[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 81 (Monday, April 27, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23383-23384]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-08795]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-88704; File No. 4-631]
Joint Industry Plan; Order Approving the Twentieth Amendment to
the National Market System Plan To Address Extraordinary Market
Volatility by Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc., Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., Cboe
EDGA Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc., Chicago Stock Exchange,
Inc., Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., Investors Exchange
LLC, Long-Term Stock Exchange, NASDAQ BX, Inc., NASDAQ PHLX LLC, The
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, NYSE National, Inc., New York Stock Exchange
LLC, NYSE American LLC, and NYSE Arca, Inc.
April 21, 2020
I. Introduction
On February 14, 2020, NYSE Group, Inc., on behalf of the following
parties to the National Market System Plan to Address Extraordinary
Market Volatility (``the Plan''): Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., Cboe BYX
Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc.,
Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc., the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc. (``FINRA''), Investors Exchange LLC, Long-Term Stock
Exchange (``LTSE''), NASDAQ BX, Inc., NASDAQ PHLX LLC, The NASDAQ Stock
Market LLC (``Nasdaq''), New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE''), NYSE
Arca, Inc., NYSE National Inc., and NYSE American LLC (collectively,
the ``Participants'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``Commission'') pursuant to Section 11A(a)(3) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act'') \1\ and Rule 608 thereunder,\2\
a proposal to amend the Plan (``Twentieth Amendment'').\3\ The proposed
Twentieth Amendment was published in the Federal Register on March 23,
2020.\4\ The Commission received no comments on the proposal.
[[Page 23384]]
This Order approves the Twentieth Amendment to the Plan as proposed.
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1(a)(3).
\2\ 17 CFR 242.608.
\3\ See Letter from Elizabeth King, General Counsel and
Corporate Secretary, NYSE, to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary,
Commission, dated February 13, 2020.
\4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 88406 (March 17,
2020), 85 FR 16408 (``Notice'').
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II. Background
The Plan was approved in May 2012 on a pilot basis to ``allow the
Participants and the public to gain valuable practical experience with
Plan operations during the pilot period'' and to assess ``whether
further modifications of the Plan are necessary or appropriate prior to
final approval.'' \5\ On April 11, 2019, the Commission approved the
Eighteenth Amendment to the Plan, which transitioned the Plan from
operating on a pilot to a permanent basis and adopted a mechanism for
periodic review and assessment of the Plan.\6\ As part of the mechanism
for periodic review and assessment of the Plan, the Participants
committed to provide the Commission with certain data on a quarterly
and annual basis. In particular, the Participants agreed to provide the
Commission, and make publicly available, quarterly reports providing
basic statistics that could be used to identify trends in the
performance and impact of the Plan on market activity. The Participants
added to the Plan Section II.B of Appendix B (``Appendix B.II.B'') to
specify the specific data points that would be included in the
quarterly reports.
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\5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67091, 77 FR 33498
(June 6, 2012) (File No. 4-631) (``Plan Approval Order'') (approving
Plan as amended).
\6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 85623, 84 FR 16086
(April 17, 2019) (``Eighteenth Amendment Approval Order'').
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III. Description of the Proposal
The Participants propose to amend Appendix B.II.B to improve its
clarity and transparency by revising and supplementing the current
language.\7\ The Participants stated that, in the course of preparing
to compile and aggregate the data required for the first quarterly
report, they determined that the language of Appendix B.II.B could be
improved by, among other things: (a) Emphasizing from the outset that
the data should be aggregated across primary listing exchanges, (b)
specifying the specific partitions that should be applied to each data
point, (c) specifying the specific distribution statistics that should
be applied to each data point, and (d) providing additional clarity as
to what reopening data should be included.\8\
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\7\ The Participants also propose to make a non-substantive
amendment to the Plan to reflect the name change of Chicago Stock
Exchange, Inc. to NYSE Chicago, Inc and to change its address.
\8\ See Notice supra note 4 at 85 FR 16409-11, for a more
detailed description of proposed changes to Appendix B.II.B.
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IV. Discussion
The Commission finds that the Twentieth Amendment, as proposed, is
consistent with the requirements of the Act and the rules and
regulations thereunder. Specifically, the Commission finds that the
Twentieth Amendment is consistent with Section 11A of the Act \9\ and
Rule 608 thereunder \10\ in that the proposal is appropriate in the
public interest, for the protection of investors and the maintenance of
fair and orderly markets, and that it removes impediments to, and
perfects the mechanism of, a national market system.
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\9\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
\10\ 17 CFR 242.608.
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The Commission continues to believe, as it stated in the Eighteenth
Amendment Approval Order, that ``the ongoing review and assessment
requirements proposed by the Participants will both facilitate a
robust, data-driven assessment of the Plan's effectiveness and provide
the Commission and the public sufficient transparency of the
effectiveness of the LULD mechanism necessary to help ensure the Plan
remains designed to achieve its objective.'' \11\ We believe that the
changes proposed in the Twentieth Amendments are consistent with these
previously stated policy goals. Specifically, the proposed changes,
which effectuate an important clarification concerning the method for
aggregating data and precise descriptions of the required data elements
for each quarterly report, will improve the Participants' ability to
produce for the Commission and the public high-quality quarterly
reports. For these reasons, the Commission finds that the proposed
changes to Appendix B.II.B contained in the Twentieth Amendment are
consistent with Section 11A of the Act and Rule 608 thereunder.
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\11\ See Eighteenth Amendment Approval Order, supra note 6, at
84 FR 16086.
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V. Conclusion
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 11A of the Act \12\
and Rule 608 thereunder,\13\ that the Twentieth Amendment to the Plan
(File No. 4-631) be, and it hereby is, approved.
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\12\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
\13\ 17 CFR 242.608.
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)(29).
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J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-08795 Filed 4-24-20; 8:45 am]
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