Notice2025-07906
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend IEX's Fee Schedule To Establish a Supplemental Market Quality Program
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Published
May 7, 2025
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 87 (Wednesday, May 7, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 7, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19326-19329]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-07906]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-102964; File No. SR-IEX-2025-06]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend
IEX's Fee Schedule To Establish a Supplemental Market Quality Program
May 1, 2025.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (the ``Act''),\2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby
given that on April 28, 2025, the Investors Exchange LLC (``IEX'' 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
[[Page 19327]]
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\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
\3\ 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
Pursuant to the provisions of Section 19(b)(1) under the Act,\4\
and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\5\ the Exchange is filing with the
Commission a proposed rule change to amend the Exchange's fee schedule
applicable to Members \6\ (the ``Fee Schedule'' \7\) pursuant to IEX
Rule 15.110(a) and (c) to establish an Supplemental Market Quality
Program, which is designed to improve displayed liquidity and promote
order flow to the Exchange by offering a financial incentive for
Members to enter displayed orders or quotes priced at the NBBO on the
Exchange in certain securities designated by the Exchange. Changes to
the Fee Schedule pursuant to this proposal are effective upon
filing,\8\ and will be operative on May 1, 2025.
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\4\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\5\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
\6\ See IEX Rule 1.160(s).
\7\ See Investors Exchange Fee Schedule, available at <a href="https://www.iexexchange.io/resources/trading/fee-schedule">https://www.iexexchange.io/resources/trading/fee-schedule</a>.
\8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange's
website at <a href="https://www.iexexchange.io/resources/regulation/rule-filings">https://www.iexexchange.io/resources/regulation/rule-filings</a>, at the principal office of the Exchange, and at the
Commission's Public Reference Room.
II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization
included statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the
proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the
proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at
the places specified in Item IV below. The self-regulatory organization
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 the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to modify its Fee Schedule, pursuant to IEX
Rule 15.110(a) and (c), to establish a Supplemental Market Quality
Program (``SMQ'' or the ``Program''). The Program is intended to
increase displayed liquidity and promote order flow to the Exchange by
offering a financial incentive for Members to enter displayed orders or
quotes (i.e., displayed trading interest) priced at the NBBO \9\ on the
Exchange in certain securities designated by the Exchange. As discussed
below, the SMQ is designed to reward Members that make a significant
contribution to market quality by providing liquidity at the NBBO in a
select group of securities for a significant portion of the day.
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\9\ See IEX Rule 1.160(u).
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The Program is designed to incentivize the posting of displayed
trading interest in securities that IEX determines have a relatively
lower volume of displayed trading interest priced at the NBBO on the
Exchange compared to other securities. By analyzing displayed order
volume and time at the NBBO data, the Exchange has identified certain
securities for which it seeks to improve these metrics (the ``SMQ
Securities'') through incentive payments.
IEX will publish the list of SMQ Securities on its website (on the
Fee Schedule), and prior to the start of each month, the Exchange will
reevaluate and, as applicable, update its list of SMQ Securities. Any
updates to the list of SMQ Securities will be published on IEX's Fee
Schedule at least one day prior to the start of the month. IEX believes
that the incentives created by the SMQ are likely to increase quoting
in these symbols, thereby providing improved trading conditions for all
market participants through narrower spreads and increased depth of
liquidity available at the NBBO in the SMQ Securities.
To qualify for the SMQ, a Member must enter displayed trading
interest (i.e., at least one displayed order or quote of at least one
round lot size \10\) at either the NBB, the NBO, or the NBBO, for at
least 40% of time during regular trading hours in at least 50 of the
SMQ Securities on average per day during the month (the ``Percent Time
at NBBO'' requirement). On a daily basis, the Exchange will calculate
the number of SMQ Securities for which each Member's Percent Time at
NBBO was at least 40% (``SMQ Qualifying Activity''). At the end of the
month, the Exchange will calculate the monthly average of the Member's
SMQ Qualifying Activity. If a Member has SMQ Qualifying Activity in at
least 50 of the SMQ Securities during the month, the Exchange will pay
the Member the ``SMQ Incentive Fee'' of $125 per SMQ Security for which
the Member satisfied the SMQ requirements.\11\
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\10\ See IEX Rule 11.180(a).
\11\ SMQ Payments will be made for all qualified securities if
Member had SMQ Qualifying Activity in at least 50 SMQ Securities
during the month.
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The following example illustrates how the SMQ will work:
Example
Assume that in a particular month, IEX has designated 150
securities as SMQ Securities. There are 21 trading days in that month,
and on eleven of those days Member A's Percent Time at NBBO is at least
40% for 100 of the SMQ securities. On the other ten trading days,
Member A's Percent Time at NBBO is at least 40% for 50 of the SMQ
securities. At the end of the month, IEX calculates the number of SMQ
Securities which Member A has at least 40 Percent Time at NBBO to be 76
\12\ SMQ Securities. IEX provides a lump sum payment of $9,500 to
Member A ($125 times 76 SMQ Securities) (the ``SMQ Payment''). In that
same month, Member B's monthly average Percent Time at NBBO is at least
40% for 60 SMQ Securities for eleven trading days. On the other ten
trading days, Member B's Percent Time at NBBO is at least 40% for 30
SMQ Securities. At the end of the month, IEX calculates Member B's SMQ
Qualifying Activity to average out to 46 SMQ Securities.\13\ Because
Member B's SMQ Qualifying Activity was in less than 50 SMQ Securities,
Member B does not receive any lump sum payment pursuant to the Program.
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\12\ As set forth in the proposed changes to the Fee Schedule,
the Exchange will calculate the SMQ Qualifying Activity by taking
the average of the number of SMQ Securities for which the Member's
Percent Time at NBBO was at least 40% and round that number to the
nearest whole number. Thus, 76.19 SMQ Securities is rounded to 76.
\13\ 45.71 is rounded to 46.
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As proposed, the Percent Time at NBBO calculation will exclude days
with system disruptions that last for more than 60 minutes and days
with scheduled early closes when determining the numerator and the
denominator. An Exchange system disruption may occur, for example,
where a certain group of securities traded on the Exchange is
unavailable for trading due to an Exchange system issue. Similarly, the
Exchange may be able to perform certain functions with respect to
accepting and processing orders, but may have a failure to another
significant process, such as routing to other market centers, that
would lead Members that rely on such process to avoid utilizing the
Exchange until the Exchange's entire system was operational. The
Exchange believes that these types of Exchange system
[[Page 19328]]
disruptions could preclude Members from participating on the Exchange
to the extent that they might have otherwise participated on such days,
and thus, the Exchange believes it is appropriate to exclude such days
when determining a Member's Percent Time at NBBO to avoid penalizing
Members that might otherwise have met the SMQ requirements. For similar
reasons, the Exchange believes it is appropriate to exclude trading
days with scheduled early closes, because the shorter trading days are
likely to result in a lower daily quoting activity for each Member. The
Exchange notes that excluding system disruption days and trading days
with scheduled early closes is consistent with the methodologies used
by other exchanges that offer incentive payments for quoting activity
on the Exchange.\14\
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\14\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 94929 (May 17,
2022), 87 FR 31269 (May 23, 2022) (SR-PEARL-2022-21) (filing
establishing a Market Quality program similar to this proposal).
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Additionally, as proposed, the Exchange will exclude from its
calculations of Percent Time at NBBO for each SMQ Security any portion
of regular trading hours when the SMQ Security is subject to a trading
halt or Limit Up-Limit Down pause.\15\ If an SMQ Security were subject
to a trading halt on IEX, Members would be unable to provide displayed
trading interest in that security until it resumes trading, and thus
not excluding the halted time from the Percent Time at NBBO would be
unfair to Members trying to provide displayed trading interest in the
SMQ Security. Thus, IEX proposes only to calculate the Percentage Time
at NBBO for each SMQ Security during times when trading in the security
is not halted. For example, if an SMQ Security was halted for 30
minutes during one trading day, and a Member provided displayed trading
interest in that security at the NBBO for 2.4 hours of that trading
day, the Member's Percent Time at NBBO for that day would be 40%,
because 2.4 hours is 40% of 6 hours.\16\
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\15\ See, e.g., IEX Rules 11.271 and 11.280.
\16\ If IEX did not exclude the time a security is halted from
its calculation of Percent Time at NBBO, in this example the
Member's Percent Time at NBBO would be 37% (2.4 hours divided by the
full 6.5 hour trading day), and the Member's trading activity in
that security for that day would not count towards its SMQ
Qualifying Activity.
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The Exchange will allow Members to aggregate their Percent Time at
NBBO with other Members with which they are affiliated,\17\ if Members
provide prior notice to the Exchange. As proposed, to the extent that
two or more affiliated companies maintain separate memberships with the
Exchange and can demonstrate their affiliation by showing they control,
are controlled by, or are under common control with each other, the
Exchange would permit such Members to aggregate their Percent Time at
NBBO. Members will be responsible for having proper internal
documentation in their books and records substantiating that the two or
more Members seeking to aggregate their Percent Time at NBBO are
affiliates of one another. IEX notes that this grouping of Member
affiliates is consistent with how IEX allows Member affiliates to group
their trading activity to qualify for IEX's Displayed Liquidity Adding
Rebate Tiers.
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\17\ As defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Act, 17 CFR 240.12b-2.
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The SMQ will be open to all Members and will not impose any two-
sided quotation obligations on any Member seeking to qualify for the
SMQ. Accordingly, the SMQ is designed to attract liquidity from any
firm that is willing to provide liquidity at the NBB or NBO in SMQ
Securities. The Exchange is proposing to provide Members an opportunity
to earn an SMQ Payment as a means of recognizing the value of market
participants that consistently enter displayed trading interest at the
NBBO in the SMQ Securities. Through the Program, the Exchange seeks to
provide enhanced liquidity for all market participants through more
displayed trading interest, narrower bid-ask spreads, and increased
depth of liquidity in the SMQ Securities.
The Exchange notes that the proposed Supplemental Market Quality
Program is similar to the Enhanced Market Quality Program offered by
Nasdaq BX,\18\ which also pays a fixed sum to Members that quote
exchange-specified securities at the NBBO for at least a minimum
percentage time of the day.\19\ The proposed SMQ is also similar to the
``Market Quality'' program offered by MIAX PEARL.\20\ In particular,
the process by which the Exchange proposes to select SMQ Securities
mirrors the process applied by MIAX PEARL in selecting securities to be
``Market Quality Securities.'' \21\ Finally, the Exchange notes that
its proposed SMQ is also similar to recently discontinued quote revenue
sharing program of Nasdaq PSX.\22\
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\18\ See Nasdaq BX Equities VII Section 118(g).
\19\ Nasdaq BX's Enhanced Market Quality Program (``EMQP'') sets
different percentage thresholds depending upon if the security is
quoted on Tape A or B (and does not Tape C securities). The EMQP
also increases its incentive fees based upon the number of
securities quoted at the NBBO for at least the threshold percentage
of market hours. Id. These differences between the proposed SMQ and
the EMQP reflect different pricing approaches of different
exchanges, but the core functionality of the two programs is
substantially similar.
\20\ See supra note 14. While MIAX PEARL uses quoting at the
NBBO in the ``Market Quality Securities'' as a means of qualifying
for certain rebate tiers (and not to pay a flat sum to qualifying
Members like IEX proposes), the Market Quality program is like IEX's
proposed SMQ in that it provides financial incentives to Members
based upon increased quoting in a subset of securities specified by
the exchange. Id.
\21\ MIAX PEARL uses the same methodology of analyzing volume
statistics and time at the NBBO to determine which securities to
include in its list of Market Quality Securities. See supra note 14.
\22\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 34-100060 (May 3,
2024), 89 FR 39668 (May 9, 2024) (SR-Phlx-2024-18) (Establishing the
quote revenue sharing program) and Securities Exchange Act Release
No. 34-102844 (April 11, 2025), 90 FR 16226 (April 17, 2025) (SR-
Phlx-2025-19) (terminating the program because it ``no longer
provides a growth incentive that is aligned with the Exchange's
needs'').
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2. Statutory Basis
IEX believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the
provisions of Section 6(b) \23\ of the Act in general, and furthers the
objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) \24\ of the Act, in particular, in that
it is designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable
dues, fees and other charges among its Members and other persons using
its facilities. The Exchange believes that the proposed fee change is
reasonable, fair and equitable, and non-discriminatory.
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\23\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
\24\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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The Exchange operates in a highly competitive market in which
market participants can readily direct order flow to competing venues
if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be excessive. IEX has
concluded that, in the context of current regulatory requirements
governing access fees and rebates, it is able to more effectively
compete with other exchanges for order flow by offering Members an
additional incentive for posting displayed liquidity on the Exchange in
symbols that have a relatively lower volume of displayed orders priced
at the NBBO on the Exchange compared to other securities. Based upon
informal discussions with market participants, IEX believes that
Members and other market participants may be more willing to send
displayed trading interest to IEX if the proposed fee change is
adopted.
Accordingly, IEX has designed the proposed change to further
incentivize Members to send displayed quotes at the NBBO in lower
displayed volume symbols. IEX believes that an increase in displayed
liquidity and order flow to the Exchange will, in turn, improve the
quality of the IEX market and increase its attractiveness to existing
and prospective participants. In addition,
[[Page 19329]]
the proposal is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory as the
proposal would equitably allocate SMQ Payments among Members by paying
Members based on their total quoting activity in SMQ Securities in any
given month.
As noted in the Purpose section, the Exchange believes the proposed
incentive payments in the Supplemental Market Quality Program will
incentivize Members to direct additional displayed liquidity-providing
orders to the Exchange in SMQ Securities, thereby promoting price
discovery and market quality in the SMQ Securities and more generally
on the Exchange, and, further, that the resulting increased displayed
liquidity and narrower spreads will benefit all investors by deepening
the Exchange's liquidity pool, supporting the quality of price
discovery, enhancing quoting competition across all exchanges, and
promoting market transparency.
As discussed above, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive
market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be
excessive. Within that context, the proposed incentive payments are
designed to attract more displayed trading interest to the Exchange.
The proposed SMQ is comparable to the MQ Tiers of MIAX PEARL and the
Enhanced Market Quality Program of Nasdaq BX, and thus IEX does not
believe that the proposal raises any new or novel issues not already
considered by the Commission in the context of other exchanges'
fees.\25\
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\25\ See supra notes 14 and 18.
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Finally, to the extent this proposed fee change is successful in
incentivizing the entry and execution of displayed trading interest on
IEX, such greater liquidity will benefit all market participants by
increasing price discovery and price formation as well as market
quality and execution opportunities.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
IEX does not believe that the proposed rule change will result in
any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange does not believe
that the proposed rule change will impose any burden on intermarket
competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the
purposes of the Act. The Exchange operates in a highly competitive
market in which market participants can readily favor competing venues
if fee schedules at other venues are viewed as more favorable.
Consequently, the Exchange believes that the degree to which IEX fees
could impose any burden on competition is extremely limited and does
not believe that such fees would burden competition between Members or
competing venues. Moreover, as noted in the Statutory Basis section,
the Exchange does not believe that the proposed changes raise any new
or novel issues not already considered by the Commission.
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will
impose any burden on intramarket competition that is not necessary or
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act because, while
different Members may qualify for different amounts of SMQ Payments,
these payments are not based on the type of Member entering the
displayed trading interest, but rather on the amount of displayed
trading interest each Member submits to the Exchange. Further, the
proposed fee changes are intended to incentivize market participants to
bring increased order flow to the Exchange, which benefits all market
participants.
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) of the Act \26\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \27\
thereunder. At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed
rule change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission
takes such action, the Commission will institute proceedings to
determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or
disapproved.
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\26\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\27\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
<bullet> Use the Commission's internet comment form (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>); or
<bullet> Send an email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#1f6d6a737a327c7072727a716b6c5f6c7a7c31787069"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="e391968f86ce808c8e8e868d9790a3908680cd848c95">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-IEX-2025-06 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-IEX-2025-06. 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="https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">https://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
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. Do not
include personal identifiable information in submissions; you should
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. We
may redact in part or withhold entirely from publication submitted
material that is obscene or subject to copyright protection. All
submissions should refer to file number SR-IEX-2025-06 and should be
submitted on or before May 28, 2025.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\28\
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\28\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-07906 Filed 5-6-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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