[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 14, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 19443-19444]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-8539]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-61864; File No. SR-NYSEAmex-2010-36]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Amex LLC; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Establish Fees 
for Professional Customers and To Make Certain Other Changes to its 
Options Fee Schedule

April 7, 2010.
    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 April 1, 2010, NYSE Amex LLC (``NYSE Amex'' or ``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. NYSE Amex has designated this 
proposal as one establishing or changing a member due, fee, or other 
charge imposed under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act \3\ and Rule 
19b-4(f)(2) thereunder,\4\ which renders the proposal effective upon 
filing with the Commission. 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.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes multiple changes to its Schedule of Fees and 
Charges (the ``Schedule'') effective April 1, 2010. The text of the 
proposed rule change is attached as Exhibit 5 to the 19b-4 form. A copy 
of this filing is available on the Exchange's Web site at http://www.nyse.com, at the Exchange's principal office, the Commission's 
Public Reference Room, and on 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
    NYSE Amex proposes to establish fees for a new type of customer 
known as a Professional Customer as defined in proposed NYSE Amex rule 
900.2NY(18A), effective April 1, 2010, contingent upon the approval of 
the Professional Customer rule filing.\5\ This new designation will 
treat Professional Customers in the same manner as Broker Dealers for 
purposes of priority and parity. Consistent with that treatment, the 
Exchange is seeking to establish fees for Professional Customers that 
are the same as the fees charged to the execution of Broker Dealer 
orders. Professional Customer orders that are executed electronically 
will be subject to a fee of $.20 per contract. Professional Customer 
orders executed in open outcry will be subject to a fee of $.25 per 
contract. Professional Customer transactions in any product that has a 
licensing or royalty fee will be assessed that fee as well.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 61629 (March 2, 2010), 
75 FR 10851 (March 9, 2010)(Notice of Filing of SR-NYSEAmex-2010-
18).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    NYSE Amex also proposes to clarify the treatment of Professional 
Customer orders as they relate to certain provisions in the Fee 
Schedule. For purposes of the calculation associated with the 
Specialist/e-Specialist/DOMM Rights Fee, Professional Customer orders 
will be treated as Customer orders. The Routing Surcharge will be 
assessed on all non-customer orders routed to away markets and on 
Customer orders, including Professional Customer orders, that are 
charged a transaction fee at another exchange. The Cancellation Fee 
will not apply to Professional Customer orders. Only public customer 
electronic orders that trade contra to a market maker will result in 
the collection of marketing charges under the Exchange's payment for 
order flow program. Broker Dealer and Professional Customer electronic 
orders that trade contra to a market maker will not result in the 
collection of marketing charges.
    The Exchange proposes to restructure certain trade related charges 
for non-electronic trades. These trades are executed in the Firm range 
(clearance account ``F'') and are currently billed either the Firm 
Facilitation rate or the Broker Dealer & Firm Manual rate. Under the 
current rate schedule trades by a firm that facilitate a customer, or 
Firm Facilitation trades, are subject to a $0.00 rate per contract. 
Firm transactions not facilitating a customer are subject to a $0.25 
Broker/Dealer & Firm Manual rate. Under the revised rate schedule all 
manual trades clearing in the Firm range will be subject to a rate of 
$0.25 per contract, subject to tiered pricing as described below. The 
Exchange believes that billing all Firm Manual transactions at the same 
rate is a fair and equitable allocation of fees.
    NYSE Amex also proposes to adopt a tiered pricing schedule 
applicable to Firm Proprietary manual executions on behalf of ATP 
holders that clear in the firm range. The tiered schedule seeks to 
create an incentive for executing more manual Firm Proprietary volume 
on the Exchange. At the same time, the Exchange proposes to reduce the 
fees for electronic executions for Broker Dealers and Firm Proprietary 
activity from $.30 per contract to $.20 per contract. Firm Proprietary 
electronic trades will now be represented as a separate line on the 
Schedule. Concurrently, with the implementation of tiered pricing for 
Firm Proprietary manual volumes, Firm Facilitation trades will be 
eliminated as a separate category on the fee schedule. All non-Strategy 
Executions currently executed as Firm Facilitation trades in open 
outcry or manual trades will fall under the new tiered pricing schedule 
and the customer side of a Firm Facilitation trade will continue to

[[Page 19444]]

remain free. The proposed pricing schedule is shown below, and is 
applicable to volumes executed in any calendar month. This tiered 
pricing schedule for Firm Proprietary executions is similar in 
structure to the tiered pricing currently in place at the CBOE.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ See CBOE Fee Schedule dated 3/16/2010. http://www.cboe.com/publish/feeschedule/CBOEFeeSchedule.pdf.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                           Per contract
   Firm proprietary manual contract volumes per month          rate
------------------------------------------------------------------------
First 174,999 contracts.................................            $.25
175,000 to 299,999 contracts............................             .20
300,000 to 399,999 contracts............................             .15
400,000 to 599,999 contracts............................             .10
600,000 to 799,999 contracts............................             .05
800,000 or greater contracts............................             .02
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Manual Broker Dealer and Firm Proprietary Strategy trades will be 
billed at $.25 per contract subject to the $750 cap per day per option 
class, and further capped at $25,000 per month, per firm for all 
Strategy Executions. Additionally, any volumes subject to the Strategy 
Execution fee cap of $750 per day per option class or the monthly cap 
of $25,000 will not count towards the volume thresholds shown above. 
The Exchange also proposes to clarify that Flex trades are not eligible 
for strategy treatment.
    Lastly, the Exchange is proposing a reduction in fees charged for a 
User Activity Extract (Batch) report. Currently, the charge for the 
report is $0.0075 per trade plus any development and set up costs. The 
new rate will be $0.002 per trade plus any development and set up 
costs.
    The changes are part of the Exchange's continued effort to attract 
and enhance participation on the NYSE Amex options marketplace. The 
Exchange believes these proposed fee changes are reasonable and 
equitable in that they apply uniformly to all similarly situated 
participants on the NYSE Amex options marketplace.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the provisions of Section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the ``Act''),\7\ in general, and Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,\8\ 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 proposed fees are 
reasonable and equitable in that they apply uniformly to all similarly 
situated participants on the NYSE Amex options marketplace.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \10\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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.

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 e-mail to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-NYSEAmex-2010-36 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities 
and Exchange Commission, Station Place, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, 
DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEAmex-2010-36. 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 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 such 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 
publicly available. All submissions should refer to File Number SR-
NYSEAmex-2010-36 and should be submitted on or before May 5, 2010.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-8539 Filed 4-13-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P