[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 204 (Monday, October 22, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64573-64574]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-25865]



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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-68057; File No. SR-BX-2012-068]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc.; Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Assess a 
Monthly Fee for Subscription to the QView Service

October 16, 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 October 9, 2012, NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc. (``BX'' or ``Exchange'') filed 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') a proposed 
rule change as described in Items I and II 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 the 
Substance of the Proposed Rule Change

    BX proposes to assess a monthly fee for subscription to the QView 
service under Rule 7058. The Exchange is proposing to implement the 
proposed fee beginning on October 15, 2012. The text of the proposed 
rule change is available at http://nasdaqomxbx.cchwallstreet.com, at 
BX's principal office, 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 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 III [sic] 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 is proposing to adopt a fee of $200 per month, per 
member firm for subscription to the new QView service. The Exchange 
recently introduced the QView service, a web-based, front-end 
application that provides a subscribing member firm with increased 
transparency over its trading activity on the Exchange by allowing the 
member firm to track its Exchange order flow.\3\ The Exchange is 
proposing to implement the proposed fee on October 15, 2012.
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67952 (October 1, 
2012), 77 FR 61041 (October 5, 2012) (SR-BX-2012-061) (adopting the 
QView Service on BX).
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    BX notes that QView is currently offered by its sister exchange, 
The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC for a fee of $600 per month, per member 
firm.\4\ BX's QView service is identical to that of NASDAQ, yet offered 
at a lower monthly subscription fee of $200 per month, per member firm. 
The Exchange determined to assess a lower fee than the NASDAQ service 
based on the lower volume of trading on BX and, hence, less data 
provided by BX QView as compared to NASDAQ QView.\5\ As noted in 
adopting BX QView, a subscriber must also subscribe to Tradeinfo BX to 
subscribe to BX QView.\6\
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    \4\ See NASDAQ Rule 7058.
    \5\ Member firms are assessed an initial monthly subscription 
fee prorated for the remainder of the month subscribed.
    \6\ Supra note 3.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
Section 6(b)(4) of the Act \7\ in that it provides for the equitable 
allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges among members and 
issuers and other persons using any facility or system which the 
Exchange operates or controls, and it does not unfairly discriminate 
between customers, issuers, brokers or dealers. The Exchange believes 
that the proposed fee is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory 
because member firms that voluntarily elect to subscribe to this 
service will be charged the same fee. QView provides subscribing member 
firms with a top down view of their trading activity on the Exchange 
and the proposed fee is assessed on a per member firm basis. The value 
of QView to a subscribing member firm is the convenience of aggregating 
and displaying the firm's data in a single interface regardless of the 
amount of data (executions, open orders, etc.) or the number of MPIDs 
that the firm has. In this regard, the Exchange notes that the number 
of MPIDs that a subscribing member firm possesses is not indicative of 
quantity and value of the data provided by QView. In many cases, a firm 
with a single MPID may in fact have more data than a firm with multiple 
MPIDs. As such, the Exchange believes that it is equitable to assess 
the fee on a per firm basis, as opposed to a per MPID basis. The 
Exchange also believes that the proposed fee does not unfairly 
discriminate because it is available to all member firms on equal terms 
and there is no differentiation among member firms in regard to the fee 
assessed to subscribers. In addition, the Exchange believes that it is 
not unfair discrimination to limit the service to broker-dealers that 
are members of the Exchange because it provides information solely 
concerning a subscribing member firm's trading activity on the 
Exchange.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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    The Exchange determined that the proposed fee is reasonable based 
on member firm interest in QView, costs associated with developing and 
supporting QView, and the value that QView provides to subscribing 
member firms. The information provided by QView relates to the 
subscribing member firm's activity on the Exchange and the member firm 
may access and aggregate this information by other means, including its 
own internal systems. As such, the Exchange believes that if a member 
firm determines that the fee is not cost-efficient for its needs, it 
may decline to subscribe to QView and access such information from 
other sources. Finally, the maximum fee for a member that elects to 
subscribe to this service, regardless of the number of MPIDs held by 
the firm, is $200 per month. Subscription to QView is per member firm, 
therefore a firm must subscribe only once to QView to receive the 
service for as many of its MPIDs as it wishes.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will 
result in any burden on competition that is not necessary or 
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act, as amended.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    Written comments were neither solicited nor received.

[[Page 64574]]

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act,\8\ the Exchange has 
designated this proposal as establishing or changing a due, fee, or 
other charge imposed by the self-regulatory organization on any person, 
whether or not the person is a member of the self-regulatory 
organization, which renders the proposed rule change effective upon 
filing.
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    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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    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. If the Commission 
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings to 
determine whether the proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.

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-BX-2012-068 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.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-BX-2012-068. 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 10:00 a.m. and 
3:00 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-BX-2012-068 and should be 
submitted on or before November 13, 2012.

    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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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-25865 Filed 10-19-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P