Notice2025-13371
Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX PEARL, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend the MIAX Pearl Options Exchange Fee Schedule To Adopt New Fee Categories for the Exchange's Proprietary Market Data Feeds
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 17, 2025
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 135 (Thursday, July 17, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 135 (Thursday, July 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33437-33445]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-13371]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-103447; File No. SR-PEARL-2025-31]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX PEARL, LLC; Notice of Filing
and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend the MIAX
Pearl Options Exchange Fee Schedule To Adopt New Fee Categories for the
Exchange's Proprietary Market Data Feeds
July 14, 2025.
Pursuant to 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 June 30, 2025, 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 the Exchange's options trading platform
(``MIAX Pearl Options'') to, among other things, adopt new fee
categories for the Exchange's proprietary market data feeds: (1) the
Top of Market (``ToM'') feed, and (2) the Liquidity Feed (``PLF'') feed
(collectively, the ``market data feeds'').\3\
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\3\ All references to the ``Exchange'' in this filing refer to
MIAX Pearl Options. Any references to the equities trading facility
of MIAX PEARL, LLC will specifically be referred to as ``MIAX Pearl
Equities.''
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The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's
website at <a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/markets/us-options/pearl-options/rule-filings">https://www.miaxglobal.com/markets/us-options/pearl-options/rule-filings</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 Exchange offers two standard proprietary market data products,
the ToM data feed and the PLF data feed. The ToM data feed is a data
feed that contains the Exchange's best bid and offer, with aggregate
size, and last sale information, based on order and quoting interest on
the Exchange.\4\ The ToM data feed includes data that is identical to
the data sent to the processor for the Options Price Reporting
Authority (``OPRA''). The data for ToM and OPRA leave the System \5\ at
the same time, as required under Section 5.2(c)(iii)(B) of the Limited
Liability Company Agreement of the Options Price Reporting Authority
LLC (the ``OPRA Plan''), which prohibits the dissemination of
proprietary information on any more timely basis than the same
information is furnished to the OPRA system for inclusion in OPRA's
consolidated dissemination of options information. The PLF data feed
includes full order book data for orders on the MIAX Pearl Book \6\ and
includes the following data: origin, limit price, side, size, and time-
in-force (e.g., day, GTC).\7\
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\4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 79913 (February 1,
2017), 82 FR 9617 (February 7, 2017) (SR-PEARL-2017-01) (Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To
Establish MIAX PEARL Top of Market (``ToM'') and MIAX PEARL
Liquidity Feed (``PLF'') Data Products).
\5\ The term ``System'' means the automated trading system used
by the Exchange for the trading of securities. See Exchange Rule
100.
\6\ The term ``Book'' means the electronic book of buy and sell
orders and quotes maintained by the System. See Exchange Rule 100.
\7\ See supra note 4. A Good `til Cancelled or ``GTC'' Order is
an order to buy or sell which remains in effect until it is either
executed, cancelled or the underlying option expires. See Exchange
Rule 516(i).
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Section 6 of the Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees, provides fees for
both the ToM and PLF data feeds. Currently, the Exchange only charges
monthly fees to both Internal and External Distributors (proposed
definitions below) of the ToM and PLF data feeds. Specifically, the
Exchange charges Internal Distributors a monthly fee of $500.00 for the
ToM data feed and $1,250.00 for the PLF data feed. The Exchange also
charges External Distributors a monthly fee of $750.00 for the ToM data
feed and $1,500.00 for the PLF feed. The fees
[[Page 33438]]
levels have remained unchanged since they were first implemented on
March 1, 2018.\8\
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\8\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 82867 (March 13,
2018), 83 FR 12044 (March 19, 2018) (SR-PEARL-2018-07).
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The Exchange now proposes to amend the Fee Schedule to, among other
things, adopt new fee categories for the Exchange's proprietary market
data feeds. The primary purpose of this proposal is to adopt per User
(defined below) fees as well as fees for Non-Display Usage (also
defined below). The Exchange also proposes to add a ``Market Data
Definitions'' section to Section 6 of the Fee Schedule as well as
modify how mid-month subscriptions for Distributors are to be handled.
The Exchange believes that adopting the same fee structure as its
affiliated exchanges would reduce administrative burdens on market data
subscribers that also currently subscribe to market data feeds from the
Exchange's affiliates. Each of these proposed changes are described
below.
* * * * *
The Exchange believes that exchanges, in setting fees of all types,
should meet very high standards of transparency to demonstrate why each
new fee or fee increase meets the requirements of the Act that fees be
reasonable, equitably allocated, not unfairly discriminatory, and not
create an undue burden on competition among Members \9\ and markets.
The Exchange believes this high standard is especially important when
an exchange imposes various fees for market participants to access an
exchange's market data.
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\9\ The term ``Member'' means an individual or organization that
is registered with the Exchange pursuant to Chapter II of the
Exchange's Rules for purposes of trading on the Exchange as an
``Electronic Exchange Member'' or ``Market Maker.'' Members are
deemed ``members'' under the Exchange Act. See Exchange Rule 100.
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Approximately 48% of Members subscribe to one or both of the market
data feeds from the Exchange. Of those Members, 55% subscribe to both
market data feeds, and the remaining 45% subscribe to only the PLF data
feed. The Exchange notes that there is no requirement that any Member
or market participant subscribe to the ToM or PLF data feeds offered by
the Exchange. Instead, a Member may choose to maintain subscriptions to
the ToM or PLF data feeds based on their own business needs and trading
models.
Definitions
The Exchange proposes to include a Definitions section at the
beginning of Section 6, Market Data Fees, of the Fee Schedule. The
purpose of the Definitions section is to provide market participants
greater clarity and transparency regarding the applicability of fees by
defining certain terms used in connection with market data feeds within
the Fee Schedule in a single location related to the Exchange's market
data products. The Exchange notes that it includes a similar
Definitions section in the fee schedule applicable to its own equity
trading platform (known as MIAX Pearl Equities),\10\ and that each of
the proposed definitions are based on the MIAX Pearl Equities Fee
Schedule and that of other exchanges. The Exchange believes that
including a Definitions section for market data products makes the Fee
Schedule more user-friendly and comprehensive.
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\10\ See MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, Section 3), Market
Data Fees, and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 100319 (June 12,
2024), 89 FR 51562 (June 19, 2024) (SR-PEARL-2024-25). See also Cboe
BZX Exchange, Inc. (``Cboe BZX Options'') Fee Schedule, Market Data
Fees section, and Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (``Cboe EDGX Options'')
Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section. See also MEMX LLC (``MEMX
Options'') Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section, and Securities
Exchange Act Release No. 101370 (October 17, 2024), 89 FR 84638
(October 23, 2024) (SR-MEMX-2024-40) (``MEMX Options Market Data Fee
Proposal'').
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The Exchange proposes to define the following terms in Section 6 of
the Fee Schedule:
<bullet> Distributor. Any entity that receives the Exchange data
product directly from the Exchange or indirectly through another entity
and then distributes it internally or externally to a third party.
<bullet> External Distributor. A Distributor that receives the
Exchange data product and then distributes that data to a third party
or one or more Users outside the Distributor's own entity.
<bullet> Internal Distributor. A Distributor that receives the
Exchange data product and then distributes that data to one or more
Users within the Distributor's own entity.
<bullet> The Exchange notes that it proposes to use the phrase
``own entity'' in the definition of Internal Distributor and External
Distributor because a Distributor would be permitted to share data
received from an exchange data product to other legal entities
affiliated with the Distributor's entity that have been disclosed to
the Exchange without such distribution being considered external to a
third party. For instance, if a company has multiple affiliated broker-
dealers under the same holding company, that company could have one of
the broker-dealers or a non-broker-dealer affiliate subscribe to an
exchange data product and then share the data with other affiliates
that have a need for the data. This sharing with affiliates would not
be considered external distribution to a third party but instead would
be considered internal distribution to data recipients within the
Distributor's own entity.
<bullet> The Exchange also notes that the explanatory paragraph
under both the ToM and PLF data feed fee tables includes the following
language which defines the terms Distributor, Internal Distributors,
and External Distributors:
MIAX Pearl will assess Market Data Fees applicable to ToM on
Internal and External Distributors in each month the Distributor is
credentialed to use ToM in the production environment. A Distributor of
MIAX Pearl data is any entity that receives a feed or file of data
either directly from MIAX Pearl or indirectly through another entity
and then distributes it either internally (within that entity) or
externally (outside that entity). All Distributors are required to
execute a MIAX Pearl Distributor Agreement.
The Exchange proposes to remove these provisions from the Fee
Schedule because they: (i) duplicate the proposed definitions of
Distributor, External Distributor, and External Distributor proposed
herein with no substantive difference; and (ii) provide details that
are included in the Exchange's market data policies that are also not
also provided for in the fee schedules of other options exchanges.\11\
Removing these provisions would also harmonize the definition and fee
descriptions with its fee schedule applicable to MIAX Pearl
Equities.\12\
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\11\ See Cboe BZX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section
and Cboe EDGX Options, Market Data Fees section, both available at
<a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/?_gl=1*19q7zz0*_up*MQ..*_ga*NjY5OTA0NzE4LjE3MzQ1MzQzODk.*_ga_5Q99WB9X71*MTczNDUzNzQ0Mi4yLjEuMTczNDUzNzQ5OC4wLjAuMA">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/?_gl=1*19q7zz0*_up*MQ..*_ga*NjY5OTA0NzE4LjE3MzQ1MzQzODk.*_ga_5Q99WB9X71*MTczNDUzNzQ0Mi4yLjEuMTczNDUzNzQ5OC4wLjAuMA</a>. See also MEMX Options
Fee Schedule and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101370 (October
17, 2024), 89 FR 84638 (October 23, 2024) (SR-MEMX-2024-40).
\12\ See MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, Section 3), Market
Data Fees, and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 100319 (June 12,
2024), 89 FR 51562 (June 19, 2024) (SR-PEARL-2024-25).
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<bullet> Non-Display Usage. Any method of accessing an Exchange
data product that involves access or use by a machine or automated
device without access or use of a display by a natural person or
persons.
<bullet> Non-Professional User. A natural person or qualifying
trust that uses Exchange data only for personal purposes and not for
any commercial purpose and, for a natural person who works in the
United States, is not: (i) registered or qualified in any capacity with
the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodities Futures
[[Page 33439]]
Trading Commission, any state securities agency, any securities
exchange or association, or any commodities or futures contract market
or association; (ii) engaged as an ``investment adviser'' as that term
is defined in Section 202(a)(11) of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940
(whether or not registered or qualified under that Act); or (iii)
employed by a bank or other organization exempt from registration under
federal or state securities laws to perform functions that would
require registration or qualification if such functions were performed
for an organization not so exempt; or, for a natural person who works
outside of the United States, does not perform the same functions as
would disqualify such person as a Non-Professional User if he or she
worked in the United States.
<bullet> Professional User. Any User other than a Non-Professional
User.
<bullet> User. A Professional User or Non-Professional User.
Proposed Market Data Pricing
As described above, the Exchange currently only charges Internal
Distributors a monthly fee of $500.00 for the ToM data feed and
$1,250.00 for the PLF data feed. The Exchange also only currently
charges External Distributors a monthly fee of $750.00 for the ToM data
feed and $1,500.00 for the PLF data feed. Again, these fees levels have
remained unchanged since they were first implemented on March 1,
2018.\13\ The Exchange now proposes to charge the below per User fees
as well as Non-Display Usage fees for the ToM and PLF data feeds,
which, the Exchange believes are generally similar to or lower than
market data fees charged by other similarly situated options exchanges.
The Exchange does not propose to adopt any additional fee categories in
this proposal. Each of the below capitalized terms are defined above
and would be included under the proposed Definitions section under
Section 6, Market Data Fees, of the Fee Schedule.
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\13\ See supra note 8.
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1. User Fees. For the ToM and PLF data feeds, the Exchange proposes
to charge a monthly fee of $20.00 for each Professional User and $1.00
for each Non-Professional User of each data feed.\14\ The proposed User
fees would apply to each person that has access to the ToM or PLF data
feed that is provided by a Distributor (either Internal or External)
for displayed usage. Each Distributor's User count would include every
individual that has accesses to the data regardless of the purpose for
which the individual uses the data. The above Professional or Non-
Professional User fee would provide the same Professional or Non-
Professional User access to all other Pearl Options Market Data feeds
for no additional per User charge.\15\ In other words, a User would
receive access to both the ToM and PLF data feeds for the applicable
single per User fee and not have to pay separate per User fees for each
data feed. As such, Distributors should report the number of Users per
the Exchange, and not per individual data feed. This would be noted in
Section 6 of the Fee Schedule under footnote 1 following the fee tables
for both the ToM and PLF data feeds. Distributors of the ToM or PLF
data feed would be required to report all Professional and Non-
Professional Users in accordance with the following:
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\14\ The Exchange does not propose to adopt an Enterprise Fee at
this time and may do so in the future based on feedback from market
participants.
\15\ The Exchange notes that similar reporting is required by
the Nasdaq options markets, The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq
Options''), Nasdaq Phlx LLC (``Nasdaq Phlx''), and Nasdaq MRX, LLC
(``Nasdaq MRX''). See, e.g., <a href="https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions">https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions</a> (providing that ``[t]he monthly
user fee should be reported once for Nasdaq Options, not once per
datafeed'').
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<bullet> In connection with a Distributor's distribution of the ToM
or PLF data feed, the Distributor must count as one User each unique
User that the Distributor is entitled for access to the ToM or PLF data
feed.
<bullet> Distributors must report each unique individual person who
receives access through multiple devices or multiple methods (e.g., a
single User has multiple passwords and user identifications) as one
User.
<bullet> If a Distributor entitles one or more individuals to use
the same device, the Distributor must include only the individuals, and
not the device, in the count. Thus, Distributors would not be required
to report User device counts associated with a User's display use of
the data feed.
2. Non-Display Usage Fees. The Exchange proposes to establish a
monthly Non-Display Usage \16\ fee of $1,500.00 for the ToM data feed.
The Exchange also proposes to establish a monthly Non-Display Usage fee
of $1,500.00 for the PLF data feed.
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\16\ Non-Display Usage would include trading uses such as high
frequency or algorithmic trading as well as any trading in any asset
class, automated order or quote generation and/or order pegging,
price referencing for smart order routing, operations control
programs, investment analysis, order verification, surveillance
programs, risk management, compliance, and portfolio management.
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<bullet> The Exchange proposes to provide a discount to those that
subscribe to both the ToM and PLF data feeds by capping the Non-Display
Usage fee for Subscribers of both the ToM and PLF data feeds at
$2,500.00. This would be noted in Section 6 of the Fee Schedule under
footnote 2 following the fee tables for both the ToM and PLF data
feeds.
Lastly, the Exchange proposes to no longer pro-rate fees for
Distributors who subscribe or terminate mid-month. The Exchange notes
that there were no mid-month subscriptions or terminations over the
past twelve (12) months that would have required the monthly fee to be
pro-rated. The Exchange also notes that mid-month subscriptions and
terminations place an increased burden on Exchange staff and systems
that are in place to pro-rate the monthly fee that are not justified by
the little to no mid-month subscriptions and terminations that occurred
over the past year or that the Exchange anticipates going forward based
on its past experience. This portion of the proposal should also
encourage subscribers to either begin a new subscription or terminate
an existing subscription at the beginning or end of a month,
respectively. Lastly, removing these provisions would also harmonize
the MIAX Pearl Options Fee Schedule with the MIAX Pearl Equities Fee
Schedule, which also does not provide for pro-ration.\17\ Also, other
exchanges do not provide for the similar pro-ration of market data
fees.\18\ Therefore, the Exchange proposes to remove the following
language providing for pro-rated month fees for mid-month subscribers
from the explanatory paragraph under both the ToM and PLF data feed fee
tables:
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\17\ See MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, Section 3), Market
Data Fees, and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 100319 (June 12,
2024), 89 FR 51562 (June 19, 2024) (SR-PEARL-2024-25).
\18\ See Cboe BZX Options Fee Schedule and Cboe EDGX Options Fee
Schedule, supra note 11. See also MEMX Options Fee Schedule and
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101370 (October 17, 2024), 89 FR
84638 (October 23, 2024) (SR-MEMX-2024-40).
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Market Data Fees for [ToM/PLF] will be reduced for new Distributors
for the first month during which they subscribe to [ToM/PLF], based on
the number of trading days that have been held during the month prior
to the date on which they have been credentialed to use [ToM/PLF] in
the production environment. Such new Distributors will be assessed a
pro-rata percentage of the fees described above, which is the
percentage of the number of trading days remaining in the affected
calendar month as of the date on which they have been credentialed to
use [ToM/PLF] in the production environment, divided by the total
number of trading days in the affected calendar month.
[[Page 33440]]
Implementation
The Exchange issued alerts publicly announcing the proposed fees on
September 30, 2024 and December 17, 2024.\19\ The fees subject to this
proposal are immediately effective.
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\19\ See Fee Change Alert, MIAX Exchange Group--January 1, 2025
and March 1, 2025 Market Data Fee Changes (dated September 30,
2024), available at <a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/alert/2024/09/30/miax-exchange-group-options-markets-january-1-2025-and-march-1-2025-market-1?nav=all">https://www.miaxglobal.com/alert/2024/09/30/miax-exchange-group-options-markets-january-1-2025-and-march-1-2025-market-1?nav=all</a> and Fee Change Alert, MIAX Exchange Group--Options
Markets--Reminder: January 1, 2025 and March 1, 2025 Market Data Fee
Changes (dated December 17, 2024), available at <a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/alert/2024/12/17/miax-exchange-group-options-markets-reminder-january-1-2025-and-march-1-2?nav=all">https://www.miaxglobal.com/alert/2024/12/17/miax-exchange-group-options-markets-reminder-january-1-2025-and-march-1-2?nav=all</a>.
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2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with the provisions of Section 6(b) \20\ of the Act in general, and
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) \21\ 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. Additionally, the Exchange
believes that the proposed fees are consistent with the objectives of
Section 6(b)(5) \22\ of the Act in that they are designed 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 a free and open market and
national market system, and, in general, to protect investors and the
public interest, and, particularly, are not designed to permit unfair
discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.
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\20\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
\21\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
\22\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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The Exchange notes that the ToM and PLF data feeds are entirely
optional. The Exchange is not required to make the ToM or PLF data
feeds available to any customers, nor is any customer required to
purchase the ToM or PLF data feeds.
The Proposed Fees Are Reasonable and Comparable to the Fees Charged by
Other Exchanges for Similar Data Products
Overall. The proposed fees are comparable to those of other options
exchanges. Based on publicly-available information, no single exchange
had more than 12.14% equity options market share for the month of June
2025,\23\ and the Exchange compared the fees proposed herein to the
fees charged by other options exchanges with similar market share. A
more detailed discussion of the comparison follows.
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\23\ See The OCC, Options Volume by Exchange--2025, available at
<a href="https://www.theocc.com/market-data/market-data-reports/volume-and-open-interest/volume-by-exchange">https://www.theocc.com/market-data/market-data-reports/volume-and-open-interest/volume-by-exchange</a> (last visited June 30, 2025).
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The Exchange assesses the market share for each of the below
referenced options markets utilizing total equity options contracts
traded in June 2025, as set forth in the following charts:\24\
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\24\ Market share is the percentage of volume on a particular
exchange relative to the total volume across all exchanges, and
indicates the amount of order flow directed to that exchange. High
levels of market share enhance the value of trading and ports. Total
contracts include both multi-list options and proprietary options
products. Proprietary options products are products with
intellectual property rights that are not multi-listed.
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User Fees
The proposed per User fees for the Exchange's market data products
are comparable to those charged by Nasdaq Options, Nasdaq MRX, Cboe BZX
Options, and Cboe C2 Exchange, Inc. (``Cboe C2''), as summarized in the
table below.
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Monthly Monthly non-
Exchange Market share Market data product professional user professional user
(%) fee fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Pearl Options............... 2.44 ToM, PLF........... $20.00 (per $1.00 (per
Exchange). Exchange).
Nasdaq Options................... 2.96 NOM BONO, NOM ITTO. $42.10 (per $1.00 (per
exchange). exchange).
Nasdaq MRX....................... 2.83 MRX Top, MRX Depth. $25.25 (per $1.00 (per
exchange). exchange).
Cboe BZX, Options................ 4.14 BZX Depth.......... $30.00 (per feed).. $1.00 (per feed).
Cboe C2.......................... 3.02 C2 Depth........... $50.00 (per feed).. $50.00 (per feed).
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A more detailed discussion of the comparison follows.
Nasdaq Options. Nasdaq Options, with a market share of
approximately 2.96%, comparable to the Exchange, charges higher or
comparable Professional and Non-Professional User fees for its top of
book and depth of book feeds than proposed by the Exchange. Further,
like Nasdaq Options, the Exchange proposes to charge a single per User
fee that would provide access to all of its market data products for a
single fee.
The Nasdaq Options Best of Nasdaq Options (``BONO'') feed is an
options feed that provides Nasdaq Options' best bid and offer and last
sale information.\25\ The Nasdaq Options BONO feed is similar to the
Exchange's ToM feed. The Nasdaq Options ITCH to Trade Options
(``ITTO'') feed is an options feed that provides full order and quote
depth information for individual orders and quotes and last sale
information.\26\ ITTO also provides, among other things, product
(option series) available for trading on Nasdaq Options, the trading
status of such products (i.e., whether the series is available for
closing transactions only), and order imbalances on opening/reopenings.
The ITTO feed is similar to the Exchange's PLF feed.
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\25\ See Nasdaq Options Rules, Options 3, Section 23(a)(2).
\26\ See Nasdaq Options Rules, Options 3, Section 23(a)(1).
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Nasdaq Options charges Professional Users $40.10 per month and Non-
Professional Users $1.00 per month for the BONO feed and ITTO feed.\27\
The Exchange proposes to charge less than Nasdaq Options for
Professional Users and the same as Nasdaq Options for Non-Professional
Users while also providing access to all of its market data feeds for a
single per User fee. Specifically, for both the ToM and PLF data feeds,
the Exchange proposes to charge Professional Users $20.00 per month and
Non-Professional Users $1.00 per month. The Exchange's proposed
Professional User fee is lower than Nasdaq Options and its Non-
Professional User fee is equal to Nasdaq Options. Despite having
incrementally higher market share than the Exchange, Nasdaq Options
charges higher or comparable per User fees than proposed by the
Exchange herein.
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\27\ See Price List--U.S. Derivatives Data, available at <a href="https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions">https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions</a>. See also
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73823 (December 11, 2014), 79 FR
75207 (December 17, 2014) (SR-NASDAQ-2014-119).
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Nasdaq MRX. Nasdaq MRX, with a market share of approximately 2.83%,
comparable to the Exchange, charges higher Professional and Non-
Professional User fees for its top of book and depth of book feeds than
the fees proposed by the Exchange. Further, like Nasdaq MRX, the
Exchange proposes to charge a single per User fee that would provide
access to all of its market data
[[Page 33441]]
products for a single fee.\28\
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\28\ The Exchange notes that Nasdaq MRX also offers the Nasdaq
MRX Order Feed and Nasdaq MRX Trades Feed, which are included in the
Nasdaq MRX per User fees. See Nasdaq MRX Options Rules, Options 7,
Pricing Schedule, Section 7, Market Data.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Nasdaq MRX Top of Market feed is an options feed that provides
Nasdaq MRX's best bid and offer and last sale information.\29\ The
Nasdaq MRX Top of Market feed is similar to the Exchange's ToM feed.
The Nasdaq MRX Depth of Market feed is an options feed that provides
full order and quote depth information for individual orders and quotes
and last sale information.\30\ The Nasdaq MRX Depth of Market feed is
similar to the Exchange's PLF feed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\29\ See Nasdaq MRX Options Rules, Options 3, Section 23(a)(3).
\30\ See Nasdaq MRX Options Rules, Options 3, Section 23(a)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nasdaq MRX charges Professional Users $25.25 per month and Non-
Professional Users $1.00 per month for the Nasdaq MRX Top of Market
feed and the Nasdaq MRX Depth of Market Feed.\31\ The Exchange proposes
to charge less than Nasdaq MRX for Professional Users and the same as
Nasdaq MRX for Non-Professional Users while also providing access to
all of its market data fees for single per User fee. Specifically, for
both the ToM and PLF data feeds, the Exchange proposes to charge
Professional Users $20.00 per month and Non-Professional Users $1.00
per month. The Exchange's proposed Professional User fee is lower than
Nasdaq MRX and its Non-Professional User fee is equal to Nasdaq MRX.
Despite having comparable market share as the Exchange, Nasdaq MRX
charges higher or comparable per User fees than the fees proposed by
the Exchange herein.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ See Price List--U.S. Derivatives Data, available at <a href="https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions">https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cboe BZX Options. Cboe BZX Options, with a market share of
approximately 4.14%, which is comparable to the Exchange's market
share, charges higher Professional and Non-Professional User fees for
its depth of book feed than the fees proposed by the Exchange. Further,
Cboe BZX Options also charges separate per User fees per data product,
whereas the Exchange proposes to charge a single lower per User fee
that would provide access to all of its market data products for a
single fee.
The Cboe BZX Options Top feed is an options feed that provides top
of book quotations and execution information. The Cboe BZX Options Top
feed is similar to the Exchange's ToM feed. The Cboe BZX Options Depth
feed is an options feed that provides depth of book quotations and
execution information.\32\ The Cboe BZX Options Depth feed is similar
to the Exchange's PLF feed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\32\ For the Cboe BZX Options Top feed, Cboe BZX Option charges
Professional Users $5.00 per month and Non-Professional Users $0.10
per month. For ToM and PLF data feeds, the Exchange proposes to
charge Professional Users $20.00 per month and Non-Professional
Users $1.00 per month. Although higher, the Exchange's proposed
Professional and Non-Professional User fees are not necessarily
comparable to Cboe BZX Options Top fees because a User may receive
access to each of the Exchange's two data feeds for a single per
User fee and, unlike Cboe BZX Options, not be required to pay a
separate per User fee for each data product and Cboe BZX Options
provides two data feed that provide only Cboe BZX Options data. Cboe
BZX Options also offers the Cboe One Options Feed, which provides
information for not only Cboe BZX Options, but also its three
affiliated options markets, Cboe EDGX Options, Cboe, and Cboe C2.
See Cboe BZX Options Rule 21.15 (b)(6).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cboe BZX Options charges Professional Users $30.00 per month and
Non-Professional Users $1.00 per month for the Cboe BZX Options Depth
feed. The Exchange proposes to charge less than Cboe BZX Options and
provide access to all of its market data fees for single, and still
lower, per User fee. Specifically, for both the ToM and PLF data feeds,
the Exchange proposes to charge Professional Users $20.00 per month and
Non-Professional Users $1.00 per month. The Exchange's proposed
Professional User fee is lower than Cboe BZX Options and its Non-
Professional User fee is equal to Cboe BZX Options. However, both of
the Exchange's proposed fees can be lower than Cboe BZX Options because
a User may receive access to each of the Exchange's data feeds for a
single per User fee and, unlike Cboe BZX Options, not be required to
pay a separate per User fee for each data product.\33\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\33\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cboe C2. Cboe C2, with a market share of approximately 3.02%,
comparable to the Exchange, charges higher Professional and Non-
Professional User fees for its C2 Options Depth feed than proposed by
the Exchange. Unlike Cboe C2, the Exchange proposes to charge a single
per User fee that would provide access to all of its market data
products for a single fee.
The Cboe C2 Options Depth feed is an options feed that provides
depth of book quotations and execution information. The Cboe C2 Options
Depth feed is similar to the Exchange's PLF data feed. Cboe C2 charges
all Users, both Professional Users and Non-Professional Users, $50.00
for the Cboe C2 Options Depth feed.\34\ The Exchange proposes to charge
less than Cboe C2 for Professional Users and Non-Professional Users
while also providing access to all of its market data feeds for a
single per User fee. Specifically, for the PLF data feed, the Exchange
proposes to charge Professional Users $20.00 per month and Non-
Professional Users $1.00 per month. The Exchange's proposed
Professional User and Non-Professional User fees are lower than the
fees for the Cboe C2 Options Depth feed. Despite having comparable
market share as the Exchange, Cboe C2 charges higher or comparable per
User fees than proposed by the Exchange herein.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\34\ See Cboe C2 Fee Schedule, available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
Each of the above examples of other exchanges' market data fees
support the proposition that the Exchange's proposed User fees are
comparable to those of other exchanges and therefore reasonable.
Non-Display Usage Fee
The proposed Non-Display Usage fee for the Exchange's market data
products is comparable to those charged by Nasdaq Options and Nasdaq
MRX, as summarized in below table.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Market share Monthly non-display usage
Exchange (%) Market data products fee
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Pearl Options...................... 2.44 ToM, PLF.................. $1,500.00 (per feed)
(capped at $2,500.00).
Nasdaq Options.......................... 2.96 NOM BONO, NOM ITTO........ $10,530.00 (per exchange).
Nasdaq MRX.............................. 2.83 MRX Top, MRX Depth........ $7,575.00 (per exchange).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A more detailed discussion of the comparison follows.
Nasdaq Options. Nasdaq Options, with a market share of
approximately 2.96%, which is comparable to the Exchange's market
share, charges higher Non-Display Usage fees for its top of book and
depth of book feeds than proposed by the Exchange. Further,
[[Page 33442]]
Nasdaq Options also charges the full Non-Display Usage fees to receive
all of its data products, whereas the Exchange proposes to cap the Non-
Display Usage fee at $2,500.00, which would provide a discount to
subscribers that choose to subscribe to multiple Exchange data feeds
for Non-Display Usage.\35\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\35\ The Exchange notes that not all options exchanges charge
non-display fees for options data. For example, Cboe, Cboe C2, Cboe
EDGX Options, Cboe BZX Options, BOX, and MEMX do not charge non-
display fees. Therefore, the Exchange compared its fees to two
comparable exchanges, NOM and Nasdaq MRX, which charge non-display
fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As discussed above, the Nasdaq Options BONO feed is an options feed
that provides Nasdaq Options' best bid and offer and last sale
information.\36\ The Nasdaq Options BONO feed is similar to the
Exchange's ToM data feed. The Nasdaq Options ITTO feed is an options
feed that provides full order and quote depth information for
individual orders and quotes and last sale information.\37\ Nasdaq
Options ITTO also provides, among other things, product (option series)
available for trading on Nasdaq Options, the trading status of such
products (i.e., whether the series is available for closing
transactions only), and order imbalances on opening/reopenings. The
Nasdaq Options ITTO feed is similar to the Exchange's PLF data
feed.\38\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\36\ See Nasdaq Options Rules, Options 3, Section 23(a)(2).
\37\ See Nasdaq Options Rules, Options 3, Section 23(a)(1).
\38\ The Exchange proposes to cap the amount of Non-Display
Usage fees for those that subscribe to multiple Exchange data feeds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nasdaq Options charges a monthly fee of $10,530.00 for Non-Display
Usage of the Nasdaq Options BONO feed and Nasdaq Options ITTO feed.\39\
The Exchange proposes to charge less than Nasdaq Options while also
proposing to cap the Non-Display Usage fee at $2,500.00, which would
provide a discount to subscribers that choose to subscribe to multiple
Exchange data feeds for Non-Display Usage. Specifically, for both the
ToM and PLF data feeds, the Exchange proposes to charge a monthly fee
of $1,500.00 for Non-Display Usage and to cap the Non-Display Usage fee
at $2,500.00 for those that wish to receive both the ToM and PLF data
feeds for Non-Display Usage. This cap would be in lieu of paying the
full Non-Display Usage Fee for each data product, which would total
$3,000.00 per month. Despite having incrementally higher market share
than the Exchange, Nasdaq Options charges higher Non-Display Usage fees
than the fees proposed by the Exchange herein.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\39\ See Price List--U.S. Derivatives Data, available at <a href="https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions">https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions</a>. See also
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73823 (December 11, 2014), 79 FR
75207 (December 17, 2014) (SR-NASDAQ-2014-119).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nasdaq MRX. Nasdaq MRX, with a market share of approximately 2.83%,
which is comparable to the Exchange's market share, charges higher Non-
Display Usage fees for its top of book and depth of book feeds than the
fees proposed by the Exchange. Nasdaq MRX charges the full single Non-
Display Usage fee of $7,757.00 for access to all of its market data
feeds. Meanwhile, the Exchange proposes to cap the Non-Display Usage
fee at $2,500.00, which would provide a discount to subscribers that
choose to subscribe to multiple Exchange data feeds for Non-Display
Usage, and would be lower than the fee assessed by Nasdaq MRX.
The Nasdaq MRX Top of Market feed is an options feed that provides
Nasdaq MRX's best bid and offer and last sale information.\40\ The
Nasdaq MRX Top of Market feed is similar to the Exchange's ToM data
feed. The Nasdaq MRX Depth of Market feed is an options feed that
provides full order and quote depth information for individual orders
and quotes and last sale information.\41\ The Nasdaq MRX Depth of
Market feed is similar to the Exchange's PLF data feed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\40\ See Nasdaq MRX Options Rules, Options 3, Section 23(a)(3).
\41\ See Nasdaq MRX Options Rules, Options 3, Section 23(a)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nasdaq MRX charges a monthly fee of $7,575.00 for Non-Display Usage
of the Nasdaq MRX Top of Market feed and Nasdaq MRX Depth of Market
feed.\42\ The Exchange proposes to charge less than Nasdaq MRX while
also proposing to cap the Non-Display Usage fee at $2,500.00, which
would provide a discount to subscribers that choose to subscribe to
multiple Exchange data feeds for Non-Display Usage. Specifically, for
both the ToM and PLF data feeds, the Exchange proposes to charge a
monthly fee of $1,500.00 and to cap the Non-Display Usage fee at
$2,500.00 for those that wish to receive both the ToM and PLF data feed
for Non-Display Usage. This cap would be in lieu of paying the full
Non-Display Usage Fee for each data product, which would total
$3,000.00 per month. Despite having comparable market share as the
Exchange, Nasdaq MRX charges higher Non-Display Usage fees than the
fees proposed by the Exchange herein.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\42\ See Price List--U.S. Derivatives Data, available at <a href="https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions">https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
Each of the above examples of other exchanges' market data fees
support the proposition that the Exchange's proposed Non-Display Usage
fees are lower than those of other exchanges and therefore reasonable.
The below table sets forth each exchanges' distributor fees for
each data feed that the Exchange includes in its above comparisons. The
below table also includes applicable per User and Non-Display Usage
fees that are discussed above.\43\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\43\ The Exchange notes that other exchanges offer an enterprise
license fee that provides access to an unlimited number of users for
a single price. This fee covers all of the applicable exchange's
market data feeds for a single enterprise license fee. The Exchange
does not propose to offer an enterprise license fee at this time
because customers have not requested it and, at this time, no
individual subscriber distributes Exchange market data to a
population of individual users that would justify the Exchange to
propose an enterprise license.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Market share Market data Internal External
Exchange (%) product distributors distributors Pro-user Non-pro user Non-display fee
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Pearl Options............ 2.44 ToM.............. $500.00 $750.00 $20.00 (per $1.00 (per $1,500.00 (per
PLF.............. 1,250.00 1,500.00 Exchange). Exchange). feed. capped
at) $3,000.00.
Nasdaq Options................ 2.96 NOM BONO......... 1,566.00 2,089.00 $42.10 (per $1.00 (per ($10,530.00 (per
NOM ITTO......... 1,566.00 2,089.00 exchange). exchange). exchange, no
cap).
Nasdaq MRX.................... 2.83 MRX Top.......... 1,515.00 2,020.00 $25.25 (per $1.00 (per $7,575.00 (per
MRX Depth........ 1,515.00 2,020.00 exchange). exchange). exchange, no
cap).
Cboe BZX Options.............. 4.14 BZX Depth........ 3,000.00 2,000.00 $30.00 (per feed) $1.00 (per feed) N/A.
Cboe C2....................... 3.02 C2 Depth......... 2,500.00 2,500.00 $50.00 (per feed) $50.00 (per N/A.
feed).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 33443]]
As illustrated by the above table, while distributor fees may vary
across exchanges, and in some instances are higher on the Exchange, the
per User fees of other exchanges are generally higher than that
proposed by the Exchange and can quickly make up for any difference in
distributor fees due to an increased number of Users permissioned for
other exchanges' data feeds when compared to the Users permissioned to
view data from the Exchange. In other words, for a certain number of
users, a higher per User fee charged by other exchanges would make up
any difference in distributor fees and ultimately make obtaining market
data on the comparison exchange more expensive. In addition, Nasdaq
Options and Nasdaq MRX charge materially higher fees for Non-Display
Usage. Meanwhile, Cboe BZX Options and Cboe C2 would charge non-display
users their applicable distribution fee, which are not capped, and some
of their other fees, such as per User fees on Cboe C2, are either
higher than, or comparable to, the fees proposed by the Exchange.
Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to only charge fees to Internal and
External Distributors for the ToM and PLF feeds, which when combined
with the above proposed fees, result in fee packages that are generally
comparable to the fee packages charged by Nasdaq Options, Nasdaq MRX,
Cboe BZX Options, and Cboe C2 due to those exchanges charging higher or
similar User and Non-Display Usage fees, as set forth above.
Lastly, the proposed discount to charge per User fees at the
Exchange level, and not per data feed, as well as capping the monthly
Non-Display Usage fee for use of multiple data feeds, is reasonable and
cause the Exchange's proposed fees to be even lower for subscribers to
multiple Exchange data products.
Pro-Rata Distribution of Fees. The Exchange believes its proposal
to no longer pro-rate mid-month changes to subscriptions is reasonable
because the Exchange had no mid-month subscriptions or terminations
over the past twelve (12) months that would have required the monthly
fee to be pro-rated and no other options exchanges provides for the
similar pro-ration of market data fees.\44\ Also, removing these
provisions would harmonize the MIAX Pearl Options Fee Schedule with the
MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, which does not provide for pro-ration
of market data fees.\45\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\44\ See Cboe BZX Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section and
Cboe EDGX Options Fee Schedule, supra note 11. See also MEMX Options
Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section and Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 101370 (October 17, 2024), 89 FR 84638 (October 23,
2024) (SR-MEMX-2024-40).
\45\ See MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, Section 3), Market
Data Definitions, and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 100319
(June 12, 2024), 89 FR 51562 (June 19, 2024) (SR-PEARL-2024-25).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Proposed Fees Are Equitably Allocated
Overall. The Exchange believes that its proposed fees are
reasonable, equitable, and not unfairly discriminatory because they are
designed to align fees with services provided. The Exchange believes
that the proposed fees for the market data feeds are allocated fairly
and equitably among the various categories of users of the data feeds,
and any differences among categories of users are justified and
appropriate.
The Exchange believes that the proposed fees are equitably
allocated because they will apply uniformly to all data recipients that
choose to subscribe to the market data feeds. Any market participant
that chooses to subscribe to the market data feeds is subject to the
same Fee Schedule, regardless of what type of business they operate,
and the decision to subscribe to one or more market data feeds is based
on objective differences in usage of market data feeds among different
Members, which are still ultimately in the control of any particular
Member. The Exchange believes the proposed pricing of the market data
feeds is equitably allocated because it is based, in part, upon the
amount of information contained in each data feed, which may have
additional value to market participants.
Pro-Rata Distribution of Fees. The Exchange believes its proposal
to no longer pro-rate mid-month changes to subscriptions is equitably
allocated because the Exchange had no subscriber utilize pro-ration via
a mid-month subscriptions or terminations over the past twelve (12)
months, nor does it foresee a subscriber doing so in the near future.
The Exchange believes it is equitable to no longer pro-rate fees for
Distributors who subscribe mid-month because other options exchanges do
not provide for the similar pro-ration of market data fees.\46\ Also,
removing these provisions would harmonize the MIAX Pearl Options Fee
Schedule with the MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, which does not
provide for pro-ration of market data fees.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\46\ See Cboe BZX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section
and Cboe EDGX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section, supra
note 11. See also MEMX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees
section and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101370 (October 17,
2024), 89 FR 84638 (October 23, 2024) (SR-MEMX-2024-40).
\47\ See MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, Section 3), Market
Data Definitions, and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 100319
(June 12, 2024), 89 FR 51562 (June 19, 2024) (SR-PEARL-2024-25).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
User Fees. The Exchange believes that the proposed fee, fee levels,
and structure that differentiate between Professional User fees from
Non-Professional User fees for display use are equitable. This
structure has long been used by other exchanges and OPRA to reduce the
price of data to Non-Professional Users and make it more broadly
available.\48\ Offering the market data feeds to Non-Professional Users
at a lower cost than Professional Users results in greater equity among
data recipients, as Professional Users are categorized as such based on
their employment and participation in financial markets, and thus, are
compensated to participate in the markets. While Non-Professional Users
too can receive significant financial benefits through their
participation in the markets, the Exchange believes it is reasonable to
charge more to those Users who are more directly engaged in the
markets.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\48\ See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59544 (March
9, 2009), 74 FR 11162 (March 16, 2009) (SR-NYSE-2008-131)
(establishing the $15 Non-Professional User Fee (Per User) for NYSE
OpenBook); Securities Exchange Act Release No. 20002, File No. S7-
433 (July 22, 1983), 48 FR 34552 (July 29, 1983) (establishing Non-
Professional fees for CTA data); NASDAQ BX Equity 7 Pricing
Schedule, Section 123.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Non-Display Usage Fees
The Exchange believes the proposed Non-Display Usage fees are
equitably allocated because they would require Distributors to pay fees
only for the uses they actually make of the data. As noted above, non-
display data can be used by data recipients for a wide variety of
profit-generating purposes (including trading and order routing) as
well as purposes that do not directly generate revenues (such as risk
management and compliance) but nonetheless substantially reduce the
recipient's costs by automating certain functions. The Exchange
believes that it is equitable to charge non-display data Distributors
that use the market data feeds because all such Distributors would have
the ability to use such data for as many non-display uses as they wish
for one low fee. As noted above, this structure is comparable to that
in place for the exchanges referenced above and several other exchanges
charge multiple non-display fees to the same client to the extent they
use a data feed in several
[[Page 33444]]
different trading platforms or for several types of non-display
use.\49\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\49\ See Cboe BZX Options Fee Schedule, available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/</a> (providing fees
of $2,000.00 to $3,000.00 for Distribution, which includes Non-
Display use); Cboe C2 Fee Schedule, available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/</a> (providing a
fee $2,500.00 for Distribution, which includes Non-Display use);
Nasdaq Options Fee Schedule, available at <a href="https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions">https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=DPPriceListOptions</a> (providing a
fee of $10,000.00 for Non-Display Use); and the NYSE American fee
schedule available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/data/NYSE_Market_Data_Pricing.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/data/NYSE_Market_Data_Pricing.pdf</a> (providing a fee of $5,000.00 for Non-
Display Use).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
* * * * *
For all of the foregoing reasons, the Exchange believes that the
proposed fees for the market data feeds are equitably allocated.
The Proposed Fees Are Not Unfairly Discriminatory
The Exchange believes the proposed fees are not unfairly
discriminatory because any differences in the application of the fees
are based on meaningful distinctions between customers, and those
meaningful distinctions are not unfairly discriminatory between
customers.
Overall. The Exchange believes that the proposed fees are not
unfairly discriminatory because they would apply to all data recipients
that choose to subscribe to the same market data feed(s). Any market
participant, including market data vendors, that chooses to subscribe
to the market data feeds is subject to the same Fee Schedule,
regardless of what type of business they operate. Market participants
seeking lower cost options may instead choose to receive data from OPRA
or another potentially lower cost option such as a market data vendor.
The Exchange notes that market participants can also choose to
subscribe to a combination of data feeds for redundancy purposes or to
use different feeds for different purposes. In sum, each market
participant has the ability to choose the best business solution for
itself. The Exchange does not believe it is unfairly discriminatory to
base pricing upon the amount of information contained in each data feed
and the importance of that information to market participants. As
described above, the ToM data feed can be utilized to trade on the
Exchange but contains less information than available on the PLF data
feed. Thus, the Exchange believes it is not unfairly discriminatory for
the products to be priced as proposed, with the same fees being
proposed for each data feed coupled with the discounts and caps
discussed above.
Pro-Rata Distribution of Fees
The Exchange believes that the proposal to no longer pro-rate mid-
month changes to market data subscriptions is not unfairly
discriminatory because there were no mid-month subscriptions or
terminations over the past twelve (12) months that would have required
the monthly fee to be pro-rated. The Exchange notes that other options
exchanges do not provide for the similar pro-ration of market data
fees.\50\ Also, removing these provisions would harmonize the MIAX
Pearl Options Fee Schedule with the MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule,
which does not provide for pro-ration.\51\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\50\ See Cboe BZX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section
and Cboe EDGX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section, supra
note 11. See also MEMX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees
section and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101370 (October 17,
2024), 89 FR 84638 (October 23, 2024) (SR-MEMX-2024-40).
\51\ See MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, Section 3), Market
Data Definitions and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 100319
(June 12, 2024), 89 FR 51562 (June 19, 2024) (SR-PEARL-2024-25).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
User Fees. The Exchange believes that the proposed fee, fee levels,
and structure that differentiates between Professional User fees from
Non-Professional User fees for display use are not unfairly
discriminatory. This structure has long been used by other exchanges
and OPRA to reduce the price of data to Non-Professional Users and make
it more broadly available. Offering the market data feeds to Non-
Professional Users with the same data as is available to Professional
Users, albeit at a lower cost, results in greater equity among data
recipients. These User fees would be charged uniformly to all
individuals that have access to the market data feeds based on the
category of User.
The Exchange also believes the proposed User fees are not unfairly
discriminatory, with higher fees for Professional Users than Non-
Professional Users, because Non-Professional Users may have less
ability to pay for such data than Professional Users as well as less
opportunity to profit from their usage of such data.
Non-Display Usage Fees
The Exchange believes that the proposed Non-Display Usage fees are
not unfairly discriminatory because they would require Distributors for
non-display use to pay fees depending on their use of the data. As
noted above, non-display data can be used by data recipients for a wide
variety of profit-generating purposes as well as purposes that do not
directly generate revenues but nonetheless substantially reduce the
recipient's costs by automating certain functions.
* * * * *
For all of the foregoing reasons, the Exchange believes that the
proposed fees for the Exchange's market data feeds are not unfairly
discriminatory.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act,\52\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\52\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Intra-Market Competition
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed fees place certain
market participants at a relative disadvantage to other market
participants because, as noted above, the proposed fees are associated
with usage of the data feed by each market participant, which are still
ultimately in the control of any particular Member, and such fees do
not impose a barrier to entry to smaller participants. Accordingly, the
proposed fees do not favor certain categories of market participants in
a manner that would impose a burden on competition; rather, the
allocation of the proposed fees reflects the types of data consumed by
various market participants and their usage thereof. The Exchange also
believes that the proposed fees neither favor nor penalize one or more
categories of market participants in a manner that would impose an
undue burden on competition.
The Exchange believes its proposal to no longer pro-rate mid-month
changes to market data subscriptions does not place an undue burden on
intra-market competition because all market participants will be
subject to the same Fee Schedule, regardless of which point in the
month they subscribe. As noted above, there were no mid-month
subscriptions or terminations over the past twelve (12) months that
would have required the monthly fee to be pro-rated. The Exchange notes
that other options exchanges do not provide for the similar pro-ration
of market data fees.\53\ Also, removing these provisions would
harmonize the MIAX Pearl
[[Page 33445]]
Options Fee Schedule with the MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, which
does not provide for pro-ration.\54\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\53\ See Cboe BZX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section
and Cboe EDGX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section. See
also MEMX Options Fee Schedule, Market Data Fees section and
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101370 (October 17, 2024), 89 FR
84638 (October 23, 2024) (SR-MEMX-2024-40).
\54\ See MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule, Section 3), Market
Data Definitions and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 100319
(June 12, 2024), 89 FR 51562 (June 19, 2024) (SR-PEARL-2024-25).
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Inter-Market Competition
The Exchange does not believe the proposed fees place an undue
burden on competition on other SROs that is not necessary or
appropriate. In particular, market participants are not forced to
subscribe to either data feed, as described above. Additionally, other
exchanges have similar market data fees with comparable rates in place
for their participants. Other options exchanges are free to adopt
comparable fee structures subject to the Commission's rule filing
process.
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,\55\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \56\ 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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\55\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
\56\ 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:
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#1163647d743c727e7c7c747f6562516274723f767e67"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="dba9aeb7bef6b8b4b6b6beb5afa89ba8beb8f5bcb4ad">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-PEARL-2025-31 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-2025-31. 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-PEARL-2025-31 and should be
submitted on or before August 7, 2025.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\57\
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\57\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-13371 Filed 7-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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