Notice2026-03126
Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX Emerald, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend the MIAX Emerald Options Exchange Fee Schedule
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Published
February 18, 2026
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 32 (Wednesday, February 18, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 18, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7564-7567]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-03126]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-104829; File No. SR-EMERALD-2026-04]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX Emerald, LLC; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend
the MIAX Emerald Options Exchange Fee Schedule
February 12, 2026.
Pursuant to the provisions of 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 January 30, 2026, MIAX Emerald, LLC
(``MIAX Emerald'' 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 proposes to amend the MIAX Emerald Options Exchange
Fee Schedule (the ``Fee Schedule'') to amend the alternative Simple
Maker (as defined below) rebate for options transactions in Penny
classes in Tier 4 for executed Priority Customer \3\ orders when the
contra-side is an Affiliated \4\ Market Maker \5\ and certain volume
thresholds are met.
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\3\ ``Priority Customer'' means a person or entity that (i) is
not a broker or dealer in securities, and (ii) does not place more
than 390 orders in listed options per day on average during a
calendar month for its own beneficial account(s). The number of
orders shall be counted in accordance with Interpretation and Policy
.01 of Exchange Rule 100. See the Definitions section of the Fee
Schedule and Exchange Rule 100, including Interpretation and Policy
.01.
\4\ ``Affiliate'' means (i) an affiliate of a Member of at least
75% common ownership between the firms as reflected on each firm's
Form BD, Schedule A, or (ii) the Appointed Market Maker of an
Appointed EEM (or, conversely, the Appointed EEM of an Appointed
Market Maker). An ``Appointed Market Maker'' is a MIAX Emerald
Market Maker (who does not otherwise have a corporate affiliation
based upon common ownership with an EEM) that has been appointed by
an EEM and an ``Appointed EEM'' is an EEM (who does not otherwise
have a corporate affiliation based upon common ownership with a MIAX
Emerald Market Maker) that has been appointed by a MIAX Emerald
Market Maker, pursuant to the following process. A MIAX Emerald
Market Maker appoints an EEM and an EEM appoints a MIAX Emerald
Market Maker, for the purposes of the Fee Schedule, by each
completing and sending an executed Volume Aggregation Request Form
by email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a4c9c1c9c6c1d6d7cccdd4e4c9cdc5dcc3c8cbc6c5c88ac7cbc9"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ef828a828d8a9d9c87869faf82868e978883808d8e83c18c8082">[email protected]</span></a> no later than 2 business days
prior to the first business day of the month in which the
designation is to become effective. Transmittal of a validly
completed and executed form to the Exchange along with the
Exchange's acknowledgement of the effective designation to each of
the Market Maker and EEM will be viewed as acceptance of the
appointment. The Exchange will only recognize one designation per
Member. A Member may make a designation not more than once every 12
months (from the date of its most recent designation), which
designation shall remain in effect unless or until the Exchange
receives written notice submitted 2 business days prior to the first
business day of the month from either Member indicating that the
appointment has been terminated. Designations will become operative
on the first business day of the effective month and may not be
terminated prior to the end of the month. Execution data and reports
will be provided to both parties. See the Definitions Section of the
Fee Schedule.
\5\ ``Market Maker'' refers to ``Lead Market Maker'' (``LMM''),
``Primary Lead Market Maker'' (``PLMM'') and ``Registered Market
Maker'' (``RMM''), collectively. See the Definitions Section of the
Fee Schedule and Exchange Rule 100.
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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/miax-options/rule-filings">https://www.miaxglobal.com/markets/us-options/miax-options/rule-filings</a>, and at the Exchange's principal office.
[[Page 7565]]
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 currently provides transaction rebates and assesses
transaction fees to all market participants based upon a threshold tier
structure (``Tier'') that is applicable to all transactions. Tiers are
determined on a monthly basis and are based on three alternative volume
calculation methods, as described in Section 1)a)ii) of the Fee
Schedule.\6\ Each method is calculated based on the total monthly sides
executed by the Member \7\ in all options classes on MIAX Emerald in
the relevant origin(s) and/or applicable liquidity (i.e., Priority
Customer Maker), not including Excluded Contracts,\8\ (as the
numerator) expressed as a percentage of (divided by) Customer Total
Consolidated Volume (``CTCV'') \9\ (as the denominator). The per
contract transaction rebates and fees shall be applied retroactively to
all eligible volume once the Tier has been reached by the Member. The
Exchange aggregates the volume of Members and their Affiliates in the
Tiers. Members that place resting liquidity, i.e., orders on the MIAX
Emerald System, will be assessed the specified ``maker'' rebate or fee
(each a ``Maker'') and Members that execute against resting liquidity
will be assessed the specified ``taker'' fee or rebate (each a
``Taker''). Members are also assessed lower transaction fees and
provided lower rebates for order executions in standard option classes
in the Penny Interval Program \10\ (``Penny classes'') than for order
executions in standard option classes which are not in the Penny
Interval Program (``non-Penny classes''), for which Members will be
assessed higher transaction fees and receive higher rebates.
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\6\ The three alternative volume calculation methods are as
follows. Method 1 is calculated by total Member sides volume as a
percentage of CTCV. Method 2 is calculated by total MIAX Emerald
Market Maker sides volume as a percentage of CTCV. Method 3 is
calculated by total Priority Customer, Maker sides volume as a
percentage of CTCV. See Fee Schedule, Section 1)a)ii) (also
providing the volume threshold percentages for Tiers 1-4 for each
volume calculation method). The Tier applied for a Member and its
Affiliates' Priority Customer origin will solely be determined by
Method 3. The Tier applied for a Member and its Affiliates' Market
Maker and other professional origins (non-MIAX Emerald Market Maker,
Firm Proprietary/Broker-Dealer, and Non-Priority Customer) will be
the highest Tier achieved among the three alternative calculation
methods. Id.
\7\ ``Member'' means an individual or organization approved to
exercise the trading rights associated with a Trading Permit.
Members are deemed ``members'' under the Exchange Act. See the
Definitions section of the Fee Schedule and Exchange Rule 100.
\8\ ``Excluded Contracts'' means any contracts routed to an away
market for execution. See the Definitions Section of the Fee
Schedule.
\9\ ``CTCV'' means Customer Total Consolidated Volume calculated
as the total national volume cleared at The Options Clearing
Corporation in the Customer range in those classes listed on MIAX
Emerald for the month for which fees apply, excluding volume cleared
at the Options Clearing Corporation in the Customer range executed
during the period of time in which the Exchange experiences an
Exchange System Disruption (solely in the option classes of the
affected Matching Engine). The term ``Exchange System Disruption''
means an outage of a Matching Engine or collective Matching Engines
for a period of two consecutive hour or more, during trading hours.
See the Definitions Section of the Fee Schedule.
\10\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88993 (June 2,
2020), 85 FR 35145 (June 8, 2020) (SR-EMERALD-2020-05) (Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To
Amend Exchange Rule 510, Minimum Price Variations and Minimum
Trading Increments, To Conform the Rule to Section 3.1 of the Plan
for the Purpose of Developing and Implementing Procedures Designed
To Facilitate the Listing and Trading of Standardized Options).
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Effective for December 1, 2025, the Exchange filed its proposal
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') to amend
the Fee Schedule to establish alternative Simple Maker rebates of
($0.49) and ($0.95) for options transactions in Penny classes and non-
Penny classes, respectively, in Tier 4 for executed Priority Customer
orders when the contra-side is an Affiliated Market Maker and the
Member has achieved above 0.90% of total Market Maker sides volume and
above 0.60% of total Priority Customer, Maker sides volume, both
thresholds as a percentage of CTCV.\11\
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\11\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 104445 (December
18, 2025), 90 FR 60193 (December 23, 2025) (SR-EMERALD-2025-22); see
also Fee Schedule, Section 1)a)i), notes:[ballot]'' and ``[squf]''.
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Proposal
The Exchange proposes to reduce the alternative Simple Maker rebate
for options transactions in Penny classes in Tier 4 for executed
Priority Customer orders when the contra-side is an Affiliated Market
Maker and the above-described volume thresholds are met. In particular,
the Exchange proposes to reduce the alternative Simple Maker rebate
from ($0.49) to ($0.43) for options transactions in Penny classes in
Tier 4 for executed Priority Customer orders when the contra-side is an
Affiliated Market Maker and the Member has achieved above 0.90% of
total Market Maker sides volume and above 0.60% of total Priority
Customer, Maker sides volume, both thresholds as a percentage of CTCV.
This change will be reflected in footnote [ballot] following the tables
in Section 1)a)i) of the Fee Schedule.
The purpose of the proposed change is for business and competitive
reasons. The Exchange believes that, even with the proposed reduction,
the alternative rebate will continue to attract additional Priority
Customer volume. The Exchange believes that this may, in turn, continue
to encourage Members to submit more Priority Customer orders, leading
to increased liquidity on the Exchange to the benefit of all market
participants by providing more trading opportunities and tighter
spreads. The Exchange believes that, even with the proposed reduction,
the alternative rebate may continue to provide an incentive for Market
Makers to interact with more Priority Customer liquidity in Penny and
non-Penny classes, thereby promoting price discovery and contributing
to a deeper and more liquid market, which benefits all market
participants and enhances the attractiveness of the Exchange as a
trading venue. The Exchange also notes that other equity options
exchanges provide for different pricing dependent upon whether the
executing buyer and seller are the same market participant, have some
form of common ownership, and/or based upon certain volume thresholds
in different segments.\12\
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\12\ See NYSE Arca, Inc. Options Fees and Charges, page 11,
available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/arca-options/NYSE_Arca_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/arca-options/NYSE_Arca_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf</a> (providing a reduced
taker fee of $0.03 or $0.02 for Professional Customers and non-
Customers removing liquidity that execute at least 0.80% of TCADV
from Customer posted interest in all issues, plus executed ADV of
0.30% ADV of U.S. equity market share posted and executed on the
equity market of NYSE Arca; however, the $0.03 discount only applies
when the executing buyer and seller are the same OTP Holder or OTP
Firm or an Affiliate or Appointed OFP or Appointed MM of that OTP
Holder or OTP Firm); see also Nasdaq ISE, Options 7: Pricing
Schedule, Section 4, Maker and Taker Fees section, footnote 3,
available at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/ise/rules/ISE%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/ise/rules/ISE%20Options%207</a> (providing reduced Taker fee in select symbols for
all origins other than Priority Customer when executed against
Priority Customer Complex Orders in Select Symbols entered by an
Affiliated Member or Affiliated Entity, excluding Complex Orders
executed in the Nasdaq ISE Facilitation Mechanism, Solicited Order
Mechanism, and Price Improvement Mechanism).
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[[Page 7566]]
Implementation
The proposed change is effective beginning February 1, 2026.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that its proposal to amend the Fee Schedule
is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act \13\ in general, and
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,\14\ in that it
is an equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges
among Exchange Members and issuers and other persons using its
facilities, and 6(b)(5) of the Act,\15\ in that it is 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 facilitating transactions in
securities, to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanisms of a
free and open market and a national market system and, in general, to
protect investors and the public interest.
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\13\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
\15\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(1) and (b)(5).
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The Commission has repeatedly expressed its preference for
competition over regulatory intervention in determining prices,
products, and services in the securities markets. 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.'' \16\
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\16\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496 (June 29, 2005).
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There are currently 18 registered options exchanges competing for
order flow. Based on publicly-available information, and excluding
index-based options, no single exchange had more than approximately
14.88% of the multiply-listed equity options market share for the month
of December 2025.\17\ Therefore, no exchange possesses significant
pricing power. More specifically, the Exchange had a market share of
approximately 3.35% of executed volume of multiply-listed equity
options for the month of December 2025.\18\ The Exchange believes that
the ever-shifting market share among the exchanges from month to month
demonstrates that market participants can discontinue or reduce use of
certain categories of products and services, terminate an existing
membership or determine to not become a new member, and/or shift order
flow, in response to transaction fee changes.
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\17\ See the ``Market Share'' section of the Exchange's website,
available at <a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/">https://www.miaxglobal.com/</a>.
\18\ See id.
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The Exchange believes its proposal to reduce the alternative Simple
Maker rebate for options transactions in Penny classes in Tier 4 for
executed Priority Customer orders when the contra-side is an Affiliated
Market Maker and certain volume thresholds are met is reasonable,
equitable and not unfairly discriminatory. The Exchange believes the
change is reasonable because, even with the proposed reduction, the
alternative rebate may continue to attract additional Priority Customer
volume to the Exchange, which may, in turn, encourage Members to submit
more Priority Customer orders, leading to increased liquidity on the
Exchange to the benefit of all market participants by providing more
trading opportunities and tighter spreads. The Exchange further
believes the proposed change is reasonable because should continue to
provide an incentive for Market Makers to interact with more Priority
Customer liquidity in Penny classes, thereby promoting price discovery
and contributing to a deeper and more liquid market. A more liquid
market benefits all market participants and enhances the attractiveness
of the Exchange as a trading venue. The Exchange also notes that other
equity options exchanges provide for different pricing dependent upon
whether the executing buyer and seller are the same market participant,
have some form of common ownership, and/or based upon certain volume
thresholds in different segments. Accordingly, the Exchange believes
the proposal is reasonable as other exchanges offer similar pricing
structures.\19\
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\19\ See supa note 12.
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The Exchange believes the proposal is equitable and not unfairly
discriminatory because all similarly situated market participants in
the same origin type are subject to the same tiered Maker rebates and
Taker fees and access to the Exchange is offered on terms that are not
unfairly discriminatory. The Exchange believes it is equitably
allocated and not unfairly discriminatory to reduce the alternative
rebate for Priority Customer orders when the contra-side is an
Affiliated Market Maker and certain volume thresholds are met because,
even with the proposed reduction, Market Makers should continue to be
incentivized to increase their participation in Penny classes of
options, which benefits the entire market by leading to increased order
flow sent to the Exchange. In turn, this should lead to increased
Member participation and order flow, tighter markets and order
interaction.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule changes will
impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
Intra-Market Competition
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed change will impose
any burden on intra-market competition. The Exchange believes that,
even with the proposed reduction, the alternative rebate will continue
to promote competition because it will continue to incentivize Priority
Customer orders being sent to the Exchange. The Exchange believes that
this may, in turn, encourage Members to submit more Priority Customer
orders, leading to increased liquidity on the Exchange to the benefit
of all market participants by providing more trading opportunities and
tighter spreads.
Inter-Market Competition
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed change will impose
any burden on inter-market competition and the Exchange notes that it
operates in a highly competitive market in which market participants
can readily favor competing venues if they deem fee levels at a
particular venue to be excessive, or rebate opportunities available at
other venues to be more favorable. There are currently 18 registered
options exchanges competing for order flow. Based on publicly-available
information, and excluding index-based options, no single exchange had
more than approximately 14.88% of the multiply-listed equity options
market share for the month of December 2025.\20\ Therefore, no exchange
possesses significant pricing power. More specifically, the Exchange
had a market share of approximately 3.35% of executed volume of
multiply-listed equity options for the month of December 2025.\21\
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\20\ See supra note 17.
\21\ See id.
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In such an environment, the Exchange must continually adjust its
rebates and tiers to remain competitive with other options exchanges.
Because competitors are free to modify their own fees and tiers in
response, and because market participants may readily adjust their
[[Page 7567]]
order routing practices, the Exchange believes that the degree to which
fee changes in this market may impose any burden on competition is
extremely limited. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule changes
reflect this competitive environment because they modify the Exchange's
rebates in a manner that encourages market participants to continue to
provide liquidity and to send order flow to the Exchange.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
No written comments were either solicited or 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,\22\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \23\ 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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\22\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
\23\ 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#becccbd2db93ddd1d3d3dbd0cacdfecddbdd90d9d1c8"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="a1d3d4cdc48cc2ceccccc4cfd5d2e1d2c4c28fc6ced7">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-EMERALD-2026-04 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-EMERALD-2026-04. 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-EMERALD-2026-04 and should be submitted
on or before March 11, 2026.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\24\
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\24\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-03126 Filed 2-17-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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