Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its Fees Schedule, 30777-30779 [2020-10819]
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 98 / Wednesday, May 20, 2020 / Notices
Form N–8B–4
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (‘‘PRA’’), the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget
(‘‘OMB’’) requests for extension of the
previously approved collection of
information discussed below.
Form N–8B–4 (17 CFR 274.14) is the
form used by face-amount certificate
companies to comply with the filing and
disclosure requirements imposed by
Section 8(b) of the Investment Company
Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–8(b)). Among
other items, Form N–8B–4 requires
disclosure of the following information
about the face-amount certificate
company: Date and form of
organization; controlling persons;
current business and contemplated
changes to the company’s business;
investment, borrowing, and lending
policies, as well as other fundamental
policies; securities issued by the
company; investment adviser;
depositaries; management personnel;
compensation paid to directors, officers,
and certain employees; and financial
statements. The Commission uses the
information provided in the collection
of information to determine compliance
with Section 8(b) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940.
Form N–8B–4 and the burden of
compliance have not changed since the
last approval. Each registrant files Form
N–8B–4 for its initial filing and does not
file post-effective amendments to Form
N–8B–4.1 Commission staff estimates
that no respondents will file Form N–
8B–4 each year. There is currently only
one existing face-amount certificate
company, and no face-amount
certificate companies have filed a Form
N–8B–4 in many years. No new faceamount certificate companies have been
established since the last OMB
information collection approval for this
form, which occurred in 2017.
Accordingly, the staff estimates that,
each year, no face-amount certificate
companies will file Form N–8B–4, and
that the total burden for the information
collection is zero hours. Although
Commission staff estimates that there is
no hour burden associated with Form
1 Pursuant to Section 30(b)(1) of the Act (15
U.S.C. 80a-29), each respondent keeps its
registration statement current through the filing of
periodic reports as required by Section 13 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78m)
and the rules thereunder. Post-effective
amendments are filed with the Commission on the
face-amount certificate company’s Form S–1.
Hence, respondents only file Form N–8B–4 for their
initial registration statement and not for posteffective amendments.
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17:51 May 19, 2020
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N–8B–4, the staff is requesting a burden
of one hour for administrative purposes.
Estimates of the burden hours are made
solely for the purposes of the PRA and
are not derived from a comprehensive or
even a representative survey or study of
the costs of SEC rules and forms.
The information provided on Form
N–8B–4 is mandatory. The information
provided on Form N–8B–4 will not be
kept confidential. An agency may not
conduct or sponsor, and a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of
information unless it displays a
currently valid control number.
The public may view background
documentation for this information
collection at the following website:
www.reginfo.gov. Find this particular
information collection by selecting
‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open
for Public Comments’’ or by using the
search function. Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice to (i) www.reginfo.gov/public/do/
PRAMain and (ii) David Bottom,
Director/Chief Information Officer,
Securities and Exchange Commission,
c/o Cynthia Roscoe, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an
email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.
Dated: May 15, 2020.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–10880 Filed 5–19–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–88876; File No. SR–
CboeEDGX–2020–020]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe
EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing
and Immediate Effectiveness of a
Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its
Fees Schedule
May 14, 2020.
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 May 1,
2020, Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘EDGX’’) filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule
change as described in Items I, II, and
III below, which Items have been
prepared by the Exchange. The
Commission is publishing this notice to
1 15
2 17
PO 00000
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
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30777
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
Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘EDGX Options’’) is
filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’) a
proposed rule change to amend its Fees
Schedule. The text of the proposed rule
change is provided in Exhibit 5.
The text of the proposed rule change
is also available on the Exchange’s
website (https://markets.cboe.com/us/
options/regulation/rule_filings/edgx/),
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 the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend its
Fees Schedule for its equity options
platform (EDGX Options), effective May
1, 2020.
The Exchange first notes that it
operates in a highly competitive market
in which market participants can
readily direct order flow to competing
venues if they deem fee levels at a
particular venue to be excessive or
incentives to be insufficient. More
specifically, the Exchange is only one of
16 options venues to which market
participants may direct their order flow.
Based on publicly available information,
no single options exchange has more
than 20% of the market share and
currently the Exchange represents only
4% of the market share.3 Thus, in such
a low-concentrated and highly
competitive market, no single options
3 See Cboe Global Markets U.S. Options Market
Volume Summary (April 27, 2020), available at
https://markets.cboe.com/us/options/market_
statistics/.
E:\FR\FM\20MYN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 98 / Wednesday, May 20, 2020 / Notices
exchange, including the Exchange,
possesses significant pricing power in
the execution of option order flow. The
Exchange believes that the ever-shifting
market share among the exchanges from
month to month demonstrates that
market participants can shift order flow,
or discontinue to reduce use of certain
categories of products, in response to fee
changes. Accordingly, competitive
forces constrain the Exchange’s
transaction fees, and market participants
can readily trade on competing venues
if they deem pricing levels at those
other venues to be more favorable.
The Exchange’s Fees Schedule sets
forth standard rebates and rates applied
per contract. For example, the Exchange
provides standard rebates ranging from
$0.01 up to $0.21 per contract for orders
that add liquidity in both Penny and
Non-Penny Securities and assesses fees
ranging from $0.01 up to $0.75 per
contract for orders that remove liquidity
in both Penny and Non-Penny
Securities. The Exchange also offers
tiered pricing which provides
Members 4 opportunities to qualify for
higher rebates or reduced fees where
certain volume criteria and thresholds
are met. Footnote 5 of the Fees Schedule
provides that when orders are submitted
with a Designated Give Up,5 the
applicable rebates (i.e., any standard
rebate or applicable tier rebates) for
orders yielding fee code BC,6 NC,7 PC,8
SC,9 QA10 and QM 11 are provided to
the Member who routed the order to the
Exchange. Now, the Exchange proposes
to amend footnote 5 to include fee codes
ZA12 and ZB 13 in the aforementioned
list of fee codes.
Under Rule 21.12 a Member acting as
an options routing firm on behalf of one
or more other Exchange Members (a
‘‘Routing Firm’’) is able to route orders
to the Exchange and to immediately give
4 See
Exchange Rule 1.5(n).
Designated Give Up of a User refers to a
Clearing Member identified to the Exchange by that
User as a Clearing Member the User requests the
ability to give up and that has been processed by
the Exchange as a Designated Give Up. See
Exchange Rule 21.12(b).
6 Orders yielding fee code BC represent AIM
Agency (Customer) orders.
7 Orders yielding fee code NC represent
Customer, Non-Penny orders.
8 Orders yielding fee code PC represent Customer,
Penny Pilot orders.
9 Orders yielding fee code SC represent SAM
Agency (Customer) orders.
10 Orders yielding fee code QA represent QCC
Agency (Customer) orders.
11 Orders yielding fee code QM represent QCC
Agency (Non-Customer) orders.
12 Orders yielding fee code ZA represent
Complex, Customer (contra Non-Customer), Penny
orders.
13 Orders yielding fee code ZB represent
Complex, Customer (contra Non-Customer), NonPenny orders.
5A
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17:51 May 19, 2020
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up the party (a party other than the
Routing Firm itself or the Routing
Firm’s own clearing firm) who will
accept and clear any resulting
transaction. Because the Routing Firm is
responsible for the decision to route the
order to the Exchange, the Exchange
provides the rebate to the Routing Firm
when the orders yield fee codes BC, NC,
PC, SC, QA and QM. The Exchange
believes that the Routing Firm should
also be provided the rebate when the
orders yield fee codes ZA and ZB as
those orders also represent liquidity
adding customer orders for which the
Routing Firm is responsible for the
decision to route the order to the
Exchange. In connection with this
change, the Exchange proposes to
append footnote 5 to fee codes ZA and
ZB in the Fee Codes and Associated
Fees table of the Fees Schedule.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change is consistent with
the requirements of the Act and the
rules and regulations thereunder that
are applicable to a national securities
exchange, and, in particular, with the
requirements of Section 6 of the Act.14
Specifically, the Exchange believes that
the proposed rule change is consistent
with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,15 in that
it provides for the equitable allocation
of reasonable dues, fees and other
charges among Members and other
persons using any facility or system
which the Exchange operates or
controls.
The Exchange notes that the U.S.
options markets are highly competitive,
and the proposed fee structure is
intended to provide an incentive for
Members to direct orders to the
Exchange. The proposal would apply to
fee codes ZA and ZB related to customer
liquidity adding orders, because these,
along with the fee codes already
included in Footnote 5, are the primary
rebates in place on the Exchange and
reflect the primary liquidity that the
Exchange is seeking to attract from
Routing Firms that are able to identify
Designated Give Ups.16 The Exchange
believes the proposed amendment is
reasonable because the Exchange
already provides such rebates to the
Routing Firm for orders yielding similar
fee codes for customer liquidity adding
orders (i.e., orders yielding fee codes
BC, NC, PC, QA, and SC). Additionally,
the Exchange believes that the proposed
14 15
U.S.C. 78f.
U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
16 The Exchange notes that Market-Makers may
only give up its respective Guarantor, as defined by
Rule 21.12(b)(2). See Exchange Rule 21.12(b)(5).
15 15
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
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amendments to its Fees Schedule will
enhance the Exchange’s competitive
position and will result in increased
liquidity on the Exchange, to the benefit
of all Exchange participants. Therefore,
the Exchange believes that providing
rebates is equitable and reasonable and
not unfairly discriminatory as it would
allow the Exchange, in the context of
the give up procedure described above,
to provide a rebate directly to the party
making the routing decision to direct
certain orders to the Exchange (i.e., the
Routing Firm), which is consistent with
both the Exchange’s historic practice
and the purpose behind a rebate (i.e., to
incentivize the order being directed to
the Exchange).
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange believes its proposed
amendments to its Fees 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 change represents a significant
departure from previous pricing offered
by the Exchange or its competitors.
Additionally, Members may opt to
disfavor the Exchange’s pricing if they
believe that alternatives offer them
better value. The Exchange believes that
its proposal will incentivize Routing
Firms that are utilizing the give up
procedure to direct orders yielding fee
code ZA and ZB to the Exchange, and
will enhance the Exchange’s
competitive position by resulting in
increased liquidity on the Exchange,
thereby providing more opportunities
for customers to receive best executions.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Comments on the
Proposed Rule Change Received From
Members, Participants, or Others
The Exchange neither solicited nor
received comments on the proposed
rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)
of the Act 17 and paragraph (f) of Rule
19b–4 18 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
17 15
18 17
E:\FR\FM\20MYN1.SGM
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
CFR 240.19b–4(f).
20MYN1
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 98 / Wednesday, May 20, 2020 / Notices
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:
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–
CboeEDGX–2020–020 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–CboeEDGX–2020–020. 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
tomake available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File
Number SR–CboeEDGX–2020–020 and
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17:51 May 19, 2020
Jkt 250001
should be submitted on or before June
10, 2020.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.19
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020–10819 Filed 5–19–20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–88872; File No. SR–MIAX–
2020–11]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Miami
International Securities Exchange,
LLC; Notice of Filing of a Proposed
Rule Change To Amend Exchange
Rule 518, Complex Orders, To Adopt
New Interpretation and Policy .08,
Related Futures Cross (‘‘RFC’’) Order
Type
May 14, 2020.
Pursuant to the provisions of 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 May 11, 2020, Miami International
Securities Exchange, LLC (‘‘MIAX
Options’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’) a
proposed rule change as described in
Items I and II below, which Items have
been prepared by the Exchange. The
Commission is publishing this notice to
solicit comments on the proposed rule
change from interested persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange is filing a proposal to
amend Exchange Rule 518, Complex
Orders.
The text of the proposed rule change
is available on the Exchange’s website at
https://www.miaxoptions.com/rulefilings/ at MIAX Options’ principal
office, 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
19 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
1 15
PO 00000
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30779
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
Exchange Rule 518, Complex Orders, to
adopt a new Related Futures Cross
(‘‘RFC’’) order type.
In April of 2018, the Exchange
adopted a proposal to list and trade on
the Exchange options on the SPIKESTM
Index (‘‘SPIKES’’ or the ‘‘Index’’), a new
index that measures expected 30-day
volatility of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF
Trust.3 Options on the Index are cashsettled and have European-style exercise
provisions.4
There are currently no futures listed
on the Index, therefore Members 5 of the
Exchange who want to hedge a position
in SPIKES options using futures have to
hedge using highly correlated related
instruments, such as VIX futures. While
the SPIKES Index is highly correlated to
the VIX Index (SPIKES is over 99%
correlated to VIX), there remains some
basis risk 6 between the two products.
That basis risk can be exacerbated in
times of extreme volatility, such as we
are currently experiencing in the
markets. Both the SPIKES Index and
VIX Index settle on the same day, at the
market’s open, but using options on two
different, but highly correlated,
products. The SPIKES settlement value
is determined using the opening prices
on the Exchange of SPY options which
expire in 30 days, whereas the VIX
settlement value is determined using the
opening prices on the Cboe Exchange of
the SPX options which expire in 30
days. While the two products (SPY and
SPX) are highly correlated, there are
supply and demand variances that can
3 See Securities Exchange Release No. 83619 (July
11, 2018), 83 FR 32932 (July 16, 2018) (SR–MIAX–
2018–14).
4 See Exchange Rule 1809(a)(4).
5 The term ‘‘Member’’ means an individual or
organization approved to exercise the trading rights
associated with a Trading Permit. Members are
deemed ‘‘members’’ under the Exchange Act. See
Exchange Rule 100.
6 Basis risk is the financial risk that offsetting
investments in a hedging strategy will not
experience price changes in entirely opposite
directions from each other. This imperfect
correlation between two investments creates the
potential for excess gains or losses in a hedging
strategy, thus adding risk to the position. James
Chen, Basis Risk, Investopedia (June 16, 2019),
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/
basisrisk.asp.
E:\FR\FM\20MYN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 98 (Wednesday, May 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30777-30779]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-10819]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-88876; File No. SR-CboeEDGX-2020-020]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice
of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To
Amend Its Fees Schedule
May 14, 2020.
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 May 1, 2020, Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or
``EDGX'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II,
and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The
Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the
proposed rule change from interested persons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or ``EDGX Options'') is
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') a
proposed rule change to amend its Fees Schedule. The text of the
proposed rule change is provided in Exhibit 5.
The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the
Exchange's website (https://markets.cboe.com/us/options/regulation/rule_filings/edgx/), 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 the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend its Fees Schedule for its equity
options platform (EDGX Options), effective May 1, 2020.
The Exchange first notes that it operates in a highly competitive
market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be
excessive or incentives to be insufficient. More specifically, the
Exchange is only one of 16 options venues to which market participants
may direct their order flow. Based on publicly available information,
no single options exchange has more than 20% of the market share and
currently the Exchange represents only 4% of the market share.\3\ Thus,
in such a low-concentrated and highly competitive market, no single
options
[[Page 30778]]
exchange, including the Exchange, possesses significant pricing power
in the execution of option order flow. The Exchange believes that the
ever-shifting market share among the exchanges from month to month
demonstrates that market participants can shift order flow, or
discontinue to reduce use of certain categories of products, in
response to fee changes. Accordingly, competitive forces constrain the
Exchange's transaction fees, and market participants can readily trade
on competing venues if they deem pricing levels at those other venues
to be more favorable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See Cboe Global Markets U.S. Options Market Volume Summary
(April 27, 2020), available at https://markets.cboe.com/us/options/market_statistics/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange's Fees Schedule sets forth standard rebates and rates
applied per contract. For example, the Exchange provides standard
rebates ranging from $0.01 up to $0.21 per contract for orders that add
liquidity in both Penny and Non-Penny Securities and assesses fees
ranging from $0.01 up to $0.75 per contract for orders that remove
liquidity in both Penny and Non-Penny Securities. The Exchange also
offers tiered pricing which provides Members \4\ opportunities to
qualify for higher rebates or reduced fees where certain volume
criteria and thresholds are met. Footnote 5 of the Fees Schedule
provides that when orders are submitted with a Designated Give Up,\5\
the applicable rebates (i.e., any standard rebate or applicable tier
rebates) for orders yielding fee code BC,\6\ NC,\7\ PC,\8\ SC,\9\
QA\10\ and QM \11\ are provided to the Member who routed the order to
the Exchange. Now, the Exchange proposes to amend footnote 5 to include
fee codes ZA\12\ and ZB \13\ in the aforementioned list of fee codes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See Exchange Rule 1.5(n).
\5\ A Designated Give Up of a User refers to a Clearing Member
identified to the Exchange by that User as a Clearing Member the
User requests the ability to give up and that has been processed by
the Exchange as a Designated Give Up. See Exchange Rule 21.12(b).
\6\ Orders yielding fee code BC represent AIM Agency (Customer)
orders.
\7\ Orders yielding fee code NC represent Customer, Non-Penny
orders.
\8\ Orders yielding fee code PC represent Customer, Penny Pilot
orders.
\9\ Orders yielding fee code SC represent SAM Agency (Customer)
orders.
\10\ Orders yielding fee code QA represent QCC Agency (Customer)
orders.
\11\ Orders yielding fee code QM represent QCC Agency (Non-
Customer) orders.
\12\ Orders yielding fee code ZA represent Complex, Customer
(contra Non-Customer), Penny orders.
\13\ Orders yielding fee code ZB represent Complex, Customer
(contra Non-Customer), Non-Penny orders.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Under Rule 21.12 a Member acting as an options routing firm on
behalf of one or more other Exchange Members (a ``Routing Firm'') is
able to route orders to the Exchange and to immediately give up the
party (a party other than the Routing Firm itself or the Routing Firm's
own clearing firm) who will accept and clear any resulting transaction.
Because the Routing Firm is responsible for the decision to route the
order to the Exchange, the Exchange provides the rebate to the Routing
Firm when the orders yield fee codes BC, NC, PC, SC, QA and QM. The
Exchange believes that the Routing Firm should also be provided the
rebate when the orders yield fee codes ZA and ZB as those orders also
represent liquidity adding customer orders for which the Routing Firm
is responsible for the decision to route the order to the Exchange. In
connection with this change, the Exchange proposes to append footnote 5
to fee codes ZA and ZB in the Fee Codes and Associated Fees table of
the Fees Schedule.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations
thereunder that are applicable to a national securities exchange, and,
in particular, with the requirements of Section 6 of the Act.\14\
Specifically, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is
consistent with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,\15\ in that it provides for
the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges
among Members and other persons using any facility or system which the
Exchange operates or controls.
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\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
\15\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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The Exchange notes that the U.S. options markets are highly
competitive, and the proposed fee structure is intended to provide an
incentive for Members to direct orders to the Exchange. The proposal
would apply to fee codes ZA and ZB related to customer liquidity adding
orders, because these, along with the fee codes already included in
Footnote 5, are the primary rebates in place on the Exchange and
reflect the primary liquidity that the Exchange is seeking to attract
from Routing Firms that are able to identify Designated Give Ups.\16\
The Exchange believes the proposed amendment is reasonable because the
Exchange already provides such rebates to the Routing Firm for orders
yielding similar fee codes for customer liquidity adding orders (i.e.,
orders yielding fee codes BC, NC, PC, QA, and SC). Additionally, the
Exchange believes that the proposed amendments to its Fees Schedule
will enhance the Exchange's competitive position and will result in
increased liquidity on the Exchange, to the benefit of all Exchange
participants. Therefore, the Exchange believes that providing rebates
is equitable and reasonable and not unfairly discriminatory as it would
allow the Exchange, in the context of the give up procedure described
above, to provide a rebate directly to the party making the routing
decision to direct certain orders to the Exchange (i.e., the Routing
Firm), which is consistent with both the Exchange's historic practice
and the purpose behind a rebate (i.e., to incentivize the order being
directed to the Exchange).
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\16\ The Exchange notes that Market-Makers may only give up its
respective Guarantor, as defined by Rule 21.12(b)(2). See Exchange
Rule 21.12(b)(5).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange believes its proposed amendments to its Fees 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 change represents a significant
departure from previous pricing offered by the Exchange or its
competitors. Additionally, Members may opt to disfavor the Exchange's
pricing if they believe that alternatives offer them better value. The
Exchange believes that its proposal will incentivize Routing Firms that
are utilizing the give up procedure to direct orders yielding fee code
ZA and ZB to the Exchange, and will enhance the Exchange's competitive
position by resulting in increased liquidity on the Exchange, thereby
providing more opportunities for customers to receive best executions.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on the
proposed rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \17\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \18\
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
[[Page 30779]]
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.
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\17\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\18\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
Use the Commission's internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an email to [email protected]. Please include
File Number SR-CboeEDGX-2020-020 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-CboeEDGX-2020-020. 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 tomake available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR-CboeEDGX-2020-020 and should be
submitted on or before June 10, 2020.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\19\
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\19\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-10819 Filed 5-19-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P