[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 115 (Wednesday, June 17, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28749-28750]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-14172]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-60093; File No. SR-CBOE-2009-036]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, 
Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 
Rule Change Relating to the Options Regulatory Fee

June 10, 2009.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934,\1\ notice is hereby given that on June 4, 2009, Chicago Board 
Options Exchange, Incorporated 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 CBOE. 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).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (``CBOE'' or 
``Exchange'') proposes to amend its Fees Schedule relating to the 
Options Regulatory Fee. The text of the proposed rule change is 
available on the Exchange's Web site (http://www.cboe.org/legal), at 
the Exchange's Office of the Secretary and at the Commission.

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

    In its filing with the Commission, CBOE 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. CBOE 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, Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The Exchange charges an Options Regulatory Fee (``ORF'') of $.006 
per contract to each member for all options transactions executed by 
the member that are cleared by The Options Clearing Corporation 
(``OCC'') in the customer range, excluding Options Intermarket Linkage 
Plan (``Linkage'') orders. The ORF is imposed upon all such 
transactions executed by a member, even if such transactions do not 
take place on the Exchange. The ORF is collected indirectly from 
members through their clearing firms by OCC on behalf of the Exchange. 
There is a minimum one-cent charge per trade.\2\
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    \2\ The ORF was established in October 2008 as a replacement of 
Registered Representative (''RR'') fees. See Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 58817 (October 20, 2008), 73 FR 63744 (October 27, 2008) 
(``Original Filing''). The ORF was to be effective January 1, 2009. 
In December 2008 and January 2009, the Exchange filed proposed rule 
changes waiving the ORF for January and February, to allow 
additional time for the Exchange, OCC and firms to put in place 
appropriate procedures to implement the fee. See Securities Exchange 
Act Release No. 59182 (December 30, 2008), 74 FR 730 (January 7, 
2009), and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59355 (February 3, 
2009), 74 FR 6677 (February 10, 2009). To avoid a regulatory revenue 
shortfall for 2009 due to the waivers of the fee, the Exchange 
increased the ORF for 2009 from $.0045 per contract to $.006 per 
contract. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59427 (February 
20, 2009), 74 FR 9013 (February 27, 2009).
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    The Exchange has reevaluated the current amount of the ORF in light 
of better than expected trading volume so far in 2009. The Exchange 
stated in the Original Filing that the ORF is set at a rate that the 
Exchange anticipates will approximately replace the amount of revenue 
that would be lost from the elimination of RR Fees.\3\ The Exchange has 
determined that the ORF would generate revenue in excess of the amount 
of annual revenue the Exchange used to receive from RR fees if the ORF 
remained at $.006 per contract for all of 2009. Accordingly, the 
Exchange proposes to reduce the ORF from $.006 per contract to $.004 
per contract. The fee change would become operative on August 1, 2009, 
in order to give members time to implement the revised fee.
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    \3\ Original Filing at 63745.
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    The Exchange will continue to monitor the amount of revenue raised 
by the ORF to ensure that it is meeting its revenue benchmarks and may 
make other adjustments to the fee in the future as necessary. The 
Exchange anticipates providing notice of any ORF changes as far in 
advance of the effective date of the new rate as possible.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
Section 6(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act''),\4\ in 
general, and furthers

[[Page 28750]]

the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) \5\ of the Act 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 the revised ORF is reasonable 
because it is expected to approximately equal the annual revenue the 
Exchange used to receive from RR Fees.
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    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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 B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    CBOE does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any 
burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of 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 has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \6\ and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-4 \7\ 
thereunder. At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed 
rule change, the Commission may summarily abrogate 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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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \7\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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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 proposal 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 e-mail to [email protected]. Please include 
File No. SR-CBOE-2009-036 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 No. SR-CBOE-2009-036. This file 
number should be included on the subject line if e-mail 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 inspection and 
copying 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 such filing also will be available for 
inspection and copying at the principal office of CBOE. 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 No. SR-CBOE-2009-036 and should be 
submitted on or before July 8, 2009.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\8\
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    \8\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E9-14172 Filed 6-16-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P