Notice2025-22862
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its Fee Schedule To Offer a Free Trial for Certain Ad-Hoc Historical Data
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
December 16, 2025
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 239 (Tuesday, December 16, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58358-58361]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-22862]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-104367; File No. SR-CboeBZX-2025-151]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend
Its Fee Schedule To Offer a Free Trial for Certain Ad-Hoc Historical
Data
December 11, 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 December 3, 2025, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'')
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 BZX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or BZX Options'')
proposes
[[Page 58359]]
to amend its Fee Schedule to offer a free trial for up to six months
for ad-hoc historical data requests for its End-of-Day, Intraday Ten-
Minute Interval, and Intraday One-Minute Interval, Open-Close Data
(collectively, ``Historical Open-Close Data''), to all BZX Options
Members and non-Options Members, who have not previously subscribed to
Historical Open-Close Data or previously received a free trial. The
text of the proposed rule change is provided in Exhibit 5.
The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the
Commission's website (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>), the
Exchange's website (<a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/regulation/rule_filings/bzx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/regulation/rule_filings/bzx/</a>), and at the principal office of the Exchange.
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 its Fee Schedule to offer a free
trial for up to six months for ad-hoc historical data requests for its
End-of-Day, Intraday Ten-Minute Interval, and Intraday One-Minute
Interval, Open-Close Data (collectively, ``Historical Open-Close
Data''), to all BZX Options Members \3\ and non-Options Members, who
have not previously subscribed to Historical Open-Close Data or
previously received a free trial. The free trial for Historical Open-
Close Data is effective starting, November 24 [sic], 2025. The Exchange
also seeks to remove language from its Fee Schedule language providing
a 20% discount for the purchase of Historical Open-Close Data totaling
$20,000 or more, from April 23, 2025 through June 30, 2025, because
this period has now expired.
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\3\ The term ``Options Member'' means a firm, or organization
that is registered with the Exchange pursuant to Chapter XVII of
these Rules for purposes of participating in options trading on BZX
Options as an ``Options Order Entry Firm'' or ``Options Market-
Maker.'' See BZX Rule 16.1.
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By way of background, the Exchange currently offers End-of-Day
(``EOD'') and Intraday Open-Close Data (collectively, ``Open-Close
Data''). EOD Open-Close Data is an end-of-day volume summary of trading
activity on the Exchange at the option level by origin (customer,
professional customer, broker-dealer, and market maker), side of the
market (buy or sell), price, and transaction type (opening or closing).
The customer and professional customer volume is further broken down
into trade size buckets (less than 100 contracts, 100-199 contracts,
greater than 199 contracts). The EOD Open-Close Data is proprietary
Exchange trade data and does not include trade data from any other
exchange. It is also a historical data product and not a real-time data
feed.
The Intraday Open-Close Data provides summary level data of trading
activity on the Exchange at the option level by origin (customer,
professional customer, broker-dealer, and market maker), side of the
market (buy or sell), and transaction type (opening or closing). The
customer and professional customer volume are further broken down into
trade size buckets (less than 100 contracts, 100-199 contracts, greater
than 199 contracts). The Intraday Open-Close Data is proprietary
Exchange trade data and does not include trade data from any other
exchange. The Intraday Open-Close Data is offered in two different
intervals, where options transaction data is captured in snapshots
taken either every 1-minute interval or 10-minute interval during the
trading day. This data is then made available to subscribers within
five minutes of the conclusion of the 1-minute or 10-minute interval
period. The Intraday Open-Close Data is proprietary Exchange trade data
and does not include trade data from any other exchange. All Open-Close
Data products are completely voluntary products, in that the Exchange
is not required by any rule or regulation to make this data available
and that potential customers may purchase it on an ad-hoc basis only if
they voluntarily choose to do so.
Free Trial
The Exchange seeks to establish a free trial for historical ad hoc
requests for End-of-Day Open-Close Data and historical ad hoc requests
for Intraday Open-Close Data (both 1-minute interval and 10-minute
interval) to all BZX Options Members and non-Options Members, who have
not previously subscribed to Historical Open-Close Data or previously
received a free trial. Historical Open-Close Data is available to all
customers at the same price and in the same manner. The current charge
for historical ad hoc requests of End-of-Day Open-Close Data is $400
per request, per month. An ad hoc request can be for any number of
months beginning with January 2018, for which data is available. The
current charge for historical Ten-Minute Intraday Open-Close Data is
$750 per request, per month, and $2,500 per request, per month, for
historical One-Minute Intraday Open-Close Data. The Exchange now
proposes to adopt a free trial for up to 6 months for Historical Open-
Close Data to both Options Members and non-Options Members who have not
previously purchased Historical Open-Close Data or previously received
a free trial.
The Exchange believes proposed trial will serve as an incentive for
new subscribers who have never purchased Historical Open-Close Data to
start purchasing such data. Particularly, the Exchange believes it will
give potential subscribers the ability to use and test the data
offering before signing up for additional months. The Exchange also
notes another exchange offers a free trial for new subscribers of a
similar data product.\4\ Lastly, the purchase of Historical Open-Close
Data is discretionary and not compulsory.
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\4\ See Nasdaq ISE, Options 7 Pricing Schedule, Section 4(g),
Nasdaq Options Market Data Distributor Fees, 30-Day Free Trial
Offer.
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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.\5\ Specifically, the
Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with the
Section 6(b)(5) \6\ 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
[[Page 58360]]
the Section 6(b)(5) \7\ requirement that the rules of an exchange not
be designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers,
brokers, or dealers.
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\5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
\7\ Id.
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In adopting Regulation NMS, the Commission granted self-regulatory
organizations (``SROs'') and broker-dealers increased authority and
flexibility to offer new and unique market data to the public. It was
believed that this authority would expand the amount of data available
to consumers, and also spur innovation and competition for the
provision of market data. The Exchange believes the proposed free trial
of Historical Open-Close Data will further broaden the availability of
U.S. option market data to investors consistent with the principles of
Regulation NMS. The Exchange's Historical Open-Close Data is designed
to help investors understand underlying market trends to improve the
quality of investment decisions. Indeed, subscribers to the data may be
able to enhance their ability to analyze option trade and volume data
and create and test trading models and analytical strategies. The
Exchange believes its Historical Open-Close Data provides a valuable
tool that subscribers can use to gain comprehensive insight into the
trading activity in a particular series, but also emphasizes such data
is not necessary for trading and as noted above, is entirely optional.
Moreover, as noted at least one other exchange offers a similar data
product which offer same type of data content through end-of-day or
intraday report.\8\
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\8\ Supra note 4.
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The Exchange also operates in a highly competitive environment.
Indeed, there are currently 16 registered options exchanges that trade
options. The Commission has repeatedly expressed its preference for
competition over regulatory intervention in determining prices,
products, and services in the securities markets. Particularly, in
Regulation NMS, the Commission highlighted the importance of market
forces in determining prices and SRO revenues and, also, recognized
that current regulation of the market system ``has been remarkably
successful in promoting market competition in its broader forms that
are most important to investors and listed companies.'' \9\ Making
similar data products available to market participants fosters
competition in the marketplace, and constrains the ability of exchanges
to charge supracompetitive fees. In the event that a market participant
views one exchange's data product as more or less attractive than the
competition they can and do switch between similar products. The
proposed free trials are a result of the competitive environment, as
the Exchange seeks to adopt a fee waiver to attract future purchasers
of its Historical Open-Close Data.
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\9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005) (``Regulation NMS Adopting
Release'').
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The Exchange believes that the proposed free trial for any Options
Member or non-Options Member who has not previously purchased
Historical Open-Close Data or received a free trial is reasonable
because such users would not be subject to fees for up to 6 months'
worth of Historical Open-Close Data. The Exchange believes the proposed
free trial is also reasonable as it will give potential subscribers the
ability to use and test the Historical Open-Close Data prior to
purchasing additional months and will therefore encourage and promote
new users to purchase the Historical Open-Close Data. The Exchange
believes that the proposed discount is equitable and not unfairly
discriminatory because it will apply equally to all Options Members and
non-Options Members who have not previously purchased Historical Open-
Close Data or received a free trial. Also as noted above, another
exchange offers a free trial to new users for a similar data
product.\10\ Lastly, the purchase of this data product is discretionary
and not compulsory.
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\10\ Supra note 4.
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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 Exchange operates in a
highly competitive environment in which the Exchange must continually
adjust its fees to remain competitive. Because competitors are free to
modify their own fees in response, the Exchange believes that the
degree to which fee changes in this market may impose any burden on
competition is extremely limited. As discussed above, Historical Open-
Close Data is subject to direct competition from several other options
exchanges that offer substitutes to Historical Open-Close Data.
Moreover, purchase of Historical Open-Close is optional. It is designed
to help investors understand underlying market trends to improve the
quality of investment decisions, but is not necessary to execute a
trade.
The proposed rule change is grounded in the Exchange's efforts to
compete more effectively. The Exchange is proposing to provide a free
trial for market participants to test investment strategies and trading
models, and develop market sentiment indicators. This change will not
cause any unnecessary or inappropriate burden on intermarket
competition, but rather will promote competition by encouraging new
market participants to investigate the product. Other exchanges are, of
course, free to match this change or undertake other competitive
responses, enhancing overall competition. Indeed, as discussed, another
exchange currently offers a similar free-trial period for similar
data.\11\
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\11\ Supra note 4.
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The proposed rule change will not cause any unnecessary or
inappropriate burden on intramarket competition. Particularly, the
proposed rule change will apply to all Options Members and non-Options
Members who have never made an ad-hoc request to purchase Historical
Open-Close historical data, or received a free trial. Moreover,
purchase of Historical Open-Close Data is discretionary and not
compulsory.
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 \12\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \13\
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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\12\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\13\ 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:
[[Page 58361]]
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#2d5f584148004e4240404843595e6d5e484e034a425b"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1a686f767f37797577777f746e695a697f79347d756c">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-CboeBZX-2025-151 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-CboeBZX-2025-151. 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 filing 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-CboeBZX-2025-151 and should be submitted
on or before January 6, 2026.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\14\
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\14\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-22862 Filed 12-15-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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