Notice2026-05946

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSEArca, 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
March 27, 2026

Issuing agencies

Securities and Exchange Commission

Full Text

<html>
<head>
<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 59 (Friday, March 27, 2026)</title>
</head>
<body><pre>
[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 59 (Friday, March 27, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14888-14892]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-05946]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-105070; File No. SR-NYSEARCA-2026-30]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSEArca, 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)

March 24, 2026.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (the ``Act''),\2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby 
given that on March 16, 2026, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE Arca'' or the 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 
``Commission'') a proposed rule change as described in Items I and II 
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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
    \3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to amend the NYSE Arca Options Fee Schedule 
(``Fee Schedule'') regarding the Options Regulatory Fee (``ORF''). The 
proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's website at 
<a href="http://www.nyse.com">www.nyse.com</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 self-regulatory organization 
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 those 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 parts of such statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and the 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to amend the Fee Schedule \4\ to amend its 
methodology of assessment and collection of the ORF to assess ORF only 
for options transactions that occur on the Exchange and that are 
cleared in the Customer range at The Options Clearing Corporation 
(``OCC''), in alignment with new ORF methodology proposed by other 
options exchanges.\5\ Consistent with that methodology, the Exchange 
intends to collect ORF under its current methodology until at least 
June 30, 2026. The Exchange is prepared to implement the new ORF 
methodology, as proposed in this filing, effective July 1, 2026, 
provided that all U.S. options exchanges charging an ORF have filed to 
modify their current methodologies of assessing ORF to limit the fee to 
transactions occurring on their respective exchange by April 1, 
2026.\6\ If all other options exchanges have not filed to adopt a 
similar methodology by such date, 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 (and will continue collecting ORF under its current 
methodology until such time that the new ORF methodology is 
implemented).\7\ In this

[[Page 14889]]

filing, the Exchange proposes only to amend the method by which it will 
assess and collect ORF as of July 1, 2026. The Exchange will file a 
separate rule filing with the ORF rate that would take effect on July 
1, 2026, in advance of assessing and collecting ORF under the new 
methodology. As is the case today, the Exchange will provide at least 
30 days' notice of the applicable rate by Trader Update.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ The Exchange previously filed to amend the Fee Schedule on 
March 2, 2026 (SR-NYSEARCA-2026-24) and withdrew such filing on 
March 16, 2026.
    \5\ See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 103558 (July 
28, 2025), 90 FR 36080 (July 31, 2025) (SR-ISE-2025-20) (Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To 
Amend the Methodology for Its Options Regulatory Fee (ORF) as of 
January 2, 2026); 104417 (December 17, 2025) (SR-CBOE-2025-086) 
(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)); 104707 (January 28, 2026), 90 FR 
4754 (February 2, 2026) (SR-MIAX-2026-01) (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)); 104745 (January 29, 2026), 90 FR 4985 (February 3, 2026) 
(SR-MEMX-2026-02) (Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a 
Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Exchange's Fee Schedule To Adopt a 
New Methodology for Assessment and Collection of the Options 
Regulatory Fee (ORF)).
    \6\ The Exchange notes that, as of the date of this filing, all 
U.S. options exchanges have filed proposed rule changes to adopt 
similar new ORF methodology.
    \7\ The Exchange may also delay implementation if certain 
currently unresolved operational issues remain so and impact the 
industry's ability to transition to the new methodology on July 1, 
2026, commensurate with any additional time required to resolve such 
issues (and will continue collecting ORF under its current 
methodology until such time that the new ORF methodology is 
implemented).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Background
    As a general matter, the Exchange may only use regulatory funds 
such as the ORF ``to fund the legal, regulatory, and surveillance 
operations'' of the Exchange.\8\ More specifically, the ORF is designed 
to recover a material portion, but not all, of the Exchange's costs for 
the supervision and regulation of OTP Holders' and OTP Firms' 
(collectively, ``OTP Holders'') Customer options business, including 
the Exchange's regulatory program and legal expenses associated with 
Customer options regulation, such as the costs related to in-house 
staff, third-party service providers, and technology that facilitate 
regulatory functions such as surveillance, investigation, examinations, 
and enforcement (collectively, the ``ORF Costs''). ORF Costs may also 
include indirect expenses such as human resources and other 
administrative costs related to the supervision and regulation of 
Customer activity. The Exchange monitors the amount of ORF collection 
to ensure that this amount, in combination with other regulatory fees 
and fines, does not exceed regulatory costs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ The Exchange considers surveillance operations part of 
regulatory operations. The limitation on the use of regulatory funds 
also provides that they shall not be distributed. See Bylaws of NYSE 
Arca, Inc., Art. II, Sec. 2.03.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Today, the ORF is assessed on OTP Holders for options transactions 
that are cleared by the OTP Holder through the OCC in the Customer 
range regardless of the exchange on which the transaction occurs and is 
collected from OTP Holder clearing firms by the OCC on behalf of NYSE 
Arca.\9\ All options transactions must clear via a clearing firm, and 
such clearing firms can then choose to pass through all, a portion, or 
none of the cost of the ORF to its Customers, i.e., the entering firms. 
The Exchange notes that the costs relating to monitoring OTP Holders 
with respect to Customer trading activity are generally higher than the 
costs associated with monitoring OTP Holders that do not engage in 
Customer trading activity, which tends to be more automated and less 
labor-intensive. By contrast, regulating OTP Holders that engage in 
Customer trading activity is generally more labor-intensive and 
requires a greater expenditure of human and technical resources as the 
Exchange needs to review not only the trading activity on behalf of 
Customers, but also the OTP Holder's relationship with its Customers 
via more labor-intensive exam-based programs.\10\ 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., 
OTP Holder proprietary transactions) of its regulatory program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ See Fee Schedule, NYSE Arca GENERAL OPTIONS and TRADING 
PERMIT (OTP) FEES, Regulatory Fees, Options Regulatory Fee 
(``ORF''), available here, <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>. The 
Exchange uses reports from OCC when assessing and collecting the 
ORF. The ORF is not assessed on outbound linkage trades. An OTP 
Holder is not assessed the fee until it has satisfied applicable 
technological requirements necessary to commence operations on NYSE 
Arca. See id.
    \10\ The Exchange notes that many of the Exchange's market 
surveillance programs require the Exchange to look at and evaluate 
activity across all options markets, such as surveillance for 
position limit violations, manipulation, front-running, and contrary 
exercise advice violations/expiring exercise declarations. The 
Exchange and other options SROs are parties to a 17d-2 agreement 
allocating among the SROs regulatory responsibilities relating to 
compliance by the common members with rules for expiring exercise 
declarations, position limits, OCC trade adjustments, and Large 
Option Position Report reviews. See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 85097 (February 11, 2019), 84 FR 4871 (February 19, 
2019).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Because the ORF is based on options transactions volume, the amount 
of ORF collected is variable. For example, if options transactions 
reported to OCC in a given month increase, the ORF collected from OTP 
Holders will likely increase as well. Similarly, if options 
transactions reported to OCC in a given month decrease, the ORF 
collected from OTP Holders will likely decrease as well. Accordingly, 
the Exchange monitors the amount of ORF collected to ensure that it 
does not exceed a material portion of ORF Costs. If the Exchange 
determines the amount of ORF collected exceeds or may exceed a material 
portion of ORF Costs, the Exchange will, as appropriate, adjust the ORF 
by submitting a fee change filing to the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (the ``Commission''). Exchange rules establish that market 
participants must be notified of any change in the ORF via Trader 
Update at least 30 calendar days prior to the effective date of the 
change.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ See Fee Schedule, note 9, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To illustrate how the ORF, which is currently set at $0.0026 per 
contract,\12\ is currently assessed and collected, the Exchange 
provides the following set of scenarios.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 104362 (December 
11, 2025), 90 FR 58336 (December 16, 2025) (SR-NYSEARCA-2025-82) 
(Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule 
Change To Lower the Options Regulatory Fee (ORF)). The Exchange also 
proposes in this filing to delete language in the Fee Schedule 
describing an ORF waiver period that has elapsed, as well as now-
extraneous language specifying that the current ORF rate took effect 
on January 1, 2026.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scenario 1
    Executing (or Give-Up) Firm is not an OTP Holder. The Executing 
Firm does not ``give-up'' or ``CMTA'' the transaction to another 
clearing firm.\13\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ A CMTA or Clearing Member Trade Assignment is an agreement 
by which an investor may enter derivative trades with a limited 
number of different brokers and later consolidate these trades with 
one brokerage house for clearing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    No ORF is assessed.
Scenario 2
    Executing Firm is an OTP Holder. The Executing Firm ``give-ups'' or 
``CMTAs'' the transaction to another clearing firm that is not an OTP 
Holder.
    No ORF is assessed.
Scenario 3
    The Executing (or Give-Up) Firm is an OTP Holder. The Executing 
Firm does not ``give-up'' or ``CMTA'' the transaction to another 
clearing firm.
    ORF is assessed on the self-clearing Executing Firm.
Scenario 4
    The Executing (or Give-Up) Firm is an OTP Holder. The Executing 
Firm ``give-ups'' or ``CMTAs'' the transaction to another clearing firm 
that is also an OTP Holder.
    ORF is assessed on the CMTA (clearing) firm.
Scenario 5
    The Executing (or Give-Up) Firm is not an OTP Holder. The Executing 
Firm ``give-ups'' or ``CMTAs'' the transaction to another clearing firm 
that is an OTP Holder.
    ORF is assessed on the CMTA (clearing) firm.
    As illustrated above, the Exchange does not assess the ORF on non-
OTP Holders that self-clear transactions, even if the executing firm is 
an OTP Holder; the Exchange likewise does not impose the ORF if both 
the executing firm and the firm that clears the transaction on its 
behalf are non-OTP Holders.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \14\ Although the Exchange believes that its broad regulatory 
responsibilities would support applying the ORF to transactions that 
are executed (even if not ultimately cleared) by an OTP Holder, the 
Exchange only imposes the ORF on transactions ultimately cleared by 
OTP Holders at this time. The Exchange's regulatory responsibilities 
are the same regardless of whether an OTP Holder enters a 
transaction or clears a transaction. The Exchange regularly reviews 
all such activities, including monitoring surveillance for position 
limit violations, manipulation, front-running, contrary exercise 
advice violations and insider trading. These activities span across 
multiple exchanges.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 14890]]

Proposed Rule Change
    The Exchange proposes to adopt a new methodology for assessing and 
collecting ORF that would align with the methodology proposed by other 
options exchanges, effective July 1, 2026.\15\ As noted above, this 
rule filing sets forth the proposed method by which it will assess and 
collect ORF as of July 1, 2026, and the Exchange will file a separate 
rule filing with the ORF rate that would take effect on July 1, 2026 at 
least 30 days prior to such date. The Exchange proposes to continue to 
assess ORF for options transactions cleared by OCC in the Customer 
range, but ORF would be assessed only for executions that occur on the 
Exchange. Specifically, the ORF would be collected by OCC on behalf of 
the Exchange from OTP Holders and non-OTP Holders for all Customer 
transactions executed on the Exchange. ORF would be assessed and 
collected on all ultimately cleared Customer contracts, taking into 
account adjustments for CMTA that were provided to the Exchange the 
same day as the trade.\16\ Further, the Exchange would bill ORF 
according to the clearing instructions provided on the execution. The 
Exchange proposes to assess ORF based on the clearing instruction 
provided on the execution on trade date and would not take into 
consideration CMTA changes or transfers that occur at OCC.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ See note 5, supra.
    \16\ Adjustments to CMTA that occur at OCC would not be taken 
into account. CMTA transfers that occur at OCC do not necessarily 
contain reliable information regarding the exchange on which the 
original transaction occurred, and without specific information as 
to where such transaction occurred, the Exchange would not be able 
to accurately account for CMTA transfers that occur at OCC. 
Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to only account for CMTAs that 
occur on the Exchange and exclude CMTAs occurring at OCC, consistent 
with other options exchanges' proposals.
    \17\ Adjustments that were made the same day as the trade on the 
Exchange will be taken into account.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To illustrate how the ORF would be assessed and collected under the 
proposed methodology, the Exchange provides the following set of 
scenarios.
Scenario 1
    An OTP Holder executes a Customer transaction on the Exchange and 
is the clearing member on record on the transaction on the Exchange.
    ORF will be assessed to the OTP Holder.
Scenario 2
    An OTP Holder executes a Customer transaction on the Exchange and a 
different OTP Holder is the clearing member on record on the 
transaction on the Exchange.
    ORF will be assessed to and collected from the OTP Holder that is 
the clearing member on record on the transaction and not the OTP Holder 
that executes the transaction.
Scenario 3
    An OTP Holder executes a Customer transaction on the Exchange, and 
a non-OTP Holder is the clearing member on record on the transaction on 
the Exchange.
    ORF will be assessed to the non-OTP Holder who is the clearing 
member on record on the transaction and not the OTP Holder who executes 
the transaction.
Scenario 4
    An OTP Holder executes a Customer transaction on another exchange 
(i.e., not NYSE Arca).
    No ORF is assessed, regardless of how the transaction is cleared.
    As is the case today, OCC will collect ORF from OCC clearing 
members on behalf of the Exchange based on the Exchange's instructions.
    Consistent with current practice, the Exchange will continue to 
monitor the amount of ORF collected to ensure that it, in combination 
with other regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed a material 
portion of ORF Costs. If the Exchange determines the amount of ORF 
collected exceeds or may exceed a material portion of ORF Costs, the 
Exchange will, as appropriate, adjust the ORF by submitting a fee 
change filing to the Commission and, as is the case today, provide OTP 
Holders with 30 days' advance notice. The Exchange will notify OTP 
Holders of this proposed change by Trader Update at least 30 calendar 
days prior to the effective date.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the provisions of Section 6(b) \18\ of the Act, in general, and 
Section 6(b)(4) and (5) \19\ 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 and does not unfairly discriminate between customers, 
issuers, brokers, or dealers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \19\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes the proposed new ORF methodology to be 
assessed effective July 1, 2026 is reasonable, equitable, and not 
unfairly discriminatory for various reasons. First, the Exchange 
believes that continuing to assess ORF only on Customer transactions is 
reasonable because Customer transactions account for a material portion 
of ORF Costs. A large portion of ORF Costs relate to Customer activity 
because obtaining Customer information may be more time-intensive. For 
example, non-Customer market participants are subject to various 
regulatory and reporting requirements which provides the Exchange 
certain data with respect to these market participants. In contrast, 
Customer information is known by OTP Holders of the Exchange, but is 
not readily available to the Exchange. Accordingly, the Exchange may 
have to take additional steps to understand the facts surrounding 
particular trades involving a Customer, which may require requesting 
such information from a broker-dealer. Further, Customers require more 
Exchange regulatory services based on the amount of options business 
they conduct. For example, there are costs associated with main office 
and branch office examinations (e.g., staff expenses), as well as 
investigations into Customer complaints and the terminations of 
registered persons. As a result, ORF Costs associated with 
administering the Customer component of the Exchange's overall 
regulatory program are materially higher than those associated with 
administering the non-Customer component when coupled with the amount 
of volume attributed to such Customer transactions.
    Under the Exchange's proposal, the amount of ORF Costs allocated to 
on-exchange Customer transactions is significant. Also, with respect to 
Customer transactions, options volume continues to surpass volume from 
other options participants. Additionally, the Exchange has rules that 
deal exclusively with Customer transactions, such as rules involving 
doing business with a Customer, which would not apply to Non-Customer 
transactions.\20\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ See, e.g., Section 7. Conduct of Accounts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Although the Exchange acknowledges that there is a cost to regulate 
Market Makers, unlike other market participants, Market Makers are 
subject to different Exchange fees (such as application fees, permit 
fees, and connectivity fees) and have various

[[Page 14891]]

regulatory requirements with respect to quoting. Specifically, Market 
Makers have certain quoting requirements with respect to their assigned 
options series as provided in Rule 6.37AP-O (Market Maker Quotations). 
In addition, unlike other market participants, Market Makers have 
obligations to compete with other Market Makers to improve the market 
in all series of options classes to which the Market Maker is appointed 
and to update market quotations in response to changed market 
conditions in all series of options classes to which the Market Maker 
is appointed.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \21\ See Rule 6.35-O (Appointment of Market Makers).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange similarly acknowledges that there is a cost to 
regulate Firm and Broker Dealer transactions, but notes that these 
market participants' transactions do not involve significant volume 
when compared to Customer transactions. The Exchange further notes that 
Firm and Broker Dealer market participants tend to be more 
sophisticated than Customers and do not require the same protections as 
Customer transactions do. Accordingly, the regulation of Firm and 
Broker Dealer transactions is less resource-intensive than the 
regulation of Customer transactions and accounts for a smaller 
percentage of ORF Costs.
    Finally, the Exchange believes that assessing ORF on Customer 
executions that occur on the Exchange is reasonable, equitable, and not 
unfairly discriminatory because it will avoid overlapping ORFs that 
would otherwise be assessed by the Exchange and other options exchanges 
that also assess an ORF. With this proposal, Customer executions that 
occur on other exchanges would no longer be subject to an ORF assessed 
by the Exchange.
    The Exchange believes that its proposal continues to ensure that 
ORF collection, in combination with other regulatory fees and fines, 
does not exceed ORF Costs. Fines collected by the Exchange in 
connection with a disciplinary matter will continue to offset ORF Cost. 
The Exchange will, under the new ORF methodology, continue to monitor 
and review ORF collection and, if the Exchange determines the amount of 
ORF collected exceeds or may exceed a material portion of ORF Costs, 
the Exchange will, as appropriate, adjust the ORF (via a rule change 
filed with the Commission).

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 believes that the proposed change to adopt a new 
methodology for the assessment and collection of ORF does not impose an 
undue burden on intermarket competition because ORF is a regulatory fee 
that supports regulation in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The 
Exchange notes, however, the proposed change is not designed to address 
any competitive issues. The Exchange is obligated to ensure that the 
amount of ORF collected, in combination with its other regulatory fees 
and fines, does not exceed ORF Costs. Continuing to assess ORF only on 
Customer executions that occur on the Exchange does not impose an undue 
burden on intramarket competition. Customer transactions account for a 
large portion of the Exchange's ORF Costs. With respect to Customer 
transactions, options volume continues to surpass volume from other 
options participants. Additionally, the Exchange has rules that deal 
exclusively with Customer transactions, such as rules involving doing 
business with a Customer, which would not apply to non-Customer 
transactions.\22\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \22\ See, e.g., Section 7. Conduct of Accounts.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    For these reasons, regulating Customer trading activity is more 
labor-intensive and therefore, more costly. Further, the Exchange 
believes that a large portion of the ORF Costs relate to Customer 
allocation because obtaining Customer information may be more time-
intensive. For example, non-Customer market participants are subject to 
various regulatory and reporting requirements which provides the 
Exchange certain data with respect to these market participants. In 
contrast, Customer information is known by OTP Holders and is not 
readily available to the Exchange.\23\ The Exchange may have to take 
additional steps to understand the facts surrounding particular trades 
involving a Customer which may require requesting such information from 
a broker-dealer. Further, Customers require more Exchange regulatory 
services based on the amount of options business they conduct. For 
example, there are ORF Costs associated with main office and branch 
office examinations (e.g., staff expenses), as well as investigations 
into Customer complaints and the terminations of registered persons. As 
a result, the ORF Costs associated with administering the Customer 
component of the Exchange's overall regulatory program are materially 
higher than the ORF Costs associated with administering the non-
Customer component when coupled with the amount of volume attributed to 
such Customer transactions. Not attributing significant ORF Costs to 
Customers for activity that may occur across options markets does not 
impose an undue burden on intra-market competition because the 
Exchange's Customer regulation occurs to a large extent on Exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ Know Your Customer or ``KYC'' provision is the obligation 
of the broker-dealer.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that not assessing ORF on Market Makers does 
not impose an undue burden on intramarket competition because these 
liquidity providers are critical market participants required to 
provide liquidity to the Exchange and necessary for opening the market. 
Excluding Market Maker transactions from ORF does not impose an 
intramarket burden on competition, and instead allows these market 
participants to manage their costs and consequently their business 
model more effectively, thereby enabling them to better allocate 
resources to, for example, technologies that allow them to manage risk 
and capacity to ensure their continued ability to compete effectively 
on the Exchange to provide displayed liquidity. Unlike other market 
participants, Market Makers have various regulatory requirements with 
respect to quoting. Specifically, Market Makers have certain quoting 
requirements with respect to their assigned options series as provided 
in Rule 6.37AP-O (Market Maker Quotations). Further, unlike other 
market participants, Market Makers have obligations to compete with 
other Market Makers to improve the market in all series of options 
classes to which the Market Maker is appointed and to update market 
quotations in response to changed market conditions in all series of 
options classes to which the Market Maker is appointed.\24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \24\ See Rule 6.35-O (Appointment of Market Makers).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that not assessing ORF on Firm and Broker 
Dealer market participants does not impose an undue burden on 
intramarket competition because the regulation of Firm and Broker 
Dealer transactions is less resource-intensive than the regulation of 
Customer transactions. The volume generated from Firm and Broker Dealer 
transactions is not significant when compared to Customer transactions. 
Therefore, excluding Firm and Broker Dealer transactions from ORF does 
not impose an undue burden on intramarket competition, as

[[Page 14892]]

Customer transactions account for a material portion of the Exchange's 
ORF Costs.\25\ The Exchange's proposal to assess ORF only on Customer 
executions that occur on the Exchange does not impose an intramarket 
burden on competition because the amount of activity surveilled across 
exchanges is small when compared to the overall number of Exchange 
rules that are surveilled by the Exchange for on-Exchange activity. 
Limiting the amount of ORF assessed to activity that occurs on the 
Exchange avoids overlapping ORFs that would otherwise be assessed by 
the Exchange and other options exchanges that also assess an ORF.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ The Exchange notes that the regulatory costs relating to 
monitoring OTP Holders with respect to Customer trading activity are 
generally higher than the regulatory costs associated with OTP 
Holders that do not engage in Customer trading activity, which tends 
to be more automated and less labor-intensive. By contrast, 
regulating OTP Holders that engage in Customer trading activity is 
generally more labor-intensive and requires a greater expenditure of 
human and technical resources because the Exchange needs to review 
not only the trading activity on behalf of Customers, but also the 
OTP Holders' relationship with its Customers via more labor-
intensive exam-based programs. 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 of the regulatory 
program.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Further, the proposed ORF does not impose an intra-market burden on 
competition as this collection accounts for the collection only on 
Customer executions. The Exchange will monitor and review ORF 
collection and amend the ORF if it finds that ORF collection exceeds 
its projections.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \26\ The Exchange would submit a rule change to the Commission 
to amend ORF rates.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to 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 \27\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \28\ 
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 change should be approved or 
disapproved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \27\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \28\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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#1765627b723a74787a7a727963645764727439707861"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="750700191058161a1818101b0106350610165b121a03">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. Please include 
file number SR-NYSEARCA-2026-30 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-NYSEARCA-2026-30. 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-NYSEARCA-2026-30 and should be submitted 
on or before April 17, 2026.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\29\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \29\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-05946 Filed 3-26-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


</pre><script data-cfasync="false" src="/cdn-cgi/scripts/5c5dd728/cloudflare-static/email-decode.min.js"></script></body>
</html>
Indexed from Federal Register on March 27, 2026.

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.