Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE American LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Modify the NYSE American Options Fee Schedule, 5942-5947 [2023-01745]
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 19 / Monday, January 30, 2023 / Notices
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–96743; File No. SR–
NYSEAMER–2023–08]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
American LLC; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed
Rule Change To Modify the NYSE
American Options Fee Schedule
January 24, 2023.
Pursuant to section 19(b)(1) 1 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3
notice is hereby given that, on January
13, 2023, NYSE American LLC (‘‘NYSE
American’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed
with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the
proposed rule change as described in
Items I and II below, which Items have
been prepared by the self-regulatory
organization. The Commission is
publishing this notice to solicit
comments on the proposed rule change
from interested persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to modify the
NYSE American Options Fee Schedule
(‘‘Fee Schedule’’) regarding (1) fees and
credits for Qualified Contingent Cross
(‘‘QCC’’) transactions and (2) the Floor
Broker Fixed Cost Prepayment Incentive
Program (the ‘‘FB Prepay Program’’).
The Exchange proposes to implement
the fee change effective January 13,
2023.4 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.
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II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
In its filing with the Commission, the
self-regulatory organization included
statements concerning the purpose of,
and basis for, the proposed rule change
and discussed any comments it received
on the proposed rule change. The text
of those statements may be examined at
the places specified in Item IV below.
The Exchange has prepared summaries,
set forth in sections A, B, and C below,
of the most significant parts of such
statements.
1 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
U.S.C. 78a.
3 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
4 The Exchange previously filed to amend the Fee
Schedule on December 30, 2022 (SR–NYSEAMER–
2022–58) and withdrew such filing on January 13,
2023.
2 15
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1. Purpose
The purpose of this filing to amend
the Fee Schedule to (1) modify the fees
and credits for QCC transactions 5 and
(2) modify the FB Prepay Program. The
Exchange proposes to implement the
rule change on January 13, 2023.
Modifications to QCC Fees and Credits
The table in Section I.F. of the Fee
Schedule sets forth the per contract fees
and credits applicable to volume
executed as part of a QCC trade.6
Currently, Customers and Professional
Customers do not incur a fee or earn a
credit; Non-Customers, excluding
Specialists and e-Specialists, are subject
to a $0.20 per contract fee; and
Specialists and e-Specialists are subject
to a $0.13 per contract fee. Floor Brokers
earn a credit for executed QCC orders of
($0.11) per contract for the first 500,000
contracts or ($0.14) per contract in
excess of 500,000.7
The Exchange proposes to modify the
table in Section I.F. to replace the term
‘‘Non-Customer’’ with ‘‘Market Maker,
Firm, or Broker Dealer’’ and eliminate
the exception of Specialists and eSpecialists, which would add clarity to
the Fee Schedule regarding which
market participants are considered
‘‘Non-Customers’’ for purposes of QCC
fees and credits. The table would thus
provide for a $0.20 fee on QCC
transactions by a Market Maker, Firm, or
Broker-Dealer (as such terms are defined
in the KEY TERMS and DEFINITIONS
section of the Fee Schedule). Consistent
with this change, the Exchange also
proposes to eliminate the $0.13 fee
currently applicable to QCC transactions
by Specialists and e-Specialists; as
Specialists and e-Specialists are
registered with the Exchange as Market
Makers, they would, as proposed, be
charged as such for QCC transactions.
The Exchange further proposes to
modify the table in Section I.F.
5 A QCC is defined as an originating order to buy
or sell at least 1,000 contracts, or 10,000 minioptions contracts, that is identified as being part of
a qualified contingent trade (as that term is defined
in Commentary .01 to Rule 900.3NY), coupled with
a contra side order or orders totaling an equal
number of contracts. See Rule 900.3NY(y).
6 See Fee Schedule, Section I.F., QCC Fees &
Credits.
7 QCC executions in which a Customer or
Professional Customer, or both, is on both sides of
the QCC trade are not eligible for the Floor Broker
credit. The current Floor Broker credit is paid only
on volume within the applicable tier and is not
retroactive to the first contract traded. See Fee
Schedule, Section I.F., QCC Fees & Credits at
Footnote 1.
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regarding credits applicable to Floor
Brokers’ QCC transactions and proposes
to provide Floor Brokers with credits
based on the account type of the parties
to the trade.8 Specifically, the Exchange
proposes that Floor Brokers may earn a
credit of ($0.12) per contract for QCC
transactions of a Customer or
Professional Customer vs. a Market
Maker, Firm, or Broker Dealer, and a
credit of ($0.18) per contract for QCC
transactions of a Market Maker, Firm, or
Broker Dealer vs. a Market Maker, Firm,
or Broker Dealer.
Finally, the Exchange proposes to
modify the last sentence of Footnote 1
to Section I.F., which currently provides
that the maximum Floor Broker credit
paid for QCC transactions is $525,000
per month per Floor Broker firm. The
Exchange proposes to amend Footnote 1
to instead provide that Floor Broker
credits paid for QCC trades and rebates
paid through the Manual Billable Rebate
Program (as proposed below) shall not
combine to exceed $2,000,000 per
month per Floor Broker firm.
Although the Exchange cannot predict
with certainty whether the proposed
change would encourage Floor Brokers
to increase their QCC volume, the
Exchange believes that the proposed
change would continue to incent
additional QCC executions by Floor
Brokers by offering increased credits on
QCC transactions and raising the
maximum monthly amount that a Floor
Broker firm could earn from Floor
Broker QCC credits (or rebates via the
proposed Manual Billable Rebate
Program), and all Floor Brokers are
eligible for the proposed credits,
including the proposed higher credit on
QCC transactions with a Market Maker,
Firm or Broker on both sides of the
trade, without any minimum volume
requirement. The Exchange also
believes that the proposed change with
respect to the fee for QCC transactions
by a Market Maker (including a
Specialist or e-Specialist), Firm, or
Broker-Dealer would improve the clarity
of the Fee Schedule and, although the
proposed change would increase the fee
for QCC transactions by Specialists and
e-Specialists, is reasonable and
equitable because it would provide for
the same fee on QCC transactions for all
Market Makers, Firms, and BrokerDealers.
8 The Exchange also proposes to delete the
sentence in Footnote 1 to Section I.F. providing that
the Floor Broker credit is paid only on volume
within the applicable tier and is not retroactive to
the first contract traded, as such concept would not
apply to the proposed Floor Broker credits.
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FB Prepay Program
The Exchange also proposes to modify
the FB Prepay Program, a prepayment
incentive program that allows Floor
Brokers to prepay certain of their annual
Eligible Fixed Costs in exchange for
volume rebates.9
Currently, the FB Prepay Program
offers participating Floor Brokers an
opportunity to qualify for rebates by
achieving growth in billable manual
volume by a certain percentage as
measured against one of two
benchmarks (the ‘‘Percentage Growth
Incentive’’). Specifically, the Percentage
Growth Incentive is designed to
encourage Floor Brokers to increase
their average daily volume (‘‘ADV’’) in
billable manual contract sides to qualify
for a Tier; each Tier of the FB Prepay
Program corresponds to an annual
rebate equal to the greater of the ‘‘Total
Percentage Reduction of pre-paid
annual Eligible Fixed Costs’’ or the
annualization of the monthly
‘‘Alternative Rebate.’’ 10 In either case,
participating Floor Brokers receive their
annual rebate amount in the following
January.11 Floor Brokers that wish to
participate in the FB Prepay Program for
the following calendar year must notify
the Exchange no later than the last
business day of December in the current
year.12
The Exchange now proposes to
modify the FB Prepay Program to
eliminate the Percentage Growth
Incentive and accompanying annual
rebates 13 and instead provide Floor
Brokers participating in the program
with monthly rebates based on manual
billable transaction volume (the
‘‘Manual Billable Rebate Program’’). The
calculation of volume on which rebates
earned through the Manual Billable
Rebate Program would be paid is based
on transactions including at least one
side for which manual transaction fees
are applicable and excludes volume
from QCC transactions.14 The Exchange
proposes to continue to exclude any
volume calculated to achieve the
Strategy Execution Fee Cap, regardless
of whether the cap is achieved, from the
Manual Billable Rebate Program because
fees on such volume are already capped
and therefore such volume does not
increase billable manual volume.15
Participants in the FB Prepay Program
that achieve the following monthly
qualifications will be eligible for rebates
through the Manual Billable Rebate
Program, payable on a monthly basis:
Rebate per
billable side
Manual billable rebate qualification
Execute 1 million combined manual billable and QCC billable contracts .....................................................................................
Execute 3 million combined manual billable and QCC billable contracts .....................................................................................
Execute 5 million combined manual billable and QCC billable contracts .....................................................................................
The FB Prepay Program also currently
offers participating Floor Brokers that
increase their QCC credit eligible
contracts in a month by at least 20%
over the greater of their second half of
2021 average monthly QCC credit
eligible volume or 1,500,000 contracts
an additional credit of $0.04 per
contract on the first 300,000 QCC credit
eligible QCC trades and an additional
credit of $0.01 per contract on all QCC
credit eligible QCC trades above
300,000, subject to the monthly
maximum credit per Floor Broker firm.
The Exchange now proposes to
eliminate these QCC credits currently
offered through the FB Prepay Program,
and provide that program participants
would instead be eligible to qualify for
monthly rebates on QCC transactions in
($0.05)
(0.08)
(0.10)
addition to the credits set forth in
Section I.F. (as modified in this filing)
(the ‘‘QCC Billable Bonus Rebate’’), as
described in the table below, provided
that they execute the required number
of billable QCC transactions in a month.
The Exchange proposes that the QCC
Billable Bonus Rebate (including the
Additional Bonus) would be payable
back to the first billable side.
QCC billable bonus rebate qualification
Additional rebate
on single billable
side QCC contract
Additional rebate
on two billable
side QCC contract
($0.02)
(0.04)
($0.04)
(0.06)
Prepay Bonus Level—achieved with 2 million QCC billable contracts .......................................................
Additional Bonus Level—achieved with 100% above Prepay Bonus Level ...............................................
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The Exchange further proposes to
provide in Section III.E.1., consistent
with Section I.F., that the maximum
Floor Broker credits paid for QCC trades
and rebates paid through the Manual
Billable Rebate Program shall not
combine to exceed $2,000,000 per
month per Floor Broker firm.
Finally, the Exchange proposes to
modify the date it will use for the
calculation of a Floor Broker’s Eligible
Fixed Costs for the following calendar
9 See Fee Schedule, Section III.E.1., Floor Broker
Fixed Cost Prepayment Incentive Program (the ‘‘FB
Prepay Program’’). ‘‘Eligible Fixed Costs’’ include
monthly ATP Fees, the Floor Access Fee, and
certain monthly Floor communication,
connectivity, equipment and booth or podia fees, as
set forth in the table in Section III.E.1.
10 See id. The Percentage Growth Incentive
excludes Customer volume, Firm Facilitation
trades, and QCCs. Any volume calculated to
achieve the Firm Monthly Fee Cap and the Strategy
Execution Fee Cap, regardless of whether either of
these caps is achieved, will likewise be excluded
from the Percentage Growth Incentive because fees
on such volume are already capped and therefore
do not increase billable manual volume. See id.
11 See Fee Schedule, Section III.E.1.
12 See id.
13 To effect the proposed change to eliminate the
Percentage Growth Incentive and related rebates,
the Exchange also proposes to delete the last
sentence in Section III.E.1., which currently
provides that Floor Brokers in the FB Prepay
Program will receive their rebate in the following
January, as no longer applicable.
14 The Exchange proposes to continue to exclude
volume from QCC transactions from the calculation
of eligible volume for rebates paid through the
Manual Billable Rebate Program, as proposed,
because Floor Brokers would be eligible for separate
credits and rebates for QCC transactions.
15 The Exchange proposes to remove references to
the exclusion of Customer volume and Firm
Facilitation trades as redundant because such
volume is not billable. The Exchange also proposes
that it would no longer exclude volume calculated
to achieve the Firm Monthly Fee Cap from the
Manual Billable Rebate Program and proposes
conforming changes to reflect the deletion of the
reference to the Firm Monthly Fee Cap in Section
III.E.1. The Exchange proposes to include volume
calculated to achieve the Firm Monthly Fee Cap in
calculations for the Manual Billable Rebate Program
in light of the recent change to increase the amount
of the Firm Monthly Fee Cap and eliminate lower
fee caps for firms that qualify for American
Customer Engagement Program tiers, which results
in more non-facilitation Firm volume being subject
to regular transaction fees. See Securities Exchange
Act Release No. 96501 (December 15, 2022) (SR–
NYSEAMER–2022–55) (Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change
to Modify the NYSE American Options Fee
Schedule).
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Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 19 / Monday, January 30, 2023 / Notices
year. The FB Prepay Program currently
specifies that a Floor Broker that
commits to the program will be invoiced
in January for Eligible Fixed Costs,
based on annualizing their Eligible
Fixed Costs incurred in November 2020.
The Exchange proposes to modify the
Fee Schedule to specify that the
annualization of Eligible Fixed Costs
would be based on costs incurred in
November 2022, which the Exchange
believes would more accurately reflect
Eligible Fixed Costs for the coming
calendar year.
Although the Exchange cannot predict
with certainty whether the proposed
changes to the FB Prepay Program
would encourage Floor Brokers to
participate in the program or to increase
either their manual billable volume or
QCC volume, the Exchange believes that
the proposed changes would continue to
incentivize Floor Brokers to participate
in the FB Prepay Program by
simplifying the structure of the program,
modifying the qualifying criteria and
rebates offered through the program to
be on a monthly (rather than annual)
basis, and offering rebates on manual
billable volume and QCC transactions,
thereby encouraging additional manual
billable volume and QCC executions by
Floor Brokers. All Floor Brokers are
eligible to participate in the FB Prepay
Program and qualify for the proposed
rebates, and the rebates are achievable
in any given month without regard to
volumes from any other month.
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2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change is consistent with
section 6(b) of the Act,16 in general, and
furthers the objectives of sections 6(b)(4)
and (5) of the Act,17 in particular,
because it provides for the equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and
other charges among its members,
issuers and other persons using its
facilities and does not unfairly
discriminate between customers,
issuers, brokers or dealers.
The Proposed Rule Change Is
Reasonable
The Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market. The Commission
has repeatedly expressed its preference
for competition over regulatory
intervention in determining prices,
products, and services in the securities
markets. 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
16 15
17 15
U.S.C. 78f(b).
U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
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system ‘‘has been remarkably successful
in promoting market competition in its
broader forms that are most important to
investors and listed companies.’’ 18
There are currently 16 registered
options exchanges competing for order
flow. Based on publicly-available
information, and excluding index-based
options, no single exchange has more
than 16% of the market share of
executed volume of multiply-listed
equity and ETF options trades.19
Therefore, no exchange possesses
significant pricing power in the
execution of multiply-listed equity and
ETF options order flow. More
specifically, in November 2022, the
Exchange had less than 7% market
share of executed volume of multiplylisted equity and ETF options trades.20
The Exchange believes that the evershifting market share among the
exchanges from month to month
demonstrates that market participants
can shift order flow, or discontinue or
reduce use of certain categories of
products, in response to fee changes.
Accordingly, competitive forces
constrain options exchange transaction
fees. Stated otherwise, changes to
exchange transaction fees can have a
direct effect on the ability of an
exchange to compete for order flow.
The Exchange believes that the
proposed credits offered to Floor
Brokers on QCC transactions, as well as
the additional rebates on QCC
transactions and manual billable
volume offered through the FB Prepay
Program, as proposed, are reasonable
because they are designed to continue to
incent Floor Brokers to increase the
number of QCC transactions and manual
billable orders executed on the
Exchange. The Exchange also believes
that the proposed increase in the
maximum monthly amount that a Floor
Broker firm could earn from Floor
Broker QCC credits or from rebates via
the proposed Manual Billable Rebate
Program is reasonable because it is
likewise intended to encourage Floor
Brokers to direct QCC transactions and
manual billable volume to the
Exchange.
18 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808
(June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005)
(S7–10–04) (‘‘Reg NMS Adopting Release’’).
19 The OCC publishes options and futures volume
in a variety of formats, including daily and monthly
volume by exchange, available here: https://
www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-DataReports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/MonthlyWeekly-Volume-Statistics.
20 Based on a compilation of OCC data for
monthly volume of equity-based options and
monthly volume of ETF-based options, see id., the
Exchange’s market share in equity-based options
was 7.06% for the month of November 2021 and
6.98% for the month of November 2022.
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The Exchange believes that the
proposed changes to QCC transaction
fees and credits, as set forth in Section
I.F., are reasonable because they are
designed to improve the clarity of the
Fee Schedule regarding the fee
applicable to ‘‘Non-Customer’’ QCC
transactions and to apply a consistent
fee to QCC transactions by Market
Makers (including Specialists and eSpecialists), Firms, and Broker-Dealers.
The Exchange also believes it is
reasonable to provide an increased
credit to Floor Brokers on QCC
transactions with a Market Maker, Firm,
or Broker-Dealer on both sides because
such transactions are billable on both
sides. To the extent that the proposed
change attracts more volume to the
Exchange and does not disincentivize
Specialists and e-Specialists from
directing orders to the Exchange, this
order flow would continue to make the
Exchange a more competitive venue for
order execution, which, in turn,
promotes just and equitable principles
of trade and removes impediments to
and perfects the mechanism of a free
and open market and a national market
system.
With respect to the FB Prepay
Program, the Exchange also believes that
the proposed changes are reasonable
because participation in the program is
optional, and Floor Brokers can elect to
participate in the program to be eligible
to earn the proposed rebates on manual
billable transactions and QCC
transactions or not. The Exchange also
believes that the proposed modification
of the FB Prepay Program is reasonable
because it is designed to simplify the
program, to continue to encourage Floor
Brokers to participate in the FB Prepay
Program, and to provide liquidity on the
Exchange. Specifically, the Exchange
believes that the proposed qualifying
thresholds for the Manual Billable
Rebate Program and QCC Bonus Rebate
are achievable by Floor Broker firms
based on recent Floor Broker activity
and in consideration of the proposed
changes in this filing (including the
proposed modification to Floor Broker
QCC credits). The Exchange further
believes that the proposed change to
focus the FB Prepay Program on manual
billable volume and QCC transactions is
reasonable because it is intended to
encourage Floor Brokers to increase
manual billable volume and QCC
transactions to the Exchange, and any
increase in such volume would benefit
all market participants. The Exchange
also believes that the proposed rebate
amounts are reasonable and comparable
to rebate amounts offered by another
options exchange to Floor Brokers on
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manual transactions.21 Finally, the
Exchange believes that the proposed
modification of the qualifying criteria
for and rebates offered through the FB
Prepay Program to be on a monthly
basis is reasonable and could increase
opportunities for participating Floor
Brokers to qualify for and receive the
benefit of the incentives offered. To the
extent that the proposed changes attract
more volume to the Exchange, this
increased order flow would continue to
make the Exchange a more competitive
venue for order execution, which, in
turn, promotes just and equitable
principles of trade and removes
impediments to and perfects the
mechanism of a free and open market
and a national market system. The
Exchange notes that all market
participants stand to benefit from any
increase in volume by Floor Brokers,
which could promote market depth,
facilitate tighter spreads and enhance
price discovery, to the extent the
proposed change encourages Floor
Brokers to utilize the Exchange as a
primary trading venue, and may lead to
a corresponding increase in order flow
from other market participants. In
addition, any increased liquidity on the
Exchange would result in enhanced
market quality for all participants.
The Exchange also believes that the
proposed change to update the date
used for the calculation of Eligible Fixed
Costs from November 2020 to November
2022 is reasonable because it expects
Floor Broker organizations’ more recent
November 2022 costs to provide a more
accurate basis for annualizing Eligible
Fixed Costs for the coming calendar
year based on anticipated fixed costs in
2023.
Finally, to the extent the proposed
changes continue to attract greater
volume and liquidity, the Exchange
believes the proposed changes would
improve the Exchange’s overall
competitiveness and strengthen its
market quality for all market
participants. In the backdrop of the
competitive environment in which the
Exchange operates, the proposed rule
change is a reasonable attempt by the
Exchange to increase the depth of its
market and improve its market share
relative to its competitors. The
Exchange’s fees are constrained by
intermarket competition, as Floor
Brokers may direct their order flow to
any of the 16 options exchanges,
including those offering rebates on QCC
21 See, e.g., BOX Options Exchange Fee Schedule,
Section V.C. (offering rebates to Floor Brokers on
orders presented on the Trading Floor, including a
$0.075 rebate for Broker Dealer and Market Maker
orders).
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orders 22 and Floor Broker rebates on
manual billable orders.23 Thus, Floor
Brokers have a choice of where they
direct their order flow, including their
QCC transactions and manual billable
orders. The proposed rule changes are
designed to continue to incent Floor
Brokers to direct liquidity (and, in
particular, QCC orders and manual
billable orders) to the Exchange; to the
extent Floor Brokers are incentivized to
aggregate their trading activity at the
Exchange, that increased liquidity could
promote market depth, price discovery
and improvement, and enhanced order
execution opportunities for market
participants.
The Proposed Rule Change Is an
Equitable Allocation of Credits and Fees
The Exchange believes the proposed
rule change is an equitable allocation of
its fees and credits. The proposal is
based on the amount and type of
business transacted on the Exchange;
Floor Brokers are not obligated to
participate in the FB Prepay Program
and can choose to execute QCC
transactions or manual billable
transactions to earn the various
proposed credits and rebates or not. In
addition, the proposed credits and
rebates are available to all Floor Brokers
equally, and the proposed monthly limit
on the amount that Floor Brokers could
earn from credits and rebates on QCC
transactions and manual billable
transactions would apply to all Floor
Brokers equally. The Exchange also
believes that the proposed modification
of the qualifying criteria for and rebates
offered through the FB Prepay Program
to be on a monthly basis is equitable
because it could provide participating
Floor Brokers opportunities each month
to qualify for and receive the benefit of
the incentives offered through the
program.
The Exchange also believes that the
proposed increased credit for QCC
transactions with a Market Maker, Firm,
22 See, e.g., EDGX Options Exchange Fee
Schedule, QCC Initiator/Solicitation Rebate Tiers
(applying ($0.14) per contract rebate up to 999,999
contracts for QCC transactions when only one side
of the transaction is a non-customer or ($0.22) per
contract rebate up to 999,999 contracts for QCC
transactions with non-customers on both sides);
BOX Options Fee Schedule at Section IV.D.1. (QCC
Rebate) (providing for ($0.14) per contract rebate up
to 1,499,999 contracts for QCC transactions when
only one side of the QCC transaction is a brokerdealer or market maker or ($0.22) per contract
rebate up to 1,499,999 contracts for QCC
transactions when both parties are a broker-dealer
or market maker); Nasdaq ISE, Options 7, Section
6.B. (QCC Rebate) (offering rebates on QCC
transactions of ($0.14) per contract when only one
side of the QCC transaction is a non-customer or
($0.22) per contract when both sides of the QCC
transaction are non-customers).
23 See note 21, supra.
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5945
or Broker-Dealer on both sides is
equitable because such transactions are
billable on both sides (whereas a QCC
transaction with a Customer or
Professional Customer on one side is
only billable on one side). In addition,
the Exchange believes that the proposed
changes with respect to the fees for QCC
transactions executed by Market Makers
(including Specialists and e-Specialists),
Firms, and Broker-Dealers modify the
Fee Schedule to provide clarity
regarding QCC transaction fees for
‘‘Non-Customers’’ and are equitable
because they provide that these
similarly-situated market participants
would be equally subject to a $0.20 fee
on their QCC transactions.
The Exchange also notes that the
proposed changes are designed to
encourage Floor Brokers that have
previously enrolled in the FB Prepay
Program to reenroll for the upcoming
year, as well as to attract Floor Brokers
that have not yet participated in the
program. Moreover, the Exchange
believes that the proposed modifications
to the FB Prepay Program are an
equitable allocation of fees and credits
because they would apply to
participating Floor Brokers equally and
are intended to encourage the role
performed by Floor Brokers in
facilitating the execution of orders via
open outcry, a function which the
Exchange wishes to support for the
benefit of all market participants. The
Exchange further believes that the
proposed change with respect to the
calculation of Eligible Fixed Costs is
equitable because it would continue to
be based on each Floor Broker
organization’s annualized costs and
because the November 2022 basis for
annualizing costs would provide a more
accurate reflection of Eligible Fixed
Costs for the coming calendar year
based on anticipated fixed costs in 2023.
Moreover, the proposed changes are
designed to continue to incent Floor
Brokers to encourage ATP Holders to
aggregate their executions—including
QCC transactions and manual orders—
at the Exchange as a primary execution
venue. To the extent that the proposed
change achieves its purpose in attracting
more Floor Broker volume to the
Exchange, this increased order flow
would continue to make the Exchange a
more competitive venue for, among
other things, order execution. Thus, the
Exchange believes the proposed rule
changes would improve market quality
for all market participants on the
Exchange and, as a consequence, attract
more order flow to the Exchange,
thereby improving market-wide quality
and price discovery.
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30JAN1
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5946
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 19 / Monday, January 30, 2023 / Notices
The Proposed Rule Change Is Not
Unfairly Discriminatory
The Exchange believes the proposed
fees, credits, and rebates applicable to
Floor Brokers on QCC transactions and
manual billable transactions are not
unfairly discriminatory because they are
based on the amount and type of
business transacted on the Exchange,
and Floor Brokers are not obligated to
execute QCC or manual billable volume,
or to participate in the FB Prepay
Program. Rather, the proposal is
designed to streamline the structure of
the FB Prepay Program and to encourage
Floor Brokers to utilize the Exchange as
a primary trading venue for all
transactions (if they have not done so
previously) and increase QCC and
manual billable volume sent to the
Exchange. In addition, the proposed
changes, including the modification of
the monthly maximum Floor Broker
credits paid for QCC trades and rebates
paid through the Manual Billable Rebate
Program, would apply to all similarlysituated Floor Brokers on an equal and
non-discriminatory basis. The proposed
credits and rebates are also not unfairly
discriminatory to non-Floor Brokers
because Floor Brokers serve an
important function in facilitating the
execution of orders on the Exchange,
which the Exchange wishes to
encourage and support to promote price
improvement opportunities for all
market participants.
The Exchange also believes that the
proposed change relating to ‘‘NonCustomer’’ QCC transactions is not
unfairly discriminatory because it is
intended to clarify that the existing
$0.20 fee is applicable to QCC
transactions by Market Makers, Firms,
and Broker-Dealers and further believes
that the proposed change with respect to
Specialists and e-Specialists is not
unfairly discriminatory because it
would modify the Fee Schedule to
charge the same fee on any QCC
transactions executed by Market Makers
(including Specialists and e-Specialists),
Firms, and Broker-Dealers.
The Exchange further believes that the
proposed change with respect to the
calculation of Eligible Fixed Costs is not
unfairly discriminatory because it
would continue to be based on each
Floor Broker organization’s annualized
costs and because the Exchange expects
that using November 2022 as the basis
for annualizing costs would provide a
more accurate reflection of Eligible
Fixed Costs for the coming calendar
year.
To the extent that the proposed
changes attract more QCC orders and
manual orders to the Exchange, this
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:30 Jan 27, 2023
Jkt 259001
increased order flow would continue to
make the Exchange a more competitive
venue for order execution. Thus, the
Exchange believes the proposed rule
change would improve market quality
for all market participants on the
Exchange and, as a consequence, attract
more order flow to the Exchange,
thereby improving market-wide quality
and price discovery. The resulting
increased volume and liquidity would
provide more trading opportunities and
tighter spreads to all market participants
and thus would promote just and
equitable principles of trade, remove
impediments to and perfect the
mechanism of a free and open market
and a national market system and, in
general, protect investors and the public
interest.
Finally, the Exchange believes that it
is subject to significant competitive
forces, as described below in the
Exchange’s statement regarding the
burden on competition.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
In accordance with section 6(b)(8) of
the Act,24 the Exchange does not believe
that the proposed rule change would
impose any burden on competition that
is not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
Instead, as discussed above, the
Exchange believes that the proposed
changes would encourage the
submission of additional liquidity to a
public exchange, thereby promoting
market depth, price discovery and
transparency and enhancing order
execution opportunities for all market
participants. As a result, the Exchange
believes that the proposed change
furthers the Commission’s goal in
adopting Regulation NMS of fostering
integrated competition among orders,
which promotes ‘‘more efficient pricing
of individual stocks for all types of
orders, large and small.’’ 25
Intramarket Competition. The
proposed modification of the FB Prepay
Program and the proposed credits and
rebates offered to Floor Brokers on QCC
transactions and manual billable orders
are designed to incent participation in
the FB Prepay Program and to attract
additional order flow to the Exchange,
which could increase the volumes of
contracts traded on the Exchange.
Greater liquidity benefits all market
participants on the Exchange, and
increased QCC and manual billable
transactions could increase
opportunities for execution of other
15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
Reg NMS Adopting Release, supra note 18,
at 37499.
trading interest. The proposed QCC
credits would be available to all
similarly-situated Floor Brokers that
execute QCC trades and the rebates
available through the Manual Billable
Rebate Program and QCC Billable Bonus
Rebate would be available to all Floor
Brokers that choose to participate in the
FB Prepay Program and meet the
qualifying criteria for such rebates. The
modification of the monthly maximum
Floor Broker credits paid for QCC trades
and rebates paid through the Manual
Billable Rebate Program, would likewise
apply equally to all similarly-situated
Floor Brokers. To the extent that there
is an additional competitive burden on
non-Floor Brokers, the Exchange
believes that any such burden would be
appropriate because Floor Brokers serve
an important function in facilitating the
execution of orders and price discovery
for all market participants. Finally, the
Exchange believes the elimination of a
lower QCC fee for Specialists and eSpecialists could also promote
intramarket competition by establishing
the same fee for all Market Makers,
Firms, and Broker Dealers on QCC
transactions.
Intermarket Competition. The
Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market in which market
participants can readily favor one of the
16 competing option exchanges if they
deem fee levels at a particular venue to
be excessive. In such an environment,
the Exchange must continually adjust its
fees to remain competitive with other
exchanges and to attract order flow to
the Exchange. Based on publiclyavailable information, and excluding
index-based options, no single exchange
has more than 16% of the market share
of executed volume of multiply-listed
equity and ETF options trades.26
Therefore, no exchange possesses
significant pricing power in the
execution of multiply-listed equity and
ETF options order flow. More
specifically, in November 2022, the
Exchange had less than 7% market
share of executed volume of multiplylisted equity and ETF options trades.27
The Exchange believes that the
proposed changes reflect this
competitive environment because they
modify the Exchange’s fees and credits
in a manner designed to continue to
incent Floor Brokers to direct trading
interest (particularly QCC transactions
and manual orders) to the Exchange, to
provide liquidity and to attract order
flow. To the extent that Floor Brokers
are encouraged to participate in the FB
Prepay Program and/or incentivized to
24 See
25 See
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Frm 00097
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
26 See
27 See
E:\FR\FM\30JAN1.SGM
note 19, supra.
note 20, supra.
30JAN1
Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 19 / Monday, January 30, 2023 / Notices
utilize the Exchange as a primary
trading venue for all transactions, all of
the Exchange’s market participants
should benefit from the improved
market quality and increased
opportunities for price improvement.
The Exchange notes that it operates in
a highly competitive market in which
market participants can readily favor
competing venues. In such an
environment, the Exchange must
continually review, and consider
adjusting, its fees and credits to remain
competitive with other exchanges. For
the reasons described above, the
Exchange believes that the proposed
rule change reflects this competitive
environment.
The Exchange further believes that the
proposed change could promote
competition between the Exchange and
other execution venues, including those
that currently offer rebates on QCC
transactions and Floor Broker rebates on
manual billable volume,28 by
encouraging additional orders to be sent
to the Exchange for execution.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Comments on the
Proposed Rule Change Received From
Members, Participants, or Others
No written comments were solicited
or received with respect to the proposed
rule change.
lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change is effective
upon filing pursuant to section
19(b)(3)(A) 29 of the Act and
subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b–4 30
thereunder, because it establishes a due,
fee, or other charge imposed by the
Exchange.
At any time within 60 days of the
filing of such proposed rule change, the
Commission summarily may
temporarily suspend such rule change if
it appears to the Commission that such
action is necessary or appropriate in the
public interest, for the protection of
investors, or otherwise in furtherance of
the purposes of the Act. If the
Commission takes such action, the
Commission shall institute proceedings
under section 19(b)(2)(B) 31 of the Act to
determine whether the proposed rule
change should be approved or
disapproved.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
• Use the Commission’s internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
NYSEAMER–2023–08 on the subject
line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSEAMER–2023–08. This
file number should be included on the
subject line if email is used. To help the
Commission process and review your
comments more efficiently, please use
only one method. The Commission will
post all comments on the Commission’s
internet website (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent
amendments, all written statements
with respect to the proposed rule
change that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the
proposed rule change between the
Commission and any person, other than
those that may be withheld from the
public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
available for website viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549 on official
business days between the hours of
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal
office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change.
Persons submitting comments are
cautioned that we do not redact or edit
personal identifying information from
comment submissions. You should
submit only information that you wish
to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSEAMER–2023–08, and
should be submitted on or before
February 21, 2023.
notes 21 & 22, supra.
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
30 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
31 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
29 15
17:30 Jan 27, 2023
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.32
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023–01745 Filed 1–27–23; 8:45 am]
Electronic Comments
28 See
VerDate Sep<11>2014
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Investment Company Act Release No.
34814; File No. 812–15375]
Fidelity Private Credit Fund and
Fidelity Diversifying Solutions LLC
January 24, 2023.
Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘SEC’’).
ACTION: Notice.
AGENCY:
Notice of an application under section
6(c) of the Investment Company Act of
1940 (the ‘‘Act’’) for an exemption from
sections 18(a)(2), 18(c) and 18(i) and
section 61(a) of the Act.
Summary of Application: Applicants
request an order to permit certain
closed-end management investment
companies that have elected to be
regulated as business development
companies (‘‘BDCs’’) to issue multiple
classes of shares with varying sales
loads and asset-based service and/or
distribution fees.
Applicants: Fidelity Private Credit
Fund and Fidelity Diversifying
Solutions LLC.
Filing Dates: The application was
filed on July 28, 2022 and amended on
August 19, 2022, and January 9, 2023.
Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An
order granting the requested relief will
be issued unless the Commission orders
a hearing. Interested persons may
request a hearing on any application by
emailing the Commission’s Secretary at
Secretarys-Office@sec.gov and serving
the Applicants with a copy of the
request by email, if an email address is
listed for the relevant Applicant below,
or personally or by mail, if a physical
address is listed for the relevant
Applicant below.
Hearing requests should be received
by the Commission by 5:30 p.m. on
February 17, 2023, and should be
accompanied by proof of service on the
Applicants, in the form of an affidavit
or, for lawyers, a certificate of service.
Pursuant to rule 0–5 under the Act,
hearing requests should state the nature
of the writer’s interest, any facts bearing
upon the desirability of a hearing on the
matter, the reason for the request, and
the issues contested. Persons who wish
32 17
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E:\FR\FM\30JAN1.SGM
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
30JAN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 19 (Monday, January 30, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5942-5947]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-01745]
[[Page 5942]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-96743; File No. SR-NYSEAMER-2023-08]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE American LLC; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Modify
the NYSE American Options Fee Schedule
January 24, 2023.
Pursuant to section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby given
that, on January 13, 2023, NYSE American LLC (``NYSE American'' or the
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II
below, which Items have been prepared by the self-regulatory
organization. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit
comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
\3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to modify the NYSE American Options Fee
Schedule (``Fee Schedule'') regarding (1) fees and credits for
Qualified Contingent Cross (``QCC'') transactions and (2) the Floor
Broker Fixed Cost Prepayment Incentive Program (the ``FB Prepay
Program''). The Exchange proposes to implement the fee change effective
January 13, 2023.\4\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The Exchange previously filed to amend the Fee Schedule on
December 30, 2022 (SR-NYSEAMER-2022-58) and withdrew such filing on
January 13, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization
included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the
proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the
proposed rule change. The text of those statements may be examined at
the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared
summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most
significant parts of such statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The purpose of this filing to amend the Fee Schedule to (1) modify
the fees and credits for QCC transactions \5\ and (2) modify the FB
Prepay Program. The Exchange proposes to implement the rule change on
January 13, 2023.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ A QCC is defined as an originating order to buy or sell at
least 1,000 contracts, or 10,000 mini-options contracts, that is
identified as being part of a qualified contingent trade (as that
term is defined in Commentary .01 to Rule 900.3NY), coupled with a
contra side order or orders totaling an equal number of contracts.
See Rule 900.3NY(y).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Modifications to QCC Fees and Credits
The table in Section I.F. of the Fee Schedule sets forth the per
contract fees and credits applicable to volume executed as part of a
QCC trade.\6\ Currently, Customers and Professional Customers do not
incur a fee or earn a credit; Non-Customers, excluding Specialists and
e-Specialists, are subject to a $0.20 per contract fee; and Specialists
and e-Specialists are subject to a $0.13 per contract fee. Floor
Brokers earn a credit for executed QCC orders of ($0.11) per contract
for the first 500,000 contracts or ($0.14) per contract in excess of
500,000.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ See Fee Schedule, Section I.F., QCC Fees & Credits.
\7\ QCC executions in which a Customer or Professional Customer,
or both, is on both sides of the QCC trade are not eligible for the
Floor Broker credit. The current Floor Broker credit is paid only on
volume within the applicable tier and is not retroactive to the
first contract traded. See Fee Schedule, Section I.F., QCC Fees &
Credits at Footnote 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange proposes to modify the table in Section I.F. to
replace the term ``Non-Customer'' with ``Market Maker, Firm, or Broker
Dealer'' and eliminate the exception of Specialists and e-Specialists,
which would add clarity to the Fee Schedule regarding which market
participants are considered ``Non-Customers'' for purposes of QCC fees
and credits. The table would thus provide for a $0.20 fee on QCC
transactions by a Market Maker, Firm, or Broker-Dealer (as such terms
are defined in the KEY TERMS and DEFINITIONS section of the Fee
Schedule). Consistent with this change, the Exchange also proposes to
eliminate the $0.13 fee currently applicable to QCC transactions by
Specialists and e-Specialists; as Specialists and e-Specialists are
registered with the Exchange as Market Makers, they would, as proposed,
be charged as such for QCC transactions.
The Exchange further proposes to modify the table in Section I.F.
regarding credits applicable to Floor Brokers' QCC transactions and
proposes to provide Floor Brokers with credits based on the account
type of the parties to the trade.\8\ Specifically, the Exchange
proposes that Floor Brokers may earn a credit of ($0.12) per contract
for QCC transactions of a Customer or Professional Customer vs. a
Market Maker, Firm, or Broker Dealer, and a credit of ($0.18) per
contract for QCC transactions of a Market Maker, Firm, or Broker Dealer
vs. a Market Maker, Firm, or Broker Dealer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ The Exchange also proposes to delete the sentence in
Footnote 1 to Section I.F. providing that the Floor Broker credit is
paid only on volume within the applicable tier and is not
retroactive to the first contract traded, as such concept would not
apply to the proposed Floor Broker credits.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, the Exchange proposes to modify the last sentence of
Footnote 1 to Section I.F., which currently provides that the maximum
Floor Broker credit paid for QCC transactions is $525,000 per month per
Floor Broker firm. The Exchange proposes to amend Footnote 1 to instead
provide that Floor Broker credits paid for QCC trades and rebates paid
through the Manual Billable Rebate Program (as proposed below) shall
not combine to exceed $2,000,000 per month per Floor Broker firm.
Although the Exchange cannot predict with certainty whether the
proposed change would encourage Floor Brokers to increase their QCC
volume, the Exchange believes that the proposed change would continue
to incent additional QCC executions by Floor Brokers by offering
increased credits on QCC transactions and raising the maximum monthly
amount that a Floor Broker firm could earn from Floor Broker QCC
credits (or rebates via the proposed Manual Billable Rebate Program),
and all Floor Brokers are eligible for the proposed credits, including
the proposed higher credit on QCC transactions with a Market Maker,
Firm or Broker on both sides of the trade, without any minimum volume
requirement. The Exchange also believes that the proposed change with
respect to the fee for QCC transactions by a Market Maker (including a
Specialist or e-Specialist), Firm, or Broker-Dealer would improve the
clarity of the Fee Schedule and, although the proposed change would
increase the fee for QCC transactions by Specialists and e-Specialists,
is reasonable and equitable because it would provide for the same fee
on QCC transactions for all Market Makers, Firms, and Broker-Dealers.
[[Page 5943]]
FB Prepay Program
The Exchange also proposes to modify the FB Prepay Program, a
prepayment incentive program that allows Floor Brokers to prepay
certain of their annual Eligible Fixed Costs in exchange for volume
rebates.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See Fee Schedule, Section III.E.1., Floor Broker Fixed Cost
Prepayment Incentive Program (the ``FB Prepay Program''). ``Eligible
Fixed Costs'' include monthly ATP Fees, the Floor Access Fee, and
certain monthly Floor communication, connectivity, equipment and
booth or podia fees, as set forth in the table in Section III.E.1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently, the FB Prepay Program offers participating Floor Brokers
an opportunity to qualify for rebates by achieving growth in billable
manual volume by a certain percentage as measured against one of two
benchmarks (the ``Percentage Growth Incentive''). Specifically, the
Percentage Growth Incentive is designed to encourage Floor Brokers to
increase their average daily volume (``ADV'') in billable manual
contract sides to qualify for a Tier; each Tier of the FB Prepay
Program corresponds to an annual rebate equal to the greater of the
``Total Percentage Reduction of pre-paid annual Eligible Fixed Costs''
or the annualization of the monthly ``Alternative Rebate.'' \10\ In
either case, participating Floor Brokers receive their annual rebate
amount in the following January.\11\ Floor Brokers that wish to
participate in the FB Prepay Program for the following calendar year
must notify the Exchange no later than the last business day of
December in the current year.\12\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ See id. The Percentage Growth Incentive excludes Customer
volume, Firm Facilitation trades, and QCCs. Any volume calculated to
achieve the Firm Monthly Fee Cap and the Strategy Execution Fee Cap,
regardless of whether either of these caps is achieved, will
likewise be excluded from the Percentage Growth Incentive because
fees on such volume are already capped and therefore do not increase
billable manual volume. See id.
\11\ See Fee Schedule, Section III.E.1.
\12\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange now proposes to modify the FB Prepay Program to
eliminate the Percentage Growth Incentive and accompanying annual
rebates \13\ and instead provide Floor Brokers participating in the
program with monthly rebates based on manual billable transaction
volume (the ``Manual Billable Rebate Program''). The calculation of
volume on which rebates earned through the Manual Billable Rebate
Program would be paid is based on transactions including at least one
side for which manual transaction fees are applicable and excludes
volume from QCC transactions.\14\ The Exchange proposes to continue to
exclude any volume calculated to achieve the Strategy Execution Fee
Cap, regardless of whether the cap is achieved, from the Manual
Billable Rebate Program because fees on such volume are already capped
and therefore such volume does not increase billable manual volume.\15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\13\ To effect the proposed change to eliminate the Percentage
Growth Incentive and related rebates, the Exchange also proposes to
delete the last sentence in Section III.E.1., which currently
provides that Floor Brokers in the FB Prepay Program will receive
their rebate in the following January, as no longer applicable.
\14\ The Exchange proposes to continue to exclude volume from
QCC transactions from the calculation of eligible volume for rebates
paid through the Manual Billable Rebate Program, as proposed,
because Floor Brokers would be eligible for separate credits and
rebates for QCC transactions.
\15\ The Exchange proposes to remove references to the exclusion
of Customer volume and Firm Facilitation trades as redundant because
such volume is not billable. The Exchange also proposes that it
would no longer exclude volume calculated to achieve the Firm
Monthly Fee Cap from the Manual Billable Rebate Program and proposes
conforming changes to reflect the deletion of the reference to the
Firm Monthly Fee Cap in Section III.E.1. The Exchange proposes to
include volume calculated to achieve the Firm Monthly Fee Cap in
calculations for the Manual Billable Rebate Program in light of the
recent change to increase the amount of the Firm Monthly Fee Cap and
eliminate lower fee caps for firms that qualify for American
Customer Engagement Program tiers, which results in more non-
facilitation Firm volume being subject to regular transaction fees.
See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 96501 (December 15, 2022)
(SR-NYSEAMER-2022-55) (Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness
of a Proposed Rule Change to Modify the NYSE American Options Fee
Schedule).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Participants in the FB Prepay Program that achieve the following
monthly qualifications will be eligible for rebates through the Manual
Billable Rebate Program, payable on a monthly basis:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rebate per
Manual billable rebate qualification billable side
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Execute 1 million combined manual billable and QCC ($0.05)
billable contracts..................................
Execute 3 million combined manual billable and QCC (0.08)
billable contracts..................................
Execute 5 million combined manual billable and QCC (0.10)
billable contracts..................................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The FB Prepay Program also currently offers participating Floor
Brokers that increase their QCC credit eligible contracts in a month by
at least 20% over the greater of their second half of 2021 average
monthly QCC credit eligible volume or 1,500,000 contracts an additional
credit of $0.04 per contract on the first 300,000 QCC credit eligible
QCC trades and an additional credit of $0.01 per contract on all QCC
credit eligible QCC trades above 300,000, subject to the monthly
maximum credit per Floor Broker firm. The Exchange now proposes to
eliminate these QCC credits currently offered through the FB Prepay
Program, and provide that program participants would instead be
eligible to qualify for monthly rebates on QCC transactions in addition
to the credits set forth in Section I.F. (as modified in this filing)
(the ``QCC Billable Bonus Rebate''), as described in the table below,
provided that they execute the required number of billable QCC
transactions in a month. The Exchange proposes that the QCC Billable
Bonus Rebate (including the Additional Bonus) would be payable back to
the first billable side.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional rebate
QCC billable bonus rebate on single Additional rebate
qualification billable side QCC on two billable
contract side QCC contract
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Prepay Bonus Level--achieved with ($0.02) ($0.04)
2 million QCC billable contracts.
Additional Bonus Level--achieved (0.04) (0.06)
with 100% above Prepay Bonus
Level............................
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange further proposes to provide in Section III.E.1.,
consistent with Section I.F., that the maximum Floor Broker credits
paid for QCC trades and rebates paid through the Manual Billable Rebate
Program shall not combine to exceed $2,000,000 per month per Floor
Broker firm.
Finally, the Exchange proposes to modify the date it will use for
the calculation of a Floor Broker's Eligible Fixed Costs for the
following calendar
[[Page 5944]]
year. The FB Prepay Program currently specifies that a Floor Broker
that commits to the program will be invoiced in January for Eligible
Fixed Costs, based on annualizing their Eligible Fixed Costs incurred
in November 2020. The Exchange proposes to modify the Fee Schedule to
specify that the annualization of Eligible Fixed Costs would be based
on costs incurred in November 2022, which the Exchange believes would
more accurately reflect Eligible Fixed Costs for the coming calendar
year.
Although the Exchange cannot predict with certainty whether the
proposed changes to the FB Prepay Program would encourage Floor Brokers
to participate in the program or to increase either their manual
billable volume or QCC volume, the Exchange believes that the proposed
changes would continue to incentivize Floor Brokers to participate in
the FB Prepay Program by simplifying the structure of the program,
modifying the qualifying criteria and rebates offered through the
program to be on a monthly (rather than annual) basis, and offering
rebates on manual billable volume and QCC transactions, thereby
encouraging additional manual billable volume and QCC executions by
Floor Brokers. All Floor Brokers are eligible to participate in the FB
Prepay Program and qualify for the proposed rebates, and the rebates
are achievable in any given month without regard to volumes from any
other month.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with section 6(b) of the Act,\16\ in general, and furthers the
objectives of sections 6(b)(4) and (5) of the Act,\17\ in particular,
because it provides for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees, and other charges among its members, issuers and other persons
using its facilities and does not unfairly discriminate between
customers, issuers, brokers or dealers.
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\16\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\17\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
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The Proposed Rule Change Is Reasonable
The Exchange operates in a highly competitive market. The
Commission has repeatedly expressed its preference for competition over
regulatory intervention in determining prices, products, and services
in the securities markets. 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.'' \18\
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\18\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005) (S7-10-04) (``Reg NMS
Adopting Release'').
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There are currently 16 registered options exchanges competing for
order flow. Based on publicly-available information, and excluding
index-based options, no single exchange has more than 16% of the market
share of executed volume of multiply-listed equity and ETF options
trades.\19\ Therefore, no exchange possesses significant pricing power
in the execution of multiply-listed equity and ETF options order flow.
More specifically, in November 2022, the Exchange had less than 7%
market share of executed volume of multiply-listed equity and ETF
options trades.\20\
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\19\ The OCC publishes options and futures volume in a variety
of formats, including daily and monthly volume by exchange,
available here: https://www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-Data-Reports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/Monthly-Weekly-Volume-Statistics.
\20\ Based on a compilation of OCC data for monthly volume of
equity-based options and monthly volume of ETF-based options, see
id., the Exchange's market share in equity-based options was 7.06%
for the month of November 2021 and 6.98% for the month of November
2022.
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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 or reduce use of certain categories of
products, in response to fee changes. Accordingly, competitive forces
constrain options exchange transaction fees. Stated otherwise, changes
to exchange transaction fees can have a direct effect on the ability of
an exchange to compete for order flow.
The Exchange believes that the proposed credits offered to Floor
Brokers on QCC transactions, as well as the additional rebates on QCC
transactions and manual billable volume offered through the FB Prepay
Program, as proposed, are reasonable because they are designed to
continue to incent Floor Brokers to increase the number of QCC
transactions and manual billable orders executed on the Exchange. The
Exchange also believes that the proposed increase in the maximum
monthly amount that a Floor Broker firm could earn from Floor Broker
QCC credits or from rebates via the proposed Manual Billable Rebate
Program is reasonable because it is likewise intended to encourage
Floor Brokers to direct QCC transactions and manual billable volume to
the Exchange.
The Exchange believes that the proposed changes to QCC transaction
fees and credits, as set forth in Section I.F., are reasonable because
they are designed to improve the clarity of the Fee Schedule regarding
the fee applicable to ``Non-Customer'' QCC transactions and to apply a
consistent fee to QCC transactions by Market Makers (including
Specialists and e-Specialists), Firms, and Broker-Dealers. The Exchange
also believes it is reasonable to provide an increased credit to Floor
Brokers on QCC transactions with a Market Maker, Firm, or Broker-Dealer
on both sides because such transactions are billable on both sides. To
the extent that the proposed change attracts more volume to the
Exchange and does not disincentivize Specialists and e-Specialists from
directing orders to the Exchange, this order flow would continue to
make the Exchange a more competitive venue for order execution, which,
in turn, promotes just and equitable principles of trade and removes
impediments to and perfects the mechanism of a free and open market and
a national market system.
With respect to the FB Prepay Program, the Exchange also believes
that the proposed changes are reasonable because participation in the
program is optional, and Floor Brokers can elect to participate in the
program to be eligible to earn the proposed rebates on manual billable
transactions and QCC transactions or not. The Exchange also believes
that the proposed modification of the FB Prepay Program is reasonable
because it is designed to simplify the program, to continue to
encourage Floor Brokers to participate in the FB Prepay Program, and to
provide liquidity on the Exchange. Specifically, the Exchange believes
that the proposed qualifying thresholds for the Manual Billable Rebate
Program and QCC Bonus Rebate are achievable by Floor Broker firms based
on recent Floor Broker activity and in consideration of the proposed
changes in this filing (including the proposed modification to Floor
Broker QCC credits). The Exchange further believes that the proposed
change to focus the FB Prepay Program on manual billable volume and QCC
transactions is reasonable because it is intended to encourage Floor
Brokers to increase manual billable volume and QCC transactions to the
Exchange, and any increase in such volume would benefit all market
participants. The Exchange also believes that the proposed rebate
amounts are reasonable and comparable to rebate amounts offered by
another options exchange to Floor Brokers on
[[Page 5945]]
manual transactions.\21\ Finally, the Exchange believes that the
proposed modification of the qualifying criteria for and rebates
offered through the FB Prepay Program to be on a monthly basis is
reasonable and could increase opportunities for participating Floor
Brokers to qualify for and receive the benefit of the incentives
offered. To the extent that the proposed changes attract more volume to
the Exchange, this increased order flow would continue to make the
Exchange a more competitive venue for order execution, which, in turn,
promotes just and equitable principles of trade and removes impediments
to and perfects the mechanism of a free and open market and a national
market system. The Exchange notes that all market participants stand to
benefit from any increase in volume by Floor Brokers, which could
promote market depth, facilitate tighter spreads and enhance price
discovery, to the extent the proposed change encourages Floor Brokers
to utilize the Exchange as a primary trading venue, and may lead to a
corresponding increase in order flow from other market participants. In
addition, any increased liquidity on the Exchange would result in
enhanced market quality for all participants.
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\21\ See, e.g., BOX Options Exchange Fee Schedule, Section V.C.
(offering rebates to Floor Brokers on orders presented on the
Trading Floor, including a $0.075 rebate for Broker Dealer and
Market Maker orders).
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The Exchange also believes that the proposed change to update the
date used for the calculation of Eligible Fixed Costs from November
2020 to November 2022 is reasonable because it expects Floor Broker
organizations' more recent November 2022 costs to provide a more
accurate basis for annualizing Eligible Fixed Costs for the coming
calendar year based on anticipated fixed costs in 2023.
Finally, to the extent the proposed changes continue to attract
greater volume and liquidity, the Exchange believes the proposed
changes would improve the Exchange's overall competitiveness and
strengthen its market quality for all market participants. In the
backdrop of the competitive environment in which the Exchange operates,
the proposed rule change is a reasonable attempt by the Exchange to
increase the depth of its market and improve its market share relative
to its competitors. The Exchange's fees are constrained by intermarket
competition, as Floor Brokers may direct their order flow to any of the
16 options exchanges, including those offering rebates on QCC orders
\22\ and Floor Broker rebates on manual billable orders.\23\ Thus,
Floor Brokers have a choice of where they direct their order flow,
including their QCC transactions and manual billable orders. The
proposed rule changes are designed to continue to incent Floor Brokers
to direct liquidity (and, in particular, QCC orders and manual billable
orders) to the Exchange; to the extent Floor Brokers are incentivized
to aggregate their trading activity at the Exchange, that increased
liquidity could promote market depth, price discovery and improvement,
and enhanced order execution opportunities for market participants.
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\22\ See, e.g., EDGX Options Exchange Fee Schedule, QCC
Initiator/Solicitation Rebate Tiers (applying ($0.14) per contract
rebate up to 999,999 contracts for QCC transactions when only one
side of the transaction is a non-customer or ($0.22) per contract
rebate up to 999,999 contracts for QCC transactions with non-
customers on both sides); BOX Options Fee Schedule at Section
IV.D.1. (QCC Rebate) (providing for ($0.14) per contract rebate up
to 1,499,999 contracts for QCC transactions when only one side of
the QCC transaction is a broker-dealer or market maker or ($0.22)
per contract rebate up to 1,499,999 contracts for QCC transactions
when both parties are a broker-dealer or market maker); Nasdaq ISE,
Options 7, Section 6.B. (QCC Rebate) (offering rebates on QCC
transactions of ($0.14) per contract when only one side of the QCC
transaction is a non-customer or ($0.22) per contract when both
sides of the QCC transaction are non-customers).
\23\ See note 21, supra.
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The Proposed Rule Change Is an Equitable Allocation of Credits and Fees
The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is an equitable
allocation of its fees and credits. The proposal is based on the amount
and type of business transacted on the Exchange; Floor Brokers are not
obligated to participate in the FB Prepay Program and can choose to
execute QCC transactions or manual billable transactions to earn the
various proposed credits and rebates or not. In addition, the proposed
credits and rebates are available to all Floor Brokers equally, and the
proposed monthly limit on the amount that Floor Brokers could earn from
credits and rebates on QCC transactions and manual billable
transactions would apply to all Floor Brokers equally. The Exchange
also believes that the proposed modification of the qualifying criteria
for and rebates offered through the FB Prepay Program to be on a
monthly basis is equitable because it could provide participating Floor
Brokers opportunities each month to qualify for and receive the benefit
of the incentives offered through the program.
The Exchange also believes that the proposed increased credit for
QCC transactions with a Market Maker, Firm, or Broker-Dealer on both
sides is equitable because such transactions are billable on both sides
(whereas a QCC transaction with a Customer or Professional Customer on
one side is only billable on one side). In addition, the Exchange
believes that the proposed changes with respect to the fees for QCC
transactions executed by Market Makers (including Specialists and e-
Specialists), Firms, and Broker-Dealers modify the Fee Schedule to
provide clarity regarding QCC transaction fees for ``Non-Customers''
and are equitable because they provide that these similarly-situated
market participants would be equally subject to a $0.20 fee on their
QCC transactions.
The Exchange also notes that the proposed changes are designed to
encourage Floor Brokers that have previously enrolled in the FB Prepay
Program to reenroll for the upcoming year, as well as to attract Floor
Brokers that have not yet participated in the program. Moreover, the
Exchange believes that the proposed modifications to the FB Prepay
Program are an equitable allocation of fees and credits because they
would apply to participating Floor Brokers equally and are intended to
encourage the role performed by Floor Brokers in facilitating the
execution of orders via open outcry, a function which the Exchange
wishes to support for the benefit of all market participants. The
Exchange further believes that the proposed change with respect to the
calculation of Eligible Fixed Costs is equitable because it would
continue to be based on each Floor Broker organization's annualized
costs and because the November 2022 basis for annualizing costs would
provide a more accurate reflection of Eligible Fixed Costs for the
coming calendar year based on anticipated fixed costs in 2023.
Moreover, the proposed changes are designed to continue to incent
Floor Brokers to encourage ATP Holders to aggregate their executions--
including QCC transactions and manual orders--at the Exchange as a
primary execution venue. To the extent that the proposed change
achieves its purpose in attracting more Floor Broker volume to the
Exchange, this increased order flow would continue to make the Exchange
a more competitive venue for, among other things, order execution.
Thus, the Exchange believes the proposed rule changes would improve
market quality for all market participants on the Exchange and, as a
consequence, attract more order flow to the Exchange, thereby improving
market-wide quality and price discovery.
[[Page 5946]]
The Proposed Rule Change Is Not Unfairly Discriminatory
The Exchange believes the proposed fees, credits, and rebates
applicable to Floor Brokers on QCC transactions and manual billable
transactions are not unfairly discriminatory because they are based on
the amount and type of business transacted on the Exchange, and Floor
Brokers are not obligated to execute QCC or manual billable volume, or
to participate in the FB Prepay Program. Rather, the proposal is
designed to streamline the structure of the FB Prepay Program and to
encourage Floor Brokers to utilize the Exchange as a primary trading
venue for all transactions (if they have not done so previously) and
increase QCC and manual billable volume sent to the Exchange. In
addition, the proposed changes, including the modification of the
monthly maximum Floor Broker credits paid for QCC trades and rebates
paid through the Manual Billable Rebate Program, would apply to all
similarly-situated Floor Brokers on an equal and non-discriminatory
basis. The proposed credits and rebates are also not unfairly
discriminatory to non-Floor Brokers because Floor Brokers serve an
important function in facilitating the execution of orders on the
Exchange, which the Exchange wishes to encourage and support to promote
price improvement opportunities for all market participants.
The Exchange also believes that the proposed change relating to
``Non-Customer'' QCC transactions is not unfairly discriminatory
because it is intended to clarify that the existing $0.20 fee is
applicable to QCC transactions by Market Makers, Firms, and Broker-
Dealers and further believes that the proposed change with respect to
Specialists and e-Specialists is not unfairly discriminatory because it
would modify the Fee Schedule to charge the same fee on any QCC
transactions executed by Market Makers (including Specialists and e-
Specialists), Firms, and Broker-Dealers.
The Exchange further believes that the proposed change with respect
to the calculation of Eligible Fixed Costs is not unfairly
discriminatory because it would continue to be based on each Floor
Broker organization's annualized costs and because the Exchange expects
that using November 2022 as the basis for annualizing costs would
provide a more accurate reflection of Eligible Fixed Costs for the
coming calendar year.
To the extent that the proposed changes attract more QCC orders and
manual orders to the Exchange, this increased order flow would continue
to make the Exchange a more competitive venue for order execution.
Thus, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change would improve
market quality for all market participants on the Exchange and, as a
consequence, attract more order flow to the Exchange, thereby improving
market-wide quality and price discovery. The resulting increased volume
and liquidity would provide more trading opportunities and tighter
spreads to all market participants and thus would promote just and
equitable principles of trade, remove impediments to and perfect the
mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system and,
in general, protect investors and the public interest.
Finally, the Exchange believes that it is subject to significant
competitive forces, as described below in the Exchange's statement
regarding the burden on competition.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
In accordance with section 6(b)(8) of the Act,\24\ the Exchange
does not believe that the proposed rule change would impose any burden
on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of
the purposes of the Act. Instead, as discussed above, the Exchange
believes that the proposed changes would encourage the submission of
additional liquidity to a public exchange, thereby promoting market
depth, price discovery and transparency and enhancing order execution
opportunities for all market participants. As a result, the Exchange
believes that the proposed change furthers the Commission's goal in
adopting Regulation NMS of fostering integrated competition among
orders, which promotes ``more efficient pricing of individual stocks
for all types of orders, large and small.'' \25\
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\24\ See 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
\25\ See Reg NMS Adopting Release, supra note 18, at 37499.
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Intramarket Competition. The proposed modification of the FB Prepay
Program and the proposed credits and rebates offered to Floor Brokers
on QCC transactions and manual billable orders are designed to incent
participation in the FB Prepay Program and to attract additional order
flow to the Exchange, which could increase the volumes of contracts
traded on the Exchange. Greater liquidity benefits all market
participants on the Exchange, and increased QCC and manual billable
transactions could increase opportunities for execution of other
trading interest. The proposed QCC credits would be available to all
similarly-situated Floor Brokers that execute QCC trades and the
rebates available through the Manual Billable Rebate Program and QCC
Billable Bonus Rebate would be available to all Floor Brokers that
choose to participate in the FB Prepay Program and meet the qualifying
criteria for such rebates. The modification of the monthly maximum
Floor Broker credits paid for QCC trades and rebates paid through the
Manual Billable Rebate Program, would likewise apply equally to all
similarly-situated Floor Brokers. To the extent that there is an
additional competitive burden on non-Floor Brokers, the Exchange
believes that any such burden would be appropriate because Floor
Brokers serve an important function in facilitating the execution of
orders and price discovery for all market participants. Finally, the
Exchange believes the elimination of a lower QCC fee for Specialists
and e-Specialists could also promote intramarket competition by
establishing the same fee for all Market Makers, Firms, and Broker
Dealers on QCC transactions.
Intermarket Competition. The Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market in which market participants can readily favor one
of the 16 competing option exchanges if they deem fee levels at a
particular venue to be excessive. In such an environment, the Exchange
must continually adjust its fees to remain competitive with other
exchanges and to attract order flow to the Exchange. Based on publicly-
available information, and excluding index-based options, no single
exchange has more than 16% of the market share of executed volume of
multiply-listed equity and ETF options trades.\26\ Therefore, no
exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution of
multiply-listed equity and ETF options order flow. More specifically,
in November 2022, the Exchange had less than 7% market share of
executed volume of multiply-listed equity and ETF options trades.\27\
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\26\ See note 19, supra.
\27\ See note 20, supra.
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The Exchange believes that the proposed changes reflect this
competitive environment because they modify the Exchange's fees and
credits in a manner designed to continue to incent Floor Brokers to
direct trading interest (particularly QCC transactions and manual
orders) to the Exchange, to provide liquidity and to attract order
flow. To the extent that Floor Brokers are encouraged to participate in
the FB Prepay Program and/or incentivized to
[[Page 5947]]
utilize the Exchange as a primary trading venue for all transactions,
all of the Exchange's market participants should benefit from the
improved market quality and increased opportunities for price
improvement. The Exchange notes that it operates in a highly
competitive market in which market participants can readily favor
competing venues. In such an environment, the Exchange must continually
review, and consider adjusting, its fees and credits to remain
competitive with other exchanges. For the reasons described above, the
Exchange believes that the proposed rule change reflects this
competitive environment.
The Exchange further believes that the proposed change could
promote competition between the Exchange and other execution venues,
including those that currently offer rebates on QCC transactions and
Floor Broker rebates on manual billable volume,\28\ by encouraging
additional orders to be sent to the Exchange for execution.
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\28\ See notes 21 & 22, supra.
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C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the
proposed rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change is effective upon filing pursuant to
section 19(b)(3)(A) \29\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule
19b-4 \30\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other
charge imposed by the Exchange.
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\29\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\30\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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At any time within 60 days of the filing of such proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings under
section 19(b)(2)(B) \31\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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\31\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
Use the Commission's internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an email to [email protected]. Please include
File Number SR-NYSEAMER-2023-08 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEAMER-2023-08. This
file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To
help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently,
please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on
the Commission's internet website (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml).
Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written
statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with
the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed
rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those
that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions
of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for website viewing and printing in
the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549 on official business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and
3:00 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection
and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change. Persons submitting comments are
cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying
information from comment submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR-NYSEAMER-2023-08, and should be
submitted on or before February 21, 2023.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\32\
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\32\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-01745 Filed 1-27-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
