[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 228 (Monday, November 28, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72986-72987]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-30426]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-65795; File No. SR-OPRA-2011-04]


Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate 
Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment to the Plan To Implement the 
Datafeed Policy

November 21, 2011.
    Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 608 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on November 7, 2011, the Options Price Reporting Authority (``OPRA'') 
submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') an 
amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated Options Last Sale 
Reports and Quotation Information (``OPRA Plan'').\3\ The proposed 
amendment implements a revised datafeed policy (the ``Policy'' or 
``Datafeed Policy''). The Commission is publishing this notice to 
solicit comments from interested persons on the proposed OPRA Plan 
amendment.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \2\ 17 CFR 242.608.
    \3\ The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan approved by 
the Commission pursuant to Section 11A of the Act and Rule 608 
thereunder (formerly Rule 11Aa3-2). See Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 17638 (March 18, 1981), 22 S.E.C. Docket 484 (March 31, 
1981). The full text of the OPRA Plan is available at http://www.opradata.com.
    The OPRA Plan provides for the collection and dissemination of 
last sale and quotation information on options that are traded on 
the participant exchanges. The nine participants to the OPRA Plan 
are BATS Exchange, Inc., Chicago Board Options Exchange, 
Incorporated, C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated, International 
Securities Exchange, LLC, NASDAQ OMX BX Inc., NASDAQ OMX PHLX, Inc., 
NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, NYSE Amex, Inc., and NYSE Arca, Inc.
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I. Description and Purpose of the Plan Amendment

    The purpose of OPRA's Datafeed Policy is to summarize, in one 
document, OPRA's definition of the term ``datafeed'' and a summary of 
information of interest to any prospective Vendor or Professional 
Subscriber that will receive a datafeed. OPRA requires that 
Professional Subscribers that receive OPRA datafeeds pay one of two 
fees, and requires that certain Vendors that receive OPRA datafeeds 
also pay a fee. OPRA is not proposing to change the amount of these 
fees in this filing, but rather to clarify the terms that describe when 
each of them is payable.
    As stated in the Policy, OPRA defines a ``datafeed'' or ``bulk 
datafeed'' \4\ as any uncontrolled retransmission of OPRA market data--
that is, as a transmission of OPRA data in respect of which the 
recipient has the ability to control the entitlement of devices and/or 
User IDs. OPRA considers a retransmission to be ``uncontrolled'' if the 
retransmission sender does not control the entitlements of the devices 
and/or User IDs to which the retransmission is being sent and, instead, 
the recipient controls the entitlement process.
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    \4\ The Policy, as revised, makes clear that the terms 
``datafeed'' and ``bulk datafeed'' as used by OPRA are synonyms.
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    OPRA classifies a datafeed recipient as either a ``Vendor'' or a 
``Professional Subscriber.'' In either case, the datafeed recipient 
must enter into a contract directly with OPRA. OPRA classifies a 
datafeed recipient as a ``Vendor'' if the datafeed recipient intends to 
further retransmit the datafeed on an ``external'' basis, that is, to 
persons not employed by the datafeed recipient. In this case, the 
datafeed recipient must sign a ``Vendor Agreement'' with OPRA. A Vendor 
that receives an uncontrolled retransmission from another OPRA Vendor 
is sometimes referred to as a ``downstream Vendor,'' since it is 
``downstream'' in the dissemination of the OPRA market data from the 
``upstream'' Vendor that is sending the data to it. A Vendor that 
receives a datafeed directly from OPRA's data processor Securities 
Industry Automation Corporation (``SIAC'') must pay a monthly ``Direct 
Access Fee'' to OPRA.\5\
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    \5\ The amount of the Direct Access Fee is stated on OPRA's Fee 
Schedule, which is available on OPRA's Web site (www.opradata.com). 
The base fee is currently, and has been for many years, $1000/month.
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    OPRA classifies a datafeed recipient as a ``Professional 
Subscriber'' if the

[[Page 72987]]

datafeed recipient intends to further retransmit the datafeed only on 
an ``internal'' basis, that is, only to persons employed by the 
datafeed recipient. In this case, the datafeed recipient must sign a 
``Professional Subscriber Agreement'' and either an ``Indirect (Vendor 
Pass-Through) Circuit Connection Rider'' (if the Professional 
Subscriber is receiving the datafeed from a Vendor) or a ``Direct 
Circuit Connection Rider'' (if the Professional Subscriber is receiving 
the datafeed from SIAC). The word ``direct'' connotes that the 
Professional Subscriber is receiving the datafeed directly from SIAC; 
the word ``indirect'' connotes that the Professional Subscriber is 
receiving the datafeed from a Vendor, i.e., ``indirectly,'' rather than 
directly from SIAC.\6\ If a Professional Subscriber receives a datafeed 
directly from SIAC it must pay the same monthly Direct Access Fee that 
is payable by Vendors that receive datafeeds directly from SIAC. If a 
Professional Subscriber receives a datafeed from a Vendor, it must pay 
a monthly ``Subscriber Indirect Access Fee'' to OPRA.\7\
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    \6\ The current form of the Policy expressly refers only to 
indirect datafeeds. The revised form expands the discussion so that 
it also describes direct datafeeds.
    \7\ The amount of the Subscriber Indirect Access Fee is stated 
on OPRA's Fee Schedule. This fee is currently, and has been for many 
years, $600/month.
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    The Policy describes the steps in the process by which OPRA 
approves a datafeed and the documentation that OPRA requires for each 
type of datafeed. For a prospective Vendor, the documentation consists 
of the Vendor Agreement and OPRA's form ``Exhibit A'' to the Vendor 
Agreement that has been completed by the entity. For a prospective 
Professional Subscriber, the documentation consists of the Professional 
Subscriber Agreement, one of the Riders described above, and OPRA's 
form ``Exhibit A'' to the applicable Rider that has been completed by 
the entity.\8\ The Policy states that OPRA will review the 
documentation after it has been sent to OPRA and, if necessary, contact 
the prospective datafeed recipient directly for additional information. 
The Policy states that OPRA's review of the application will include, 
among other things, a review of how the data will be displayed, the 
entitlement control process, and the reporting mechanism, and that the 
review and approval process will take approximately two weeks.
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    \8\ These documentation requirements have not changed, but they 
are more clearly described in the revised form of the Policy.
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    The Policy also describes OPRA' s reporting requirements for 
datafeed distributors and datafeed recipients. Datafeed distributors 
are required to report any changes in the datafeeds that they 
distribute on a monthly basis, and datafeed recipients are required to 
report with respect to their further distribution and use of OPRA data 
on a monthly basis.\9\
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    \9\ The revised form of the Policy corrects an inaccurate 
statement in the current form of the Policy that Professional 
Subscriber datafeed recipients ``generally report on a quarterly 
basis.''
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    The text of the proposed amendment to the OPRA Plan is available at 
OPRA, the Commission's Public Reference Room, on OPRA's Web site at 
http://opradata.com, and on the Commission's Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan Amendment

    OPRA designated this amendment as qualified to be put into effect 
upon filing with the Commission in accordance with clause (i) of 
paragraph (b)(3) of Rule 608 under the Act.\10\ The Policies describe 
and refine longstanding OPRA technical policies with respect to the 
applicability of its Direct Access Fee and Subscriber Indirect Access 
Fee. Accordingly, OPRA will implement the amended Policy upon filing 
with the Commission.
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    \10\ 17 CFR 242.608(b)(3)(i).
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    The Commission may summarily abrogate the amendment within sixty 
days of its filing and require refiling and approval of the amendment 
by Commission order pursuant to Rule 608(b)(2) under the Act \11\ if it 
appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate 
in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or the 
maintenance of fair and orderly markets, to remove impediments to, and 
perfect the mechanisms of, a national market system, or otherwise in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
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    \11\ 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2).
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III. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed OPRA 
Plan amendment 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 No. SR-OPRA-2011-04 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-OPRA-2011-04. 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 plan amendment that are 
filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to 
the proposed plan amendment 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 OPRA. 
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-OPRA-2011-04 
and should be submitted on or before December 19, 2011.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\12\
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    \12\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(29).
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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-30426 Filed 11-25-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P