[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 45 (Tuesday, March 8, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12187-12188]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-05040]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-77275; File No. SR-NYSEMKT-2016-28]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE MKT LLC; Notice of Filing and 
Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Change Amending the Fees for NYSE 
Amex Options Proprietary Market Data as They Apply to Federal Agency 
Customers

March 2, 2016.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (the ``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby 
given that, on February 17, 2016, NYSE MKT LLC (the ``Exchange'' or 
``NYSE MKT'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 
``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\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
    \3\ 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 Exchange proposes to amend the fees for NYSE Amex Options 
proprietary market data as they apply to Federal agency customers. The 
proposed change is available on the Exchange's Web site at 
www.nyse.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 those 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 the 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to amend the NYSE Amex Options Proprietary 
Market Data Fee Schedule (``Fee Schedule''), to provide that market 
data fees do not apply to any Federal agency for their use of NYSE Amex 
Options real-time proprietary market data products. The term ``Federal 
agency'' as used in the Fee Schedule would include all Federal agencies 
subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR),\4\ as well as any 
Federal agency not subject to FAR that has promulgated its own 
procurement rules.\5\
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    \4\ FAR is the principal set of rules governing the process by 
which the U.S. federal government purchases goods and services.
    \5\ See 48 CFR 2.101. FAR defines ``Federal agency'' as ``any 
executive agency or any independent establishment in the legislative 
or judicial branch of the Government (except the Senate, the House 
of Representatives, the Architect of the Capitol, and any activities 
under the Architect's direction).'' ``Executive agency'' is defined 
as ``an executive department, a military department, or any 
independent establishment within the meaning of 5 U.S.C. 101, 102, 
and 104(1), respectively, and any wholly owned Government 
corporation within the meaning of 31 U.S.C. 9101.''
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    The Exchange is proposing to specify that access fees, professional 
user fees and non-display fees do not apply to Federal agencies for 
those products to which those fees apply.\6\ The proposal is designed 
to allow the Exchange to provide Federal agencies with NYSE Amex 
Options real-time proprietary market data products at no cost in 
support of Federal agencies' regulatory responsibilities. With the 
adoption of the proposed fee waiver, the Exchange is not waiving any of 
its contractual rights and all Federal agencies that subscribe to NYSE 
Amex Options real-time proprietary market data products will be 
required to execute the appropriate subscriber agreement, which include 
[sic], among other things, provisions against the redistribution of 
data.
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    \6\ These products are currently Amex Options Product and Amex 
Options Complex.
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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,\7\ in general, and 
Sections 6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5) of the Act,\8\ in particular, in that it 
provides an equitable allocation of reasonable fees among users and 
recipients of the data and is not

[[Page 12188]]

designed to permit unfair discrimination among customers, issuers, and 
brokers.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4), (5).
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    The Exchange believes the proposal to eliminate the access fees, 
display fees for professional users, and non-display fees associated 
with its proprietary market data products for customers that are 
Federal agencies is reasonable, equitable and not unfairly 
discriminatory because it is designed to facilitate federal government 
regulation without giving an undue advantage to one set of commercial 
users over another. The Exchange believes that it is reasonable to 
assess no fees to Federal agencies that subscribe to the Exchange's 
proprietary market data products because Federal agencies do not use 
the Exchange's proprietary market data for commercial gain, but only 
for regulatory purposes.

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

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will 
impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. In setting the proposed 
fees, the Exchange considered the competitiveness of the market for 
proprietary data and all of the implications of that competition. The 
Federal agencies that will benefit from the proposed rule change, 
however, do not use the Exchange's proprietary market data products for 
commercial purposes and do not compete with commercial users of the 
data. The Exchange believes that it has considered all relevant factors 
and has not considered irrelevant factors in order to establish fair, 
reasonable, and not unreasonably discriminatory fees and an equitable 
allocation of fees among all users.

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

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

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

    The foregoing rule change is effective upon filing pursuant to 
Section 19(b)(3)(A) \9\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-
4 \10\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other charge 
imposed by the Exchange.
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \10\ 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 under 
Section 19(b)(2)(B) \11\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed 
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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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-NYSEMKT-2016-28 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-NYSEMKT-2016-28. 
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 the 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-
NYSEMKT-2016-28 and should be submitted on or before March 29, 2016.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\12\
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
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    \12\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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[FR Doc. 2016-05040 Filed 3-7-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P