Notice2026-07042

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 To Amend Non-Transaction Fees

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
April 13, 2026

Issuing agencies

Securities and Exchange Commission

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 70 (Monday, April 13, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 70 (Monday, April 13, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18884-18899]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07042]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-105180; File No. SR-EMERALD-2026-08]


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 To Amend Non-Transaction 
Fees

April 8, 2026.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Exchange Act'' or ``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice 
is hereby given that on March 25, 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 update various non-transaction 
fees that have not been changed in a number of years to be comparable 
to fees charged by other like exchanges for similar products.
    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.

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 first launched operations in March 2019 to attract 
order flow and encourage market participants to experience the high 
determinism and resiliency of the Exchange's trading Systems.\3\ To do 
so, the Exchange took a pragmatic and thoughtful approach to each fee 
proposal to encourage and increase participation in its marketplace 
while being mindful of fee levels charged by other exchanges for 
similar products and services. The Exchange now proposes to amend 
various fees for non-transaction related services to be in line with 
those of other exchanges and enable it to continue to effectively 
compete with other exchanges who charge higher non-transaction fees and 
generate greater revenue. This proposal simply seeks to increase 
certain fees to reflect current market rates. The Exchange notes that 
significant portion of the fees for non-transaction related services 
that are the subject of this filing have not been increased since 
October 2020.
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    \3\ The term ``System'' means the automated trading system used 
by the Exchange for the trading of securities. See Exchange Rule 
100.
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    Specifically, the Exchange proposes to amend the Fee Schedule to 
amend the following non-transaction fees: (1) monthly Trading Permit 
\4\ fees applicable to Electronic Exchange Members (``EEMs'') \5\ and 
Market Makers; \6\ (2) connectivity fees to the

[[Page 18885]]

primary/secondary facility and disaster recovery facility for Members 
\7\ and non-Members; and (3) FIX,\8\ MEI,\9\ Purge,\10\ CTD \11\ and 
FXD \12\ Port fees.\13\
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    \4\ The term ``Trading Permit'' means a permit issued by the 
Exchange that confers the ability to transact on the Exchange. See 
Exchange Rule 100.
    \5\ The term ``Electronic Exchange Member'' or ``EEM'' means the 
holder of a Trading Permit who is not a Market Maker. Electronic 
Exchange Members are deemed ``members'' under the Exchange Act. See 
Exchange Rule 100.
    \6\ The term ``Market Makers'' refers to ``Lead Market Makers'', 
``Primary Lead Market Makers'' and ``Registered Market Makers'' 
collectively. See Exchange Rule 100.
    \7\ The term ``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 
Exchange Rule 100.
    \8\ ``FIX Port'' means an interface with MIAX Emerald systems 
that enables the Port user to submit simple and complex orders 
electronically to MIAX Emerald. See the Definitions section of the 
Fee Schedule.
    \9\ MIAX Emerald Express Interface (``MEI'') is a connection to 
the MIAX Emerald System that enables Market Makers to submit simple 
and complex electronic quotes to MIAX Emerald. ``Full Service MEI 
Ports'' means a port which provides Market Makers with the ability 
to send Market Maker simple and complex quotes, eQuotes, and quote 
purge messages to the MIAX Emerald System. Full Service MEI Ports 
are also capable of receiving administrative information. Market 
Makers are limited to two Full Service MEI Ports per Matching 
Engine. ``Limited Service MEI Ports'' means a port which provides 
Market Makers with the ability to send simple and complex eQuotes 
and quote purge messages only, but not Market Maker Quotes, to the 
MIAX Emerald System. Limited Service MEI Ports are also capable of 
receiving administrative information. Market Makers initially 
receive four Limited Service MEI Ports per Matching Engine. See the 
Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \10\ ``Purge Ports'' provide Market Makers with the ability to 
send quote purge messages to the MIAX Emerald System. Purge Ports 
are not capable of sending or receiving any other type of messages 
or information. See the Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \11\ ``CTD Port'' or ``Clearing Trade Drop Port'' provides an 
Exchange Member with a real-time clearing trade updates. The updates 
include the Member's clearing trade messages on a low latency, real-
time basis. The trade messages are routed to a Member's connection 
containing certain information. The information includes, among 
other things, the following: (i) trade date and time; (ii) symbol 
information; (iii) trade price/size information; (iv) Member type 
(for example, and without limitation, Market Maker, Electronic 
Exchange Member, Broker-Dealer); and (v) Exchange MPID for each side 
of the transaction, including Clearing Member MPID. See the 
Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \12\ The FIX Drop Copy (``FXD'') Port is a messaging interface 
that will provide a copy of real-time trade execution, trade 
correction and trade cancellation information to FXD Port users who 
subscribe to the service. FXD Port users are those users who are 
designated by an EEM to receive the information and the information 
is restricted for use by the EEM. FXD Port Fees will be assessed in 
any month the Member is credentialed to use the FXD Port in the 
production environment. See Fee Schedule, Section 5)d)iv).
    \13\ The Exchange initially filed this proposal on December 31, 
2025. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 104590 (January 13, 
2026), 91 FR 2250 (January 16, 2026) (SR-EMERALD-2025-23). On 
January 30, 2026, the Exchange withdrew SR-EMERALD-2025-23 and 
refiled this proposal. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 
104838 (February 12, 2026), 91 FR 7605 (February 18, 2026) (SR-
EMERALD-2026-05). On March 25, 2026, the Exchange withdrew SR-
EMERALD-2026-05 and refiled this proposal.
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Monthly Trading Permit Fees
    The Exchange proposes to amend the Fee Schedule to amend the amount 
of the monthly Trading Permit fees assessed to EEMs and Market Makers.
EEMs
    The Exchange notes that Trading Permit fees for EEMs have not been 
amended since October 2020.\14\ The Exchange assesses a flat monthly 
fee of $1,500 per Trading Permit to each EEM. The Exchange now proposes 
to increase the monthly Trading Permit fee assessed to EEMs from $1,500 
to $2,000.
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    \14\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 90196 (October 15, 
2020), 85 FR 67064 (October 21, 2020) (SR-EMERALD-2020-11) and 91033 
(February 1, 2021), 86 FR 8455 (February 5, 2021) (SR-EMERALD-2021-
03).
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Market Makers
    The monthly Trading Permit fees for Market Makers have not been 
amended since October 2020.\15\ Currently, the Exchange assesses 
monthly Trading Permit fees to Market Makers based on the lesser of 
either the per class basis or percentage of total national average 
daily volume (``ADV'') measurements. The amount of the monthly Trading 
Permit fee is based upon the number of classes in which the Market 
Maker was assigned to quote on any given day within the calendar month, 
or upon class volume percentages. The Exchange will assess Market 
Makers the monthly Trading Permit fee based on the greatest number of 
classes listed on MIAX Emerald that the Market Maker was assigned to 
quote in on any given day within a calendar month.\16\ The class volume 
percentage is based on the total national ADV in classes listed on MIAX 
Emerald in the prior calendar quarter. Newly listed option classes are 
excluded from the calculation of the monthly Trading Permit fee until 
the calendar quarter following their listing, at which time the newly 
listed option classes will be included in both the per class count and 
the percentage of total national average daily volume.
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    \15\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 90196 (October 15, 
2020), 85 FR 67064 (October 21, 2020) (SR-EMERALD-2020-11) and 91033 
(February 1, 2021), 86 FR 8455 (February 5, 2021) (SR-EMERALD-2021-
03).
    \16\ Pursuant to Exchange Rule 602(a), the Board or a committee 
designated by the Board shall appoint Market Makers to one or more 
classes of option contracts traded on the Exchange based on several 
factors described in the Rule in the best interest of the Exchange 
to provide competitive markets.
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    Currently, the Exchange assess the following Trading Permit fees to 
Market Makers:
    <bullet> $7,000 for Market Maker registrations in up to 10 option 
classes or up to 20% of option classes by national ADV;
    <bullet> $12,000 for Market Maker registrations in up to 40 option 
classes or up to 35% of option classes by ADV;
    <bullet> $17,000 for Market Maker registrations in up to 100 option 
classes or up to 50% of option classes by ADV; and
    <bullet> $22,000 for Market Maker registrations in over 100 option 
classes or over 50% of option classes by ADV up to all option classes 
listed on MIAX Emerald.
    The Exchange also assesses an alternative lower Trading Permit fee 
to Market Makers who fall within the 3rd and 4th levels of the Market 
Maker Trading Permit fee table, which levels are described immediately 
above if certain volume thresholds are met. This alternative lower 
Trading Permit fee for Market Makers is set forth in footnote 
``[mshbox]'' that is included in the Market Maker Trading Permit fee 
table and provides that if the Market Maker's total monthly executed 
volume during the relevant month is less than 0.025% of the total 
monthly executed volume reported by OCC in the customer account type 
for MIAX Emerald-listed option classes for that month, then the fee 
will be $15,500 instead of the fee otherwise applicable to such level.
    The Exchange now proposes to increase the Trading Permit fees 
assessed to Market Makers, which, as described above, were last amended 
in October 2020. In particular, the Exchange proposes to assess the 
following Trading Permit fees to Market Makers:
    <bullet> $8,000 for Market Maker registrations in up to 10 option 
classes or up to 20% of option classes by national ADV;
    <bullet> $14,000 for Market Maker registrations in up to 40 option 
classes or up to 35% of option classes by ADV;
    <bullet> $20,000 for Market Maker registrations in up to 100 option 
classes or up to 50% of option classes by ADV; and
    <bullet> $26,000 for Market Maker registrations in over 100 option 
classes or over 50% of option classes by ADV up to all option classes 
listed on MIAX Emerald.
    The Exchange also proposes to decrease the alternative lower 
Trading Permit fee to Market Makers who fall within the 3rd and 4th 
levels of the Market Maker Trading Permit fee table if certain volume 
thresholds are met from $15,500 to $14,000 per month by amending the 
footnote ``[mshbox]'' following the Market Maker Trading Permit fee 
table for these monthly Trading Permit tier levels.

[[Page 18886]]

System Connectivity Fees
1Gb and 10Gb Network Connectivity Fees
    Next, the Exchange proposes to amend the Fee Schedule to increase 
connectivity fees to the primary/secondary and disaster recovery 
facilities for Members and non-Members. Currently, the Exchange 
assesses the same amount of connectivity fees to Members and non-
Members that connect to the Exchange's primary/secondary facility and 
disaster recovery facility. In particular, the Exchange assesses the 
following connectivity fees to Members and non-Members:
    <bullet> $1,400 per 1 gigabit (``Gb'') connection to the primary/
secondary facility;
    <bullet> $550 per 1Gb connection to the disaster recovery facility;
    <bullet> $2,750 per 10Gb connection to the disaster recovery 
facility; and
    <bullet> $13,500 per 10Gb ultra-low latency (``ULL'') connection to 
the primary/secondary facility.
    The Exchange notes that the above fees for 1Gb connectivity and 
10Gb to the disaster recovery facility, and 1Gb connectivity to the 
primary/secondary facilities, have not been increased since December 
2019.\17\ The fee for 10Gb ULL connectivity was last increased in 
January 2023.\18\
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    \17\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 87877 (December 31, 
2019), 85 FR 738 (January 7, 2020) (SR-EMERALD-2019-39).
    \18\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 96628 (January 10, 
2023), 88 FR 2651 (January 17, 2023) (SR-EMERALD-2023-01) and 99824 
(March 21, 2024), 89 FR 21379 (March 27, 2024) (SR-EMERALD-2024-12) 
(noting that while the proposed fee changes subject to this filing 
were immediately effective, the proposed fee changes had been 
effective since January 1, 2023 pursuant to the Exchange's initially 
filed proposal on December 30, 2022 (i.e., SR-EMERALD-2022-38, which 
was withdrawn without being noticed to make a minor technical 
correction and refiled immediately as SR-EMERALD-2023-01)).
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    The Exchange now propose to amend Sections 5)a)-b) of the Fee 
Schedule to increase connectivity fees for Members and non-Members. In 
particular, the Exchange proposes to assess the following connectivity 
fees to Members and non-Members:
    <bullet> $1,500 per 1Gb connection to the primary/secondary 
facility;
    <bullet> $650 per 1Gb connection to the disaster recovery facility;
    <bullet> $3,500 per 10Gb connection to the disaster recovery 
facility; and
    <bullet> $15,000 per 10Gb ULL connection to the primary/secondary 
facility.
Port Fees
    The Exchange proposes to amend the fees for FIX Ports, Full Service 
MEI Ports, Limited Service MEI Ports, Purge Ports, CTD Ports and FXD 
Ports. Some of these fees have not been increased since they were first 
adopted in 2020. Each port provides access to the Exchange's primary 
and secondary data centers as well as its disaster recovery center for 
a single fee.
FIX Ports
    The Exchange proposes to amend the fees for FIX Ports, which have 
not been increased since October 2020.\19\ A FIX Port allows Members to 
submit simple and complex orders electronically to MIAX Emerald.\20\ 
The Exchange currently assesses the following monthly FIX Port fees:
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    \19\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 90184 (October 14, 
2020), 85 FR 66636 (October 20, 2020) (SR-EMERALD-2020-12) and 91460 
(April 2, 2021), 86 FR 18349 (April 8, 2021) (SR-EMERALD-2021-11).
    \20\ See supra note 8.
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    <bullet> $550 for the first FIX Port;
    <bullet> $350 per port for the second to fifth FIX Ports; and
    <bullet> $150 per port for the sixth or more FIX Ports.
    The Exchange proposes to increase monthly FIX Port fees as follows:
    <bullet> $650 for the first FIX Port;
    <bullet> $400 per port for the second to fifth FIX Ports; and
    <bullet> $175 per port for the sixth or more FIX Ports.
Full Service MEI Ports
    The Exchange proposes to amend the Full Service MEI Port fees for 
Market Makers, which have not been increased since October 2020.\21\ 
Full Service MEI Ports provide Market Makers with the ability to send 
Market Maker simple and complex quotes, eQuotes, and quote purge 
messages to the MIAX Emerald System. Full Service MEI Ports are also 
capable of receiving administrative information.\22\
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    \21\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 90184 (October 14, 
2020), 85 FR 66636 (October 20, 2020) (SR-EMERALD-2020-12) and 91460 
(April 2, 2021), 86 FR 18349 (April 8, 2021) (SR-EMERALD-2021-11).
    \22\ See supra note 9.
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    The Exchange assesses the amount of the monthly Full Service MEI 
Port fees for Market Makers based on the lesser of either the per class 
basis or percentage of total national ADV measurements. The amount of 
the monthly Full Service MEI Port fee is based upon the number of 
classes in which the Market Maker was assigned to quote on any given 
day within the calendar month, or upon class volume percentages. The 
Exchange assesses Market Makers the monthly Full Service MEI Port fee 
based on the greatest number of classes listed on MIAX Emerald that the 
Market Maker was assigned to quote in on any given day within a 
calendar month. The class volume percentage is based on the total 
national ADV in classes listed on MIAX Emerald in the prior calendar 
quarter. Newly listed option classes are excluded from the calculation 
of the monthly Full Service MEI Port fee until the calendar quarter 
following their listing, at which time the newly listed option classes 
will be included in both the per class count and the percentage of 
total national average daily volume. Specifically, the Exchange 
assesses the following Full Service MEI Port fees to Market Makers:
    <bullet> $5,000 for Market Maker assignments in up to 5 option 
classes or up to 10% of option classes by national ADV;
    <bullet> $10,000 for Market Maker assignments in up to 10 option 
classes or up to 20% of option classes by ADV;
    <bullet> $14,000 for Market Maker assignments in up to 40 option 
classes or up to 35% of option classes by national ADV;
    <bullet> $17,500 for Market Maker assignments in up to 100 option 
classes or up to 50% of option classes by ADV; and
    <bullet> $20,500 for Market Maker assignments in over 100 option 
classes or over 50% of option classes by ADV up to all option classes 
listed on MIAX Emerald.
    The Exchange also provides an alternative lower Full Service MEI 
Port fee for Market Makers who fall within the 4th and 5th levels of 
the Market Maker Full Service MEI Port fee table, which levels are 
described directly above if certain volume thresholds are met. This 
alternative lower Full Service MEI Port fee for Market Makers is set 
forth in footnote ``[mshbox]'' in the Market Maker Full Service MEI 
Port fee table and provides that if the Market Maker's total monthly 
executed volume during the relevant month is less than 0.025% of the 
total monthly executed volume reported by OCC in the customer account 
type for MIAX Emerald-listed option classes for that month, then the 
fee will be $14,500 instead of the fee otherwise applicable to such 
level.
    The Exchange now proposes to increase the Full Service MEI Port 
fees assessed to Market Makers as follows:
    <bullet> $6,000 for Market Maker assignments in up to 5 option 
classes or up to 10% of option classes by national ADV;
    <bullet> $12,000 for Market Maker assignments in up to 10 option 
classes or up to 20% of option classes by ADV;
    <bullet> $16,500 for Market Maker assignments in up to 40 option 
classes

[[Page 18887]]

or up to 35% of option classes by national ADV;
    <bullet> $20,500 for Market Maker assignments in up to 100 option 
classes or up to 50% of option classes by ADV; and
    <bullet> $24,000 for Market Maker assignments in over 100 option 
classes or over 50% of option classes by ADV up to all option classes 
listed on MIAX Emerald.
    The Exchange also proposes to decrease the alternative lower Full 
Service MEI Port fee for Market Makers who fall within the 3rd, 4th and 
5th levels of the proposed Market Maker Full Service MEI Port fee table 
if certain volume thresholds are met from $14,500 to $12,000 per month 
by amending footnote ``[mshbox]'' following the Market Maker Full 
Service MEI Port fee table.
Limited Service MEI Ports
    The Exchange proposes to amend the fees for Limited Service MEI 
Ports, which provide Market Makers with the ability to send simple and 
complex eQuotes and quote purge messages only, but not Market Maker 
Quotes, to the MIAX Emerald System. Limited Service MEI Ports are also 
capable of receiving administrative information. Market Makers 
currently receive four free Limited Service MEI Ports per matching 
engine.\23\ Currently, Market Makers may request additional Limited 
Service MEI Ports for which MIAX will assess Market Makers $420 per 
month per additional Limited Service MEI Port for each matching engine. 
The Exchange proposes to increase the fee for each additional Limited 
Service MEI Port from $420 to $450 per month per additional Limited 
Service MEI Port for each matching engine.
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    \23\ See supra note 9.
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Purge Ports
    The Exchange proposes to amend the fees for Purge Ports, which 
provide Market Makers with the ability to send quote purge messages to 
the MIAX Emerald System. Purge Ports are not capable of sending or 
receiving any other type of messages or information.\24\ The Exchange 
proposes to increase the monthly Purge Port fee from $600 per matching 
engine to $700 per matching engine.\25\
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    \24\ See supra note 10.
    \25\ A Market Maker may request and be allocated two (2) Purge 
Ports per matching engine to which it connects and will be charged 
the monthly fee per Matching Engine. See Fee Schedule, Section 
5)d)ii).
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CTD Ports
    The Exchange proposes to amend the fees for CTD Ports, which have 
not been increased since October 2020.\26\ CTD Ports provide an 
Exchange Member with a real-time clearing trade updates, including, 
among other things, the following: (i) trade date and time; (ii) symbol 
information; (iii) trade price/size information; (iv) Member type (for 
example, and without limitation, Market Maker, Electronic Exchange 
Member, Broker-Dealer); and (v) Exchange MPID for each side of the 
transaction, including Clearing Member MPID. The Exchange now proposes 
to increase the monthly fee per CTD Port from $450 to $525.
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    \26\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 90184 (October 14, 
2020), 85 FR 66636 (October 20, 2020) (SR-EMERALD-2020-12) and 91460 
(April 2, 2021), 86 FR 18349 (April 8, 2021) (SR-EMERALD-2021-11).
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FXD Ports
    The Exchange proposes to amend the fees for FXD Ports, which have 
not been increased since October 2020.\27\ A FXD Port means a messaging 
interface that will provide a copy of real-time trade execution, trade 
correction and trade cancellation information for simple and complex 
orders to FIX Drop Copy Port users who subscribe to the service. FXD 
Port Fees will be assessed in any month the Member is credentialed to 
use the FXD Port in the production environment. The Exchange now 
proposes to increase the monthly fee per FXD Port from $500 to $600.
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    \27\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 90184 (October 14, 
2020), 85 FR 66636 (October 20, 2020) (SR-EMERALD-2020-12) and 91460 
(April 2, 2021), 86 FR 18349 (April 8, 2021) (SR-EMERALD-2021-11).
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Implementation
    The Exchange issued an alert publicly announcing the proposed fees 
on October 14, 2025 and a reminder alert on December 19, 2025.\28\ The 
fees subject to this proposal are immediately effective.
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    \28\ See Fee Change Alert, MIAX Options, Pearl Options and 
Emerald Options--January 1, 2026 Non-Transaction Fee Changes (dated 
October 14, 2025), available at <a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/alert/2025/10/14/miax-options-pearl-options-and-emerald-options-exchanges-january-1-2026-non-1?nav=all">https://www.miaxglobal.com/alert/2025/10/14/miax-options-pearl-options-and-emerald-options-exchanges-january-1-2026-non-1?nav=all</a> and Fee Change Alert, MIAX Options, 
Pearl Options and Emerald Options Exchanges--Reminder: January 1, 
2026 Non-Transaction Fee Changes (dated December 19, 2025), 
available at <a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/alert/2025/12/19/miax-options-pearl-options-and-emerald-options-exchanges-reminder-january-1-1?nav=all">https://www.miaxglobal.com/alert/2025/12/19/miax-options-pearl-options-and-emerald-options-exchanges-reminder-january-1-1?nav=all</a>.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the provisions of Section 6(b) \29\ of the Act in general, and 
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) \30\ 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. Additionally, the Exchange 
believes that the proposed fees are consistent with the objectives of 
Section 6(b)(5) \31\ of the Act in that they are designed to promote 
just and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and 
coordination with persons engaged in regulating, clearing, settling, 
processing information with respect to, and facilitating transactions 
in securities, to remove impediments to a free and open market and 
national market system, and, in general, to protect investors and the 
public interest, and, particularly, are not designed to permit unfair 
discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.
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    \29\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
    \30\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
    \31\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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The Proposed Fees Are Reasonable and Comparable to the Fees Charged by 
Other Exchanges for Similar Products and Services
    Overall. The proposed fees are comparable to those of other options 
exchanges. The Exchange compared the fees proposed herein to the fees 
charged by other options exchanges for similar products or services. A 
more detailed discussion of the comparison follows.\32\
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    \32\ The fee amounts listed in each table provided in the 
Statutory Basis section of this filing that pertain to the Exchange 
are the proposed new rates for each product or service.
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EEM Trading Permit Fees
    The proposed Trading Permit fee for EEMs are lower than the trading 
permit fee charged by Cboe Exchange, Inc. (``Cboe''), as summarized in 
the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Exchange             Type of product/service    Monthly fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald...................  EEM Trading Permit.....          $2,000
Cboe \a\.......................  Electronic Access                 3,000
                                  Permit.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Cboe Fee Schedule, Electronic Trading Permit Fees section, page
  6, available at <a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/Cboe_FeeSchedule.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/Cboe_FeeSchedule.pdf</a>.


[[Page 18888]]

    Cboe. Cboe charges higher trading permit fees than the Trading 
Permit fees proposed by the Exchange for EEMs. Cboe's Electronic Access 
Permit is analogous to the Exchange's Trading Permits for EEMs. In 
general, a Trading Permit is a permit issued by the Exchange that 
confers the ability to transact on the Exchange.\33\ EEMs are assessed 
the monthly Trading Permit fee in order to transact on the Exchange on 
behalf of their customers or to conduct proprietary trading. Likewise, 
Cboe's Electronic Access Permits entitle the holder to access Cboe.\34\ 
Like Trading Permit Holders on the Exchange, Electronic Access Permit 
holders must be broker-dealers registered with Cboe and are allowed 
transact on Cboe.\35\ Cboe charges a higher trading permit fee for 
Electronic Access Permits than the Trading Permit fee proposed by the 
Exchange for EEMs. Cboe charges a flat $3,000 per Electronic Access 
Permit per month, while the Exchange proposes to charge a flat $2,000 
per EEM Trading Permit per month, lower than Cboe's flat $3,000 fee.
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    \33\ See Exchange Rule 100.
    \34\ See Cboe Fee Schedule, Electronic Trading Permit Fees 
section, page 6, available at <a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/Cboe_FeeSchedule.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/Cboe_FeeSchedule.pdf</a>. The Exchange notes that Cboe 
differentiates between electronic access permits for clearing firms 
and electronic exchange member firms and charges a trading permit 
fee of $2,000 per month for Clearing TPH Permits, which is the same 
rate for a Trading Permit as proposed by the Exchange for EEMs that 
act as Clearing Members. See id. The term ``Clearing Member'' means 
a Member that has been admitted to membership in the Clearing 
Corporation pursuant to the provisions of the rules of the Clearing 
Corporation. See Exchange Rule 100. The term ``Clearing 
Corporation'' means The Options Clearing Corporation (``OCC''). Id.
    \35\ See Cboe Rulebook, Chapter 3, Rules 3.2-3.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Market Maker Trading Permit Fees
    The Exchange believes the proposed Trading Permit \36\ fees for 
Market Makers are similar to the Trading Permit fees charged by NYSE 
American LLC (``NYSE American''), as summarized in the table below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \36\ Similar to NYSE American, the Exchange assesses the monthly 
Trading Permit fee on a per-Member basis, not to each individual 
person within the Member.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exchange                           Type of product/                            Monthly fee
                                    service.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald.....................  Market Maker Trading       $8,000  Up to 10 Classes....  Up to 20% of Classes
                                    Permit.                                                  by volume (as a %
                                                                                             of national ADV).
                                                              14,000  Up to 40 Classes....  Up to 35% of Classes
                                                                                             by volume (as a %
                                                                                             of national ADV).
                                                              20,000  Up to 100 Classes...  Up to 50% of Classes
                                                                                             by volume (as a %
                                                                                             of national ADV).
                                                              26,000  Over 100 Classes....  Over 50% of Classes
                                                                                             by volume up to all
                                                                                             Classes on MIAX
                                                                                             Options (as a % of
                                                                                             national ADV).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NYSE American \a\................  Options Market Maker       $8,000      1st ATP: 60 issues plus bottom 45%.
                                    ATPs.
                                                               6,000     2nd ATP: 150 issues plus bottom 45%.
                                                               5,000     3rd ATP: 500 issues plus bottom 45%.
                                                               4,000    4th ATP: 1,100 issues plus bottom 45%.
                                                               3,000          5th ATP: all issues traded.
                                                               2,000      6th to 9th ATP: all issues traded.
                                                                 500     10th or more ATPs: all issues traded.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See NYSE American Options Fee Schedule, Section III.A., available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/american-options/NYSE_American_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/american-options/NYSE_American_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf</a>.

    NYSE American. NYSE American charges similar trading permit fees 
for its market makers as the Trading Permit fees proposed by the 
Exchange for its Market Makers. In general, a Trading Permit is a 
permit issued by the Exchange that confers the ability to transact on 
the Exchange.\37\ Each registered Market Maker is assessed a monthly 
Trading Permit fee in order to appoint a qualified person (or persons) 
to act as a Registered Option Trader (``ROT'') \38\ pursuant to the 
Exchange's Rules and fulfill the Market Maker's obligations to act as a 
specialist on the Exchange.\39\ The Exchange assesses Trading Permit 
fees based on the lesser of either the per class basis or percentage of 
total national average daily volume measurement. A ``class'' of options 
means all option contracts covering the same underlying security.\40\ 
NYSE American's market maker ATP \41\ fee is analogous to the 
Exchange's Trading Permit fees for Market Makers, which is a monthly 
fee in order to transact on NYSE American for the purpose of making 
markets in options contracts.\42\ NYSE American assesses its ATP fees 
based on the number of issues \43\ in their appointment. The Exchange 
and NYSE American provide for different numbers of option classes 
included in each tier of their respective trading permit fee structures 
due to their own business and competitive reasons. The Exchange 
provides fewer options class assignments for each Trading Permit tier 
because it believes this structure best represents the Market Makers 
that trade on the Exchange. NYSE American, on the other hand, provides 
significantly more ``issues'' or options classes in each ATP tier in 
order to ``properly [incentivize] Market Makers to quote in a broad 
range of options, including less liquid and active names . . .'' \44\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \37\ See Exchange Rule 100.
    \38\ An ROT is permitted to enter quotes and orders only for the 
account of the Market Maker with which he is associated. See 
Exchange Rule 601(a).
    \39\ See, generally, Chapter VI of the Exchange's Rules.
    \40\ See Exchange Rule 100.
    \41\ An ``ATP'' or ``ATP Holder'' is a registered Broker-Dealer 
who is a permit holder on NYSE American, per NYSE American Rule 
900.2NY(4),(5). See NYSE American Options Fee Schedule, Key Terms 
and Definitions section, available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/american-options/NYSE_American_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/american-options/NYSE_American_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf</a>.
    \42\ See, generally, NYSE American Rule 923NY.
    \43\ An ``issue'' means an options class. See Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 67764 (August 31, 2012), 77 FR 55254 
(September 7, 2012) (SR-NYSEMKT-2012-44) (changing the calculation 
of trading permit fees to be based on the ``number of option classes 
in [a NYSE Amex Options Market Maker's] electronic trading 
appointment . . .'' and then using the term ``issue'' in the tiers 
of ATP fees).
    \44\ See id.

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

[[Page 18889]]

    NYSE American charges similar trading permit fees to its ATPs as 
proposed by the Exchange herein for the Exchange's Market Makers. NYSE 
American charges all Options Market Makers \45\ tiered trading permit 
fees based on the number of issues permitted in an Options Market 
Maker's quoting assignment.\46\ NYSE American provides tiered ATP fees 
ranging from $8,000 to $26,000 due to the cumulative nature of the 
fee,\47\ which amount could be significantly higher if a market maker 
purchases six or more ATPs, while the Exchange provides tiered Trading 
Permit fees ranging from $8,000 to $26,000 (as proposed), based on the 
lesser of either the per class basis or percentage of total national 
ADV measurements. The Exchange offers even greater savings to Market 
Makers as it provides a reduced Trading Permit fee of $16,000 (as 
proposed) for Market Makers if their total monthly executed volume 
during the relevant month is less than 0.060% of the total monthly 
executed volume reported by OCC in the market maker account type for 
MIAX-listed option classes for that month, which still allows these 
Market Makers to quote the entire market (or close to the entire 
market). NYSE American does not offer reduced fees for its Options 
Market Makers that only quote in certain classes compared to those that 
quote the entire market. NYSE American actually charges higher fees for 
Options Market Makers that transacts in certain options classes, which 
fees add to the ATP fees described above.\48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ A ``Market Maker'' refers to an ATP Holder that acts as a 
Market Maker pursuant to NYSE American Rule 920NY and is referred to 
as an ``NYSE AMERICAN Options Market Maker'' in the NYSE American 
Fee Schedule. See NYSE American Options Fee Schedule, Preface, 
available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/american-options/NYSE_American_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/american-options/NYSE_American_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf</a>.
    \46\ NYSE American charges ATP fees based on the maximum number 
of ATPs held during the month. The ``bottom 45%'' refers to the 
least actively traded issues on NYSE American, ranked by industry 
volume, as reported by the OCC for each issue during the calendar 
quarter. See NYSE American Options Fee Schedule, Section III.A., 
available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/american-options/NYSE_American_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/american-options/NYSE_American_Options_Fee_Schedule.pdf</a>.
    \47\ This was calculated by adding the monthly fees for the 
first five ATPs that a market maker would be required to purchase in 
order to quote the entire NYSE American market (i.e., $8,000 + 
$6,000 + $5,000 + $4,000 + $3,000).
    \48\ See NYSE American Options Fee Schedule, Section III.D. 
Premium Product fees (assessing an additional monthly fee of $1,000 
per product to NYSE American Options Market Makers that transact in 
premium products, such SPY, APPL, etc., capped at $7,000 per month).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Network Connectivity Fees (Disaster Recovery Facility)
    The proposed network connectivity fees to the Exchange's disaster 
recovery facility for Members and non-Members are lower than the 
connectivity fees charged by Cboe C2 Exchange, Inc. (``Cboe C2'') for 
connecting to the Cboe C2 disaster recovery facility, as summarized in 
the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Type of product/     Monthly fee (per
           Exchange                    service            connection)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald..................  1Gb Connectivity                    $650
                                 (disaster recovery).
                                10Gb Connectivity                  3,500
                                 (disaster recovery).
Cboe C2 \a\...................  Physical Port 1Gb                  2,000
                                 (disaster recovery).
                                Physical Port 10Gb                 6,000
                                 (disaster recovery).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Cboe C2 Fee Schedule, Physical Connectivity Fees section,
  available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/</a> ctwo/.

    Cboe C2. Cboe C2 charges higher 1Gb and 10Gb connectivity fees to 
connect to its disaster recovery facility than the Exchange proposes to 
connect to its disaster recovery facility. Cboe C2's connectivity fees 
to connect to its disaster recovery facility are analogous to the 
Exchange's connectivity fees to its disaster recovery facility. In 
general, the disaster recovery facility is a secondary data center in a 
separate, geographically diverse location that Exchange participants 
are able to connect to in order to have redundancy for their trading 
and market data connections in the event that the Exchange's primary 
data center operations are disabled. Cboe C2's 1Gb and 10Gb connections 
to its disaster recovery center allow its members to connect to that 
data center in the event that Cboe C2's primary data center is no 
longer operational.\49\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ See Cboe BCP/DR Plan Highlights, v1.3, page 2, available at 
<a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/Cboe_Corporate_BCP-DR.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/Cboe_Corporate_BCP-DR.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Cboe C2 charges higher 1Gb and 10Gb connectivity fees to its 
disaster recovery facility than the fees proposed by the Exchange 
herein for connectivity to the Exchange's disaster recovery facility. 
Cboe C2 charges monthly fees of $2,000 per 1Gb connection and $6,000 
per 10Gb connection to its disaster recovery facility. Meanwhile, the 
Exchange proposes to charge monthly fees of $650 per 1Gb connection and 
$3,500 per 10Gb connection to its disaster recovery facility.
Network Connectivity Fees (Primary/Secondary Facility)
    The proposed network connectivity fees to the Exchange's primary 
and secondary facility for Members and non-Members are lower than the 
connectivity fees charged by Nasdaq BX, Inc. (``Nasdaq BX'') and NYSE 
American for connectivity to its primary data centers, as summarized in 
the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Type of product/     Monthly fee (per
           Exchange                    service            connection)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald..................  1Gb Connectivity.....             $1,500
                                10Gb Connectivity....             15,000
Nasdaq BX \a\.................  1Gb Connection.......              2,750
                                10Gb Ultra Connection             18,500
NYSE American \b\.............  10Gb LX LCN Circuit..             22,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 104261 (November 25, 2025),
  90 FR 55209 (December 1, 2025) (SR-BX-2025-027).
\b\ See NYSE American Connectivity Fee Schedule, page 12, available at
  <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/Wireless_Connectivity_Fees_and_Charges.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/Wireless_Connectivity_Fees_and_Charges.pdf</a>.


[[Page 18890]]

    The Exchange notes that Nasdaq BX and NYSE American operate on 
shared infrastructure with their affiliates. As such, one network 
connection to one exchange provides access to the affiliated exchanges 
on their shared network. Meanwhile, the Exchange operates on a 
dedicated 10Gb ULL network that is not shared with its affiliates and 
therefore, each 10Gb ULL connection only provides connectivity to a 
single exchange. In the Exchange's experience, however, market 
participants that wish to experience certain latency may elect to 
purchase multiple connections rather than using one 10Gb connection to 
access multiple markets or, in some cases, purchase a more expensive 
40Gb line if available. In addition, those that purchase connections to 
receive market data need a dedicated connection to each exchange 
because they are unable to receive market data from multiple markets 
over a single connection. Also, market participants may choose to not 
use the single connection to access other markets within an exchange 
family to avoid incurring other ancillary costs, such as membership, 
transaction, or other network fees.
    Nasdaq BX. Nasdaq BX charges higher connectivity fees to its 
primary data center. Nasdaq BX's 1Gb and 10Gb Ultra fiber connection 
fees are analogous to the Exchange's 1Gb and 10Gb ULL connectivity 
fees. In general, the Exchange's 1Gb and 10Gb ULL connectivity fees 
provide Members and non-Members with access to the Exchange's primary 
and secondary facilities (i.e., the live trading platforms and market 
data systems). Nasdaq BX's 1Gb and 10Gb Ultra fiber connections provide 
Nasdaq BX participants with the ability to connect directly to Nasdaq 
BX's trading platforms and market data feeds.\50\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ See, generally, Nasdaq Market Connectivity Options web 
page, available at <a href="https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/nasdaq-co-location">https://www.nasdaq.com/solutions/nasdaq-co-location</a> (last visited March 22, 2026).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq BX charges higher connectivity fees than the connectivity 
fees to the primary and secondary facilities proposed by the Exchange 
herein. Nasdaq BX charges all participants monthly fees of $2,750 per 
1Gb connection and $18,500 per 10Gb connection to access its primary 
data center. Meanwhile, the Exchange proposes to charge Members and 
non-Members monthly fees of $1,500 per 1Gb connection and $15,000 per 
10Gb ULL connection to the Exchange's primary and secondary facilities. 
Nasdaq BX charges an additional installation fee for each 1Gb or 10Gb 
connection of $1,650.\51\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \51\ See Nasdaq BX, General 8: Connectivity, Section 1(b), 
Connectivity to the Exchange, available at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/bx/rules/BX%20General%208">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/bx/rules/BX%20General%208</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NYSE American. NYSE American charges higher 10Gb connectivity fees 
to its primary data center. NYSE American's 10Gb LX LCN Circuit 
connection fee is analogous to the Exchange's 10Gb ULL connectivity 
fee. In general, the Exchange's 10Gb ULL connectivity fee provides 
Members and non-Members with access to the Exchange's primary and 
secondary facilities (i.e., the live trading platforms and market data 
systems). NYSE American's 10Gb LX LCN Circuit connection provides NYSE 
American participants with the ability to connect directly to NYSE 
American trading platforms and market data feeds.\52\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \52\ See, generally, NYSE American Connectivity Fee Schedule, 
available at <a href="https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/Wireless_Connectivity_Fees_and_Charges.pdf">https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/Wireless_Connectivity_Fees_and_Charges.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NYSE American charges higher connectivity fees as proposed by the 
Exchange herein. NYSE American charges all participants a monthly fee 
of $22,000 per 10Gb LX LCN Circuit connection to access its primary 
data center. Meanwhile, the Exchange proposes to charge Members and 
non-Members a monthly fee of $15,000 per 10Gb ULL connection to the 
Exchange's primary and secondary facilities. NYSE American charges an 
additional installation fee for each 10Gb LX LCN Circuit connection of 
$15,000.\53\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \53\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

FIX Port Fees
    The proposed FIX Port fees are comparable to, or lower than, the 
similar port fees charged by Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (``Cboe BZX''), 
Cboe C2 and The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq''), as summarized in 
the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Monthly fee
            Exchange             Type of product/service    (per port)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald...................  1st FIX Port...........            $650
                                 2nd to 5th FIX Ports...             400
                                 6th or more FIX Ports..             175
Cboe BZX \a\...................  Logical Ports..........             750
Cboe C2 \b\....................  FIX Logical Ports......             650
Nasdaq \c\.....................  FIX Ports..............             650
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Cboe BZX Fee Schedule, Options Logical Port Fees section,
  available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/bzx/</a> bzx/.
\b\ See Cboe C2 Fee Schedule, Logical Connectivity Fees section,
  available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/</a> ctwo/.
\c\ See Nasdaq Options 7 Pricing Schedule, Section 3(i)(1), available at
  <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207</a>.

    Cboe BZX. Cboe BZX charges higher Logical Port fees than the FIX 
Port fees proposed by the Exchange. Cboe BZX's Logical Ports are 
analogous to the Exchange's FIX Ports. In general, a FIX Port allows an 
Exchange Member to send simple and complex orders, as well as other 
messages, to the Exchange using the FIX protocol.\54\ Cboe BZX's 
Logical Ports allow for order entry and other messages to be sent to 
Cboe BZX by participants.\55\ Cboe BZX charges slightly higher Logical 
Port fees than the FIX Port fees proposed by the Exchange herein. Cboe 
BZX charges a monthly fee of $750 per Logical Port, while the 
Exchange's highest proposed tier is only $650 per FIX Port per month.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \54\ See the Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \55\ See, generally, Cboe Titanium U.S. Options FIX 
Specification, Version 2.7.97 (dated October 20, 2025), available at 
<a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_FIX_Specification.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_FIX_Specification.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Cboe C2. Cboe C2 charges comparable FIX Logical Port fees as the 
FIX Port fees proposed by the Exchange. Cboe C2's FIX Logical Ports are 
analogous to the Exchange's FIX Ports. In general, a FIX Port allows an 
Exchange Member to send simple and complex orders and other messages to 
the Exchange using the FIX protocol.\56\ Cboe C2's FIX Logical Ports 
allow for order entry and

[[Page 18891]]

other messages to be sent to Cboe C2 by participants.\57\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \56\ See the Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \57\ See, generally, Cboe Titanium U.S. Options FIX 
Specification, Version 2.7.97 (dated October 20, 2025), available at 
<a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_FIX_Specification.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_FIX_Specification.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Cboe C2 charges comparable FIX Logical Port fees as the FIX Port 
fees proposed by the Exchange herein. Cboe C2 charges a monthly fee of 
$650 per FIX Logical Port, while the Exchange's highest proposed tier 
is $650 per FIX Port per month, with the Exchange's fees for subsequent 
FIX Ports decreasing to $400 per port (FIX Ports 2-5) and then $175 per 
port (FIX Ports greater than 5). Cboe C2 FIX Logical Port users may 
incur an additional monthly fee of $650 per port. Cboe C2 provides that 
for the standard monthly fee of $650 per FIX Logical Port, a user may 
enter up to 70,000 orders per trading day per port as measured on 
average in a single month. However, each incremental usage of up to 
70,000 per day per FIX Logical Port will incur an additional $650 fee 
per month.\58\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \58\ See Cboe C2 Fee Schedule, Logical Connectivity Fees 
section, available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/</a>. Incremental usage is determined on a monthly 
basis based on the average orders per day entered in a single month 
across all of a market participant's subscribed FIX Ports. See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq. Nasdaq charges similar FIX Port fees as the FIX Port fees 
proposed by the Exchange. Nasdaq's FIX Ports are analogous to the 
Exchange's FIX Ports in that they that allow Nasdaq participants to 
connect, send, and receive messages related to orders to and from 
Nasdaq, which include the following: (1) execution messages; (2) order 
messages; and (3) risk protection triggers and cancel 
notifications.\59\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \59\ See Nasdaq Options 3 Options Trading Rules, Section 
7(e)(1)(A).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq charges participants $650 per FIX Port per month, while the 
Exchange's highest proposed tier is $650 per FIX Port per month, with 
the Exchange's fees for subsequent FIX Ports decreasing to $400 per 
port (FIX Ports 2-5) and then $175 per port (FIX Ports greater than 5). 
Accordingly, Nasdaq charges comparable FIX Port fees as proposed by the 
Exchange herein.
Limited Service MEI Port Fees
    The proposed Limited Service MEI Port (``LSPs'') fees are lower 
than the similar port fees charged by Nasdaq and Nasdaq MRX, LLC 
(``Nasdaq MRX''), as summarized in the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Monthly fee
            Exchange             Type of product/service    (per port)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald...................  Limited Service MEI                $450
                                  Port.
Nasdaq \a\.....................  QUO Ports..............             750
Nasdaq MRX \b\.................  OTTO Ports.............             650
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Nasdaq, Options 7: Pricing Schedule, Section 3(i)(4), available
  at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207</a>.
\b\ See Nasdaq MRX, Options 7: Pricing Schedule, Section 6(i)(4),
  available at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/mrx/rules/MRX%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/mrx/rules/MRX%20Options%207</a>.

    Nasdaq. Nasdaq charges higher Quote Using Order (``QUO'') Port fees 
than the Limited Service MEI Port fees proposed by the Exchange. The 
Exchange acknowledges differences between the functionality of its LSPs 
and that of Nasdaq's QUO Ports; however, the Exchange believes that the 
fee comparison between LSPs and QUO Ports is relevant as both ports 
provide a limited subset of functionality as provided by other ports 
offered by both the Exchange and Nasdaq. In general, Limited Service 
MEI Ports support all MEI Interface \60\ input message types,\61\ but 
do not support bulk quote entry.\62\ Notifications sent over LSPs 
between market participants and the Exchange may include the following 
information: (1) execution notifications, cancel notifications, stock 
leg execution notifications, and order notifications; (2) 
administrative messages (i.e., series updates); (3) risk protection 
settings and notification updates; and (4) trading status notifications 
(i.e., halted).\63\ Nasdaq's QUO Ports allow Nasdaq market makers to 
connect, send, and receive messages related to single-sided orders to 
and from Nasdaq.\64\ Messages sent over QUO Ports may include the 
following: (1) options symbol directory messages (e.g., underlying); 
(2) system event messages (e.g., start of trading hours messages and 
start of opening); (3) trading action messages (e.g., halts and 
resumes); (4) execution messages; (5) order messages; and (6) risk 
protection triggers and cancel notifications.\65\ Nasdaq charges a 
monthly fee of $750 per QUO Port, per account number, while the 
Exchange provides the first four LSPs for free and proposes to charge 
$450 per additional LSP for each matching engine per month thereafter. 
Nasdaq charges higher QUO Port fees than the LSP fees proposed by the 
Exchange herein.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \60\ The MIAX Express Interface (``MEI'') is a connection to 
MIAX Emerald System that enables Market Makers to submit simple and 
complex electronic quotes to MIAX Emerald. See the Definitions 
section of the Fee Schedule.
    \61\ See MIAX Emerald MEI Interface Specification, Version 2.2c 
(revision date October 10, 2025), available at <a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/sites/default/files/job-files/MIAX_Express_Interface_MEI_v2.2c.pdf">https://www.miaxglobal.com/sites/default/files/job-files/MIAX_Express_Interface_MEI_v2.2c.pdf</a> (providing full description of 
messages supported by the MEI Interface).
    \62\ See MIAX Emerald Options Exchange User Manual, Version 
1.0.0, Section 5.01 (revision date December 12, 2023), available at 
<a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/miax_emerald_user_manual.pdf">https://www.miaxglobal.com/miax_emerald_user_manual.pdf</a>.
    \63\ See MIAX Emerald MEI Interface Specification, Version 2.2c 
(revision date October 10, 2025), available at <a href="https://www.miaxglobal.com/sites/default/files/job-files/MIAX_Express_Interface_MEI_v2.2c.pdf">https://www.miaxglobal.com/sites/default/files/job-files/MIAX_Express_Interface_MEI_v2.2c.pdf</a> (providing full description of 
messages supported by the MEI Interface).
    \64\ See Nasdaq Options 3: Options Trading Rules, Section 
7(e)(1)(D).
    \65\ See Nasdaq Options 3: Options Trading Rules, Section 
7(e)(1)(D).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq MRX. Nasdaq MRX charges higher Ouch to Trade Options 
(``OTTO'') Port fees than the Limited Service MEI Port fees proposed by 
the Exchange. The Exchange acknowledges differences between the 
functionality of its LSPs and that of Nasdaq MRX's OTTO Ports; however, 
the Exchange believes that the fee comparison between LSPs and OTTO 
Ports is relevant as both ports provide a limited subset of 
functionality as provided by other ports offered by both the Exchange 
and Nasdaq MRX. Nasdaq MRX's OTTO Ports allow Nasdaq MRX members to 
connect, send, and receive messages related to orders, auction orders, 
and auction responses to Nasdaq MRX.\66\ Messages sent over OTTO Ports 
include the following: (1) options symbol directory messages (e.g., 
underlying and complex instruments); (2) system event messages (e.g., 
start of trading hours messages and start of opening); (3) trading 
action messages (e.g., halts and resumes); (4) execution messages; (5) 
order messages; (6) risk protection

[[Page 18892]]

triggers and cancel notifications; (7) auction notifications; (8) 
auction responses; and (9) post trade allocation messages.\67\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \66\ See Nasdaq MRX, Options 3: Options Trading Rules, 
Supplementary Material to Options 3, Section 7, .03(b).
    \67\ See Nasdaq MRX, Options 3: Options Trading Rules, 
Supplementary Material to Options 3, Section 7, .03(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq MRX charges a monthly fee of $650 per OTTO Port, per account 
number (with fees for all OTTO Ports, CTI Ports, FIX Ports, FIX Drop 
Ports and disaster recovery ports subject to a monthly cap of $7,500), 
while the Exchange provides the first four LSPs for free and proposes 
to charge $450 per additional LSP for each matching engine per month 
thereafter. Nasdaq MRX charges higher OTTO Port fees than the LSP fees 
proposed by the Exchange herein.
Purge Port Fees
    The proposed Purge Port fees are comparable to, or lower than, the 
similar port fees charged by Nasdaq MRX, Cboe C2 and Nasdaq, as 
summarized in the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Type of product/
          Exchange                   service             Monthly fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald................  Purge Ports.........  $700 per matching
                                                     engine.
Nasdaq MRX \a\..............  First 5 SQF Purge     $1,620 per port.
                               Ports.
                              Next 15 SQF Purge     $1,080 per port.
                               Ports.
                              All SQF Purge Ports   $540 per port.
                               over 20.
Cboe C2 \b\.................  Purge Ports.........  $850 per port.
Nasdaq \c\..................  First 5 SQF Purge     $1,620 per port.
                               Ports.
                              Next 15 SQF Purge     $1,080 per port.
                               Ports.
                              All SQF Purge Ports   $540 per port.
                               over 20.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 104005 (September 18, 2025),
  90 FR 45855 (September 23, 2025) (SR-MRX-2025-20) (new fees effective
  January 1, 2026).
\b\ See Cboe C2 Fee Schedule, Logical Connectivity Fees section,
  available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/</a> ctwo/.
\c\ See Nasdaq Options 7: Pricing Schedule, Section 3 Nasdaq Options
  Market--Ports and Other Services, available at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207</a>.

    The Exchange's comparison to fees charged by other exchanges for 
similar ports is limited because a thorough comparison would require 
the Exchange to obtain competitively sensitive information about other 
exchanges' architecture and how their members connect. However, in a 
practical sense, the Exchange can surmise that a market participant 
would require multiple purge ports to access an exchange's entire 
market as a single port might not connect to all matching engines or 
provide the latency benefits that the market participant's trading 
behavior requires. The Exchange does not know the actual number of 
purge ports needed because it does not have insight into the technical 
architecture of other exchanges so it is difficult to ascertain the 
number of purge ports a firm would need to connect to another 
exchange's entire market. Therefore, the Exchange is limited to 
comparing its proposed fee to other exchanges' purge port fees as 
listed in their fee schedules.
    Nasdaq MRX. Nasdaq MRX charges higher Specialized Quote Feed 
(``SQF'') Purge Port fees than the Purge Port fees proposed by the 
Exchange. Nasdaq MRX's SQF Purge Ports are analogous to the Exchange's 
Purge Ports. In general, Purge Ports provide Market Makers with the 
ability to send quote purge messages to the Exchange, but are not 
capable of sending or receiving any other type of messages or 
information.\68\ Nasdaq MRX's SQF Purge Ports allow Nasdaq MRX market 
makers to send purge requests to the Nasdaq MRX trading system.\69\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \68\ See the Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \69\ See Nasdaq MRX Options 3: Trading Rules, Supplementary 
Material to Options 3, Section 7, .03(c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq MRX charges higher SQF Purge Port fees than the Purge Port 
fees proposed by the Exchange herein. Nasdaq MRX will charge (beginning 
January 1, 2026) SQF Purge Port fees as follows: (a) $1,620 per SQF 
Purge Port per month for the first 5 ports; (b) $1,080 per SQF Purge 
Port per month for the next 15 ports; and (c) $540 per SQF Purge Port 
for all ports over 20 ports. The Exchange proposes to charge $700 per 
Purge Port per matching engine per month. The Exchange chose to charge 
Purge ports on a per matching engine basis instead of a per port basis 
due to its System architecture, which provides two (2) Purge Ports per 
matching engine for redundancy purposes. Market Makers are able to 
select the matching engines that they want to connect to based on the 
business needs of each Market Maker, and pay the applicable fee based 
on the number of matching engines and pair of ports utilized.\70\ This 
architecture provides Market Makers with flexibility to control their 
Purge Port costs based on the number of matching engines each Marker 
Maker elects to connect to based on each Market Maker's business needs. 
Further, the Exchange's monthly Purge Port fee provides access to the 
Exchange's primary, secondary, and disaster recovery data centers for 
the single monthly fee. Nasdaq MRX, on the other hand, assesses an 
additional fee $50 per SQF Purge Port per month, per account number, to 
access its disaster recovery facility (albeit, Nasdaq MRX currently 
waives the fee for one SQF Purge Port to the disaster recovery facility 
per market maker per month).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \70\ The Exchange notes that each matching engine corresponds to 
a specified group of symbols. Certain Market Makers choose to only 
quote in certain symbols while other Market Makers choose to quote 
the entire market.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Cboe C2. Cboe C2 charges higher Purge Port fees than the Purge Port 
fees proposed by the Exchange. Cboe C2's Purge Ports are analogous to 
the Exchange's Purge Ports. In general, Cboe C2's Purge Ports allow its 
members the ability to cancel a subset (or all) of open orders across 
the executing firm's ID, underlying symbol(s), or custom group ID, 
across multiple logical ports/sessions.\71\ Cboe C2 charges $850 per 
Purge Port per month, while the Exchange proposes to charge $700 per 
pair of Purge Ports per matching engine per month. Cboe C2 charges 
higher Purge Port fees than the Purge Port fees proposed by the 
Exchange herein.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \71\ See Cboe Purge Ports, Frequently Asked Questions, U.S. 
Options, Version 1.3, available at <a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/features/Cboe_USO_PurgePortsFAQs.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/features/Cboe_USO_PurgePortsFAQs.pdf</a> (last visited November 5, 
2025).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq. Nasdaq charges higher SQF Purge Port fees than the Purge 
Port fees proposed by the Exchange. Nasdaq's SQF Purge Ports are 
analogous to the Exchange's Purge Ports, which allow

[[Page 18893]]

Nasdaq market makers to send purge requests to the Nasdaq trading 
system.\72\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \72\ See Nasdaq Options 3: Trading Rules, Section 7(e)(1)(B).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq charges higher Purge Port fees than the Purge Port fees 
proposed by the Exchange herein. Nasdaq charges tiered SQF Purge Port 
fees as follows: (a) $1,620 per SQF Purge Port per month for the first 
5 ports; (b) $1,080 per SQF Purge Port per month for the next 15 ports; 
and (c) $540 per SQF Purge Port for all ports over 20 ports. The 
Exchange proposes to charge a flat $700 per set of Purge Ports per 
matching engine per month.
CTD Port Fees
    The proposed CTD Port fees are lower than the similar port fees 
charged by Nasdaq, as summarized in the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Monthly fee
            Exchange             Type of product/service    (per port)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald...................  CTD Ports..............            $525
Nasdaq \a\.....................  CTI Ports..............             650
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Nasdaq Options 7: Pricing Schedule, Section 3 Nasdaq Options
  Market--Ports and Other Services, available at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207</a>.

    Nasdaq. Nasdaq charges higher Clearing Trade Interface (``CTI'') 
Port fees than the CTD Port fees proposed by the Exchange. Nasdaq's CTI 
Ports are analogous to the Exchange's CTD Ports. In general, CTD Ports 
provide an Exchange Member with real-time clearing trade updates, 
including, among other things, the following: (i) trade date and time; 
(ii) symbol information; (iii) trade price/size information; (iv) 
Member type (for example, and without limitation, Market Maker, 
Electronic Exchange Member, Broker-Dealer); and (v) Exchange MPID for 
each side of the transaction, including Clearing Member MPID.\73\ 
Nasdaq's CTI Ports provide real-time clearing trade updates regarding 
trade details specific to the Nasdaq participant, which include, among 
other things, the following: (i) The Clearing Member Trade Agreement or 
``CMTA'' or The Options Clearing Corporation or ``OCC'' number; (ii) 
Nasdaq badge or house number; (iii) Nasdaq internal firm identifier; 
(iv) an indicator which will distinguish electronic and non-
electronically delivered orders; (v) liquidity indicators and 
transaction type for billing purposes; and (vi) capacity.\74\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \73\ See the Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \74\ See Nasdaq Options 3: Trading Rules, Section 23(b)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq charges $650 per CTI Port per month, while the Exchange 
proposes to charge $525 per CTD Port per month. Nasdaq charges higher 
CTI Port fees than the CTD Port fees proposed by the Exchange herein.

FXD Port Fees

    The proposed FXD Port fees are comparable to the similar port fees 
charged by Cboe C2 and Nasdaq BX, as summarized in the table below.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                            Monthly fee
            Exchange             Type of product/service    (per port)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald...................  FXD Ports..............            $600
Cboe C2 \a\....................  Drop Logical Ports.....             650
Nasdaq \b\.....................  FIX Drop Ports.........             650
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Cboe C2 Fee Schedule, Logical Connectivity Fees section,
  available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/</a> ctwo/.
\b\ See Nasdaq Options 7: Pricing Schedule, Section 3 Nasdaq Options
  Market--Ports and Other Services, available at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207</a>.

    Cboe C2. Cboe C2 charges comparable logical Drop Port fees as the 
FXD Port fees proposed by the Exchange. Cboe C2's Drop Logical Ports 
are analogous to the Exchange's FXD Ports. In general, FXD Ports allow 
the Exchange's market participants to connect their systems with a 
messaging interface that provides a copy of real-time trade execution, 
trade correction and trade cancellation information.\75\ Cboe C2's Drop 
Logical Ports allow its members to receive real-time information about 
order flow, including execution information (i.e., filled or partially 
filled) and cancellation information.\76\ Like the Exchange's FXD 
Ports, Cboe C2's Drop Logical Ports do not allow the user to submit 
orders to the exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \75\ See Fee Schedule, Section 5)d)iv).
    \76\ See Cboe Titanium U.S. Options FIX Specification, Version 
2.7.97, FIX Drop section (dated October 20, 2025), available at 
<a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_FIX_Specification.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_FIX_Specification.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Cboe C2 charges $650 per Drop Logical Port per month, while the 
Exchange proposes to charge $600 per FXD Port per month. Cboe C2 
charges higher Drop Logical Port fees than the FXD Port fees proposed 
by the Exchange herein.
    Nasdaq. Nasdaq charges comparable FIX Drop Port fees as the FXD 
Port fees proposed by the Exchange. Nasdaq's FIX Drop Ports are 
analogous to the Exchange's FXD Ports in that they provide a real-time 
order and execution update message that is sent to a Nasdaq participant 
after an order has been received or modified or an execution has 
occurred and contains trade details specific to that participant.\77\ 
The information provided through the Nasdaq FIX Drop Port includes, 
among other things, the following: (i) executions; (ii) cancellations; 
(iii) modifications to an existing order and (iv) busts or post-trade 
corrections.\78\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \77\ See Nasdaq Options 3: Trading Rules, Section 23(b)(3).
    \78\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Nasdaq charges $650 per FIX Drop Port per month, while the Exchange 
proposes to charge $600 per FXD Port per month. Nasdaq charges higher 
FIX Drop Port fees as the FXD Port fees proposed by the Exchange 
herein.
Full Service MEI Port Fees
    The proposed Full Service MEI Port fees are comparable to the 
similar port fees charged by Cboe C2, as summarized in the table below.

[[Page 18894]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exchange                           Type of product/                            Monthly fee
                                    service.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIAX Emerald.....................  Market Maker Full          $6,000  Up to 5 Classes.....  Up to 10% of Classes
                                    Service MEI Port.                                        by volume (as a %
                                                                                             of national ADV).
                                                              12,000  Up to 10 Classes....  Up to 20% of Classes
                                                                                             by volume (as a %
                                                                                             of national ADV).
                                                              16,500  Up to 40 Classes....  Up to 35% of Classes
                                                                                             by volume (as a %
                                                                                             of national ADV).
                                                              20,500  Up to 100 Classes...  Up to 50% of Classes
                                                                                             by volume (as a %
                                                                                             of national ADV).
                                                              24,000  Over 100 Classes....  Over 50% of Classes
                                                                                             by volume up to all
                                                                                             Classes on MIAX
                                                                                             Emerald (as a % of
                                                                                             national ADV).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cboe C2 \a\......................  Bulk BOE Ports......            $1,500 per port for ports 1 though 5
                                                                   $2,500 per port for ports 6 or more.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\a\ See Cboe C2 Fee Schedule, Logical Connectivity Fees section, available at <a href="https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/">https://www.cboe.com/us/options/membership/fee_schedule/ctwo/</a> ctwo/.

    The Exchange's comparison to fees charged by other exchanges for 
similar ports is limited because a thorough comparison would require 
the Exchange to obtain competitively sensitive information about other 
exchanges' architecture and how their members connect. However, in a 
practical sense, the Exchange can surmise that a market participant 
would require multiple ports to access an exchange's entire market as a 
single port might not connect to all matching engines or provide the 
latency benefits that the market participant's quoting behavior 
requires. The Exchange does not know the actual number of purge ports 
needed because it does not have insight into the technical architecture 
of other exchanges so it is difficult to ascertain the number of ports 
a firm would need to connect to another exchange's entire market and 
quote that entire market. Therefore, the Exchange is limited to 
comparing its proposed fee to other exchanges' port fees as listed in 
their fee schedules.
    Cboe C2. Cboe C2 charges similar, or higher, bulk order port fees 
than the Full Service MEI Port fees proposed by the Exchange. Cboe C2's 
Bulk BOE Ports are analogous to the Exchange's Full Service MEI Ports. 
In general, Full Service MEI Ports provide Market Makers with the 
ability to send simple and complex quotes, eQuotes, and quote purge 
messages to the MIAX Emerald System.\79\ Full Service MEI Ports are 
also capable of receiving administrative information.\80\ The 
Exchange's Full Service MEI Ports entitle a Market Maker to two such 
ports for each matching engine for a single monthly port fee.\81\ The 
Exchange has twelve total matching engines; therefore, for one monthly 
fee, each Market Maker is provided twenty-four total Full Service MEI 
Ports (i.e., two per matching engine multiplied by twelve matching 
engines). Cboe C2's Bulk BOE Ports provide users with the ability to 
submit single and bulk order messages to enter, modify, or cancel 
orders and are intended for use by market makers quoting large numbers 
of simple options series.\82\ Each Bulk BOE Port has access to all of 
Cboe C2's matching units, which, according to Cboe, typically ranges 
from 31-35 matching units per Cboe-affiliated exchange.\83\ The Cboe C2 
Bulk BOE Port does not provide a Cboe C2 market maker with a port for 
each matching unit and the Exchange believes that, based on the 
experience of its own Market Makers, it would not be feasible to quote 
an entire market with only a single (or handful) of ports; rather, a 
market maker would likely need to have a port on each matching unit to 
be able to quote the entire market.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \79\ See the Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \80\ See the Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \81\ See the Definitions section of the Fee Schedule.
    \82\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 83201 (May 9, 
2018), 83 FR 22546 (May 15, 2018) (SR-C2-2018-006) and Cboe Titanium 
U.S. Options Binary Order Entry Version 3 Specification, Version 
1.10, page 45 (October 31, 2025), available at <a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_BOE3_Specification.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_BOE3_Specification.pdf</a>.
    \83\ See Cboe Titanium U.S. Options Binary Order Entry Version 3 
Specification, Version 1.10, page 224 (October 31, 2025), available 
at <a href="https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_BOE3_Specification.pdf">https://cdn.cboe.com/resources/membership/US_Options_BOE3_Specification.pdf</a>.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that Cboe C2 charges similar or higher bulk 
port fees as the Full Service MEI Port fees proposed by the Exchange 
herein. Cboe C2 charges $1,500 per port for the first five Bulk BOE 
Ports, and $2,500 per port for each Bulk BOE Port utilized in excess of 
five ports. The Exchange proposes to charge between $6,000 and $24,000 
per month for Full Service MEI Ports for Market Makers, depending on 
the number of classes assigned or percentage of national ADV. The 
Exchange's proposed Full Service MEI Port fees for Market Makers 
provide two such ports for each of the Exchange's twelve matching 
engines, for a total of twenty-four total ports for the monthly fee 
(between $6,000 and $24,000). For a Cboe C2 member to utilize a Bulk 
BOE Port on each matching unit, that member may need to purchase 
between 31 and 35 such ports. When drawing a comparison to the 
Exchange's proposed highest tier for Full Service MEI Ports ($24,000), 
which provides an Exchange Member with 24 total ports, the Cboe C2 
member would only receive 11 Bulk BOE Ports for a slightly less price 
(i.e., ($1,500 per Bulk BOE Port multiplied by the first five Bulk BOE 
Ports) + ($2,500 per Bulk BOE Port multiplied by the next six Bulk BOE 
Ports)). Accordingly, the Exchange believes Cboe C2 charges similar or 
higher bulk port fees as the Full Service MEI Port fees proposed by the 
Exchange herein.
* * * * *
    Each of the above examples of other exchanges' non-transaction fees 
support the proposition that the Exchange's proposed fees are 
comparable to those of other exchanges for similar products or services 
and are, therefore, reasonable.
The Proposed Fees Are Equitably Allocated and Not Unfairly 
Discriminatory
    Overall. The Exchange believes that its proposed fees are 
reasonable, equitable, and not unfairly discriminatory because, in sum, 
they are designed to align fees with services provided by amending them 
to levels that are comparable to similar fees for services assessed by 
other equity options exchanges. The Exchange believes that the proposed 
fees are allocated fairly and equitably among Members and non-Members 
because they apply to all Members and non-Members equally, and any 
differences among categories of fees are not unfairly discriminatory 
and are justified and appropriate.
    The Exchange believes that the proposed fees are equitably 
allocated

[[Page 18895]]

because they will apply uniformly to all Members and non-Members that 
choose to purchase a particular service based on their business need. 
Any Member or non-Member that chooses to purchase a particular product 
or service is subject to the same Fee Schedule, regardless of what type 
of business they operate, and the decision to purchase a particular 
product or service is based on objective differences in usage of the 
particular product or service among different Members and non-Member, 
which are still ultimately in the control of any particular Member or 
non-Member. The Exchange believes the proposed pricing is equitably 
allocated because of the service's or product's utility and value to 
market participants as compared to other like exchanges' products and 
services.
    The Exchange further believes that the proposed fees are 
reasonable, fair and equitable, and non-discriminatory because they 
will apply to all Members in the same manner and are not targeted at a 
specific type or category of market participant engaged in any 
particular trading strategy.
    EEM Trading Permit Fees. The Exchange believes the proposed Trading 
Permit fee for EEMs is equitably allocated and not unfairly 
discriminatory because the proposed fee would apply to each EEM in a 
uniform manner without regard to membership status or the extent of any 
other business with the Exchange or affiliated entities (i.e., order 
flow provider, clearing services, etc.).
    Market Maker Trading Permit Fees. The Exchange believes the 
proposed Trading Permit fees for Market Makers are equitable as the 
fees apply equally to all Market Makers based upon the number of class 
registrations or percentage of executed national ADV each month. The 
Exchange believes that assessing lower fees to Market Makers that quote 
in fewer classes is equitable because it will allow the Exchange to 
retain and attract smaller-scale Market Makers, which are an integral 
component of the options industry marketplace. Since these smaller 
Market Makers typically utilize less bandwidth and capacity on the 
Exchange network due to the lower number of quoted classes, the 
Exchange believes it is equitable to offer Market Makers Trading Permit 
fee tiers with lower rates based on a lower number of classes assigned 
or a lower percentage of executed national ADV. In addition, smaller 
Market Makers who want to quote greater number of classes or a higher 
percentage of executed national ADV, but have lower volume thresholds, 
the Exchange believes it is equitable to offer such Market Makers a 
lower fee, designated in footnote ``[mshbox]'' following the Market 
Maker Trading Permit fee table.
    The Exchange believes it is equitable and not unfairly 
discriminatory to charge higher Trading Permit fees to Market Makers 
that quote a higher number of classes or execute higher percentages of 
volume on the Exchange because the System requires increased 
performance and capacity in order to provide the opportunity for Market 
Makers to quote in a higher number of options classes on the Exchange. 
Specifically, more classes that are actively quoted on the Exchange by 
a Market Maker will require increased memory for record retention, 
increased bandwidth for optimized performance, increased 
functionalities on each application layer, and increased optimization 
with regard to surveillance and monitoring of such classes quoted. As 
such, basing the higher Market Maker Trading Permit fees on the greater 
number of classes quoted in on any given day in a calendar month is 
equitable and not unfairly discriminatory when considering how the 
increased number of quoted classes directly impacts the resources 
required for the Exchange to operate for all market participants.
    Network Connectivity Fees. The Exchange believes that the proposed 
fees for network connectivity to the primary/secondary facility and 
disaster recovery facility for Members and non-Members are equitably 
allocated because they would apply equally to all market participants 
that choose to purchase such connectivity products and services from 
the Exchange. Any participant that chooses to purchase the Exchange's 
connectivity products and services would be subject to the same fees, 
regardless of what type of business they operate or the use they plan 
to make of the products and services. Additionally, the fee increases 
would be applied uniformly to market participants without regard to 
Exchange membership status or the extent of any other business with the 
Exchange or affiliated entities.
    The Exchange believes that the proposed fees are equitably 
allocated among anticipated users of the network connectivity as the 
Exchange expects that users of 10Gb ULL connections will consume 
substantially more bandwidth and network resources than users of 1Gb 
connections. It is the experience of the Exchange and its affiliated 
exchanges that this is the case as 10Gb ULL connection users have 
historically accounted for more than 99% of message traffic over the 
network, which drives increased capacity utilization, while the users 
of the 1Gb connections account for less than 1% of message traffic over 
the network. In the experience of the Exchange and its affiliates, 
users of the 1Gb connections do not have the same business needs for 
the high-performance network as 10Gb ULL users.
    The Exchange's high-performance network and supporting 
infrastructure (including employee support), provides unparalleled 
system throughput. To achieve a consistent, premium network 
performance, the Exchange built out and must now maintain a network 
that has the capacity to handle the message rate requirements of its 
most heavy network consumers. These billions of messages per day 
consume the Exchange's resources and significantly contribute to the 
overall increase in storage and network transport capabilities. The 
Exchange must analyze its storage capacity on an ongoing basis to 
ensure it has sufficient capacity to store these messages to satisfy 
its record keeping requirements under the Exchange Act.\84\ Given this 
difference in network utilization rate, the Exchange believes that it 
is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory that the 10Gb ULL users 
continue to pay higher network connectivity fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \84\ 17 CFR 240.17a-1 (recordkeeping rule for national 
securities exchanges, national securities associations, registered 
clearing agencies and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    FIX, CTD, and FXD Port Fees. The Exchange believes that the 
proposed FIX, CTD and FXD Port fees are equitable and non-
discriminatory because they will apply to all Members in the same 
manner and are not targeted at a specific type or category of market 
participant engaged in any particular trading strategy. The proposed 
fees for each type of port (FIX, CTD or FXD) does not depend on any 
distinctions between Members, customers, broker-dealers, or any other 
entity. The proposed fee will be assessed solely based on the number of 
FIX, CTD or FXD Ports an entity selects and not on any other 
distinction applied by the Exchange. The Exchange believes offering a 
tiered fee structure where the fee for FIX Ports decreases with the 
number utilized is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because 
FIX Ports are used for order entry compared to CTD and FXD Ports, which 
are used to provide messages concerning trade execution, cancellation, 
and post-trade clearing information and, in the Exchange's experience, 
Members tend to utilize fewer such ports overall. Further, the Exchange 
believes the proposed fees

[[Page 18896]]

for FIX, CTD and FXD Ports are reasonable because for one monthly fee 
for each port, Members are able to access all matching engines.
    Purge Port Fees. The Exchange believes that the proposed Purge Port 
fees are equitable because Purge Ports are completely voluntary as they 
relate solely to optional risk management functionality. While the 
Exchange believes that Purge Ports provide a valuable service, Market 
Makers can choose to purchase, or not purchase, these ports based on 
their own determination of the value and their business needs. No 
Market Maker is required or under any regulatory obligation to utilize 
Purge Ports. In fact, some market participants, in particular the 
larger firms, could and do build similar risk functionality in their 
trading systems that permit the flexible cancellation of quotes entered 
on the Exchange at a high rate. Accordingly, the Exchange believes that 
Purge Ports offer appropriate risk management functionality to firms 
that trade on the Exchange for Market Makers that chose to purchase 
them.
    Purge Ports enhance Market Makers' ability to manage quotes, which, 
in turn, improves their risk controls to the benefit of all market 
participants. The Exchange also believes that the proposed Purge Port 
fees are not unfairly discriminatory because they will apply uniformly 
to all Market Makers that choose to use the optional Purge Ports. Purge 
Ports are completely voluntary and, as they relate solely to optional 
risk management functionality, no Market Maker is required or under any 
regulatory obligation to utilize them. All Market Makers that 
voluntarily select this service option will be charged the same amount 
for the same services based upon the number of matching engines. The 
Exchange also believes that offering Purge Ports at the matching engine 
level promotes risk management across the industry, and thereby 
facilitates investor protection. Offering matching engine level 
protections ensures that such functionality is widely available to all 
firms, including smaller firms that may otherwise not be willing to 
incur the costs and development work necessary to support their own 
customized mass cancel functionality. As such, the Exchange believes 
the proposed fees are equitable and not unfairly discriminatory.
    Limited Service MEI Port Fees. The Exchange believes the proposed 
fee for Limited Service MEI Ports is not unfairly discriminatory 
because it would apply to all Market Makers equally. All Market Makers 
remain eligible to receive four free Limited Service MEI Ports per 
matching engine and those that elect to purchase more would be subject 
to the same monthly rate depending upon the number they choose to 
utilize. In the Exchange's experience, certain Market Makers choose to 
purchase additional Limited Service MEI Ports based on their own 
particular trading/quoting strategies and feel they need a certain 
number of ports to execute on those strategies. Other Market Makers may 
continue to choose to only utilize the free Limited Service MEI Ports 
to accommodate their own trading or quoting strategies, or other 
business models. All Market Makers elect to receive or purchase the 
amount of Limited Service MEI Ports they require based on their own 
business decisions and all Market Makers would be subject to the same 
fee structure. Every Market Maker may receive up to four free Limited 
Service MEI Ports and those that choose to purchase additional Limited 
Service MEI Ports may elect to do so based on their own business 
decisions and would continue to be subject to the same monthly fees.
    The Exchange believes that the proposed fee for Limited Service MEI 
Ports is reasonable, equitable, and not unfairly discriminatory because 
it is designed to align fees with services provided, will apply equally 
to all Market Makers that are assigned Limited Service MEI Ports, and 
minimizes barriers to entry by providing all Market Makers with four 
free Limited Service MEI Ports. As a result, there are several Market 
Makers that are not subject to any additional LSP fees. In contrast, 
other exchanges generally charge in excess of $450 per port (the fee 
the Exchange proposes to charge for Limited Service MEI Ports) without 
providing any initial ports for free.\85\
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    \85\ See Nasdaq, Options 7: Pricing Schedule, Section 3(i)(4), 
available at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules/Nasdaq%20Options%207</a> (providing zero free ports and charging $750 
per QUO Port, which is analogous to the Exchange's Limited Service 
MEI Ports) and Nasdaq MRX, Options 7: Pricing Schedule, Section 
6(i)(4), available at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/mrx/rules/MRX%20Options%207">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/mrx/rules/MRX%20Options%207</a> (providing zero free ports and charging $650 
per OTTO Port, which is analogous to the Exchange's Limited Service 
MEI Ports).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that the proposed Limited Service MEI Port 
fee structure is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it 
will continue to enable Market Makers to access the Exchange with four 
free ports before the proposed fees for additional Limited Service MEI 
Ports apply, thereby continuing to encourage order flow and liquidity 
from a diverse set of Market Makers, facilitating price discovery and 
the interaction of orders. The Exchange notes that a substantial 
majority of Market Makers only utilize the four Limited Service MEI 
Ports provided for no fee. The proposed fee is designed to encourage 
Market Makers to be efficient with their Limited Service MEI Port 
usage. There is no requirement that any Market Maker maintain a 
specific number of Limited Service MEI Ports and a Market Maker may 
choose to maintain as many or as few of such ports as each Market Maker 
deems appropriate.

    Full Service MEI Port Fees. The proposed fees for Full Service MEI 
Ports are not unfairly discriminatory because they would apply to all 
Market Makers equally. The Exchange's pricing structure for Full 
Service MEI Ports is similar to the pricing structure used by the 
Exchange's affiliates, MIAX Pearl, MIAX, and MIAX Sapphire, for their 
Full Service MEI/MEO Port fees.\86\ In the Exchange's experience, 
Members that are frequently in the highest tier for Full Service MEI 
Ports consume the most bandwidth and resources of the network.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \86\ See MIAX Pearl Fee Schedule, Section 5)d); MIAX Fee 
Schedule, Section 5)d)ii); and MIAX Sapphire Fee Schedule, Section 
5)d)ii).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To achieve a consistent, premium network performance, the Exchange 
must build out and maintain a network that has the capacity to handle 
the message rate requirements of its most heavy network consumers 
during anticipated peak market conditions. The need to support billions 
of messages per day consumes the Exchange's resources and significantly 
contributes to the overall need to increase network storage and 
transport capabilities. Thus, as the number of ports a Market Maker has 
increases, the related pull on Exchange resources may continue to 
increase.
    The Exchange further believes that the proposed fees are 
reasonable, equitably allocated and not unfairly discriminatory 
because, for the flat fee in each tier, the Exchange provides each 
Member two Full Service MEI Ports for each matching engine to which 
that Member is connected. Unlike other options exchanges that provide 
similar port functionality and charge fees on a per port basis,\87\ the 
Exchange offers

[[Page 18897]]

Full Service MEI Ports as a package and provides Market Makers with the 
option to receive up to two Full Service MEI Ports per matching engine 
to which it connects. The Exchange currently has twelve matching 
engines, which means Market Makers may receive up to twenty-four Full 
Service MEI Ports for a single monthly fee, which can vary based on 
certain volume percentages or classes the Market Maker is registered 
in. Assuming a Market Maker connects to all twelve matching engines 
during the month, and achieves the highest tier for that month, with 
two Full Service MEI Ports per matching engine, this would result in a 
cost of approximately $1,000 per Full Service MEI Port ($24,000 divided 
by 24, and rounded up to the nearest dollar).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \87\ See NASDAQ Pricing Schedule, Options 7, Section 3, Ports 
and Other Services and NASDAQ Rules, General 8: Connectivity, 
Section 1. Co-Location Services (similar to the MIAX Pearl Options' 
MEO Ports, SQF ports are primarily utilized by Market Makers); ISE 
Pricing Schedule, Options 7, Section 7, Connectivity Fees and ISE 
Rules, General 8: Connectivity; NYSE American Options Fee Schedule, 
Section V.A. Port Fees and Section V.B. Co-Location Fees; GEMX 
Pricing Schedule, Options 7, Section 6, Connectivity Fees and GEMX 
Rules, General 8: Connectivity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes the proposed reduced Full Service MEI Port 
fee for Market Makers that fall within the 3rd, 4th, and 5th levels of 
the Full Service MEI Port fee table and certain volume thresholds are 
met is not unfairly discriminatory because this lower monthly fee is 
designed to provide a lower fixed cost to those Market Makers who are 
willing to quote the entire Exchange market (or substantial amount of 
the Exchange market), as objectively measured by either number of 
classes assigned or national ADV, but who do not otherwise execute a 
significant amount of volume on the Exchange. The Exchange believes 
that, by continuing to offer a lower fixed cost to Market Makers that 
execute less volume, the Exchange will continue to retain and attract 
smaller-scale Market Makers, which are an integral component of the 
option industry marketplace, but have been decreasing in number in 
recent years, due to industry consolidation and lower market maker 
profitability. The Exchange believes it is beneficial to incentivize 
these additional Market Makers to register to make markets on the 
Exchange to increase liquidity as the Exchange begins operations. 
Increased liquidity from a diverse set of market participants helps 
facilitate price discovery and the interaction of orders, which 
benefits all market participants of the Exchange. Since these smaller-
scale Market Makers may utilize less Exchange capacity due to lower 
overall volume executed, the Exchange believes it is reasonable, 
equitably allocated and not unfairly discriminatory to offer such 
Market Makers a lower fixed cost. The Exchange notes that its 
affiliated markets, MIAX Pearl, MIAX, and MIAX Sapphire, offer a 
similar reduced fee for their Full Service MEO/MEI Ports for smaller-
scale Market Makers.\88\
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    \88\ See MIAX Pearl Fee Schedule, Section 5)d), note ``**''; 
MIAX Fee Schedule, Section 5)d)ii), note ``*''; and MIAX Sapphire 
Fee Schedule, Section 5)d), note ``b''.
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* * * * *
    For all of the foregoing reasons, the Exchange believes that the 
proposed fees are equitably allocated and not unfairly discriminatory.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act,\89\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \89\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intra-Market Competition
EEM Trading Permit Fees
    The Exchange believes the proposed Trading Permit fee for EEMs does 
not impose any burden on intra-market competition that is not necessary 
or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act because the 
proposed fee does not favor certain categories of market participants 
in a manner that would impose a burden on competition. The proposed fee 
is the same for all EEMs of different sizes and business models without 
regard to membership status or the extent of any other business with 
the Exchange or affiliated entities.
Market Maker Trading Permit Fees
    The Exchange believes that the proposed Trading Permit fees for 
Market Makers do not place certain market participants at a relative 
disadvantage to other market participants because the proposed fees do 
not favor certain categories of market participants in a manner that 
would impose a burden on competition; rather, the fee rates are 
designed in order to provide objective criteria for Market Makers of 
different sizes and business models that best matches their order and 
quoting activity on the Exchange. Further, the Exchange believes that 
the proposed Market Maker Trading Permit fees will not impose a burden 
on intra-market competition because, when these fees are viewed in the 
context of the overall activity on the Exchange, Market Makers: (1) 
consume the most bandwidth and resources of the network; (2) transact 
the vast majority of the volume on the Exchange; and (3) require the 
high touch network support services provided by the Exchange and its 
staff, including more costly network monitoring, reporting and support 
services, resulting in a much higher cost to the Exchange. The Exchange 
notes that the majority of customer demand comes from Market Makers, 
whose transactions make up a majority of the volume on the Exchange. 
Further, other member types, i.e. EEMs, take up significantly less 
Exchange resources and costs. As such, the Exchange does not believe 
charging Market Makers higher Trading Permit fees than other member 
types will impose a burden on intra-market competition.
    The Exchange believes that the increasing fees under the tiered 
Market Maker Trading Permit fee structure do not impose a burden on 
intra-market competition because the tiered structure continues to take 
into account the number of classes quoted by each individual Market 
Maker or percentage of total national ADV. The Exchange's system 
requires increased performance and capacity in order to provide the 
opportunity for each Market Maker to quote in a higher number of 
options classes on the Exchange. Specifically, the more classes that 
are actively quoted on the Exchange by a Market Maker requires 
increased memory for record retention, increased bandwidth for 
optimized performance, increased functionalities on each application 
layer, and increased optimization with regard to surveillance and 
monitoring of such classes quoted. As such, basing the Market Maker 
Trading Permit fee on the greatest number of classes quoted in on any 
given day in a calendar month, or percentage of total national ADV, 
does not impose any burden on intra-market competition that is not 
necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act when 
taking into account how the increased number of quoted classes directly 
impact the costs and resources for the Exchange.
Network Connectivity Fees
    The Exchange believes that the proposed network connectivity fees 
for Members and non-Members do not place certain market participants at 
a relative disadvantage to other market participants or affect the 
ability of such market participants to compete. The proposed fees will 
apply uniformly to all market participants regardless of the number of 
1Gb or 10Gb ULL connections they choose to purchase to the primary/
secondary facility or the disaster recovery facility. The proposed fees 
do not favor certain categories of market participants in a manner that 
would impose an undue burden on competition.
    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed fees for 
connectivity

[[Page 18898]]

services place certain market participants at a relative disadvantage 
to other market participants because the proposed connectivity pricing 
is associated with relative usage of the Exchange by each market 
participant and does not impose a barrier to entry to smaller 
participants. The Exchange believes its proposed pricing is reasonable 
and, when coupled with the availability of third-party providers that 
also offer connectivity solutions, participation on the Exchange is 
competitive for all market participants, including smaller trading 
firms. The connectivity services purchased by market participants 
typically increase based on their additional message traffic and/or the 
complexity of their operations. The market participants that utilize 
more connectivity services typically utilize the most bandwidth, and 
those are the participants that consume the most resources from the 
network. Accordingly, the proposed fees for connectivity services do 
not favor certain categories of market participants in a manner that 
would impose a burden on competition; rather, the allocation of the 
proposed connectivity fees reflects the network resources consumed by 
the various size of market participants and the costs to the Exchange 
of providing such connectivity services.
FIX, CTD and FXD Port Fees
    The Exchange believes that the proposed FIX, CTD and FXD Port fees 
do not place certain market participants at a relative disadvantage to 
other market participants because they will apply to all Members in the 
same manner and are not targeted at a specific type or category of 
market participant engaged in any particular trading strategy. The 
proposed fees for each type of port (FIX, CTD or FXD) do not depend on 
any distinctions between Members, customers, broker-dealers, or any 
other entity. The proposed fee will be assessed solely based on the 
number of FIX, CTD or FXD Ports an entity selects and not on any other 
distinction applied by the Exchange.
Purge Port Fees
    The Exchange believes that the proposed Purge Port fees do not 
place certain market participants at a relative disadvantage to other 
market participants because Purge Ports are completely voluntary as 
they relate solely to optional risk management functionality. Purge 
Ports enhance Members' ability to manage orders, which, in turn, 
improves their risk controls to the benefit of all market participants. 
Further, the proposed fees apply uniformly to all Members that choose 
to use the optional Purge Ports and no Market Maker is required or 
under any regulatory obligation to utilize them. All Members that 
voluntarily choose to utilize Purge Ports will be charged the same 
amount based upon the number of matching engines for each set of Purge 
Ports in use.
Limited Service MEI Port Fees
    The Exchange does not believe its proposed fee for Limited Service 
MEI Ports will place certain market participants at a relative 
disadvantage to other market participants. All Market Makers would be 
eligible to receive four free Limited Service MEI Ports and those that 
elect to purchase more would be subject to the same monthly fee. All 
Market Makers purchase the amount of Limited Service MEI Ports they 
require based on their own business decisions and similarly situated 
firms are subject to the same fee.
Full Service MEI Port Fees
    The Exchange does not believe proposed fees for Full Service MEI 
Ports will place certain market participants at a relative disadvantage 
to other market participants because they would apply to all Market 
Makers equally depending on the number of classes the Market Maker is 
registered to quote in or the percentage of national ADV. The Exchange 
believes the proposed fees will not result in any burden on intra-
market competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance 
of the purposes of the Act because, in the Exchange's experience, 
Market Makers that are frequently in the highest tier for Full Service 
MEI Ports consume the most bandwidth and resources of the network.
    The Exchange further believes that the proposed fees do not place 
certain market participants at the Exchange at a relative disadvantage 
compared to other market participants or affect the ability of such 
market participants to compete because, for the flat fee in each tier, 
the Exchange provides each Market Maker two Full Service MEI Ports for 
each matching engine to which that Market Maker is connected. Further, 
the Exchange offers a reduced Full Service MEI Port fee for Market 
Makers that fall within the 3rd, 4th and 5th levels of the Full Service 
MEI Port fee table, which lower monthly fee is designed to provide a 
lower fixed cost to those Market Makers who are willing to quote the 
entire Exchange market (or substantial amount of the Exchange market), 
as objectively measured by either number of classes assigned or 
national ADV, but who do not otherwise execute a significant amount of 
volume on the Exchange.
    The Exchange believes that, by continuing to offer a lower fixed 
cost to Market Makers that execute less volume, the Exchange will 
continue to retain and attract smaller-scale Market Makers, which are 
an integral component of the option industry marketplace, but have been 
decreasing in number in recent years, due to industry consolidation and 
lower market maker profitability. Accordingly, the Exchange believes 
the reduced fee will promote competition by incentivizing these 
additional Market Makers to register to make markets on the Exchange to 
increase liquidity.
Inter-Market Competition
    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed changes will result 
in any burden on inter-market competition that is not necessary or 
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. In contrast, the 
Exchange believes that, without the fee changes proposed herein, the 
Exchange is potentially at a competitive disadvantage to certain other 
exchanges that have in place comparable or higher fees for similar 
services, as described above. The Exchange believes that non-
transaction fees can be used to foster more competitive transaction 
pricing and additional infrastructure investment and there are other 
options markets of which market participants may connect to trade 
options that charge higher or comparable rates as the Exchange for 
similar services and products. Accordingly, the Exchange does not 
believe its proposed fee changes impose any burden on competition that 
is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the 
Act.

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,\90\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \91\ 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

[[Page 18899]]

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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \90\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \91\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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#c1b3b4ada4eca2aeacaca4afb5b281b2a4a2efa6aeb7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="80f2f5ece5ade3efedede5eef4f3c0f3e5e3aee7eff6">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. Please include 
file number SR-EMERALD-2026-08 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-2026-08. 
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-2026-08 and 
should be submitted on or before May 4, 2026.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\92\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \92\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-07042 Filed 4-10-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on April 13, 2026.

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