Notice2026-06158
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Modify the NYSE Arca Options Fee Schedule To Waive the Combined Cap on Submitting Broker Credits Paid for QCC Trades and Floor Broker Rebates Paid Through the Manual Billable Rebate Program for the Month of March 2026
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 31, 2026
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 61 (Tuesday, March 31, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16052-16055]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-06158]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-105088; File No. SR-NYSEARCA-2026-32]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing
and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Modify the
NYSE Arca Options Fee Schedule To Waive the Combined Cap on Submitting
Broker Credits Paid for QCC Trades and Floor Broker Rebates Paid
Through the Manual Billable Rebate Program for the Month of March 2026
March 26, 2026.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (``Act''),\2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby given
that on March 17, 2026, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE Arca'' or the
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II
below, which Items have been prepared by the self-regulatory
organization. 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\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
\3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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[[Page 16053]]
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to modify the NYSE Arca Options Fee Schedule
(the ``Fee Schedule'') to waive the maximum combined Submitting Broker
credits paid for QCC trades and Floor Broker rebates paid through the
Manual Billable Rebate Program for the month of March 2026. 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 purpose of this filing is to amend the Fee Schedule to waive
the maximum combined Submitting Broker credits paid for QCC trades and
Floor Broker rebates paid through the Manual Billable Rebate Program
for the month of March 2026.
The Exchange imposes a limit on the maximum combined Submitting
Broker credits paid for QCC trades and Floor Broker rebates paid
through the Manual Billable Rebate Program per month per firm (the
``Cap'').\4\ Because of elevated volumes on the Exchange, the Exchange
proposes to waive the Cap for the month of March 2026 and to use the
period during which the Cap is waived to evaluate an adjustment to the
amount of the Cap. The proposed waiver is being adopted in anticipation
of firms reaching the Cap before month's end and potentially
redirecting their order flow away from the Exchange. In the absence of
the proposed waiver, firms may choose to redirect such order flow to a
competing market. Accordingly, the purpose of the proposal is to
encourage Submitting Brokers and Floor Brokers to continue to direct
order flow to the Exchange, despite increasing industry volumes making
it less difficult to reach the Cap.
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\4\ See Fee Schedule, Endnote 17 (providing that Submitting
Broker credits paid for QCC trades and Floor Broker rebates paid
through the Manual Billable Rebate Program shall not combine to
exceed $3,000,000 per month per firm).
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Although the Exchange cannot predict with certainty how many firms
would be impacted by this change, the Exchange believes that the
proposed change would incent firms to continue to direct their order
flow to the Exchange, thus increasing liquidity to the benefit of all
market participants.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with Section 6(b) of the Act,\5\ in general, and furthers the
objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) and (5) of the Act,\6\ in particular,
because it provides for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees, and other charges among its members, issuers and other persons
using its facilities and does not unfairly discriminate between
customers, issuers, brokers or dealers.
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\5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
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The proposed change is reasonable, equitable, and not unfairly
discriminatory. As a threshold matter, the Exchange is subject to
significant competitive forces in the market for options securities
transaction services that constrain its pricing determinations in that
market. 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.'' \7\
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\7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005) (S7-10-04) (``Reg NMS
Adopting Release'').
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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 has more than 16% of the market
share of executed volume of multiply-listed equity and ETF options
trades.\8\ Therefore, currently no exchange possesses significant
pricing power in the execution of multiply-listed equity and ETF
options order flow. More specifically, in January 2026, the Exchange
had 10.39% market share of executed volume of multiply-listed equity
and ETF options trades.\9\ In such a low-concentrated and highly
competitive market, no single options exchange possesses significant
pricing power in the execution of options order flow. Within this
environment, market participants can freely and often do shift their
order flow among the Exchange and competing venues in response to
changes in their respective pricing schedules.
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\8\ The OCC publishes options and futures volume in a variety of
formats, including daily and monthly volume by exchange, available
here: <a href="https://www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-Data-Reports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/Monthly-Weekly-Volume-Statistics">https://www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-Data-Reports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/Monthly-Weekly-Volume-Statistics</a>.
\9\ Based on a compilation of OCC data for monthly volume of
equity-based options and monthly volume of ETF-based options, see
id., the Exchange's market share in multiply-listed equity and ETF
options decreased from 13.08% in January 2025 to 10.39% for the
month of January 2026.
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The proposed waiver of the Cap is reasonable because it is designed
to encourage the role performed by Submitting Brokers in facilitating
QCC transactions and Floor Brokers in facilitating the execution of
orders via open outcry, functions that the Exchange wishes to support
for the benefit of all market participants, and would allow the
Exchange time to evaluate changes to the amount of the Cap. Absent the
proposed waiver, the Exchange believes that, as soon as firms reach the
Cap, they are likely to redirect order flow away from the Exchange,
which may adversely impact other market participants trading on the
Exchange. To the extent that the proposed waiver encourages Submitting
Brokers and Floor Brokers to facilitate transactions on the Exchange
instead of on a competing market, all market participants at the
Exchange would benefit from the increased liquidity. The Exchange
believes the proposed waiver should continue to incent Submitting
Brokers and Floor Brokers to encourage market participants to aggregate
their executions at the Exchange as a primary execution venue. To the
extent that the proposed change achieves its purpose in attracting more
volume to the Exchange, this increased order flow would continue to
make the Exchange a more competitive venue for order execution, thus
improving market quality for all market participants.
The Exchange believes the proposed waiver of the Cap is an
equitable allocation of its fees and credits and is not unfairly
discriminatory because the proposal is based on the amount and type of
business transacted on the Exchange. Submitting Brokers and Floor
Brokers are not obligated to execute QCC transactions or manual
transactions to earn credits and rebates
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applied toward the Cap. However, the proposed waiver is designed to
continue to encourage the roles performed by Submitting Brokers and
Floor Brokers in facilitating the execution of QCC transactions and
orders via open outcry, functions that the Exchange wishes to support
for the benefit of all market participants.
To the extent that the proposed waiver of the Cap continues to
attract manual transactions and QCCs to the Exchange, this increased
order flow would continue to make the Exchange a more competitive venue
for order execution. Thus, the Exchange believes the proposed waiver
would improve market quality for all market participants on the
Exchange and attract more order flow to the Exchange, thereby improving
market-wide quality and price discovery. The resulting increased volume
and liquidity would provide more trading opportunities and tighter
spreads to all market participants and thus would promote just and
equitable principles of trade, remove impediments to and perfect the
mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system and,
in general, protect investors and the public interest.
Finally, the Exchange believes that it is subject to significant
competitive forces, as described below in the Exchange's statement
regarding the burden on competition.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act, the Exchange does
not believe that the proposed rule change would impose any burden on
competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the
purposes of the Act. Instead, as discussed above the Exchange believes
that the proposed changes would encourage the submission of additional
liquidity to a public exchange, thereby promoting market depth, price
discovery and transparency and enhancing order execution opportunities
for all market participants. As a result, the Exchange believes that
the proposed change furthers the Commission's goal in adopting
Regulation NMS of fostering integrated competition among orders, which
promotes ``more efficient pricing of individual stocks for all types of
orders, large and small.'' \10\
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\10\ See Reg NMS Adopting Release, supra note 7, at 37499.
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Intramarket Competition. The proposed waiver of the Cap would apply
equally to all similarly situated Submitting Brokers and Floor Brokers.
To the extent that there is an additional competitive burden on non-
Submitting Brokers or non-Floor Brokers, the Exchange believes that any
such burden would be appropriate because Submitting Brokers and Floor
Brokers serve an important function in facilitating the execution of
QCC transactions and orders in open outcry, to the benefit of all
market participants.
Intermarket Competition. The Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market in which market participants can readily favor one
of the other 17 competing options exchanges if they deem the Exchange's
fee levels to be excessive. In such an environment, the Exchange must
continually adjust its fees to remain competitive with other exchanges
and to attract order flow to the Exchange. Based on publicly-available
information, and excluding index-based options, no single exchange has
more than 16% of the market share of executed volume of multiply-listed
equity and ETF options trades.\11\ Therefore, currently no exchange
possesses significant pricing power in the execution of multiply-listed
equity and ETF options order flow. More specifically, in January 2026,
the Exchange had 10.39% market share of executed volume of multiply-
listed equity and ETF options trades.\12\
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\11\ The OCC publishes options and futures volume in a variety
of formats, including daily and monthly volume by exchange,
available here: <a href="https://www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-Data-Reports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/Monthly-Weekly-Volume-Statistics">https://www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-Data-Reports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/Monthly-Weekly-Volume-Statistics</a>.
\12\ Based on a compilation of OCC data for monthly volume of
equity-based options and monthly volume of ETF-based options, see
id., the Exchange's market share in multiply-listed equity and ETF
options decreased from 13.08% in January 2025 to 10.39% for the
month of January 2026.
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The Exchange believes that the proposed waiver of the Cap reflects
this competitive environment because it is designed to continue to
incent Submitting Brokers and Floor Brokers to direct manual and QCC
transactions to the Exchange, to provide liquidity and to attract order
flow. To the extent that Submitting Brokers and Floor Brokers are
encouraged to utilize the Exchange as a primary trading venue for all
transactions, all Exchange market participants stand to benefit from
the improved market quality and increased opportunities for price
improvement. The Exchange notes that it operates in a highly
competitive market in which market participants can readily favor
competing venues. In such an environment, the Exchange must continually
review, and consider adjusting, its fees and credits to remain
competitive with other exchanges. For the reasons described above, the
Exchange believes that the proposed rule change reflects this
competitive environment.
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 is effective upon filing pursuant to
Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \13\ and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule
19b-4 \14\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other
charge imposed by the Exchange.
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\13\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\14\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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At any time within 60 days of the filing of such 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 under
Section 19(b)(2)(B) \15\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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\15\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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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#4133342d246c222e2c2c242f3532013224226f262e37"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="3042455c551d535f5d5d555e4443704355531e575f46">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-NYSEARCA-2026-32 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-2026-32. This
file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To
help the
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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-2026-32 and should be submitted on or
before April 21, 2026.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\16\
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\16\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-06158 Filed 3-30-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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