Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE American LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the NYSE American Equities Price List and Fee Schedule and the NYSE American Options Fee Schedule Related to Co-Location, 16417-16424 [2021-06349]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 58 / Monday, March 29, 2021 / Notices
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
NYSE–2021–15 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–2021–15. 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–2021–15 and should
be submitted on or before April 19,
2021.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.22
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–06344 Filed 3–26–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–91387; File No. SR–
NYSEAMER–2021–13]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
American LLC; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
Rule Change To Amend the NYSE
American Equities Price List and Fee
Schedule and the NYSE American
Options Fee Schedule Related to CoLocation
March 23, 2021.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3
notice is hereby given that on March 10,
2021, NYSE American LLC (‘‘NYSE
American’’ or ‘‘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 the
NYSE American Equities Price List and
Fee Schedule and the NYSE American
Options Fee Schedule (together, the
‘‘Price List and Fee Schedule’’) related
to co-location to (i) provide Users with
access to the systems, and connectivity
to the data feeds, of various additional
third parties; and (ii) remove obsolete
text. 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.
1 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
U.S.C. 78a.
3 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
2 15
22 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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16417
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend its
Price List and Fee Schedule related to
co-location to (i) provide Users with
access to the systems, and connectivity
to the data feeds, of various additional
third parties; and (ii) remove obsolete
text.
Proposal To Add Additional Third Party
Systems and Third Party Data Feeds
The Exchange proposes to amend the
co-location 4 services offered by the
Exchange to provide Users 5 with access
to the systems, and connectivity to the
data feeds, of various additional third
parties. The Exchange proposes to make
the corresponding amendments to the
Exchange’s Price List and Fee Schedule
related to these co-location services to
reflect these proposed changes.
As set forth in the Price List and Fee
Schedule, the Exchange charges fees for
connectivity to the execution systems of
third party markets and other content
service providers (‘‘Third Party
Systems’’), and data feeds from third
party markets and other content service
providers (‘‘Third Party Data Feeds’’).6
The lists of Third Party Systems and
Third Party Data Feeds are set forth in
the Price List and Fee Schedule.
The Exchange proposes to provide
access to the following additional Third
Party Systems: Long Term Stock
Exchange, Members Exchange, MIAX
Emerald, MIAX PEARL Equities,
4 The Exchange initially filed rule changes
relating to its co-location services with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) in 2010. See Securities Exchange
Act Release No. 62961 (September 21, 2010), 75 FR
59299 (September 27, 2010) (SR–NYSEAmex–2010–
80). The Exchange is an indirect subsidiary of
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (‘‘ICE’’).
5 For purposes of the Exchange’s co-location
services, a ‘‘User’’ means any market participant
that requests to receive co-location services directly
from the Exchange. See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 76009 (September 29, 2015), 80 FR
60213 (October 5, 2015) (SR–NYSEMKT–2015–67).
As specified in the Price List and Fee Schedule, a
User that incurs co-location fees for a particular colocation service pursuant thereto would not be
subject to co-location fees for the same co-location
service charged by the Exchange’s affiliates New
York Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc., NYSE
Chicago, Inc., and NYSE National, Inc. (together,
the ‘‘Affiliate SROs’’). See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 70176 (August 13, 2013), 78 FR 50471
(August 19, 2013) (SR–NYSEMKT–2013–67). Each
Affiliate SRO has submitted substantially the same
proposed rule change to propose the changes
described herein. See SR–NYSE–2021–15, SR–
NYSEArca-2021–15, SR–NYSECHX–2021–04, and
SR–NYSENAT–2021–05.
6 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 80309
(March 24, 2017), 82 FR 15725 (March 30, 2017)
(SR–NYSEMKT–2016–63).
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 58 / Monday, March 29, 2021 / Notices
Morgan Stanley, and TD Ameritrade
(the ‘‘Proposed Third Party Systems’’).
The Exchange also proposes to amend
the Price List and Fee Schedule to
change the name of the ‘‘Miami
International Securities Exchange’’
Third Party System to ‘‘MIAX Options,’’
to change the name of the ‘‘MIAX
PEARL’’ Third Party System to ‘‘MIAX
PEARL Options,’’ and to combine MIAX
Options, MIAX PEARL Options, MIAX
PEARL Equities, and MIAX Emerald as
a single Third Party System on its Price
List. The list of available Third Party
Systems in the Price List would be
amended as follows:
Third party systems
*
*
*
*
*
ITG TriAct Matchnow
Third party systems
Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE)
Members Exchange (MEMX)
[Miami International Securities Exchange]
MIAX Options, MIAX PEARL Options, MIAX
PEARL Equities, and MIAX Emerald
Morgan Stanley
Nasdaq
*
*
*
*
*
OTC Markets Group
TD Ameritrade
TMX Group
In addition, the Exchange proposes to
provide connectivity to data feeds from
Members Exchange (the ‘‘Proposed
MEMX Third Party Data Feed’’), MIAX
Emerald (the ‘‘Proposed MIAX Emerald
Third Party Data Feed’’), MIAX PEARL
Equities (the ‘‘Proposed MIAX PEARL
Equities Third Party Data Feed’’), and
ICE Data Services—ICE TMC 7 (the
‘‘Proposed ICE TMC Third Party Data
Feed’’) (collectively, the ‘‘Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds’’). The Exchange
also proposes to change the name of the
current ‘‘Miami International Securities
Exchange/MIAX PEARL’’ Third Party
Data Feed to ‘‘MIAX Options/MIAX
PEARL Options’’ on its Price List and
Fee Schedule. Further, the Exchange
proposes to delete the ‘‘NASDAQ
OMDF’’ data feed from the list, as it is
no longer offered by the content service
provider. Finally, the Exchange
proposes to change the name of the
current ‘‘SR Labs—SuperFeed’’ data
feeds to ‘‘Vela—SuperFeed,’’ to reflect
the content provider’s recent change to
the name of these products.
The list of available Third Party Data
Feeds in the Price List and Fee Schedule
would be amended as follows:
Monthly
recurring
connectivity
fee per third
party data
feed
Third party data feed
*
*
*
*
*
*
Global OTC ..........................................................................................................................................................................................
[ICE Data Global Index *] .....................................................................................................................................................................
ICE Data Services Consolidated Feed ≤100 Mb ................................................................................................................................
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
ICE Data Services Consolidated Feed Shared Farm >1 Gb ..............................................................................................................
ICE Data Services—ICE TMC .............................................................................................................................................................
ICE Data Services PRD ......................................................................................................................................................................
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
ITG TriAct Matchnow ...........................................................................................................................................................................
Members Exchange (MEMX) ..............................................................................................................................................................
MIAX Emerald ......................................................................................................................................................................................
[Miami International Securities Exchange]MIAX Options/MIAX PEARL Options ................................................................................
MIAX PEARL Equities .........................................................................................................................................................................
Montre´al Exchange (MX) .....................................................................................................................................................................
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
NASDAQ OMX Global Index Data Service .........................................................................................................................................
[NASDAQ OMDF] ................................................................................................................................................................................
NASDAQ UQDF & UTDF ....................................................................................................................................................................
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
OTC Markets Group ............................................................................................................................................................................
Vela[SR Labs]—SuperFeed <500 Mb .................................................................................................................................................
Vela[SR Labs]—SuperFeed >500 Mb to <1.25 Gb ............................................................................................................................
Vela[SR Labs]—SuperFeed >1.25 Gb ................................................................................................................................................
TMX Group ..........................................................................................................................................................................................
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
$100
[100]
200
1,000
200
200
1,000
3,000
3,500
2,000
2,500
1,000
100
[100]
500
1,000
250
800
1,000
2,500
*
The Exchange would provide access
to the Proposed Third Party Systems
(‘‘Access’’) and connectivity to the
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds
(‘‘Connectivity’’) as conveniences to
Users. Use of Access or Connectivity
would be completely voluntary.
The Exchange does not have visibility
into whether third parties currently
offer, or intend to offer, Users access to
the Proposed Third Party Systems and
connectivity to the Proposed Third
Party Data Feeds, as such third parties
are not required to make that
information public. However, the
7 The Proposed ICE TMC Third Party Data Feed
is generated by ICE Bonds, an indirect subsidiary
of ICE, and includes market data for the ICE TMC
alternative trading system. It does not include
market data of the Exchange or Affiliate SROs.
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 58 / Monday, March 29, 2021 / Notices
market for access to Third Party Systems
and connectivity to Third Party Data
Feeds is competitive. The Exchange
competes with other providers—
including other colocation providers
and market data vendors—that offer
access to Third Party Systems and
connectivity to Third Party Data Feeds.
The Exchange is not aware of any
impediment to such third parties
offering access to the Proposed Third
Party Systems or connectivity to the
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds.
If one or more third parties presently
offer, or in the future opt to offer, such
Access and Connectivity to Users, a
User may utilize the ICE Data Services
(‘‘IDS’’) network, a third party
telecommunication network, a cross
connect, or a combination thereof to
access such services and products
through a connection to an access center
outside the data center (which could be
an IDS access center, a third-party
access center, or both), another User, or
a third party vendor.
Access to the Proposed Third Party
Systems
The Exchange proposes to revise the
Price List and Fee Schedule to provide
that Users may obtain connectivity to
the Proposed Third Party Systems for a
fee. As with the current Third Party
Systems, Users would connect to the
Proposed Third Party Systems over the
internet protocol (‘‘IP’’) network, a local
area network available in the data
center.8
As with the current Third Party
Systems, in order to obtain access to a
Proposed Third Party System, the User
would enter into an agreement with the
relevant Proposed Third Party, pursuant
to which the third party content service
provider would charge the User for
access to the Proposed Third Party
System. The Exchange would then
establish a unicast connection between
the User and the Proposed Third Party
System over the IP network.9 The
Exchange would charge the User for the
connectivity to the Proposed Third
Party System. A User would only
receive, and would only be charged for,
access to the Proposed Third Party
System for which it enters into
8 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 74220
(February 6, 2015), 80 FR 7894 (February 12, 2015)
(SR–NYSEMKT–2015–08) (notice of filing and
immediate effectiveness of proposed rule change to
include IP network connections).
9 Information flows over existing network
connections in two formats: ‘‘unicast’’ format,
which is a format that allows one-to-one
communication, similar to a phone line, in which
information is sent to and from the Exchange; and
‘‘multicast’’ format, which is a format in which
information is sent one-way from the Exchange to
multiple recipients at once, like a radio broadcast.
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agreements with the third party content
service provider.
The Exchange has no affiliation with
the providers of any of the Proposed
Third Party Systems. Establishing a
User’s access to a Proposed Third Party
System would not give the Exchange
any right to use the Proposed Third
Party System. Connectivity to a
Proposed Third Party System would not
provide access or order entry to the
Exchange’s execution system, and a
User’s connection to a Proposed Third
Party System would not be through the
Exchange’s execution system.
16419
right to use those feeds other than as a
redistributor of the data. Similarly,
although the Exchange and ICE Bonds—
the generator of the Proposed ICE TMC
Third Party Data Feed—are both
indirect subsidiaries of ICE, the
Exchange would have no right to use the
Proposed ICE TMC Third Party Data
Feed other than as a redistributor of the
data. None of the Proposed Third Party
Data Feeds would provide access or
order entry to the Exchange’s execution
system. The Proposed Third Party Data
Feeds would not provide access or order
entry to the execution systems of the
third parties generating the feeds. The
Exchange would receive the Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds via arms-length
agreements and would have no inherent
advantage over any other distributor of
such data.
Connectivity to the Proposed Third
Party Data Feeds
The Exchange proposes to revise the
Price List and Fee Schedule to provide
that Users may obtain connectivity to
the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds for
a fee. As with the existing connections
to Third Party Data Feeds, the Exchange
would receive a Proposed Third Party
Data Feed from the content service
provider at the data center. The
Exchange would then provide
connectivity to that data to Users for a
fee. Users would connect to the
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds over
the IP network.10 The Proposed Third
Party Data Feeds would include trading
information concerning the securities
that are traded on the relevant Proposed
Third Party Systems.
As with the existing connections to
Third Party Data Feeds, in order to
connect to a Proposed Third Party Data
Feed, a User would enter into a contract
with the content service provider,
pursuant to which the content service
provider may charge the User for the
data feed. The Exchange would receive
the Proposed Third Party Data Feed over
its fiber optic network and, after the
content service provider and User
entered into an agreement and the
Exchange received authorization from
the content service provider, the
Exchange would retransmit the data to
the User over the User’s port. The
Exchange would charge the User for
connectivity to the Proposed Third
Party Data Feed. A User would only
receive, and would only be charged the
fee for, connectivity to a Proposed Third
Party Data Feed for which it entered
into a contract.
The Exchange has no affiliation with
the sellers of the Proposed MEMX Third
Party Data Feed, the Proposed MIAX
Emerald Third Party Data Feed, or the
Proposed MIAX PEARL Equities Third
Party Data Feed, and would have no
Proposal To Remove References to ICE
Data Global Index
The Exchange proposes to remove
obsolete references to the ICE Data
Global Index (the ‘‘GIF’’) from the list of
Third Party Data Feeds available for
connectivity and related text.
In May 2020, ICE, which publishes
the GIF, announced to its customers that
before the end of 2020, it would cease
offering the GIF as a stand-alone
product. The Exchange accordingly
amended its Price List and Fee Schedule
to inform customers that it would cease
offering connectivity to the GIF once it
is no longer available.11
ICE has now informed the Exchange
that it ceased offering the GIF as a standalone product, making the references to
the GIF obsolete. The operative date was
announced through a customer notice.
Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to
remove ‘‘ICE Data Global Index*’’ and
the corresponding asterisked note from
the Price List and Fee Schedule.
In order to implement the proposed
change, the Exchange proposes to make
the following changes to the section of
the Price List and Fee Schedule entitled
‘‘Connectivity to Third Party Data
Feeds’’:
• In the first paragraph and in the
table of Third Party Data Feeds, delete
‘‘ICE Data Global Index*’’.
• Following the table of Third Party
Data Feeds, delete the following text:
* ICE will cease to offer the GIF as a
stand-alone product, which the
Exchange has been informed by ICE is
currently expected to occur before the
end of 2020. The Exchange will
announce the operative date through a
10 See supra note 8 at 7894 (‘‘The IP network also
provides Users with access to away market data
products’’).
11 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88979
(June 1, 2020), 85 FR 34663 (June 5, 2020) (SR–
NYSEAMER–2020–40).
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Proposal To Remove Obsolete Text
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 58 / Monday, March 29, 2021 / Notices
customer notice. Any change fees that a
User would otherwise incur as a result
of the proposed change will be waived.
Proposal To Remove the Temporary
Waiver of Hot Hands Fees
The Exchange proposes to remove the
obsolete reference to the waiver of Hot
Hands fees in light of the reopening of
the Mahwah, New Jersey data center.
In March 2020, ICE announced to
each User that, starting on March 16,
2020, the Mahwah, New Jersey data
center would be closed to third parties
in response to COVID–19. The Exchange
temporarily waived all Hot Hands fees
from the date of the closing through the
date of the reopening of the data center,
and added a note to the fees for the Hot
Hands service stating as much.12
The Mahwah, New Jersey data center
reopened on October 1, 2020. The date
of the reopening was announced
through a customer notice. As a result
of the reopening, the waiver of Hot
Hands fees ceased, and the note became
obsolete. The Exchange now proposes to
remove the obsolete text.
In order to implement this proposed
change, the Exchange proposes to make
the following changes to the Price List
and Fee Schedule:
• In the Types of Service table,
remove the ‘‘†’’ symbol after ‘‘Hot
Hands Service ***’’.
• Following the Types of Service
table, remove the following text:
† Fees for Hot Hands Services will be
waived beginning on March 16, 2020
through the reopening of the Mahwah,
New Jersey data center. The date of the
reopening will be announced through a
customer notice.
Application and Impact of the Proposed
Changes
The proposed changes would not
apply differently to distinct types or
sizes of market participants. Rather,
they would apply to all Users equally.
As is currently the case, the purchase of
any colocation service is completely
voluntary and the Price List and Fee
Schedule is applied uniformly to all
Users.
As with the existing connections to
Third Party Systems, the Exchange
proposes to charge a monthly recurring
12 The Exchange first waived the Hot Hands Fee
in a March 17, 2020 filing, and subsequently
extended the waiver four times. See Securities
Exchange Act Release Nos. 88403 (March 17, 2020),
85 FR 16400 (March 23, 2020) (SR–NYSEAMER–
2020–19); 88523 (March 31, 2020), 85 FR 19179
(April 6, 2020) (SR–NYSEAMER–2020–23); 88956
(May 27, 2020), 85 FR 33760 (June 2, 2020) (SR–
NYSEAMER–2020–39); 89173 (June 29, 2020), 85
FR 40352 (July 6, 2020) (SR–NYSEAMER–2020–46);
and 89651 (August 25, 2020), 85 FR 53896 (August
31, 2020) (SR–NYSEAMER–2020–63).
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fee for connectivity to the Proposed
Third Party Systems. Specifically, when
a User requests access to a Proposed
Third Party System, it would identify
the applicable content service provider
and what bandwidth connection is
required. The Exchange proposes to
modify its Price List and Fee Schedule
to add the Proposed Third Party
Systems to its existing list of Third Party
Systems. The Exchange does not
propose to change the monthly
recurring fee the Exchange charges
Users for unicast connectivity to each
Third Party System, including the
Proposed Third Party Systems.
As it does with the existing Third
Party Data Feeds, the Exchange
proposes to charge a monthly recurring
fee for connectivity to the Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds. Depending on
its needs and bandwidth, a User may
opt to receive all or some of the feeds
or services included in the Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds. The Exchange
proposes to add the following fees for
connectivity to the Proposed Third
Party Data Feeds to its existing list in
the Price List and Fee Schedule: (i) $200
per month for ICE Data Services—ICE
TMC; (ii) $3,000 per month for Members
Exchange; (iii) $3,500 per month for
MIAX Emerald, and (iv) $2,500 per
month for MIAX PEARL Equities.
Under this proposal, obsolete
references to connectivity to the GIF
data feed and the temporary waiver of
Hot Hands fees would be removed for
all Users.
Competitive Environment
The Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market in which exchanges
and other vendors (e.g., Hosting Users)
offer co-location services as a means to
facilitate the trading and other market
activities of those market participants
who believe that co-location enhances
the efficiency of their operations. The
Commission has repeatedly expressed
its preference for competition over
regulatory intervention in determining
prices, products, and services in the
securities markets. Specifically, in
Regulation NMS, the Commission
highlighted the importance of market
forces in determining prices and SRO
revenues and, also, recognized that
current regulation of the market system
‘‘has been remarkably successful in
promoting market competition in its
broader forms that are most important to
investors and listed companies.’’ 13
The proposed changes are not
otherwise intended to address any other
issues relating to co-location services
and/or related fees, and the Exchange is
not aware of any problems that Users
would have in complying with the
proposed change.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change is consistent with
Section 6(b) of the Act,14 in general, and
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5)
of the Act,15 in particular, because 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
regulating, clearing, settling, processing
information with respect to, and
facilitating transactions in securities, to
remove impediments to and perfect the
mechanism of a free and open market
and a national market system, and, in
general, to protect investors and the
public interest and because it is not
designed to permit unfair
discrimination between customers,
issuers, brokers, or dealers. The
Exchange further believes that the
proposed rule change is consistent with
Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,16 because it
provides for the equitable allocation of
reasonable dues, fees, and other charges
among its members and issuers and
other persons using its facilities.
The Proposed Rule Change Is
Reasonable
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change is reasonable and
would perfect the mechanisms of a free
and open market and a national market
system and, in general, protect investors
and the public interest, for the following
reasons.
The Exchange believes that the
proposed change to Access and
Connectivity is reasonable and would
remove impediments to, and perfect the
mechanisms of, a free and open market
and a national market system and, in
general, protect investors and the public
interest because by offering additional
services, the Exchange would give each
User additional options for addressing
its access and connectivity needs,
responding to User demand for access
and connectivity options. Providing
additional services would help each
User tailor its data center operations to
the requirements of its business
operations by allowing it to select the
form and latency of access and
connectivity that best suits its needs. In
addition, the Exchange believes that the
proposed change is reasonable because
14 15
13 See
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808
(June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005).
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U.S.C. 78f(b).
U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
16 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
15 15
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by offering Access and Connectivity to
Users when available, the Exchange
would give Users additional options for
connectivity and access to new services
as soon as they are available, responding
to User demand for access and
connectivity options.
The Exchange would provide Access
and Connectivity as conveniences to
Users. Use of Access or Connectivity
would be completely voluntary. The
Exchange is not aware of any
impediment to third parties offering
Access or Connectivity. The Exchange
does not have visibility into whether
third parties currently offer, or intend to
offer, Users access to the Proposed
Third Party Systems and connectivity to
the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds.
However, if one or more third parties
presently offer, or in the future opt to
offer, such access and connectivity to
Users, a User may utilize the IDS
network, a third party
telecommunication network, a cross
connect, or a combination thereof to
access such services and products
through a connection to an access center
outside the data center (which could be
an IDS access center, a third-party
access center, or both), another User, or
a third party vendor.
The Exchange also believes that the
proposed rule change to Access and
Connectivity is reasonable because the
Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market in which exchanges
offer co-location services as a means to
facilitate the trading and other market
activities of those market participants
who believe that co-location enhances
the efficiency of their operations.
Accordingly, fees charged for colocation services are constrained by the
active competition for the order flow of,
and other business from, such market
participants. If a particular exchange
charges excessive fees for co-location
services, affected market participants
will opt to terminate their co-location
arrangements with that exchange and
adopt a possible range of alternative
strategies, including placing their
servers in a physically proximate
location outside the exchange’s data
center (which could be a competing
exchange), or pursuing strategies less
dependent upon the lower exchange-toparticipant latency associated with colocation. For these reasons, an exchange
charging excessive fees would stand to
lose not only co-location revenues but
also the liquidity of the formerly colocated trading firms, which could have
additional follow-on effects on the
market share and revenue of the affected
exchange.
The Exchange also believes that the
proposed rule change to Access and
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Connectivity is reasonable because the
market for access to Third Party Systems
and connectivity to Third Party Data
Feeds is competitive. The Exchange
competes with other providers—
including other colocation providers
and market data vendors—that offer
access to Third Party Systems and
connectivity to Third Party Data Feeds.
Although the Exchange does not have
complete visibility into whether third
parties currently offer, or intend to offer,
Users access to the Proposed Third
Party Systems and connectivity to the
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds (as
such third parties are not required to
make that information public), the
Exchange understands that at least one
other vendor is currently offering the
Proposed MIAX Third Party Data Feeds.
As such, the Exchange is not aware of
any impediment to such third parties
offering substitutes to such Access and
Connectivity. If the Exchange were to
propose to charge supra-competitive
fees for access to any of the Proposed
Third Party Systems or connectivity to
any of the Proposed Third Party Data
Feeds, the Exchange’s competitors
would respond by offering such access
and connectivity at lower rates, and
market participants would respond by
substituting the Exchange’s offerings
with more competitively-priced access
and connectivity options available from
other providers. As such, competition
and the availability of substitutes is a
check on the Exchange’s ability to
charge unreasonable fees for Access and
Connectivity.
The Exchange further believes that the
proposed change to Access and
Connectivity is reasonable because in
order to offer the Access and
Connectivity as conveniences to Users,
the Exchange must provide, maintain,
and operate the data center facility
hardware and technology infrastructure.
The Exchange must handle the
installation, administration, monitoring,
support, and maintenance of such
services, including by responding to any
production issues. Since the inception
of co-location, the Exchange has made
numerous improvements to the network
hardware and technology infrastructure
and has established additional
administrative controls. The Exchange
has expanded the network infrastructure
to keep pace with the increased number
of services available to Users, including
resilient and redundant feeds.
In addition, in order to provide
Access and Connectivity, the Exchange
would establish and maintain multiple
connections to each Proposed Third
Party System and Proposed Third Party
Data Feed, allowing the Exchange to
provide resilient and redundant
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
16421
connections; adapt to any changes made
by the relevant third party; and cover
any applicable fees charged by the
relevant third party, such as port fees.
For example, the Exchange already
offers several Third Party Data Feeds
supplied by ICE Data Services, such that
the Exchange could add the Proposed
ICE TMC Third Party Data Feed over
this established connection with less
effort. In contrast, in order to offer
connectivity to the Proposed MEMX
Third Party Data Feed, the Proposed
MIAX Emerald Third Party Data Feed,
and the Proposed MIAX PEARL Equities
Data Feed, the Exchange must establish
and maintain connections to those
exchanges, which requires significantly
more effort. As such, it is reasonable for
the Exchange to offer connectivity to the
Proposed ICE TMC Third Party Data
Feed at a lower fee than it proposes to
charge for connectivity to the Proposed
MEMX Third Party Data Feed, the
Proposed MIAX Emerald Third Party
Data Feed, and the Proposed MIAX
PEARL Equities Third Party Data Feed.
Further, the different fees that the
Exchange proposes for the Proposed
MIAX Emerald Third Party Data Feed
and the Proposed MIAX PEARL Equities
Third Party Data Feed are reflective of
the fact that MIAX charges separate fees
to the Exchange to become a distributor
of each of its data feed products, and
that these distribution fees that the
Exchange must pay to MIAX are higher
for the Proposed MIAX Emerald Third
Party Data Feed than for the Proposed
MIAX PEARL Equities Third Party Data
Feed.
As such, the Exchange believes the
proposed fees for Access and
Connectivity are reasonable because
they would allow the Exchange to
defray or cover the costs associated with
offering Users Access and Connectivity
while providing Users the convenience
of receiving such Access and
Connectivity within co-location, helping
them to tailor their data center
operations to the requirements of their
business operations.
The Exchange believes that removing
obsolete text from the Price List and Fee
Schedule would perfect the mechanisms
of a free and open market and a national
market system and, in general, protect
investors and the public interest.
Because the GIF is no longer available
as a stand-alone data feed, the
references to the GIF and its associated
fee in the Price List and Fee Schedule
are obsolete. Similarly, because the
Mahwah, New Jersey data center has
reopened, the note to the Hot Hands
service has become obsolete. In both
cases, removing the obsolete text would
enhance the clarity and transparency of
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the Price List and Fee Schedule and
reduce potential customer confusion.
The Proposed Rule Change Is Equitable
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change provides for the
equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees, and other charges among its
members, issuers, and other persons
using its facilities, for the following
reasons.
First, the proposed fees for Access
and Connectivity would not apply
differently to different types or sizes of
market participants. Rather, the
proposed fees would apply equally to
any User that opts to access the
Proposed Third Party Systems or
connect to the Proposed Third Party
Data Feeds, irrespective of that User’s
size or the type of market participant it
is.
Second, under the proposed rule
change, only Users that choose to
connect to the Proposed Third Party
Systems and Proposed Third Party Data
Feeds would be charged the proposed
fees for Access and Connectivity. Users
who opt not to use the Access or
Connectivity would not be charged. In
this way, the proposed rule change
equitably allocates the proposed fees
only to Users who choose to use the
Proposed Third Party Systems and
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds.
In addition, as noted above, the
Exchange would provide Access and
Connectivity as conveniences to Users.
Use of Access or Connectivity would be
completely voluntary. By offering
additional services, the Exchange would
give each User additional options for
addressing its access and connectivity
needs, responding to User demand for
access and connectivity options.
Providing additional services would
help each User tailor its data center
operations to the requirements of its
business operations by allowing it to
select the form and latency of access
and connectivity that best suits its
needs. A User that does not wish to use
the Access or Connectivity offered by
the Exchange is not required to do so.
The Exchange is not aware of any
impediment to third parties offering
Access or Connectivity. The Exchange
does not have visibility into whether
third parties currently offer, or intend to
offer, Users access to the Proposed
Third Party Systems and connectivity to
the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds, as
third parties are not required to make
that information public. However, if one
or more third parties presently offer, or
in the future opt to offer, such access
and connectivity to Users, a User may
utilize the IDS network, a third party
telecommunication network, a cross
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17:20 Mar 26, 2021
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connect, or a combination thereof to
access such services and products
through a connection to an access center
outside the data center (which could be
an IDS access center, a third-party
access center, or both), another User, or
a third party vendor.
The Exchange believes that removing
obsolete text from the Price List and Fee
Schedule would perfect the mechanisms
of a free and open market and a national
market system and, in general, protect
investors and the public interest.
Because the GIF is no longer available
as a stand-alone data feed, the
references to the GIF and its associated
fee in the Price List and Fee Schedule
are obsolete. Similarly, because the
Mahwah data center has reopened, the
note to the Hot Hands service has
become obsolete. The changes would
have no impact on pricing. Rather, they
would remove obsolete text, thereby
clarifying the Exchange rules and
alleviating possible market participant
confusion.
The Proposed Change Is Not Unfairly
Discriminatory
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change does not permit
unfair discrimination between
customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers,
for the following reasons.
First, the proposed Access and
Connectivity are available on equal
terms to all Users. Users that opt to use
the proposed Access or Connectivity
would not receive access or connectivity
that is not available to all Users, as all
market participants that contract with
the content provider may receive access
or connectivity.
Second, the proposed fees for Access
and Connectivity would not apply
differently to different types or sizes of
market participants. Rather, the
proposed fees would apply equally to
any User that opts to access the
Proposed Third Party Systems or
connect to the Proposed Third Party
Data Feeds, and would not unfairly
discriminate against any User based on
the User’s size or the type of market
participant it is.
Third, the proposed rule change does
not permit unfair discrimination
between market participants because
only Users that choose to connect to the
Proposed Third Party Systems and
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds would
be charged the proposed fees for access
and connectivity. Users who opt not to
use the Access or Connectivity will not
be charged.
In addition, as noted above, the
Exchange would provide Access and
Connectivity as conveniences to Users.
Use of Access or Connectivity would be
PO 00000
Frm 00103
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
completely voluntary. By offering
additional services, the Exchange would
give each User additional options for
addressing its access and connectivity
needs, responding to User demand for
access and connectivity options.
Providing additional services would
help each User tailor its data center
operations to the requirements of its
business operations by allowing it to
select the form and latency of access
and connectivity that best suits its
needs. A User that does not wish to use
the Access or Connectivity offered by
the Exchange is not required to do so.
The Exchange is not aware of any
impediment to third parties offering
Access or Connectivity. The Exchange
does not have visibility into whether
third parties currently offer, or intend to
offer, Users access to the Proposed
Third Party Systems and connectivity to
the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds, as
third parties are not required to make
that information public. However, if one
or more third parties presently offer, or
in the future opt to offer, such access
and connectivity to Users, a User may
utilize the IDS network, a third party
telecommunication network, a cross
connect, or a combination thereof to
access such services and products
through a connection to an access center
outside the data center (which could be
an IDS access center, a third-party
access center, or both), another User, or
a third party vendor.
The Exchange believes that removing
obsolete text from the Price List and Fee
Schedule would not permit unfair
discrimination between customers,
issuers, brokers, or dealers. Because the
GIF is no longer available as a standalone data feed, the references to the
GIF and its associated fee in the Price
List and Fee Schedule are obsolete.
Similarly, because the Mahwah data
center has reopened, the note to the Hot
Hands service has become obsolete. The
changes would have no impact on
pricing. Rather, they would remove
obsolete text, thereby clarifying the
Exchange rules and alleviating possible
market participant confusion.
For the reasons above, the proposed
changes do not unfairly discriminate
between or among market participants
that are otherwise capable of satisfying
any applicable co-location fees,
requirements, terms and conditions
established from time to time by the
Exchange.
*
*
*
*
*
For all these reasons, the Exchange
believes that the proposal is consistent
with the Act.
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of
the Act,17 the Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change will not impose
any burden on competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act.
Intramarket Competition
The Exchange believes that the
proposed changes would not place any
burden on intramarket competition that
is not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act,
for the following reasons.
The proposed change to Access and
Connectivity would give each User
additional options for addressing its
access and connectivity needs,
responding to User demand for access
and connectivity options. Providing
additional services would help each
User tailor its data center operations to
the requirements of its business
operations by allowing it to select the
form and latency of access and
connectivity that best suits its needs.
The Exchange believes that providing
Users with these additional options for
access and connectivity to new services
would not impose any burden on
intramarket competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act, and would
in fact enhance intramarket
competition, by giving Users additional
access and connectivity options through
which they may differentiate their
business operations from each other.
The Exchange does not have visibility
into whether third parties currently
offer, or intend to offer, Users access to
the Proposed Third Party Systems and
connectivity to the Proposed Third
Party Data Feeds, as third parties are not
required to make that information
public. However, if one or more third
parties presently offer, or in the future
opt to offer, such access and
connectivity to Users, a User may utilize
the IDS network, a third party
telecommunication network, a cross
connect, or a combination thereof to
access such services and products
through a connection to an access center
outside the data center (which could be
an IDS access center, a third-party
access center, or both), another User, or
a third party vendor.
In this way, the proposed changes
would enhance intramarket competition
by helping Users tailor their Access and
Connectivity to the needs of their
business operations by allowing them to
select the form and latency of access
17 15
U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
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17:20 Mar 26, 2021
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and connectivity that best suits their
needs.
The Exchange further believes that
removing the GIF and its associated fee
from the list of Third Party Data Feeds
available for connectivity in the Price
List and Fee Schedule and removing the
note regarding the temporary waiver of
the Hot Hands fee would not permit
unfair discrimination between
customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers
would not place any burden on
intramarket competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act. The
proposed changes are not designed to
address any competitive issue, but
rather to remove obsolete text, thereby
clarifying Exchange rules and
alleviating any possible market
participant confusion. The removal of
the obsolete text would not put any
market participants at a relative
disadvantage compared to other market
participants, or penalize one or more
categories of market participants in a
manner that would impose an undue
burden on competition.
Intermarket Competition
The Exchange believes that the
proposed changes will not impose any
burden on intermarket competition that
is not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act,
for the following reasons.
The Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market in which exchanges
and other vendors (i.e., Hosting Users)
offer co-location services as a means to
facilitate the trading and other market
activities of those market participants
who believe that co-location enhances
the efficiency of their operations.
Accordingly, fees charged for colocation services are constrained by the
active competition for the order flow of,
and other business from, such market
participants. If a particular exchange
charges excessive fees for co-location
services, affected market participants
will opt to terminate their co-location
arrangements with that exchange, and
adopt a possible range of alternative
strategies, including placing their
servers in a physically proximate
location outside the exchange’s data
center (which could be a competing
exchange), or pursuing strategies less
dependent upon the lower exchange-toparticipant latency associated with colocation. Accordingly, an exchange
charging excessive fees would stand to
lose not only co-location revenues but
also the liquidity of the formerly colocated trading firms, which could have
additional follow-on effects on the
market share and revenue of the affected
exchange.
PO 00000
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16423
For these reasons, the Exchange
believes that the proposed rule change
reflects this competitive environment
and does not impose any undue burden
on intermarket competition.
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
The Exchange has filed the proposed
rule change pursuant to Section
19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 18 and Rule
19b–4(f)(6) thereunder.19 Because the
proposed rule change does not: (i)
Significantly affect the protection of
investors or the public interest; (ii)
impose any significant burden on
competition; and (iii) become operative
prior to 30 days from the date on which
it was filed, or such shorter time as the
Commission may designate, if
consistent with the protection of
investors and the public interest, the
proposed rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)
of the Act and Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii)
thereunder.20
At any time within 60 days of the
filing of such proposed rule change, the
Commission summarily may
temporarily suspend such rule change if
it appears to the Commission that such
action is necessary or appropriate in the
public interest, for the protection of
investors, or otherwise in furtherance of
the purposes of the Act. If the
Commission takes such action, the
Commission shall institute proceedings
under Section 19(b)(2)(B) 21 of the Act to
determine whether the proposed rule
change should be approved or
disapproved.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
18 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6).
20 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b–
4(f)(6) requires the Exchange to give the
Commission written notice of its intent to file the
proposed rule change, along with a brief description
and text of the proposed rule change, at least five
business days prior to the date of filing of the
proposed rule change, or such shorter time as
designated by the Commission. The Exchange has
satisfied this requirement.
21 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
19 17
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 58 / Monday, March 29, 2021 / Notices
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
NYSEAMER–2021–13 on the subject
line.
Paper Comments
[Release No. 34–91390; File No. SR–
NYSECHX–2021–04]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
Chicago, Inc.; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
Rule Change To Amend Its Fee
Schedule Related to Co-Location
March 23, 2021.
• 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–NYSEAMER–2021–13. 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–NYSEAMER–2021–13 and
should be submitted on or before April
19, 2021.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.22
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3
notice is hereby given that, on March
10, 2021, the NYSE Chicago, Inc.
(‘‘NYSE Chicago’’ or ‘‘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 its
Fee Schedule (the ‘‘Fee Schedule’’)
related to co-location to (i) provide
Users with access to the systems, and
connectivity to the data feeds, of various
additional third parties; and (ii) remove
obsolete text. 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.
[FR Doc. 2021–06349 Filed 3–26–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
1 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
U.S.C. 78a.
3 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
2 15
22 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend its
Fee Schedule related to co-location to (i)
provide Users with access to the
systems, and connectivity to the data
feeds, of various additional third
parties; and (ii) remove obsolete text.
Proposal To Add Additional Third Party
Systems and Third Party Data Feeds
The Exchange proposes to amend the
co-location 4 services offered by the
Exchange to provide Users 5 with access
to the systems, and connectivity to the
data feeds, of various additional third
parties. The Exchange proposes to make
the corresponding amendments to the
Exchange’s Fee Schedule related to
these co-location services to reflect
these proposed changes.
As set forth in the Fee Schedule, the
Exchange charges fees for connectivity
to the execution systems of third party
markets and other content service
providers (‘‘Third Party Systems’’), and
data feeds from third party markets and
other content service providers (‘‘Third
Party Data Feeds’’).6 The lists of Third
Party Systems and Third Party Data
Feeds are set forth in the Fee Schedule.
The Exchange proposes to provide
access to the following additional Third
Party Systems: Long Term Stock
Exchange, Members Exchange, MIAX
Emerald, MIAX PEARL Equities,
Morgan Stanley, and TD Ameritrade
(the ‘‘Proposed Third Party Systems’’).
The Exchange also proposes to amend
the Fee Schedule to change the name of
the ‘‘Miami International Securities
4 The Exchange initially filed rule changes
relating to its co-location services with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) in 2019. See Securities Exchange
Act Release No. 87408 (October 28, 2019), 84 FR
58778 (November 1, 2019) (SR–NYSECHX–2019–
12) (‘‘NYSE Chicago Co-location Notice’’). The
Exchange is an indirect subsidiary of
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (‘‘ICE’’).
5 For purposes of the Exchange’s co-location
services, a ‘‘User’’ means any market participant
that requests to receive co-location services directly
from the Exchange. See id., supra note 4, at 58778
n.6. As specified in the Fee Schedule, a User that
incurs co-location fees for a particular co-location
service pursuant thereto would not be subject to colocation fees for the same co-location service
charged by the Exchange’s affiliates New York
Stock Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’), NYSE American
LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc., and NYSE National, Inc.
(together, the ‘‘Affiliate SROs’’). See id. at 58779.
Each Affiliate SRO has submitted substantially the
same proposed rule change to propose the changes
described herein. See SR–NYSE–2021–15, SR–
NYSEAMER–2021–13, SR–NYSEArca–2021–15,
and SR–NYSENAT–2021–05.
6 See NYSE Chicago Co-location Notice, supra
note 4, at 58786–87.
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 58 (Monday, March 29, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16417-16424]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-06349]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-91387; File No. SR-NYSEAMER-2021-13]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE American LLC; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the
NYSE American Equities Price List and Fee Schedule and the NYSE
American Options Fee Schedule Related to Co-Location
March 23, 2021.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby given
that on March 10, 2021, NYSE American LLC (``NYSE American'' or
``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\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
\3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to amend the NYSE American Equities Price
List and Fee Schedule and the NYSE American Options Fee Schedule
(together, the ``Price List and Fee Schedule'') related to co-location
to (i) provide Users with access to the systems, and connectivity to
the data feeds, of various additional third parties; and (ii) remove
obsolete text. 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 the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend its Price List and Fee Schedule
related to co-location to (i) provide Users with access to the systems,
and connectivity to the data feeds, of various additional third
parties; and (ii) remove obsolete text.
Proposal To Add Additional Third Party Systems and Third Party Data
Feeds
The Exchange proposes to amend the co-location \4\ services offered
by the Exchange to provide Users \5\ with access to the systems, and
connectivity to the data feeds, of various additional third parties.
The Exchange proposes to make the corresponding amendments to the
Exchange's Price List and Fee Schedule related to these co-location
services to reflect these proposed changes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The Exchange initially filed rule changes relating to its
co-location services with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``Commission'') in 2010. See Securities Exchange Act Release No.
62961 (September 21, 2010), 75 FR 59299 (September 27, 2010) (SR-
NYSEAmex-2010-80). The Exchange is an indirect subsidiary of
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (``ICE'').
\5\ For purposes of the Exchange's co-location services, a
``User'' means any market participant that requests to receive co-
location services directly from the Exchange. See Securities
Exchange Act Release No. 76009 (September 29, 2015), 80 FR 60213
(October 5, 2015) (SR-NYSEMKT-2015-67). As specified in the Price
List and Fee Schedule, a User that incurs co-location fees for a
particular co-location service pursuant thereto would not be subject
to co-location fees for the same co-location service charged by the
Exchange's affiliates New York Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc.,
NYSE Chicago, Inc., and NYSE National, Inc. (together, the
``Affiliate SROs''). See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70176
(August 13, 2013), 78 FR 50471 (August 19, 2013) (SR-NYSEMKT-2013-
67). Each Affiliate SRO has submitted substantially the same
proposed rule change to propose the changes described herein. See
SR-NYSE-2021-15, SR-NYSEArca-2021-15, SR-NYSECHX-2021-04, and SR-
NYSENAT-2021-05.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As set forth in the Price List and Fee Schedule, the Exchange
charges fees for connectivity to the execution systems of third party
markets and other content service providers (``Third Party Systems''),
and data feeds from third party markets and other content service
providers (``Third Party Data Feeds'').\6\ The lists of Third Party
Systems and Third Party Data Feeds are set forth in the Price List and
Fee Schedule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 80309 (March 24,
2017), 82 FR 15725 (March 30, 2017) (SR-NYSEMKT-2016-63).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange proposes to provide access to the following additional
Third Party Systems: Long Term Stock Exchange, Members Exchange, MIAX
Emerald, MIAX PEARL Equities,
[[Page 16418]]
Morgan Stanley, and TD Ameritrade (the ``Proposed Third Party
Systems''). The Exchange also proposes to amend the Price List and Fee
Schedule to change the name of the ``Miami International Securities
Exchange'' Third Party System to ``MIAX Options,'' to change the name
of the ``MIAX PEARL'' Third Party System to ``MIAX PEARL Options,'' and
to combine MIAX Options, MIAX PEARL Options, MIAX PEARL Equities, and
MIAX Emerald as a single Third Party System on its Price List. The list
of available Third Party Systems in the Price List would be amended as
follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Third party systems
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
ITG TriAct Matchnow
Long Term Stock Exchange (LTSE)
Members Exchange (MEMX)
[Miami International Securities Exchange]
MIAX Options, MIAX PEARL Options, MIAX PEARL Equities, and MIAX Emerald
Morgan Stanley
Nasdaq
* * * * *
OTC Markets Group
TD Ameritrade
TMX Group
------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, the Exchange proposes to provide connectivity to data
feeds from Members Exchange (the ``Proposed MEMX Third Party Data
Feed''), MIAX Emerald (the ``Proposed MIAX Emerald Third Party Data
Feed''), MIAX PEARL Equities (the ``Proposed MIAX PEARL Equities Third
Party Data Feed''), and ICE Data Services--ICE TMC \7\ (the ``Proposed
ICE TMC Third Party Data Feed'') (collectively, the ``Proposed Third
Party Data Feeds''). The Exchange also proposes to change the name of
the current ``Miami International Securities Exchange/MIAX PEARL''
Third Party Data Feed to ``MIAX Options/MIAX PEARL Options'' on its
Price List and Fee Schedule. Further, the Exchange proposes to delete
the ``NASDAQ OMDF'' data feed from the list, as it is no longer offered
by the content service provider. Finally, the Exchange proposes to
change the name of the current ``SR Labs--SuperFeed'' data feeds to
``Vela--SuperFeed,'' to reflect the content provider's recent change to
the name of these products.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ The Proposed ICE TMC Third Party Data Feed is generated by
ICE Bonds, an indirect subsidiary of ICE, and includes market data
for the ICE TMC alternative trading system. It does not include
market data of the Exchange or Affiliate SROs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The list of available Third Party Data Feeds in the Price List and
Fee Schedule would be amended as follows:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Monthly
recurring
connectivity
Third party data feed fee per third
party data
feed
------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * * * *
Global OTC.............................................. $100
[ICE Data Global Index *]............................... [100]
ICE Data Services Consolidated Feed <=100 Mb............ 200
* * * * * * *
ICE Data Services Consolidated Feed Shared Farm >1 Gb... 1,000
ICE Data Services--ICE TMC.............................. 200
ICE Data Services PRD................................... 200
* * * * * * *
ITG TriAct Matchnow..................................... 1,000
Members Exchange (MEMX)................................. 3,000
MIAX Emerald............................................ 3,500
[Miami International Securities Exchange]MIAX Options/ 2,000
MIAX PEARL Options.....................................
MIAX PEARL Equities..................................... 2,500
Montr[eacute]al Exchange (MX)........................... 1,000
* * * * * * *
NASDAQ OMX Global Index Data Service.................... 100
[NASDAQ OMDF]........................................... [100]
NASDAQ UQDF & UTDF...................................... 500
* * * * * * *
OTC Markets Group....................................... 1,000
Vela[SR Labs]--SuperFeed <500 Mb........................ 250
Vela[SR Labs]--SuperFeed >500 Mb to <1.25 Gb............ 800
Vela[SR Labs]--SuperFeed >1.25 Gb....................... 1,000
TMX Group............................................... 2,500
* * * * * * *
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange would provide access to the Proposed Third Party
Systems (``Access'') and connectivity to the Proposed Third Party Data
Feeds (``Connectivity'') as conveniences to Users. Use of Access or
Connectivity would be completely voluntary.
The Exchange does not have visibility into whether third parties
currently offer, or intend to offer, Users access to the Proposed Third
Party Systems and connectivity to the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds,
as such third parties are not required to make that information public.
However, the
[[Page 16419]]
market for access to Third Party Systems and connectivity to Third
Party Data Feeds is competitive. The Exchange competes with other
providers--including other colocation providers and market data
vendors--that offer access to Third Party Systems and connectivity to
Third Party Data Feeds. The Exchange is not aware of any impediment to
such third parties offering access to the Proposed Third Party Systems
or connectivity to the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds.
If one or more third parties presently offer, or in the future opt
to offer, such Access and Connectivity to Users, a User may utilize the
ICE Data Services (``IDS'') network, a third party telecommunication
network, a cross connect, or a combination thereof to access such
services and products through a connection to an access center outside
the data center (which could be an IDS access center, a third-party
access center, or both), another User, or a third party vendor.
Access to the Proposed Third Party Systems
The Exchange proposes to revise the Price List and Fee Schedule to
provide that Users may obtain connectivity to the Proposed Third Party
Systems for a fee. As with the current Third Party Systems, Users would
connect to the Proposed Third Party Systems over the internet protocol
(``IP'') network, a local area network available in the data center.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 74220 (February 6,
2015), 80 FR 7894 (February 12, 2015) (SR-NYSEMKT-2015-08) (notice
of filing and immediate effectiveness of proposed rule change to
include IP network connections).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As with the current Third Party Systems, in order to obtain access
to a Proposed Third Party System, the User would enter into an
agreement with the relevant Proposed Third Party, pursuant to which the
third party content service provider would charge the User for access
to the Proposed Third Party System. The Exchange would then establish a
unicast connection between the User and the Proposed Third Party System
over the IP network.\9\ The Exchange would charge the User for the
connectivity to the Proposed Third Party System. A User would only
receive, and would only be charged for, access to the Proposed Third
Party System for which it enters into agreements with the third party
content service provider.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ Information flows over existing network connections in two
formats: ``unicast'' format, which is a format that allows one-to-
one communication, similar to a phone line, in which information is
sent to and from the Exchange; and ``multicast'' format, which is a
format in which information is sent one-way from the Exchange to
multiple recipients at once, like a radio broadcast.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange has no affiliation with the providers of any of the
Proposed Third Party Systems. Establishing a User's access to a
Proposed Third Party System would not give the Exchange any right to
use the Proposed Third Party System. Connectivity to a Proposed Third
Party System would not provide access or order entry to the Exchange's
execution system, and a User's connection to a Proposed Third Party
System would not be through the Exchange's execution system.
Connectivity to the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds
The Exchange proposes to revise the Price List and Fee Schedule to
provide that Users may obtain connectivity to the Proposed Third Party
Data Feeds for a fee. As with the existing connections to Third Party
Data Feeds, the Exchange would receive a Proposed Third Party Data Feed
from the content service provider at the data center. The Exchange
would then provide connectivity to that data to Users for a fee. Users
would connect to the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds over the IP
network.\10\ The Proposed Third Party Data Feeds would include trading
information concerning the securities that are traded on the relevant
Proposed Third Party Systems.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ See supra note 8 at 7894 (``The IP network also provides
Users with access to away market data products'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As with the existing connections to Third Party Data Feeds, in
order to connect to a Proposed Third Party Data Feed, a User would
enter into a contract with the content service provider, pursuant to
which the content service provider may charge the User for the data
feed. The Exchange would receive the Proposed Third Party Data Feed
over its fiber optic network and, after the content service provider
and User entered into an agreement and the Exchange received
authorization from the content service provider, the Exchange would
retransmit the data to the User over the User's port. The Exchange
would charge the User for connectivity to the Proposed Third Party Data
Feed. A User would only receive, and would only be charged the fee for,
connectivity to a Proposed Third Party Data Feed for which it entered
into a contract.
The Exchange has no affiliation with the sellers of the Proposed
MEMX Third Party Data Feed, the Proposed MIAX Emerald Third Party Data
Feed, or the Proposed MIAX PEARL Equities Third Party Data Feed, and
would have no right to use those feeds other than as a redistributor of
the data. Similarly, although the Exchange and ICE Bonds--the generator
of the Proposed ICE TMC Third Party Data Feed--are both indirect
subsidiaries of ICE, the Exchange would have no right to use the
Proposed ICE TMC Third Party Data Feed other than as a redistributor of
the data. None of the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds would provide
access or order entry to the Exchange's execution system. The Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds would not provide access or order entry to the
execution systems of the third parties generating the feeds. The
Exchange would receive the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds via arms-
length agreements and would have no inherent advantage over any other
distributor of such data.
Proposal To Remove Obsolete Text
Proposal To Remove References to ICE Data Global Index
The Exchange proposes to remove obsolete references to the ICE Data
Global Index (the ``GIF'') from the list of Third Party Data Feeds
available for connectivity and related text.
In May 2020, ICE, which publishes the GIF, announced to its
customers that before the end of 2020, it would cease offering the GIF
as a stand-alone product. The Exchange accordingly amended its Price
List and Fee Schedule to inform customers that it would cease offering
connectivity to the GIF once it is no longer available.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88979 (June 1,
2020), 85 FR 34663 (June 5, 2020) (SR-NYSEAMER-2020-40).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
ICE has now informed the Exchange that it ceased offering the GIF
as a stand-alone product, making the references to the GIF obsolete.
The operative date was announced through a customer notice.
Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to remove ``ICE Data Global Index*''
and the corresponding asterisked note from the Price List and Fee
Schedule.
In order to implement the proposed change, the Exchange proposes to
make the following changes to the section of the Price List and Fee
Schedule entitled ``Connectivity to Third Party Data Feeds'':
In the first paragraph and in the table of Third Party
Data Feeds, delete ``ICE Data Global Index*''.
Following the table of Third Party Data Feeds, delete the
following text:
* ICE will cease to offer the GIF as a stand-alone product, which
the Exchange has been informed by ICE is currently expected to occur
before the end of 2020. The Exchange will announce the operative date
through a
[[Page 16420]]
customer notice. Any change fees that a User would otherwise incur as a
result of the proposed change will be waived.
Proposal To Remove the Temporary Waiver of Hot Hands Fees
The Exchange proposes to remove the obsolete reference to the
waiver of Hot Hands fees in light of the reopening of the Mahwah, New
Jersey data center.
In March 2020, ICE announced to each User that, starting on March
16, 2020, the Mahwah, New Jersey data center would be closed to third
parties in response to COVID-19. The Exchange temporarily waived all
Hot Hands fees from the date of the closing through the date of the
reopening of the data center, and added a note to the fees for the Hot
Hands service stating as much.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ The Exchange first waived the Hot Hands Fee in a March 17,
2020 filing, and subsequently extended the waiver four times. See
Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 88403 (March 17, 2020), 85 FR
16400 (March 23, 2020) (SR-NYSEAMER-2020-19); 88523 (March 31,
2020), 85 FR 19179 (April 6, 2020) (SR-NYSEAMER-2020-23); 88956 (May
27, 2020), 85 FR 33760 (June 2, 2020) (SR-NYSEAMER-2020-39); 89173
(June 29, 2020), 85 FR 40352 (July 6, 2020) (SR-NYSEAMER-2020-46);
and 89651 (August 25, 2020), 85 FR 53896 (August 31, 2020) (SR-
NYSEAMER-2020-63).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Mahwah, New Jersey data center reopened on October 1, 2020. The
date of the reopening was announced through a customer notice. As a
result of the reopening, the waiver of Hot Hands fees ceased, and the
note became obsolete. The Exchange now proposes to remove the obsolete
text.
In order to implement this proposed change, the Exchange proposes
to make the following changes to the Price List and Fee Schedule:
In the Types of Service table, remove the ``[dagger]''
symbol after ``Hot Hands Service ***''.
Following the Types of Service table, remove the following
text:
[dagger] Fees for Hot Hands Services will be waived beginning on
March 16, 2020 through the reopening of the Mahwah, New Jersey data
center. The date of the reopening will be announced through a customer
notice.
Application and Impact of the Proposed Changes
The proposed changes would not apply differently to distinct types
or sizes of market participants. Rather, they would apply to all Users
equally. As is currently the case, the purchase of any colocation
service is completely voluntary and the Price List and Fee Schedule is
applied uniformly to all Users.
As with the existing connections to Third Party Systems, the
Exchange proposes to charge a monthly recurring fee for connectivity to
the Proposed Third Party Systems. Specifically, when a User requests
access to a Proposed Third Party System, it would identify the
applicable content service provider and what bandwidth connection is
required. The Exchange proposes to modify its Price List and Fee
Schedule to add the Proposed Third Party Systems to its existing list
of Third Party Systems. The Exchange does not propose to change the
monthly recurring fee the Exchange charges Users for unicast
connectivity to each Third Party System, including the Proposed Third
Party Systems.
As it does with the existing Third Party Data Feeds, the Exchange
proposes to charge a monthly recurring fee for connectivity to the
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds. Depending on its needs and bandwidth,
a User may opt to receive all or some of the feeds or services included
in the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds. The Exchange proposes to add
the following fees for connectivity to the Proposed Third Party Data
Feeds to its existing list in the Price List and Fee Schedule: (i) $200
per month for ICE Data Services--ICE TMC; (ii) $3,000 per month for
Members Exchange; (iii) $3,500 per month for MIAX Emerald, and (iv)
$2,500 per month for MIAX PEARL Equities.
Under this proposal, obsolete references to connectivity to the GIF
data feed and the temporary waiver of Hot Hands fees would be removed
for all Users.
Competitive Environment
The Exchange operates in a highly competitive market in which
exchanges and other vendors (e.g., Hosting Users) offer co-location
services as a means to facilitate the trading and other market
activities of those market participants who believe that co-location
enhances the efficiency of their operations. The Commission has
repeatedly expressed its preference for competition over regulatory
intervention in determining prices, products, and services in the
securities markets. Specifically, in Regulation NMS, the Commission
highlighted the importance of market forces in determining prices and
SRO revenues and, also, recognized that current regulation of the
market system ``has been remarkably successful in promoting market
competition in its broader forms that are most important to investors
and listed companies.'' \13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The proposed changes are not otherwise intended to address any
other issues relating to co-location services and/or related fees, and
the Exchange is not aware of any problems that Users would have in
complying with the proposed change.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with Section 6(b) of the Act,\14\ in general, and furthers the
objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,\15\ in particular, because 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 regulating,
clearing, settling, processing information with respect to, and
facilitating transactions in securities, to remove impediments to and
perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market
system, and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest
and because it is not designed to permit unfair discrimination between
customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers. The Exchange further believes
that the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b)(4) of the
Act,\16\ because it provides for the equitable allocation of reasonable
dues, fees, and other charges among its members and issuers and other
persons using its facilities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\15\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
\16\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Proposed Rule Change Is Reasonable
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is reasonable
and would perfect the mechanisms of a free and open market and a
national market system and, in general, protect investors and the
public interest, for the following reasons.
The Exchange believes that the proposed change to Access and
Connectivity is reasonable and would remove impediments to, and perfect
the mechanisms of, a free and open market and a national market system
and, in general, protect investors and the public interest because by
offering additional services, the Exchange would give each User
additional options for addressing its access and connectivity needs,
responding to User demand for access and connectivity options.
Providing additional services would help each User tailor its data
center operations to the requirements of its business operations by
allowing it to select the form and latency of access and connectivity
that best suits its needs. In addition, the Exchange believes that the
proposed change is reasonable because
[[Page 16421]]
by offering Access and Connectivity to Users when available, the
Exchange would give Users additional options for connectivity and
access to new services as soon as they are available, responding to
User demand for access and connectivity options.
The Exchange would provide Access and Connectivity as conveniences
to Users. Use of Access or Connectivity would be completely voluntary.
The Exchange is not aware of any impediment to third parties offering
Access or Connectivity. The Exchange does not have visibility into
whether third parties currently offer, or intend to offer, Users access
to the Proposed Third Party Systems and connectivity to the Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds. However, if one or more third parties presently
offer, or in the future opt to offer, such access and connectivity to
Users, a User may utilize the IDS network, a third party
telecommunication network, a cross connect, or a combination thereof to
access such services and products through a connection to an access
center outside the data center (which could be an IDS access center, a
third-party access center, or both), another User, or a third party
vendor.
The Exchange also believes that the proposed rule change to Access
and Connectivity is reasonable because the Exchange operates in a
highly competitive market in which exchanges offer co-location services
as a means to facilitate the trading and other market activities of
those market participants who believe that co-location enhances the
efficiency of their operations. Accordingly, fees charged for co-
location services are constrained by the active competition for the
order flow of, and other business from, such market participants. If a
particular exchange charges excessive fees for co-location services,
affected market participants will opt to terminate their co-location
arrangements with that exchange and adopt a possible range of
alternative strategies, including placing their servers in a physically
proximate location outside the exchange's data center (which could be a
competing exchange), or pursuing strategies less dependent upon the
lower exchange-to-participant latency associated with co-location. For
these reasons, an exchange charging excessive fees would stand to lose
not only co-location revenues but also the liquidity of the formerly
co-located trading firms, which could have additional follow-on effects
on the market share and revenue of the affected exchange.
The Exchange also believes that the proposed rule change to Access
and Connectivity is reasonable because the market for access to Third
Party Systems and connectivity to Third Party Data Feeds is
competitive. The Exchange competes with other providers--including
other colocation providers and market data vendors--that offer access
to Third Party Systems and connectivity to Third Party Data Feeds.
Although the Exchange does not have complete visibility into whether
third parties currently offer, or intend to offer, Users access to the
Proposed Third Party Systems and connectivity to the Proposed Third
Party Data Feeds (as such third parties are not required to make that
information public), the Exchange understands that at least one other
vendor is currently offering the Proposed MIAX Third Party Data Feeds.
As such, the Exchange is not aware of any impediment to such third
parties offering substitutes to such Access and Connectivity. If the
Exchange were to propose to charge supra-competitive fees for access to
any of the Proposed Third Party Systems or connectivity to any of the
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds, the Exchange's competitors would
respond by offering such access and connectivity at lower rates, and
market participants would respond by substituting the Exchange's
offerings with more competitively-priced access and connectivity
options available from other providers. As such, competition and the
availability of substitutes is a check on the Exchange's ability to
charge unreasonable fees for Access and Connectivity.
The Exchange further believes that the proposed change to Access
and Connectivity is reasonable because in order to offer the Access and
Connectivity as conveniences to Users, the Exchange must provide,
maintain, and operate the data center facility hardware and technology
infrastructure. The Exchange must handle the installation,
administration, monitoring, support, and maintenance of such services,
including by responding to any production issues. Since the inception
of co-location, the Exchange has made numerous improvements to the
network hardware and technology infrastructure and has established
additional administrative controls. The Exchange has expanded the
network infrastructure to keep pace with the increased number of
services available to Users, including resilient and redundant feeds.
In addition, in order to provide Access and Connectivity, the
Exchange would establish and maintain multiple connections to each
Proposed Third Party System and Proposed Third Party Data Feed,
allowing the Exchange to provide resilient and redundant connections;
adapt to any changes made by the relevant third party; and cover any
applicable fees charged by the relevant third party, such as port fees.
For example, the Exchange already offers several Third Party Data Feeds
supplied by ICE Data Services, such that the Exchange could add the
Proposed ICE TMC Third Party Data Feed over this established connection
with less effort. In contrast, in order to offer connectivity to the
Proposed MEMX Third Party Data Feed, the Proposed MIAX Emerald Third
Party Data Feed, and the Proposed MIAX PEARL Equities Data Feed, the
Exchange must establish and maintain connections to those exchanges,
which requires significantly more effort. As such, it is reasonable for
the Exchange to offer connectivity to the Proposed ICE TMC Third Party
Data Feed at a lower fee than it proposes to charge for connectivity to
the Proposed MEMX Third Party Data Feed, the Proposed MIAX Emerald
Third Party Data Feed, and the Proposed MIAX PEARL Equities Third Party
Data Feed. Further, the different fees that the Exchange proposes for
the Proposed MIAX Emerald Third Party Data Feed and the Proposed MIAX
PEARL Equities Third Party Data Feed are reflective of the fact that
MIAX charges separate fees to the Exchange to become a distributor of
each of its data feed products, and that these distribution fees that
the Exchange must pay to MIAX are higher for the Proposed MIAX Emerald
Third Party Data Feed than for the Proposed MIAX PEARL Equities Third
Party Data Feed.
As such, the Exchange believes the proposed fees for Access and
Connectivity are reasonable because they would allow the Exchange to
defray or cover the costs associated with offering Users Access and
Connectivity while providing Users the convenience of receiving such
Access and Connectivity within co-location, helping them to tailor
their data center operations to the requirements of their business
operations.
The Exchange believes that removing obsolete text from the Price
List and Fee Schedule would perfect the mechanisms of a free and open
market and a national market system and, in general, protect investors
and the public interest. Because the GIF is no longer available as a
stand-alone data feed, the references to the GIF and its associated fee
in the Price List and Fee Schedule are obsolete. Similarly, because the
Mahwah, New Jersey data center has reopened, the note to the Hot Hands
service has become obsolete. In both cases, removing the obsolete text
would enhance the clarity and transparency of
[[Page 16422]]
the Price List and Fee Schedule and reduce potential customer
confusion.
The Proposed Rule Change Is Equitable
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change provides for
the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges
among its members, issuers, and other persons using its facilities, for
the following reasons.
First, the proposed fees for Access and Connectivity would not
apply differently to different types or sizes of market participants.
Rather, the proposed fees would apply equally to any User that opts to
access the Proposed Third Party Systems or connect to the Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds, irrespective of that User's size or the type of
market participant it is.
Second, under the proposed rule change, only Users that choose to
connect to the Proposed Third Party Systems and Proposed Third Party
Data Feeds would be charged the proposed fees for Access and
Connectivity. Users who opt not to use the Access or Connectivity would
not be charged. In this way, the proposed rule change equitably
allocates the proposed fees only to Users who choose to use the
Proposed Third Party Systems and Proposed Third Party Data Feeds.
In addition, as noted above, the Exchange would provide Access and
Connectivity as conveniences to Users. Use of Access or Connectivity
would be completely voluntary. By offering additional services, the
Exchange would give each User additional options for addressing its
access and connectivity needs, responding to User demand for access and
connectivity options. Providing additional services would help each
User tailor its data center operations to the requirements of its
business operations by allowing it to select the form and latency of
access and connectivity that best suits its needs. A User that does not
wish to use the Access or Connectivity offered by the Exchange is not
required to do so.
The Exchange is not aware of any impediment to third parties
offering Access or Connectivity. The Exchange does not have visibility
into whether third parties currently offer, or intend to offer, Users
access to the Proposed Third Party Systems and connectivity to the
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds, as third parties are not required to
make that information public. However, if one or more third parties
presently offer, or in the future opt to offer, such access and
connectivity to Users, a User may utilize the IDS network, a third
party telecommunication network, a cross connect, or a combination
thereof to access such services and products through a connection to an
access center outside the data center (which could be an IDS access
center, a third-party access center, or both), another User, or a third
party vendor.
The Exchange believes that removing obsolete text from the Price
List and Fee Schedule would perfect the mechanisms of a free and open
market and a national market system and, in general, protect investors
and the public interest. Because the GIF is no longer available as a
stand-alone data feed, the references to the GIF and its associated fee
in the Price List and Fee Schedule are obsolete. Similarly, because the
Mahwah data center has reopened, the note to the Hot Hands service has
become obsolete. The changes would have no impact on pricing. Rather,
they would remove obsolete text, thereby clarifying the Exchange rules
and alleviating possible market participant confusion.
The Proposed Change Is Not Unfairly Discriminatory
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change does not permit
unfair discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers,
for the following reasons.
First, the proposed Access and Connectivity are available on equal
terms to all Users. Users that opt to use the proposed Access or
Connectivity would not receive access or connectivity that is not
available to all Users, as all market participants that contract with
the content provider may receive access or connectivity.
Second, the proposed fees for Access and Connectivity would not
apply differently to different types or sizes of market participants.
Rather, the proposed fees would apply equally to any User that opts to
access the Proposed Third Party Systems or connect to the Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds, and would not unfairly discriminate against any
User based on the User's size or the type of market participant it is.
Third, the proposed rule change does not permit unfair
discrimination between market participants because only Users that
choose to connect to the Proposed Third Party Systems and Proposed
Third Party Data Feeds would be charged the proposed fees for access
and connectivity. Users who opt not to use the Access or Connectivity
will not be charged.
In addition, as noted above, the Exchange would provide Access and
Connectivity as conveniences to Users. Use of Access or Connectivity
would be completely voluntary. By offering additional services, the
Exchange would give each User additional options for addressing its
access and connectivity needs, responding to User demand for access and
connectivity options. Providing additional services would help each
User tailor its data center operations to the requirements of its
business operations by allowing it to select the form and latency of
access and connectivity that best suits its needs. A User that does not
wish to use the Access or Connectivity offered by the Exchange is not
required to do so.
The Exchange is not aware of any impediment to third parties
offering Access or Connectivity. The Exchange does not have visibility
into whether third parties currently offer, or intend to offer, Users
access to the Proposed Third Party Systems and connectivity to the
Proposed Third Party Data Feeds, as third parties are not required to
make that information public. However, if one or more third parties
presently offer, or in the future opt to offer, such access and
connectivity to Users, a User may utilize the IDS network, a third
party telecommunication network, a cross connect, or a combination
thereof to access such services and products through a connection to an
access center outside the data center (which could be an IDS access
center, a third-party access center, or both), another User, or a third
party vendor.
The Exchange believes that removing obsolete text from the Price
List and Fee Schedule would not permit unfair discrimination between
customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers. Because the GIF is no longer
available as a stand-alone data feed, the references to the GIF and its
associated fee in the Price List and Fee Schedule are obsolete.
Similarly, because the Mahwah data center has reopened, the note to the
Hot Hands service has become obsolete. The changes would have no impact
on pricing. Rather, they would remove obsolete text, thereby clarifying
the Exchange rules and alleviating possible market participant
confusion.
For the reasons above, the proposed changes do not unfairly
discriminate between or among market participants that are otherwise
capable of satisfying any applicable co-location fees, requirements,
terms and conditions established from time to time by the Exchange.
* * * * *
For all these reasons, the Exchange believes that the proposal is
consistent with the Act.
[[Page 16423]]
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act,\17\ the Exchange
believes that the proposed rule change will not impose any burden on
competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the
purposes of the Act.
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\17\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
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Intramarket Competition
The Exchange believes that the proposed changes would not place any
burden on intramarket competition that is not necessary or appropriate
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act, for the following reasons.
The proposed change to Access and Connectivity would give each User
additional options for addressing its access and connectivity needs,
responding to User demand for access and connectivity options.
Providing additional services would help each User tailor its data
center operations to the requirements of its business operations by
allowing it to select the form and latency of access and connectivity
that best suits its needs. The Exchange believes that providing Users
with these additional options for access and connectivity to new
services would not impose any burden on intramarket competition that is
not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act,
and would in fact enhance intramarket competition, by giving Users
additional access and connectivity options through which they may
differentiate their business operations from each other.
The Exchange does not have visibility into whether third parties
currently offer, or intend to offer, Users access to the Proposed Third
Party Systems and connectivity to the Proposed Third Party Data Feeds,
as third parties are not required to make that information public.
However, if one or more third parties presently offer, or in the future
opt to offer, such access and connectivity to Users, a User may utilize
the IDS network, a third party telecommunication network, a cross
connect, or a combination thereof to access such services and products
through a connection to an access center outside the data center (which
could be an IDS access center, a third-party access center, or both),
another User, or a third party vendor.
In this way, the proposed changes would enhance intramarket
competition by helping Users tailor their Access and Connectivity to
the needs of their business operations by allowing them to select the
form and latency of access and connectivity that best suits their
needs.
The Exchange further believes that removing the GIF and its
associated fee from the list of Third Party Data Feeds available for
connectivity in the Price List and Fee Schedule and removing the note
regarding the temporary waiver of the Hot Hands fee would not permit
unfair discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers
would not place any burden on intramarket competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The
proposed changes are not designed to address any competitive issue, but
rather to remove obsolete text, thereby clarifying Exchange rules and
alleviating any possible market participant confusion. The removal of
the obsolete text would not put any market participants at a relative
disadvantage compared to other market participants, or penalize one or
more categories of market participants in a manner that would impose an
undue burden on competition.
Intermarket Competition
The Exchange believes that the proposed changes will not impose any
burden on intermarket competition that is not necessary or appropriate
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act, for the following reasons.
The Exchange operates in a highly competitive market in which
exchanges and other vendors (i.e., Hosting Users) offer co-location
services as a means to facilitate the trading and other market
activities of those market participants who believe that co-location
enhances the efficiency of their operations. Accordingly, fees charged
for co-location services are constrained by the active competition for
the order flow of, and other business from, such market participants.
If a particular exchange charges excessive fees for co-location
services, affected market participants will opt to terminate their co-
location arrangements with that exchange, and adopt a possible range of
alternative strategies, including placing their servers in a physically
proximate location outside the exchange's data center (which could be a
competing exchange), or pursuing strategies less dependent upon the
lower exchange-to-participant latency associated with co-location.
Accordingly, an exchange charging excessive fees would stand to lose
not only co-location revenues but also the liquidity of the formerly
co-located trading firms, which could have additional follow-on effects
on the market share and revenue of the affected exchange.
For these reasons, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule
change reflects this competitive environment and does not impose any
undue burden on intermarket competition.
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
The Exchange has filed the proposed rule change pursuant to Section
19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \18\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(6) thereunder.\19\
Because the proposed rule change does not: (i) Significantly affect the
protection of investors or the public interest; (ii) impose any
significant burden on competition; and (iii) become operative prior to
30 days from the date on which it was filed, or such shorter time as
the Commission may designate, if consistent with the protection of
investors and the public interest, the proposed rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and Rule 19b-
4(f)(6)(iii) thereunder.\20\
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\18\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
\19\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
\20\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)
requires the Exchange to give the Commission written notice of its
intent to file the proposed rule change, along with a brief
description and text of the proposed rule change, at least five
business days prior to the date of filing of the proposed rule
change, or such shorter time as designated by the Commission. The
Exchange has satisfied this requirement.
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At any time within 60 days of the filing of such proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings under
Section 19(b)(2)(B) \21\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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\21\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
[[Page 16424]]
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-NYSEAMER-2021-13 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-NYSEAMER-2021-13. 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-NYSEAMER-2021-13 and should be submitted
on or before April 19, 2021.
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\22\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\22\
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-06349 Filed 3-26-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
