Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its Fee Schedule, 9399-9403 [2022-03495]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2022 / Notices For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.6 J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Assistant Secretary. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–94238; File No. SR– CboeBZX–2021–086] [FR Doc. 2022–03494 Filed 2–17–22; 8:45 am] Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Designation of Longer Period for Commission Action on Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Opening Auction Process Provided Under Rule 11.23(b)(2)(B) jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1 February 14, 2022. On December 21, 2021, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to amend the Opening Auction process provided under Rule 11.23(b)(2)(B). The proposed rule change was published for comment in the Federal Register on January 5, 2022.3 The Commission has received no comment letters on the proposed rule change. Section 19(b)(2) of the Act 4 provides that, within 45 days of the publication of notice of the filing of a proposed rule change, or within such longer period up to 90 days as the Commission may designate if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding, or as to which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission shall either approve the proposed rule change, disapprove the proposed rule change, or institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved. The 45th day after publication of the notice for this proposed rule change is February 19, 2022. The Commission is extending this 45day time period. The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposal so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change. Accordingly, the Commission, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,5 designates April 5, 2022, as the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove, or institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove, the proposed rule change (File No. SR– CboeBZX–2021–086). 1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). CFR 240.19b–4. 3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 93888 (December 30, 2021), 87 FR 532. 4 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 5 Id. 2 17 VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:54 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 256001 BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–94237; File No. SR– CboeEDGX–2022–005] Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its Fee Schedule February 14, 2022. 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 February 1, 2022, 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’’ or ‘‘EDGX Equities’’) proposes to amend its Fee 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 CFR 200.30–3(a)(31). 1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. Frm 00093 Fmt 4703 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 Fee Schedule applicable to its equities trading platform (‘‘EDGX Equities’’) as follows: (1) Adopt new fee code ZO which will be applicable to retail orders that add liquidity in the pre and post market; (2) update Remove Volume Tier 2, the Retail Volume Tiers, and Retail Membership Program Volume Tiers to add references to proposed fee code ZO; (3) modify the rebate applicable to Add/ Remove Volume Tiers 1 and 2; (4) modify the criteria of Growth Tier 4; and (5) modify the criteria of the Remove Volume Tier 1. The Exchange proposes to implement these changes effective February 1, 2022. 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 registered equities exchanges, as well as a number of alternative trading systems and other off-exchange venues that do not have similar self-regulatory responsibilities under the Exchange Act, to which market participants may direct their order flow. Based on publicly available information,3 no single registered equities exchange has more than 17% of the market share. Thus, in such a low-concentrated and highly competitive market, no single equities exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution of order flow. The Exchange in particular operates a ‘‘Maker-Taker’’ model whereby it pays rebates to members that add liquidity and assesses fees to those that remove liquidity. The Exchange’s Fee Schedule sets forth the standard rebates and rates applied per share for orders that provide and remove liquidity, respectively. Currently, for orders in securities priced at or above $1.00, the Exchange provides a standard rebate of $0.00160 per share for orders that add liquidity and assesses a fee of $0.0030 per share for orders that remove liquidity. For orders in securities priced below $1.00, the Exchange provides a standard rebate 3 See Cboe Global Markets, U.S. Equities Market Volume Summary, Month-to-Date (January 24, 2022), available at https://markets.cboe.com/us/ equities/market_statistics/. 6 17 PO 00000 9399 Sfmt 4703 E:\FR\FM\18FEN1.SGM 18FEN1 9400 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2022 / Notices jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1 of $0.00009 per share for orders that add liquidity and assesses a fee of 0.30% of total dollar value for orders that remove liquidity. Additionally, in response to the competitive environment, the Exchange also offers tiered pricing which provides Members opportunities to qualify for higher rebates or reduced fees where certain volume criteria and thresholds are met. Tiered pricing provides an incremental incentive for Members to strive for higher tier levels, which provides increasingly higher benefits or discounts for satisfying increasingly more stringent criteria. Proposed New Fee Code The Exchange proposes to adopt a new fee code in the Fee Code and Associated Fees table of the Fee Schedule. Currently, all retail orders that add liquidity yield fee code ‘‘ZA’’ and receive a rebate of $0.0032 per share in securities priced at or above $1.00 and a rebate of $0.00003 per share in securities priced below $1.00. The Exchange now proposes to adopt fee code ‘‘ZO’’, which will be appended to retail orders that add liquidity, but in the pre and post market. The Exchange proposes to continue to assess the same fees and rebates as are currently assessed today for retail orders that add liquidity (i.e., orders yielding fee code ZO would receive a rebate of $0.0032 per share in securities priced at or above $1.00 and a rebate of $0.00003 per share in securities priced below $1.00). The Exchange also proposes to apply incentive tiers and programs that currently apply to orders yielding ZA to orders that will now yield ZO and therefore append footnotes 2 and 3 to ZO in the Fee Code and Associated Fees table. Particularly, the Exchange proposes to modify the description and criteria of the Retail Volume Tiers (provided under footnote 2 of the Fee Schedule) and Retail Equities Membership Program Volume Tiers (provided under footnote 3 of the Fee Schedule), so that orders yielding both fee codes ZA and ZO are eligible for the respective tiers and the Retail Order ADV criteria under each tier includes orders yielding ZO in addition to ZA. Similarly, the Exchange proposes to amend the second prong of Remove Volume Tier 2 to provide the Retail Order ADV criteria will also include orders yielding ZO in addition to ZA. Accordingly, retail orders that add liquidity in the pre or post market will continue to be eligible for the same incentive programs (and continue to be counted towards Retail Order ADV thresholds) as they are today, albeit under a separate fee code (i.e., ZO instead of ZA). VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:54 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 256001 Modifications to Add/Remove Volume Tiers The Add Volume Tiers set forth in footnote 1 of the Fee Schedule (Add/ Remove Volume Tiers) provides Members an opportunity for qualifying orders (i.e., orders yielding fee code B,4 V,5 Y,6 3 7 or 4 8) to receive an enhanced rebate on their orders on orders that add liquidity and meet certain volume criteria. Specifically, Add Volume Tier 1 provides a rebate of $0.0023 per share to Members that add an ADV 9 greater than or equal to 0.20% of the TCV.10 Similarly, Add Volume Tier 2 provides a rebate of $0.0025 per share to Members that add an ADV greater than or equal to 0.30% of the TCV. The Exchange notes that the Add Volume Tiers are designed to encourage Members that provide liquidity adding orders to the Exchange to increase their order flow, which would benefit all Members by providing greater execution opportunities on the Exchange. Now the Exchange proposes to reduce the rebates provided under Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2 to $0.0020 per share and $0.0023 per share, respectively. While the Exchange is proposing no change to the criteria of the Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2, the Exchange believes that the tier will continue to incentivize increased order flow to the Exchange, which may contribute to a deeper, more liquid market to the benefit of all market participants by creating a more robust and well-balanced market ecosystem. The Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2, as modified, continue to be available to all Members and provide Members an opportunity to receive an enhanced rebate, albeit a reduced rebate. The proposed rebates are in line with similar rebates for liquidity adding programs in place on other exchanges.11 4 Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘B’’ are orders adding liquidity to EDGX (Tape B). 5 Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘V’’ are orders adding liquidity to EDGX (Tape A). 6 Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘Y’’ are orders adding liquidity to EDGX (Tape C). 7 Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘3’’ are orders adding liquidity to EDGX in the pre and post market (Tapes A or C). 8 Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘4’’ are orders adding liquidity to EDGX in the pre and post market (Tape B). 9 ‘‘ADAV’’ means average daily added volume calculated as the number of shares added per day and ‘‘ADV’’ means average daily volume calculated as the number of shares added to, removed from, or routed by, the Exchange, or any combination or subset thereof, per day. ADAV and ADV is calculated on a monthly basis 10 ‘‘TCV’’ means total consolidated volume calculated as the volume reported by all exchanges and trade reporting facilities to a consolidated transaction reporting plan for the month for which the fees apply. 11 E.g., the BZX Equities Add Volume Tiers provide rebates ranging from $0.0020 per share up PO 00000 Frm 00094 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 The Growth Volume Tiers are also set forth under footnote 1 of the Fee Schedule (Add/Remove Volume Tiers) and are designed to encourage growth in order flow by providing specific criteria in which Members must increase their relative liquidity each month over a predetermined baseline. Growth Tier 4, for example, provides an opportunity for qualifying orders (i.e., orders yielding fee code B, V, Y, 3 or 4) to receive an enhanced rebate of $0.0034 per share to Members that (1) add a Step-Up ADAV 12 from October 2021 greater than or equal to 0.10% of the TCV or Members that add a Step-Up ADAV from October 2021 equal to or greater than 10 million shares; and (2) Members that have a total remove ADV equal to or greater than 0.60% of TCV or Members that have a total remove ADV greater than or equal to 60 million shares. The Exchange now proposes to amend the criteria of Growth Tier 4 to provide the rebate to (1) an MPID that adds a Step-Up ADAV from October 2021 equal to or greater than 10% of the TCV or an MPID adds a Step-Up ADAV from October 2021 equal to or greater than 15 million shares (instead of 10 million shares); and (2) an MPID that adds an ADV equal to or greater than 0.30% of TCV or an MPID that adds an ADV equal to or greater than 30 million shares (instead of 60 million shares). Lastly, the Remove Volume Tiers are also set forth under footnote 1 of the Fee Schedule (Add/Remove Volume Tiers) and provide Members an opportunity for qualifying orders (i.e., orders yielding fee codes BB,13 N 14 and W 15) to receive a reduced fee on their orders that remove liquidity and meet certain volume criteria. Specifically, the Remove Volume Tier 1 provides a reduced fee of $0.00275 in securities at or above $1.00 and 0.28% of the total dollar value in securities priced below $1.00 to (1) Members that add a Step-Up ADAV from June 2021 equal to or greater than 0.10% of the TCV or Members that add a Step-Up ADAV from June 2021 equal to or greater than 8 million shares; and (2) Members that have a total remove ADV equal to or greater than 0.60% of the TCV. Now the Exchange proposes to modify the criteria to adopt an alternative criteria to satisfy prong two. Specifically, the to $0.0031 per share. See BZX Equities Fee Schedule, footnote 1. 12 ‘‘Step-Up ADAV’’ means ADAV in the relevant baseline month subtracted from current ADAV. 13 Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘BB’’ are orders removing liquidity to EDGX (Tape (B)). 14 Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘N’’ are orders removing liquidity to EDGX (Tape (C)). 15 Orders yielding Fee Code ‘‘W’’ are orders removing liquidity to EDGX (Tape (A)). E:\FR\FM\18FEN1.SGM 18FEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2022 / Notices jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1 Exchange proposes to provide the reduced rebate to (1) Members that add a Step-Up ADAV from June 2021 equal to or greater than 0.10% of the TCV or Members that add a Step-Up ADAV from June 2021 equal to or greater than 8 million shares; and (2) Members that have a total remove ADV equal to or greater than 0.60% of the TCV, or, Members that have a total remove ADV equal to or greater than 60 million shares. The Exchange proposes no change to the current reduced fee applicable to the Remove Volume Tier 1. 2. Statutory Basis The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the objectives of Section 6 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1933 (the ‘‘Act’’),16 in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4),17 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) 18 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 changes reflect 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. Regarding the proposed new fee code ZO appended to retail orders adding liquidity in the pre and post market, the Exchange notes that the competition for 16 15 U.S.C. 78f. U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 18 15 U.S.C. 78f.(b)(5). 17 15 VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:54 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 256001 retail order flow is particularly intense, especially as it relates to exchange versus off-exchange venues, as prominent retail brokerages tend to route a majority of their limit orders to off-exchange venues.19 Accordingly, competitive forces compel the Exchange to use exchange transaction fees and credits, particularly as they relate to competing for retail order flow, because market participants can readily trade on competing venues if they deem pricing levels at those other venues to be more favorable. The Exchange believes that its proposed change to adopt fee code ZO is reasonable, equitable and not unfairly discriminatory. First, the Exchange notes that the proposed standard rebates under fee code ZO are the same as those currently applied to such orders under fee code ZA, which fee code as discussed currently also applies to retail orders that add liquidity, albeit during regular market hours. Further, the proposed standard rebates are consistent with, and competitive with, rebates for retail order flow on other equities exchanges, which provide pricing incentives to retail orders in the form of lower fees and/or higher rebates.20 Second, while the proposed rebates apply only to retail orders, the Exchange does not believe this application is discriminatory as the Exchange offers similar rebates or reduced fees to nonretail order flow. The Exchange notes that, like all other fee codes, ZO and the accompanying rebates will be automatically and uniformly applied to all Members’ qualifying orders as applicable. The Exchange also believes it’s reasonable, equitable and not unfairly discriminatory to apply volume incentive tiers that currently apply to orders yielding ZA to ZO and to clarify that Retail Order ADV will include orders yielding either ZA or ZO as such changes apply to all members and such tiers already apply to all retail orders that add liquidity, including those that execute in the pre or post market (i.e., there will be no substantive impact to orders yielding ZO with respect to their inclusion in these programs). The Exchange believes its proposal to reduce the rebates applicable to Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2 is reasonable because each tier continues to be available to all Members and provides Members an opportunity to receive an enhanced rebate, albeit a reduced enhanced rebate. Similarly, the 19 See Securities Exchange Release No. 86375 (July 15, 2019), 84 FR 34960 (SRCboeEDGX–2019– 045). 20 See e.g., BZX Equities Fee Schedule, Fee Code ZA, which provides a rebate of $0.0032 per share to retail orders adding liquidity. PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 9401 Exchange believes its proposal to amend the criteria of the Growth Tier 4 is reasonable because the tier will be available to all MPIDs and provides MPIDs an opportunity to receive an enhanced rebate. The Exchange also believes its proposal to amend the criteria of the Remove Volume Tier 1 is reasonable because it will provide an additional opportunity for Members to reach the tier, will continue to be available to all Members, and will provide Members an opportunity to receive a reduced fee. The Exchange notes that relative volume-based incentives and discounts have been widely adopted by exchanges, including the Exchange, and are reasonable, equitable, and nondiscriminatory because they are open to all Members on an equal basis and provide additional discounts that are reasonably related to (i) the value to an exchange’s market quality and (ii) associated with higher levels of market activity, such as higher levels of liquidity provision and/or growth patterns. The Exchange also believes that the proposed and existing rebates and fees, as applicable, under Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2, Growth Tier 4, and Remove Volume Tier 1 continue to be commensurate with the existing and proposed criteria. That is, the rebates reasonably reflect the difficulty in achieving the corresponding criteria as amended. The Exchange believes that the changes to the Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2, Growth Tier 4, and Remove Volume Tier 1, will benefit all market participants by incentivizing continuous liquidity and, thus, deeper more liquid markets as well as increased execution opportunities. Particularly, the proposal is designed to incentivize liquidity, which further contributes to a deeper, more liquid market and provide even more execution opportunities for active market participants at improved prices. This overall increase in activity deepens the Exchange’s liquidity pool, offers additional cost savings, supports the quality of price discovery, promotes market transparency and improves market quality, for all investors. The Exchange also believes that the proposed amendments to the Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2, Growth Tier 4, and Remove Volume Tier 1 represent an equitable allocation of rebates and are not unfairly discriminatory because all Members or MPIDs are eligible for the tiers and would have the opportunity to meet the tiers’ criteria and would receive the proposed rebate if such criteria is met. Without having a view of activity on other markets and offexchange venues, the Exchange has no E:\FR\FM\18FEN1.SGM 18FEN1 9402 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2022 / Notices jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1 way of knowing whether this proposed rule change would definitely result in any Members or MPIDs qualifying for the proposed tiers. While the Exchange has no way of predicting with certainty how the proposed tier will impact Member activity, the Exchange anticipates that at least one MPID will be able to compete for and reach the proposed criteria in Growth Tier 4 and Remove Volume Tier 1. The Exchange also notes that proposed tiers will not adversely impact any Member’s ability to qualify for other reduced fee or enhanced rebate tiers. Should a Member not meet the proposed criteria under any of the proposed tiers, the Member will merely not receive that corresponding enhanced rebate or reduced fee. As noted above, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive market. The Exchange is only one of 16 equity venues to which market participants may direct their order flow, and it represents a small percentage of the overall market. It is also only one of several maker-taker exchanges. Competing equity exchanges offer similar rates and tiered pricing structures to that of the Exchange, including schedules of rebates and fees that apply based upon members achieving certain volume thresholds. B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Burden on Competition The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule changes will impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. Rather, as discussed above, the Exchange believes that the proposed changes 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 changes further 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.’’ The Exchange believes the proposed rule changes do not impose any burden on intramarket competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. Particularly, the proposed tier changes will apply to Members or MPIDs equally in that all Members or MPIDs are eligible for each of the tiers, have a reasonable opportunity to meet the tiers’ criteria and will receive the enhanced rebate or VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:54 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 256001 reduced fee on their qualifying orders if such criteria is met. Further, the proposed Fee Code will similarly be available to all Members equally. The Exchange does not believe the proposed changes burdens competition, but rather, enhances competition as it is intended to increase the competitiveness of EDGX by amending an existing pricing incentive and adopting a pricing incentive in order to attract order flow and incentivize participants to increase their participation on the Exchange, providing for additional execution opportunities for market participants and improved price transparency. Greater overall order flow, trading opportunities, and pricing transparency benefits all market participants on the Exchange by enhancing market quality and continuing to encourage Members to send orders, thereby contributing towards a robust and well-balanced market ecosystem. 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 other equities exchanges, 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 equities exchange has more than 17% of the market share.21 Therefore, no exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution of order flow. Indeed, participants can readily choose to send 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.’’ 22 The fact that this market is competitive has 21 Supra note 3. Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005). 22 See PO 00000 Frm 00096 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 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’. . . .’’.23 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 24 and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b–4 25 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. 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: 23 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)). 24 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 25 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f). E:\FR\FM\18FEN1.SGM 18FEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 34 / Friday, February 18, 2022 / Notices 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–2022–005 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. jspears on DSK121TN23PROD with NOTICES1 All submissions should refer to File Number SR–CboeEDGX–2022–005. 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–2022–005 and should be submitted on or before March 11, 2022. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.26 J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2022–03495 Filed 2–17–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 26 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). VerDate Sep<11>2014 18:54 Feb 17, 2022 Jkt 256001 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [SEC File No. 270–0329, OMB Control No. 3235–0371] Proposed Collection; Comment Request Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549–2736 Extension: Rule 15a–6 Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (‘‘PRA’’) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments on the existing collection of information provided for in Rule 15a–6, (17 CFR 240.15a–6), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.). The Commission plans to submit this existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for extension and approval. Rule 15a–6 provides conditional exemptions from the requirement to register as a broker-dealer pursuant to Section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act for foreign broker-dealers that engage in certain specified activities involving U.S. persons. In particular, Rule 15a–6(a)(3) provides an exemption from broker-dealer registration for foreign broker-dealers that solicit and effect transactions with or for U.S. institutional investors or major U.S. institutional investors through a registered broker-dealer, provided that the U.S. broker-dealer, among other things, obtains certain information about, and consents to service of process from, the personnel of the foreign broker-dealer involved in such transactions, and maintains certain records in connection therewith. These requirements are intended to ensure (a) that the registered brokerdealer will receive notice of the identity of, and has reviewed the background of, foreign personnel who will contact U.S. investors, (b) that the foreign brokerdealer and its personnel effectively may be served with process in the event enforcement action is necessary, and (c) that the Commission has ready access to information concerning these persons and their U.S. securities activities. Commission staff estimates that approximately 2,000 U.S. registered broker-dealers will spend an average of two hours of clerical staff time and one hour of managerial staff time per year obtaining the information required by the rule, resulting in a total aggregate PO 00000 Frm 00097 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 9990 9403 burden of 6,000 hours per year for complying with the rule. Assuming an hourly cost of $72 1 for a compliance clerk and $319 2 for a compliance manager, the resultant total internal labor cost of compliance for the respondents is $926,000 per year (2,000 entities × ((2 hours/entity × $72/hour) + (1 hour per entity × $319/hour)) = $926,000). Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission’s estimates of the burden of the proposed collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. Consideration will be given to comments and suggestions submitted in writing within 60 days of this publication. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Please direct your written comments to: David Bottom, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or send an email to: PRA_ Mailbox@sec.gov. Dated: February 14, 2020. J. Matthew DeLesDernier, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2022–03493 Filed 2–17–22; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 1 The hourly rate used for a compliance clerk was from SIFMA’s Office Salaries in the Securities Industry 2013, modified by Commission staff to account for an 1,800 hour work-year and multiplied by 2.93 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee benefits and overhead. 2 The hourly rate used for a compliance manager was from SIFMA’s Management & Professional Earnings in the Securities Industry 2013, modified by Commission staff to account for an 1,800 hour work-year and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee benefits and overhead. E:\FR\FM\18FEN1.SGM 18FEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 34 (Friday, February 18, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9399-9403]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-03495]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-94237; File No. SR-CboeEDGX-2022-005]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice 
of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To 
Amend Its Fee Schedule

February 14, 2022.
    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 February 1, 2022, 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'' or ``EDGX 
Equities'') proposes to amend its Fee 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 Fee Schedule applicable to its 
equities trading platform (``EDGX Equities'') as follows: (1) Adopt new 
fee code ZO which will be applicable to retail orders that add 
liquidity in the pre and post market; (2) update Remove Volume Tier 2, 
the Retail Volume Tiers, and Retail Membership Program Volume Tiers to 
add references to proposed fee code ZO; (3) modify the rebate 
applicable to Add/Remove Volume Tiers 1 and 2; (4) modify the criteria 
of Growth Tier 4; and (5) modify the criteria of the Remove Volume Tier 
1. The Exchange proposes to implement these changes effective February 
1, 2022.
    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 registered equities exchanges, as well as a 
number of alternative trading systems and other off-exchange venues 
that do not have similar self-regulatory responsibilities under the 
Exchange Act, to which market participants may direct their order flow. 
Based on publicly available information,\3\ no single registered 
equities exchange has more than 17% of the market share. Thus, in such 
a low-concentrated and highly competitive market, no single equities 
exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution of order 
flow. The Exchange in particular operates a ``Maker-Taker'' model 
whereby it pays rebates to members that add liquidity and assesses fees 
to those that remove liquidity. The Exchange's Fee Schedule sets forth 
the standard rebates and rates applied per share for orders that 
provide and remove liquidity, respectively. Currently, for orders in 
securities priced at or above $1.00, the Exchange provides a standard 
rebate of $0.00160 per share for orders that add liquidity and assesses 
a fee of $0.0030 per share for orders that remove liquidity. For orders 
in securities priced below $1.00, the Exchange provides a standard 
rebate

[[Page 9400]]

of $0.00009 per share for orders that add liquidity and assesses a fee 
of 0.30% of total dollar value for orders that remove liquidity. 
Additionally, in response to the competitive environment, the Exchange 
also offers tiered pricing which provides Members opportunities to 
qualify for higher rebates or reduced fees where certain volume 
criteria and thresholds are met. Tiered pricing provides an incremental 
incentive for Members to strive for higher tier levels, which provides 
increasingly higher benefits or discounts for satisfying increasingly 
more stringent criteria.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See Cboe Global Markets, U.S. Equities Market Volume 
Summary, Month-to-Date (January 24, 2022), available at https://markets.cboe.com/us/equities/market_statistics/.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Proposed New Fee Code
    The Exchange proposes to adopt a new fee code in the Fee Code and 
Associated Fees table of the Fee Schedule. Currently, all retail orders 
that add liquidity yield fee code ``ZA'' and receive a rebate of 
$0.0032 per share in securities priced at or above $1.00 and a rebate 
of $0.00003 per share in securities priced below $1.00. The Exchange 
now proposes to adopt fee code ``ZO'', which will be appended to retail 
orders that add liquidity, but in the pre and post market. The Exchange 
proposes to continue to assess the same fees and rebates as are 
currently assessed today for retail orders that add liquidity (i.e., 
orders yielding fee code ZO would receive a rebate of $0.0032 per share 
in securities priced at or above $1.00 and a rebate of $0.00003 per 
share in securities priced below $1.00). The Exchange also proposes to 
apply incentive tiers and programs that currently apply to orders 
yielding ZA to orders that will now yield ZO and therefore append 
footnotes 2 and 3 to ZO in the Fee Code and Associated Fees table. 
Particularly, the Exchange proposes to modify the description and 
criteria of the Retail Volume Tiers (provided under footnote 2 of the 
Fee Schedule) and Retail Equities Membership Program Volume Tiers 
(provided under footnote 3 of the Fee Schedule), so that orders 
yielding both fee codes ZA and ZO are eligible for the respective tiers 
and the Retail Order ADV criteria under each tier includes orders 
yielding ZO in addition to ZA. Similarly, the Exchange proposes to 
amend the second prong of Remove Volume Tier 2 to provide the Retail 
Order ADV criteria will also include orders yielding ZO in addition to 
ZA. Accordingly, retail orders that add liquidity in the pre or post 
market will continue to be eligible for the same incentive programs 
(and continue to be counted towards Retail Order ADV thresholds) as 
they are today, albeit under a separate fee code (i.e., ZO instead of 
ZA).
Modifications to Add/Remove Volume Tiers
    The Add Volume Tiers set forth in footnote 1 of the Fee Schedule 
(Add/Remove Volume Tiers) provides Members an opportunity for 
qualifying orders (i.e., orders yielding fee code B,\4\ V,\5\ Y,\6\ 3 
\7\ or 4 \8\) to receive an enhanced rebate on their orders on orders 
that add liquidity and meet certain volume criteria. Specifically, Add 
Volume Tier 1 provides a rebate of $0.0023 per share to Members that 
add an ADV \9\ greater than or equal to 0.20% of the TCV.\10\ 
Similarly, Add Volume Tier 2 provides a rebate of $0.0025 per share to 
Members that add an ADV greater than or equal to 0.30% of the TCV. The 
Exchange notes that the Add Volume Tiers are designed to encourage 
Members that provide liquidity adding orders to the Exchange to 
increase their order flow, which would benefit all Members by providing 
greater execution opportunities on the Exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ Orders yielding Fee Code ``B'' are orders adding liquidity 
to EDGX (Tape B).
    \5\ Orders yielding Fee Code ``V'' are orders adding liquidity 
to EDGX (Tape A).
    \6\ Orders yielding Fee Code ``Y'' are orders adding liquidity 
to EDGX (Tape C).
    \7\ Orders yielding Fee Code ``3'' are orders adding liquidity 
to EDGX in the pre and post market (Tapes A or C).
    \8\ Orders yielding Fee Code ``4'' are orders adding liquidity 
to EDGX in the pre and post market (Tape B).
    \9\ ``ADAV'' means average daily added volume calculated as the 
number of shares added per day and ``ADV'' means average daily 
volume calculated as the number of shares added to, removed from, or 
routed by, the Exchange, or any combination or subset thereof, per 
day. ADAV and ADV is calculated on a monthly basis
    \10\ ``TCV'' means total consolidated volume calculated as the 
volume reported by all exchanges and trade reporting facilities to a 
consolidated transaction reporting plan for the month for which the 
fees apply.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Now the Exchange proposes to reduce the rebates provided under Add 
Volume Tiers 1 and 2 to $0.0020 per share and $0.0023 per share, 
respectively. While the Exchange is proposing no change to the criteria 
of the Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2, the Exchange believes that the tier 
will continue to incentivize increased order flow to the Exchange, 
which may contribute to a deeper, more liquid market to the benefit of 
all market participants by creating a more robust and well-balanced 
market ecosystem. The Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2, as modified, continue 
to be available to all Members and provide Members an opportunity to 
receive an enhanced rebate, albeit a reduced rebate. The proposed 
rebates are in line with similar rebates for liquidity adding programs 
in place on other exchanges.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ E.g., the BZX Equities Add Volume Tiers provide rebates 
ranging from $0.0020 per share up to $0.0031 per share. See BZX 
Equities Fee Schedule, footnote 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Growth Volume Tiers are also set forth under footnote 1 of the 
Fee Schedule (Add/Remove Volume Tiers) and are designed to encourage 
growth in order flow by providing specific criteria in which Members 
must increase their relative liquidity each month over a predetermined 
baseline. Growth Tier 4, for example, provides an opportunity for 
qualifying orders (i.e., orders yielding fee code B, V, Y, 3 or 4) to 
receive an enhanced rebate of $0.0034 per share to Members that (1) add 
a Step-Up ADAV \12\ from October 2021 greater than or equal to 0.10% of 
the TCV or Members that add a Step-Up ADAV from October 2021 equal to 
or greater than 10 million shares; and (2) Members that have a total 
remove ADV equal to or greater than 0.60% of TCV or Members that have a 
total remove ADV greater than or equal to 60 million shares. The 
Exchange now proposes to amend the criteria of Growth Tier 4 to provide 
the rebate to (1) an MPID that adds a Step-Up ADAV from October 2021 
equal to or greater than 10% of the TCV or an MPID adds a Step-Up ADAV 
from October 2021 equal to or greater than 15 million shares (instead 
of 10 million shares); and (2) an MPID that adds an ADV equal to or 
greater than 0.30% of TCV or an MPID that adds an ADV equal to or 
greater than 30 million shares (instead of 60 million shares).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ ``Step-Up ADAV'' means ADAV in the relevant baseline month 
subtracted from current ADAV.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Lastly, the Remove Volume Tiers are also set forth under footnote 1 
of the Fee Schedule (Add/Remove Volume Tiers) and provide Members an 
opportunity for qualifying orders (i.e., orders yielding fee codes 
BB,\13\ N \14\ and W \15\) to receive a reduced fee on their orders 
that remove liquidity and meet certain volume criteria. Specifically, 
the Remove Volume Tier 1 provides a reduced fee of $0.00275 in 
securities at or above $1.00 and 0.28% of the total dollar value in 
securities priced below $1.00 to (1) Members that add a Step-Up ADAV 
from June 2021 equal to or greater than 0.10% of the TCV or Members 
that add a Step-Up ADAV from June 2021 equal to or greater than 8 
million shares; and (2) Members that have a total remove ADV equal to 
or greater than 0.60% of the TCV. Now the Exchange proposes to modify 
the criteria to adopt an alternative criteria to satisfy prong two. 
Specifically, the

[[Page 9401]]

Exchange proposes to provide the reduced rebate to (1) Members that add 
a Step-Up ADAV from June 2021 equal to or greater than 0.10% of the TCV 
or Members that add a Step-Up ADAV from June 2021 equal to or greater 
than 8 million shares; and (2) Members that have a total remove ADV 
equal to or greater than 0.60% of the TCV, or, Members that have a 
total remove ADV equal to or greater than 60 million shares. The 
Exchange proposes no change to the current reduced fee applicable to 
the Remove Volume Tier 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ Orders yielding Fee Code ``BB'' are orders removing 
liquidity to EDGX (Tape (B)).
    \14\ Orders yielding Fee Code ``N'' are orders removing 
liquidity to EDGX (Tape (C)).
    \15\ Orders yielding Fee Code ``W'' are orders removing 
liquidity to EDGX (Tape (A)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the objectives of Section 6 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 
1933 (the ``Act''),\16\ in general, and furthers the objectives of 
Section 6(b)(4),\17\ 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) \18\ 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 changes reflect 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
    \17\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
    \18\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.(b)(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Regarding the proposed new fee code ZO appended to retail orders 
adding liquidity in the pre and post market, the Exchange notes that 
the competition for retail order flow is particularly intense, 
especially as it relates to exchange versus off-exchange venues, as 
prominent retail brokerages tend to route a majority of their limit 
orders to off-exchange venues.\19\ Accordingly, competitive forces 
compel the Exchange to use exchange transaction fees and credits, 
particularly as they relate to competing for retail order flow, because 
market participants can readily trade on competing venues if they deem 
pricing levels at those other venues to be more favorable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ See Securities Exchange Release No. 86375 (July 15, 2019), 
84 FR 34960 (SRCboeEDGX-2019-045).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that its proposed change to adopt fee code ZO 
is reasonable, equitable and not unfairly discriminatory. First, the 
Exchange notes that the proposed standard rebates under fee code ZO are 
the same as those currently applied to such orders under fee code ZA, 
which fee code as discussed currently also applies to retail orders 
that add liquidity, albeit during regular market hours. Further, the 
proposed standard rebates are consistent with, and competitive with, 
rebates for retail order flow on other equities exchanges, which 
provide pricing incentives to retail orders in the form of lower fees 
and/or higher rebates.\20\ Second, while the proposed rebates apply 
only to retail orders, the Exchange does not believe this application 
is discriminatory as the Exchange offers similar rebates or reduced 
fees to non-retail order flow. The Exchange notes that, like all other 
fee codes, ZO and the accompanying rebates will be automatically and 
uniformly applied to all Members' qualifying orders as applicable. The 
Exchange also believes it's reasonable, equitable and not unfairly 
discriminatory to apply volume incentive tiers that currently apply to 
orders yielding ZA to ZO and to clarify that Retail Order ADV will 
include orders yielding either ZA or ZO as such changes apply to all 
members and such tiers already apply to all retail orders that add 
liquidity, including those that execute in the pre or post market 
(i.e., there will be no substantive impact to orders yielding ZO with 
respect to their inclusion in these programs).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ See e.g., BZX Equities Fee Schedule, Fee Code ZA, which 
provides a rebate of $0.0032 per share to retail orders adding 
liquidity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes its proposal to reduce the rebates applicable 
to Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2 is reasonable because each tier continues 
to be available to all Members and provides Members an opportunity to 
receive an enhanced rebate, albeit a reduced enhanced rebate. 
Similarly, the Exchange believes its proposal to amend the criteria of 
the Growth Tier 4 is reasonable because the tier will be available to 
all MPIDs and provides MPIDs an opportunity to receive an enhanced 
rebate. The Exchange also believes its proposal to amend the criteria 
of the Remove Volume Tier 1 is reasonable because it will provide an 
additional opportunity for Members to reach the tier, will continue to 
be available to all Members, and will provide Members an opportunity to 
receive a reduced fee.
    The Exchange notes that relative volume-based incentives and 
discounts have been widely adopted by exchanges, including the 
Exchange, and are reasonable, equitable, and non-discriminatory because 
they are open to all Members on an equal basis and provide additional 
discounts that are reasonably related to (i) the value to an exchange's 
market quality and (ii) associated with higher levels of market 
activity, such as higher levels of liquidity provision and/or growth 
patterns. The Exchange also believes that the proposed and existing 
rebates and fees, as applicable, under Add Volume Tiers 1 and 2, Growth 
Tier 4, and Remove Volume Tier 1 continue to be commensurate with the 
existing and proposed criteria. That is, the rebates reasonably reflect 
the difficulty in achieving the corresponding criteria as amended.
    The Exchange believes that the changes to the Add Volume Tiers 1 
and 2, Growth Tier 4, and Remove Volume Tier 1, will benefit all market 
participants by incentivizing continuous liquidity and, thus, deeper 
more liquid markets as well as increased execution opportunities. 
Particularly, the proposal is designed to incentivize liquidity, which 
further contributes to a deeper, more liquid market and provide even 
more execution opportunities for active market participants at improved 
prices. This overall increase in activity deepens the Exchange's 
liquidity pool, offers additional cost savings, supports the quality of 
price discovery, promotes market transparency and improves market 
quality, for all investors.
    The Exchange also believes that the proposed amendments to the Add 
Volume Tiers 1 and 2, Growth Tier 4, and Remove Volume Tier 1 represent 
an equitable allocation of rebates and are not unfairly discriminatory 
because all Members or MPIDs are eligible for the tiers and would have 
the opportunity to meet the tiers' criteria and would receive the 
proposed rebate if such criteria is met. Without having a view of 
activity on other markets and off-exchange venues, the Exchange has no

[[Page 9402]]

way of knowing whether this proposed rule change would definitely 
result in any Members or MPIDs qualifying for the proposed tiers. While 
the Exchange has no way of predicting with certainty how the proposed 
tier will impact Member activity, the Exchange anticipates that at 
least one MPID will be able to compete for and reach the proposed 
criteria in Growth Tier 4 and Remove Volume Tier 1. The Exchange also 
notes that proposed tiers will not adversely impact any Member's 
ability to qualify for other reduced fee or enhanced rebate tiers. 
Should a Member not meet the proposed criteria under any of the 
proposed tiers, the Member will merely not receive that corresponding 
enhanced rebate or reduced fee.
    As noted above, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive 
market. The Exchange is only one of 16 equity venues to which market 
participants may direct their order flow, and it represents a small 
percentage of the overall market. It is also only one of several maker-
taker exchanges. Competing equity exchanges offer similar rates and 
tiered pricing structures to that of the Exchange, including schedules 
of rebates and fees that apply based upon members achieving certain 
volume thresholds.

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

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule changes will 
impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. Rather, as discussed above, the 
Exchange believes that the proposed changes 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 changes 
further 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.''
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule changes do not impose any 
burden on intramarket competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. Particularly, the proposed 
tier changes will apply to Members or MPIDs equally in that all Members 
or MPIDs are eligible for each of the tiers, have a reasonable 
opportunity to meet the tiers' criteria and will receive the enhanced 
rebate or reduced fee on their qualifying orders if such criteria is 
met. Further, the proposed Fee Code will similarly be available to all 
Members equally. The Exchange does not believe the proposed changes 
burdens competition, but rather, enhances competition as it is intended 
to increase the competitiveness of EDGX by amending an existing pricing 
incentive and adopting a pricing incentive in order to attract order 
flow and incentivize participants to increase their participation on 
the Exchange, providing for additional execution opportunities for 
market participants and improved price transparency. Greater overall 
order flow, trading opportunities, and pricing transparency benefits 
all market participants on the Exchange by enhancing market quality and 
continuing to encourage Members to send orders, thereby contributing 
towards a robust and well-balanced market ecosystem.
    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 other equities exchanges, 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 equities exchange has more 
than 17% of the market share.\21\ Therefore, no exchange possesses 
significant pricing power in the execution of order flow. Indeed, 
participants can readily choose to send 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.'' \22\ 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'. . . .''.\23\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ Supra note 3.
    \22\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9, 
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005).
    \23\ 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)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 \24\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \25\ 
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \25\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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:

[[Page 9403]]

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-2022-005 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-2022-005. 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-2022-005 and should be 
submitted on or before March 11, 2022.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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

J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-03495 Filed 2-17-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


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