[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 171 (Tuesday, September 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53951-53952]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-21680]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-67742; File No. SR-EDGA-2012-37]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGA Exchange, Inc.; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Relating to
Amendments to the EDGA Exchange, Inc. Fee Schedule
August 28, 2012.
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 August 22, 2012 the EDGA Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or
``EDGA'') 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 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\ 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 fees and rebates applicable to
Members \3\ and non-Members of the Exchange pursuant to EDGA Rule
15.1(a) and (c). All of the changes described herein are applicable to
EDGA Members and non-Members. The text of the proposed rule change is
available on the Exchange's Internet Web site at http://www.directedge.com, at the Exchange's principal office, and at the
Public Reference Room of the Commission.
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\3\ A Member is any registered broker or dealer, or any person
associated with a registered broker or dealer, that has been
admitted to membership in the Exchange.
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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 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 maintains logical ports for order entry (FIX, HP-API),
drop copies (DROP), and market data (collectively, ``DIRECT Logical
Ports'').\4\ The Exchange proposes to reduce the quantity of free
DIRECT Logical Ports from ten (10) sessions to five (5) sessions.
Therefore, the Exchange will assess a monthly fee per logical port for
Members and non-Members that maintain six or more DIRECT Logical Ports.
Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to amend its fee schedule to reduce
the quantity of free DIRECT Logical Ports from ten sessions to five
sessions. In addition, the Exchange, pursuant to an information
circular dated July 20, 2012, communicated to Members and non-Members
that the Exchange would propose these changes in a subsequent filing
with the Securities and Exchange Commission.\5\
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\4\ See Securities and Exchange Act Release No. 64964 (July 26,
2011), 76 FR 45898 (August 1, 2011) (SR-EDGA-2011-22) (discussing
the Exchange's proposal to include logical ports that receive market
data among the types of logical ports that the Exchange assesses a
monthly fee to Members and non-Members).
\5\ See Direct Edge Notice to Members 12-28, Reduction
in Number of Free Logical Ports Effective September 4, 2012, http://www.directedge.com/About/Announcements/ViewNewsletterDetail.aspx?NewsletterID=751.
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The Exchange proposes to implement these amendments to its fee
schedule on September 1, 2012.
[[Page 53952]]
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule changes are consistent
with the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,\6\ in general, and
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4),\7\ in particular, as the
proposed rule changes are designed to provide for the equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges among Members and
other persons using the Exchange's facilities.
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\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
\7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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The Exchange believes its proposal to amend its fee schedule to
reduce the quantity of free DIRECT Logical Ports from ten sessions to
five sessions represents an equitable allocation of reasonable dues,
fees and other charges because the Exchange has implemented several
infrastructure enhancements that increased the message throughput
(efficiency) per port, thereby requiring fewer ports to communicate the
same information. The Exchange also believes that reducing the quantity
of free DIRECT Logical Ports to five sessions will promote efficient
use of the ports by market participants, helping the Exchange to
continue to maintain and improve its infrastructure, while also
encouraging Members and non-Members to request and enable only the
ports that are necessary for their operations related to the Exchange.
In addition, the Exchange will use the revenue generated from its
proposal to supplement its administrative and infrastructure costs
associated with allowing Members and non-Members to establish logical
ports to connect to the Exchange's systems and continue to maintain and
improve its infrastructure, market technology, and services. The
Exchange also notes that assessing charges for logical ports is
reasonable because it is consistent with the practices of other
exchanges, such as the BATS Exchange and the NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.
that charge customers for logical ports.\8\ Lastly, the Exchange also
believes that the proposed reduction in quantity of free ports is non-
discriminatory because it applies uniformly to Members and non-Members.
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\8\ See BATS BZX fee schedule at http://batstrading.com/FeeSchedule/ (where BATS BZX charges its customers a monthly fee per
logical port). See also NASDAQ Price List-Trading & Connectivity,
http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=PriceListTrading2 (where
NASDAQ charges its customers a monthly fee per logical port).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The proposed rule change does not 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
The Exchange has not solicited, and does not intend to solicit,
comments on this proposed rule change. The Exchange has not received
any unsolicited written comments from members or other interested
parties.
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) of the Act \9\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \10\ thereunder. 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.
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\9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
\10\ 17 CFR 19b-4(f)(2) [sic].
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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
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-EDGA-2012-37 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-EDGA-2012-37. 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-EDGA-2012-37 and should be submitted on
or before September 25, 2012.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
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\11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-21680 Filed 8-31-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P