Notice2026-07788

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq MRX, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend Various Auction Mechanisms

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Published
April 22, 2026

Issuing agencies

Securities and Exchange Commission

Full Text

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 77 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 77 (Wednesday, April 22, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21580-21584]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-07788]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-105267; File No. SR-MRX-2026-16]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq MRX, LLC; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend Various 
Auction Mechanisms

April 17, 2026.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on Apri1 13, 2026, Nasdaq MRX, LLC (``MRX'' or ``Exchange'') filed with 
the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission'') the 
proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, and III, below, which 
Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing 
this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from 
interested persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to permit orders for the accounts of Market 
Makers assigned to the options class to be solicited for the initiating 
order \3\ submitted for execution against an agency order into a 
Facilitation Mechanism, the Solicited Order Mechanism (``SOM'') or a 
Price Improvement Mechanism (``PIM'').
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    \3\ The ``initiating order'' is the order comprised of principal 
interest or a solicited order(s) submitted to trade against the 
order the submitting Electronic Access Member represents as agent 
(the ``Agency Order'').
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    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's 
website at <a href="https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/mrx/rulefilings">https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/mrx/rulefilings</a>, 
and at the principal office of the Exchange.

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

    In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements 
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and 
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The 
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in 
Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in 
sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects of such 
statements.

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

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to amend Supplementary Material .01 and .03 
to Options 3, Section 11 (Auction Mechanisms), Supplementary Material 
.06 to Options 3, Section 13 (Price Improvement Mechanism for Crossing 
Transactions) to permit orders by Members in a Facilitation Mechanism, 
a SOM, and a PIM to trade against the Agency Orders \4\ for the 
accounts of Market Makers assigned to the options class. Cboe Exchange, 
Inc. (``Cboe'') recently received approval to amend its rules in an 
identical manner.\5\ The Exchange also proposes an amendment to Options 
5, Section 4 relating to the

[[Page 21581]]

handling of Immediate-or-Cancel Orders.\6\
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    \4\ Agency Orders are orders entered by a Member that are 
represented as agent.
    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 105049 (March 19, 
2026), 91 FR 14057 (March 24, 2026) (SR-Cboe-2025-090).
    \6\ Immediate-or-Cancel is an order entered with a TIF of 
``IOC'' that is to be executed in whole or in part upon receipt. Any 
portion not so executed is to be treated as cancelled. See 
Supplementary Material .02(d) to Options 3, Section 7.
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Background
PIM
    A PIM Auction is an electronic auction intended to provide an 
Agency Order with the opportunity to receive price improvement (over 
the National Best Bid or Offer (``NBBO'')). There is no specific size 
requirement for a PIM Auction. Upon submitting an Agency Order into a 
PIM, the initiating Electronic Access Member must also submit a contra-
side paired order. The initiating order guarantees that the Agency 
Order will receive an execution at no worse than the auction price. 
Upon commencement of an auction, market participants may submit 
responses to trade against the Agency Order.\7\ At the conclusion of a 
PIM, the Agency Order will be executed in full at the best prices 
available, taking into consideration orders and quotes in the Exchange 
market and Improvement Orders.\8\ MRX's PIM is very similar to Cboe's 
Automated Price Improvement Mechanism or ``AIM.'' \9\
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    \7\ See Options 3, Section 13(c)(2). Responses in PIM are called 
Improvement Orders.
    \8\ The Agency Order will receive executions at multiple price 
levels if there is insufficient size to execute the entire order at 
the best price. See Options 3, Section 13(d).
    \9\ An AIM Auction is an electronic auction intended to provide 
an Agency Order with the opportunity to receive price improvement 
(over the National Best Bid or Offer (``NBBO'')). Upon submitting an 
Agency Order into an AIM Auction, the initiating Trading Permit 
Holder (``Initiating TPH'') must also submit a contra-side second 
order (``Initiating Order'') for the same size as the Agency Order. 
The Initiating Order guarantees that the Agency Order will receive 
an execution at no worse than the auction price. Upon commencement 
of an auction, market participants may submit responses to trade 
against the Agency Order. See Cboe Rule 5.37(c)(5). At the 
conclusion of an AIM Auction, depending on the contra-side interest 
(including auction responses) available, the Initiating Order may be 
allocated a certain percentage (or more) of the Agency Order. See 
Cboe Rule 5.37(e).
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SOM
    Options 3, Section 11(d) contains the requirements applicable to 
the execution of Agency Orders using SOM. A SOM Auction is an 
electronic auction intended to provide a larger-sized (orders of 500 or 
more contracts) Agency Order with the opportunity to receive price 
improvement over the NBBO. Options 3, Section 13 contains the 
requirements applicable to the execution of orders the Electronic 
Access Member represents as agent using PIM. A PIM Auction is an 
electronic auction intended to provide an Agency Order with the 
opportunity to receive price improvement (over the National Best Bid or 
Offer (``NBBO'')). Upon submitting an Agency Order into a SOM, the 
initiating Electronic Access Member must also submit a contra-side 
paired order. The initiating order guarantees that the Agency Order 
will receive an execution at no worse than the auction price. Upon 
commencement of an auction, market participants may submit responses to 
trade against the Agency Order.\10\ At the conclusion of a SOM, 
execution will depend on whether there is sufficient size to execute 
the entire Agency Order at an improved price (or prices) \11\ as the 
SOM is designated as all-or-none.\12\ MRX's SOM is very similar to 
Cboe's Solicited Auction Mechanism or ``SAM.'' \13\
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    \10\ See Options 3, Section 11(b)(3) and (d)(2) and Section 
13(c)(2). Responses in PIM are called Improvement Orders.
    \11\ If at the time of execution there is insufficient size to 
execute the entire Agency Order at an improved price (or prices), 
the Agency Order will be executed against the solicited order at the 
proposed execution price so long as, at the time of execution: (i) 
the execution price is equal to or better than the best bid or offer 
on the Exchange, and (ii) there are no Priority Customer Orders or 
Priority Customer Responses on the Exchange that are priced equal to 
the proposed execution price. If there are Priority Customer Orders 
or Priority Customer Responses on the Exchange on the opposite side 
of the Agency Order at the proposed execution price and there is 
sufficient size to execute the entire size of the Agency Order, the 
Agency Order will be executed against the bid or offer, and the 
solicited order will be cancelled. See Options 3, Section 
11(d)(3)(A). If at the time of execution there is sufficient size to 
execute the entire Agency Order at an improved price (or prices), 
the Agency Order will be executed at the improved price(s), provided 
the execution price is equal to or better than the best bid or offer 
on the Exchange, and the solicited order will be cancelled. See 
Options 3, Section 11(d)(3)(B). In each case the aggregate size of 
all orders, quotes and Responses at each price will be used to 
determine whether the entire agency order can be executed at an 
improved price (or prices).
    \12\ See Options 3, Section 11(d).
    \13\ A SAM Auction is an electronic auction intended to provide 
a larger-sized Agency Order with the opportunity to receive price 
improvement over the NBBO. Upon submitting an Agency Order into a 
SAM Auction, the initiating Trading Permit Holder (``Initiating 
TPH'') must also submit a contra-side second order (``Initiating 
Order'') for the same size as the Agency Order. The Initiating Order 
guarantees that the Agency Order will receive an execution at no 
worse than the auction price. Upon commencement of an auction, 
market participants may submit responses to trade against the Agency 
Order. See Cboe Rule 5.39(c)(5). At the conclusion of a SAM Auction, 
depending on the contra-side interest (including auction responses) 
available, the Initiating Order may be allocated the entire Agency 
Order or none of the Agency Order. See Cboe Rule 5.39(e).
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Facilitation Mechanism
    Options 3, Section 11(b) describes a Facilitation Mechanism which 
is an electronic auction intended to provide a larger-sized Agency 
Order with the opportunity to receive price improvement over the NBBO. 
Block-sized orders (fifty (50) contracts or more pursuant to Options 3, 
Section 11(a)) may be entered into a Facilitation Mechanism by a Member 
to facilitate a customer order it represents as agent. Members must be 
willing to execute the entire size of orders entered into the 
Facilitation Mechanism pursuant to Options 3, Section 11(b). Under this 
mechanism, a Member submits a Facilitation Order along with a matching 
contra-side order, and the System initiates an auction during which 
other participants may submit competing responses. At the conclusion of 
the auction, the facilitating Member is entitled to a guaranteed 
participation right at the final execution price, provided the Member's 
price matches or improves upon the best competing response. Pursuant to 
Options 3, Section 11(b)(4)(B), the facilitating Member may be 
allocated up to forty percent (40%) (or such lower percentage requested 
by the Member) of the original size of the facilitation order, but only 
after better-priced Responses, orders and quotes, as well as Primary 
Customer Orders and Primary Customer Responses at the facilitation 
price, are executed in full at such price point.
    The Exchange notes that Cboe does not have a Facilitation 
Mechanism. The MRX Facilitation Mechanism is similar to Cboe's SAM. The 
key differences are:
    [ssquf] the MRX Facilitation Mechanism requires a minimum of 50 
contracts pursuant to Options 3, Section 11(b) while a Cboe SAM 
requires a minimum of 500 contracts pursuant to Cboe Rule 5.39(a)(3);
    [ssquf] Cboe's SAM has an all-or-none allocation at Cboe Rule 
5.39(e) while the MRX Facilitation Mechanism must be willing to execute 
the entire size at Options 3, Section 11(b); and
    [ssquf] Cboe Rule 5.39 requires that a Cboe Trading Permit Holder 
submit for execution an order it represents as agent (``Agency Order'') 
against a solicited order(s) (which cannot have a Capacity F for the 
same EFID as the Agency Order into a SAM pursuant to Cboe Rule 5.39 
wherein the Agency Order and Solicited Order cannot both be for the 
accounts of Priority Customers whereas the MRX Facilitation Mechanism 
does not have similar limitations.
    These aforementioned differences do not result in a different 
analysis as to the impact of permitting orders by Members in a 
Facilitation Mechanism to trade against the Agency Orders for the 
accounts of Market Makers assigned to the options class. The Exchange's 
analysis below applies to the

[[Page 21582]]

Facilitation Mechanism as it applies to a SOM or PIM.
Proposal
    Currently, Supplementary Material .01 and .03 to Options 3, Section 
11, Supplementary Material .06 to Options 3, Section 13 prohibit orders 
by Members in a Facilitation Auction, SOM, or PIM (collectively 
``Paired Auctions''), respectively, to trade against the Agency Orders 
for the accounts of Market Makers assigned to the options class. The 
Exchange notes Market Makers may not be solicited as the contra-side 
for complex Facilitation Auctions, SOMs and PIMs. Cboe does not 
similarly limit the contra-side for their complex AIM, complex SAM.\14\ 
The Exchange's proposal would therefore apply to both simple and 
complex orders.
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    \14\ See supra note 5.
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    While market participants other than assigned Market Makers may 
contribute liquidity to these Paired Auctions as either a contra-side 
order or responses, assigned Market Makers, who are the primary source 
of liquidity on the Exchange in their assigned options, are limited in 
the manner in which they may provide liquidity to these Paired 
Auctions. Given that contra-side orders that comprise initiating orders 
may be allocated a percentage of the Agency Order at the conclusion of 
the auctions, the limited ability of assigned Market Makers to 
participate in a Paired Auction may reduce the execution opportunities 
for these liquidity providers, which execution opportunities are 
available to other market participants who may be solicited or submit 
responses.
    The Exchange believes that eliminating the prohibition against 
assigned Market Makers acting as contra in Paired Auctions would 
enhance price improvement opportunities in the Paired Auctions. This is 
particularly for retail and smaller Priority Customer orders in a PIM. 
Allowing assigned Market Makers registered with the Exchange to be 
facilitated or solicited as contras may result in exposure of more 
small Priority Customer orders to potential price improvement via 
auction processes in a PIM. The Exchange further notes that Options 3, 
Section 22(d) (Limitations on Order Entry) provides that, prior to or 
after submitting an order to MRX, a Member cannot inform another Member 
or any other third party of any of the terms of the order for purposes 
of violating this Rule. This protection will remain in place under the 
proposed rule change to address any potential information leakage 
concerns in the Paired Auctions as Options 3, Section 22 applies to the 
Paired Auctions.
    The Exchange believes that the restriction has become operationally 
outdated in current market structure. It is common practice that Agency 
Orders already involve the same Market Maker firm acting as both the 
contra-side (in an away Market Maker capacity) and auction respondent 
(as an assigned Market Maker registered on the Exchange). Eliminating 
this restriction would reduce an arbitrary and unnecessary burden and 
allow Market Makers to structure more efficient auction processes, 
which may ultimately promote greater competition among Market Makers 
and provide market participants with enhanced opportunities for price 
improvement.
    The Exchange is proposing to amend Supplementary Material .01 and 
.03 to Options 3, Section 11, Supplementary Material .06 to Options 3, 
Section 13 to permit orders for the accounts of Market Makers in an 
assigned options class to be solicited for the initiating order 
submitted for execution against an Agency Order in all options. The 
Exchange believes providing assigned Market Makers with an additional 
way to participate in Paired Auctions will expand available liquidity 
for these Paired Auctions, which may increase execution and price 
improvement opportunities, particularly for Priority Customer orders in 
a PIM. The Exchange notes that no similar restriction applies to 
crossing transactions in open outcry trading.\15\ Brokers seeking 
liquidity to execute against customer orders on the trading floor 
regularly solicit assigned Floor Market Makers in the applicable class 
for this liquidity, as they are generally the primary source of 
liquidity in a class. Therefore, the Exchange believes the proposed 
rule change will further align open outcry and Paired Auctions and the 
execution and price improvement opportunities available in both 
auctions by permitting the same participants to be solicited as contras 
in Paired Auctions across all options at all times.
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    \15\ See e.g., Nasdaq Phlx LLC (``Phlx'') Options 8 Rules.
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    In addition to Cboe, the Exchange notes the electronic price 
improvement auction of another options exchange currently permits 
orders for the accounts of appointed market-makers to be solicited as 
the contra orders for that auction.\16\
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    \16\ See NYSE American, Inc. (``American'') Rule 971.1NY and 
NYSE Pillar Options FIX Gateway Protocol Specification, Section 5.2, 
New Cross Order. See also <a href="https://www.nyse.com/markets/american-options/cube-customer-best-execution">https://www.nyse.com/markets/american-options/cube-customer-best-execution</a>.
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Options 5, Section 4
    The Exchange proposes to amend subparagraph (a) at Options 5, 
Section 4, Order Routing, which currently states, ``Immediate-or-Cancel 
(``IOC'') Orders will be cancelled immediately if not executed, and 
will not be routed.'' The Exchange proposes to instead state that, 
``Immediate-or-Cancel (``IOC'') Orders will be rejected and will not be 
routed.'' While the current sentence reflects the operation of IOC 
Orders as provided in Supplementary Material .02(d) to Options 3, 
Section 7, within the context of routing, the sentence may be 
confusing. Options 5, Section 4 explains the manner in which various 
order types are handled differently for purposes of routing. An IOC 
Order will not rest on the order book by its definition and cannot 
route. The Exchange proposes to amend the language to be clear that IOC 
Orders are not subject to routing and therefore would be rejected. This 
proposed language is consistent with Supplementary Material .02(d) to 
Options 3, Section 7 and makes clear the treatment of IOC Orders for 
purposes of Options 5, Section 4.
Implementation
    The Exchange proposes to implement these proposed changes on or 
before Q3 2026. The Exchange will issue an Options Trader Alert 
indicating the date the changes will be implemented.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 
6(b) of the Act,\17\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act,\18\ in particular, in that it is designed to 
promote just and equitable principles of trade, to remove impediments 
to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national 
market system, and, in general to protect investors and the public 
interest.
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    \17\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \18\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change will promote just 
and equitable principles of trade and remove impediments to and perfect 
the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system 
because it will provide the primary liquidity providers on the Exchange 
with an additional way to participate in Paired Auctions. Additionally, 
by permitting brokers to solicit primary liquidity providers in a class 
for Paired Auctions, the Exchange believes brokers will be able to more 
efficiently locate liquidity

[[Page 21583]]

to fill their customer orders, particularly during times of volatility. 
As a result, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change will likely 
expand available liquidity for these Paired Auctions, which may create 
additional execution and price improvement opportunities for market 
participants at all times, which ultimately benefits investors.
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
the Act because it will further align open outcry and Paired Auctions 
and the execution and price improvement opportunities available in both 
auctions by permitting the same participants to be solicited as the 
contra-side in both types of auctions across all options. Currently, 
assigned Market Makers may be solicited with respect to crossing 
transactions on trading floors but may not be solicited with respect to 
Paired Auctions.\19\ The Exchange believes there is no reason to 
restrict a Market Maker's ability to provide liquidity into Paired 
Auctions when they are able to similarly provide that liquidity in open 
outcry trading. As noted above, the electronic price improvement 
auction of another options exchange currently permits orders for the 
accounts of assigned market makers to be solicited as the contra-side 
orders for that auction.\20\
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    \19\ Phlx's trading floor does not have a similar restriction. 
See Phlx Options 8 Rules.
    \20\ See supra notes 5 and 16.
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    In particular, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change will 
promote competition in Paired Auctions, including competition to 
initiate Paired Auctions, which will remove impediments to and perfect 
the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system, 
and, in general, to protect investors. The Exchange believes the 
availability of this liquidity to Agency Orders will positively affect 
the experience for Agency Orders and overall quality of the auctions. 
Furthermore, the Exchange believes increasing the number of market 
participants available to be solicited may increase competition to 
provide initiating orders, which may lead to a Paired Auction being 
initiated at a better price. More market participants competing to 
provide initiating orders may lead to solicited parties providing more 
aggressive initial prices. The Exchange believes the ability of all 
market participants, including assigned Market Makers that did not 
submit an initiating order, to become the contra-side to a Paired 
Auction will continue to provide competition for executions against 
Agency Orders.
    The Exchange believes any risk that assigned Market Makers may 
misuse the nonpublic information of an upcoming Paired Auction is de 
minimis. Supplementary Material .03 to Options 3, Section 22 provides 
that the exposure requirement applicable to principal transactions in 
Options 3, Section 22(b) \21\ applies to the entry of orders with 
knowledge that there is a pre-existing unexecuted agency, proprietary, 
or solicited order on the Exchange. Members may demonstrate that orders 
were entered without knowledge by providing evidence that effective 
information barriers between the persons, business units, and/or 
systems entering the orders onto the Exchange were in existence at the 
time the orders were entered. Such information barriers must be fully 
documented and provided to the Exchange upon request. Further, the 
Exchange notes that Supplementary Material .01 to Options 3, Section 13 
prohibits a pattern or practice of submitting orders or quotes or the 
purpose of disrupting or manipulating PIM Auctions, and Options 9, 
Section 9 requires Members to establish, maintain, and enforce written 
policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of 
material, nonpublic information by Members and their associated 
persons. Finally, Options 3, Section 22(d) (Limitations on Order Entry) 
provides that, prior to or after submitting an order to MRX, a Member 
cannot inform another Member or any other third party of any of the 
terms of the order for purposes of violating the Rule.
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    \21\ Electronic Access Members may not execute as principal 
orders they represent as agent unless (i) agency orders are first 
exposed on the Exchange for at least one (1) second, (ii) the 
Electronic Access Member has been bidding or offering on the 
Exchange for at least one (1) second prior to receiving an agency 
order that is executable against such bid or offer, or (iii) the 
Member utilizes the Facilitation Mechanism pursuant to Options 3, 
Section 11(b) and (c); (iv) the Member utilizes the Price 
Improvement Mechanism for Crossing Transactions pursuant to Options 
3, Section 13; (v) the Member utilizes Qualified Contingent Cross 
Orders pursuant to Options 3, Section 12(c) and (d); (vi) the Member 
utilizes a Customer Cross Order pursuant to Options 3, Sections 
12(a) or (b); or (vii) the Member utilizes a Complex Order Exposure 
pursuant to Supplementary Material .01 to Options 3, Section 14. 
Electronic Access Members may not execute as principal orders they 
represent as agent within the Solicitation Mechanism pursuant to 
Options 3, Section 11(d) and (e). See Options 3, Section 22(b).
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    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is not designed to 
permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or 
dealers because it will permit orders for accounts of assigned Market 
Makers to be solicited in the same manner as orders for the accounts of 
all other market participants. Currently, all market participants other 
than assigned Market Makers may be solicited as the contra-side and 
submit responses in Paired Auctions for all options. Given the 
additional costs and obligations associated with being an assigned 
Market Maker, the Exchange does not believe these Market Makers should 
have fewer execution opportunities with respect to volume submitted for 
execution through Paired Auctions and not for electronic execution 
against interest in the book. The Exchange believes the proposed rule 
change will provide all Market Makers on the Exchange with the same 
ability to participate in Paired Auctions in all options at all times, 
which may further increase execution and price improvement 
opportunities for market participants.
    Cboe does not have an auction equivalent to the Facilitation 
Mechanism, however the Exchange's Facilitation Mechanism is similar to 
Cboe's SAM. The key differences noted in the Purpose section do not 
differentiate the Facilitation Mechanism for purposes of permitting 
orders by Members in a Facilitation Mechanism to trade against the 
Agency Orders for the accounts of Market Makers assigned to the options 
class. The Exchange's aforementioned analysis applies to the 
Facilitation Mechanism as it applies to a SOM, and PIM in the same 
manner as it applies to the Paired Auctions.
Options 5, Section 4
    The Exchange's proposal to amend Options 5, Section 4(a) is 
consistent with the Act because it will bring greater clarity to the 
current rule text by clearly explaining that IOC Orders will not route.

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

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will 
impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
    The Exchange does not believe the proposed rule change will impose 
any burden on intramarket competition that is not necessary or 
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act because it 
provides the same execution opportunities in Paired Auctions to 
assigned Market Makers that are currently available to all other market 
participants. Additionally, the proposed rule change will further align 
open outcry and Paired Auctions and the execution and price improvement 
opportunities available in both auctions by permitting the same 
participants to

[[Page 21584]]

be solicited as a contra-side in auctions across all options.
    The Exchange does not believe the proposed rule change will impose 
any burden on intermarket competition that is not necessary or 
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act because it 
relates to orders submitted into Paired Auctions on the Exchange. 
Additionally, the Exchange notes that, in addition to Cboe, the rules 
of at least one other options exchange permits orders for the accounts 
of assigned market makers to be solicited as contra-side orders for 
that exchange's electronic price improvement auction.\22\ The Exchange 
believes the proposed rule change may improve price competition within 
Paired Auctions, because the primary liquidity providers will be able 
to increase participation in Paired Auctions.
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    \22\ See supra note 15.
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Options 5, Section 4
    The Exchange's proposal to amend Options 5, Section 4(a) does not 
impose an undue burden on competition, rather the proposal clarifies 
the current rule text.

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

    Because the foregoing proposed rule change does not: (i) 
significantly affect the protection of investors or the public 
interest; (ii) impose any significant burden on competition; and (iii) 
become operative for 30 days from the date on which it was filed, or 
such shorter time as the Commission may designate, it has become 
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \23\ and 
subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b-4 thereunder.\24\
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    \23\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
    \24\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6) 
requires a self-regulatory organization to give the Commission 
written notice of its intent to file the proposed rule change at 
least five business days prior to the date of filing of the proposed 
rule change, or such shorter time as designated by the Commission. 
The Exchange has satisfied this requirement.
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    At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule 
change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule 
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or 
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or 
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission 
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings to 
determine whether the proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.

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#d1a3a4bdb4fcb2bebcbcb4bfa5a291a2b4b2ffb6bea7"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="d9abacb5bcf4bab6b4b4bcb7adaa99aabcbaf7beb6af">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. Please include 
file number SR-MRX-2026-16 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-MRX-2026-16. 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-MRX-2026-16 and 
should be submitted on or before May 13, 2026.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\25\
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    \25\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Vanessa A. Countryman,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-07788 Filed 4-21-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


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Indexed from Federal Register on April 22, 2026.

This is legal information, not legal advice. Laws vary by jurisdiction and change frequently. Always verify current law with official sources and consult a licensed attorney in your jurisdiction for advice on your specific situation.