Notice2026-10244

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Exchange's Fee Schedule Applicable to Members Concerning Equities Transaction Pricing

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Published
May 22, 2026

Issuing agencies

Securities and Exchange Commission

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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 99 (Friday, May 22, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 99 (Friday, May 22, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30355-30358]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-10244]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-105514; File No. SR-IEX-2026-13]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the 
Exchange's Fee Schedule Applicable to Members Concerning Equities 
Transaction Pricing

May 19, 2026.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (the ``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby 
given that, on May 8, 2026, the Investors Exchange LLC (``IEX'' or the 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II 
and III below, which Items have been prepared by the self-regulatory 
organization. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit 
comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
    \3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    Pursuant to the provisions of Section 19(b)(1) under the Act,\4\ 
and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\5\ the Exchange is filing with the 
Commission a proposed rule change pursuant to IEX Rule 15.110(a) and 
(c) to amend the Exchange's fee schedule applicable to Members \6\ (the 
``Fee Schedule'' \7\) to modify some of the criteria to qualify for 
displayed liquidity adding rebates and to modify the threshold volume 
required to qualify for the incremental fee tiers. Changes to the Fee 
Schedule pursuant to this proposal are effective upon filing,\8\ and 
will be implemented on June 1, 2026.
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    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \5\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \6\ See IEX Rule 1.160(s).
    \7\ See Investors Exchange Fee Schedule, available at <a href="https://www.iexexchange.io/resources/trading/fee-schedule">https://www.iexexchange.io/resources/trading/fee-schedule</a>.
    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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    The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange's 
website at <a href="https://www.iexexchange.io/resources/regulation/rule-filings">https://www.iexexchange.io/resources/regulation/rule-filings</a> 
and at the principal office of the Exchange.

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

    In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization 
included statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the 
proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the 
proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at 
the places specified in Item IV below. The self-regulatory organization 
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 the 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to modify its Fee Schedule, pursuant to IEX 
Rule 15.110(a) and (c), to modify some of the criteria to qualify for 
the Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebate Tiers \9\ and to modify the 
threshold volume required to qualify for the Incremental Fee Tiers.\10\ 
Specifically, IEX proposes to increase the volume of non-displayed 
trading activity on the Exchange required to qualify for five of its 
eight Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebate tiers, and to increase the 
threshold volume required to qualify for the reduced fees of 
Incremental fee Tier 2.\11\
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    \9\ See footnote 4 to the Transaction Fees, Base Rates table and 
Fee Code Combinations and Associated Fees table of the IEX Fee 
Schedule, supra note 7.
    \10\ See footnote 6 to the Transaction Fees, Base Rates table 
and Fee Code Combinations and Associated Fees table of the IEX Fee 
Schedule, supra note 7.
    \11\ Nothing in this rule filing affects trades below $1.00 per 
share (``sub-dollar trades''), which will continue to receive a 
rebate equal to 0.15% of the total dollar value of the trade for 
displayed liquidity adding executions. And sub-dollar trades will 
continue to have no impact on any of the rebate or fee tier 
calculations for trades with an execution price of $1.00 per share 
or more.
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Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebates Change
    IEX offers Members eight Displayed Liquidity Rebate Tiers based on 
the Member's trading activity in the

[[Page 30356]]

immediately preceding month.\12\ These rebates, which apply equally to 
executions of Tape A, Tape B, and Tape C securities,\13\ are as 
follows:
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    \12\ Pursuant to Rule 610(d) of Regulation NMS, all IEX 
transaction fees and rebates are determinable at the time of 
execution. Accordingly, all rebates are based upon a Member's 
trading or quoting activity in the immediately preceding month.
    \13\ IEX also offers a separate set of rebates for displayed 
liquidity adding executions at or above $1 per share in Tape B 
Securities. See IEX Fee Schedule, supra note 7, footnote 7 to the 
Transaction Fees, Base Rates table and Fee Code Combinations and 
Associated Fees table. This rule filing makes no changes to the Tape 
B-specific rebates.
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    <bullet> Tier 1: provides Member the Exchange's base fee of FREE 
for all displayed liquidity adding executions priced at or above $1.00 
per share (``Added Displayed Liquidity'') if the Member added less than 
3,000,000 ADV.\14\
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    \14\ ``ADV'' as average daily volume calculated as the number of 
shares added or removed (as applicable) that execute at or above 
$1.00 per share, per day. ADV is calculated on a monthly basis, 
based on trading activity in the immediately preceding month, unless 
otherwise indicated in the Fee Schedule. See IEX Fee Schedule, supra 
note 7, Transaction Fees, Definitions.
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    <bullet> Tier 2: provides Member a rebate of $0.0010 per share for 
all Added Displayed Liquidity if the Member traded at least 5,000,000 
non-displayed ADV and less than 10,000,000 non-displayed ADV.\15\
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    \15\ ``non-displayed ADV'' refers to executions with the 
following Fee Code Combinations: MI, MIB, TI, TIB, TIY, TIYB, TIR, 
TLW, TLWB, and MIA. See IEX Fee Schedule, supra note 7, Transaction 
Fees, Definitions.
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    <bullet> Tier 3: provides Member a rebate of $0.0014 per share for 
all Added Displayed Liquidity if the Member: (1) added at least 
3,000,000 ADV of displayed liquidity and less than 10,000,000 ADV of 
displayed liquidity; or (2) added at least 10,000,000 non-displayed 
ADV; or (3) had an NBBO Time \16\ of at least 50% in at least 250 ETPs.
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    \16\ ``NBBO Time'' is the Member's percentage of market hours 
quoting on the NBB plus the Member's percentage of market hours 
quoting on the NBO. See IEX Fee Schedule, supra note 7, Transaction 
Fees, Definitions.
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    <bullet> Tier 4: provides Member a rebate of $0.0016 per share for 
all Added Displayed Liquidity if the Member: (1) added at least 
10,000,000 ADV of displayed liquidity and less than 15,000,000 ADV of 
displayed liquidity; or (2) had an NBBO Time of at least 50% in at 
least 750 ETPs.
    <bullet> Tier 5: provides Member a rebate of $0.0018 per share for 
all Added Displayed Liquidity if the Member: (1) added at least 
15,000,000 ADV of displayed liquidity and less than 20,000,000 ADV of 
displayed liquidity; or (2) traded at least 15,000,000 non-displayed 
ADV.
    <bullet> Tier 6: provides Member a rebate of $0.0020 per share for 
all Added Displayed Liquidity if the Member: (1) added at least 
20,000,000 ADV of displayed liquidity and less than 30,000,000 ADV of 
displayed liquidity; or (2) traded at least 20,000,000 non-displayed 
ADV.
    <bullet> Tier 7: provides Member a rebate of $0.0022 per share for 
all Added Displayed Liquidity if the Member: (1) added at least 
30,000,000 ADV of displayed liquidity; or (2) added at least 25,000,000 
ADV of displayed liquidity and traded at least 30,000,000 non-displayed 
ADV.
    <bullet> Tier 8: provides Member a rebate of $.0023 per share for 
all Added Displayed Liquidity if the Member added at least 40,000,000 
ADV of displayed liquidity.\17\
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    \17\ IEX Fee Schedule, supra note 7, Base Rates table and Fee 
Code Combinations and Associated Fees table.
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    As set forth above, there are several ways a Member can qualify for 
the Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebate Tiers 2, 3, 5, 6, and 7, 
including by exceeding threshold volumes of non-displayed ADV in the 
prior month. IEX proposes to increase the non-displayed ADV thresholds 
required to qualify for those specific rebate tiers.\18\ Specifically, 
IEX proposes to make the following changes to the non-displayed ADV 
criteria to qualify for Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebate Tiers 2, 3, 
5, 6, and 7 in both the Base Rates table description of Fee Code ML and 
the Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebates Tiers set forth in footnote 4 to 
the Fee Code Combinations and Associated Fees table:
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    \18\ Nothing in this filing changes the other qualification 
criteria for these rebates. For example, a Member can still qualify 
for Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebate Tier 3 if the Member had 
between 3,000,000 and 10,000,000 displayed liquidity adding 
executions or had an NBBO Time of at least 50% in at least 250 ETPs.
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    <bullet> Tier 2: Increase the non-displayed ADV minimum from 
5,000,000 to 10,000,000 (and the maximum from 10,000,000 to 
20,000,000), in order to qualify for a $0.0010 per share rebate on 
displayed liquidity adding executions.
    <bullet> Tier 3: Increase the non-displayed ADV minimum from 
10,000,000 to 20,000,000, in order to qualify for a $0.0014 per share 
rebate on displayed liquidity adding executions.
    <bullet> Tier 5: Increase the non-displayed ADV minimum from 
15,000,000 to 30,000,000, in order to qualify for a $0.0018 per share 
rebate on displayed liquidity adding executions.
    <bullet> Tier 6: Increase the non-displayed ADV minimum from 
20,000,000 to 40,000,000, in order to qualify for a $0.0020 per share 
rebate on displayed liquidity adding executions.
    <bullet> Tier 7: Increase the non-displayed ADV minimum from 
30,000,000 to 50,000,000, in order to qualify for a $0.0023 per share 
rebate on displayed liquidity adding executions.
Incremental Fee Tiers Change
    IEX's Incremental Fee Tiers are a volume-based fee incentive 
designed to incentivize Members to increase their Incremental Fee 
eligible ADV \19\ on the Exchange. Generally, a Member qualifies for 
the reduced fee of $0.0001 per share \20\ (i.e., Incremental Fee Tier 
2) for a portion of its Incremental Fee eligible ADV \21\ in the 
current month if its Incremental non-displayed ADV \22\ exceeded its 
Baseline non-displayed ADV \23\ by at least 15,000,000. However, if a 
Member qualified for Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebate Tier 7 or Tier 8 
in the prior month, that Member would qualify for Incremental Fee Tier 
2 in the current month if its Incremental non-displayed ADV exceeded 
its Baseline non-displayed ADV by at least 10,000,000. IEX now proposes 
to standardize the threshold amount to qualify for Incremental Fee Tier 
2 by requiring all Members' Incremental non-displayed ADV to have 
exceeded their Baseline non-displayed ADV by 15,000,000.
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    \19\ ``Incremental Fee eligible ADV'' means executions with any 
of the Fee Code Combinations MI, MIB, TI, TIB, TIY, or TIYB. Unless 
otherwise specified, Incremental Fee eligible ADV refers to 
executions in the current month. See IEX Fee Schedule, supra note 7, 
Transaction Fees, Definitions.
    \20\ IEX's base rate for transactions that add or remove non-
displayed liquidity is $0.0010 per share. See IEX Fee Schedule, 
supra note 7, Transaction Fees, Base Rates table.
    \21\ The amount of Incremental Fee eligible ADV that is eligible 
for the reduced fee of $0.0001 per share is capped at the Baseline 
non-displayed ADV, unless the Member qualified for Incremental Fee 
Tier 2 for at least three immediately preceding months. See IEX Fee 
Schedule, supra note 7, footnote 6 to the Transaction Fees, Base 
Rates table and Fee Code Combinations and Associated Fees table.
    \22\ ``Incremental non-displayed ADV'' means executions in the 
immediately preceding month of Incremental Fee eligible ADV that 
exceeded the Baseline non-displayed ADV. See IEX Fee Schedule, supra 
note 7, Transaction Fees, Definitions.
    \23\ ``Baseline non-displayed ADV'' is calculated by taking the 
average of the Member's Incremental Fee eligible ADV in the three 
months with the lowest Incremental Fee eligible ADV between March 1, 
2025 and February 28, 2026. For Members that joined IEX after March 
1, 2025, the Baseline non-displayed ADV is calculated by taking the 
average of the Member's Incremental Fee eligible ADV in its first 
three full months of trading on the Exchange. See IEX Fee Schedule, 
supra note 7, Transaction Fees, Definitions.
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    To effect this change, IEX proposes modifying the second bullet in 
the Incremental Fee Tiers section of the Fee

[[Page 30357]]

Schedule to remove the text marked here with italic:
    <bullet> A Member qualifies for the Incremental Fee (i.e., 
Incremental Fee Tier 2) in the current month if its Incremental Fee 
eligible ADV in the prior month exceeded its Baseline non-displayed ADV 
by at least 15,000,000 (or by at least 10,000,000 if the Member 
qualified for Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebate Tier 7 or Tier 8).
    Additionally, IEX proposes to delete footnote ``a'' from the 
``Incremental Fee Tier Calculation Table (used by both Options 1 and 
2)'' and renumber current footnote ``b'' to now be footnote ``a.'' \24\
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    \24\ The footnote IEX proposes to delete reads in full: ``A 
Member that qualifies for either Displayed Liquidity Adding Rebate 
Tier 7 or Tier 8 (based on its prior month activity) qualifies for 
Incremental Fee Tier 2 in the current month if its prior month's 
Incremental non-displayed ADV exceeded its Baseline non-displayed 
ADV by at least 10,000,000. The below examples for Incremental Fee 
Tier Option 1 and Option 2 assume the Member did not qualify for 
Displayed Liquidity Added Rebate Tier 7 or Tier 8, and therefore the 
Member's Incremental non-displayed ADV must exceed its Baseline non-
displayed ADV by at least 15,000,000 in the prior month to qualify 
for Incremental Fee Tier 2 in the current month.''
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    Thus, IEX proposes to make the two changes described above: (1) 
increasing the non-displayed ADV minimums for five of the Displayed 
Liquidity Adding Rebate Tiers and (2) standardizing the qualification 
threshold for the Incremental Fee Tiers so that all Members must exceed 
their Baseline non-displayed ADV by at least 15,000,000 in the prior 
month in order to qualify for the reduced Incremental Fee Tier 2 fees 
in the current month. IEX is making no other changes to the Fee 
Schedule.
    As noted above, changes to the Fee Schedule pursuant to this 
proposal are effective upon filing,\25\ and will be implemented on June 
1, 2026.
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    \25\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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2. Statutory Basis
    IEX believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the 
provisions of Section 6(b) \26\ of the Act in general and furthers the 
objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) \27\ of the Act, in particular, in that 
it is designed to not be unfairly discriminatory and to provide for the 
equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges among 
its Members and other persons using its facilities.
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    \26\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \27\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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    The Exchange operates in a highly competitive market in which 
market participants can readily direct order flow to competing venues 
if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be excessive. 
Accordingly, IEX has designed these two changes to its Fee Schedule to 
encourage more trading on the Exchange while providing a fee structure 
that is fair, equitable, and not designed to permit unfair 
discrimination because they will be applied equally to all Members who 
satisfy the criteria.
    Within that context, the proposed increases to the non-displayed 
ADV minimums required to qualify for five of the Displayed Liquidity 
Adding Rebate Tiers and the standardization of the threshold volume by 
which all Members must exceed their Baseline non-displayed ADV in order 
to qualify for Incremental Fee Tier 2 are within the range of rebate 
and fee tier requirements applied by other exchanges, and thus the 
Exchange does not believe that the proposal raises any new or novel 
issues not already considered by the Commission.

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

    IEX does not believe that the proposed rule change will result in 
any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange does not believe 
that 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. As discussed in the Statutory Basis section, the 
Exchange operates in a highly competitive market in which market 
participants can readily direct order flow to competing venues if fee 
schedules at other venues are viewed as more favorable. Consequently, 
the Exchange believes that the degree to which IEX fees could impose 
any burden on competition is extremely limited and does not believe 
that such fees would burden competition between Members or competing 
venues. Moreover, as noted in the Statutory Basis section, the Exchange 
does not believe that the proposed changes raise any new or novel 
issues not already considered by the Commission.
    The Exchange does not believe that 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, while 
different fees are assessed on Members, these fees are not based on the 
type of Member entering the orders that match, but rather on the 
Member's own trading activity. Further, the proposed fee change is 
intended to encourage market participants to bring increased order flow 
to the Exchange, which benefits all market participants.

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

    Written comments were neither solicited nor 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) \28\ of the Act.
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    \28\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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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 under 
Section 19(b)(2)(B) \29\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed 
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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    \29\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of 
the following methods:

Electronic Comments

    <bullet> Use the Commission's internet comment form (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>); or
    <bullet> Send an email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#e092958c85cd838f8d8d858e9493a0938583ce878f96"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5c2e293039713f3331313932282f1c2f393f723b332a">[email&#160;protected]</span></a>. Please include 
File Number SR-IEX-2026-13 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-IEX-2026-13. 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

[[Page 30358]]

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-IEX-2026-13 and should be 
submitted on or before June 12, 2026.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\30\
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    \30\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-10244 Filed 5-21-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


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