[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1771-1772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-315]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-66104; File No. SR-NYSEAmex-2011-107]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Amex LLC; Notice of Filing
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Amending Its Price
List Changing the Monthly Fees for the Use of Ports That Provide
Connectivity to Its Equity Trading Systems
January 5, 2012.
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 December 30, 2011, NYSE Amex LLC (``NYSE Amex'' or the
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``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 amend its Price List to change the monthly
fees for the use of ports that provide connectivity to its equity
trading systems. The text of the proposed rule change is available at
the Exchange's principal office, at http://www.nyse.com, at the
Commission's Public Reference Room, and at the Commission's Web site at
http://www.sec.gov.
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, 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
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend its Price List to change the monthly
fees for the use of ports that provide connectivity to its equity
trading systems.
Currently, the monthly fee for ports is $100 per pair per month up
to five pairs, then $500 for each additional five pairs.\3\ For
example, the fee for seven pairs of ports is $1,000 per month. Billing
for ports is based on the number of ports on the third business day
prior to the end of the month. The level of activity with respect to a
particular port does not affect the assessment of monthly fees, so even
if a particular port that is available to a participant is not used,
the participant is still billed for that port.
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\3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 63072 (October 7,
2010), 75 FR 64368 (October 19, 2010) (SR-NYSEAmex-2010-97) (the
``Adopting Release'').
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The Exchanges proposes that the new fee would be $300 per pair per
month up to five pairs, then $1,500 for each additional five pairs. For
example, the fee for seven pairs of ports would be $3,000 per month.
The Exchange notes that billing for ports would continue to be based on
the number of ports on the third business day prior to the end of the
month. In addition, the level of activity with respect to a particular
port would still not affect the assessment of monthly fees, so even if
a participant does not use a particular port that is available to the
participant, the participant would still be billed for that port.
[[Page 1772]]
Finally, as stated in the Adopting Release,\4\ the port fee is
charged per participant. The Exchange proposes to clarify in the Price
List that per participant means per member organization for purposes of
the port fees.\5\
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\4\ See supra note 4.
\5\ The Exchange has a Common Customer Gateway (``CCG'') that
accesses the equity trading systems that it shares with its
affiliates, New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE'') and NYSE Arca,
Inc. (``NYSE Arca''), and all ports connect to the CCG. See, e.g.,
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 64543 (May 25, 2011), 76 FR
31667 (June 1, 2011) (SR-NYSEAmex-2011-20). In the instance when an
NYSE Amex member organization is also an NYSE member organization
and it shares its ports, the same member is charged port fees based
on the total number of ports connected to the CCG, whether they are
used to trade on the Exchange, NYSE, or both because those trading
systems are integrated. The NYSE Arca Equities trading platform is
not integrated in the same manner; therefore, it does not share its
ports with the Exchange or NYSE. An NYSE Arca ETP Holder is charged
for each ETP identifier it uses to access the NYSE Arca Equities
trading systems via a port connected to the CCG.
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The Exchange proposes to make the rule change operative on January
1, 2012.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with Section 6(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
``Act''),\6\ in general, and Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,\7\ in
particular, in that it is designed to provide for the equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among its
members and other persons using its facilities. The Exchange believes
that the proposal constitutes an equitable allocation of fees, as all
similarly situated member organizations and other market participants
would be charged the same amount. In addition, access to the Exchange's
market would be offered on fair and non-discriminatory terms.
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\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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With respect to the increase in port fees, the proposed fee
increase for ports is expected to offset increasing connectivity costs,
including additional costs based on gateway software and hardware
enhancements and resources dedicated to gateway development, quality
assurance, and support. The Exchange believes that its fees are
competitive with those charged by other venues, and that, in some
cases, its fee for port connectivity is less expensive than many of its
primary competitors.\8\
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\8\ See, e.g., NASDAQ OMX Price List--Trading & Connectivity,
available at http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=PriceListTrading2. The Exchange notes that the charge
for connectivity to Nasdaq's NY-Metro and Mid-Atlantic Datacenters
is $500 per port pair/month (there is a separate charge for their
Pre-Trade Risk Management ports which fees are capped at $25,000).
See e.g., BZX Exchange Fee Schedule, available at http://www.batstrading.com/FeeSchedule. The Exchange notes that BZX charges
$400 per month per pair (primary and secondary data center) of any
logical port other than a Multicast PITCH Spin Server Port or GRP
Port, but does provide multicast PITCH customers 12 free pairs of
Multicast PITCH Spin Server Ports, and, if such ports are used, one
free pair of GRP Ports; $400.00 per month per additional set of 12
pairs of Multicast PITCH Spin Server Ports or additional pair of GRP
Ports. However, the Multicast PITCH Spin Server Ports and GRP ports
relate to market data dissemination while the proposed port fee
charge relates to connectivity to the Exchange, therefore the
proposed fee change will still be lower to the equivalent BZX port
fee charge of $400 per month per pair for a logical port.
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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.
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) \9\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-
4 \10\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other charge
imposed by the NYSE Amex.
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\9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\10\ 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.
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-NYSEAmex-2011-107 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEAmex-2011-107. 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 Web site (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 Web site 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
a.m. and 3 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; the Commission does
not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEAmex-2011-107 and should
be submitted on or before February 1, 2012.
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\11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-315 Filed 1-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P