Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Amend Rule 7.35C, 71964-71971 [2020-24986]

Download as PDF 71964 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices 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–MIAX–2020–34, and should be submitted on or before December 3, 2020.26 For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority. J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2020–24963 Filed 11–10–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–90357; File No. SR– NASDAQ–2020–060] Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Notice of Designation of a Longer Period for Commission Action on a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, To Treat as an Eligible Switch, for Purposes of IM– 5900–7, an Acquisition Company That Switches From NYSE to Nasdaq After Announcing a Business Combination in the Federal Register on September 21, 2020.3 No comments have been received on the proposed rule change. Section 19(b)(2) of the Act 4 provides that within 45 days of the publication of notice of the filing of a proposed rule change, or within such longer period up to 90 days as the Commission may designate if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding, or as to which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission shall either approve the proposed rule change, disapprove the proposed rule change, or institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved. The 45th day after publication of the notice for this proposed rule change is November 5, 2020. The Commission is extending this 45-day time period. The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change. Accordingly, the Commission, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,5 designates December 20, 2020 as the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove, or institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove, the proposed rule change (File No. SR–NASDAQ– 2020–060). For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.6 J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2020–24966 Filed 11–10–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–90363; File No. SR–NYSE– 2020–89] jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES November 5, 2020. On September 1, 2020, The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (‘‘Nasdaq’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to treat as an Eligible Switch, for purposes of IM–5900–7, an Acquisition Company that switches from the New York Stock Exchange to Nasdaq after announcing a business combination. The proposed rule change was published for comment 26 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). U.S.C.78s(b)(1). 2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 1 15 VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:07 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 253001 Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Amend Rule 7.35C November 5, 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 October 3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 89875 (September 15, 2020), 85 FR 59346 (September 21, 2020). 4 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 5 Id. 6 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(31). 1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. PO 00000 Frm 00090 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 23, 2020, New York Stock Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) 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 self-regulatory organization. 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 proposes to amend Rule 7.35C (Exchange-Facilitated Auctions) to (1) provide the Exchange authority to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction if a security has not reopened following a MWCB Halt by 3:30 p.m.; (2) widen the Auction Collar for an Exchange-facilitated Trading Halt Auction following an MWCB Halt; (3) provide that certain DMM Interest would not be cancelled following an Exchange-facilitated Auction; and (4) change the Auction Reference Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions. The proposed rule change is available on the Exchange’s website at www.nyse.com, at the principal office of the Exchange, 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 self-regulatory organization 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 those 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 parts 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 Rule 7.35C (Exchange-Facilitated Auctions) to (1) provide the Exchange authority to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction 3 if a security has not reopened following a Level 1 or Level 2 trading 3 As defined in Rule 7.35(a)(1), an ‘‘Auction’’ refers to the process for opening, reopening, or closing of trading of Auction-Eligible Securities on the Exchange, which can result in either a trade or a quote. E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM 12NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices halt due to extraordinary market volatility under Rule 7.12 (‘‘MWCB Halt’’) by 3:30 p.m.; (2) widen the Auction Collar for an Exchangefacilitated Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt; (3) provide that certain DMM Interest 4 would not be cancelled following an Exchangefacilitated Auction; and (4) change the Auction Reference Price for Exchangefacilitated Core Open Auctions. The first three of these proposed changes are currently in place on a temporary basis, as described in Commentaries .01–.03 to Rule 7.35C. The fourth of these proposed changes would be new and would replace the temporary rule set forth in Commentary .04 to Rule 7.35C. jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Background To slow the spread of COVID–19 through social-distancing measures, on March 18, 2020, the CEO of the Exchange made a determination under Rule 7.1(c)(3) that, beginning March 23, 2020, the Trading Floor facilities located at 11 Wall Street in New York City would close and the Exchange would move, on a temporary basis, to fully electronic trading.5 On May 14, 2020, the CEO of the Exchange made a determination under Rule 7.1(c)(3) to reopen the Trading Floor on a limited basis on May 26, 2020 to a subset of Floor brokers, subject to safety measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID–19.6 On June 15, 2020, the CEO of the Exchange made a determination under Rule 7.1(c)(3) to begin the second phase of the Trading Floor reopening by allowing DMMs to return on June 17, 2020, subject to safety measures 4 For purposes of Auctions, the term ‘‘DMM Interest’’ is defined in Rule 7.35(a)(8) to mean all buy and sell interest entered by a DMM unit in its assigned securities and includes: ‘‘DMM Auction Liquidity,’’ which is non-displayed buy and sell interest that is designated for an Auction only (see Rule 7.35(a)(8)(A)); ‘‘DMM Orders’’ which are orders, as defined under Rule 7.31, entered by a DMM unit (see Rule 7.35(a)(8)(B)); and ‘‘DMM After-Auction Orders,’’ which are orders entered by a DMM unit before either the Core Open Auction or Trading Halt Auction that do not participate in an Auction and are intended instead to maintain price continuity with reasonable depth following an Auction (see Rule 7.35(a)(8)(C)). 5 Pursuant to Rule 7.1(e), the CEO notified the Board of Directors of the Exchange of this determination. The Exchange’s current rules establish how the Exchange will function fullyelectronically. The CEO also closed the NYSE American Options Trading Floor, which is located at the same 11 Wall Street facilities, and the NYSE Arca Options Trading Floor, which is located in San Francisco, CA. See Press Release, dated March 18, 2020, available here: https://ir.theice.com/press/ press-releases/all-categories/2020/03-18-2020204202110. 6 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88933 (May 22, 2020), 85 FR 32059 (May 28, 2020) (SR– NYSE–2020–47) (Notice of filing and immediate effectiveness of proposed rule change). VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:07 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 253001 designed to prevent the spread of COVID–19.7 Rule 7.35C sets forth the procedures for Exchange-facilitated Auctions. The first time the Exchange facilitated any Auctions pursuant to Rule 7.35C was on March 19, 2020, when two DMM firms temporarily left the Trading Floor in connection with implementing their business continuity plans related to the COVID–19 pandemic. Beginning on March 23, 2020, when the Exchange temporarily closed the Trading Floor, the Exchange began facilitating Auctions on behalf of all DMM firms. Since June 17, 2020, when DMM firms were permitted to return staff to the Trading Floor, the Exchange has not facilitated any Auctions for DMM firms that have had staff return to the Trading Floor. During the period of March 23, 2020 through June 16, 2020, among the DMM firms, the percentage of Auctions that were facilitated by the Exchange ranged from 1% to 3.2% of the securities assigned to each DMM. During this period, the vast majority of Auctions were facilitated electronically by DMMs pursuant to Rules 7.35A and 7.35B. In connection with both the marketwide volatility associated with the COVID–19 pandemic in March 2020 and the full and partial closing of the Trading Floor facilities, the Exchange added Commentaries .01, .02, .03, and .04 to Rule 7.35C 8 that are in effect until the earlier of a full reopening of the Trading Floor facilities to DMMs or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 2020.9 These Commentaries set forth how the Exchange has been functioning during this temporary period when the Trading Floor facilities have been closed 7 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 89086 (June 17, 2020) (SR–NYSE–2020–52) (Notice of filing and immediate effectiveness of proposed rule change). 8 See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 88413 (March 18, 2020), 85 FR 16713 (March 24, 2020) (SR–NYSE–2020–19) (amending Rule 7.35C to add Commentary .01) (‘‘First Rule 7.35C Filing’’); 88444 (March 20, 2020), 85 FR 17141 (March 26, 2020) (SR–NYSE–2020–22) (amending Rules 7.35A to add Commentary .01, 7.35B to add Commentary .01, and 7.35C to add Commentary .02) (‘‘Second Rule 7.35C Filing’’); 88562 (April 3, 2020), 85 FR 20002 (April 9, 2020) (SR–NYSE–2020–29) (amending Rule 7.35C to add Commentary .03) (‘‘DMM Interest Filing’’); and 89059 (June 12, 2020), 85 FR 36911 (June 18, 2020) (SR–NYSE–2020–50) (amending Rule 7.35C to add Commentary .04) (‘‘Fourth Rule 7.35C Filing’’). 9 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90005 (September 25, 2020), 85 FR 61999 (October 1, 2020) (SR–NYSE–2020–78) (Notice of filing and immediate effectiveness of proposed rule change to extend the temporary period for Commentaries to Rules 7.35, 7.35A, 7.35B, and 7.35C; and temporary rule relief in Rule 36.30 to end on the earlier of a full reopening of the Trading Floor facilities to DMMs or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 2020). PO 00000 Frm 00091 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 71965 either in full or in part in connection with COVID–19. The Exchange believes that the rules that it has added on a temporary basis to Rule 7.35C have supported the fair and orderly operation of the Exchange during both the market volatility associated with COVID–19 and the temporary period that the Trading Floor facilities have been closed either in full or in part due to COVID–19. The Exchange further believes the functionality that has been operating on a temporary basis would continue to support the fair and orderly operation of the Exchange under any circumstances where there may be either market-wide volatility or the need for the Exchange to facilitate one or more Auctions. Accordingly, the Exchange proposes that the following changes be made permanent in Exchange rules: • Provide the Exchange with authority to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction if a security has not reopened following a MWCB Halt by 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. • Widen the Auction Collars for an Exchange-facilitated Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt to the greater of $0.15 or 10%. • Allow DMM Interest to remain on the Exchange Book after an Exchangefacilitated Auction. In addition, the Exchange proposes to change the Auction Reference Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions, which would be new. Proposed Rule Changes Exchange Authority To Facilitate a Trading Halt Auction Following a MWCB Halt In the midst of the market-wide volatility relating to COVID–19 and before the Exchange temporarily closed the Trading Floor, the Exchange added Commentary .01 to Rule 7.35C, which provided, at the time of filing, that: 10 Until May 15, 2020, to facilitate the fair and orderly reopening of securities following either a Level 1 or Level 2 trading halt due to extraordinary market volatility under Rule 7.12 (‘‘MWCB Halt’’), the CEO of the Exchange or his or her designee may determine that the Exchange will facilitate a Trading Halt Auction in one or more securities under this Rule if a security has not reopened by 3:30 p.m. If the Exchange facilitates a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt pursuant to this Commentary, the Auction Collars will be the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price. Following the temporary closure of the Trading Floor, the substance of this Commentary was revised and moved to 10 See E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM First Rule 7.35C Filing, supra note 9. 12NON1 71966 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices Commentary .02 to Rule 7.35C, as follows: 11 If the Trading Floor facilities reopen, through trading on December 31, 2020, to facilitate the fair and orderly reopening of securities following a MWCB Halt, the CEO of the Exchange or his or her designee may determine that the Exchange will facilitate a Trading Halt Auction in one or more securities under this Rule if a security has not reopened by 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. If the Exchange facilitates a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt pursuant to this Commentary, the Auction Collars will be the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price. As described in more detail in the First Rule 7.35C Filing, under Rule 7.35C, the Exchange will facilitate an Auction only if a DMM cannot facilitate an Auction for one or more securities. In support of the proposed rule change, the Exchange explained: jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES The Exchange continues to believe that DMM-facilitated Trading Halt Auctions following a MWCB Halt provide the greatest opportunity for fair and orderly reopenings of securities, and would therefore continue to provide DMMs an opportunity to reopen securities before effectuating an Exchangefacilitated Trading Halt Auction. The proposal would provide the Exchange with another tool during volatile markets to reopen securities before 3:50 p.m., for continuous trading to resume leading into the close . . . . . The Exchange believes that specifying a time in the Rule at which the Exchange could exercise such discretion would put DMMs on notice of the time that the Exchange could begin facilitating such auctions. The Exchange further believes that it is not appropriate to provide that the Exchange would automatically facilitate reopening auctions at 3:30 p.m. There may be facts and circumstances where DMMs would be able to reopen all securities before 3:50 p.m., but that the DMM-facilitated process may not have completed by 3:30 p.m. The Exchange would take those facts and circumstances into account before invoking the proposed relief. Exchange staff would communicate with the impacted DMMs verbally on the Floor during such times, and therefore the DMMs would be on notice of whether the Exchange would invoke this relief, and for which securities. The Exchange continues to believe that the ability for the Exchange to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt if a security has not reopened by 3:30 p.m. would promote the fair and orderly reopening of one or more securities so that continuous trading may resume leading into the close. Accordingly, the Exchange proposes that the relief described above should be made a permanent part of Rule 7.35C. To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend 7.35C to add new subparagraph 11 See Second Rule 7.35C Filing, supra note 9. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:07 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 253001 (a)(4) as follows, which is based on current Commentary .02 to Rule 7.35C without any substantive differences: The CEO of the Exchange, or his or her designee, may determine that the Exchange will facilitate a Trading Halt Auction in one or more securities under this Rule if a security is subject to either a Level 1 or Level 2 trading halt due to extraordinary market volatility under Rule 7.12 (‘‘MWCB Halt’’) and has not reopened by 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The Exchange further proposes to delete Commentary .02 to Rule 7.35C, which would be replaced by proposed Rule 7.35C(a)(4). There are no technology changes associated with this proposed rule change and the Exchange would be able to implement it immediately upon approval of this proposed rule change. Wider Auction Collars for a Trading Halt Auction Following a MWCB Halt As noted above, as set forth in Commentary .01(a) to Rule 7.35C,12 the Exchange also widened the Auction Collars for an Exchange-facilitated Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt to the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price. Absent this temporary relief, the Auction Collars for all Exchangefacilitated Trading Halt Auctions is the greater of $0.15 or 5% away from the Auction Reference Price. As described in the First Rule 7.35C Filing, the widening of the Auction Collars was designed to provide the Exchange with more flexibility to respond to the then unprecedented market-wide declines that resulted from the ongoing spread of COVID–19 at that time if the Exchange were to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt. The Exchange cannot predict if and when the U.S. equities market will experience market-wide declines that would trigger a MWCB Halt again. However, if such marketwide volatility were to occur, the Exchange believes that the widened Auction Collars would promote fair and orderly reopenings following a MWCB Halt by providing a wider price range at which the Exchange could facilitate such a reopening. 12 Commentary .01(a) to Rule 7.35C currently provides that: ‘‘For a temporary period that begins March 23, 2020, when the Trading Floor facilities have been closed pursuant to Rule 7.1(c)(3), and ends on the earlier of a full reopening of the Trading Floor facilities to DMMs or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 2020: (a) The Auction Collar for a Trading Halt Auction following a either a Level 1 or Level 2 trading halt due to extraordinary market volatility under Rule 7.12 (‘‘MWCB Halt’’) will be the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price.’’ PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend Rule 7.35C(b)(3)(A)(ii) to provide as follows (proposed new text italicized), which is based on current Commentary .01 to Rule 7.35C without any substantive differences: The Auction Collar for the Trading Halt Auction will be based on a price that is the greater of $0.15 or 5% away from the Auction Reference Price for the Trading Halt Auction, provided that, the Auction Collar for a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt will be the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price. The Exchange further proposes to delete Commentary .01 to Rule 7.35C, which would be replaced by the proposed amendment to Rule 7.35C(b)(3)(A)(ii). There are no technology changes associated with this proposed rule change and the Exchange would be able to implement it immediately upon approval of this proposed rule change. DMM Interest and Exchange-Facilitated Auctions As set forth in Rule 7.35C(a)(1), if the Exchange facilitates an Auction, DMM Interest would not be eligible to participate in such Auction and previously-entered DMM Interest would be cancelled. When a DMM cannot facilitate an Auction because the DMM unit is experiencing a system issue that prevents it from communicating with Exchange systems, cancelling DMM Interest following an Exchangefacilitated Auction would help ensure that DMM Interest that may be at stale prices does not participate in trading on the Exchange. On the other hand, by cancelling DMM Interest when the DMM units’ systems are operating normally, DMMs may be limited in their ability to maintain price continuity with reasonable depth, i.e., provide passive liquidity at the Exchange best bid and offer and at depth, immediately following an Exchange-facilitated Auction. After a period of operating Exchangefacilitated Auctions, the Exchange identified a way to provide DMMs with a greater opportunity to provide passive liquidity immediately following an Auction, thereby dampening volatility, while still limiting DMM risk. To effect this change, the Exchange added Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C, which provides that for the temporary period that begins on April 6, 2020 and ends on the earlier of a full reopening of the Trading Floor facilities to DMMs or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 2020, if the Exchange facilitates an Auction, DMM Interest (i) will not be eligible to participate if such Auction E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM 12NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices results in a trade, and will be eligible to participate if such Auction results in a quote, and (ii) will not be cancelled unless the limit price of such DMM Interest would be priced through the Auction Price or Auction Collars, as applicable, or such DMM Interest would be marketable against other unexecuted orders.13 The Exchange proposes to make permanent the changes to how Exchange-facilitated Auctions function, as described in Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C. By making this functionality permanent, such rules would continue to apply both during the continuation of the current Trading Floor closure and if the Exchange were to facilitate Auctions any time after the Trading Floor fully reopens. To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend 7.35C(a)(1) as follows (new text italicized, deleted text bracketed): If the Exchange facilitates an Auction, DMM Interest will not be eligible to participate [in] if such Auction results in a trade, and will be eligible to participate if such Auction results in a quote [and previously-entered DMM Interest will be cancelled]. jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES This proposed rule change would make permanent the temporary functionality set forth in paragraph (a)(1) to Commentary .03. With this change, DMM Interest would not participate in any Exchangefacilitated Auctions that would result in a trade. This is how DMM Interest currently functions when the Exchange facilitates an Auction pursuant to either Rule 7.35C(a)(1) or Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C. Based on experience operating pursuant to Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C, the Exchange believes that this functionality should continue permanently when the Exchange facilitates an Auction, including, for example, when the Trading Floor is open but the DMM is unable to facilitate an Auction because of a systems or technical issue. More specifically, when a DMM facilitates an Auction that results in a trade, the DMM determines whether to participate on the buy or sell side and, based on that direction from the DMM, DMM Orders that do not participate in the Auction and that would lock or cross other orders, which would include other DMM Orders, will be cancelled.14 13 See DMM Interest Filing, supra note 9. 14 See Rule 7.35A(h)(3)(C) (providing that after a Core Open or Trading Halt Auction, better at-priced DMM Orders that do not receive an allocation and that lock or cross other unexecuted orders and buy and sell better-priced DMM Orders will be cancelled after the Auction Processing Period concludes). VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:07 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 253001 If the DMM has entered both buy and sell interest in advance of the Auction and the Exchange facilitates the Auction, the DMM would not be able to control whether the DMM’s buy or sell interest would participate in a trade and the Exchange would not have that instruction from the DMM of which side of the market that the DMM would participate. As a result, there may be crossing DMM Interest that could result in a wash-sale trade that would not have occurred if the DMM had facilitated the Auction. Excluding DMM Interest from participating in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a trade eliminates the potential for a wash-sale trade. In addition, the Exchange believes it promotes fair and orderly Exchangefacilitated Auctions that result in a trade to exclude DMM Interest from participating in such Auctions, because if a DMM’s buy or sell interest does not reflect up-to-date prices, it could impact pricing of the Auction. By contrast, the Exchange believes that the proposed change for DMM Interest to participate in an Exchangefacilitated Auction that results in a quote would promote fair and orderly markets. This proposed change is consistent with Commentary .03(a)(1) to Rule 7.35C, but differs from current Rule 7.35C(a)(1). A security opens on a quote if there is no buy interest willing to trade with sell interest at the same price. The Exchange believes that under such circumstances, including DMM Interest in the Exchange’s quote would assist the DMMs in meeting their obligation to maintain a two-sided quote as well as to maintain continuity and depth in their assigned securities.15 Accordingly, the Exchange believes that making this change permanent would promote fair and orderly markets in connection with Exchange-facilitated Auctions that result in a quote. The final element of the proposed change to Rule 7.35C(a)(1) is that DMM Interest would no longer be automatically cancelled after an Exchange-facilitated Auction. The Exchange believes that this proposed change would assist DMMs in meeting their obligation, as required by Rule 104(f)(2), to provide passive liquidity in order to maintain continuity with reasonable depth in their assigned securities immediately following a Core Open Auction or Trading Halt Auction that was facilitated by the Exchange. In advance of an Auction, DMMs can enter DMM Orders, which if not traded in an Auction, would be part of the DMM Interest on the Exchange Book after the Auction. In addition, DMMs can enter 15 See PO 00000 Rule 104(f)(2). Frm 00093 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 71967 DMM After-Auction Orders, which do not participate in Auctions and are specifically designed to assist the DMMs to maintain passive liquidity on the Exchange immediately following an Auction, which supports their ability to maintain continuity with reasonable depth immediately following an Auction. If DMM Interest is not automatically cancelled following an Exchange-facilitated Auction, the DMM would be better able to timely meet these obligations by ensuring that passive liquidity remains on the Exchange Book immediately following an Auction. The Exchange believes that there remain circumstances when DMM Interest should be cancelled following an Exchange-facilitated Auction. As proposed, the Exchange would cancel unexecuted DMM Interest under the same circumstances that unexecuted orders of other member organizations would be cancelled following such Auctions. To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend Rule 7.35C(g)(1), which currently describes which unexecuted orders would be cancelled if a security opens or reopens on a trade via an Exchange-facilitated Auction, and Rule 7.35C(g)(2), which currently describes which unexecuted orders would be cancelled if a security opens or reopens on a quote that is above (below) the upper (lower) Auction Collar via an Exchange-facilitated Auction. The Exchange proposes that these two subparagraphs would be replaced with the following text to incorporate that under the same circumstances, DMM Interest would similarly be cancelled (proposed new text italicized): (1) If a security opens or reopens on a trade, Market Orders (including sell short Market Orders during a Short Sale Period) and Limit Orders, including DMM Interest, with a limit price that is better-priced than the Auction Price and were not executed in the applicable Auction will be cancelled. (2) If a security opens or reopens on a quote that is above (below) the upper (lower) Auction Collar, Market Orders (including sell short Market Orders during a Short Sale Period) and Limit Orders, including DMM Interest, with a limit price that is betterpriced than the upper (lower) Auction Collar will be cancelled before such quote is published. These proposed rule changes would make permanent the temporary functionality set forth in paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) to Commentary .03. The Exchange further believes that if previously-entered DMM Interest would be marketable against either other DMM Interest or contra-side unexecuted E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM 12NON1 71968 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices orders, such DMM Interest should be cancelled. For example, if for a security, the Auction Reference Price is $10.00, the lower Auction Collar is $9.00 and the upper Auction Collar is $11.00, and the orders on the Exchange Book in advance of the Auction are as follows: • Order 1—Buy DMM Order 1000 shares at $10.05 • Order 2—Sell DMM Order 1000 shares at $10.00 • Order 3—Buy DMM Order 1000 shares at $10.02 • Order 4—Sell Limit Order at $10.03, the orders in this example would be processed as follows in an Exchangefacilitated Auction: • Order 1 would be cancelled (because DMM Interest would not be eligible to participate in an Auction trade, and here, Order 1 is marketable with Orders 2 and 4). • Order 2 would be cancelled (because DMM Interest would not be eligible to participate in an Auction trade, and here Order 2 is marketable with Order 3), and • Order 3 would not be cancelled because it is no longer marketable with any other interest, i.e., it no longer locks or crosses the price of any other contraside interest in the Exchange Book. Order 3 would therefore be included in the opening quote. This Exchange-facilitated Auction would result in the following quote: $10.02 (Order 3—DMM Order) × $10.03 (Order 4—Limit Order). To effect this change, the Exchange proposes new subparagraph (g)(3) to Rule 7.35C to specify the additional circumstances when DMM Interest would be cancelled, as follows: jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES The Exchange will cancel DMM Interest that is marketable against contra-side unexecuted orders. If the contra-side unexecuted order against which such DMM Interest is marketable is DMM Interest, the DMM Interest with the earlier working time will be canceled. This proposed rule change would make permanent the temporary functionality set forth in paragraph (b)(3) to Commentary .03. The Exchange believes that these proposed rule changes would promote fair and orderly markets whenever the Exchange facilitates an Auction under Rule 7.35C—under any circumstance— by supporting DMMs in maintaining continuity with reasonable depth in their assigned securities immediately following an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction or Trading Halt Auction that was facilitated by the Exchange. The Exchange proposes that, with these proposed changes to Rules 7.35C(a)(1) and (g), Commentary .03 to VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:07 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 253001 Rule 7.35C would be deleted in its entirety. In further support of making the functionality set forth in Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C permanent, the Exchange notes that after the Exchange implemented that Commentary, the Exchange observed improved performance relating to Exchangefacilitated Auctions. • For the period March 23, 2020 to April 3, 2020, 4.9% of all Core Open Auctions were facilitated by the Exchange. For the period April 6, 2020 through June 16, 2020, the Exchange facilitated only 2% of all Core Open Auctions. In addition, the percentage of Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions that were bound by an Auction Collar decreased from 1.3% from the pre-April 6, 2020 period, to 0.58% in the April 6, 2020–June 16, 2020 period. • In addition, the Exchange observed that after April 6, 2020, Exchange-listed securities experienced reduced volatility in the first half hour of trading. The Exchange uses a quotebased metric to measure volatility in securities,16 and based on that metric, volatility in Exchange-listed securities between the period of April 6, 2020 and June 16, 2020 was 28.4% lower than the same measure between March 23, 2020 and April 3, 2020. In addition, the Exchange further observed that between these two periods, the difference between the Core Open Auction Price and the subsequent five-minute VWAP dropped by 31.3%. For DMM firms that have already returned staff to the Trading Floor, this proposed change has limited application because the Exchange has not facilitated any Auctions on behalf of those firms since June 16, 2020. In addition, the Exchange anticipates that once the Trading Floor facilities open in full to DMMs, and all DMM firms have staffing on the Trading Floor, the need for Exchange-facilitated Auctions would be obviated, and the Exchange will 16 As described in an Exchange blog post, this metric is calculated using second-to-second ‘‘quote returns,’’ which is calculated by averaging the midpoints of all NBBO updates for a security within each second of the day from 9:35 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and then calculating the percentage rate of return of these average quote midpoints from one second to the next. The variance of returns are then calculated in aggregated time periods (e.g., 5-minute buckets) and annualized from seconds to 6.5 hour trading days to 252 trading days in the years. Finally, the Exchange takes the square root of the annualized variance in the aggregated periods, which creates the Exchange’s quote volatility metric. See NYSE Data Insights, Introducing Quote Volatility (QV)—a new metric to measure price volatility, available here: https://www.nyse.com/ data-insights/introducing-quote-volatility-qv-a-newmetric-to-measure-price-volatility. PO 00000 Frm 00094 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 revert to pre-pandemic rates of Exchange-facilitated Auctions, which were none. Accordingly, the proposed changes to Rule 7.35C will likely have limited application and would be available as a business continuity functionality should DMMs be unable to facilitate an Auction in one or more securities, for any reason. There are no technology changes associated with this proposed rule change and the Exchange would be able to implement it immediately upon approval of this proposed rule change. Updated Auction Reference Price for Exchange-Facilitated Core Open Auctions For Exchange-facilitated Auctions, the Exchange determines an Auction Price based on the Indicative Match Price for a security, which is bound by Auction Collars.17 Rule 7.35C(b)(1) specifies the Auction Reference Price that is used for determining Auction Collars for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions, which is the Imbalance Reference Price, as determined under Rule 7.35A(e)(3).18 Currently, the Auction Collars for the Core Open Auction are at a price that is the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price. On June 4, 2020, the Exchange added Commentary .04 to Rule 7.35C to provide that the Auction Collars for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions would be the greater of $1.00 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price.19 The Exchange added this Commentary to reduce the number of securities subject to a collared Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction.20 The Exchange observed that 17 See Rule 7.35C(b)(2). Rule 7.35C(b)(3)(A)(i). Pursuant to Rule 7.35A(e)(3), the Imbalance Reference Price for a Core Open Auction is the Consolidated Last Sale Price, unless a pre-opening indication has been published. Pursuant to Rule 7.35(a)(11)(A), the term ‘‘Consolidated Last Sale Price’’ means the most recent consolidated last-sale eligible trade in a security during Core Trading Hours on that trading day, and if none, the Official Closing Price from the prior trading day for that security. 19 See Fourth Rule 7.35C Filing, supra note 9. Commentary .04 is in effect for a temporary period that began on June 4, 2020 and ends on the earlier of a full reopening of the Trading Floor facilities to DMMs or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 2020. 20 In the Fourth Rule 7.35C Filing, id., the Exchange explained that for the period while the Trading Floor had been temporarily closed preceding that filing, the Exchange had facilitated 2.35% of the Core Open Auctions and that approximately 30% of the Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions had an Indicative Match Price that was subject to an Auction Collar, and approximately 50% of these collared Exchangefacilitated Core Open Auctions were in securities trading at prices under $10.00. The Exchange further noted that if Auction Collars had not been 18 See E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM 12NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES from June 4, 2020 up to June 17, 2020, when DMMs returned staff to the Trading Floor,21 even with the widened Auction Collars, if there were significant overnight market-wide volatility, Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions had a greater likelihood of being subject to an Auction Collar. For example, for that same June 4–June 16 period, when the price of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (‘‘SPY’’) 22 moved over 1% from the prior day’s close, 1.4% of the Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions were subject to an Auction Collar, as compared to only .5% of the Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions being subject to an Auction Collar when SPY moved less than 1% from the prior day’s close. The Exchange believes that adjusting the Auction Reference Price to align more closely with the anticipated price of the Core Open Auction, rather than widening the Auction Collars, would reduce the potential for an Exchangefacilitated Core Open Auction to be subject to an Auction Collar on all trading days, including when there is significant overnight market-wide volatility. Accordingly, rather than providing for a wider Auction Collar, as set forth in Commentary .04 to Rule 7.35C, the Exchange proposes to amend Rule 7.35C to update how the Auction Reference Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions would be determined. Specifically, the Exchange proposes to determine Auction Reference Prices for Exchangefacilitated Core Open Auctions in the same manner that the Exchange’s affiliates, NYSE Arca, Inc. (‘‘NYSE Arca’’) and NYSE American LLC (‘‘NYSE American’’), determine the Auction Reference Price for their electronic Core Open Auctions. NYSE Arca Rule 7.35–E(a)(8)(A) and NYSE American Rule 7.35E(a)(8)(A) both provide that the Auction Reference Price for Core Open Auctions on those exchanges is, ‘‘[t]he midpoint of the Auction NBBO or, if the Auction NBBO is locked, the locked price. If there is no Auction NBBO, the prior day’s Official Closing Price.’’ The NYSE Arca and NYSE American rules define the term ‘‘Auction NBBO’’ to mean: applied to these securities priced under $10.00, they would have opened at a price between $0.15 and $1.00 away from the Auction Reference Price. 21 As noted above, the Exchange has not facilitated any Auctions for any of the DMM firms that have returned staff to the Trading Floor. 22 Because SPY is priced based on the securities included in the S&P 500 Index, the Exchange believes that SPY’s price as compared to its prior day’s closing price is indicative of the scope of market-wide volatility leading into the open of the Core Trading Session. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:07 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 253001 An NBBO that is used for purposes of pricing an auction. An NBBO is an Auction NBBO when (i) there is an NBB above zero and NBO for the security and (ii) the NBBO is not crossed. In addition, for the Core Open Auction, an NBBO is an Auction NBBO when the midpoint of the NBBO when multiplied by a designated percentage, is greater than or equal to the spread of that NBBO. The designated percentage will be determined by the Exchange from time to time upon prior notice to ETP Holders.23 The Exchange proposes to amend Rule 7.35C(b)(1) to provide that the Auction Reference Price for an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction would be: ‘‘The midpoint of the Auction NBBO or, if the Auction NBBO is locked, the locked price. If there is no Auction NBBO, the Official Closing Price from the prior trading day.’’ This rule text is based on NYSE Arca Rule 7.35–E(a)(8)(A) and NYSE American Rule 7.35E(a)(8)(A) without any differences. The Exchange further proposes to amend Rule 7.35(a) to add a definition for the term ‘‘Auction NBBO,’’ which would similarly be based on the definition of that term in the NYSE Arca and NYSE American rules without any substantive differences, as follows: ‘‘Auction NBBO’’ means an NBBO that is used for purposes of pricing an auction. An NBBO is an Auction NBBO when (i) there is an NBB above zero and NBO for the security and (ii) the NBBO is not crossed. In addition, for the Core Open Auction, an NBBO is an Auction NBBO when the midpoint of the NBBO when multiplied by a designated percentage, is greater than or equal to the spread of that NBBO. The designated percentage will be determined by the Exchange from time to time upon prior notice to member organizations. The Exchange proposes to add the term ‘‘Auction NBBO’’ as Rule 7.35(a)(5) and make non-substantive changes to renumber the definitions currently set forth in Rules 7.35(a)(5)–(12) as Rules 7.35(a)(6)–(13). Because there are technology changes associated with this proposed rule change, the Exchange proposes to announce the implementation date of this change by Trader Update. The Exchange anticipates that the Exchange will implement this technology change in the first quarter of 2021. To provide continuity, the Exchange further proposes to amend Commentary .04 to Rule 7.35C to provide that such Commentary would end on the earlier of when the Exchange implements its technology change to use the midpoint of the Auction NBBO as the Auction Reference Price for the Core Open 23 See NYSE Arca Rule 7.35–E(a)(5) and NYSE American Rule 7.35E(a)(5). PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 71969 Auction or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 2020. With this proposed rule change, the widened Auction Collars specified in that Commentary would continue to be operative until such time that the proposed changes to the Auction Reference Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions have been approved and implemented. 2. Statutory Basis The proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act,24 in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,25 in particular, in that it is designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and coordination with persons engaged in facilitating transactions in securities, and to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system. The Exchange believes that the rules that it added on a temporary basis to Rule 7.35C have supported the fair and orderly operation of the Exchange during both the market volatility associated with COVID–19 and the temporary period that the Trading Floor facilities have been closed either in full or in part due to COVID–19. The Exchange further believes the functionality that has been operating on a temporary basis would continue to support the fair and orderly operation of the Exchange under any circumstances where there may be either market-wide volatility or the need for the Exchange to facilitate one or more Auctions. Exchange Authority To Facilitate a Trading Halt Auction Following a MWCB Halt The Exchange believes that it would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system to provide the Exchange with authority to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt. The Exchange continues to believe that DMM-facilitated Trading Halt Auctions following a MWCB Halt provide the greatest opportunity for fair and orderly reopenings of securities, and would therefore continue to provide DMMs an opportunity to reopen securities before effectuating an Exchange-facilitated Trading Halt Auction. The proposal would provide the Exchange with another tool during volatile markets to reopen securities before 3:50 p.m. so that continuous 24 15 25 15 E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM U.S.C. 78f(b). U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 12NON1 71970 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices trading may resume before leading into the close. The Exchange further believes that it is not appropriate to provide that the Exchange would automatically facilitate reopening auctions at 3:30 p.m. There may be facts and circumstances where DMMs would be able to reopen all securities before 3:50 p.m., but that the DMM-facilitated process may not have completed by 3:30 p.m. The Exchange would take those facts and circumstances into account before invoking the proposed relief. jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES Wider Auction Collars for a Trading Halt Auction Following a MWCB Halt The Exchange believes that it would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system to widen the Auction Collars for an Exchangefacilitated Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt. Such widened Auction Collars would provide the Exchange with more flexibility to respond to any market-wide declines that may continue following a MWCB Halt if the Exchange were to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction following such halt. The Exchange cannot predict if and when the U.S. equities market will experience market-wide declines that would trigger a MWCB Halt again. However, if such market-wide volatility were to occur, the Exchange believes that the widened Auction Collars would promote fair and orderly reopenings following a MWCB Halt by providing a wider price range at which the Exchange could facilitate such a reopening, thereby allowing more buy and sell interest to participate in such Auction. DMM Interest and Exchange-Facilitated Auctions As noted above, beginning March 19, 2020, the Exchange began facilitating auctions as provided for under Rule 7.35C for the first time, and then, beginning March 23, 2020, when the Trading Floor was temporarily closed to reduce the spread of COVID–19, began facilitating Auctions on behalf of all DMM firms. Based on that experience, the Exchange added Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C, which is in effect only for a temporary period while the Trading Floor is closed. The Exchange believes that it would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system to make the changes described in Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C permanent because it would allow DMMs to maintain continuity with reasonable depth in their assigned securities immediately following an Exchange-facilitated Auction. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:07 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 253001 As described above, the Exchange is proposing that DMM Interest would continue to not participate in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a trade. As noted above, under both the current Rule and temporary Commentary .03, DMM Interest does not participate in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a trade in part to prevent wash-trade sales of previouslyentered DMM buy and sell interest and therefore reduces DMM units’ risk. It also protects the fair and orderly operation of such Auctions because such DMM Interest may be at stale prices, and therefore could impact pricing of the Auction in a manner that does not reflect up-to-date trading interest. For this reason, the Exchange believes it would continue to promote fair and orderly Auctions for DMM Interest not to participate in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a trade. By contrast, the Exchange believes that the proposed change that DMM Interest would be included in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a quote would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system because it would promote fair and orderly resumption of trading by allowing DMM Interest to be considered as part of the opening quote. A security only opens on a quote when there are no buy and sell orders that can be crossed at a single price. Accordingly, when a security opens on a quote, the DMM has an immediate obligation to maintain a twosided quote and to provide continuity and depth. Including DMM interest in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a quote would assist DMMs in meeting those obligations. The Exchange believes it would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system not to automatically cancel DMM Interest following an Exchange-facilitated Auction because it would provide DMMs with the opportunity to provide passive liquidity immediately following an Exchange-facilitated Auction, thereby reducing volatility while still limiting DMM risk. Similarly, the Exchange believes that because DMM Interest would not be participating in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a trade, it would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system to cancel DMM Interest that would be marketable against unexecuted orders because, if not cancelled, such interest could trade at a price that would not be consistent PO 00000 Frm 00096 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 with the Auction Price or opening or reopening quote determined in the Exchange-facilitated Auction. The proposed changes would also remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market because DMM Interest that, following an Exchange-facilitated Auction, would be priced through the Auction Price or Auction Collars, as applicable, would be cancelled in the same manner that other unexecuted orders would be cancelled. The Exchange further believes that the proposed changes to Rules 7.35C(a) and (g) would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system because the Exchange observed improved performance following Exchange-facilitated Auctions after the Exchange implemented Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C. Accordingly, should circumstances ever arise again that would require the Exchange to facilitate any Auctions, which, based on prepandemic experience, would likely be rare, the Exchange believes that these proposed changes would improve the performance of Exchange-facilitated Auctions by enabling better engagement by the DMMs in both the Auction and the immediate after-market while still limiting DMM risk. Updated Auction Reference Price for Exchange-Facilitated Core Open Auctions The Exchange believes that the proposal to change the Auction Reference Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system because it would reduce the potential number of securities that would be subject to a collared Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction, including when there is significant overnight market-wide volatility. Commentary .04 to Rule 7.35C sought to achieve this goal by widening the Auction Collars, but as noted above, these temporary widened Auction Collars would not prevent an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction from being subject to an Auction Collar when there has been significant overnight market-wide volatility. The Exchange believes that aligning the Auction Reference Price more closely with the anticipated opening price by using the midpoint of the Auction NBBO as the Auction Reference Price (or Official Closing Price of the prior Trading Day if no Auction NBBO) would reduce the potential for an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Action to be subject to an Auction Collar on all trading days, including when there is E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM 12NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 219 / Thursday, November 12, 2020 / Notices jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES significant overnight market-wide volatility. The Exchange further believes that this proposed rule change would reduce the potential number of securities that would open at a price that may not represent the current value of the security due to unfilled marketable auction interest, while still preserving investor protections by preventing significantly dislocated openings. This proposed rule change would therefore promote the fair and orderly operation of Exchangefacilitated Core Open Auctions by allowing such securities to open at a price that is consistent with the buy and sell interest in the security, which would also allow more buy and sell interest to participate in such Auction. The Exchange notes that this proposed change is not novel and is based on how NYSE Arca and NYSE American determine the Auction Reference Price for their respective electronic Core Open Auctions. Accordingly, this proposed change would align how Auction Reference Prices are determined for electronic Exchange-facilitated Auctions across NYSE, NYSE Arca, and NYSE American. B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Burden on Competition The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change would impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The proposed rule change is not designed to address any competitive issues but rather would make permanent the Exchange’s temporary Commentaries .01–.03 to Rule 7.35C, which have been in effect for a temporary period while the Trading Floor is temporarily closed due to COVID–19. This proposed rule change is designed to provide the Exchange with additional tools for when it facilitates an Auction, including by allowing for an Exchange-facilitated Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt so that a security can be reopened before leading into the close, providing the DMMs with additional functionality to allow them to maintain price continuity with reasonable depth in their assigned securities following an Exchange-facilitated Auction, and aligning the Auction Reference Price for an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction with the Auction Reference Price used for NYSE Arca and NYSE American electronic Core Open Auctions. More specifically, the proposed rule change does not implicate any intramarket competition concerns because the only market participants on the Exchange with the obligation to VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:07 Nov 10, 2020 Jkt 253001 facilitate Auctions are DMMs, and all DMMs would be subject to this rule change. The proposed rule change does not implicate any intermarket competition concerns because it relates to how the Exchange would facilitate Auctions in Exchange-listed securities. C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the proposed rule change. III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for Commission Action Within 45 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register, or such longer period up to 90 days (i) as the Commission may designate if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission will: (A) By order approve or disapprove the proposed rule change, or (B) institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be 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– NYSE–2020–89 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–NYSE–2020–89. 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 PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 71971 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–NYSE–2020–89, and should be submitted on or before December 3, 2020. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.26 J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2020–24986 Filed 11–10–20; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Investment Advisers Act Release No. 5624/ 803–00252] Arena Holdings Management LLC November 5, 2020. Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’). ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: Notice of application for an exemptive order under Section 202(a)(11)(H) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (‘‘Advisers Act’’). Applicant: Arena Holdings Management LLC (the ‘‘Applicant’’). Relevant Advisers Act Sections: Exemption requested under Section 202(a)(11)(H) of the Advisers Act from Section 202(a)(11) of the Advisers Act. Summary of Application: The Applicant requests that the Commission issue an order declaring it to be a person not within the intent of Section 202(a)(11) of the Advisers Act, which defines the term ‘‘investment adviser.’’ 26 17 E:\FR\FM\12NON1.SGM CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 12NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 219 (Thursday, November 12, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71964-71971]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-24986]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-90363; File No. SR-NYSE-2020-89]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Amend Rule 7.35C

November 5, 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 October 23, 2020, New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE'' or the 
``Exchange'') 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 self-regulatory 
organization. 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.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to amend Rule 7.35C (Exchange-Facilitated 
Auctions) to (1) provide the Exchange authority to facilitate a Trading 
Halt Auction if a security has not reopened following a MWCB Halt by 
3:30 p.m.; (2) widen the Auction Collar for an Exchange-facilitated 
Trading Halt Auction following an MWCB Halt; (3) provide that certain 
DMM Interest would not be cancelled following an Exchange-facilitated 
Auction; and (4) change the Auction Reference Price for Exchange-
facilitated Core Open Auctions. The proposed rule change is available 
on the Exchange's website at www.nyse.com, at the principal office of 
the Exchange, 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 self-regulatory organization 
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 those 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 parts 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 Rule 7.35C (Exchange-Facilitated 
Auctions) to (1) provide the Exchange authority to facilitate a Trading 
Halt Auction \3\ if a security has not reopened following a Level 1 or 
Level 2 trading

[[Page 71965]]

halt due to extraordinary market volatility under Rule 7.12 (``MWCB 
Halt'') by 3:30 p.m.; (2) widen the Auction Collar for an Exchange-
facilitated Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt; (3) provide 
that certain DMM Interest \4\ would not be cancelled following an 
Exchange-facilitated Auction; and (4) change the Auction Reference 
Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions.
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    \3\ As defined in Rule 7.35(a)(1), an ``Auction'' refers to the 
process for opening, reopening, or closing of trading of Auction-
Eligible Securities on the Exchange, which can result in either a 
trade or a quote.
    \4\ For purposes of Auctions, the term ``DMM Interest'' is 
defined in Rule 7.35(a)(8) to mean all buy and sell interest entered 
by a DMM unit in its assigned securities and includes: ``DMM Auction 
Liquidity,'' which is non-displayed buy and sell interest that is 
designated for an Auction only (see Rule 7.35(a)(8)(A)); ``DMM 
Orders'' which are orders, as defined under Rule 7.31, entered by a 
DMM unit (see Rule 7.35(a)(8)(B)); and ``DMM After-Auction Orders,'' 
which are orders entered by a DMM unit before either the Core Open 
Auction or Trading Halt Auction that do not participate in an 
Auction and are intended instead to maintain price continuity with 
reasonable depth following an Auction (see Rule 7.35(a)(8)(C)).
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    The first three of these proposed changes are currently in place on 
a temporary basis, as described in Commentaries .01-.03 to Rule 7.35C. 
The fourth of these proposed changes would be new and would replace the 
temporary rule set forth in Commentary .04 to Rule 7.35C.
Background
    To slow the spread of COVID-19 through social-distancing measures, 
on March 18, 2020, the CEO of the Exchange made a determination under 
Rule 7.1(c)(3) that, beginning March 23, 2020, the Trading Floor 
facilities located at 11 Wall Street in New York City would close and 
the Exchange would move, on a temporary basis, to fully electronic 
trading.\5\ On May 14, 2020, the CEO of the Exchange made a 
determination under Rule 7.1(c)(3) to reopen the Trading Floor on a 
limited basis on May 26, 2020 to a subset of Floor brokers, subject to 
safety measures designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.\6\ On June 
15, 2020, the CEO of the Exchange made a determination under Rule 
7.1(c)(3) to begin the second phase of the Trading Floor reopening by 
allowing DMMs to return on June 17, 2020, subject to safety measures 
designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.\7\
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    \5\ Pursuant to Rule 7.1(e), the CEO notified the Board of 
Directors of the Exchange of this determination. The Exchange's 
current rules establish how the Exchange will function fully-
electronically. The CEO also closed the NYSE American Options 
Trading Floor, which is located at the same 11 Wall Street 
facilities, and the NYSE Arca Options Trading Floor, which is 
located in San Francisco, CA. See Press Release, dated March 18, 
2020, available here: https://ir.theice.com/press/press-releases/all-categories/2020/03-18-2020-204202110.
    \6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88933 (May 22, 
2020), 85 FR 32059 (May 28, 2020) (SR-NYSE-2020-47) (Notice of 
filing and immediate effectiveness of proposed rule change).
    \7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 89086 (June 17, 
2020) (SR-NYSE-2020-52) (Notice of filing and immediate 
effectiveness of proposed rule change).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rule 7.35C sets forth the procedures for Exchange-facilitated 
Auctions. The first time the Exchange facilitated any Auctions pursuant 
to Rule 7.35C was on March 19, 2020, when two DMM firms temporarily 
left the Trading Floor in connection with implementing their business 
continuity plans related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning on March 
23, 2020, when the Exchange temporarily closed the Trading Floor, the 
Exchange began facilitating Auctions on behalf of all DMM firms. Since 
June 17, 2020, when DMM firms were permitted to return staff to the 
Trading Floor, the Exchange has not facilitated any Auctions for DMM 
firms that have had staff return to the Trading Floor. During the 
period of March 23, 2020 through June 16, 2020, among the DMM firms, 
the percentage of Auctions that were facilitated by the Exchange ranged 
from 1% to 3.2% of the securities assigned to each DMM. During this 
period, the vast majority of Auctions were facilitated electronically 
by DMMs pursuant to Rules 7.35A and 7.35B.
    In connection with both the market-wide volatility associated with 
the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and the full and partial closing of 
the Trading Floor facilities, the Exchange added Commentaries .01, .02, 
.03, and .04 to Rule 7.35C \8\ that are in effect until the earlier of 
a full reopening of the Trading Floor facilities to DMMs or after the 
Exchange closes on December 31, 2020.\9\ These Commentaries set forth 
how the Exchange has been functioning during this temporary period when 
the Trading Floor facilities have been closed either in full or in part 
in connection with COVID-19.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 88413 (March 18, 
2020), 85 FR 16713 (March 24, 2020) (SR-NYSE-2020-19) (amending Rule 
7.35C to add Commentary .01) (``First Rule 7.35C Filing''); 88444 
(March 20, 2020), 85 FR 17141 (March 26, 2020) (SR-NYSE-2020-22) 
(amending Rules 7.35A to add Commentary .01, 7.35B to add Commentary 
.01, and 7.35C to add Commentary .02) (``Second Rule 7.35C 
Filing''); 88562 (April 3, 2020), 85 FR 20002 (April 9, 2020) (SR-
NYSE-2020-29) (amending Rule 7.35C to add Commentary .03) (``DMM 
Interest Filing''); and 89059 (June 12, 2020), 85 FR 36911 (June 18, 
2020) (SR-NYSE-2020-50) (amending Rule 7.35C to add Commentary .04) 
(``Fourth Rule 7.35C Filing'').
    \9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90005 (September 25, 
2020), 85 FR 61999 (October 1, 2020) (SR-NYSE-2020-78) (Notice of 
filing and immediate effectiveness of proposed rule change to extend 
the temporary period for Commentaries to Rules 7.35, 7.35A, 7.35B, 
and 7.35C; and temporary rule relief in Rule 36.30 to end on the 
earlier of a full reopening of the Trading Floor facilities to DMMs 
or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 2020).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that the rules that it has added on a 
temporary basis to Rule 7.35C have supported the fair and orderly 
operation of the Exchange during both the market volatility associated 
with COVID-19 and the temporary period that the Trading Floor 
facilities have been closed either in full or in part due to COVID-19. 
The Exchange further believes the functionality that has been operating 
on a temporary basis would continue to support the fair and orderly 
operation of the Exchange under any circumstances where there may be 
either market-wide volatility or the need for the Exchange to 
facilitate one or more Auctions. Accordingly, the Exchange proposes 
that the following changes be made permanent in Exchange rules:
     Provide the Exchange with authority to facilitate a 
Trading Halt Auction if a security has not reopened following a MWCB 
Halt by 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
     Widen the Auction Collars for an Exchange-facilitated 
Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt to the greater of $0.15 or 
10%.
     Allow DMM Interest to remain on the Exchange Book after an 
Exchange-facilitated Auction.
    In addition, the Exchange proposes to change the Auction Reference 
Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions, which would be new.
Proposed Rule Changes
Exchange Authority To Facilitate a Trading Halt Auction Following a 
MWCB Halt
    In the midst of the market-wide volatility relating to COVID-19 and 
before the Exchange temporarily closed the Trading Floor, the Exchange 
added Commentary .01 to Rule 7.35C, which provided, at the time of 
filing, that: \10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ See First Rule 7.35C Filing, supra note 9.

    Until May 15, 2020, to facilitate the fair and orderly reopening 
of securities following either a Level 1 or Level 2 trading halt due 
to extraordinary market volatility under Rule 7.12 (``MWCB Halt''), 
the CEO of the Exchange or his or her designee may determine that 
the Exchange will facilitate a Trading Halt Auction in one or more 
securities under this Rule if a security has not reopened by 3:30 
p.m. If the Exchange facilitates a Trading Halt Auction following a 
MWCB Halt pursuant to this Commentary, the Auction Collars will be 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price.

    Following the temporary closure of the Trading Floor, the substance 
of this Commentary was revised and moved to

[[Page 71966]]

Commentary .02 to Rule 7.35C, as follows: \11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ See Second Rule 7.35C Filing, supra note 9.

    If the Trading Floor facilities reopen, through trading on 
December 31, 2020, to facilitate the fair and orderly reopening of 
securities following a MWCB Halt, the CEO of the Exchange or his or 
her designee may determine that the Exchange will facilitate a 
Trading Halt Auction in one or more securities under this Rule if a 
security has not reopened by 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time. If the Exchange 
facilitates a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt pursuant to 
this Commentary, the Auction Collars will be the greater of $0.15 or 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
10% away from the Auction Reference Price.

    As described in more detail in the First Rule 7.35C Filing, under 
Rule 7.35C, the Exchange will facilitate an Auction only if a DMM 
cannot facilitate an Auction for one or more securities. In support of 
the proposed rule change, the Exchange explained:

    The Exchange continues to believe that DMM-facilitated Trading 
Halt Auctions following a MWCB Halt provide the greatest opportunity 
for fair and orderly reopenings of securities, and would therefore 
continue to provide DMMs an opportunity to reopen securities before 
effectuating an Exchange-facilitated Trading Halt Auction. The 
proposal would provide the Exchange with another tool during 
volatile markets to reopen securities before 3:50 p.m., for 
continuous trading to resume leading into the close . . . . . The 
Exchange believes that specifying a time in the Rule at which the 
Exchange could exercise such discretion would put DMMs on notice of 
the time that the Exchange could begin facilitating such auctions. 
The Exchange further believes that it is not appropriate to provide 
that the Exchange would automatically facilitate reopening auctions 
at 3:30 p.m. There may be facts and circumstances where DMMs would 
be able to reopen all securities before 3:50 p.m., but that the DMM-
facilitated process may not have completed by 3:30 p.m. The Exchange 
would take those facts and circumstances into account before 
invoking the proposed relief. Exchange staff would communicate with 
the impacted DMMs verbally on the Floor during such times, and 
therefore the DMMs would be on notice of whether the Exchange would 
invoke this relief, and for which securities.

    The Exchange continues to believe that the ability for the Exchange 
to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt if a 
security has not reopened by 3:30 p.m. would promote the fair and 
orderly reopening of one or more securities so that continuous trading 
may resume leading into the close. Accordingly, the Exchange proposes 
that the relief described above should be made a permanent part of Rule 
7.35C. To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend 7.35C to 
add new subparagraph (a)(4) as follows, which is based on current 
Commentary .02 to Rule 7.35C without any substantive differences:

    The CEO of the Exchange, or his or her designee, may determine 
that the Exchange will facilitate a Trading Halt Auction in one or 
more securities under this Rule if a security is subject to either a 
Level 1 or Level 2 trading halt due to extraordinary market 
volatility under Rule 7.12 (``MWCB Halt'') and has not reopened by 
3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

    The Exchange further proposes to delete Commentary .02 to Rule 
7.35C, which would be replaced by proposed Rule 7.35C(a)(4).
    There are no technology changes associated with this proposed rule 
change and the Exchange would be able to implement it immediately upon 
approval of this proposed rule change.
Wider Auction Collars for a Trading Halt Auction Following a MWCB Halt
    As noted above, as set forth in Commentary .01(a) to Rule 
7.35C,\12\ the Exchange also widened the Auction Collars for an 
Exchange-facilitated Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt to the 
greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price. Absent 
this temporary relief, the Auction Collars for all Exchange-facilitated 
Trading Halt Auctions is the greater of $0.15 or 5% away from the 
Auction Reference Price.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ Commentary .01(a) to Rule 7.35C currently provides that: 
``For a temporary period that begins March 23, 2020, when the 
Trading Floor facilities have been closed pursuant to Rule 
7.1(c)(3), and ends on the earlier of a full reopening of the 
Trading Floor facilities to DMMs or after the Exchange closes on 
December 31, 2020: (a) The Auction Collar for a Trading Halt Auction 
following a either a Level 1 or Level 2 trading halt due to 
extraordinary market volatility under Rule 7.12 (``MWCB Halt'') will 
be the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference 
Price.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As described in the First Rule 7.35C Filing, the widening of the 
Auction Collars was designed to provide the Exchange with more 
flexibility to respond to the then unprecedented market-wide declines 
that resulted from the ongoing spread of COVID-19 at that time if the 
Exchange were to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB 
Halt. The Exchange cannot predict if and when the U.S. equities market 
will experience market-wide declines that would trigger a MWCB Halt 
again. However, if such market-wide volatility were to occur, the 
Exchange believes that the widened Auction Collars would promote fair 
and orderly reopenings following a MWCB Halt by providing a wider price 
range at which the Exchange could facilitate such a reopening.
    To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend Rule 
7.35C(b)(3)(A)(ii) to provide as follows (proposed new text 
italicized), which is based on current Commentary .01 to Rule 7.35C 
without any substantive differences:

    The Auction Collar for the Trading Halt Auction will be based on 
a price that is the greater of $0.15 or 5% away from the Auction 
Reference Price for the Trading Halt Auction, provided that, the 
Auction Collar for a Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt will 
be the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference 
Price.

    The Exchange further proposes to delete Commentary .01 to Rule 
7.35C, which would be replaced by the proposed amendment to Rule 
7.35C(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    There are no technology changes associated with this proposed rule 
change and the Exchange would be able to implement it immediately upon 
approval of this proposed rule change.
DMM Interest and Exchange-Facilitated Auctions
    As set forth in Rule 7.35C(a)(1), if the Exchange facilitates an 
Auction, DMM Interest would not be eligible to participate in such 
Auction and previously-entered DMM Interest would be cancelled. When a 
DMM cannot facilitate an Auction because the DMM unit is experiencing a 
system issue that prevents it from communicating with Exchange systems, 
cancelling DMM Interest following an Exchange-facilitated Auction would 
help ensure that DMM Interest that may be at stale prices does not 
participate in trading on the Exchange. On the other hand, by 
cancelling DMM Interest when the DMM units' systems are operating 
normally, DMMs may be limited in their ability to maintain price 
continuity with reasonable depth, i.e., provide passive liquidity at 
the Exchange best bid and offer and at depth, immediately following an 
Exchange-facilitated Auction.
    After a period of operating Exchange-facilitated Auctions, the 
Exchange identified a way to provide DMMs with a greater opportunity to 
provide passive liquidity immediately following an Auction, thereby 
dampening volatility, while still limiting DMM risk. To effect this 
change, the Exchange added Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C, which provides 
that for the temporary period that begins on April 6, 2020 and ends on 
the earlier of a full reopening of the Trading Floor facilities to DMMs 
or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 2020, if the Exchange 
facilitates an Auction, DMM Interest (i) will not be eligible to 
participate if such Auction

[[Page 71967]]

results in a trade, and will be eligible to participate if such Auction 
results in a quote, and (ii) will not be cancelled unless the limit 
price of such DMM Interest would be priced through the Auction Price or 
Auction Collars, as applicable, or such DMM Interest would be 
marketable against other unexecuted orders.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ See DMM Interest Filing, supra note 9.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange proposes to make permanent the changes to how 
Exchange-facilitated Auctions function, as described in Commentary .03 
to Rule 7.35C. By making this functionality permanent, such rules would 
continue to apply both during the continuation of the current Trading 
Floor closure and if the Exchange were to facilitate Auctions any time 
after the Trading Floor fully reopens.
    To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend 7.35C(a)(1) 
as follows (new text italicized, deleted text bracketed):

    If the Exchange facilitates an Auction, DMM Interest will not be 
eligible to participate [in] if such Auction results in a trade, and 
will be eligible to participate if such Auction results in a quote 
[and previously-entered DMM Interest will be cancelled].

    This proposed rule change would make permanent the temporary 
functionality set forth in paragraph (a)(1) to Commentary .03.
    With this change, DMM Interest would not participate in any 
Exchange-facilitated Auctions that would result in a trade. This is how 
DMM Interest currently functions when the Exchange facilitates an 
Auction pursuant to either Rule 7.35C(a)(1) or Commentary .03 to Rule 
7.35C. Based on experience operating pursuant to Commentary .03 to Rule 
7.35C, the Exchange believes that this functionality should continue 
permanently when the Exchange facilitates an Auction, including, for 
example, when the Trading Floor is open but the DMM is unable to 
facilitate an Auction because of a systems or technical issue.
    More specifically, when a DMM facilitates an Auction that results 
in a trade, the DMM determines whether to participate on the buy or 
sell side and, based on that direction from the DMM, DMM Orders that do 
not participate in the Auction and that would lock or cross other 
orders, which would include other DMM Orders, will be cancelled.\14\ If 
the DMM has entered both buy and sell interest in advance of the 
Auction and the Exchange facilitates the Auction, the DMM would not be 
able to control whether the DMM's buy or sell interest would 
participate in a trade and the Exchange would not have that instruction 
from the DMM of which side of the market that the DMM would 
participate. As a result, there may be crossing DMM Interest that could 
result in a wash-sale trade that would not have occurred if the DMM had 
facilitated the Auction. Excluding DMM Interest from participating in 
an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a trade eliminates the 
potential for a wash-sale trade. In addition, the Exchange believes it 
promotes fair and orderly Exchange-facilitated Auctions that result in 
a trade to exclude DMM Interest from participating in such Auctions, 
because if a DMM's buy or sell interest does not reflect up-to-date 
prices, it could impact pricing of the Auction.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ See Rule 7.35A(h)(3)(C) (providing that after a Core Open 
or Trading Halt Auction, better at-priced DMM Orders that do not 
receive an allocation and that lock or cross other unexecuted orders 
and buy and sell better-priced DMM Orders will be cancelled after 
the Auction Processing Period concludes).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    By contrast, the Exchange believes that the proposed change for DMM 
Interest to participate in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results 
in a quote would promote fair and orderly markets. This proposed change 
is consistent with Commentary .03(a)(1) to Rule 7.35C, but differs from 
current Rule 7.35C(a)(1). A security opens on a quote if there is no 
buy interest willing to trade with sell interest at the same price. The 
Exchange believes that under such circumstances, including DMM Interest 
in the Exchange's quote would assist the DMMs in meeting their 
obligation to maintain a two-sided quote as well as to maintain 
continuity and depth in their assigned securities.\15\ Accordingly, the 
Exchange believes that making this change permanent would promote fair 
and orderly markets in connection with Exchange-facilitated Auctions 
that result in a quote.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ See Rule 104(f)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The final element of the proposed change to Rule 7.35C(a)(1) is 
that DMM Interest would no longer be automatically cancelled after an 
Exchange-facilitated Auction. The Exchange believes that this proposed 
change would assist DMMs in meeting their obligation, as required by 
Rule 104(f)(2), to provide passive liquidity in order to maintain 
continuity with reasonable depth in their assigned securities 
immediately following a Core Open Auction or Trading Halt Auction that 
was facilitated by the Exchange. In advance of an Auction, DMMs can 
enter DMM Orders, which if not traded in an Auction, would be part of 
the DMM Interest on the Exchange Book after the Auction. In addition, 
DMMs can enter DMM After-Auction Orders, which do not participate in 
Auctions and are specifically designed to assist the DMMs to maintain 
passive liquidity on the Exchange immediately following an Auction, 
which supports their ability to maintain continuity with reasonable 
depth immediately following an Auction. If DMM Interest is not 
automatically cancelled following an Exchange-facilitated Auction, the 
DMM would be better able to timely meet these obligations by ensuring 
that passive liquidity remains on the Exchange Book immediately 
following an Auction.
    The Exchange believes that there remain circumstances when DMM 
Interest should be cancelled following an Exchange-facilitated Auction. 
As proposed, the Exchange would cancel unexecuted DMM Interest under 
the same circumstances that unexecuted orders of other member 
organizations would be cancelled following such Auctions.
    To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend Rule 
7.35C(g)(1), which currently describes which unexecuted orders would be 
cancelled if a security opens or reopens on a trade via an Exchange-
facilitated Auction, and Rule 7.35C(g)(2), which currently describes 
which unexecuted orders would be cancelled if a security opens or 
reopens on a quote that is above (below) the upper (lower) Auction 
Collar via an Exchange-facilitated Auction. The Exchange proposes that 
these two subparagraphs would be replaced with the following text to 
incorporate that under the same circumstances, DMM Interest would 
similarly be cancelled (proposed new text italicized):

    (1) If a security opens or reopens on a trade, Market Orders 
(including sell short Market Orders during a Short Sale Period) and 
Limit Orders, including DMM Interest, with a limit price that is 
better-priced than the Auction Price and were not executed in the 
applicable Auction will be cancelled.
    (2) If a security opens or reopens on a quote that is above 
(below) the upper (lower) Auction Collar, Market Orders (including 
sell short Market Orders during a Short Sale Period) and Limit 
Orders, including DMM Interest, with a limit price that is better-
priced than the upper (lower) Auction Collar will be cancelled 
before such quote is published.

    These proposed rule changes would make permanent the temporary 
functionality set forth in paragraphs (b)(1) and (2) to Commentary .03.
    The Exchange further believes that if previously-entered DMM 
Interest would be marketable against either other DMM Interest or 
contra-side unexecuted

[[Page 71968]]

orders, such DMM Interest should be cancelled. For example, if for a 
security, the Auction Reference Price is $10.00, the lower Auction 
Collar is $9.00 and the upper Auction Collar is $11.00, and the orders 
on the Exchange Book in advance of the Auction are as follows:

 Order 1--Buy DMM Order 1000 shares at $10.05
 Order 2--Sell DMM Order 1000 shares at $10.00
 Order 3--Buy DMM Order 1000 shares at $10.02
 Order 4--Sell Limit Order at $10.03,

the orders in this example would be processed as follows in an 
Exchange-facilitated Auction:
     Order 1 would be cancelled (because DMM Interest would not 
be eligible to participate in an Auction trade, and here, Order 1 is 
marketable with Orders 2 and 4).
     Order 2 would be cancelled (because DMM Interest would not 
be eligible to participate in an Auction trade, and here Order 2 is 
marketable with Order 3), and
     Order 3 would not be cancelled because it is no longer 
marketable with any other interest, i.e., it no longer locks or crosses 
the price of any other contra-side interest in the Exchange Book. Order 
3 would therefore be included in the opening quote.
    This Exchange-facilitated Auction would result in the following 
quote: $10.02 (Order 3--DMM Order) x $10.03 (Order 4--Limit Order).
    To effect this change, the Exchange proposes new subparagraph 
(g)(3) to Rule 7.35C to specify the additional circumstances when DMM 
Interest would be cancelled, as follows:

    The Exchange will cancel DMM Interest that is marketable against 
contra-side unexecuted orders. If the contra-side unexecuted order 
against which such DMM Interest is marketable is DMM Interest, the 
DMM Interest with the earlier working time will be canceled.

    This proposed rule change would make permanent the temporary 
functionality set forth in paragraph (b)(3) to Commentary .03.
    The Exchange believes that these proposed rule changes would 
promote fair and orderly markets whenever the Exchange facilitates an 
Auction under Rule 7.35C--under any circumstance--by supporting DMMs in 
maintaining continuity with reasonable depth in their assigned 
securities immediately following an Exchange-facilitated Core Open 
Auction or Trading Halt Auction that was facilitated by the Exchange.
    The Exchange proposes that, with these proposed changes to Rules 
7.35C(a)(1) and (g), Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C would be deleted in 
its entirety.
    In further support of making the functionality set forth in 
Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C permanent, the Exchange notes that after 
the Exchange implemented that Commentary, the Exchange observed 
improved performance relating to Exchange-facilitated Auctions.
     For the period March 23, 2020 to April 3, 2020, 4.9% of 
all Core Open Auctions were facilitated by the Exchange. For the period 
April 6, 2020 through June 16, 2020, the Exchange facilitated only 2% 
of all Core Open Auctions. In addition, the percentage of Exchange-
facilitated Core Open Auctions that were bound by an Auction Collar 
decreased from 1.3% from the pre-April 6, 2020 period, to 0.58% in the 
April 6, 2020-June 16, 2020 period.
     In addition, the Exchange observed that after April 6, 
2020, Exchange-listed securities experienced reduced volatility in the 
first half hour of trading. The Exchange uses a quote-based metric to 
measure volatility in securities,\16\ and based on that metric, 
volatility in Exchange-listed securities between the period of April 6, 
2020 and June 16, 2020 was 28.4% lower than the same measure between 
March 23, 2020 and April 3, 2020. In addition, the Exchange further 
observed that between these two periods, the difference between the 
Core Open Auction Price and the subsequent five-minute VWAP dropped by 
31.3%.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ As described in an Exchange blog post, this metric is 
calculated using second-to-second ``quote returns,'' which is 
calculated by averaging the midpoints of all NBBO updates for a 
security within each second of the day from 9:35 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., 
and then calculating the percentage rate of return of these average 
quote midpoints from one second to the next. The variance of returns 
are then calculated in aggregated time periods (e.g., 5-minute 
buckets) and annualized from seconds to 6.5 hour trading days to 252 
trading days in the years. Finally, the Exchange takes the square 
root of the annualized variance in the aggregated periods, which 
creates the Exchange's quote volatility metric. See NYSE Data 
Insights, Introducing Quote Volatility (QV)--a new metric to measure 
price volatility, available here: https://www.nyse.com/data-insights/introducing-quote-volatility-qv-a-new-metric-to-measure-price-volatility.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For DMM firms that have already returned staff to the Trading 
Floor, this proposed change has limited application because the 
Exchange has not facilitated any Auctions on behalf of those firms 
since June 16, 2020. In addition, the Exchange anticipates that once 
the Trading Floor facilities open in full to DMMs, and all DMM firms 
have staffing on the Trading Floor, the need for Exchange-facilitated 
Auctions would be obviated, and the Exchange will revert to pre-
pandemic rates of Exchange-facilitated Auctions, which were none. 
Accordingly, the proposed changes to Rule 7.35C will likely have 
limited application and would be available as a business continuity 
functionality should DMMs be unable to facilitate an Auction in one or 
more securities, for any reason.
    There are no technology changes associated with this proposed rule 
change and the Exchange would be able to implement it immediately upon 
approval of this proposed rule change.
Updated Auction Reference Price for Exchange-Facilitated Core Open 
Auctions
    For Exchange-facilitated Auctions, the Exchange determines an 
Auction Price based on the Indicative Match Price for a security, which 
is bound by Auction Collars.\17\ Rule 7.35C(b)(1) specifies the Auction 
Reference Price that is used for determining Auction Collars for 
Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions, which is the Imbalance 
Reference Price, as determined under Rule 7.35A(e)(3).\18\ Currently, 
the Auction Collars for the Core Open Auction are at a price that is 
the greater of $0.15 or 10% away from the Auction Reference Price.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \17\ See Rule 7.35C(b)(2).
    \18\ See Rule 7.35C(b)(3)(A)(i). Pursuant to Rule 7.35A(e)(3), 
the Imbalance Reference Price for a Core Open Auction is the 
Consolidated Last Sale Price, unless a pre-opening indication has 
been published. Pursuant to Rule 7.35(a)(11)(A), the term 
``Consolidated Last Sale Price'' means the most recent consolidated 
last-sale eligible trade in a security during Core Trading Hours on 
that trading day, and if none, the Official Closing Price from the 
prior trading day for that security.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    On June 4, 2020, the Exchange added Commentary .04 to Rule 7.35C to 
provide that the Auction Collars for Exchange-facilitated Core Open 
Auctions would be the greater of $1.00 or 10% away from the Auction 
Reference Price.\19\ The Exchange added this Commentary to reduce the 
number of securities subject to a collared Exchange-facilitated Core 
Open Auction.\20\ The Exchange observed that

[[Page 71969]]

from June 4, 2020 up to June 17, 2020, when DMMs returned staff to the 
Trading Floor,\21\ even with the widened Auction Collars, if there were 
significant overnight market-wide volatility, Exchange-facilitated Core 
Open Auctions had a greater likelihood of being subject to an Auction 
Collar. For example, for that same June 4-June 16 period, when the 
price of the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (``SPY'') \22\ moved over 1% from 
the prior day's close, 1.4% of the Exchange-facilitated Core Open 
Auctions were subject to an Auction Collar, as compared to only .5% of 
the Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions being subject to an Auction 
Collar when SPY moved less than 1% from the prior day's close.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ See Fourth Rule 7.35C Filing, supra note 9. Commentary .04 
is in effect for a temporary period that began on June 4, 2020 and 
ends on the earlier of a full reopening of the Trading Floor 
facilities to DMMs or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 
2020.
    \20\ In the Fourth Rule 7.35C Filing, id., the Exchange 
explained that for the period while the Trading Floor had been 
temporarily closed preceding that filing, the Exchange had 
facilitated 2.35% of the Core Open Auctions and that approximately 
30% of the Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions had an Indicative 
Match Price that was subject to an Auction Collar, and approximately 
50% of these collared Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions were 
in securities trading at prices under $10.00. The Exchange further 
noted that if Auction Collars had not been applied to these 
securities priced under $10.00, they would have opened at a price 
between $0.15 and $1.00 away from the Auction Reference Price.
    \21\ As noted above, the Exchange has not facilitated any 
Auctions for any of the DMM firms that have returned staff to the 
Trading Floor.
    \22\ Because SPY is priced based on the securities included in 
the S&P 500 Index, the Exchange believes that SPY's price as 
compared to its prior day's closing price is indicative of the scope 
of market-wide volatility leading into the open of the Core Trading 
Session.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that adjusting the Auction Reference Price to 
align more closely with the anticipated price of the Core Open Auction, 
rather than widening the Auction Collars, would reduce the potential 
for an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction to be subject to an 
Auction Collar on all trading days, including when there is significant 
overnight market-wide volatility. Accordingly, rather than providing 
for a wider Auction Collar, as set forth in Commentary .04 to Rule 
7.35C, the Exchange proposes to amend Rule 7.35C to update how the 
Auction Reference Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions 
would be determined. Specifically, the Exchange proposes to determine 
Auction Reference Prices for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions in 
the same manner that the Exchange's affiliates, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE 
Arca'') and NYSE American LLC (``NYSE American''), determine the 
Auction Reference Price for their electronic Core Open Auctions.
    NYSE Arca Rule 7.35-E(a)(8)(A) and NYSE American Rule 
7.35E(a)(8)(A) both provide that the Auction Reference Price for Core 
Open Auctions on those exchanges is, ``[t]he midpoint of the Auction 
NBBO or, if the Auction NBBO is locked, the locked price. If there is 
no Auction NBBO, the prior day's Official Closing Price.'' The NYSE 
Arca and NYSE American rules define the term ``Auction NBBO'' to mean:
    An NBBO that is used for purposes of pricing an auction. An NBBO 
is an Auction NBBO when (i) there is an NBB above zero and NBO for 
the security and (ii) the NBBO is not crossed. In addition, for the 
Core Open Auction, an NBBO is an Auction NBBO when the midpoint of 
the NBBO when multiplied by a designated percentage, is greater than 
or equal to the spread of that NBBO. The designated percentage will 
be determined by the Exchange from time to time upon prior notice to 
ETP Holders.\23\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ See NYSE Arca Rule 7.35-E(a)(5) and NYSE American Rule 
7.35E(a)(5).

    The Exchange proposes to amend Rule 7.35C(b)(1) to provide that the 
Auction Reference Price for an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction 
would be: ``The midpoint of the Auction NBBO or, if the Auction NBBO is 
locked, the locked price. If there is no Auction NBBO, the Official 
Closing Price from the prior trading day.'' This rule text is based on 
NYSE Arca Rule 7.35-E(a)(8)(A) and NYSE American Rule 7.35E(a)(8)(A) 
without any differences.
    The Exchange further proposes to amend Rule 7.35(a) to add a 
definition for the term ``Auction NBBO,'' which would similarly be 
based on the definition of that term in the NYSE Arca and NYSE American 
rules without any substantive differences, as follows:

    ``Auction NBBO'' means an NBBO that is used for purposes of 
pricing an auction. An NBBO is an Auction NBBO when (i) there is an 
NBB above zero and NBO for the security and (ii) the NBBO is not 
crossed. In addition, for the Core Open Auction, an NBBO is an 
Auction NBBO when the midpoint of the NBBO when multiplied by a 
designated percentage, is greater than or equal to the spread of 
that NBBO. The designated percentage will be determined by the 
Exchange from time to time upon prior notice to member 
organizations.

    The Exchange proposes to add the term ``Auction NBBO'' as Rule 
7.35(a)(5) and make non-substantive changes to renumber the definitions 
currently set forth in Rules 7.35(a)(5)-(12) as Rules 7.35(a)(6)-(13).
    Because there are technology changes associated with this proposed 
rule change, the Exchange proposes to announce the implementation date 
of this change by Trader Update. The Exchange anticipates that the 
Exchange will implement this technology change in the first quarter of 
2021.
    To provide continuity, the Exchange further proposes to amend 
Commentary .04 to Rule 7.35C to provide that such Commentary would end 
on the earlier of when the Exchange implements its technology change to 
use the midpoint of the Auction NBBO as the Auction Reference Price for 
the Core Open Auction or after the Exchange closes on December 31, 
2020. With this proposed rule change, the widened Auction Collars 
specified in that Commentary would continue to be operative until such 
time that the proposed changes to the Auction Reference Price for 
Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions have been approved and 
implemented.
2. Statutory Basis
    The proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the 
Act,\24\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of 
the Act,\25\ in particular, in that it is designed to prevent 
fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and 
equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and coordination 
with persons engaged in facilitating transactions in securities, and to 
remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open 
market and a national market system.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \25\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that the rules that it added on a temporary 
basis to Rule 7.35C have supported the fair and orderly operation of 
the Exchange during both the market volatility associated with COVID-19 
and the temporary period that the Trading Floor facilities have been 
closed either in full or in part due to COVID-19. The Exchange further 
believes the functionality that has been operating on a temporary basis 
would continue to support the fair and orderly operation of the 
Exchange under any circumstances where there may be either market-wide 
volatility or the need for the Exchange to facilitate one or more 
Auctions.
Exchange Authority To Facilitate a Trading Halt Auction Following a 
MWCB Halt
    The Exchange believes that it would remove impediments to and 
perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market 
system to provide the Exchange with authority to facilitate a Trading 
Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt. The Exchange continues to believe 
that DMM-facilitated Trading Halt Auctions following a MWCB Halt 
provide the greatest opportunity for fair and orderly reopenings of 
securities, and would therefore continue to provide DMMs an opportunity 
to reopen securities before effectuating an Exchange-facilitated 
Trading Halt Auction. The proposal would provide the Exchange with 
another tool during volatile markets to reopen securities before 3:50 
p.m. so that continuous

[[Page 71970]]

trading may resume before leading into the close. The Exchange further 
believes that it is not appropriate to provide that the Exchange would 
automatically facilitate reopening auctions at 3:30 p.m. There may be 
facts and circumstances where DMMs would be able to reopen all 
securities before 3:50 p.m., but that the DMM-facilitated process may 
not have completed by 3:30 p.m. The Exchange would take those facts and 
circumstances into account before invoking the proposed relief.
Wider Auction Collars for a Trading Halt Auction Following a MWCB Halt
    The Exchange believes that it would remove impediments to and 
perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market 
system to widen the Auction Collars for an Exchange-facilitated Trading 
Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt. Such widened Auction Collars would 
provide the Exchange with more flexibility to respond to any market-
wide declines that may continue following a MWCB Halt if the Exchange 
were to facilitate a Trading Halt Auction following such halt. The 
Exchange cannot predict if and when the U.S. equities market will 
experience market-wide declines that would trigger a MWCB Halt again. 
However, if such market-wide volatility were to occur, the Exchange 
believes that the widened Auction Collars would promote fair and 
orderly reopenings following a MWCB Halt by providing a wider price 
range at which the Exchange could facilitate such a reopening, thereby 
allowing more buy and sell interest to participate in such Auction.
DMM Interest and Exchange-Facilitated Auctions
    As noted above, beginning March 19, 2020, the Exchange began 
facilitating auctions as provided for under Rule 7.35C for the first 
time, and then, beginning March 23, 2020, when the Trading Floor was 
temporarily closed to reduce the spread of COVID-19, began facilitating 
Auctions on behalf of all DMM firms. Based on that experience, the 
Exchange added Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C, which is in effect only 
for a temporary period while the Trading Floor is closed. The Exchange 
believes that it would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism 
of a free and open market and a national market system to make the 
changes described in Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C permanent because it 
would allow DMMs to maintain continuity with reasonable depth in their 
assigned securities immediately following an Exchange-facilitated 
Auction.
    As described above, the Exchange is proposing that DMM Interest 
would continue to not participate in an Exchange-facilitated Auction 
that results in a trade. As noted above, under both the current Rule 
and temporary Commentary .03, DMM Interest does not participate in an 
Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a trade in part to prevent 
wash-trade sales of previously-entered DMM buy and sell interest and 
therefore reduces DMM units' risk. It also protects the fair and 
orderly operation of such Auctions because such DMM Interest may be at 
stale prices, and therefore could impact pricing of the Auction in a 
manner that does not reflect up-to-date trading interest. For this 
reason, the Exchange believes it would continue to promote fair and 
orderly Auctions for DMM Interest not to participate in an Exchange-
facilitated Auction that results in a trade.
    By contrast, the Exchange believes that the proposed change that 
DMM Interest would be included in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that 
results in a quote would remove impediments to and perfect the 
mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system 
because it would promote fair and orderly resumption of trading by 
allowing DMM Interest to be considered as part of the opening quote. A 
security only opens on a quote when there are no buy and sell orders 
that can be crossed at a single price. Accordingly, when a security 
opens on a quote, the DMM has an immediate obligation to maintain a 
two-sided quote and to provide continuity and depth. Including DMM 
interest in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that results in a quote 
would assist DMMs in meeting those obligations.
    The Exchange believes it would remove impediments to and perfect 
the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system 
not to automatically cancel DMM Interest following an Exchange-
facilitated Auction because it would provide DMMs with the opportunity 
to provide passive liquidity immediately following an Exchange-
facilitated Auction, thereby reducing volatility while still limiting 
DMM risk. Similarly, the Exchange believes that because DMM Interest 
would not be participating in an Exchange-facilitated Auction that 
results in a trade, it would remove impediments to and perfect the 
mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system to 
cancel DMM Interest that would be marketable against unexecuted orders 
because, if not cancelled, such interest could trade at a price that 
would not be consistent with the Auction Price or opening or reopening 
quote determined in the Exchange-facilitated Auction. The proposed 
changes would also remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a 
free and open market because DMM Interest that, following an Exchange-
facilitated Auction, would be priced through the Auction Price or 
Auction Collars, as applicable, would be cancelled in the same manner 
that other unexecuted orders would be cancelled.
    The Exchange further believes that the proposed changes to Rules 
7.35C(a) and (g) would remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism 
of a free and open market and a national market system because the 
Exchange observed improved performance following Exchange-facilitated 
Auctions after the Exchange implemented Commentary .03 to Rule 7.35C. 
Accordingly, should circumstances ever arise again that would require 
the Exchange to facilitate any Auctions, which, based on pre-pandemic 
experience, would likely be rare, the Exchange believes that these 
proposed changes would improve the performance of Exchange-facilitated 
Auctions by enabling better engagement by the DMMs in both the Auction 
and the immediate after-market while still limiting DMM risk.
Updated Auction Reference Price for Exchange-Facilitated Core Open 
Auctions
    The Exchange believes that the proposal to change the Auction 
Reference Price for Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auctions would 
remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open 
market and a national market system because it would reduce the 
potential number of securities that would be subject to a collared 
Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction, including when there is 
significant overnight market-wide volatility. Commentary .04 to Rule 
7.35C sought to achieve this goal by widening the Auction Collars, but 
as noted above, these temporary widened Auction Collars would not 
prevent an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction from being subject to 
an Auction Collar when there has been significant overnight market-wide 
volatility. The Exchange believes that aligning the Auction Reference 
Price more closely with the anticipated opening price by using the 
midpoint of the Auction NBBO as the Auction Reference Price (or 
Official Closing Price of the prior Trading Day if no Auction NBBO) 
would reduce the potential for an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Action 
to be subject to an Auction Collar on all trading days, including when 
there is

[[Page 71971]]

significant overnight market-wide volatility. The Exchange further 
believes that this proposed rule change would reduce the potential 
number of securities that would open at a price that may not represent 
the current value of the security due to unfilled marketable auction 
interest, while still preserving investor protections by preventing 
significantly dislocated openings. This proposed rule change would 
therefore promote the fair and orderly operation of Exchange-
facilitated Core Open Auctions by allowing such securities to open at a 
price that is consistent with the buy and sell interest in the 
security, which would also allow more buy and sell interest to 
participate in such Auction.
    The Exchange notes that this proposed change is not novel and is 
based on how NYSE Arca and NYSE American determine the Auction 
Reference Price for their respective electronic Core Open Auctions. 
Accordingly, this proposed change would align how Auction Reference 
Prices are determined for electronic Exchange-facilitated Auctions 
across NYSE, NYSE Arca, and NYSE American.

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

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change would 
impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The proposed rule change is 
not designed to address any competitive issues but rather would make 
permanent the Exchange's temporary Commentaries .01-.03 to Rule 7.35C, 
which have been in effect for a temporary period while the Trading 
Floor is temporarily closed due to COVID-19. This proposed rule change 
is designed to provide the Exchange with additional tools for when it 
facilitates an Auction, including by allowing for an Exchange-
facilitated Trading Halt Auction following a MWCB Halt so that a 
security can be reopened before leading into the close, providing the 
DMMs with additional functionality to allow them to maintain price 
continuity with reasonable depth in their assigned securities following 
an Exchange-facilitated Auction, and aligning the Auction Reference 
Price for an Exchange-facilitated Core Open Auction with the Auction 
Reference Price used for NYSE Arca and NYSE American electronic Core 
Open Auctions. More specifically, the proposed rule change does not 
implicate any intramarket competition concerns because the only market 
participants on the Exchange with the obligation to facilitate Auctions 
are DMMs, and all DMMs would be subject to this rule change. The 
proposed rule change does not implicate any intermarket competition 
concerns because it relates to how the Exchange would facilitate 
Auctions in Exchange-listed securities.

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

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Within 45 days of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register, or such longer period up to 90 days (i) as the 
Commission may designate if it finds such longer period to be 
appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to 
which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission will:
    (A) By order approve or disapprove the proposed rule change, or
    (B) institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule 
change should be 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 [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-NYSE-2020-89 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-NYSE-2020-89. 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-NYSE-2020-89, and should be submitted on 
or before December 3, 2020.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \26\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\26\
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-24986 Filed 11-10-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


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