Notice2022-14886
Self-Regulatory Organizations: Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change by MIAX PEARL, LLC To Amend the MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 13, 2022
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 87 Issue 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 133 (Wednesday, July 13, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 41750-41755]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2022-14886]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-95210; File No. SR-PEARL-2022-26
Self-Regulatory Organizations: Notice of Filing and Immediate
Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change by MIAX PEARL, LLC To Amend the
MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule
July 7, 2022.
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice
is hereby given that on July 5, 2022, MIAX PEARL, LLC (``MIAX Pearl''
or ``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``Commission'') a 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.
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange is filing a proposal to amend the fee schedule (the
``Fee Schedule'') applicable to MIAX Pearl Equities, an equities
trading facility of the Exchange.
The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's
website at <a href="http://www.miaxoptions.com/rule-filings/pearl">http://www.miaxoptions.com/rule-filings/pearl</a> at MIAX
Pearl's principal office, 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 purpose of the proposed rule change is to amend the Exchange's
Fee Schedule to adopt new liquidity indicator codes and associated fees
and rebates to the Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated Fees table.
The Exchange originally filed this proposal on June 23, 2022, (SR-
PEARL-2022-24). On July 5, 2022, the Exchange withdrew SR-PEARL-2022-24
and resubmitted this proposal.
The Exchange first notes that it operates in a highly competitive
market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be
excessive or incentives to be insufficient. More specifically, the
Exchange is only one of 16 registered equities exchanges, as well as a
number of alternative trading systems and other off-exchange venues,
[[Page 41751]]
to which market participants may direct their order flow. Based on
publicly available information, no single registered equities exchange
currently has more than approximately 17% of the total market share of
executed volume of equities trading, and the Exchange currently
represents approximately 1% of the overall market share.\3\
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\3\ See MIAX's ``The market at a glance, MTD Average'',
available at <a href="https://www.miaxoptions.com/">https://www.miaxoptions.com/</a>, (last visited June 30,
2022).
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Background
The Exchange filed a proposal \4\ to adopt a new routing option
called Route to Primary Auction (``PAC'') that would be available to
orders in equity securities traded on the Exchange's equity trading
platform. The PAC routing option would enable an Equity Member \5\
(``Member'') to designate that their order be routed to the primary
listing market to participate in the primary listing market's opening,
re-opening or closing process.\6\ Exchange Rule 2617(b)(5)(B) provides
that PAC is a routing option for Market Orders \7\ and displayed Limit
Orders \8\ designated with a time-in-force of Regular Hours Only
(``RHO'') \9\ that the entering firm wishes to designate for
participation in the opening, re-opening (following a regulatory halt,
suspension, or pause), or closing process \10\ of a primary listing
market (Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (``BZX''), the New York Stock Exchange
LLC (``NYSE''), The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq''), NYSE American
LLC (``NYSE American''), or NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE Arca'')) if
received before the opening, re-opening, or closing process of such
market.
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\4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 94301 (February 23,
2022), 87 FR 11739 (March 2, 2022) (SR-PEARL-2022-06).
\5\ The term ``Equity Member'' is a Member authorized by the
Exchange to transact business on MIAX Pearl Equities. See Exchange
Rule 1901.
\6\ See Exchange Rule 2617(b)(5)(B).
\7\ See Exchange Rule 2614(a)(2).
\8\ See Exchange Rule 2614(a)(1).
\9\ Exchange Rule 2614(b)(2) defines ``Regular Hours Only'' or
``RHO'' as ``[a]n order that is designated for execution only during
Regular Trading Hours, which includes the Opening Process for equity
securities. An order with a time-in-force of RHO entered into the
System before the opening of business on the Exchange as determined
pursuant to Exchange Rule 2600 will be accepted but not eligible for
execution until the start of Regular Trading Hours.''
\10\ The Exchange notes that it will not route Market Orders to
the primary listing market's closing process.
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The Exchange currently has a liquidity indicator code of ``X'' for
routed liquidity. This code will continue to be applied to an order
that is routed to and executed on an away market. Additionally, this
code will be used to identify orders that were routed to an away market
(including orders that were routed using the PAC routing strategy) and
executed as ``Taker.'' The proposed liquidity indicator codes described
below are specifically related to the PAC routing strategy.
New Liquidity Indicator Codes
In conjunction with the Exchange's proposal to provide a PAC
routing option as described above, the Exchange now proposes to amend
the Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated Fees Table to adopt new
routing fees and rebates as follows:
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XA, Re-routed by Primary
Listing Exchange. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated Fees
table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator code XA
would be charged a fee $0.003 per share in securities priced at or
above $1.00 and 0.3% of the transaction's dollar value in securities
priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XB, Routed Primary
Listing Exchange Execution (Other). The Liquidity Indicator Codes and
Associated Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity
indicator code XB would be charged a fee $0.003 per share in securities
priced at or above $1.00 and 0.3% of the transaction's dollar value in
securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XC, Routed to NYSE,
Opening/Re-Opening Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and
Associated Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity
indicator code XC would be charged a fee $0.00105 per share in
securities priced at or above $1.00 and 0.3% of the transaction's
dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XD, Routed to NYSE,
Closing Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated Fees
table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator code XD
would be charged a fee $0.00085 per share in securities priced at or
above $1.00 and 0.3% of the transaction's dollar value in securities
priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XE, Routed to NYSE, Adds
Displayed Liquidity. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated Fees
table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator code XE
would receive a rebate of $0.0015 per share in securities priced at or
above $1.00 and would be charged a fee of 0.01% of the transaction's
dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XF, Routed to NYSE Arca,
Opening/Re-Opening Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and
Associated Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity
indicator code XF would be charged a fee of $0.00155 per share in
securities priced at or above $1.00 and 0.105% of the transaction's
dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XG, Routed to NYSE Arca,
Closing Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated Fees
table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator code XG
would be charged a fee of $0.00105 per share in securities priced at or
above $1.00 and a fee of 0.105% of the transaction's dollar value in
securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XH, Routed to NYSE Arca,
Adds Displayed Liquidity. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated
Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator
code XH would receive a rebate of $0.0015 per share in securities
priced at or above $1.00 and would be charged a fee of 0.01% of the
transaction's dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XI, Routed to NYSE
American, Opening/Re-Opening Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and
Associated Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity
indicator code XI would be charged a fee of $0.00055 per share in
securities priced at or above $1.00 and 0.055% of the transaction's
dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XJ, Routed to NYSE
American, Closing Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated
Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator
code XJ would be charged a fee of $0.00055 per share in securities
priced at or above $1.00 and 0.055% of the transaction's dollar value
in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XK, Routed to NYSE
American, Adds Displayed Liquidity. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and
Associated Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity
indicator code XK would receive a rebate of $0.001 per share in
securities priced at or above $1.00 and would be charged a fee of 0.01%
of the transaction's dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XL, Routed to Cboe BZX,
Opening/Re-Opening Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and
Associated Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity
indicator code XL would be charged a fee of $0.0008 per share in
securities priced at or above $1.00 and
[[Page 41752]]
0.08% of the transaction's dollar value in securities priced below
$1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XM, Routed to Cboe BZX,
Closing Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated Fees
table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator code XM
would be charged a fee of $0.00105 per share in securities priced at or
above $1.00 and 0.105% of the transaction's dollar value in securities
priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XN, Routed to Cboe BZX,
Adds Displayed Liquidity. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated
Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator
code XN would receive a rebate of $0.0015 per share in securities
priced at or above $1.00 and be charged a fee of 0.01% of the
transaction's dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XO, Routed to Nasdaq,
Opening/Re-Opening Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and
Associated Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity
indicator code XO would be charged a fee of $0.00155 per share in
securities priced at or above $1.00 and 0.30% of the transaction's
dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XP, Routed to Nasdaq,
Closing Auction. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated Fees
table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator code XP
would be charged a fee of $0.00085 per share in securities priced at or
above $1.00 and 0.09% of the transaction's dollar value in securities
priced below $1.00.
<bullet> Add new liquidity indicator code XQ, Routed to Nasdaq,
Adds Displayed Liquidity. The Liquidity Indicator Codes and Associated
Fees table would specify that orders that yield liquidity indicator
code XQ would receive a rebate of $0.0015 per share in securities
priced at or above $1.00 and be charged a fee of 0.01% of the
transaction's dollar value in securities priced below $1.00.
As part of the PAC order routing strategy the Exchange will route a
limit order to participate in the primary listing market's closing
process prior to the primary listing market's order entry cut-off
time.\11\ These orders may rest on the primary listing market's book
until such time as the closing auction commences. During this period
these orders are subject to standard order handling and may be executed
or routed by the primary listing market depending upon market
conditions. Therefore the Exchange is proposing to adopt liquidity
indicator codes to reflect the disposition of the order (i.e., an order
routed to NYSE that rests on the book and is executed prior to the
closing auction would receive liquidity indicator code XE; an order
routed to NYSE Arca that rests on the book and is executed prior to the
closing auction would receive liquidity indicator code XH; an order
routed to NYSE American that rests on the book and is executed prior to
the closing auction would receive liquidity indicator code XK; an order
routed to Cboe BZX that rests on the book and is executed prior to the
closing auction would receive liquidity indicator code XN; and an order
routed to Nasdaq that rests on the book and is executed prior to the
closing auction would receive liquidity indicator code XQ; further an
order routed to a primary listing market that is subsequently routed by
the primary listing market prior to the start of the closing auction
would receive liquidity indicator code XA).
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\11\ See Exchange Rule 2617(b)(5)(B)(1)(ii)(a).
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Implementation
The proposed changes are immediately effective.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that its proposal to amend its Fee Schedule
is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act \12\ in general, and
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of the Act \13\ in
particular, in that it is an equitable allocation of reasonable fees
and other charges among its Members and issuers and other persons using
its facilities. The Exchange also believes that the proposed rule
change is consistent with the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) \14\ that
the rules of an exchange be designed to prevent fraudulent and
manipulative acts and practices, and to promote just and equitable
principles of trade, to foster cooperation and coordination with
persons engaged in regulating, clearing, settling, processing
information with respect to, and facilitating transactions in
securities, to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a
free and open market and a national market system, and, in general, to
protect investors and the public interest, and, particularly, is not
designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers,
brokers, or dealers.
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\12\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\13\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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The Exchange operates in a highly fragmented and competitive market
in which market participants can readily direct their 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 sixteen registered equities exchanges, and
there are a number of alternative trading systems and other off-
exchange venues, to which market participants may direct their order
flow. Based on publicly available information, no single registered
equities exchange currently has more than approximately 17% of the
total market share of executed volume of equities trading.\15\ Thus, in
such a low-concentrated and highly competitive market, no single
equities exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution
of order flow, and the Exchange currently represents less than 1% of
the overall market share. The Commission and the courts have repeatedly
expressed their 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.'' \16\
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\15\ See supra note 3.
\16\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9, 2005),
70 FR 37499 (June 29, 2005).
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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 to reduce use of certain categories of
products, in response to new or different pricing structures being
introduced into the market. Accordingly, competitive forces constrain
the Exchange's transaction fees and rebates, and market participants
can readily trade on competing venues if they deem pricing levels at
those other venues to be more favorable. The Exchange believes the
proposal will further remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism
of a free and open market and a national market system, and will
introduce the PAC routing strategy on the Exchange which will provide
Members with greater flexibility in routing orders to other exchanges.
New Liquidity Indicator Codes
The Exchange believes that its proposal to adopt liquidity
indicator codes is reasonable, consistent with an equitable allocation
of fees, and not unfairly discriminatory. The use of liquidity
indicator codes is not unique
[[Page 41753]]
to the Exchange as liquidity indicator codes are currently utilized and
described in the fee schedules of other equity exchanges.\17\
Additionally, the Exchange believes its fee changes proposed for each
liquidity indicator code are reasonable because competing exchanges
that offer similar functionality charge similar fees as those proposed
herein.\18\
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\17\ See NYSE Arca Equities Exchange Fee Schedule, Section V.,
Standard Rates-Routing, on its public website (available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse-arca/NYSE_Arca_Marketplace_Fees.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse-arca/NYSE_Arca_Marketplace_Fees.pdf</a>); see also Cboe BZX U.S. Equities
Exchange Fee Schedule, Fees Codes and Associated Fees, on its public
website (available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/</a>); see also Cboe EDGX U.S. Equities Exchange Fee
Schedule, Fee Codes and Associate Fees, on its public website
(available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/edgx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/edgx/</a>).
\18\ See NYSE Arca Equities Exchange Fee Schedule, Section V.,
Standard Rates-Routing, on its public website (available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse-arca/NYSE_Arca_Marketplace_Fees.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse-arca/NYSE_Arca_Marketplace_Fees.pdf</a>); see also Cboe BZX U.S. Equities
Exchange Fee Schedule, Fees Codes and Associated Fees, on its public
website (available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/</a>); see also Cboe EDGX U.S. Equities Exchange Fee
Schedule, Fee Codes and Associate Fees, on its public website
(available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/edgx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/edgx/</a>).
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Specifically, the proposed fee of $0.003 for liquidity indicator
code XA, Re-routed by Primary Listing Exchange and the proposed fee of
$0.003 for liquidity indicator code XB, Routed Primary Listing Exchange
Execution (Other) are equal to the current fee charged for liquidity
indicator code X, Routed, on the Exchange. The proposed fee of $0.00105
for liquidity indicator code XC, Routed to NYSE Opening/Re-Opening
Auction, is comparable to the fee charged by NYSE Arca of $0.001 to
route orders to NYSE Auctions.\19\ Similarly, the proposed fee of
$0.00085 for liquidity indicator code XD, Closing Auction, is
comparable to the fee charged by NYSE Arca of $0.001 to route orders to
NYSE Auctions.\20\ The proposed fee of $0.00055 for liquidity indicator
code XI, Routed to NYSE American Opening/Re-Opening Auction, is
comparable to the fee charged by NYSE Arca of $0.0005 to route orders
to NYSE American Auctions.\21\ Similarly, the proposed fee of $0.00055
for liquidity indicator code XJ, Routed to NYSE American, Closing
Auction, is comparable to the fee charged by NYSE Arca of $0.0005 to
route orders to NYSE American Auctions.\22\ The proposed fee of $0.0008
for liquidity indicator code XL, Routed to Cboe BZX, Opening/Re-Opening
Auction, is comparable to the fee charged by NYSE Arca of $0.003 for
routing orders to Cboe BZX auctions.\23\ Similarly, the proposed fee of
$0.00105 for liquidity indicator code XM, Routed to Cboe BZX, Closing
Auction, is less than the fee charged by NYSE Arca of $0.003 to route
orders to Cboe BZX auctions.\24\ The proposed fee of $0.00155 for
liquidity indicator code XO, Routed to Nasdaq, Opening/Re-Opening
Auction, is less than the fee charged by NYSE Arca of $0.003 for
routing orders to Nasdaq auctions.\25\ Similarly, the proposed fee of
$0.00085 for liquidity indicator code XP, Routed to Nasdaq, Closing
Auction, is comparable to the fee charged by NYSE Arca of $0.003 to
route orders to Nasdaq auctions.\26\ The proposed fee of $0.00155 for
liquidity indicator code XF, Routed to NYSE Arca, Opening/Re-Opening
Auction, is comparable to the fee charged by Cboe BZX of $0.0015 for
routing orders to a listing market's opening or re-opening cross.\27\
Similarly, the proposed fee of $0.00105 for liquidity indicator code
XG, Routed to NYSE Arca, Closing Auction, is comparable to the fee
charged by Cboe BZX of $0.001 to route orders to a listing market's
closing process.\28\ The proposed fee of $0.00085 for liquidity
indicator code XP, Routed to Nasdaq, Closing Auction, is comparable to
the fee charged by Cboe EDGX of $0.001 for fee code ``CL'' to route
orders to a listing market's closing process.\29\ The proposed credit
of $0.0015 for liquidity indicator code XE, Routed to NYSE, Adds
Displayed Liquidity, is comparable to the credit of $0.0015 provided by
Cboe BZX for fee code ``F'', routed to NYSE, adds liquidity.\30\ The
proposed credit of $0.0015 for liquidity indicator code XH, Routed to
NYSE Arca, Adds Displayed Liquidity, is comparable to the credit of
$0.0022 provided by Cboe BZX for fee code ``10'' routed to NYSE Arca,
adds liquidity.\31\ The proposed credit of $0.001 for liquidity
indicator code XK, Routed to NYSE American, Adds Displayed Liquidity,
is comparable to the credit of $0.002 provided by NYSE American for
Adding Displayed Liquidity.\32\ The proposed credit of $0.0015 for
liquidity indicator code XN, Routed to Cboe BZX, Adds Displayed
Liquidity, is comparable to the credit of $0.002 provided by Cboe EDGX
for fee code ``RZ'' routed to Cboe BZX, adds liquidity.\33\ The
proposed credit of $0.0015 for liquidity indicator code XQ, Routed to
Nasdaq, Adds Displayed Liquidity is comparable to the credit provided
by Cboe BZX of $0.0015 for fee code ``A'' routed to Nasdaq, adds
liquidity.\34\
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\19\ See NYSE Arca Equities Exchange Fee Schedule, Section V.,
Standard Rates-Routing, on its public website (available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse-arca/NYSE_Arca_Marketplace_Fees.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse-arca/NYSE_Arca_Marketplace_Fees.pdf</a>).
\20\ Id.
\21\ See Id.
\22\ See Id.
\23\ See Id.
\24\ See Id.
\25\ See Id.
\26\ See Id.
\27\ See Cboe BZX U.S. Equities Exchange Fee Schedule, Fees
Codes and Associated Fees, on its public website (available at
<a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/</a>).
\28\ Id.
\29\ See supra note 27.
\30\ Id.
\31\ See Id.
\32\ See NYSE American Equities Price List on its public website
(available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse-american/NYSE_America_Equities_Price_List.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse-american/NYSE_America_Equities_Price_List.pdf</a>.)
\33\ See Cboe EDGX U.S. Equities Exchange Fee Schedule, Fee
Codes and Associated Fees, on its public website (available at
<a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/edgx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/edgx/</a>).
\34\ See Id.
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Regarding the proposed rates for securities priced below $1.00, the
Exchange believes its rates are reasonable because, as indicated above,
in order to operate in the highly competitive equities markets, the
Exchange, and its competing exchanges, seek to offer similar pricing
structures, including assessing comparable standard fees and rebates.
The Exchange currently charges a fee of 0.30% of the total dollar value
of the transaction for executions in securities priced below $1.00 that
occur on away exchanges under liquidity indicator code ``X.'' Other
competing exchanges charge similar fees, such as NYSE American, that
assesses a fee of 0.30% of the total dollar value of the transaction
for executions in securities priced below $1.00 occurring in an away
market auction. The Exchange notes that none of its proposed fees for
executions in securities priced below $1.00 exceed 0.30% and are thus
reasonably priced and competitive with other competing equity
exchanges.
The Exchange further believes the proposed fees and rebates are
equitable and reasonable and not unfairly discriminatory because they
will apply equally to all Members of the Exchange that submit orders
with the PAC routing option to the Exchange. Further, routing through
the Exchange is voluntary and the Exchange notes that it operates in a
highly competitive market in which market participants can readily
direct order flow to competing venues or providers of routing services
if they deem fee levels to be excessive.
For the reasons discussed above, the Exchange submits that the
proposal satisfies the requirements of Sections
[[Page 41754]]
6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5) of the Act in that it provides for the equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges among its Members
and other persons using its facilities and is not designed to unfairly
discriminate between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers. As
described more fully below in the Exchange's statement regarding the
burden on competition, the Exchange believes that its transaction
pricing is subject to significant competitive forces, and that the
proposed fees and rebates described herein are appropriate to address
such forces.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed change will impose
any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange believes that the proposed
fees are competitive in that they provide comparable fees and credits
for routing orders as other exchanges. The Exchange notes that Members
may opt not to select the PAC routing option on orders submitted to the
Exchange and accordingly will not incur the associated routing fees
proposed herein.
Intramarket Competition
The Exchange does not believe that the proposal will impose any
burden on intramarket competition not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The proposed fees and rebates
would be available to all similarly situated market participants, and,
as such the proposed change would not impose a disparate burden on
competition among market participants on the Exchange. Specifically,
all Members that use the PAC routing option will be subject to the same
fees and rebates. The Exchange does not believe its adoption of new
liquidity indicator codes for orders that use the PAC routing option
would impose any burden on intramarket competition as the use of
liquidity indicator codes is not new or novel and liquidity indicator
codes are used on other equity exchanges.\35\ The use of liquidity
indicator codes provides additional specificity to the fee schedule so
that Equity Members may connect an execution to the applicable fee or
rebate. As such the Exchange does not believe the proposed changes
would impose any burden on intramarket competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purpose of the Act.
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\35\ See Cboe BZX U.S. Equities Fee Schedule (``CboeBZX'')
available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/</a>; and also MEMX LLC (``MEMX'') Fee Schedule
available on their public website at <a href="https://info.memxtrading.com/fee-schedule/">https://info.memxtrading.com/fee-schedule/</a>.
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Intermarket Competition
The Exchange believes its proposal will benefit competition, and
the Exchange notes that it operates in a highly competitive market.
Members have numerous alternative venues they may participate on and
direct their order flow to, including fifteen other equities exchanges
and numerous alternative trading systems and other off-exchange venues.
As noted above, no single registered equities exchange currently has
more than 17% of the total market share of executed volume of equities
trading.\36\ Thus, in such a low-concentrated and highly competitive
market, no single equities exchange possesses significant pricing power
in the execution of order flow. Moreover, the Exchange believes that
the ever-shifting market share among the exchanges from month to month
demonstrates that market participants can shift order flow in response
to new or different pricing structures being introduced to the market.
Accordingly, competitive forces constrain the Exchange's transaction
fees and rebates generally, including with respect to executions of
Removed Volume, and market participants can readily choose to send
their orders to other exchanges and off-exchange venues if they deem
fee levels at those other venues to be more favorable.
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\36\ See supra note 3.
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Accordingly, the Exchange believes its proposal would not burden,
but rather promote, intermarket competition by enabling it to better
compete with other exchanges that offer routing strategies.
Additionally, 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.'' \37\ 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: ``[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 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 possess a
monopoly, regulatory or otherwise, in the execution of order flow from
broker dealers' . . .''.\38\ Accordingly, the Exchange does not believe
its proposed pricing changes impose any burden on competition that is
not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
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\37\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005).
\38\ 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-NYSE-2006-21)).
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C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
Written comments were neither solicited nor received.
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)(ii) of the Act,\39\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \40\ 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 shall institute proceedings to determine whether
the proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.
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\39\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
\40\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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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:
[[Page 41755]]
Electronic Comments
<bullet> Use the Commission's internet comment form (<a href="http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>); or
<bullet> Send an email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#ed9f988188c08e8280808883999ead9e888ec38a829b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d8aaadb4bdf5bbb7b5b5bdb6acab98abbdbbf6bfb7ae">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
File Number SR-PEARL-2022-26 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
<bullet> 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-PEARL-2022-26. 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 (<a href="http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>).
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-PEARL-2022-26
and should be submitted on or before August 3, 2022.
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\41\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\41\
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-14886 Filed 7-12-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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