[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 7 (Wednesday, January 11, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1771-1772]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-315]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-66104; File No. SR-NYSEAmex-2011-107]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Amex LLC; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Amending Its Price 
List Changing the Monthly Fees for the Use of Ports That Provide 
Connectivity to Its Equity Trading Systems

January 5, 2012.
    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 December 30, 2011, NYSE Amex LLC (``NYSE Amex'' 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 the Exchange. 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 Price List to change the monthly 
fees for the use of ports that provide connectivity to its equity 
trading systems. The text of the proposed rule change is available at 
the Exchange's principal office, at http://www.nyse.com, at the 
Commission's Public Reference Room, and at 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
    The Exchange proposes to amend its Price List to change the monthly 
fees for the use of ports that provide connectivity to its equity 
trading systems.
    Currently, the monthly fee for ports is $100 per pair per month up 
to five pairs, then $500 for each additional five pairs.\3\ For 
example, the fee for seven pairs of ports is $1,000 per month. Billing 
for ports is based on the number of ports on the third business day 
prior to the end of the month. The level of activity with respect to a 
particular port does not affect the assessment of monthly fees, so even 
if a particular port that is available to a participant is not used, 
the participant is still billed for that port.
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 63072 (October 7, 
2010), 75 FR 64368 (October 19, 2010) (SR-NYSEAmex-2010-97) (the 
``Adopting Release'').
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    The Exchanges proposes that the new fee would be $300 per pair per 
month up to five pairs, then $1,500 for each additional five pairs. For 
example, the fee for seven pairs of ports would be $3,000 per month. 
The Exchange notes that billing for ports would continue to be based on 
the number of ports on the third business day prior to the end of the 
month. In addition, the level of activity with respect to a particular 
port would still not affect the assessment of monthly fees, so even if 
a participant does not use a particular port that is available to the 
participant, the participant would still be billed for that port.

[[Page 1772]]

    Finally, as stated in the Adopting Release,\4\ the port fee is 
charged per participant. The Exchange proposes to clarify in the Price 
List that per participant means per member organization for purposes of 
the port fees.\5\
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    \4\ See supra note 4.
    \5\ The Exchange has a Common Customer Gateway (``CCG'') that 
accesses the equity trading systems that it shares with its 
affiliates, New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE'') and NYSE Arca, 
Inc. (``NYSE Arca''), and all ports connect to the CCG. See, e.g., 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 64543 (May 25, 2011), 76 FR 
31667 (June 1, 2011) (SR-NYSEAmex-2011-20). In the instance when an 
NYSE Amex member organization is also an NYSE member organization 
and it shares its ports, the same member is charged port fees based 
on the total number of ports connected to the CCG, whether they are 
used to trade on the Exchange, NYSE, or both because those trading 
systems are integrated. The NYSE Arca Equities trading platform is 
not integrated in the same manner; therefore, it does not share its 
ports with the Exchange or NYSE. An NYSE Arca ETP Holder is charged 
for each ETP identifier it uses to access the NYSE Arca Equities 
trading systems via a port connected to the CCG.
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    The Exchange proposes to make the rule change operative on January 
1, 2012.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 
``Act''),\6\ in general, and Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,\7\ 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 
that the proposal constitutes an equitable allocation of fees, as all 
similarly situated member organizations and other market participants 
would be charged the same amount. In addition, access to the Exchange's 
market would be offered on fair and non-discriminatory terms.
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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    With respect to the increase in port fees, the proposed fee 
increase for ports is expected to offset increasing connectivity costs, 
including additional costs based on gateway software and hardware 
enhancements and resources dedicated to gateway development, quality 
assurance, and support. The Exchange believes that its fees are 
competitive with those charged by other venues, and that, in some 
cases, its fee for port connectivity is less expensive than many of its 
primary competitors.\8\
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    \8\ See, e.g., NASDAQ OMX Price List--Trading & Connectivity, 
available at http://www.nasdaqtrader.com/Trader.aspx?id=PriceListTrading2. The Exchange notes that the charge 
for connectivity to Nasdaq's NY-Metro and Mid-Atlantic Datacenters 
is $500 per port pair/month (there is a separate charge for their 
Pre-Trade Risk Management ports which fees are capped at $25,000). 
See e.g., BZX Exchange Fee Schedule, available at http://www.batstrading.com/FeeSchedule. The Exchange notes that BZX charges 
$400 per month per pair (primary and secondary data center) of any 
logical port other than a Multicast PITCH Spin Server Port or GRP 
Port, but does provide multicast PITCH customers 12 free pairs of 
Multicast PITCH Spin Server Ports, and, if such ports are used, one 
free pair of GRP Ports; $400.00 per month per additional set of 12 
pairs of Multicast PITCH Spin Server Ports or additional pair of GRP 
Ports. However, the Multicast PITCH Spin Server Ports and GRP ports 
relate to market data dissemination while the proposed port fee 
charge relates to connectivity to the Exchange, therefore the 
proposed fee change will still be lower to the equivalent BZX port 
fee charge of $400 per month per pair for a logical port.
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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.
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \10\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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    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.

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-NYSEAmex-2011-107 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-NYSEAmex-2011-107. 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-NYSEAmex-2011-107 and should 
be submitted on or before February 1, 2012.
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    \11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-315 Filed 1-10-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P