[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 74 (Monday, April 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22668-22669]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-08816]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-77585; File No. SR-OPRA-2015-02]


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 the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees Set Forth in OPRA's 
Fee Schedule

April 12, 2016.
    Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 608 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on September 22, 2015, 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\ Effective January 
1, 2016, the OPRA Plan Amendment established a new Professional 
Subscriber Device-Based Fee. The

[[Page 22669]]

Commission is publishing this notice to provide interested persons an 
opportunity to submit written comments on the 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 fourteen participants 
to the OPRA Plan are BATS Exchange, Inc., BOX Options Exchange, LLC, 
Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated, C2 Options Exchange, 
Incorporated, EDGX Exchange, Inc., International Securities 
Exchange, LLC, ISE Gemini, LLC, ISE Mercury, LLC, Miami 
International Securities Exchange, LLC, NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc., NASDAQ 
OMX PHLX LLC, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, NYSE MKT LLC, and NYSE 
Arca, Inc.
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I. Description and Purpose of the Plan Amendment

    The OPRA Plan amendment revised the OPRA Fee Schedule to establish 
OPRA's Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee and made conforming 
changes in OPRA's Enterprise Rate Professional Subscriber Fee. OPRA's 
Enterprise Rate Professional Subscriber Fee is available to those 
Professional Subscribers that elect that rate in place of the regular 
OPRA device-based fees.\4\
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    \4\ OPRA's Enterprise Rate is based on the number of a 
Professional Subscriber's U.S. registered representatives and 
independent investment advisers who contract with the Subscriber to 
provide advisory services to the Subscriber's customers.
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    Specifically, effective January 1, 2016, the OPRA Plan Amendment: 
increased the current $28.50 monthly per device fee by $1.00; increased 
the Enterprise Rate, from a monthly fee of $28.50 times the number of a 
Professional Subscriber's U.S.-based registered representatives, to a 
monthly fee of $29.50 times the number of the Subscriber's U.S.-based 
registered representatives; and made conforming changes to the minimum 
monthly fee under the Enterprise Rate. ``Professional Subscribers'' are 
persons who subscribe to OPRA data, do not qualify for the reduced fees 
charged to ``Nonprofessional Subscribers,'' and do not redistribute the 
OPRA data to third parties. OPRA permits the counting of ``User IDs'' 
as a surrogate for counting ``devices'' for purposes of its 
Professional Subscriber Device-based Fees.\5\
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    \5\ See footnote 2 in the OPRA Fee Schedule and OPRA's 
``Policies with respect to Device-based Fees,'' which are available 
on the OPRA Web site, www.opradata.com, under the ``Policies'' tab.
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    The number of devices reported to OPRA as subject to Professional 
Subscriber Device-Based Fees has been steadily trending downwards over 
many years. In 2008, OPRA received device-based fees, including 
enterprise fees, with respect to approximately 210,500 devices. In 
2014, OPRA received device-based fees, including enterprise fees, with 
respect to approximately 148,400 devices. OPRA was receiving device-
based fees in the third calendar quarter of 2015 with respect to 
approximately 134,000 devices--already a reduction of approximately 
9.7% from 2014. OPRA believes that this long-term downward trend is the 
result of the increasing use of trading algorithms and automated 
trading platforms and other fundamental changes in the securities 
industry, and OPRA anticipates that this trend is likely to continue.
    The increase in the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees is 
consistent with OPRA's past practice of making incremental $1.00 
increases in its monthly Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees.\6\ 
The increase in the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee--which is 
an increase of approximately 3.5%--will partially offset the impact on 
revenue of the reduction in the number of devices in 2015 as compared 
to 2014.\7\
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    \6\ The year 2015 was an exception: for 2015, OPRA implemented 
an increase of $1.50 in its Professional Subscriber Device-Based 
Fee, because during 2015 one of OPRA's member exchanges initiated 
after-hours trading, causing OPRA to incur additional expenses 
associated with data dissemination during expanded trading hours. 
Prior to 2015, OPRA implemented $1.00/month increases in its 
Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee during each of the years 
2008-2014. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. File 72826 
(August 12, 2014), 79 FR 48777 (August 18, 2014) (SR-OPRA-2014-06).
    \7\ OPRA submitted a separate filing in which OPRA restructured 
and increased its ``non-display use'' fees in order to provide 
additional offset to the continuing reductions in the numbers of 
devices subject to OPRA's Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fees. 
See File No. OPRA-2015-01.
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    The text of the amendment to the OPRA Plan is available at OPRA, 
the Commission's Public Reference Room, the OPRA Web site at 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. 
OPRA put the change in the Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee 
into effect as of January 1, 2016.

III. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the OPRA Plan 
amendment is consistent with the Act.\8\ Comments may be submitted by 
any of the following methods:
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    \8\ Pursuant to Rule 608(b)(3)(iii) of Regulation NMS, the 
Commission may summarily abrogate an immediately effective NMS Plan 
amendment within sixty days of its filing and require refiling and 
approval of the amendment 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 Securities Exchange Act of 1934. See 17 CFR 
242.608(b)(3)(iii). The abrogation period for the OPRA Plan 
amendment has expired. Interested persons may nevertheless submit 
written comments on the OPRA Plan amendment.
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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-2015-02 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-2015-02. 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 OPRA Plan amendment that are 
filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to 
the OPRA 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-2015-02 and should be 
submitted on or before May 9, 2016.

    By the Commission.
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-08816 Filed 4-15-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P