[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 211 (Friday, October 31, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64857-64858]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-25881]



[[Page 64857]]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-73440; File No. SR-ISE-2014-48]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities Exchange, 
LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule 
Change to Amend the Schedule of Fees

October 27, 2014.
    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 October 15, 2014, the International Securities Exchange, LLC 
(the ``Exchange'' or the ``ISE'') filed with the Securities and 
Exchange Commission the proposed rule change, as described in Items I, 
II, and III below, which items have been prepared by the self-
regulatory organization. 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 ISE is proposing to amend its Schedule of Fees to adopt a 
limited waiver of PrecISE fees. The text of the proposed rule change is 
available on the Exchange's Web site (http://www.ise.com), at the 
principal office of the Exchange, 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 these statements may be examined at 
the places specified in Item IV below. The self-regulatory organization 
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 purpose of the proposed rule change is to amend the Schedule of 
Fees to adopt a limited waiver of PrecISE Trade[supreg] (``PrecISE'') 
fees for Electronic Access Members (``EAMs'') and sponsored customers 
that execute a high volume of Crossing Orders in a given month.\3\ The 
Exchange designates this filing to become effective on October 16, 
2014.\4\
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    \3\ Crossing Orders include Qualified Contingent Cross orders 
and orders executed in the Facilitation, Solicitation, Price 
Improvement, or Block Order Mechanisms.
    \4\ PrecISE fees are billed based on a billing period that 
begins on the 16th of the month and ends on the 15th of the 
following month. The first billing period subject to the proposed 
fee waiver would begin on October 16, 2014 and end on November 15, 
2014.
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    PrecISE is the Exchange's proprietary front-end order routing 
terminal used by EAMs and/or their sponsored customers to send order 
flow to ISE.\5\ The Exchange charges EAMs and sponsored customers that 
use PrecISE a monthly fee of $350 per user for the first 10 users, and 
$100 per user for each subsequent user. To give new users time to 
become familiar and fully acclimated with all of the functionality that 
PrecISE offers, and as an incentive to encourage firms to use PrecISE, 
the Exchange currently waives these PrecISE fees for the first two 
months for all new users.\6\ The Exchange now proposes to introduce a 
further incentive for firms to try PrecISE that is tied to Crossing 
Order volume, which comprises a significant portion of volume traded 
via PrecISE. Specifically, the Exchange proposes to waive the PrecISE 
fees described above for an EAM or sponsored customer's first five (5) 
users if that EAM or sponsored customer executes a minimum of 1.5 
million crossing contracts during the prior calendar month.\7\ For the 
first billing cycle that this waiver is effective only,\8\ the Exchange 
proposes to waive these fees based on a prorated volume threshold of 
750,000 crossing contracts executed in the period beginning on the 
effective date of this filing and ending on October 31, 2014. For firms 
that find the PrecISE functionality useful, and choose to purchase 
additional terminals above the free ones offered here, the free 
terminals will count towards the first 10 users otherwise subject to 
the higher $350 per user fee.
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    \5\ A ``sponsored customer'' is a non-member that trades under a 
sponsoring member's execution and clearing identity. See Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 55586 (April 5, 2007), 72 FR 18701 (April 
13, 2007) (SR-ISE-2007-19). Market Makers must connect to the 
Exchange via API and are therefore not eligible to use PrecISE.
    \6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62053 (May 6, 2010), 
75 FR 27033 (May 13, 2010) (SR-ISE-2010-35).
    \7\ For example, PrecISE fees will be waived based on the full 
November crossing volume for the November 16, 2014 to December 15, 
2014 billing cycle.
    \8\ See note 4 supra.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the provisions of Section 6 of the Act,\9\ in general, and Section 
6(b)(4) of the Act,\10\ 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 proposed fee change is reasonable and 
equitable as it will give firms with a high volume of Crossing Orders 
the opportunity to properly evaluate PrecISE over an indefinite period. 
While PrecISE is not limited to Crossing Orders, this volume accounts 
for a significant portion of PrecISE use today. As such, the Exchange 
believes that providing free terminals to firms that submit a 
substantial volume of Crossing Order flow will encourage those firms to 
purchase additional paid terminals to support their trading needs. The 
proposed fee waiver will also act as an inducement for firms that wish 
to use PrecISE to bring additional Crossing Order volume to the 
Exchange in order to qualify for the free terminals. The Exchange notes 
that it is adopting a prorated crossing volume threshold for the first 
billing cycle, as the proposed fee change would become effective during 
the middle of a calendar month, and would therefore only include volume 
from half of that month. Furthermore, the Exchange believes that the 
proposed fee change is not unfairly discriminatory as all firms that 
meet the crossing volume threshold, including EAMs and sponsored 
customers that already use PrecISE for trading and those who are trying 
PrecISE for the first time, will be eligible to receive the free 
PrecISE terminals.
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
    \10\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act,\11\ the Exchange 
does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any burden 
on intermarket or intramarket competition that is not necessary or 
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. To the contrary, 
the Exchange believes that the proposed fee change offers a competitive 
incentive for firms to bring Crossing Order flow to the ISE and migrate 
to the Exchange's front-end order routing terminal. The Exchange 
operates in a highly competitive market

[[Page 64858]]

in which market participants can readily direct their order flow to 
competing venues. In such an environment, the Exchange must continually 
review, and consider adjusting, its fees to remain competitive with 
other exchanges. For the reasons described above, the Exchange believes 
that the proposed fee changes reflect this competitive environment.
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    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
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C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants or Others

    The Exchange has not solicited, and does not intend to solicit, 
comments on this proposed rule change. The Exchange has not received 
any unsolicited written comments from members or other interested 
parties.

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)(ii) of the Act \12\ and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-4 
thereunder,\13\ because it establishes a due, fee, or other charge 
imposed by ISE.
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    \12\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \13\ 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. 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 No. SR-ISE-2014-48 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-ISE-2014-48. 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 ISE. 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-ISE-2014-48 and should be 
submitted by November 21, 2014.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\14\
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    \14\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-25881 Filed 10-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P