[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9064-9065]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3417]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-63876; File No. SR-CBOE-2011-013]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, 
Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 
Rule Change To Amend Its Fees Schedule and Circular Regarding Trading 
Permit Holder Application and Other Related Fees

February 9, 2011.
    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 February 1, 2011, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated 
(``CBOE'' 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 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).
    \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

    Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (``CBOE'' or 
``Exchange'') proposes to amend its Fees Schedule and circular 
regarding Trading Permit Holder application and other related fees 
(``Trading Permit Fee Circular''). 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'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, 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, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    CBOE Rule 2.20 grants the Exchange the authority to, from time to 
time, fix the fees and charges payable by Trading Permit Holders. CBOE 
is proposing to amend its Fees Schedule and Trading Permit Fee Circular 
effective February 1, 2011 to: (i) Clarify that the tier appointment 
fees will be assessed, as applicable, for open outcry transactions and 
not electronic transactions for those Market-Maker Trading Permit 
Holders that do not already have a tier appointment; (ii) establish a 
minimum open outcry contract level for assessment of a tier appointment 
fee to those Market-Maker Trading Permit Holders that do not maintain a 
tier appointment in VIX; and (iii) clarify that written notification to 
terminate a tier appointment should be provided to the Market Quality 
Assurance & DPM Administration Department.
    CBOE Rule 8.3(e) provides that the Exchange may establish one or 
more types of tier appointments. In accordance with CBOE Rule 8.3(e), a 
tier appointment is an appointment to trade one or more options classes 
that must be held by a Market-Maker to be eligible to act as a Market-
Maker in the options class or options classes subject to that 
appointment. CBOE currently maintains tier appointments for Market-
Maker Trading Permit Holders trading in SPX and VIX.
    Section 10(A) of the current Fees Schedule provides that the SPX 
Tier Appointment fee will be assessed to any Market-Maker Trading 
Permit Holder that either (a) has an SPX Tier Appointment at any time 
during a calendar month; or (b) conducts any open outcry transactions 
in SPX or any open outcry or electronic transaction in SPX Weeklys at 
any time during a calendar month. CBOE amended this provision in 
January 2011 to reflect the addition of SPX Weeklys and to incorporate 
any electronic transactions that occur in SPX Weeklys.\3\ However, 
since the only Trading Permit Holders that are able to submit quotes 
electronically in SPX Weeklys are those Market-Maker Trading Permit 
Holders that have an appointment in SPX Weeklys, CBOE is proposing to 
clarify this provision by removing the language that would assess the 
tier appointment fee to any Market-Maker Trading Permit Holder that 
conducts any electronic transactions in SPX Weeklys. CBOE has never 
intended to assess the tier appointment fee to a Trading Permit Holder 
that submits an occasional order electronically in SPX Weeklys.
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 63706 (January 12, 
2011), 76 FR 3184 (January 19, 2011) (SR-CBOE-2011-004).
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    Similarly, Section 10(A) of the current Fees Schedule provides that 
the VIX Tier Appointment fee will be assessed to any Market-Maker 
Trading Permit Holder that either (a) has a VIX Tier Appointment at any 
time during a calendar month; or (b) conducts any transactions in VIX 
at any time during a calendar month. However, since the only Market-
Maker Trading Permit Holders that are able to submit quotes 
electronically in VIX are those Market-Maker Trading Permit Holders 
that have an appointment in VIX, CBOE is proposing to clarify this 
provision by removing the language that would assess the tier 
appointment fee to any Market-Maker Trading Permit Holder that conducts 
any electronic transactions in VIX. CBOE has never intended to assess 
the tier appointment fee to a Trading Permit Holder that submits an 
occasional order electronically in VIX. CBOE is also proposing to add 
language to the Fees Schedule to provide that the VIX Tier Appointment 
fee will be assessed to a Market-Maker Trading Permit Holder that 
trades at least 1,000 VIX options contracts per month in open outcry. 
In addition, because Market-Maker Trading

[[Page 9065]]

Permit Holders have an appointment to trade in open outcry in all 
options classes traded on the Hybrid Trading System (including VIX) 
pursuant to Exchange Rule 8.3(c)(ii), CBOE is proposing establish a 
1,000 contract per month minimum to allow for minimum activity in VIX 
without having to pay a VIX Tier Appointment fee.\4\
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    \4\ This may be distinguished from SPX as all Market-Maker 
Trading Permit Holders trading in open outcry in SPX, a Hybrid 3.0 
class, are required to maintain a separate appointment in SPX in 
accordance with Rule 8.3(c)(iii).
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    In addition to the proposed changes to the Fees Schedule described 
above, CBOE is proposing to revise its regulatory circular that sets 
forth the existing Trading Permit Holder application and other related 
fees. The Exchange proposes to revise this circular to incorporate the 
changes to Section 10 of the CBOE Fees Schedule that are described 
above. The proposed changes to the circular are included as Exhibit 2 
to the Form 19b-4.
2. Statutory Basis
    The proposed rule change will treat similarly situated Trading 
Permit Holders in the same manner. Specifically, CBOE shall assess the 
same base tier appointment fees to all Trading Permit Holders based on 
the type of tier appointment requested and based on objective standards 
with respect to open outcry trading in the applicable class. 
Accordingly, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is 
consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act,\5\ in general, and furthers 
the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of the Act \6\ in particular, in that 
it is designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable 
dues, fees, and other charges among persons using its facilities for 
the reasons described above.
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \6\ 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 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 has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \7\ and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-4 \8\ 
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.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \8\ 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 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-CBOE-2011-013 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-CBOE-2011-013. 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 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 
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 available publicly. All 
submissions should refer to File No. SR-CBOE-2011-013 and should be 
submitted on or before March 9, 2011.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\9\
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    \9\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Cathy H. Ahn,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-3417 Filed 2-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P