[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 225 (Friday, November 20, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74482-74483]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-25616]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-90433; File No. SR-NYSEAMER-2020-81]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE American LLC; Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Change Amending the NYSE 
American Options Fee Schedule Regarding an Incentive Program for Floor 
Brokers

November 16, 2020.
    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 November 10, 2020, NYSE American LLC (``NYSE American'' 
or the ``Exchange'') 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 NYSE American Options Fee 
Schedule (``Fee Schedule'') regarding an incentive program for Floor 
Brokers. The Exchange proposes to implement the fee change effective 
November 10, 2020.\4\ The proposed change is available on the 
Exchange's website at www.nyse.com, at the principal office of the 
Exchange, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.
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    \4\ The Exchange originally filed to amend the Fee Schedule on 
October 30, 2020. (SR-NYSEAMER-2020-78) and withdrew such filing on 
November 10, 2020.
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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 purpose of this filing is to modify the Fee Schedule to 
eliminate an incentive program that was designed to encourage Floor 
Brokers to increase their billable volume (the ``Rebate''). The 
Exchange proposes to implement the rule changes on November 10, 2020.
    Currently, the Exchange provides a $35,000 Rebate each month that a 
Floor Broker organization achieves the requisite minimum average daily 
volume (``ADV'') of billable contracts.\5\ To qualify for the monthly 
Rebate, a Floor Broker must execute the greater of:
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    \5\ See Fee Schedule, Section III.E.2., Floor Broker Billable 
Volume Rebate (the ``FB Billable Volume Rebate'').
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    (i) 75,000 contract sides in billable ADV or
    (ii) 150% of the Floor Broker's total billable ADV in contract 
sides during the first half of 2019 (i.e., January-June 2019).\6\
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    \6\ See id. The calculation for billable ADV applies to manual 
executions and QCCs, but excludes any Customer volume and non-
billable Professional Customer QCC volume, Firm Facilitation trades, 
and any volume calculated to achieve the Firm Monthly Fee Cap and 
the Strategy Execution Fee Cap, regardless of whether either of 
these caps is achieved. See id.
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    The Exchange adopted the Rebate--a voluntary program--in June 2020 
to encourage Floor Broker organizations to execute billable volume on 
the Exchange.\7\ However, because the Rebate program is underutilized 
(and therefore did not achieve its intended effect), the Exchange 
proposes to eliminate the Rebate program from the Fee Schedule.\8\
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    \7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 89045 (June 11, 
2020), 85 FR 36644 (June 17, 2020) (SR-NYSEAMER-2020-45) (notice 
regarding adoption of the Rebate).
    \8\ See proposed Fee Schedule, Section III.E.2. (held as 
``Reserved'').
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    The Exchange believes that the elimination of the Rebate would 
impact some firms that would no longer receive this benefit; however, 
given that the Rebate was underutilized, the Exchange believes that 
most Floor Brokers firms would not be impacted by its removal.

[[Page 74483]]

2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b) of the Act,\9\ in general, and furthers the 
objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) and (5) of the Act,\10\ in particular, 
because it provides for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, 
fees, and other charges among its members, issuers and other persons 
using its facilities and does not unfairly discriminate between 
customers, issuers, brokers or dealers.
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \10\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
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    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change to eliminate 
the Rebate from the Fee Schedule is reasonable because this program is 
underutilized and has generally not incentivized Floor Broker 
organizations to bring liquidity and increase billable manual 
executions on the Exchange. The Exchange believes eliminating an 
underutilized incentive program would simplify the Fee Schedule. The 
Exchange believes that eliminating the Rebate program from the Fee 
Schedule is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because the 
program would be eliminated in its entirety and would no longer be 
available to any Floor Broker organization.

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

    In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act, the Exchange does 
not believe that the proposed rule change would impose any burden on 
competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the 
purposes of the Act. Instead, as discussed above, the Exchange believes 
that the proposed elimination of the Rebate program from the Fee 
Schedule would not affect intramarket or intermarket competition 
because the Rebate has not incentivized Floor Broker organizations to 
add liquidity or increase billable manual executions on the Exchange. 
Because only those Floor Brokers that met a minimum monthly volume were 
eligible to earn the Rebate, the proposed elimination of the Rebate 
would remove a potential burden on competition in that it would level 
the playing field for all Floor Broker firms operating on the Exchange.
    The Exchange operates in a highly competitive market in which 
market participants can readily favor one of the 16 competing option 
exchanges. In such an environment, the Exchange must continually adjust 
its fees and rebates to remain competitive with other exchanges and to 
attract order flow to the Exchange. The Exchange believes that the 
proposed rule change reflects this competitive environment because it 
removes an underutilized Rebate that did not achieve its intended 
purpose of attracting order flow.

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) \11\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 
19b-4 \12\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other 
charge imposed by the Exchange.
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    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \12\ 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) \13\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed 
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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    \13\ 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-NYSEAMER-2020-81 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-NYSEAMER-2020-81. 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 website (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 website 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. Persons submitting comments are 
cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying 
information from comment submissions. You should submit only 
information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions 
should refer to File Number SR-NYSEAMER-2020-81, and should be 
submitted on or before December 11, 2020.
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    \14\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\14\
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-25616 Filed 11-19-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P