Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its Fees Schedule, 20569-20574 [2021-08033]
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 20, 2021 / Notices
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
to determine whether the proposed rule
change should be approved or
disapproved.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
submit only information that you wish
to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File
Number SR–CboeEDGX–2021–019 and
should be submitted on or before May
11, 2021.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.26
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–08035 Filed 4–19–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
CboeEDGX–2021–019 on the subject
line.
[Release No. 34–91559; File No. SR–
CboeEDGX–2021–020]
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–CboeEDGX–2021–019. 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
April 14, 2021.
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Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe
EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing
and Immediate Effectiveness of a
Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its
Fees Schedule
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on April 7,
2021, Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘EDGX’’) filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule
change as described in Items I, II, and
III below, which Items have been
prepared by the Exchange. The
Commission is publishing this notice to
solicit comments on the proposed rule
change from interested persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘EDGX Options’’) is
filing with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’) a
proposed rule change to amend its Fees
Schedule. The text of the proposed rule
change is provided in Exhibit 5.
The text of the proposed rule change
is also available on the Exchange’s
website (https://markets.cboe.com/us/
options/regulation/rule_filings/edgx/),
at the Exchange’s Office of the
Secretary, and at the Commission’s
Public Reference Room.
26 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
1 15
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20569
II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
In its filing with the Commission, the
Exchange included statements
concerning the purpose of and basis for
the proposed rule change and discussed
any comments it received on the
proposed rule change. The text of these
statements may be examined at the
places specified in Item IV below. The
Exchange has prepared summaries, set
forth in sections A, B, and C below, of
the most significant aspects of such
statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend its
Fees Schedule for its options platform
(‘‘EDGX Options’’) by updating certain
Customer-related fee codes, amending
certain Customer-related volume tiers,
and amending the Fees Schedule to
reflect the adoption of the Penny
Program on a permanent basis.3
The Exchange first notes that it
operates in a highly competitive market
in which market participants can
readily direct order flow to competing
venues if they deem fee levels at a
particular venue to be excessive or
incentives to be insufficient. More
specifically, the Exchange is only one of
16 options venues to which market
participants may direct their order flow.
Based on publicly available information,
no single options exchange has more
than 15% of the market share and
currently the Exchange represents only
approximately 4% of the market share.4
Thus, in such a low-concentrated and
highly competitive market, no single
options exchange, including the
Exchange, possesses significant pricing
power in the execution of option order
flow. The Exchange believes that the
ever-shifting market share among the
exchanges from month to month
demonstrates that market participants
can shift order flow or discontinue to
reduce use of certain categories of
products, in response to fee changes.
Accordingly, competitive forces
constrain the Exchange’s transaction
fees, and market participants can readily
3 The Exchange initially filed the proposed fee
changes on April 1, 2021 (SR–CboeEDGX–2021–
017). On April 7, 2021, the Exchange withdrew that
filing and submitted this proposal.
4 See Cboe Global Markets U.S. Options Market
Monthly Volume Summary (March 24, 2021),
available at https://markets.cboe.com/us/options/
market_statistics/.
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trade on competing venues if they deem
pricing levels at those other venues to
be more favorable.
The Exchange’s Fees Schedule sets
forth standard rebates and rates applied
per contract. For example, the Exchange
provides standard rebates ranging from
$0.01 up to $0.21 per contract for
Customer orders in both Penny and
Non-Penny Securities. The Fee Codes
and Associated Fees section of the Fees
Schedule also provides for certain fee
codes associated with certain order
types and market participants that
provide for various other fees or rebates.
Fee code ZA, for example, is appended
to Customer complex orders which
execute against a contra non-Customer
order in Penny Securities and currently
offers a rebate of $0.45 per contract.
Similarly, fee code ZB is appended to
Customer complex orders which
execute against a contra non-Customer
order in non-Penny Securities and
currently offers a rebate of $0.80 per
contract. Fee code BC is appended to
Customer Agency orders executed in the
Automated Improvement Mechanism
(‘‘AIM’’ or ‘‘AIM Auction’’) and
currently offers a rebate of $0.11 per
contract. Additionally, the Fee Schedule
offers tiered pricing which provides
Members 5 opportunities to qualify for
higher rebates or reduced fees where
certain volume criteria and thresholds
are met. Footnote 1 of the Fee Schedule
currently offers three Complex
Customer Penny Tiers which provide
enhanced rebates between $0.47 and
$0.49 per contract for qualifying
Customer orders that yield fee code ZA
where a Member meets certain liquidity
thresholds, and three Complex
Customer Non-Penny Tiers which
provide enhanced rebates between $0.85
and $0.95 per contract for qualifying
Customer orders that yield fee code ZB
for Members that meet certain liquidity
thresholds. Footnote 9 of the Fee
Schedule currently also offers an AIM
Volume Tier which provides an
enhanced rebate of $0.14 for qualifying
Customer orders that yield fee code BC
where a Member meets the tier’s volume
threshold.
The Exchange proposes to amend the
rebate amounts provided to orders
yielding fee codes ZA, ZB, and BC, the
Customer Complex Penny and NonPenny Tiers, and the AIM Volume Tier.
As described above, qualifying
Customer orders yielding fee codes ZA,
ZB, and BC are currently provided a
rebate in the amount of $0.45, $0.80,
and $0.11 per contract, respectively.
The proposed rule change proposes to
incrementally decrease each of these
5 See
Exchange Rule 1.5(n).
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amounts to a rebate of $0.39 per contract
for orders yielding fee code ZA, $0.75
per contract for orders yielding fee code
ZB, and $0.06 for orders yielding fee
code BC. The proposed rule change also
reflects the change in these amounts in
the Fee Codes and Associated Fees
section of the Fee Schedule, as well as
in Footnote 6 (AIM and SAM Pricing)
and Footnote 8 (Complex Order Types)
of the Fee Schedule. The Exchange
notes that these rates for Customer
orders are in line with, yet also
competitive with, rates assessed by
other options exchanges, which offer
lower rates for Customer orders but
more volume incentive opportunities for
enhanced pricing (which the Exchange
also proposes to incorporate for
Customer orders herein this proposal).6
The proposed rule change amends the
Customer Complex Penny Tiers.
Currently, Tier 1 offers an enhanced
rebate of $0.47 per contract for a
Member’s qualifying orders (i.e.,
yielding fee code ZA) if a Member has
an ADV 7 in Customer orders greater
than or equal to 0.40% of average OCV.8
Tier 2 currently offers an enhanced
rebate of $0.48 per contract for
qualifying orders if a Member has an
ADV in Customer orders greater than or
equal to 0.55% of average OCV. Tier 3
currently offers an enhanced rebate of
$0.49 per contract for qualifying orders
if a Member has an ADV in Customer
orders greater than or equal to 0.75% of
average OCV. The proposed rule change
amends the Customer Complex Penny
Tiers by modestly reducing the
enhanced rebate amount offered per
each tier, modestly reducing the
percentage of average OCV that a
Member’s ADV in Customer orders must
reach in Tier 1 and Tier 2, adding an
alternative prong of criteria in each tier,
and adopting two new tiers, Tier 4 and
6 See e.g., MIAX Emerald Options Exchange Fee
Schedule, Section 1(a)(i). Section 1(a)(i) provides a
range of base rebates for customer Penny and NonPenny transactions depending on meeting various
volume tiers (Section 1(a)(ii)). For example, base
rebates for Customer complex transactions in Penny
classes range from $0.25 to $0.50 and for Customer
complex transaction in non-Penny classes range
from $0.40 to $0.87; see also MIAX Options Fee
Schedule, Section 1(a)(v) which offers a base rate
of $0.00 for Customer transactions in MIAX’s
auction mechanism (‘‘PRIME’’), and Section
1(a)(iii), which then offers a rebate of $0.10 or $0.11
for Customer transactions in PRIME if a member
meets certain volume thresholds.
7 ‘‘ADV’’ means average daily volume calculated
as the number of contracts added or removed,
combined, per day.
8 ‘‘OCC Customer Volume or ‘‘OCV’’ means the
total equity and ETF options volume that clears in
the Customer range at the Options Clearing
Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) for the month for which the
fees apply, excluding volume on any day that the
Exchange experiences an Exchange System
Disruption and on any day with a scheduled early
market close.
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Tier 5. The proposed rule change
reduces the enhanced rebate offered by
Tier 1 from $0.47 to $0.40, by Tier 2
from $0.48 to $0.45, and by Tier 3 from
$0.49 to $0.47. The proposed rule
change reduces the percentage of
average OCV that a Member’s ADV in
Customer orders must meet in Tier 1
from 0.40% to 0.25% and in Tier 2 from
0.55% to 0.50%. The proposed rule
change adds an alternative prong of
criteria regarding a Member’s ADV in
complex non-crossing orders (that is,
orders not executed in a two sided
auction mechanism such as AIM or the
Solicitation Auction Mechanism
(‘‘SAM’’) or in a crossing mechanism
such as a Qualified Contingent Cross
(‘‘QCC’’)) as a percentage of average
OCV in each tier that a Member may
choose to meet in lieu of the existing
criteria (Customer order ADV as a
percentage of average OCV) to receive
the corresponding enhanced rebate.
Specifically, a Member may reach the
proposed alternative criteria in Tier 1 if
the Member has an ADV in complex
non-crossing orders that is greater than
or equal to 0.10% of average OCV, the
proposed alternative criteria in Tier 2 if
the Member has an ADV in complex
non-crossing orders that is greater than
or equal to 0.25% of average OCV, and
the proposed alternative criteria in Tier
3 if the Member has an ADV in complex
non-crossing orders that is greater than
or equal to 0.45% of average OCV.
Finally, the proposed rule change
adopts Tier 4, which provides an
enhanced rebate of $0.49 per contract
for qualifying orders if a Member has an
ADV in complex non-crossing orders
greater than or equal to 0.60% of
average OCV or if a Member has an ADV
in Customer orders greater than or equal
to 1.00% of average OCV, and adopts
Tier 5, which provides an enhanced
rebate of $0.50 per contract for
qualifying orders if a Member has an
ADV in complex non-crossing orders
greater than or equal to 1.00% of
average OCV or Member has an ADV in
Customer orders greater than or equal to
2.00% of average OCV.
The proposed rule change amends the
Customer Complex Non-Penny Tiers.
Currently, Tier 1 offers an enhanced
rebate of $0.85 per contract for a
Member’s qualifying orders (i.e.,
yielding fee code ZB) if a Member has
an ADV in Customer orders greater than
or equal to 0.40% of average OCV. Tier
2 currently offers an enhanced rebate of
$0.87 per contract for qualifying orders
if a Member has an ADV in Customer
orders greater than or equal to 0.55% of
average OCV. Tier 3 currently offers an
enhanced rebate of $0.95 per contract
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for qualifying orders if a Member has an
ADV in Customer orders that is greater
than or equal to 0.75% of average OCV.
In particular, the proposed rule change
amends the Customer Complex NonPenny Tiers by modestly reducing the
enhanced rebate amount offered in Tier
1 and Tier 2, modestly increasing the
percentage of average OCV that a
Member’s ADV in Customer orders must
reach in each tier, adding an alternative
prong of criteria in each tier, and
adopting new Tier 4. The proposed rule
change reduces the enhanced rebate
offered by Tier 1 from $0.85 to $0.80
and by Tier 2 from $0.87 to $0.85. The
proposed rule change increases the
percentage of average OCV that a
Member’s ADV in Customer orders must
meet in Tier 1 from 0.40% to 0.50%, in
Tier 2 from 0.55% to 0.75%, and in Tier
3 from 0.75% to 1.00%. The proposed
rule change adds an alternative prong of
criteria regarding a Member’s ADV in
complex non-crossing orders as a
percentage of average OCV in each tier
that a Member may choose to meet in
lieu of the existing criteria (Customer
order ADV as a percentage of average
OCV) to receive a corresponding
enhanced rebate. Specifically, a Member
may reach the proposed alternative
criteria in Tier 1 if the Member has an
ADV in complex non-crossing orders
that is greater than or equal to 0.25% of
average OCV, the proposed alternative
criteria in Tier 2 if the Member has an
ADV in complex non-crossing orders
that is greater than or equal to 0.45% of
average OCV, and the proposed
alternative criteria in Tier 3 if the
Member has an ADV in complex noncrossing orders that is greater than or
equal to 0.60% of average OCV. Finally,
the proposed rule change adopts Tier 4,
which provides an enhanced rebate of
$1.00 per contract for qualifying orders
if a Member has an ADV in complex
non-crossing orders greater than or
equal to 1.00% of average OCV or if a
Member has an ADV in Customer orders
greater than or equal to 2.00% of
average OCV.
The proposed rule change to the
existing Customer Complex Penny/NonPenny Tiers eases the overall difficulty
in reaching the tiers’ criteria by adding
an alternative criteria option that
Members may choose to meet in lieu of
the existing criteria and amends the
enhanced rebates to correspond with the
ease in criteria. While the proposed
change incrementally increases the ADV
as a percentage of average OCV in the
existing Customer Complex Non-Penny
Tiers’ criteria, the Exchange notes that
the overall difficulty of meeting the
criteria in these existing tiers is eased by
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the opportunity to meet alternative
criteria. Also, as a result of the increase
in the percentage of Customer order
ADV in the existing Customer Complex
Non-Penny Tiers, the proposed
corresponding enhanced rebates are not
as reduced as the proposed enhanced
rebates that correspond to the less
difficult criteria (due to the addition of
the alternative criteria plus the decrease
in ADV as a percentage of average OCV)
proposed in the existing Customer
Complex Penny Tiers. The proposed
overall ease in criteria and new tiers
offered under the Customer Complex
Penny/Non-Penny Tiers provide
Members an additional opportunity to
receive a rebate on their qualifying
Customer complex orders (i.e., yielding
fee code ZA and ZB), which, in turn,
provides Members with increased
incentives to increase their Customer
order flow and their overall complex
non-crossing order flow in order to
achieve the proposed eased and/or
additional criteria and receive enhanced
rebates on their qualifying Customer
complex orders.
The proposed rule change also
amends the AIM Volume Tier.
Currently, Tier 1 offers an enhanced
rebate of $0.14 per contract for a
Member’s qualifying orders (i.e. yielding
fee code BC) if a Member has an ADV
in Customer Orders greater than or
equal to 0.35% of average OCV. The
proposed rule change adopts a new Tier
1 (and, as a result, updates current Tier
1 to Tier 2),9 which offers an enhanced
rebate of $0.11 per contract for
qualifying orders if a Member has an
ADV in Customer Orders greater than or
equal to 0.30% of average OCV. The
proposed rule change also incrementally
increases the percentage of a Member’s
Customer Order ADV into average OCV
from 0.35% to 0.50% in Tier 2 (current
Tier 1). The corresponding enhanced
rebate remains the same Like the
proposed additional Customer Complex
Penny/Non-Penny Tiers, the proposed
new AIM Volume Tier provide Members
with an additional opportunity to
achieve tier criteria and receive an
enhanced rebate, thus providing further
incentive to submit Customer order flow
to the Exchange.
The Exchange believes that the
proposed changes to the Customer
Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and
AIM Volume Tiers are designed overall
to incentivize more Customer order flow
and to direct an increase of order flow
to the EDGX Options Order Book. The
Exchange believes that an increase in
9 As a result of the proposed additional tier, the
proposed rule change also updates the heading of
Footnote 9 from singular to plural ‘‘Tiers.’’
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20571
Customer order flow and overall order
flow to the Exchange’s Book creates
more trading opportunities, which, in
turn attracts Market-Makers. A resulting
increase in Market-Maker activity may
facilitate tighter spreads, which may
lead to an additional increase of order
flow from other market participants,
further contributing to a deeper, more
liquid market to the benefit of all market
participants by creating a more robust
and well-balanced market ecosystem.
Finally, the proposed rule change
updates the term ‘‘Penny Pilot’’
throughout the Fee Schedule to reflect
the 2020 adoption of the pilot program
on a permanent basis.10 More
specifically, on April 1, 2020 the
Commission approved an amendment
the Plan for the Purpose of Developing
and Implementing Procedures Designed
to Facilitate the Listing and Trading of
Standardized Options (the ‘‘OLPP’’) to
make permanent the Penny Pilot
Program, and the Exchange accordingly
conformed its Rules to the OLPP
Program by deleting Interpretation and
Policy .01 to Rule 21.5 (the ‘‘Penny Pilot
Rule’’), replacing it with Rule 21.5(e)
(Requirements for Penny Interval
Program). As a result, the proposed rule
change now updates the Fee Schedule
to reflect the permanent Penny Program,
as follows:
• Removes the term ‘‘Pilot’’ from the
descriptions of fee codes PB, PC, PF,
PM, PN, PO, PP, PT, RN, and RQ in the
Fees Codes and Associated Fees
section; 11
• replaces ‘‘Pilot’’ with ‘‘Program’’
where applicable in the Standard Rates
table, Footnote 4, Footnote 6, Footnote
8, and Marketing Fees table; and
• amends the term ‘‘Penny Pilot
Securities’’ to reflect the definition of
‘‘Penny Program Securities’’ in the
Definition section and updates the
definition to reflect Rule 21.5(e), which
now governs the Penny Program.
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change will provide
additional clarity in the Fee Schedule
by updating references to the current
permanent Penny Program and the
corresponding Rule that now governs
the program. The Exchange notes that
the proposed rule change does not alter
the securities eligible for the Penny
Program nor any of the rates currently
assessed for Penny Program Securities.
10 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 89080
(June 17, 2020), 85 FR 37722 (June 23, 2020) (SR–
CboeEDGX–2020–028).
11 The Exchange notes that this update
harmonizes these fee code descriptions with
existing fee code descriptions that currently refer to
just ‘‘Penny’’.
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2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change is consistent with
the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,12
in general, and furthers the objectives of
Section 6(b)(4),13 in particular, as it is
designed to provide for the equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees and
other charges among its Members and
issuers and other persons using its
facilities. The Exchange also believes
that the proposed rule change is
consistent with the objectives of Section
6(b)(5) 14 requirements that the rules of
an exchange be 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,
particularly, is not designed to permit
unfair discrimination between
customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.
As described above, the Exchange
operates in a highly competitive market
in which market participants can
readily direct order flow to competing
venues if they deem fee levels at a
particular venue to be excessive or
incentives to be insufficient. The
proposed rule change reflects a
competitive pricing structure designed
to incentivize market participants to
direct their order flow to the Exchange,
which the Exchange believes would
enhance market quality to the benefit of
all Members.
The Exchange believes the proposed
reduction in rebate amounts for orders
yielding fee codes ZA, ZB, and BC is
reasonable, equitable, and not unfairly
discriminatory. The Exchange believes
that amending the rebates for Customer
orders yielding fee code ZA, ZB, or BC
is reasonable because, as stated above,
in order to operate in the highly
competitive equities markets, the
Exchange and its competing exchanges
seek to offer similar pricing structures,
including assessing comparable rates
and offering multiple enhanced pricing
opportunities for various types of
orders. Thus, the Exchange believes the
proposed rate changes (along with the
proposed offering of additional tiered
pricing opportunities) are reasonable as
they are generally aligned with and
competitive with the amounts assessed
12 15
U.S.C. 78f.
U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
14 15 U.S.C. 78f.(b)(5).
13 15
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for similar Customer orders on other
options exchanges.15 The Exchange also
believes that amending the rebate
amounts associated with fee codes ZA,
ZB, and BC represents an equitable
allocation of fees and is not unfairly
discriminatory because they will
continue to automatically and uniformly
apply to all Members’ respective
qualifying Customer orders.
The Exchange believes the proposed
changes to the Customer Complex
Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM
Volume Tier are reasonable overall
because they amend the tiers in a
manner that incentivizes increased
Customer order flow and/or overall
order flow to the EDGX Book by
providing Members with additional
opportunities to meet criteria, both via
reduction in difficulty and additional
tiers, in order to receive enhanced
rebates a Member’s qualifying orders.
The Exchange notes that relative
volume-based incentives and discounts
have been widely adopted by
exchanges,16 including the Exchange,17
and are reasonable, equitable and nondiscriminatory because they are open to
all members on an equal basis and
provide additional benefits or discounts
that are reasonably related to (i) the
value to an exchange’s market quality
and (ii) associated higher levels of
market activity, such as higher levels of
liquidity provision and/or growth
patterns. Additionally, as noted above,
the Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market. The Exchange is
only one of several options venues to
which market participants may direct
their order flow, and it represents a
small percentage of the overall market.
Competing options exchanges offer
similar tiered pricing structures to that
of the Exchange, including schedules of
rebates and fees that apply based upon
members achieving certain volume and/
or growth thresholds and offer
comparable pricing to members for
achieving such tiers.18
Specifically, the Exchange believes
that the proposed changes to the
Customer Complex Penny/Non-Penny
Tiers and the AIM Volume Tier are
reasonable, equitable, and not unfairly
discriminatory. The Exchange believes
15 See
supra note 6.
e.g., Cboe BZX U.S. Options Exchange Fee
Schedule, Footnote 1, Customer Penny Add Volume
Tiers; and Footnote 12, Customer Non-Penny Add
Volume Tiers, both of which provide for various
tiers with different, incrementally more difficult
criteria, many of which are based on average
volumes as a percentage of average OCV and offer
enhanced rebates ranging from $0.35 to $1.06 per
contract.
17 See i.e., Cboe EDGX U.S. Options Exchange Fee
Schedule, Footnote 1, Customer Volume Tiers.
18 See supra note 16.
16 See
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that the additional, alternative criteria
and modification of existing criteria in
the Customer Complex Penny/NonPenny Tiers are reasonable because they
amend existing opportunities to receive
enhanced rebates by easing the level of
difficulty in each set of the three
existing tiers and maintain the current
structure of step-up in difficulty in
achieving each ascending tier. The
proposed new Customer Complex
Penny/Non-Penny Tiers are reasonable
because they provide Members with
additional, also incrementally more
challenging, opportunities to receive
enhanced rebates. Likewise, the
proposed new AIM Volume Tier 1
provides Members with an additional
opportunity to achieve easier tier
criteria (than that of current Tier 1) and
receive an enhanced rebate, while
slightly increasing the difficulty in
reaching the criteria in the existing AIM
Volume Tier (current Tier 1) to also
reflect an incremental step-up in
difficulty in the AIM Volume Tiers. The
Exchange believes that the proposed
additional opportunities in the
Customer Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and
AIM Volume Tiers for Members to
receive enhanced rebates on their
qualifying orders via new tiers and an
overall ease in tier difficulty (while still
maintaining the current structure of
step-up in difficulty through ascending
tiers) are reasonably designed to provide
further incentive to Members to increase
Customer order flow to the Exchange
overall order flow directly to the
Exchange’s Book. As described above,
Customer order flow and overall order
flow to the Exchange’s Book creates
more trading opportunities, which, in
turn attracts Market-Makers. A resulting
increase in Market-Maker activity may
facilitate tighter spreads, which may
lead to an additional increase of order
flow from other market participants.
Increased overall order flow benefits all
investors by deepening the Exchange’s
liquidity pool, potentially providing
even greater execution incentives and
opportunities, offering additional
flexibility for all investors to enjoy cost
savings, supporting the quality of price
discovery, promoting market
transparency, and improving investor
protection.
The Exchange further believes that the
proposed changes to the enhanced
rebate amounts and new enhanced
rebates in the Customer Complex
Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM
Volume Tiers are reasonable as they
represent the proposed proportional
decreases in difficulty per adjacent tiers.
The Exchange believes that providing
reduced enhanced rebates per tier is
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reasonable as they are commensurate
with the proposed criteria, in that, they
are line with the easing the level of
difficulty or the proposed new relative
levels of difficulty in the Customer
Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and
AIM Volume Tiers. Also, as noted
above, while the proposed criteria
changes to the existing Customer
Complex Non-Penny Tiers decrease the
overall difficulty in meeting the tiers’
criteria, the difficulty in reaching the
modified criteria in these tiers is
incrementally greater than the difficulty
in reaching the modified criteria in the
proposed Customer Complex Penny
Tiers. Therefore, Exchange believes it is
reasonable to offer, as proposed, a
slightly less reduced enhanced rebate
per corresponding Customer Complex
Non-Penny Tier. Also, the proposed
reduced enhanced rebates and/or
proposed additional enhanced rebates
in the Customer Complex Penny/NonPenny Tiers and AIM Volume Tiers, as
applicable, do not represent a
significant departure from the enhanced
rebates currently offered under the tiers
as the proposed rate changes merely
incrementally shift the range of
enhanced rebates offered to most
appropriately align with the
corresponding shift in criteria difficulty
per each tier (existing and new).
The Exchange believes that the
proposed changes to the Customer
Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and
AIM Volume Tier represent an equitable
allocation of rebates and are not unfairly
discriminatory. All Members will
continue to be eligible for the existing
Customer Complex Penny/Non-Penny
Tiers and AIM Volume Tier, as
amended, and will be eligible for the
proposed tiers by submitting the
requisite order flow. The proposed
changes to the tiers’ criteria are
designed as an incentive to any and all
Members interested in meeting modified
and new tier criteria to submit
additional Customer orders and/or
overall order flow directly to the
Exchange’s Book. Each Member will
have the same opportunity to submit the
requisite order flow and the
corresponding enhanced rebates
(existing and as amended) will apply
uniformly to all Members that meet the
modified or new tier criteria. Without
having a view of activity on other
markets and off-exchange venues, the
Exchange has no way of knowing
whether this proposed rule change
would definitely result in any Members
qualifying for the proposed tiers. While
the Exchange has no way of predicting
with certainty how the proposed tiers
will impact Member activity, the
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17:10 Apr 19, 2021
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Exchange anticipates that at least one to
three Members will be able to compete
for and potentially achieve the amended
criteria in each of the existing Customer
Complex Penny Tiers and Customer
Complex Non-Penny Tiers. The
Exchange also anticipates at least one or
two Members will be able to compete
for and potentially achieve the two new
Customer Complex Penny Tiers and
new Customer Non-Penny Tier. The
Exchange anticipates that approximately
two to three Members will be able to
compete for and potentially achieve
each of the AIM Volume Tiers, as
proposed. The Exchange also notes that
the proposed tiers will not adversely
impact any Member’s pricing or their
ability to qualify for other rebate tiers.
Rather, should a Member not meet the
proposed criteria for a tier, the Member
will merely not receive the
corresponding enhanced rebate.
Finally, the Exchange believes the
proposed update to the Penny Program
language and Rule reference in the Fee
Schedule is reasonable, equitable and
not unfairly discriminatory because it is
intended to provide additional clarity in
the Fee Schedule by updating references
to the current permanent Penny
Program and the corresponding Rule
that now governs the program and does
not alter the securities eligible for the
Penny Program nor any of the rates
currently assessed for Penny Program
Securities.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange does not believe that
the proposed rule change will impose
any burden on intramarket or
intermarket competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act. Rather, as
discussed above, the Exchange believes
that the proposed change would
encourage the submission of additional
order flow to a public exchange, thereby
promoting market depth, execution
incentives and enhanced execution
opportunities, as well as price discovery
and transparency for all Members. As a
result, the Exchange believes that the
proposed change furthers the
Commission’s goal in adopting
Regulation NMS of fostering
competition among orders, which
promotes ‘‘more efficient pricing of
individual stocks for all types of orders,
large and small.’’ 19
The Exchange believes the proposed
rule change does not impose any burden
on intramarket competition that is not
19 Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808, 70
FR 37495, 37498–99 (June 29, 2005) (S7–10–04)
(Final Rule).
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
20573
necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act. Particularly,
the proposed change to the rebate
amounts associated with fee codes ZA,
ZB, and BC will continue to apply
uniformly and automatically to all
Members’ respective qualifying orders.
The proposed tier changes apply to all
Members equally in that all Members
are eligible to achieve the tiers’
proposed criteria, have a reasonable
opportunity to meet the tiers’ proposed
criteria and will all receive the
corresponding enhanced rebates
(existing and as amended) if such
criteria is met. Overall, the proposed
change is designed to attract additional
Customer order flow to the Exchange
and overall order flow directly to the
Exchange’s Book. The Exchange
believes that the modified and new tier
criteria will incentivize market
participants to strive to increase such
order flow to the Exchange to receive
the corresponding enhanced rebates
and, as a result, increase trading
opportunities, attract further MarketMaker activity, further incentivize the
provision of liquidity and continued
order flow to the Book, and improve
price transparency on the Exchange.
Greater overall order flow and pricing
transparency benefits all market
participants on the Exchange by
generally providing a cycle of more
trading opportunities, enhancing market
quality, and continuing to encourage
Members to submit order flow and
continue to contribute towards a robust
and well-balanced market ecosystem to
the benefit of all market participants.
The Exchange additionally notes that
the proposed rule change to reflect the
current Penny Program is
noncompetitive, nonsubstantive and
merely clarifying in nature.
Next, the Exchange believes the
proposed rule change does not impose
any burden on intermarket competition
that is not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
As previously discussed, the Exchange
operates in a highly competitive market.
Members have numerous alternative
venues that they may participate on and
direct their order flow, including 15
other options exchanges and offexchange venues and alternative trading
systems. Additionally, the Exchange
represents a small percentage of the
overall market. Based on publicly
available information, no single options
exchange has more than 15% of the
market share.20 Therefore, no exchange
possesses significant pricing power in
the execution of order flow. Indeed,
participants can readily choose to send
20 See
E:\FR\FM\20APN1.SGM
supra note 3.
20APN1
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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 74 / Tuesday, April 20, 2021 / Notices
their orders to other exchange and offexchange venues if they deem fee levels
at those other venues to be more
favorable. Moreover, 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.’’ 21 The
fact that this market is competitive has
also long been recognized by the courts.
In NetCoalition v. Securities and
Exchange Commission, the D.C. Circuit
stated as follows: ‘‘[n]o one disputes
that competition for order flow is
‘fierce.’ . . . As the SEC explained, ‘[i]n
the U.S. national market system, buyers
and sellers of securities, and the brokerdealers that act as their order-routing
agents, have a wide range of choices of
where to route orders for execution’;
[and] ‘no exchange can afford to take its
market share percentages for granted’
because ‘no exchange possesses a
monopoly, regulatory or otherwise, in
the execution of order flow from broker
dealers’. . . .’’.22 Accordingly, the
Exchange does not believe its proposed
fee change imposes any burden on
competition that is not necessary or
appropriate in furtherance of the
purposes of the Act.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Comments on the
Proposed Rule Change Received From
Members, Participants, or Others
The Exchange neither solicited nor
received comments on the proposed
rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)
of the Act 23 and paragraph (f) of Rule
19b–4 24 thereunder. At any time within
60 days of the filing of the proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may
temporarily suspend such rule change if
it appears to the Commission that such
21 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808
(June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005).
22 NetCoalition v. SEC, 615 F.3d 525, 539 (D.C.
Cir. 2010) (quoting Securities Exchange Act Release
No. 59039 (December 2, 2008), 73 FR 74770, 74782–
83 (December 9, 2008) (SR–NYSEArca–2006–21)).
23 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
24 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f).
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17:10 Apr 19, 2021
Jkt 253001
action is necessary or appropriate in the
public interest, for the protection of
investors, or otherwise in furtherance of
the purposes of the Act. If the
Commission takes such action, the
Commission will institute proceedings
to determine whether the proposed rule
change should be approved or
disapproved.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
CboeEDGX–2021–020 on the subject
line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–CboeEDGX–2021–020. This
file number should be included on the
subject line if email is used. To help the
Commission process and review your
comments more efficiently, please use
only one method. The Commission will
post all comments on the Commission’s
internet website (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent
amendments, all written statements
with respect to the proposed rule
change that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the
proposed rule change between the
Commission and any person, other than
those that may be withheld from the
public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
available for website viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549, on official
business days between the hours of
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal
office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change.
Persons submitting comments are
cautioned that we do not redact or edit
personal identifying information from
comment submissions. You should
submit only information that you wish
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File
Number SR–CboeEDGX–2021–020 and
should be submitted on or before May
11, 2021.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.25
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021–08033 Filed 4–19–21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–91563; File No. SR–
NYSENAT–2021–07]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
National, Inc.; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
Rule Change To Amend Rule 7.37
April 14, 2021.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3
notice is hereby given that, on April 1,
2021, NYSE National, Inc. (‘‘NYSE
National’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the
proposed rule change as described in
Items I, II, and III below, which Items
have been prepared by the selfregulatory organization. The
Commission is publishing this notice to
solicit comments on the proposed rule
change from interested persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to amend
Rule 7.37 to specify when the Exchange
may adjust its calculation of the PBBO.
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
25 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 15 U.S.C. 78a.
3 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
1 15
E:\FR\FM\20APN1.SGM
20APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 74 (Tuesday, April 20, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20569-20574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-08033]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-91559; File No. SR-CboeEDGX-2021-020]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice
of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To
Amend Its Fees Schedule
April 14, 2021.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(the ``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given
that on April 7, 2021, Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or
``EDGX'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II,
and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The
Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the
proposed rule change from interested persons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or ``EDGX Options'') is
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') a
proposed rule change to amend its Fees Schedule. The text of the
proposed rule change is provided in Exhibit 5.
The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the
Exchange's website (https://markets.cboe.com/us/options/regulation/rule_filings/edgx/), at the Exchange's Office of the Secretary, and at
the Commission's Public Reference Room.
II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in
Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in
sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such
statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend its Fees Schedule for its options
platform (``EDGX Options'') by updating certain Customer-related fee
codes, amending certain Customer-related volume tiers, and amending the
Fees Schedule to reflect the adoption of the Penny Program on a
permanent basis.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ The Exchange initially filed the proposed fee changes on
April 1, 2021 (SR-CboeEDGX-2021-017). On April 7, 2021, the Exchange
withdrew that filing and submitted this proposal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange first notes that it operates in a highly competitive
market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be
excessive or incentives to be insufficient. More specifically, the
Exchange is only one of 16 options venues to which market participants
may direct their order flow. Based on publicly available information,
no single options exchange has more than 15% of the market share and
currently the Exchange represents only approximately 4% of the market
share.\4\ Thus, in such a low-concentrated and highly competitive
market, no single options exchange, including the Exchange, possesses
significant pricing power in the execution of option order flow. The
Exchange believes that the ever-shifting market share among the
exchanges from month to month demonstrates that market participants can
shift order flow or discontinue to reduce use of certain categories of
products, in response to fee changes. Accordingly, competitive forces
constrain the Exchange's transaction fees, and market participants can
readily
[[Page 20570]]
trade on competing venues if they deem pricing levels at those other
venues to be more favorable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See Cboe Global Markets U.S. Options Market Monthly Volume
Summary (March 24, 2021), available at https://markets.cboe.com/us/options/market_statistics/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange's Fees Schedule sets forth standard rebates and rates
applied per contract. For example, the Exchange provides standard
rebates ranging from $0.01 up to $0.21 per contract for Customer orders
in both Penny and Non-Penny Securities. The Fee Codes and Associated
Fees section of the Fees Schedule also provides for certain fee codes
associated with certain order types and market participants that
provide for various other fees or rebates. Fee code ZA, for example, is
appended to Customer complex orders which execute against a contra non-
Customer order in Penny Securities and currently offers a rebate of
$0.45 per contract. Similarly, fee code ZB is appended to Customer
complex orders which execute against a contra non-Customer order in
non-Penny Securities and currently offers a rebate of $0.80 per
contract. Fee code BC is appended to Customer Agency orders executed in
the Automated Improvement Mechanism (``AIM'' or ``AIM Auction'') and
currently offers a rebate of $0.11 per contract. Additionally, the Fee
Schedule offers tiered pricing which provides Members \5\ opportunities
to qualify for higher rebates or reduced fees where certain volume
criteria and thresholds are met. Footnote 1 of the Fee Schedule
currently offers three Complex Customer Penny Tiers which provide
enhanced rebates between $0.47 and $0.49 per contract for qualifying
Customer orders that yield fee code ZA where a Member meets certain
liquidity thresholds, and three Complex Customer Non-Penny Tiers which
provide enhanced rebates between $0.85 and $0.95 per contract for
qualifying Customer orders that yield fee code ZB for Members that meet
certain liquidity thresholds. Footnote 9 of the Fee Schedule currently
also offers an AIM Volume Tier which provides an enhanced rebate of
$0.14 for qualifying Customer orders that yield fee code BC where a
Member meets the tier's volume threshold.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ See Exchange Rule 1.5(n).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange proposes to amend the rebate amounts provided to
orders yielding fee codes ZA, ZB, and BC, the Customer Complex Penny
and Non-Penny Tiers, and the AIM Volume Tier. As described above,
qualifying Customer orders yielding fee codes ZA, ZB, and BC are
currently provided a rebate in the amount of $0.45, $0.80, and $0.11
per contract, respectively. The proposed rule change proposes to
incrementally decrease each of these amounts to a rebate of $0.39 per
contract for orders yielding fee code ZA, $0.75 per contract for orders
yielding fee code ZB, and $0.06 for orders yielding fee code BC. The
proposed rule change also reflects the change in these amounts in the
Fee Codes and Associated Fees section of the Fee Schedule, as well as
in Footnote 6 (AIM and SAM Pricing) and Footnote 8 (Complex Order
Types) of the Fee Schedule. The Exchange notes that these rates for
Customer orders are in line with, yet also competitive with, rates
assessed by other options exchanges, which offer lower rates for
Customer orders but more volume incentive opportunities for enhanced
pricing (which the Exchange also proposes to incorporate for Customer
orders herein this proposal).\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See e.g., MIAX Emerald Options Exchange Fee Schedule,
Section 1(a)(i). Section 1(a)(i) provides a range of base rebates
for customer Penny and Non-Penny transactions depending on meeting
various volume tiers (Section 1(a)(ii)). For example, base rebates
for Customer complex transactions in Penny classes range from $0.25
to $0.50 and for Customer complex transaction in non-Penny classes
range from $0.40 to $0.87; see also MIAX Options Fee Schedule,
Section 1(a)(v) which offers a base rate of $0.00 for Customer
transactions in MIAX's auction mechanism (``PRIME''), and Section
1(a)(iii), which then offers a rebate of $0.10 or $0.11 for Customer
transactions in PRIME if a member meets certain volume thresholds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The proposed rule change amends the Customer Complex Penny Tiers.
Currently, Tier 1 offers an enhanced rebate of $0.47 per contract for a
Member's qualifying orders (i.e., yielding fee code ZA) if a Member has
an ADV \7\ in Customer orders greater than or equal to 0.40% of average
OCV.\8\ Tier 2 currently offers an enhanced rebate of $0.48 per
contract for qualifying orders if a Member has an ADV in Customer
orders greater than or equal to 0.55% of average OCV. Tier 3 currently
offers an enhanced rebate of $0.49 per contract for qualifying orders
if a Member has an ADV in Customer orders greater than or equal to
0.75% of average OCV. The proposed rule change amends the Customer
Complex Penny Tiers by modestly reducing the enhanced rebate amount
offered per each tier, modestly reducing the percentage of average OCV
that a Member's ADV in Customer orders must reach in Tier 1 and Tier 2,
adding an alternative prong of criteria in each tier, and adopting two
new tiers, Tier 4 and Tier 5. The proposed rule change reduces the
enhanced rebate offered by Tier 1 from $0.47 to $0.40, by Tier 2 from
$0.48 to $0.45, and by Tier 3 from $0.49 to $0.47. The proposed rule
change reduces the percentage of average OCV that a Member's ADV in
Customer orders must meet in Tier 1 from 0.40% to 0.25% and in Tier 2
from 0.55% to 0.50%. The proposed rule change adds an alternative prong
of criteria regarding a Member's ADV in complex non-crossing orders
(that is, orders not executed in a two sided auction mechanism such as
AIM or the Solicitation Auction Mechanism (``SAM'') or in a crossing
mechanism such as a Qualified Contingent Cross (``QCC'')) as a
percentage of average OCV in each tier that a Member may choose to meet
in lieu of the existing criteria (Customer order ADV as a percentage of
average OCV) to receive the corresponding enhanced rebate.
Specifically, a Member may reach the proposed alternative criteria in
Tier 1 if the Member has an ADV in complex non-crossing orders that is
greater than or equal to 0.10% of average OCV, the proposed alternative
criteria in Tier 2 if the Member has an ADV in complex non-crossing
orders that is greater than or equal to 0.25% of average OCV, and the
proposed alternative criteria in Tier 3 if the Member has an ADV in
complex non-crossing orders that is greater than or equal to 0.45% of
average OCV. Finally, the proposed rule change adopts Tier 4, which
provides an enhanced rebate of $0.49 per contract for qualifying orders
if a Member has an ADV in complex non-crossing orders greater than or
equal to 0.60% of average OCV or if a Member has an ADV in Customer
orders greater than or equal to 1.00% of average OCV, and adopts Tier
5, which provides an enhanced rebate of $0.50 per contract for
qualifying orders if a Member has an ADV in complex non-crossing orders
greater than or equal to 1.00% of average OCV or Member has an ADV in
Customer orders greater than or equal to 2.00% of average OCV.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ ``ADV'' means average daily volume calculated as the number
of contracts added or removed, combined, per day.
\8\ ``OCC Customer Volume or ``OCV'' means the total equity and
ETF options volume that clears in the Customer range at the Options
Clearing Corporation (``OCC'') for the month for which the fees
apply, excluding volume on any day that the Exchange experiences an
Exchange System Disruption and on any day with a scheduled early
market close.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The proposed rule change amends the Customer Complex Non-Penny
Tiers. Currently, Tier 1 offers an enhanced rebate of $0.85 per
contract for a Member's qualifying orders (i.e., yielding fee code ZB)
if a Member has an ADV in Customer orders greater than or equal to
0.40% of average OCV. Tier 2 currently offers an enhanced rebate of
$0.87 per contract for qualifying orders if a Member has an ADV in
Customer orders greater than or equal to 0.55% of average OCV. Tier 3
currently offers an enhanced rebate of $0.95 per contract
[[Page 20571]]
for qualifying orders if a Member has an ADV in Customer orders that is
greater than or equal to 0.75% of average OCV. In particular, the
proposed rule change amends the Customer Complex Non-Penny Tiers by
modestly reducing the enhanced rebate amount offered in Tier 1 and Tier
2, modestly increasing the percentage of average OCV that a Member's
ADV in Customer orders must reach in each tier, adding an alternative
prong of criteria in each tier, and adopting new Tier 4. The proposed
rule change reduces the enhanced rebate offered by Tier 1 from $0.85 to
$0.80 and by Tier 2 from $0.87 to $0.85. The proposed rule change
increases the percentage of average OCV that a Member's ADV in Customer
orders must meet in Tier 1 from 0.40% to 0.50%, in Tier 2 from 0.55% to
0.75%, and in Tier 3 from 0.75% to 1.00%. The proposed rule change adds
an alternative prong of criteria regarding a Member's ADV in complex
non-crossing orders as a percentage of average OCV in each tier that a
Member may choose to meet in lieu of the existing criteria (Customer
order ADV as a percentage of average OCV) to receive a corresponding
enhanced rebate. Specifically, a Member may reach the proposed
alternative criteria in Tier 1 if the Member has an ADV in complex non-
crossing orders that is greater than or equal to 0.25% of average OCV,
the proposed alternative criteria in Tier 2 if the Member has an ADV in
complex non-crossing orders that is greater than or equal to 0.45% of
average OCV, and the proposed alternative criteria in Tier 3 if the
Member has an ADV in complex non-crossing orders that is greater than
or equal to 0.60% of average OCV. Finally, the proposed rule change
adopts Tier 4, which provides an enhanced rebate of $1.00 per contract
for qualifying orders if a Member has an ADV in complex non-crossing
orders greater than or equal to 1.00% of average OCV or if a Member has
an ADV in Customer orders greater than or equal to 2.00% of average
OCV.
The proposed rule change to the existing Customer Complex Penny/
Non-Penny Tiers eases the overall difficulty in reaching the tiers'
criteria by adding an alternative criteria option that Members may
choose to meet in lieu of the existing criteria and amends the enhanced
rebates to correspond with the ease in criteria. While the proposed
change incrementally increases the ADV as a percentage of average OCV
in the existing Customer Complex Non-Penny Tiers' criteria, the
Exchange notes that the overall difficulty of meeting the criteria in
these existing tiers is eased by the opportunity to meet alternative
criteria. Also, as a result of the increase in the percentage of
Customer order ADV in the existing Customer Complex Non-Penny Tiers,
the proposed corresponding enhanced rebates are not as reduced as the
proposed enhanced rebates that correspond to the less difficult
criteria (due to the addition of the alternative criteria plus the
decrease in ADV as a percentage of average OCV) proposed in the
existing Customer Complex Penny Tiers. The proposed overall ease in
criteria and new tiers offered under the Customer Complex Penny/Non-
Penny Tiers provide Members an additional opportunity to receive a
rebate on their qualifying Customer complex orders (i.e., yielding fee
code ZA and ZB), which, in turn, provides Members with increased
incentives to increase their Customer order flow and their overall
complex non-crossing order flow in order to achieve the proposed eased
and/or additional criteria and receive enhanced rebates on their
qualifying Customer complex orders.
The proposed rule change also amends the AIM Volume Tier.
Currently, Tier 1 offers an enhanced rebate of $0.14 per contract for a
Member's qualifying orders (i.e. yielding fee code BC) if a Member has
an ADV in Customer Orders greater than or equal to 0.35% of average
OCV. The proposed rule change adopts a new Tier 1 (and, as a result,
updates current Tier 1 to Tier 2),\9\ which offers an enhanced rebate
of $0.11 per contract for qualifying orders if a Member has an ADV in
Customer Orders greater than or equal to 0.30% of average OCV. The
proposed rule change also incrementally increases the percentage of a
Member's Customer Order ADV into average OCV from 0.35% to 0.50% in
Tier 2 (current Tier 1). The corresponding enhanced rebate remains the
same Like the proposed additional Customer Complex Penny/Non-Penny
Tiers, the proposed new AIM Volume Tier provide Members with an
additional opportunity to achieve tier criteria and receive an enhanced
rebate, thus providing further incentive to submit Customer order flow
to the Exchange.
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\9\ As a result of the proposed additional tier, the proposed
rule change also updates the heading of Footnote 9 from singular to
plural ``Tiers.''
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The Exchange believes that the proposed changes to the Customer
Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM Volume Tiers are designed overall
to incentivize more Customer order flow and to direct an increase of
order flow to the EDGX Options Order Book. The Exchange believes that
an increase in Customer order flow and overall order flow to the
Exchange's Book creates more trading opportunities, which, in turn
attracts Market-Makers. A resulting increase in Market-Maker activity
may facilitate tighter spreads, which may lead to an additional
increase of order flow from other market participants, further
contributing to a deeper, more liquid market to the benefit of all
market participants by creating a more robust and well-balanced market
ecosystem.
Finally, the proposed rule change updates the term ``Penny Pilot''
throughout the Fee Schedule to reflect the 2020 adoption of the pilot
program on a permanent basis.\10\ More specifically, on April 1, 2020
the Commission approved an amendment the Plan for the Purpose of
Developing and Implementing Procedures Designed to Facilitate the
Listing and Trading of Standardized Options (the ``OLPP'') to make
permanent the Penny Pilot Program, and the Exchange accordingly
conformed its Rules to the OLPP Program by deleting Interpretation and
Policy .01 to Rule 21.5 (the ``Penny Pilot Rule''), replacing it with
Rule 21.5(e) (Requirements for Penny Interval Program). As a result,
the proposed rule change now updates the Fee Schedule to reflect the
permanent Penny Program, as follows:
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\10\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 89080 (June 17,
2020), 85 FR 37722 (June 23, 2020) (SR-CboeEDGX-2020-028).
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Removes the term ``Pilot'' from the descriptions of fee
codes PB, PC, PF, PM, PN, PO, PP, PT, RN, and RQ in the Fees Codes and
Associated Fees section; \11\
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\11\ The Exchange notes that this update harmonizes these fee
code descriptions with existing fee code descriptions that currently
refer to just ``Penny''.
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replaces ``Pilot'' with ``Program'' where applicable in
the Standard Rates table, Footnote 4, Footnote 6, Footnote 8, and
Marketing Fees table; and
amends the term ``Penny Pilot Securities'' to reflect the
definition of ``Penny Program Securities'' in the Definition section
and updates the definition to reflect Rule 21.5(e), which now governs
the Penny Program.
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change will provide
additional clarity in the Fee Schedule by updating references to the
current permanent Penny Program and the corresponding Rule that now
governs the program. The Exchange notes that the proposed rule change
does not alter the securities eligible for the Penny Program nor any of
the rates currently assessed for Penny Program Securities.
[[Page 20572]]
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,\12\ in general, and
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4),\13\ in particular, as it is
designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees and other charges among its Members and issuers and other persons
using its facilities. The Exchange also believes that the proposed rule
change is consistent with the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) \14\
requirements that the rules of an exchange be 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, particularly, is not
designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers,
brokers, or dealers.
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\12\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
\13\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.(b)(5).
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As described above, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive
market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be
excessive or incentives to be insufficient. The proposed rule change
reflects a competitive pricing structure designed to incentivize market
participants to direct their order flow to the Exchange, which the
Exchange believes would enhance market quality to the benefit of all
Members.
The Exchange believes the proposed reduction in rebate amounts for
orders yielding fee codes ZA, ZB, and BC is reasonable, equitable, and
not unfairly discriminatory. The Exchange believes that amending the
rebates for Customer orders yielding fee code ZA, ZB, or BC is
reasonable because, as stated above, in order to operate in the highly
competitive equities markets, the Exchange and its competing exchanges
seek to offer similar pricing structures, including assessing
comparable rates and offering multiple enhanced pricing opportunities
for various types of orders. Thus, the Exchange believes the proposed
rate changes (along with the proposed offering of additional tiered
pricing opportunities) are reasonable as they are generally aligned
with and competitive with the amounts assessed for similar Customer
orders on other options exchanges.\15\ The Exchange also believes that
amending the rebate amounts associated with fee codes ZA, ZB, and BC
represents an equitable allocation of fees and is not unfairly
discriminatory because they will continue to automatically and
uniformly apply to all Members' respective qualifying Customer orders.
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\15\ See supra note 6.
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The Exchange believes the proposed changes to the Customer Complex
Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM Volume Tier are reasonable overall
because they amend the tiers in a manner that incentivizes increased
Customer order flow and/or overall order flow to the EDGX Book by
providing Members with additional opportunities to meet criteria, both
via reduction in difficulty and additional tiers, in order to receive
enhanced rebates a Member's qualifying orders. The Exchange notes that
relative volume-based incentives and discounts have been widely adopted
by exchanges,\16\ including the Exchange,\17\ and are reasonable,
equitable and non-discriminatory because they are open to all members
on an equal basis and provide additional benefits or discounts that are
reasonably related to (i) the value to an exchange's market quality and
(ii) associated higher levels of market activity, such as higher levels
of liquidity provision and/or growth patterns. Additionally, as noted
above, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive market. The
Exchange is only one of several options venues to which market
participants may direct their order flow, and it represents a small
percentage of the overall market. Competing options exchanges offer
similar tiered pricing structures to that of the Exchange, including
schedules of rebates and fees that apply based upon members achieving
certain volume and/or growth thresholds and offer comparable pricing to
members for achieving such tiers.\18\
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\16\ See e.g., Cboe BZX U.S. Options Exchange Fee Schedule,
Footnote 1, Customer Penny Add Volume Tiers; and Footnote 12,
Customer Non-Penny Add Volume Tiers, both of which provide for
various tiers with different, incrementally more difficult criteria,
many of which are based on average volumes as a percentage of
average OCV and offer enhanced rebates ranging from $0.35 to $1.06
per contract.
\17\ See i.e., Cboe EDGX U.S. Options Exchange Fee Schedule,
Footnote 1, Customer Volume Tiers.
\18\ See supra note 16.
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Specifically, the Exchange believes that the proposed changes to
the Customer Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and the AIM Volume Tier are
reasonable, equitable, and not unfairly discriminatory. The Exchange
believes that the additional, alternative criteria and modification of
existing criteria in the Customer Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers are
reasonable because they amend existing opportunities to receive
enhanced rebates by easing the level of difficulty in each set of the
three existing tiers and maintain the current structure of step-up in
difficulty in achieving each ascending tier. The proposed new Customer
Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers are reasonable because they provide
Members with additional, also incrementally more challenging,
opportunities to receive enhanced rebates. Likewise, the proposed new
AIM Volume Tier 1 provides Members with an additional opportunity to
achieve easier tier criteria (than that of current Tier 1) and receive
an enhanced rebate, while slightly increasing the difficulty in
reaching the criteria in the existing AIM Volume Tier (current Tier 1)
to also reflect an incremental step-up in difficulty in the AIM Volume
Tiers. The Exchange believes that the proposed additional opportunities
in the Customer Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM Volume Tiers for Members
to receive enhanced rebates on their qualifying orders via new tiers
and an overall ease in tier difficulty (while still maintaining the
current structure of step-up in difficulty through ascending tiers) are
reasonably designed to provide further incentive to Members to increase
Customer order flow to the Exchange overall order flow directly to the
Exchange's Book. As described above, Customer order flow and overall
order flow to the Exchange's Book creates more trading opportunities,
which, in turn attracts Market-Makers. A resulting increase in Market-
Maker activity may facilitate tighter spreads, which may lead to an
additional increase of order flow from other market participants.
Increased overall order flow benefits all investors by deepening the
Exchange's liquidity pool, potentially providing even greater execution
incentives and opportunities, offering additional flexibility for all
investors to enjoy cost savings, supporting the quality of price
discovery, promoting market transparency, and improving investor
protection.
The Exchange further believes that the proposed changes to the
enhanced rebate amounts and new enhanced rebates in the Customer
Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM Volume Tiers are reasonable as
they represent the proposed proportional decreases in difficulty per
adjacent tiers. The Exchange believes that providing reduced enhanced
rebates per tier is
[[Page 20573]]
reasonable as they are commensurate with the proposed criteria, in
that, they are line with the easing the level of difficulty or the
proposed new relative levels of difficulty in the Customer Complex
Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM Volume Tiers. Also, as noted above, while
the proposed criteria changes to the existing Customer Complex Non-
Penny Tiers decrease the overall difficulty in meeting the tiers'
criteria, the difficulty in reaching the modified criteria in these
tiers is incrementally greater than the difficulty in reaching the
modified criteria in the proposed Customer Complex Penny Tiers.
Therefore, Exchange believes it is reasonable to offer, as proposed, a
slightly less reduced enhanced rebate per corresponding Customer
Complex Non-Penny Tier. Also, the proposed reduced enhanced rebates
and/or proposed additional enhanced rebates in the Customer Complex
Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM Volume Tiers, as applicable, do not
represent a significant departure from the enhanced rebates currently
offered under the tiers as the proposed rate changes merely
incrementally shift the range of enhanced rebates offered to most
appropriately align with the corresponding shift in criteria difficulty
per each tier (existing and new).
The Exchange believes that the proposed changes to the Customer
Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM Volume Tier represent an
equitable allocation of rebates and are not unfairly discriminatory.
All Members will continue to be eligible for the existing Customer
Complex Penny/Non-Penny Tiers and AIM Volume Tier, as amended, and will
be eligible for the proposed tiers by submitting the requisite order
flow. The proposed changes to the tiers' criteria are designed as an
incentive to any and all Members interested in meeting modified and new
tier criteria to submit additional Customer orders and/or overall order
flow directly to the Exchange's Book. Each Member will have the same
opportunity to submit the requisite order flow and the corresponding
enhanced rebates (existing and as amended) will apply uniformly to all
Members that meet the modified or new tier criteria. Without having a
view of activity on other markets and off-exchange venues, the Exchange
has no way of knowing whether this proposed rule change would
definitely result in any Members qualifying for the proposed tiers.
While the Exchange has no way of predicting with certainty how the
proposed tiers will impact Member activity, the Exchange anticipates
that at least one to three Members will be able to compete for and
potentially achieve the amended criteria in each of the existing
Customer Complex Penny Tiers and Customer Complex Non-Penny Tiers. The
Exchange also anticipates at least one or two Members will be able to
compete for and potentially achieve the two new Customer Complex Penny
Tiers and new Customer Non-Penny Tier. The Exchange anticipates that
approximately two to three Members will be able to compete for and
potentially achieve each of the AIM Volume Tiers, as proposed. The
Exchange also notes that the proposed tiers will not adversely impact
any Member's pricing or their ability to qualify for other rebate
tiers. Rather, should a Member not meet the proposed criteria for a
tier, the Member will merely not receive the corresponding enhanced
rebate.
Finally, the Exchange believes the proposed update to the Penny
Program language and Rule reference in the Fee Schedule is reasonable,
equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it is intended to
provide additional clarity in the Fee Schedule by updating references
to the current permanent Penny Program and the corresponding Rule that
now governs the program and does not alter the securities eligible for
the Penny Program nor any of the rates currently assessed for Penny
Program Securities.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will
impose any burden on intramarket or intermarket competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
Rather, as discussed above, the Exchange believes that the proposed
change would encourage the submission of additional order flow to a
public exchange, thereby promoting market depth, execution incentives
and enhanced execution opportunities, as well as price discovery and
transparency for all Members. As a result, the Exchange believes that
the proposed change furthers the Commission's goal in adopting
Regulation NMS of fostering competition among orders, which promotes
``more efficient pricing of individual stocks for all types of orders,
large and small.'' \19\
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\19\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808, 70 FR 37495,
37498-99 (June 29, 2005) (S7-10-04) (Final Rule).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange believes the proposed rule change does not impose any
burden on intramarket competition that is not necessary or appropriate
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. Particularly, the proposed
change to the rebate amounts associated with fee codes ZA, ZB, and BC
will continue to apply uniformly and automatically to all Members'
respective qualifying orders. The proposed tier changes apply to all
Members equally in that all Members are eligible to achieve the tiers'
proposed criteria, have a reasonable opportunity to meet the tiers'
proposed criteria and will all receive the corresponding enhanced
rebates (existing and as amended) if such criteria is met. Overall, the
proposed change is designed to attract additional Customer order flow
to the Exchange and overall order flow directly to the Exchange's Book.
The Exchange believes that the modified and new tier criteria will
incentivize market participants to strive to increase such order flow
to the Exchange to receive the corresponding enhanced rebates and, as a
result, increase trading opportunities, attract further Market-Maker
activity, further incentivize the provision of liquidity and continued
order flow to the Book, and improve price transparency on the Exchange.
Greater overall order flow and pricing transparency benefits all market
participants on the Exchange by generally providing a cycle of more
trading opportunities, enhancing market quality, and continuing to
encourage Members to submit order flow and continue to contribute
towards a robust and well-balanced market ecosystem to the benefit of
all market participants. The Exchange additionally notes that the
proposed rule change to reflect the current Penny Program is
noncompetitive, nonsubstantive and merely clarifying in nature.
Next, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change does not
impose any burden on intermarket competition that is not necessary or
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. As previously
discussed, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive market.
Members have numerous alternative venues that they may participate on
and direct their order flow, including 15 other options exchanges and
off-exchange venues and alternative trading systems. Additionally, the
Exchange represents a small percentage of the overall market. Based on
publicly available information, no single options exchange has more
than 15% of the market share.\20\ Therefore, no exchange possesses
significant pricing power in the execution of order flow. Indeed,
participants can readily choose to send
[[Page 20574]]
their orders to other exchange and off-exchange venues if they deem fee
levels at those other venues to be more favorable. Moreover, 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.'' \21\ The fact that this market is
competitive has also long been recognized by the courts. In
NetCoalition v. Securities and Exchange Commission, the D.C. Circuit
stated as follows: ``[n]o one disputes that competition for order flow
is `fierce.' . . . As the SEC explained, `[i]n the U.S. national market
system, buyers and sellers of securities, and the broker-dealers that
act as their order-routing agents, have a wide range of choices of
where to route orders for execution'; [and] `no exchange can afford to
take its market share percentages for granted' because `no exchange
possesses a monopoly, regulatory or otherwise, in the execution of
order flow from broker dealers'. . . .''.\22\ Accordingly, the Exchange
does not believe its proposed fee change imposes any burden on
competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the
purposes of the Act.
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\20\ See supra note 3.
\21\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005).
\22\ NetCoalition v. SEC, 615 F.3d 525, 539 (D.C. Cir. 2010)
(quoting Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59039 (December 2,
2008), 73 FR 74770, 74782-83 (December 9, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2006-
21)).
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C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on the
proposed rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \23\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \24\
thereunder. At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed
rule change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission
takes such action, the Commission will institute proceedings to
determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or
disapproved.
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\23\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\24\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
Use the Commission's internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an email to [email protected]. Please include
File Number SR-CboeEDGX-2021-020 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-CboeEDGX-2021-020. This
file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To
help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently,
please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on
the Commission's internet website (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml).
Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written
statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with
the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed
rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those
that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions
of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for website viewing and printing in
the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549, on official business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and
3:00 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection
and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change.
Persons submitting comments are cautioned that we do not redact or
edit personal identifying information from comment submissions. You
should submit only information that you wish to make available
publicly. All submissions should refer to File Number SR-CboeEDGX-2021-
020 and should be submitted on or before May 11, 2021.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\25\
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\25\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-08033 Filed 4-19-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
