Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Fee Schedule Regarding the Automated Improvement Mechanism (AIM) and Solicitation Auction Mechanism (SAM)

Published date19 February 2020
Citation85 FR 9489
Record Number2020-03178
SectionNotices
CourtSecurities And Exchange Commission
Federal Register, Volume 85 Issue 33 (Wednesday, February 19, 2020)
[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 19, 2020)]
                [Notices]
                [Pages 9489-9493]
                From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
                [FR Doc No: 2020-03178]
                =======================================================================
                -----------------------------------------------------------------------
                SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                [Release No. 34-88176; File No. SR-CBOE-2020-007]
                Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe Exchange, Inc.; Notice of
                Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Amend
                the Fee Schedule Regarding the Automated Improvement Mechanism (AIM)
                and Solicitation Auction Mechanism (SAM)
                February 12, 2020.
                 Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                (the ``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given
                that on January 30, 2020, Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or
                ``Cboe Options'') 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 Exchange. The
                Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the
                proposed rule change from interested persons.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                 \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
                of the Proposed Rule Change
                 Cboe Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or ``Cboe Options'') proposes
                to amend its Fees Schedule. The text of the proposed rule change is
                provided in Exhibit 5.
                 The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the
                Exchange's website (http://www.cboe.com/AboutCBOE/CBOELegalRegulatoryHome.aspx), at the Exchange's Office of the
                Secretary, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.
                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 its fees schedule in connection with
                the fees related to orders and auction responses executed in the
                Automated Improvement Mechanism (``AIM'') and Solicitation Auction
                Mechanism (``SAM'') Auctions.\3\
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \3\ The Exchange initially filed the proposed fee changes on
                December 2, 2019 (SR-CBOE-2019-112). On January 30, 2020, the
                Exchange withdrew that filing and submitted this filing.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 The Exchange first notes that it 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 or incentives to be insufficient. More specifically, the
                Exchange is only one of 16 options venues to which market participants
                may direct their order flow.
                [[Page 9490]]
                Based on publicly available information, no single options exchange has
                more than 19% of the market share.\4\ Thus, in such a low-concentrated
                and highly competitive market, no single options exchange possesses
                significant pricing power in the execution of option order flow. 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 use of certain categories of products,
                in response to fee changes. Accordingly, competitive forces constrain
                the Exchange's transaction fees, and market participants can readily
                trade on competing venues if they deem pricing levels at those other
                venues to be more favorable. In response to the competitive
                environment, the Exchange offers specific rates and credits in its fees
                schedule, like that of other options exchanges' fees schedules, which
                the Exchange believes provide incentive to Trading Permit Holders
                (``TPHs'') to increase order flow of certain qualifying orders.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \4\ See Cboe Global Markets U.S. Options Market Volume Summary
                (January 30, 2020), available at https://markets.cboe.com/us/options/market_statistics/.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 AIM and SAM include functionality in which a Trading Permit Holder
                (``TPH'') (an ``Initiating TPH'') may electronically submit for
                execution an order it represents as agent on behalf of a customer,\5\
                broker dealer, or any other person or entity (``Agency Order'') against
                any other order it represents as agent, as well as against principal
                interest in AIM only, (an ``Initiating Order'') provided it submits the
                Agency Order for electronic execution into the AIM or SAM Auctions.\6\
                The Exchange may designate any class of options traded on Cboe Options
                as eligible for AIM or SAM. The Exchange notes that all Users, other
                than the Initiating TPH, may submit responses to an Auction (``AIM
                Responses'').\7\ AIM and SAM Auctions take into account AIM Responses
                to the applicable Auction as well as contra interest resting on the
                Cboe Options Book at the conclusion of the Auction (``unrelated
                orders''), regardless of whether such unrelated orders were already
                present on the Book when the Agency Order was received by the Exchange
                or were received after the Exchange commenced the applicable Auction.
                If contracts remain from one or more unrelated orders at the time the
                Auction ends, they are considered for participation in the AIM or SAM
                order allocation process.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \5\ The term ``customer'' means a Public Customer or a broker-
                dealer. The term ``Public Customer'' means a person that is not a
                broker-dealer. See Rule 1.1.
                 \6\ See Rule 5.37 (AIM); Rule 5.39 (SAM); Rule 5.38 (Complex
                AIM); Rule 5.40 (Complex SAM); Rule 5.73 (FLEX AIM); and Rule 5.74
                (FLEX SAM).
                 \7\ For purposes of this filing and the proposed fee, the term
                ``AIM Response'' will include responses submitted to AIM and SAM
                Auctions.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 The Exchange notes that it recently updated its rules in connection
                with the AIM and SAM Auctions to permit all Users to respond to such
                Auctions; AIM responses were previously restricted to Market-Makers
                with an appointment in the applicable class and TPHs representing
                orders at the top of the Book, and SAM responses were previously
                available to all TPHs, except responses could not be submitted for the
                account of an away market-maker.\8\ Because AIM Responses were limited
                to certain market participants, the Exchange did not impose separate
                fees on Auction responders (as it did for the Auction Agency and Contra
                orders). As a result, the Exchange now proposes to adopt fee codes for
                certain AIM Responses (the ``AIM Response'' fee as proposed in the fees
                schedule, which is consistent with other AIM-specific headings and fee
                codes in the fees schedule that also encompass orders in SAM).
                Specifically, the Exchange proposes to add: (1) Fee code ``NB'', which
                would be appended to non-Customer, non-Market-Maker AIM Responses in
                penny classes and assessed a fee of $0.50 per contract; and (2) and fee
                code ``NC'', which would be appended to Non-Customer, Non-Market-Maker
                AIM Responses in non-penny classes and assessed a fee of $1.05. Non-
                Customer, non-Market-Maker orders include: Clearing Trading Permit
                Holder (``F'' Capacity Code); non-Trading Permit Holder Affiliate
                (``L'' Capacity Code); Broker-Dealer (``B'' Capacity Code); Non-Trading
                Permit Holder Market-Maker (``N'' Capacity Code); Join Back-Office
                (``J'' Capacity Code); and Professional (``U'' Capacity Code) orders.
                The Exchange also proposes to add footnote 20, which clarifies that the
                AIM Responder fee applies to AIM Responses of the aforementioned
                capacities in all products, except Sector Indexes \9\ and Underlying
                Symbol List A,\10\ executed in AIM, SAM, FLEX AIM, and FLEX SAM
                Auctions. The Exchange notes that the same FLEX AIM and FLEX SAM
                responses will be assessed the same fee, which is consistent with the
                structure of the Exchange's current fees for AIM Agency/Primary and AIM
                Contra orders, which apply uniformly to qualifying orders in AIM, SAM,
                FLEX AIM, and FLEX SAM.\11\ The Exchange further notes that excluding
                orders in Sector Indexes and Underlying Symbol List A from the proposed
                AIM Response fee is also consistent with the same exclusions under the
                structure of the Exchange's fees for AIM Agency/Primary and AIM Contra
                orders.\12\ These specific sets of proprietary products are also
                commonly excluded from a variety of fee programs, qualification
                calculations and transaction fees, including the Volume Incentive
                Program (``VIP''), the Marketing Fee, and the Clearing Trading Permit
                Holder Fee Cap (``Fee Cap'').\13\
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \8\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 87072 (September 24,
                2019), 84 FR 51673 (September 30, 2019) (SR-CBOE-2019-045); and
                Securities Exchange Act Release No. 87192 (October 1, 2019), 84 FR
                53525 (October 7, 2019) (SR-CBOE-2019-063).
                 \9\ See Cboe Exchange, Inc. Fees Schedule, footnote 47.
                 \10\ See Cboe Exchange, Inc. Fees Schedule, footnote 34.
                 \11\ See Cboe Exchange, Inc. Fees Schedule, footnotes 18 and 19.
                 \12\ Also like the structure of the Exchange's fees for AIM
                Agency/Primary and AIM Contra orders, the applicable standard
                transaction fees will continue to apply to AIM Response orders in
                Sector Indexes and Underlying Symbol List A. The Exchange notes this
                in proposed footnote 20.
                 \13\ See Cboe Exchange, Inc. Fees Schedule, ``Volume Incentive
                Program'' table and footnote 36, ``Marketing Fee'' table, and
                ``Clearing Trading Permit Holder Fee Cap'' table and footnote 11,
                respectively.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Additionally, in light of the proposed fee, the Exchange also
                proposes to exclude non-Customer, non-Market-Maker AIM Responses from
                the Complex Surcharge, described in footnote 35. The Complex Surcharge
                is assessed per contract per side for non-customer complex order
                executions that remove liquidity from the Complex Order Book (``COB'')
                and auction responses in the Complex Order Auction (``COA'') and AIM in
                all classes except Sector Indexes and Underlying Symbol List A.
                 The Exchange also proposes to adopt Break-Up Credits, applicable to
                Customer Agency orders when traded against a qualifying AIM response
                (yielding fee code NB or NC, as proposed). Specifically, the Exchange
                proposes a Break-Up Credit of $0.25 per contract with respect to a
                Customer Agency order in a Penny Pilot Class and a Break-Up Credit of
                $0.60 per contract with respect to a Customer Agency order in a Non-
                Penny Pilot Class.
                 The proposed AIM Responder fees for non-Customer, non-Market-Maker
                AIM Responses, which covers the market participants recently permitted
                to respond to Auctions, are designed as an additional incentive for
                Market-Makers to increase their responses to AIM and SAM Auctions.
                Prior to opening up the Auctions to all market participants, Market-
                Makers were naturally
                [[Page 9491]]
                incentivized to respond to Auctions as they were the exclusive (or
                among the exclusive) market participants permitted to submit responses.
                Therefore, the Exchange believes the proposed AIM Responder fees for
                non-Customer, non-Market-Maker responses will encourage Market-Makers
                to continue to respond to Auctions and compete to provide price
                improvement in a competitive auction process, thus contributing to a
                deeper, more liquid auction process with additional execution
                opportunities which benefits all market participants. Likewise, the
                Exchange believes the proposed Break-Up Credits will encourage Customer
                order flow to Auctions. Increased Customer order flow benefits all
                market participants because it continues to attract liquidity to the
                Exchange by providing more trading opportunities. This attracts Market-
                Makers and other liquidity providers, thus, facilitating price
                improvement in the auction process, signaling additional corresponding
                increase in order flow from other market participants, and, as a
                result, contributing towards a robust, well-balanced market ecosystem.
                2. Statutory Basis
                 The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
                with Section 6 of the Act,\14\ in general, and furthers the
                requirements of Section 6(b)(4),\15\ in particular, as it is designed
                to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and
                other charges among its facilities and does not unfairly discriminate
                between customers, issuers, brokers or dealers. As stated above, 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 or incentives to
                be insufficient. The proposed fee changes reflect a competitive pricing
                structure designed to incentivize market participants to direct their
                order flow to the Exchange's price improvement Auctions, which the
                Exchange believes would enhance market quality to the benefit of all
                TPHs.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
                 \15\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 The Exchange believes that its proposed adoption of fees for non-
                Customer, non-Market-Maker responses and Break-Up Credits for Customer
                Agency orders is consistent with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act in that the
                proposal is reasonable, equitable and not unfairly discriminatory.
                Also, as noted above, the Exchange operates in highly competitive
                market. The Exchange is only one of several options venues to which
                market participants may direct their order flow, and it represents a
                small percentage of the overall market. The Exchange believes that the
                proposed fees are reasonable, equitable, and not unfairly
                discriminatory in that competing options exchanges,\16\ including the
                Exchange's affiliated options exchanges,\17\ offer substantially the
                same fees and credits in connection with similar price improvement
                auctions, as the Exchange now proposes.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \16\ See MIAX Options Fee Schedule, Section 1(a)(v), ``MIAX
                Price Improvement Mechanism (``PRIME'') Fees, which assesses a fee
                of $0.50 (Penny Classes) and $0.99 (non-Penny Classes) for PRIME
                responses, and offers a break-up credit of $0.25 (Penny Classes) and
                $0.60 (non-Penny Classes) for PRIME Agency orders; see also NYSE
                American Options Fee Schedule, Section I(G), ``CUBE Auction Fees and
                Credits'', which assesses a fee of $0.50 (Penny Classes) and $0.99
                (non-Penny Classes) for CUBE (its Customer Best Execution Auction)
                responses, and offers a break-up credit of $0.25 (Penny Classes) and
                $0.60 (non-Penny Classes) for PRIME Agency orders, and an Initiating
                Participant Credit (akin to an Agency Order) of $0.30 (Penny Pilot)
                and $0.70 (non-Penny Pilot).
                 \17\ See EDGX Options Exchange Fee Schedule, ``Fee Codes and
                Associated Fees'', fee code BD is appended to AIM Responder Penny
                Pilot orders and is assessed a fee of $0.50 per share, and fee code
                BE is appended to AIM Responder Non-Penny Pilot orders and is
                assessed a fee of $1.05 per share; and ``AIM Break-Up Credits'',
                which offers a credit of $0.25 for AIM Agency Orders in Penny Pilot
                securities and $0.60 for such orders in non-Penny Pilot securities.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 The Exchange believes that it is reasonable to assess a fee for
                non-Customer, non-Market-Maker AIM Responses because it is reasonably
                designed to incentivize Market-Makers to continue to respond, and
                potentially increase their responses, to AIM and SAM Auctions in light
                of the recent opening of the Auctions to other market participants not
                previously permitted to respond to such Auctions. The Exchange believes
                that encouraging increased Market-Maker order flow will increase
                liquidity and Auction execution and price improvement opportunities to
                the benefit of all participants. Deepening the Exchange's liquidity
                pool and offering additional opportunities enables all investors to
                enjoy cost savings, supporting the quality of price discovery,
                promoting market transparency and improving investor protection. The
                Exchange believes excluding non-Customer, non-Market-Maker AIM Reponses
                from the Complex Surcharge is reasonable as such market participants
                will not be assessed the extra surcharge. The Exchange also notes that
                auction responses in COA and AIM are currently capped at $0.50 per
                contract for non-customer complex orders in Penny classes (which
                includes the applicable transaction fee, Complex Surcharge and
                Marketing Fee (if applicable)).\18\ As such, given the proposed fee for
                AIM Responses is $0.50 per contract, the Complex Surcharge would, in
                effect, not be assessed for non-customer, non-Market-Maker complex
                orders in Penny classes. The Exchange also notes that other types of
                orders are currently excluded from the Complex Surcharge.\19\
                Similarly, the Exchange believes that applying a Break-Up Credit to
                Customer Agency orders is a reasonable means to encourage Customer
                order flow to Exchange Auctions. As stated, increased Customer order
                flow provides continued liquidity to the Exchange, in that it provides
                additional transaction opportunities which attract Market-Makers and
                other liquidity providers (by means of both unrelated orders and
                responses in connection with the Auctions), thus facilitating price
                improvement and signals an increase in additional order flow from other
                market participants. In turn, these increases benefit all market
                participants by contributing towards a robust and well-balanced market
                ecosystem.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \18\ See Cboe Options Fees Schedule, Footnote 35.
                 \19\ See e.g. Cboe Options Fees Schedule, Footnote 35. Stock-
                option orders are currently excluded from the Complex Surcharge.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 The Exchange also believes that the proposed fees in connection
                with AIM Responses and Customer Agency orders does not represent a
                significant departure from the fees and credits rebates currently
                offered under the fees schedule for these market participants. For
                example, under the existing fees schedule orders with F and L Capacity
                Codes are assessed a fee of $0.43 per contract in Penny Classes and
                $0.70 per contract in non-Penny Classes, while orders with B, N, U, or
                J Capacity Codes are assessed a fee of $0.47 per contract in Penny
                Classes and $0.75 per contract in non-Penny Classes. Additionally,
                under the existing ``Volume Incentive Program'', Customer orders may
                receive credits ranging from $0.09 to $0.24 per contract executed in
                AIM.
                 The Exchange also believes that the proposed fees are equitable and
                not unfairly discriminatory because the proposed fee for AIM Responses
                will apply equally to all non-Customer, non-Market-Maker responses,
                i.e. all such TPHs will be assessed the same amount. Similarly, the
                exclusion of AIM Responses from the Complex Surcharge is equitable and
                not unfairly discriminatory as it applies equally to all non-Customer,
                non-Market-Maker responses.
                [[Page 9492]]
                 The Exchange also believes that continuing to not assess a fee
                applicable to Market-Maker responses other than the applicable standard
                transaction fee is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because
                Market-Makers are already subject to certain other transaction fees not
                otherwise applicable to other market participants. In particular, in
                addition to Market-Maker-specific standard transaction fees,\20\
                Market-Makers are also currently assessed a marketing fee of $0.25 in
                Penny Pilot classes and $0.70 in all other classes on certain
                transactions resulting from customer orders,\21\ including qualifying
                orders submitted as AIM Responses. Further, Market-Makers, unlike other
                market participants, take on a number of obligations, including quoting
                obligations that other market participants do not have, as well as
                added market making and regulatory requirements, which normally do not
                apply to other market participants. For example, Market-Makers have
                obligations to maintain continuous markets, engage in a course of
                dealings reasonably calculated to contribute to the maintenance of a
                fair and orderly market, and to not make bids or offers or enter into
                transactions that are inconsistent with a course of dealing.
                Additionally, the Exchange notes that Market-Makers (with an
                appointment in the applicable class) may not submit solicited orders
                into an AIM Auction; \22\ this restriction does not apply to Firm
                orders. As stated, the Exchange also recognizes that Market-Makers are
                the primary liquidity providers in the options markets, and
                particularly, during AIM auctions. Thus, the Exchange believes Market-
                Makers provide the most accurate prices reflective of the true state of
                the market and are primarily responsible for encouraging more
                aggressive quoting and superior price improvement during an AIM
                Auction. As a result, the Exchange believes it is important to continue
                to incent Market-Makers to actively participate in such auctions by
                means of continuing to assess no fee other than the current applicable
                standard transaction fees for Market-Maker AIM Response orders.
                Increased Market-Maker liquidity also increases trading opportunities
                and signals to other participants to increase their order flow, which
                benefits all market participants.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \20\ See Cboe Options Fees Schedule, ``SPX Liquidity Provider
                Sliding Scale'' table; ``Liquidity Provider Sliding Scale'' table;
                and ``Liquidity Provider Sliding Scale Adjustment Table''.
                 \21\ That is, Market-Maker orders that execute against customer
                orders.
                 \22\ This is also true for SAM Auctions. See Rule 5.39.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 Likewise, the Exchange believes that providing a Break-Up Credit
                for Customer Agency orders is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory
                because the proposed Break-Up Credit will apply equally to all Customer
                Agency orders that execute in an Auction against qualifying responses.
                The Exchange notes that while Customer Agency orders will receive the
                Break-Up Credit, as opposed to other Agency orders, the Exchange
                believes that this application of the credit is equitable and not
                unfairly discriminatory because, as stated above, Customer order flow
                enhances liquidity on the Exchange, in turn providing more trading
                opportunities and attracting other market participants, thus,
                facilitating tighter spreads, increased order flow and trading
                opportunities to the benefit of all market participants. Moreover, the
                options industry has a long history of providing preferential pricing
                to Customers, and the Exchange's current fees schedule currently does
                so in many places, as do the fees structures of multiple other
                exchanges.\23\
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \23\ See MIAX Options Fee Schedule, Section 1(a)(v), ``MIAX
                Price Improvement Mechanism (``PRIME'') Fees, and NYSE American
                Options Fee Schedule, Section I(G), ``CUBE Auction Fees and
                Credits'', each of which assesses a lower transaction fee for
                customer orders than that of other market participants for
                executions in their respective auctions.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                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 intramarket or intermarket competition that is not
                necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
                Rather, as discussed above, the Exchange believes that the proposed
                change would encourage the submission of additional liquidity to price
                improvement auctions of a public exchange, thereby promoting market
                depth, price discovery and transparency and enhancing order execution
                and price improvement opportunities for all TPHs. As a result, the
                Exchange believes that the proposed change furthers the Commission's
                goal in adopting Regulation NMS of fostering competition among orders,
                which promotes ``more efficient pricing of individual stocks for all
                types of orders, large and small.'' \24\
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \24\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808, 70 FR 37495,
                37498-99 (June 29, 2005) (S7-10-04) (Final Rule).
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 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 the
                proposed changes will apply uniformly to all non-Customer, non-Market-
                Maker responses and to all Customer Agency orders, respectively. As
                described above, different market participants have different
                circumstances, such as the fact that Market-Makers have marketing fees
                (which apply to qualifying transactions in AIM auctions) and other
                Market-Maker-specific transaction fees, as well as quoting obligations
                and restrictions within an AIM Auction that other market participants
                do not have. Market-Makers have also recently lost their exclusive
                Auction response incentive. Additionally, the Exchange notes the fact
                that preferential pricing to Customers is a long-standing options
                industry practice. The proposed fee changes serve to enhance Market-
                Maker and Customer order flow to the Exchange's Auctions, which, as a
                result, facilitates increased liquidity and execution opportunities to
                the benefit of all market participants. In addition to this, the
                Exchange notes that it currently assesses similar fees for certain non-
                Customer, non-Market-Maker orders and similar credits for certain
                Customer orders.
                 The Exchange also does not believe that the proposed fees will
                impose any burden on intermarket competition that is not necessary or
                appropriate in furtherance of the Act because, as noted above,
                competing options exchanges,\25\ including the Exchange's affiliated
                options exchange,\26\ currently have substantially similar fees in
                place in connection with similar price improvement auctions.
                Additionally, and as previously discussed, the Exchange operates in a
                highly competitive market. TPHs have numerous alternative venues that
                they may participate on and direct their order flow, including 15 other
                options exchanges, many of which offer substantially similar price
                improvement auctions. Based on publicly available information, no
                single options exchange has more than 19% of the market share.\27\
                Therefore, no exchange possesses significant pricing power in the
                execution of option order flow. Indeed, participants can readily choose
                to send their orders to other exchange, and, additionally off-exchange
                venues, if they deem fee levels at those other venues to be more
                favorable. Moreover, the Commission has repeatedly expressed its
                preference for competition over regulatory intervention in
                [[Page 9493]]
                determining prices, products, and services in the securities markets.
                Specifically, 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.'' \28\ The fact that this market is competitive has also
                long been recognized by the courts. In NetCoalition v. Securities and
                Exchange Commission, the D.C. Circuit stated as follows: ``[n]o one
                disputes that competition for order flow is `fierce.' . . . As the SEC
                explained, `[i]n the U.S. national market system, buyers and sellers of
                securities, and the broker-dealers that act as their order-routing
                agents, have a wide range of choices of where to route orders for
                execution'; [and] `no exchange can afford to take its market share
                percentages for granted' because `no exchange possesses a monopoly,
                regulatory or otherwise, in the execution of order flow from broker
                dealers'. . . .''.\29\ Accordingly, the Exchange does not believe its
                proposed fee change imposes any burden on competition that is not
                necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \25\ See supra note 13.
                 \26\ See supra note 14.
                 \27\ See supra note 3.
                 \28\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9,
                2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005).
                 \29\ NetCoalition v. SEC, 615 F.3d 525, 539 (D.C. Cir. 2010)
                (quoting Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59039 (December 2,
                2008), 73 FR 74770, 74782-83 (December 9, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2006-
                21)).
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
                Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others
                 The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on the
                proposed rule change.
                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) of the Act \30\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \31\
                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 interest, for the protection of investors, or
                otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. If the Commission
                takes such action, the Commission will institute proceedings to
                determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or
                disapproved.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \30\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
                 \31\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                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
                 Use the Commission's internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
                 Send an email to [email protected]. Please include
                File Number SR-CBOE-2020-007 on the subject line.
                Paper Comments
                 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-CBOE-2020-007. 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 (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml).
                Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written
                statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with
                the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed
                rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those
                that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions
                of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for website viewing and printing in
                the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
                20549, on official business days between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and
                3:00 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection
                and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments
                received will be posted without change. Persons submitting comments are
                cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying
                information from comment submissions. You should submit only
                information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions
                should refer to File Number SR-CBOE-2020-007 and should be submitted on
                or before March 11, 2020.
                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                 \32\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
                 For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
                pursuant to delegated authority.\32\
                J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
                Assistant Secretary.
                [FR Doc. 2020-03178 Filed 2-18-20; 8:45 am]
                BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
                

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT