[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 159 (Monday, August 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48782-48783]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-19481]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-72825; File No. SR-OPRA-2014-04]


Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate 
Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment to the Plan for Reporting of 
Consolidated Options Last Sale Reports and Quotation Information To 
Amend OPRA's Fee Schedule To Establish Fees for After-Hours Operations

August 12, 2014.
    Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 608 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on April 3, 2014, 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 establishes a category of fees for access to OPRA data during 
periods of after-hours operations. 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 twelve participants to 
the OPRA Plan are BATS Exchange, Inc., BOX Options Exchange, LLC, 
Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated, C2 Options Exchange, 
Incorporated, International Securities Exchange, LLC, Miami 
International Securities Exchange, LLC, NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc., NASDAQ 
OMX PHLX LLC, NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, NYSE MKT LLC, NYSE Arca, 
Inc., and the Topaz Exchange, LLC (d/b/a ISE Gemini).
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I. Description and Purpose of the Plan Amendment

    The purpose of the proposed amendment is to amend the OPRA Fee 
Schedule to include fees for access to data that OPRA disseminates as a 
result of trading on the markets of one or more OPRA member exchanges 
during hours outside of OPRA's regular hours of operations (``after-
hours'' operations). One of OPRA's member exchanges has indicated that 
it is planning to initiate trading during hours outside of OPRA's 
regular hours of operations and to request OPRA to operate during the 
after-hours period when its market is open for trading. No exchange has 
previously made such a request, and as a result OPRA currently does not 
operate outside of its regular hours of operations.
    OPRA's Fee Schedule does not currently provide for fees 
specifically for access to OPRA data during periods of after-hours 
operations. OPRA believes that, in order to fairly allocate the burden 
of funding OPRA's after-hours operations to those persons who choose to 
have access to OPRA information during periods of after-hours 
operations, it is appropriate, rather than to increase its current 
fees, to establish fees specifically for receipt of OPRA information 
disseminated during after-hours operations.
    The after-hours service fees that OPRA is proposing are shown in 
Exhibit I. In general, with the exception of the Usage-based Vendor Fee 
and the Voice-Synthesized Market Data Service Fee--which are described 
below--the proposed after-hours service fees are established at 
approximately twenty percent of their counterparts for regular hours. 
For example, the after-hours Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee 
is proposed to be $5.00 per device, compared to $27.00 per device for 
the regular hours Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee, and the 
after-hours Nonprofessional Subscriber Fee is proposed to be $0.25 per 
nonprofessional, compared to $1.25 per nonprofessional for the regular 
hours Nonprofessional Subscriber Fee.
    The proposed after-hours Usage-based Vendor Fees are the same as 
the Usage-based Vendor Fees during regular hours. The Usage-based 
Vendor Fees are on a ``per quote'' basis for either ``quote packets'' 
or ``options chains,'' and a quote packet or options chain disseminated 
during after-hours operations would include the same amount of 
information as one disseminated during regular hours. Footnote 8 to the 
Fee Schedule is amended to apply the same ``cap'' concept to after-
hours Usage-based Vendor Fees that currently applies during regular 
hours, so that these fees are capped at $5.00 per device for 
Professional Subscribers and at $.25 for nonprofessional subscribers. 
Footnote 5 to the Fee Schedule is revised to state an ``Enterprise Rate 
Nonprofessional Subscriber Fee'' for after-hours service of $75,000 per 
month.
    The Voice-Synthesized Market Data Service Fee for after-hours 
service is proposed at the same rate as the Usage-based Vendor Fee, as 
is the case for regular hours service.
    OPRA is not proposing an ``Enterprise Fee'' alternative at this 
time for the after-hours Non-Display Application Fee. OPRA believes 
that Professional Subscribers are unlikely to be interested in an 
Enterprise Rate alternative for the after-hours Non-Display Application 
Fee. However, OPRA is prepared to implement an Enterprise Fee 
alternative for this fee if it becomes apparent that there is any 
interest in it.
    Footnote 12 to the OPRA Fee Schedule provides an example to 
illustrate the statement in the ``Description'' of the Non-Display 
Application Fee that the fee ``includes device-based fees with respect 
to the servers or other devices that comprise the trading engine, up to 
the amount'' of the Non-Display Application Fee. OPRA is proposing to 
revise the example so that it utilizes the 2014 regular hours 
Professional Subscriber Device-based Fee of $27.00 (instead of the now-
obsolete 2012 Professional Subscriber Device-based Fee of $25.00), and 
provides a parallel example for the after-hours fee using the after-
hours ``per installation'' fee and the proposed after-hours 
Professional Subscriber Device-based Fee of $5.00.
    OPRA is not establishing an after-hours Control Service Fee or a 
Television Fee at this time. OPRA does not currently have any 
authorized control service providers, and believes that the control 
service provider program is not likely to be of interest during after-
hours operations. Similarly, OPRA does not anticipate that any Vendor 
is likely to be interested in providing television display of after-
hours OPRA information. In each case, however, OPRA is prepared to make 
the service available if it becomes apparent that there is any interest 
in it.
    Similarly, OPRA believes that Vendors are unlikely to be interested 
in an after-hours Enterprise Fee for the Hosted Solution Fee. However, 
OPRA is prepared to implement an Enterprise Fee alternative for this 
fee if it becomes apparent that there is any interest in it.

[[Page 48783]]

    It is not possible to estimate with any precision the revenues that 
these fees may generate. OPRA's best guess is that these fees may 
generate up to $100,000 in gross revenues per month a few months after 
they are first implemented. OPRA and the participant exchanges will 
incur additional costs associated with OPRA's after-hours operations, 
and OPRA believes that these fees will represent an appropriate 
contribution to covering the overall costs of OPRA and its member 
exchanges to which these fees may properly be applied.
    The text of the proposed amendment to the OPRA Plan is available at 
OPRA, the Commission's Public Reference Room, http://opradata.com, and 
on the Commission's Web site at www.sec.gov.

II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan Amendment

    Pursuant to paragraph (b)(3)(i) of Rule 608 of Regulation NMS under 
the Act, OPRA designated this amendment as establishing or changing 
fees or other charges collected on behalf of all of the OPRA 
participants in connection with access to or use of OPRA facilities. In 
order to give persons subject to these fees advance notice of the 
changes, OPRA proposes to provide notice of the changes to OPRA Vendors 
at least two months before the date on which one or more of OPRA's 
member exchanges plans to initiate trading during hours outside of 
OPRA's regular hours of operation, and to put the changes into effect 
as of the first day of a calendar month after one or more of OPRA's 
member exchanges has initiated trading during hours outside of OPRA's 
regular hours of operation, but no sooner than July 1, 2014.
    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 \4\ 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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    \4\ 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-2014-04 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities 
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-OPRA-2014-04. 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 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of such filing also will be 
available for inspection and copying at the principal office of 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-2014-04 
and should be submitted on or before September 8, 2014.

    By the Commission.
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-19481 Filed 8-15-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P