Notice2026-16101
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE American LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Modify the NYSE American Options Fee Schedule To Amend the Manual Billable Rebate Program and Add a Credit Under the Firm Monthly Fee Cap
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
August 7, 2026
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 151 (Friday, August 7, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 151 (Friday, August 7, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 51196-51199]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-16101]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-106036; File No. SR-NYSEAMER-2026-71]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE American LLC; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Modify
the NYSE American Options Fee Schedule To Amend the Manual Billable
Rebate Program and Add a Credit Under the Firm Monthly Fee Cap
August 4, 2026.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 (``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby given
that, on July 31, 2026, NYSE American LLC (``NYSE American'' or the
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II
below, which Items have been prepared by the self-regulatory
organization. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit
comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
\3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to modify the NYSE American Options Fee
Schedule (``Fee Schedule'') to amend the Manual Billable Rebate Program
that is part of the Floor Broker Fixed Cost Prepayment Incentive
Program (the ``FB Prepay Program'') and to add a credit under the Firm
Monthly Fee Cap. The Exchange proposes implementing the fee changes
effective August 3, 2026. The proposed rule change is available on the
Exchange's website at <a href="http://www.nyse.com">www.nyse.com</a> and at the principal office of the
Exchange.
II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization
included statements concerning the purpose of,
[[Page 51197]]
and basis for, the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it
received on the proposed rule change. The text of those statements may
be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has
prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the
most significant parts of such statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to modify the Fee Schedule to amend the
Manual Billable Rebate Program.\4\ Specifically, the Exchange proposes
a non-substantive name change of the program to ``Manual Billable
Program'' and eliminate certain additional rebates available thereunder
and replace them with a bonus. In addition, the Exchange proposes to
add a Floor Broker credit under the Firm Monthly Fee Cap. The Exchange
proposes implementing the fee changes effective August 3, 2026.\5\
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\4\ See Fee Schedule Section III.E.I.
\5\ The Exchange originally filed to amend the Fee Schedule on
June 1, 2026 (SR-NYSEAMER-2026-48). SR-NYSEAMER-2026-48 was
withdrawn on July 7, 2026 and replaced by SR-NYSEAMER-2026-61. SR-
NYSEAMER-2026-61 was withdrawn on July 20, 2026, and replaced SR-
NYSEAMER-2026-67. SR-NYSEAMER-2026-67 was withdrawn on August 3,
2026 and replaced by this filing.
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Manual Billable Program \6\
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\6\ Currently referred to on the Fee Schedule as the ``Manual
Billable Rebate Program.'' See Fee Schedule Section III.E.1. The
Exchange proposes a non-substantive change renaming the program
``Manual Billable Program'' and use it throughout the Fee Schedule
(see also proposed Fee Schedule Sections I.F, footnote, and
III.E.1).
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The Manual Billable Program, to which the Exchange proposes to
change the name from the ``Manual Billable Rebate Program,'' is
available to participants as part of the FB Prepay Program, which is an
incentive program that allows Floor Brokers that prepay certain of
their annual Eligible Fixed Costs to be eligible for the Manual
Billable Program.\7\ Floor Brokers that participate in the FB Prepay
Program are eligible for rebates through the Manual Billable Program
payable monthly on transactions for which at least one side is subject
to manual transaction fees on a monthly basis.
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\7\ See Fee Schedule, Section III.E.1.
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Under the Manual Billable Program, participants qualify for rebates
by achieving certain billable manual volume. The calculation of volume
on which rebates earned through the Manual Billable Program would be
paid is based on transactions including at least one side for which
manual transaction fees are applicable and unless otherwise indicated
excludes QCCs. Under the Manual Billable Program, Participating Floor
Brokers are entitled to additional rebates, including rebates of: (i)
$0.01 per manual billable side; and (ii) $0.01 per two billable side
QCC contract, payable back to the first billable side if they exceed,
by 2 million combined manual billable and QCC billable contracts, the
execution of more than 5 million combined billable and QCC billable
contracts by at least 100%.\8\
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\8\ Id.
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The Exchange proposes to eliminate these two additional rebates and
replace them with a bonus. Specifically, participants in the FB Prepay
Program that execute a combined manual billable and QCC billable
contracts exceeding 5 million by at least 100% are eligible for a bonus
of ($0.01) per two billable side QCC contract, payable back to the
first billable side for participants.\9\ In addition, participants
eligible for this bonus will be eligible for a credit under the Firm
Monthly Fee Cap of Section I.I (detailed below).
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\9\ See Proposed Fee Schedule, Section III.E.1.
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Floor Broker Credit
The Firm Monthly Fee Cap aggregates the fees associated with Firm
Manual transactions (including QCC transactions) and caps them at
$250,000 per month per Firm. Once a Firm has reached the Firm Monthly
Fee Cap, an incremental service fee of $0.02 per contract for Firm
Manual transactions applies, including for the execution of a QCC
order. Any fee or volume associated with a Strategy Execution described
in Section I.J., (e.g., reversal and conversion, box spread, short
stock interest spread, merger spread and jelly roll) is not counted
toward the $250,000 cap. Royalty Fees are charged at the rates
described in Section I. K., and do not count toward the $250,000 fee
cap.\10\
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\10\ See Fee Schedule, Section I.I.
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The Exchange now proposes to include a credit for Floor Brokers who
have reached the Firm Monthly Fee Cap and are eligible for the bonus
under the Manual Billable Program (detailed above).\11\ Eligible Floor
Brokers will earn a credit on volume associated with Strategy
Executions at the rate equal to the total rate achieved in the Manual
Billable Program less $0.01 per billable side.\12\ The proposed change
is intended to incentivize Floor Brokers to continue to direct their
strategic executions to the Exchange, thereby increasing liquidity to
the benefit of all market participants, by providing a credit for the
execution of volume associated with Strategy Executions.
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\11\ See proposed Fee Schedule, Section III.E.1.
\12\ See proposed Fee Schedule, Section I.I.
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The Exchange believes that the proposed credit is reasonably
designed to incent Floor Brokers to increase activity associated with
Strategy Executions on the Exchange. Any increase in trading volume
would create more trading opportunities for all market participants and
would in turn attract additional order flow to the Exchange, further
contributing to a deeper, more liquid market to the benefit of all
market participants.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with Section 6(b) of the Act,\13\ in general, and furthers the
objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) and (5) of the Act.\14\ In particular,
because it provides for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees, and other charges among its members, issuers and other persons
using its facilities and does not unfairly discriminate between
customers, issuers, brokers or dealers.
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\13\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) & (5).
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The Proposed Rule Change is Reasonable
The Exchange is subject to significant competitive forces in the
market for options securities transaction services that constrain its
pricing determinations in that market. The Commission has repeatedly
expressed its preference for competition over regulatory intervention
in determining prices, products, and services in the securities
markets. In Regulation NMS, the Commission highlighted the importance
of market forces in determining prices and SRO revenues and, also,
recognized that current regulation of the market system ``has been
remarkably successful in promoting market competition in its broader
forms that are most important to investors and listed companies.'' \15\
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\15\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005) (S7-10-04) (``Reg NMS
Adopting Release'').
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There are currently 18 registered options exchanges competing for
order flow. Based on publicly available information and, excluding
index-based options, no single exchange has more than 16% of the market
share of executed volume of multiply-listed equity and ETF options
trades.\16\
[[Page 51198]]
Therefore, currently no exchange possesses significant pricing power in
the execution of multiply-listed equity and ETF options order flow.
More specifically, in April 2026, the Exchange had 11.20% market share
of executed volume of multiply-listed equity and ETF options order
flow. In such a low concentrated and highly competitive market, no
single options exchange possesses significant pricing power in the
execution of option order flow.
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\16\ The OCC publishes options and futures volume in a variety
of formats, including daily and monthly volume by exchange,
available at: <a href="https://www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-Data-Reports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/Monthly-Weekly-Volume-Statistics">https://www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-Data-Reports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/Monthly-Weekly-Volume-Statistics</a>.
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The Exchange believes that the ever-shifting market share among the
exchanges from month to month demonstrates that market participants can
shift order flow or discontinue or reduce use of certain categories of
products, in response to fee changes. Accordingly, competitive forces
constrain options exchange transaction fees. In response to this
competitive marketplace, the Exchange proposes to continue its Manual
Billable Program with tailored modifications and to adopt a Floor
Broker credit as part of the Firm Monthly Fee Cap because it would
incentivize Floor Brokers to direct additional Strategy Executions
Manual orders to the Exchange, thereby creating more trading
opportunities on the Trading Floor for all market participants. Greater
liquidity benefits all market participants on the Exchange and
increased order flow would increase opportunities for execution of
other trading interest.
The Proposed Rule Change Is an Equitable Allocation of Credits and Fees
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change provides for
the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges
among its members, issuers and other persons using its facilities. In
addition, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change does not
unfairly discriminate between customers, issuers, brokers or dealers
because the program will continue to encourage Floor Brokers to
participate in the FB Prepay Program and to provide liquidity on the
Exchange. Thus, the modifications will promote trading opportunities
and competition on the Floor to the benefit of all market participants.
In addition, the proposal is designed to incent participation on
the Trading Floor in an effort to make the Exchange a primary execution
venue and to attract more manual transactions to the Exchange. To the
extent that the proposed change attracts more Floor Broker orders to
the Exchange, this increased order flow would continue to make the
Exchange a more competitive venue for, among other things, order
execution. Thus, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change would
improve market quality for all market participants on the Exchange and,
as a consequence, attract more order flow to the Exchange thereby
improving market-wide quality and price discovery.
The Exchange also believes the proposed rule change is an equitable
allocation of its fees and credits because the proposed bonus and
credit are based on the amount and type of business transacted on the
Exchange and Floor Brokers can try to earn the proposed bonus and
credit, or not. The Exchange also believes that the proposed change is
an equitable allocation of credits and fees because it is intended to
support Floor Brokers' role in facilitating the execution of Manual
orders, which function benefits all market participants on the Trading
Floor.
Moreover, the proposal is designed to incent participation on the
Trading Floor to make the Exchange a primary execution venue and to
attract more transactions to the Exchange. To the extent that the
proposed change attracts more Floor Broker orders to the Exchange, this
increased order flow would continue to make the Exchange a more
competitive venue for, among other things, order execution. Thus, the
Exchange believes the proposed rule change would improve market quality
for all market participants on the Exchange and, accordingly, attract
more order flow to the Exchange thereby improving market-wide quality
and price discovery.
Finally, the modifications continue the equitable allocation of
reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among its members, issuers and
other persons using its facilities and does not unfairly discriminate
between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers. The proposed changes
take into account that the Exchange operates in a highly competitive
market and that it must, therefore, continually adjust its fees and
rebates to remain competitive with other exchanges and to attract order
flow to the Exchange. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule
change reflects this competitive environment.
The Proposed Rule Change Is Not Unfairly Discriminatory
The Exchange also believes that the proposed bonus and credit are
not unfairly discriminatory, as they would apply equally to all Floor
Brokers participating in the Manual Billable Program, which benefits
all market participants. The Exchange further believes that the
proposed bonus available to Floor Brokers is not unfairly
discriminatory to other market participants because it is intended to
encourage the role performed by Floor Brokers in facilitating the
execution of orders via open outcry, a function which the Exchange
wishes to support for the benefit of all market participants.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act, the Exchange does
not believe that the proposed rule change would impose any burden on
competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the
purposes of the Act.
Intramarket Competition. The proposed modification to the Manual
Billable Program and Floor Broker credit are designed to continue to
attract order flow to the Exchange by offering Floor Brokers an
incentive to continue to direct their order flow to the Exchange,
thereby increasing liquidity to the benefit of all market participants.
In addition, the proposed Floor Broker credit and modifications to
the Manual Billable Program would apply equally to all similarly
situated market participants. To the extent that the Floor Broker
credit imposes an additional competitive burden on non-Floor Brokers,
the Exchange believes that any such burden is outweighed by the fact
that Floor Brokers serve an important function in facilitating the
execution of orders and price discovery for all market participants.
Intermarket Competition. The Exchange operates in a highly
competitive market in which market participants can readily favor one
of the other 17 competing option exchanges if they deem fee levels at a
particular venue to be excessive. In such an environment, the Exchange
must continually adjust its fees to remain competitive with other
exchanges and to attract order flow to the Exchange. Based on publicly
available information, and excluding index-based options, no single
exchange has more than 16% of the market share of executed volume of
multiply listed equity and ETF options trades. Therefore, currently no
exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution of
multiply listed equity and ETF options order flow. More specifically,
in April 2026, the Exchange had 11.20% market share of executed volume
of multiply listed equity and ETF options order flow.
The proposed Floor Broker bonus and credit are designed to continue
to incentivize Floor Brokers to provide liquidity and to attract order
flow to the Exchange associated with strategy
[[Page 51199]]
executions on the Exchange. To the extent that the proposed change
attracts more Floor Broker orders to the Exchange, this increased order
flow would continue to make the Exchange a more competitive venue for,
among other things, order execution. Thus, the Exchange believes the
proposed rule change would improve market quality for all market
participants on the Exchange and, as a consequence, attract more order
flow to the Exchange thereby improving market-wide quality and price
discovery.
In addition, to the extent the proposed credit incents Floor
Brokers to continue facilitating transactions on the Exchange, all
market participants should benefit from increased liquidity, and
increased order flow on the Exchange, which would continue to make the
Exchange a more competitive venue for order execution, thus supporting
market quality for all market participants.
Similarly, the Exchange believes that modification to the Manual
Billable Program would not affect intermarket competition. As noted
above, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive market in which
the Exchange must continually adjust its fees and rebates to remain
competitive with other exchanges and to attract order flow to the
Exchange. The Exchange believes that the proposed change reflects this
competitive environment.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the
proposed rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change is effective upon filing pursuant to
Section 19(b)(3)(A) \17\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule
19b-4 \18\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other
charge imposed by the Exchange.
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\17\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\18\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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At any time within 60 days of the filing of such proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may temporarily suspend such rule
change if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or
otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings under
Section 19(b)(2)(B) \19\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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\19\ 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#e193948d84cc828e8c8c848f9592a1928482cf868e97"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="6a181f060f47090507070f041e192a190f09440d051c">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-NYSEAMER-2026-71 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-NYSEAMER-2026-71. 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-NYSEAMER-2026-71 and should be submitted
on or before August 28, 2026.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\20\
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\20\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2026-16101 Filed 8-6-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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