Notice2025-23240
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a New Methodology for Assessment and Collection of the Options Regulatory Fee (ORF)
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 18, 2025
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 241 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 241 (Thursday, December 18, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59247-59251]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-23240]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-104403; File No. SR-CboeBZX-2025-157]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a
New Methodology for Assessment and Collection of the Options Regulatory
Fee (ORF)
December 15, 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 2, 2025, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or
``BZX'') 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
The Exchange proposes to amend its Fees Schedule relating to the
Options Regulatory Fee (``ORF'') to adopt a new methodology for
assessment and collection of ORF for transactions that occur on the
Exchange (``On-Exchange ORF''), effective as of July 1, 2026. The text
of the proposed rule change is 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 current methodology for
assessment and collection of a regulatory fee to assess On-Exchange ORF
only for options transactions that occur on the Exchange that would
clear in the customer \3\ range at The Options Clearing Corporation
(``OCC''). The Exchange would no longer assess a regulatory fee for
options transactions that occur on other exchanges. This proposal only
proposes to amend the method of assessment and collection of the fee. A
future rule filing would be filed to set the applicable On-Exchange ORF
rate. If the On-Exchange ORF model were to go into effect today, the
current ORF rate would increase from $0.0001 per contract to an
estimated On-Exchange ORF rate of $0.00467 per contract based on 2026
estimates of regulatory revenue, regulatory costs, and customer
volume.\4\ The following provides more detail regarding the proposal.
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\3\ Currently, the ORF is assessed by BZX Options and collected
via OCC on executions for the account of Public Customers, including
Professionals, and Broker-Dealers including Foreign Broker-Dealers.
These market participants clear in the ``C'' range at OCC. ORF will
continue to be assessed to executions for the account of these
market participants under the proposed methodology. On the Exchange,
a ``Public Customer'' means a person that is not a broker or dealer
in securities and includes Professionals. A ``Professional'' is any
person or entity that (a) is not a broker or dealer in securities,
and (b) places more than 390 orders in listed options per day on
average during a calendar month for its own beneficial account(s).
Executions for the account of an OCC clearing member firm
proprietary account, joint back office account clearing in the Firm
range, or account of a market maker clearing in the Market Maker
range are not charged an ORF, nor would they be charged an ORF under
the current proposal.
\4\ The Exchange intends to file an ORF increase to $0.0002 per
contract effective January 1, 2026.
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Background
Today, ORF is assessed by BZX Options to each Member for options
transactions that are cleared by the Member (``Clearing Member'') at
OCC in the Customer range, regardless of the exchange on which the
transaction occurs. In other words, the Exchange imposes the ORF on all
Customer-range transactions cleared by a Member, even if the
transactions do not take place on the Exchange. The ORF is collected by
OCC on behalf of the Exchange from the Clearing Member or non-Member
that ultimately clears the transaction as further described below. With
respect to linkage transactions, BZX Options reimburses its routing
broker providing Routing Services pursuant to BZX Options Rule 21.9 for
options regulatory fees it incurs in connection with the Routing
Services it provides. The current BZX Options ORF is $0.0001 per
contract side.
The following scenarios reflect how the ORF is currently assessed
and collected (these apply regardless of whether the transaction is
executed on the Exchange or on an away exchange):
1. If a Member is the executing clearing firm on a transaction
(``Executing Clearing Firm''), the ORF is assessed to and collected
from that Member by OCC on behalf of the Exchange.
2. If a Member is the Executing Clearing Firm and the transaction
is ``given up'' to a different Member that clears the transaction
(``Clearing Give-Up''), the ORF is assessed to the Executing Clearing
Firm (the ORF is the obligation of the Executing Clearing Firm). The
ORF is collected from the Clearing Give-Up.
3. If the Executing Clearing Firm is a non-Member and the Clearing
Give-up is a Member, the ORF is assessed to and collected from the
Clearing Give-up.
4. If a Member is the Executing Clearing Firm and a non-Member is
the Clearing Give-up, the ORF is assessed to the Executing Clearing
Firm. The ORF is the obligation of the Executing Clearing Firm but is
collected from the non-Member Clearing Give-up (for the reasons
described below).
[[Page 59248]]
5. No ORF is assessed if neither the Executing Clearing Firm nor
the Clearing Give-up are Members.
The Exchange uses an OCC cleared trades file to determine the
Executing Clearing Firm and the Clearing Give-up.\5\
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\5\ The Exchange notes that in the case where a non-self
clearing Member executes a transaction on the Exchange, the Member's
guaranteeing Clearing Member is reflected as the Executing Clearing
Firm in the OCC cleared trades file and the ORF is assessed to and
collected from the Executing Clearing Firm.
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In each of scenarios 1 through 4 above, if the transaction is
transferred pursuant to a Clearing Member Trade Assignment (``CMTA'')
agreement to another clearing firm who ultimately clears the
transaction, the ORF is collected from the clearing firm that
ultimately clears the transaction (which firm may be a non-Member) by
OCC on behalf of the Exchange. Using CMTA transfer information provided
by the OCC, the Exchange subtracts the ORF charge from the monthly ORF
bill of the clearing firm that transfers the position and adds the
charge to the monthly ORF bill of the clearing firm that receives the
CMTA transfer (i.e., the ultimate clearing firm).\6\ This process is
performed at the end of each month on each transfer in the OCC CMTA
transfer file for that month.\7\
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\6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 83878 (August 17,
2018), 83 FR 42715 (August 23, 2018) (SR-CboeBZX-2018-061).
\7\ The Exchange notes that OCC provides the Exchange and other
exchanges with information to assist in excluding CMTA transfers
done to correct bona fide errors from the ORF calculation.
Specifically, if a clearing firm gives up or CMTA transfers a
position to the wrong clearing firm, the firm that caused the error
will send an offsetting CMTA transfer to that firm and send a new
CMTA transfer to the correct firm. The offsetting CMTA transfer is
marked with a CMTA Transfer ORF Indicator which results in the
original erroneous transfer being excluded from the ORF calculation.
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ORF is collected by OCC on behalf of the Exchange from the Member
or non-Member OCC Clearing Member that ultimately clears the
transaction. While the ORF is an obligation of the Executing Clearing
Firm, the ORF is collected from the clearing firm that ultimately
clears the eligible trade, even if such firm is not a Member. The
Exchange and OCC adopted this collection method in response to industry
feedback that it would allow Members and non-Members to more easily
pass-through the ORF to their customers. In the original ORF filing by
Cboe Exchange. Inc. (``Cboe Options''), an affiliate of BZX Options,\8\
Cboe Options stated that it expected its members to pass-through the
ORF to their customers in the same manner that firms pass-through to
their customers the fees charged by self-regulatory organizations
(``SROs'') to help the SROs meet their obligations under Section 31 of
the Exchange Act (and the Exchange understands this to be the case
currently). Accordingly, in scenario 4 above, the ORF is collected from
the non-Member OCC Clearing Member that clears the transaction in order
to facilitate the pass-through of the ORF to the end-customer.
Likewise, collection of the ORF from the ultimate (CMTA) clearing firm
facilitates the passing the fee through to the end-customer. In those
cases where the ORF is collected from a non-Member, the Exchange
(through OCC) collects the ORF as a convenience for the Member whose
obligation it is to pay the fee to the Exchange.
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\8\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58817 (October 20,
2008), 73 FR 63744 (October 27, 2008) (SR-CBOE-2008-105).
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ORF Revenue and Monitoring of ORF
Today, revenue generated from ORF, when combined with all of the
Exchange's other regulatory fees and fines, is designed to recover a
material portion of the regulatory costs to the Exchange of the
supervision and regulation of Member customer options business
including performing routine surveillances, investigations,
examinations, financial monitoring, and policy, rulemaking,
interpretive, and enforcement activities. Regulatory costs include
direct regulatory expenses and certain indirect expenses for work
allocated in support of the regulatory function. The direct expenses
include in-house and third-party service provider costs to support the
day-to-day regulatory work such as surveillances, investigations and
examinations. The indirect expenses include support to the regulatory
function from such areas as human resources, legal, compliance,
information technology, facilities and accounting. Today, these
indirect expenses are estimated to be approximately 28% of the
Exchange's total regulatory costs for 2026. Thus, direct expenses are
estimated to be approximately 72% of total regulatory costs for
2026.\9\ In addition, based on the Exchange's analysis of its
regulatory work associated with options regulation, and considering
other regulatory revenue, it is the Exchange's practice that revenue
generated from ORF not exceed more than 75% of total annual regulatory
costs.
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\9\ These expectations are estimated and may be subject to
change.
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Proposal for On-Exchange ORF
BZX Options appreciates the evolving changes in the market and
regulatory environment and has been evaluating its current
methodologies and practices for the assessment and collection of ORF
while considering industry and Commission feedback. As a result of this
review, the Exchange is proposing the On-Exchange ORF, which assesses a
regulatory fee to only Exchange transactions that would clear in the
Customer range at OCC (as is the case today).\10\ The following
scenarios reflect how the On-Exchange ORF will be assessed and
collected:
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\10\ See supra note 3.
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1. If a Member is the Executing Clearing Firm on a transaction that
occurred on the Exchange, the fee would be assessed to and collected
from that Member by OCC on behalf of the Exchange.
2. If a Member is the Executing Clearing Firm and the transaction
is ``given up'' to a Clearing Give-Up, the On-Exchange ORF is assessed
to the Executing Clearing Firm (the On-Exchange ORF remains the
obligation of the Executing Clearing Firm under the proposal), but the
On-Exchange ORF will be collected from the Clearing Give-Up.
The Exchange expects to provide Members sufficient information in
connection with their invoice in order to reconcile charges associated
with ORF. In addition, the proposed method for collecting On-Exchange
ORF will only consider CMTAs reported to the Exchange and not those
reported directly to OCC. As described above, today's ORF is the
responsibility of the Executing Clearing Firm and collected from the
CMTA (which may be a non-Member) as an administrative convenience. The
Exchange understands that a CMTA may be added at order entry, via post-
trade edit on the Exchange, or post-trade at OCC. CMTA transfers that
occur at OCC do not necessarily contain reliable information regarding
the Exchange on which the original transaction occurred.\11\ Without
specific information as to where the original transaction occurred, the
Exchange would not be able to accurately account for CMTA transfers
that occur at OCC. Therefore, the Exchange will only account for CMTAs
that occur on the Exchange (which may be a non-Member) and exclude
CMTAs occurring at OCC.\12\
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\11\ Under the current methodology for assessing ORF, the
Exchange on which the transaction occurred is irrelevant.
\12\ The Exchange originally planned to exclude all CMTAs
whether reported to the Exchange or directly to the OCC. If CMTAs
are excluded, the Exchange would only collect ORF from its Members
and ORF would no longer be collected from non-Members. The Exchange
continues to believe that a new ORF model should be assessed to
Members only, but also understands the desire for a uniform approach
to the assessment and collection of ORF across all options
exchanges. As of filing, 6 exchanges have also filed to assess and
collect ORF to transactions occurring on their respective exchanges
(see Securities Exchange Act Releases No. 103103 (May 22, 2025), 90
FR 22797 (May 29, 2025) (SR-MRX-2025-11) as amended by No. 103618
(August 1, 2025), 90 FR 37910 (August 6, 2025) (SR-MRX-2025-15); No.
103558 (July 28, 2025), 90 FR 36080 (July 31, 2025) (SR-ISE-2025-
20); No. 103559 (July 28, 2025), 90 FR 36074 (July 31, 2025) (SR-BX-
2025-012); No. 103617 (August 1, 2025), 90 FR 37912 (August 6,
2025)(SR-GEMX-2025-17); No. 103619 (August 1, 2025), 90 FR 37931
(August 6, 2025) (SR-NASDAQ-2025-054); No. 103620 (August 1, 2025),
90 FR 37918 (August 8, 2025) (SR-Phlx-2025-30)). As proposed, these
filings also will consider CMTAs reported to the respective exchange
and not CMTAs reported directly to OCC.
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[[Page 59249]]
With this proposal, the Exchange intends to collect ORF under its
current methodology for assessment and collection of ORF until at least
June 30, 2026. The Exchange is prepared to implement On-Exchange ORF
effective July 1, 2026 if by April 1, 2026 all U.S. options exchanges
charging an ORF have filed to modify their current methodologies of
assessment of the fee to limit the fee to transactions occurring on
their respective exchange.\13\ However, if all other options exchanges
have not filed to adopt a similar methodology by April 1st, the
Exchange will delay implementation commensurate with the additional
time required for other options exchanges to adopt a similar method for
collection and assessment of ORF. The Exchange will at that time file a
separate rule filing with the amount of the On-Exchange ORF in advance
of assessing and collecting the fee under the proposed method. The
Exchange will provide at least 30 days' notice of the applicable On-
Exchange ORF rate. The Exchange believes a fee to recover [sic] costs
for regulatory programs associated with Member customer business is
reasonable; however, the Exchange would consider alternative approaches
for assessment and collection of the fee in order to achieve
consistency across the industry.
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\13\ The Exchange estimates it will take approximately three
months to implement the system changes associated with On-Exchange
ORF.
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To demonstrate the impact of the proposed change, the Exchange
estimates that, if the On-Exchange ORF went into effect today, the
current ORF of $0.0001 per contract side would increase to $0.00467 per
contract side using 2026 estimates for regulatory revenue, regulatory
costs and customer volume.\14\ As is the case today, revenue generated
from On-Exchange ORF, when combined with all of the Exchange's other
regulatory fees and fines, is designed to recover a material portion of
the regulatory costs to the Exchange of the supervision and regulation
of Member customer options business, including performing routine
surveillances, investigations, examinations, financial monitoring, and
policy, rulemaking, interpretive, and enforcement activities. As
discussed above, regulatory costs include direct regulatory expenses
\15\ and certain indirect expenses in support of the regulatory
function.\16\ Indirect expenses are estimated to be approximately 28%
of the Exchange's total regulatory costs for 2026. Thus, direct
expenses are estimated to be approximately 72% of total regulatory
costs for 2026.
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\14\ Depending on the operative date for the filing, the
Exchange will submit an additional filing to specify the ORF rate
based on the then-current estimates for regulatory revenues,
regulatory costs and Customer volume.
\15\ Direct expenses include in-house and third-party service
provider costs to support the day-to-day regulatory work such as
surveillances, investigations, and examinations.
\16\ Indirect expenses include support from areas such as human
resources, legal, compliance, information technology, facilities and
accounting.
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The Exchange will continue to monitor the amount of revenue
collected from On-Exchange ORF to ensure that it, in combination with
its other regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed the Exchange's
total regulatory costs. Further, BZX Options expects to continue its
current practice that revenue generated from On-Exchange ORF not exceed
more than [sic] 75% of total annual regulatory costs. And as is the
Exchange's practice today, revenue generated by On-Exchange ORF will
not be used for non-regulatory purposes.
The Exchange will continue to monitor its regulatory costs and
revenues at a minimum on a semi-annual basis. If the Exchange
determines regulatory revenues exceed or are insufficient to cover a
material portion of its regulatory costs in a given year, the Exchange
will adjust the On-Exchange ORF by submitting a fee change filing to
the Commission. The Exchange will notify Members of adjustments to the
On-Exchange ORF via an Exchange Notice in advance of any change.\17\
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\17\ See Exchange Notice, C2025112601 ``Cboe Options Exchange
Regulatory Fee Update Effective January 2, 2026.''
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2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with
the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to the
Exchange and, in particular, the requirements of Section 6(b) of the
Act.\18\ Specifically, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change
is consistent with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,\19\ which provides that
Exchange rules may 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 the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) \20\ requirement that the
rules of an exchange not be designed to permit unfair discrimination
between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.
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\18\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\19\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
\20\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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The Exchange believes the proposed change to assess and collect an
On-Exchange ORF is reasonable, equitable and not unfairly
discriminatory for various reasons. First, On-Exchange ORF is
reasonable, equitable and not unfairly discriminatory in that it is
charged to all Exchange transactions that clear in the Customer range
at the OCC. Similar to ORF today, the Exchange believes On-Exchange ORF
ensures fairness by assessing a specific fee to those Members that
require more Exchange regulatory services based on the amount of
customer options business they conduct. Over recent years, options
trading volume has increased with a growing percentage of the volume
applicable to customer transactions. Customers trading on the Exchange
(through a Member) benefit from the protections of a robust regulatory
program including the maintenance of fair and orderly markets and
protections against fraud and other manipulation. The Exchange believes
it is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory to assess a regulatory
fee to transactions that clear in the Customer range to cover
regulatory costs, but not to transactions clearing in the Firm or
Market Maker range because Clearing Members and Market Makers (who
clear in the Firm and Market Maker range), as those market participants
are generally subject to other Exchange fees, fines and obligations.
For example, Clearing Members and Market Makers are required to pay
Exchange application fees, permit fees, and connectivity fees, amongst
others. In addition, all fines issued by the Exchange for regulatory
infractions are assessed only to Members and would be applied to
regulatory revenues. As with today's ORF, the Exchange expects that
Members from whom On-Exchange ORF is collected will pass through the
fee to their customers (as the Exchange understands occurs today). In
addition, Market Makers in particular are subject to various quoting
and other obligations to ensure that they provide stable and
[[Page 59250]]
liquid markets, which benefit all market participants including
customers. Excluding Market Maker transactions from On-Exchange ORF
will allow Market Makers to better manage their costs more effectively
thus enabling them to better allocate resources toward technology, risk
management, and capacity to ensure continued liquidity provision.
In addition to the overall increase in Customer-range volume
generally, regulating customer trading activity is more labor intensive
and requires greater expenditure of human and technical resources than
regulating non-customer trading activity, which tends to be more
automated and less labor-intensive. For example, there are costs
associated with main office and branch office examinations (e.g., staff
and travel expenses), as well as investigations into customer
complaints and terminations of Registered Persons. As a result, the
costs associated with administering the customer component of the
Exchange's overall regulatory program are materially higher than the
costs associated with administering the non-customer component (e.g.,
Clearing Member proprietary transactions) of its regulatory
program.\21\ While the Exchange notes that it has broad regulatory
responsibilities with respect to its Members' activities, irrespective
of where their transactions take place, the Exchange believes it is
reasonable to assess the proposed fee to only those transactions
occurring on the Exchange. The proposed change more narrowly tailors
the fee to products and transactions with a direct connection to the
Exchange. Today, a customer transaction may be assessed an ORF from
every options exchange totaling as much as $0.0187 per transaction per
side.\22\ While the Exchange's proposed ORF rate under the proposed
model of $0.00467 is higher than its current ORF rate of $0.0001 under
the current model, if all exchanges adopted a similar on-exchange
model, ORF rates may decrease for individual transactions overall
because the proposed On-Exchange ORF will avoid overlapping ORFs that
would otherwise be assessed by BZX Options and other options exchanges
that also assess an ORF. With this proposal, transactions that would
clear in the Customer range occurring on other exchanges would no
longer be subject to an ORF assessed by BZX Options.
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\21\ If the Exchange changes its method of funding regulation or
if circumstances otherwise change in the future, the Exchange may
decide to modify On-Exchange ORF or assess a separate regulatory fee
on Member proprietary transactions if the Exchange deems it
advisable.
\22\ As of October 1, 2025.
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The Exchange believes it is equitable and not unduly discriminatory
to modify the method of collecting the fee such that On-Exchange ORF
will not consider CMTAs reported directly to OCC as is done in today's
method of ORF. CMTA transfers are considered today under the current
collection methodology for ORF as a convenience to industry members in
administering a pass through of the fee to their customers. Limiting
the On-Exchange ORF to transactions on the Exchange poses a limitation
in the use of CMTA for this purpose. The Exchange understands that a
CMTA may be added at order entry, via post-trade edit on the Exchange,
or post-trade at OCC. CMTA transfers that occur at OCC do not
necessarily contain reliable information regarding the Exchange on
which the original transaction occurred.\23\ Without specific
information as to where the original transaction occurred, the Exchange
would not be able to accurately account for CMTA transfers that occur
at OCC.
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\23\ Under the current methodology for assessing ORF, the
Exchange on which the transaction occurred is irrelevant.
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The Exchange also believes that the fact that a Consolidated Audit
Trail (``CAT'') fee is in place should not preclude the Exchange from
assessing On-Exchange ORF. The CAT is a repository of order, trade and
customer information that is used as the basis for an audit trail of
such activities. Like industry members, the exchanges, including BZX
Options, also pays a CAT fee to support the operation and maintenance
of CAT (in other words, it does not support regulatory work undertaken
by exchanges). BZX Options does not include fees it pays for CAT in the
regulatory expenses it looks to offset under ORF. Yes, the Exchange
uses CAT data as part of its regulatory work, but only from an audit
trail perspective. On-Exchange ORF, on the other hand, offsets the
regulatory work the Exchange performs (using CAT data among other
sources) such as surveillance, investigations, examinations, etc. The
Exchange believes its fair and reasonable to assess an On-Exchange ORF
in addition to fees associated with CAT.
The Exchange further believes that the proposed change to the
method for assessment and collection of the fee is reasonable because
it would help ensure that revenue collected from the On-Exchange ORF,
in combination with other regulatory fees and fines, would help offset,
but not exceed, the Exchange's total regulatory costs. As discussed,
On-Exchange ORF is similarly designed to the current ORF, in that
revenues generated from the fee would be less than or equal to 75% of
the Exchange's regulatory costs, which is consistent with the practice
across the options industry today and the view of the Commission that
regulatory fees be used for regulatory purposes and not to support the
Exchange's business side.
As noted above, the Exchange will also continue to monitor on at
least a semi-annual basis the amount of revenue collected from the On-
Exchange ORF, even as amended, to ensure that it, in combination with
its other regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed the Exchange's
total regulatory costs. If the Exchange determines regulatory revenues
would exceed its regulatory costs in a given year, the Exchange will
reduce the On-Exchange ORF by submitting a fee change filing to the
Commission.\24\
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\24\ Consistent with Rule 15.2 (Regulatory Revenues), the
Exchange notes that should excess ORF revenue be collected prior to
any reduction in an ORF rate, such excess revenue will not be used
for nonregulatory purposes.
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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 not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. This proposal does not create
an unnecessary or inappropriate intra-market burden on competition
because On-Exchange ORF applies to all customer activity on the
Exchange, thereby raising regulatory revenue to offset regulatory
expenses. It also supplements the regulatory revenue derived from non-
customer activity. The Exchange notes, however, the proposed change is
not designed to address any competitive issues. Indeed, this proposal
does not create an unnecessary or inappropriate inter-market burden on
competition because it is a regulatory fee that supports regulation in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange is obligated to
ensure that the amount of regulatory revenue collected from the On-
Exchange ORF, in combination with its other regulatory fees and fines,
does not exceed regulatory costs. In addition, the Exchange will not
implement the On-Exchange ORF until all other options exchanges are
prepared to adopt a similar model to avoid overlapping ORFs.
[[Page 59251]]
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 written 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 \25\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \26\
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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\25\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\26\ 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#dcaea9b0b9f1bfb3b1b1b9b2a8af9cafb9bff2bbb3aa"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="1b696e777e36787476767e756f685b687e78357c746d">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-CboeBZX-2025-157 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-2025-157. 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-2025-157 and should be submitted
on or before January 8, 2026.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\27\
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\27\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-23240 Filed 12-17-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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</html>Indexed from Federal Register on December 18, 2025.
This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.