Notice2025-09405
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend Fees Related to the Cboe Legacy Silexx Platform Versions
Primary source
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Published
May 27, 2025
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 100 (Tuesday, May 27, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 100 (Tuesday, May 27, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22431-22434]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-09405]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-103089; File No. SR-CBOE-2025-036]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend
Fees Related to the Cboe Legacy Silexx Platform Versions
May 20, 2025.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(the ``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given
that on May 12, 2025, Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or ``Cboe
Options'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II,
and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The
Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the
proposed rule change from interested persons.
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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
Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or ``Cboe Options'') proposes
to amend fees related to the Cboe Legacy Silexx platform versions. The
text of the proposed rule change is provided in Exhibit 5.
The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the
Exchange's website (<a href="http://www.cboe.com/AboutCBOE/CBOELegalRegulatoryHome.aspx">http://www.cboe.com/AboutCBOE/CBOELegalRegulatoryHome.aspx</a>), at the Exchange's Office of the
Secretary, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.
II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in
Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in
sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such
statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend fees related to the Cboe Legacy
Silexx platform versions (collectively, the ``Legacy Platforms'' as
further described herein) and to extend the time of a fee waiver
currently offered for Cboe Silexx, effective May 1, 2025.\3\ By way of
background, the Exchange offers several versions of its Silexx
platform. Originally, the Exchange offered the following versions of
the Silexx platform: Basic, Pro, Pro Plus Risk and Buy-Side Manager
(``Legacy Platforms''). The Legacy Platforms are designed so that a
User may enter orders into the platform to send to the executing
broker, including TPHs, of its choice with connectivity to the
platform. The executing broker can then send orders to Cboe Options (if
the broker-dealer is a Trading Permit Holder (``TPH'')) or other U.S.
exchanges (and trading centers) in accordance with the User's
instructions. Users cannot directly route orders through any of the
Legacy Platforms to an exchange or trading center nor is the platform
integrated into or directly connected to Cboe Option's System. In 2019,
the Exchange made available a new version of the Silexx
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platform, Silexx FLEX, which supports the trading of FLEX Options and
allows authorized Users with direct access to the Exchange to establish
connectivity and submit orders directly to the Exchange.\4\ In 2020,
the Exchange made an additional version of the Silexx platform
available, Cboe Silexx, which supports the trading of non-FLEX Options
and allows authorized Users with direct access to the Exchange to
establish connectivity and submit orders directly to the Exchange.\5\
Cboe Silexx is essentially the same platform as Silexx FLEX, with the
same applicable functionality, except that it additionally supports
non-FLEX trading. As noted in previous filings, the Exchange is in the
process of transitioning the Legacy Platforms to the current version of
Cboe Silexx and Silexx FLEX.\6\ As the Exchange is actively
transitioning away from the Legacy Platforms, and in the meantime is
expending time and resources to maintain both platforms, the Exchange
previously proposed to increase the fees for the Legacy Platforms.\7\
For this same reason, the Exchange now proposes to increase the API fee
for the Legacy Platforms from a $200/month/login ID fee to $2,000/
month/login ID for logins 1-5 and a fee of $0/month/login ID for logins
6-10 for a firm and shall be capped at 10 login IDs.
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\3\ The Exchange initially submitted the proposed rule change on
May 1, 2025 (SR-CBOE-2025-032). On May 12, 2025, the Exchange
withdrew that filing and submitted this filing.
\4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 87028 (September 19,
2019) 84 FR 50529 (September 25, 2019) (SR-CBOE-2019-061). Only
Users authorized for direct access and who are approved to trade
FLEX Options may trade FLEX Options via Cboe Silexx. Only authorized
Users and associated persons of Users may establish connectivity to
and directly access the Exchange, pursuant to Rule 5.5 and the
Exchange's technical specifications.
\5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88741 (April 24,
2020) 85 FR 24045 (April 30, 2020) (SR-CBOE-2020-040). Only
authorized Users and associated persons of Users may establish
connectivity to and directly access the Exchange, pursuant to Rule
5.5 and the Exchange's technical specifications.
\6\ See Securities Exchange Release No. 98722 (October 11, 2023)
88 FR 71619 (October 17, 2023) (SR-CBOE-2023-060). Only authorized
Users and associated persons of Users will continue to be able to
establish connectivity to and directly access the Exchange, pursuant
to Rule 5.5 and the Exchange's technical specifications.
Unauthorized Users will not be able to connect directly to the
Exchange. The new Cboe Silexx platform will function in the same
manner as the Legacy Platforms versions currently available to
Users: it will be completely voluntary; orders entered through the
platform will receive no preferential treatment as compared to
orders electronically sent to Cboe Options in any other manner;
orders entered through the platform will be subject to current
trading rules in the same manner as all other orders sent to the
Exchange, which is the same as orders that are sent through the
Exchange's System today; the Exchange's System will not distinguish
between orders sent from Silexx and orders sent in any other manner;
and Silexx will provide technical support, maintenance and user
training for the new platform version upon the same terms and
conditions for all Users. The Exchange plans to decommission the
Legacy Platforms at a future to-be-determined date, at which time
the Legacy Platforms will be unavailable to users.
\7\ See Securities Exchange Release No. 102185 (January 14,
2025) 90 FR 7200 (January 21, 2025) (SR-CBOE-2025-001); Securities
Exchange Release No. 102398 (February 11, 2025) 90 FR 9781 (February
18, 2025) (SR-CBOE-2025-005); and Securities Exchange Release No.
102724 (March 13, 2025) 90 FR 14288 (March 31, 2025) (SR-CBOE-2025-
016).
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The Exchange previously introduced a fee waiver of two months to
allow users of Cboe Silexx to transition to the new version of the
platform without incurring duplicative Login ID and Market Data Feed
fees for access to both the old and new versions of Cboe Silexx during
this transitional period.\8\ The Exchange further noted that it
believed not assessing duplicative fees for Users transitioning to Cboe
Silexx would serve as an incentive to market participants to start
using the Cboe Silexx platform, while also providing time and
flexibility for such Users to become familiar with and fully acclimated
to the new platform.\9\ For this same reason, the Exchange now proposes
to extend the existing fee waiver for Cboe Silexx Login ID fees that
are incurred during the migration from a period of two months to three
months, which does not need to be consecutive.
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\8\ See supra[sic] note 13.
\9\ Id.
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2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``Act'') and the rules and
regulations thereunder applicable to the Exchange and, in particular,
the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act.\10\ Specifically, the
Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the
Section 6(b)(5) \11\ requirements that the rules of an exchange be
designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to
promote just and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation
and coordination with persons engaged in regulating, clearing,
settling, processing information with respect to, and facilitating
transactions in securities, to remove impediments to and perfect the
mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system, and,
in general, to protect investors and the public interest. Additionally,
the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the
Section 6(b)(5) \12\ requirement that the rules of an exchange not be
designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers,
brokers, or dealers. Additionally, the Exchange also believes the
proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,
which requires that Exchange rules provide for the equitable allocation
of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among its TPHs and other
persons using its facilities.
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\10\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\11\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
\12\ Id.
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In particular, the Exchange also believes the proposed fee increase
for the API for the Legacy Platforms is reasonable, equitable, and not
unfairly discriminatory because the fee will apply to all users of the
Legacy Platforms who utilize the API. Additionally, the Exchange
believes the proposed fee is reasonable as it accounts for
administrative costs that Cboe Silexx is incurring, but not charging
users, to maintain support for Legacy Platforms while Cboe Silexx
transitions away from the Legacy Platforms. As noted earlier, the
Exchange is in the process of transitioning the Legacy Platforms to the
current version of Cboe Silexx and Silexx FLEX. The Exchange believes
that increasing the API fee for the Legacy Platforms also serves as an
incentive to market participants to transition to the current version
of Cboe Silexx from the Legacy Platforms.\13\ Further, the Exchange
notes that the proposed, new fee structure for the API for the Legacy
Platforms maxes out at a monthly fee of $10,000. While the Exchange
would like to incentivize market participants to transition to the
current version of Cboe Silexx, it does not want the increase in the
API fee to be overly prohibitive for firms that may have a larger
number of users that they are working to transition. The Exchange also
believes that capping the number of API Login IDs a firm may utilize
will further incentivize market participants to transition to the
current version of Cboe Silexx. The Exchange reiterates that the
Silexx, including the Legacy Platforms and Cboe Silexx, is entirely
optional for participants and such connectivity is not required to
access the Exchange. Of further note, the API feature is an additional
optional feature on top of the optional connectivity the Exchange
offers to connect. For the above reasons, the Exchange believes that
proposed fee increase is reasonable,
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equitable, and not unfairly discriminatory.
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\13\ The Exchange has previously introduced incentives to assist
in the migration from the Legacy Platforms to the current version of
Cboe Silexx and Silexx Flex by introducing a Data Management fee for
users of Legacy Platforms and waiving duplicative Login ID and
Market Data Feed fees for Cboe Silexx during a user's transition
period. See Securities Exchange Release No. 99111 (December 7, 2023)
88 FR 86411 (December 13, 2023) (SR-CBOE-2023-064) and Securities
Exchange Release No. 98722 (October 11, 2023) 88 FR 71619 (October
17, 2023) (SR-CBOE-2023-060).
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Next, the Exchange believes that increasing the time permitted for
waivers is also reasonable, equitable and not unfairly discriminatory
because the waiver applies to users who are already subject to a
monthly Login ID fee (albeit for the Legacy Platform), as well as
Market Data Feed fees (for those receiving it on the Legacy Platform).
Additionally, the fee waiver period will be limited to the timeframe
during which such Users have access to the old and new version of Cboe
Silexx and would otherwise result in duplicative fees. The Exchange
further believes a fee waiver of three months is an appropriate and
reasonable amount of time for Users to become familiar with and fully
acclimated to the new platform and therefore able to terminate their
connection to the Legacy Platforms. The Exchange notes that a timeline
of three months is more fitting now, as many of the users who are some
of the final users to transition from the Legacy Platforms may have
more nuanced issues to address while they are migrating to Cboe Silexx.
Finally, the Exchange notes that use of the platform is
discretionary and not compulsory, as users can choose to route orders,
including to Cboe Options, without the use of the platform. Indeed, the
Legacy Platforms are not an exclusive means of trading, and if market
participants believe that other products, vendors, front-end builds,
etc. available in the marketplace are more beneficial or cost effective
than the Legacy Platforms (or the current version of Cboe Silexx and
Silexx FLEX), they may simply use those products instead, including for
routing orders to the Exchange (indirectly or directly if they are
authorized Users). The Exchange makes the platform available as a
convenience to market participants, who will continue to have the
option to use any order entry and management system available in the
marketplace to send orders to the Exchange and other exchanges; the
platform is merely an alternative offered by the Exchange.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will
impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The proposed change will not
impose any burden on intramarket competition that is not necessary or
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act because the
proposed rule change will apply to similarly situated participants
uniformly, as described in detail above.
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule changes will
impose any burden on intermarket competition that is not necessary or
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act because the
proposed change applies only to Cboe Options. Additionally, the Legacy
Platforms are similar to types of products that are widely available
throughout the industry, including from some exchanges and the current
version of Cboe Silexx and Silexx FLEX, at similar prices. Further, the
proposed rule change relates to (i) an optional feature on an optional
platform as it pertains to the proposed fee increase for the API for
Legacy Platforms and (ii) further assisting participants in their
migration efforts by waiving the Cboe Silexx Login ID fees for an
additional month for this optional platform. As discussed, the use of
the platform continues to be completely voluntary and market
participants will continue to have the flexibility to use any entry and
management tool that is proprietary or from third-party vendors, and/or
market participants may choose any executing brokers to enter their
orders. The Legacy Platforms are not an exclusive means of trading, and
if market participants believe that other products, vendors, front-end
builds, etc. available in the marketplace are more beneficial than the
Legacy Platforms (or the current version of Cboe Silexx and Silexx
FLEX), they may simply use those products instead, including for
routing orders to the Exchange (indirectly or directly if they are
authorized Users). Use of the functionality is completely voluntary.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on the
proposed rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \14\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \15\
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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\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\15\ 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#542621383179373b3939313a2027142731377a333b22"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1a686f767f37797577777f746e695a697f79347d756c">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-CBOE-2025-036 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-CBOE-2025-036. 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
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SR-CBOE-2025-036 and should be submitted on or before June 17, 2025.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\16\
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\16\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-09405 Filed 5-23-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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