[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 93 (Thursday, May 14, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 27764-27766]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-11621]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-74909; File No. SR-CTA/CQ-2015-01]


Consolidated Tape Association; Notice of Filing of the Twenty 
Second Substantive Amendment to the Second Restatement of the CTA Plan 
and Sixteenth Substantive Amendment to the Restated CQ Plan

May 8, 2015.
    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 27, 2015, the Consolidated Tape Association (``CTA'') Plan and 
Consolidated Quotation (``CQ'') Plan participants (``Participants'') 
\3\ filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') 
a proposal to amend the Second Restatement of the CTA Plan and Restated 
CQ Plan (collectively, the ``Plans'').\4\ The amendments represent the 
22nd Substantive Amendment to the CTA Plan and 16th Substantive 
Amendment to the CQ Plan (collectively ``the Amendments''). The 
Amendments propose to require the Participants to include timestamps in 
the trade-report and bid-and-offer information that they report to the 
Plans' processor.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \2\ 17 CFR 242.608.
    \3\ Each participant executed the proposed Amendments. The 
Participants are: BATS Exchange, Inc. (``BATS''), BATS-Y Exchange, 
Inc. (BATS-Y), Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc. (CBOE), EDGA 
Exchange, Inc. (``EDGA''), EDGX Exchange, Inc. (``EDGX''), Financial 
Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (``FINRA''), International 
Securities Exchange, LLC (``ISE''), NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc. (``Nasdaq 
BX''), NASDAQ OMX PHLX, Inc. (``Nasdaq PSX''), Nasdaq Stock Market 
LLC (``Nasdaq''), National Stock Exchange (``NSX''), New York Stock 
Exchange LLC (``NYSE''), NYSE MKT LLC (``NYSE MKT''), and NYSE Arca, 
Inc. (``NYSE Arca'').
    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 10787 (May 10, 
1974), 39 FR 17799 (May 20, 1974) (declaring the CTA Plan 
effective); 15009 (July 28, 1978), 43 FR 34851 (August 7, 1978) 
(temporarily authorizing the CQ Plan); and 16518 (January 22, 1980), 
45 FR 6521 (January 28, 1980) (permanently authorizing the CQ Plan). 
The most recent restatement of both Plans was in 1995. The CTA Plan, 
pursuant to which markets collect and disseminate last sale price 
information for non-NASDAQ listed securities, is a ``transaction 
reporting plan'' under Rule 601 under the Act, 17 CFR 242.601, and a 
``national market system plan'' under Rule 608 under the Act, 17 CFR 
242.608. The CQ Plan, pursuant to which markets collect and 
disseminate bid/ask quotation information for listed securities, is 
a ``national market system plan'' under Rule 608 under the Act, 17 
CFR 242.608.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments from 
interested persons on the proposed Amendments.

[[Page 27765]]

I. Rule 608(a)

A. Purpose of the Amendments

    Section VI(c) of the CTA Plan specifies that the format for a 
trade's last sale price information that a Participant reports to the 
Processor under the CTA Plan shall include the stock symbol, the number 
of shares and the price of the transaction. Section VI(a) of the CQ 
Plan provides that each bid and offer that a Participant reports to the 
Processor under the CQ Plan shall be accompanied by the bid or offer's 
quotation size or aggregate quotation size.
    The Amendments propose to add to those requirements that 
Participants shall also include in reports to the Processor the time of 
the trade or the quotation.
    In the case of a Participant that is a national securities 
exchange, the time of the transaction or quotation is to be reported in 
microseconds as identified in the Participant's matching engine 
publication timestamp.
    In the case of FINRA, the time of a transaction shall be the time 
of execution that a FINRA member reports to a FINRA trade reporting 
facility and the time of a bid or offer shall be the quotation 
publication timestamp that the bidding or offering member reports to 
the FINRA quotation facility, all in accordance with FINRA rules.
    In addition, if the FINRA trade reporting facility or quotation 
facility provides a proprietary feed of trades or quotes reported by 
the facility to the Processor, then the FINRA facility shall also 
furnish the Processor with the time of the transmission as published on 
the facility's proprietary feed.
    FINRA shall convert times that its members report to it in seconds 
or milliseconds to microseconds and shall furnish such times to the 
Processor in microseconds.
    The Participants believe that adding timestamps to the elements 
that Participants must report in connection with trade reports and bids 
and offers will improve transparency regarding the latencies between 
the CTA and CQ Plans' consolidated data feeds and industry proprietary 
feeds. Users of the consolidated feeds would be better able to monitor 
the latency of those feeds and to assess whether such feeds meet their 
trading and other requirements.

B. Governing or Constituent Documents

    Not applicable.

C. Implementation of the Amendments

    All of the Participants have manifested their approval of the 
proposed Amendments by means of their execution of the Amendments. The 
Plan Amendments would become operational upon approval by the 
Commission.

D. Development and Implementation Phases

    Not applicable.

E. Analysis of Impact on Competition

    The proposed Amendments do not impose any burden on competition 
that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of 
the Exchange Act. They will improve transparency regarding the 
latencies between the CTA and CQ Plans' consolidated data feeds and 
industry proprietary feeds and will allow investors to monitor the 
latency of those feeds and to assess whether such feeds meet their 
trading and other requirements.
    The Participants do not believe that the proposed plan Amendments 
introduce terms that are unreasonably discriminatory for the purposes 
of Section 11A(c)(1)(D) of the Exchange Act.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78K-1(c)(1)(D).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

F. Written Understanding or Agreements Relating to Interpretation of, 
or Participation in, Plan

    Not applicable.

G. Approval by Sponsors in Accordance With Plan

    See Item I.C above.

H. Description of Operation of Facility Contemplated by the Proposed 
Amendments

    Not applicable.

I. Terms and Conditions of Access

    See Item I.A above.

J. Method of Determination and Imposition, and Amount of, Fees and 
Charges

    Not applicable.

K. Method and Frequency of Processor Evaluation

    Not applicable.

L. Dispute Resolution

    Not applicable.

II. Rule 601(a)

A. Equity Securities for Which Transaction Reports Shall Be Required by 
the Plan

    Not applicable.

B. Reporting Requirements

    See Item I.A above.

C. Manner of Collecting, Processing, Sequencing, Making Available and 
Disseminating Last Sale Information

    See Item I.A above.

D. Manner of Consolidation

    Not applicable.

E. Standards and Methods Ensuring Promptness, Accuracy and Completeness 
of Transaction Reports

    The Amendments propose to add timestamps to Participant reports of 
trades. The addition of timestamps should provide investors with a more 
complete picture of trades, making those reports more complete and more 
accurate.

F. Rules and Procedures Addressed to Fraudulent or Manipulative 
Dissemination

    Not applicable.

G. Terms of Access to Transaction Reports

    Not applicable.

H. Identification of Marketplace of Execution

    Not applicable.

III. Solicitation of Comments

    The Commission seeks general comments on the Amendments. Interested 
persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments 
concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed Amendments are 
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-CTA/CQ-2015-01 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-CTA/CQ-2015-01. 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 Amendments that

[[Page 27766]]

are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating 
to the Amendments 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 the Amendments also will be 
available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the 
CTA.
    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-CTA/CQ-2015-01 
and should be submitted on or before June 4, 2015.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(27).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-11621 Filed 5-13-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P