[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 193 (Thursday, October 4, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60738-60741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24493]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-67946; File No. SR-CBOE-2012-080]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, 
Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a 
Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Fees Schedule

 September 28, 2012.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the ``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that on September 18, 2012, Chicago Board Options Exchange, 
Incorporated (the ``Exchange'' or ``CBOE'') filed with the Securities 
and Exchange Commission (the ``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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[[Page 60739]]

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

    The Exchange proposes to amend its Fees Schedule. The text of the 
proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site (http://www.cboe.com/AboutCBOE/CBOELegalRegulatoryHome.aspx), 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, the Exchange 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. The Exchange 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
    The Exchange proposes to revamp the appearance of its Fees Schedule 
in order to make it easier for investors to read and determine which 
fees are applicable to the variety of transactions available on CBOE. 
No substantive changes to the Fees Schedule, or any Exchange fees, are 
being made. All information that is proposed to appear in the new 
version of the Fees Schedule (the ``New Fees Schedule'') already 
appears in one form or another on the Exchange's previous version of 
the Fees Schedule (the ``Old Fees Schedule'').
    In conjunction with this proposed re-organization of the Fees 
Schedule, some items are being moved within the Fees Schedule and 
clarifications are being given. Currently, broker-dealer transaction 
fees apply to, among others, the orders of non-Trading Permit Holder 
market-makers.\3\ However, this is currently only explained in Footnote 
(16), and therefore in Section 1 of the Old Fees Schedule, which lists 
the actual transaction fees, there is no separate listing of fees for 
non-Trading Permit Holder market-makers (only broker dealers). The 
proposed new transaction fees chart lists out non-Trading Permit Holder 
market-maker transaction fees separate from broker-dealer transaction 
fees (the amounts of the fees will remain the same) in order to make it 
easier for non-Trading Permit Holder market-makers to know which 
transaction fees apply to them. Because non-Trading Permit Holder 
market-maker fees will now be listed separately from broker-dealer fees 
(even though the amounts of the fees are the same), Footnotes (13), 
(19), and (20), which all state that they apply to broker-dealers, are 
now being amended to clarify that they apply to non-Trading Permit 
Holder market-makers as well (just as they did prior to this proposed 
change). The statement in Footnote (16) that ``Broker-Dealer 
transaction fees apply to * * * non-Trading Permit Holder market-maker 
orders'' is not being changed, as while the fees for non-Trading Permit 
Holder market-maker orders are now listed separately, the amounts of 
such fees are not changing.
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    \3\ See CBOE Fees Schedule, Footnote (16).
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    The Exchange also proposes adding origin codes into the New Fees 
Schedule. Origin codes are used on each order sent to the Exchange to 
denote the type of market participant sending the order.\4\ Because 
these origin codes are affixed to orders sent to the Exchange by market 
participants, the Exchange proposes adding them to the New Fees 
Schedule in order to more easily determine which fees correspond to 
orders originating from these different market participants.
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    \4\ See CBOE Regulatory Circular RG12-057 (April 26, 2012) for a 
list of all CBOE origin codes.
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    In SR-CBOE-2012-075, the Exchange proposed to change references in 
its Fees Schedule to options on the PowerShares QQQ Trust, whose ticker 
symbol changed from QQQQ to QQQ.\5\ However, in that rule filing, the 
Exchange failed to change a reference to QQQQ in the Fees Schedule's 
section entitled Trading Permit Holder Transaction Fee Policies and 
Rebate Programs--Trading Permit Holder Transaction Fees--Equity and 
Index Options. The Exchange hereby proposes to change that reference 
from QQQQ to QQQ.
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    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67557 (August 1, 
2012), 77 FR 47148 (August 7, 2012) (SR-CBOE-2012-075).
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    In re-organizing the Fees Schedule, the Exchange added Footnotes 
(21)-(27) to the New Fees Schedule. The text of these Footnotes was 
transferred from various sections within the Old Fees Schedule. 
Footnote (21) of the New Fees Schedule is composed of text from Section 
7 of the Old Fees Schedule. Footnote (22) of the New Fees Schedule is 
composed of text from the Clearing Trading Permit Holder Fee Cap in All 
Products Except SPX, VIX or Other Volatility Indexes, OEX or XEO 
portion of Section 1 of the Old Fees Schedule. Footnote (23) of the New 
Fees Schedule is composed of text from the CBOE Proprietary Products 
Sliding Scale portion of Section 1 of the Old Fees Schedule. Footnote 
(24) of the New Fees Schedule is composed of text from Section 10(A)(i) 
of the Old Fees Schedule. Footnote (25) of the New Fees Schedule is 
composed of text from Section 10(A)(iv) of the Old Fees Schedule. 
Footnote (26) of the New Fees Schedule is composed of text from the 
portion of Section 10(A) entitled ``Assessment of Trading Permit and 
Tier Appointment Fees'' of the Old Fees Schedule. Footnote (27) of the 
New Fees Schedule is composed of text from Section 18 of the Old Fees 
Schedule.
    Other changes were made to references within the Footnotes. 
Footnote (2) previously said ``Please see item 18 for details of 
Customer Large Trade Discounts.'' However, there is no longer an ``item 
18'' but instead just a separate table regarding Customer Large Trade 
Discounts, and a new Footnote (27) with details of Customer Large Trade 
Discounts, so Footnote (2) now says ``Please see Customer Large Trade 
Discounts table and footnote 27 for details of Customer Large Trade 
Discounts'' instead. Footnote (3) previously stated that ``Trading 
Permit Holder transaction fee policies and rebate programs are 
described in the last section.'' However, this is no longer true, as 
the sections have been moved around, and there is now a table regarding 
Trading Permit Holder transaction fee policies and rebate programs. 
Instead, Footnote (3) now says ``Trading Permit Holder transaction fee 
policies and rebate programs are described in the Trading Permit Holder 
Transaction Fee Policies and Rebate Programs Table.''
    In both of the Index Options Rate Tables in the New Fees Schedule, 
the ``QCC'' field is blacked out. This is because a QCC (qualified 
contingent cross) trade cannot be made on a cash-settled index (for 
QCCs, options must be tied to a physically deliverable Regulation NMS 
security). The Old Fees Schedule listed possible fees for QCCs because 
the section on index options fees also included fees for exchange-
traded funds (``ETFs''), on which QCCs can be executed. Because the New 
Fees Schedule has separate tables for index options and ETFs, the Index 
Options Rate Tables in the New Fees Schedule has the ``QCC'' field 
blacked out.
    The Old Fees Schedule lists the AIM Agency/Primary fee and the AIM 
Contra Execution fee in the section that lists

[[Page 60740]]

index options because that section includes fees for proprietary and 
non-proprietary index options (as well as other products, including 
ETFs). The only proprietary index option class on which AIM (the 
Exchange's Automated Improvement Mechanism) is available is VIX 
options. Therefore, since the New Fees Schedule has a separate table 
for proprietary index options (the Proprietary Index Options Rate 
Table), the listing in that table for the AIM Agency/Primary fee and 
the AIM Contra Execution fee clarifies that it only applies to VIX 
options.
    Professionals and Voluntary Professionals are billed in SPX as 
Customers because SPX is the only class that trades on the Exchange's 
Hybrid 3.0 platform, and the classifications as a Professional and 
Voluntary Professional do not have applicability in Hybrid 3.0 classes. 
As such, in the Old Fees Schedule, there were no fees listed for 
Professional and Voluntary Professional SPX trades. The New Fees 
Schedule, however, lists the SPX fees for Professional and Voluntary 
Professional (with such fees being the same as Customer SPX fees, both 
for trades above and below $1) in order to clarify the fees for 
Professional and Voluntary Professional SPX trades. There is no change 
occurring in the amounts of the fees for Professional and Voluntary 
Professional SPX trades (or anywhere else in this proposed rule 
change).
    In the Old Fees Schedule, there are no separate listings for VIX 
options transactions; as a Volatility Index, VIX is simply included by 
implication in the listings of fees for Volatility Indexes. The 
Proprietary Index Options Rate Table in the New Fees Schedule lists VIX 
options fees separately to make VIX options fees more clearly apparent; 
the amounts of the fees for VIX options transactions are not changing 
and will still be the same as those for Volatility Indexes.
    In the Old Fees Schedule, Customer fees for transactions in SPX 
Weeklys (``SPXW'') are not separately spelled out, as SPXW falls within 
the universe of SPX transactions. However, because SPXW is a product 
that has experienced a growth in trading volume, the Exchange proposes 
to separately list the fees for SPXW Customer transactions as well as 
the Surcharge Fee. The amount of the fees for SPXW Customer 
transactions and the Surcharge Fee is not changing.
    The Exchange has made a universal change to the New Fees Schedule 
to remove any references in the Old Fees Schedule to fees being listed 
in a ``table below'' or similar language when such language no longer 
applies (i.e. the table is no longer below).
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to the 
Exchange and, in particular, the requirements of Section 6(b) of the 
Act.\6\ Specifically, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is 
consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) \7\ requirements that the rules of 
an exchange be designed to promote just and equitable principles of 
trade, to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts, to remove 
impediments to and to perfect the mechanism for a free and open market 
and a national market system, and, in general, to protect investors and 
the public interest. In organizing the Fees Schedule in charts that are 
easy for investors to read and grouping together fees that apply to 
certain market participants into the same subsections and charts, the 
Exchange eliminates confusion regarding fees, thereby removing 
impediments to and to perfecting the mechanism for a free and open 
market, and, in general, protecting investors and the public interest.
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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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

    The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on 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) \8\ of the Act and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \9\ 
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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    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \9\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
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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 email to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-CBOE-2012-080 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-2012-080. 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 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 Number SR-CBOE-2012-080, and should be 
submitted on or before October 25, 2012.


[[Page 60741]]


    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\10\
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    \10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-24493 Filed 10-3-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P