) 4 to add a fee and other charge
relating to the provision of status
information (‘‘Status Information’’) for
institutional transactions in Eligible
Securities (‘‘Institutional
Transactions’’) 5 to an entity providing a
matching service 6 (‘‘Matching Utility’’),
as described below.
Pursuant to an approved DTC rule
change (‘‘Status Information Rule
Change’’),7 DTC will implement changes
to the DTC Settlement Service Guide 8
(‘‘Settlement Guide’’) to allow DTC to
provide Status Information for an
Institutional Transaction to a Matching
Utility. Upon implementation of the
Status Information Rule Change, the
related amendment to the Settlement
Guide will allow the Matching Utility to
further provide the Status Information
to the counterparties to an Institutional
Transaction to facilitate coordination of
3 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
capitalized term not otherwise defined
herein has its respective meaning as set forth in the
Fee Guide and the Rules, By-Laws and Organization
Certificate of DTC (the ‘‘Rules’’), available at https://
www.dtcc.com/legal/rules-and-procedures.aspx.
5 An Institutional Transaction is a securities
transaction between a broker-dealer and its
institutional customer (e.g., sell-side firms, buy-side
institutions, and custodians).
6 A ‘‘matching service’’ is an electronic service to
match trade information, centrally, between a
broker-dealer and its institutional customer. The
matching service intermediary matches (i.e.,
reconciles) trade information from the
counterparties to an Institutional Transaction, to
generate an affirmed transaction (‘‘Affirmed
Transaction’’) which is then used to provide
settlement instructions for the Affirmed
Transactions to the central securities depository,
such as DTC, at which the Affirmed Transaction
settles. See Securities Exchange Act Release No.
39829 (April 6, 1998), 63 FR 17943 (April 13, 1998)
at 17946 (providing interpretive guidance on types
of entities that may provide a matching service).
7 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 86589
(August 7, 2019), 84 FR 40107 (August 13, 2018)
(SR–DTC–2018–010).
8 Available at https://www.dtcc.com/∼/media/
Files/Downloads/legal/service-guides/
Settlement.pdf.
4 Each
E:\FR\FM\19MRN1.SGM
19MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 54 (Thursday, March 19, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15836-15837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-05706]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-88384; File No. SR-CTA-2019-02]
Consolidated Tape Association; Order Approving the Thirty-First
Substantive Amendment to the Second Restatement of the CTA Plan
Regarding Publication of Trade Reports During Race Conditions
March 13, 2020.
I. Introduction
On September 11, 2019, participants \1\ of the Consolidated Tape
Association Plan (``CTA Plan'' or ``Plan'') filed \2\ with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission''),
pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Act'') \3\ and Rule 608 of Regulation NMS thereunder,\4\ a proposal
to amend the Second Restatement of the CTA Plan.\5\ This amendment
represents the Thirty-First Substantive Amendment to the CTA Plan
(``Amendment''). The Participants have proposed to align provisions of
the Plan that govern dissemination of last-sale price reports by the
Processor \6\ during a Regulatory Halt \7\ with corresponding
provisions of the Nasdaq/UTP Plan.\8\ The Amendment was published for
comment in the Federal Register on January 28, 2020.\9\ One comment
letter was received.\10\ This order approves the Amendment to the Plan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ These participants are: Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc.; Cboe BZX
Exchange, Inc.; Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc.; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.;
Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc.;
The Investors' Exchange LLC; Long-Term Stock Exchange, Inc.; Nasdaq
BX, Inc.; Nasdaq ISE, LLC; Nasdaq PHLX, Inc.; The Nasdaq Stock
Market LLC; New York Stock Exchange LLC; NYSE American LLC; NYSE
Arca, Inc.; NYSE Chicago, Inc.; and NYSE National, Inc. (each a
``Participant'' and collectively, the ``Participants'').
\2\ See Letter from Robert Books, Chairman, Operating Committee,
CTA Plan, to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary, Commission (dated
September 6, 2019).
\3\ 15 U.S.C 78k-1(a)(3).
\4\ 17 CFR 242.608.
\5\ The CTA Plan, pursuant to which markets collect and
disseminate last-sale price information for non-NASDAQ-listed
securities, is a ``transaction reporting plan'' under Rule 601 of
Regulation NMS, 17 CFR 242.601, and a ``national market system
plan'' under Rule 608 of Regulation NMS, 17 CFR 242.608. See
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 10787 (May 10, 1974), 39 FR at
17799 (May 20, 1974) (declaring the CTA Plan effective).
\6\ See Section I(x) of the Plan (defining ``Processor'').
\7\ See Section XI(a) of the Plan (defining ``Regulatory
Halt'').
\8\ The Joint Self-Regulatory Organization Plan Governing the
Collection, Consolidation and Dissemination of Quotation and
Transaction Information for NASDAQ-Listed Securities Traded on
Exchanges on an Unlisted Trading Privilege Basis (``Nasdaq/UTP
Plan'') governs the collection, consolidation, processing, and
dissemination of last-sale and quotation information for Network C
securities.
\9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88016 (January 23,
2020), 85 FR 5060 (January 28, 2020).
\10\ See Letter from Kelvin To, Founder and President, Data
Boiler Technologies LLC, to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary,
Commission (dated February 4, 2020). The comment letter is not
germane to the Amendment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Description of the Proposal
The Plan currently prohibits the Processor from disseminating last-
sale reports that are received by the Processor during a Regulatory
Halt.\11\ This prohibition applies even if a trade occurs on the
Participant just before the Participant receives notification from the
Processor of a Regulatory Halt. If the Participant reports the trade to
the Processor during this ``race condition,'' the Processor might not
be able to determine whether the trade occurred before or after the
Participant had received notification of the Regulatory Halt. Under the
Nasdaq/UTP Plan, the Processor immediately disseminates trade reports
in this instance.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ See Section XI(a) of the Plan (providing, in relevant part,
that ``[d]uring the period of any Regulatory Halt in trading in any
Eligible Security by the listing market therefor, the consolidated
tape shall not include any reports of last-sale prices in such
Security received by the Processor during the period of the
Regulatory Halt'').
\12\ See Section X.C of the Nasdaq/UTP Plan (providing, in
relevant part, that ``[d]uring a Regulatory Halt, the Processor
shall collect and disseminate Transaction Information'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Participants have proposed to amend the Plan to provide that,
during a Regulatory Halt, the consolidated tape shall include any last-
sale report that is received by the Processor during the Regulatory
Halt. Thus, the Processor would act as a pass-through for information
received from the Participants, and the Processor would not have to
attempt to ascertain whether a trade reported to it by a Participant
happened before or after the Participant had received notification of a
Regulatory Halt. This proposal by the CTA Plan Participants is designed
to harmonize with Nasdaq/UTP Plan provisions for how trades are handled
by Plan Processors during race conditions and apply a uniform procedure
for all trading in NMS stocks throughout the national market system.
[[Page 15837]]
The Participants also proposed to update certain cross-references
to exchanges rules relating to re-opening procedures.
III. Discussion
After careful review, the Commission finds that the Amendment is
consistent with the requirements of the Act and the rules and
regulations thereunder.\13\ In particular, the Commission finds that
the Amendment is consistent with Section 11A of the Act which provides,
among other things, that the Commission may prescribe rules as
necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of
investors, or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act to
assure the prompt, accurate, reliable, and fair collection, processing,
distribution, and publication of information with respect to quotations
for and transactions in securities and the fairness and usefulness of
the form and content of such information.\14\ The Commission also finds
that the Amendment is consistent with Rule 608 of Regulation NMS, which
provides that the Commission shall approve an amendment to a Plan if it
finds that such amendment is necessary or appropriate in the public
interest, for the protection of investors and 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 Act.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ The Commission has considered the Amendment's impact on
efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C.
78c(f).
\14\ See 15 U.S.C. 78k-1(c)(1)(B).
\15\ See 17 CFR 240.608(b)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Commission believes that the Amendment furthers these goals by
eliminating any burden on the Processor to determine whether a trade
that is reported to the Processor during a race condition occurred
before or after the Participant who reported the trade had received
notice of a Regulatory Halt. Under the Amendment, the Processor could
presume that any such trades occurred before the Regulatory Halt,
thereby allowing the Processor to continue publishing those trade
reports to the consolidated tape. The Commission believes that market
observers could derive benefits from continuing to learn about trades
occurring just before a Regulatory Halt that, under the existing Plan
provisions, the Plan Processor might not print to the consolidated
tape.
The Commission notes that it is also approving today a similar
proposal by the Nasdaq/UTP Plan Participants to eliminate an ambiguity
in that Plan regarding how the Processor handles last-sale price
reports during a Regulatory Halt.\16\ As a result, both Plans will have
uniform provisions in this regard. The Commission believes that
approving these two Plan amendments furthers the principle set forth in
Section 11A of the Act that ``[t]he linking of all markets for
qualified securities through communication and data processing
facilities will foster efficiency, enhance competition, increase the
information available to brokers, dealers, and investors, facilitate
the offsetting of investors' orders, and contribute to best execution
of such orders'' \17\ by harmonizing across the entire national market
system how last-sale price reports for all NMS stocks are printed to
the consolidated tape during race conditions and by eliminating any
ambiguity in the duties of the Plan Processors in this regard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 34-88385 (March 13,
2020) (File No. S7-24-89).
\17\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1(a)(1)(D).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, the Commission finds that updating cross-references in the
Plan is consistent with the Act.
VI. Conclusion
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 11A of the Act and the
rules thereunder that the Amendment to the Plan (File No. SR-CTA-2019-
02) is approved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\18\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(29).
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\18\
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-05706 Filed 3-18-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
