[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 8 (Wednesday, January 13, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1655-1656]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-00462]



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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-76844; File No. SR-BATS-2015-123]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS Exchange, Inc.; Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change Related to 
Fees for Use of BATS Exchange, Inc.

January 7, 2016.
    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 December 30, 2015, BATS Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or 
``BATS'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or 
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, 
and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The 
Exchange has designated the proposed rule change as one establishing or 
changing a member due, fee, or other charge imposed by the Exchange 
under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act \3\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) 
thereunder,\4\ which renders the proposed rule change effective upon 
filing with the Commission. 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.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange filed a proposal to amend the fee schedule applicable 
to Members \5\ and non-members of the Exchange pursuant to BATS Rules 
15.1(a) and (c) (``Fee Schedule''). The changes to the Fee Schedule 
pursuant to this proposal are effective upon filing.
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    \5\ The term ``Member'' is defined as ``any registered broker or 
dealer that has been admitted to membership in the Exchange.'' See 
Exchange Rule 1.5(n).
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    The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange's 
Web site at www.batstrading.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 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 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 proposes to increase the standard rate for routing and 
removing liquidity from other market centers for both securities priced 
at or above $1.00 and for securities priced below $1.00. Specifically, 
the Exchange proposes to increase the fee for orders yielding fee code 
X, which results from an order routed to a displayed market that 
removes liquidity using the Parallel D, Parallel 2D, ROUT, ROUX \6\ or 
Post to Away \7\ routing strategy from $0.0029 to $0.0030 per share in 
securities priced at or above $1.00 and from 0.29% to 0.30% of total 
dollar value in securities priced below $1.00. The Exchange proposes to 
reflect these changes to the Fee Schedule in the Standard Rates table, 
the Fee Codes and Associated Fees table, and in Footnote 8. In addition 
to the increase to the Exchange's standard routing fee, the Exchange 
proposes to increase the fee for orders yielding field code Z, which 
results from an order routed to a dark liquidity venue (except through 
the SLIM routing strategy) from $0.00200 to $0.00250 per share.
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    \6\ Parallel D, Parallel 2D, ROUT, and ROUX are the Exchange's 
standard best execution routing strategies and are further described 
in Rule 11.13(b)(3)(A), (B), and (G).
    \7\ Post to Away is a routing strategy that posts an order on 
another market center. Although the Post to Away routing strategy 
had various specific fees and rebates for adding liquidity on other 
market centers, Post to Away routed orders can potentially remove 
liquidity and are charged the Exchange's standard routing fee when 
they do. See Rule 11.13(b)(3)(H).
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Implementation Date
    The Exchange proposes to implement these amendments to its Fee 
Schedule January 4, 2016.\8\
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    \8\ The Exchange notes that the date of the Fee Schedule was 
amended to January 4, 2016 in a separate fee filing. See Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 76709 (December 21, 2015), 80 FR 80827 
(December 28, 2015) (SR-BATS-2015-115).
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,\9\ in general, and 
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4),\10\ in particular, as 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 its proposal to increase the 
standard rate for routing and removing liquidity in securities priced 
at or above $1.00 and in securities priced below $1.00 for Parallel D, 
Parallel 2D, ROUT, ROUX, and Post to Away routed executions and the 
increased fee for orders routed to a dark liquidity venue represents an 
equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among 
Members and other persons using its facilities in that they are 
designed to, in part, cover the costs of routing. While Members that 
route orders through the Exchange's standard routing strategies will be 
paying higher fees due to the proposal, the increased revenue received 
by the Exchange will be used to fund the Exchange generally, including 
the cost of maintaining and improving the technology used to handle and 
route orders from the Exchange as well as programs that the Exchange 
believes help to attract additional liquidity and thus improve the 
depth of liquidity available on the Exchange. Accordingly, although the 
cost of routing is increasing, the Exchange believes that the increase 
is a modest increase and that higher routing fees will benefit Members 
in other ways. Furthermore, the Exchange notes that routing through the 
Exchange is voluntary. Lastly, the Exchange also believes that the 
proposed amendment is non-discriminatory because it applies uniformly 
to all Members.
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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

    These proposed rule changes do not impose any burden on competition 
that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of 
the Act. The Exchange does not believe that any of these changes 
represent a significant departure from previous pricing offered by the 
Exchange or pricing offered by the Exchange's competitors. 
Additionally, Members may opt to disfavor the Exchange's pricing if 
they believe that alternatives offer them better value. Accordingly, 
the Exchange does not believe that the proposed changes will impair the 
ability of Members or competing venues to maintain their competitive 
standing in the financial markets. The Exchange believes that its 
proposal would not burden intramarket competition because

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the proposed rate would apply uniformly to all Members.

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) of the Act \11\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 
thereunder.\12\ 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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    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \12\ 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-BATS-2015-123 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-BATS-2015-123. 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 offices 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-BATS-2015-123, 
and should be submitted on or before February 3, 2016.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\13\
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    \13\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-00462 Filed 1-12-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P