[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 17 (Thursday, January 28, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 7437-7440]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-01837]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-90973; File No. SR-BOX-2021-02]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; BOX Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Adopt 
Temporary IM-2020-1 (Temporary Extension for Representatives To 
Function as Principals)

January 22, 2021.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'' or ``Exchange Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice 
is hereby given that on January 12, 2021, the BOX Exchange LLC (``BOX'' 
or the ``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``SEC'' or ``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in 
Items I and II below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. 
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.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to adopt temporary IM-2020-1 (Temporary 
Extension for Representatives to Function as Principals). The text of 
the proposed rule change is available from the principal office of the 
Exchange, at the Commission's Public Reference Room and also on the 
Exchange's internet website at http://boxoptions.com.

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 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 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The purpose of the proposed rule change is to adopt temporary IM-
2020-1 (Temporary Extension for Representatives to Function as 
Principals). The proposed rule change would extend the 120-day period 
that certain individuals on the Exchange can function as a Principal 
without having successfully passed an applicable qualification 
examination through April 30, 2021,\3\ and would apply only to those 
individuals who were designated to function as a principal prior to 
January 1, 2021. This proposed rule change is based on a filing 
recently submitted by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. 
(``FINRA'') \4\ and is intended to harmonize the Exchange's 
registration rules with those of FINRA so as to promote uniform 
standards across the securities industry.
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    \3\ If BOX wishes to provide additional temporary relief from 
the rule requirements identified in this proposed rule change beyond 
April 30, 2021, BOX will submit a separate rule filing to further 
extend the temporary extension of time.
    \4\ See Exchange Act Release No. 90617 (December 9, 2020), 85 FR 
81258 (December 15, 2020) (SR-FINRA-2020-043) (the ``FINRA 
Filing''). The Exchange notes that the FINRA Filing also provides 
temporary relief to individuals registered with FINRA as Operations 
Professionals under FINRA Rule 1220. The Exchange does not have a 
registration category for Operations Professionals and therefore, 
the Exchange is not proposing to adopt that aspect of the FINRA 
Filing.
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    The COVID-19 pandemic is an unpredictable, exogenous event that has 
resulted in unavoidable disruptions to the securities industry and 
impacted Participant firms, regulators, investors and other 
stakeholders. In response to COVID-19, earlier this year FINRA began 
providing temporary relief by way of frequently asked questions 
(``FAQs'') \5\ to address disruptions to the administration of FINRA 
qualification examinations caused by the pandemic that have 
significantly limited the ability of individuals to sit for 
examinations due to Prometric test center capacity issues.\6\
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    \5\ See https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/key-topics/covid-19/faq#qe.
    \6\ At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, all FINRA 
qualification examinations were administered at test centers 
operated by Prometric. Based on the health and welfare concerns 
resulting from COVID-19, in March Prometric closed all of its test 
centers in the United States and Canada and began to slowly reopen 
some of them at limited capacity in May. Currently, Prometric has 
resumed testing in many of its United States and Canada test 
centers, at either full or limited occupancy, based on local and 
government mandates.
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    FINRA published the first FAQ on March 20, 2020, providing that 
individuals who were designated to function as principals under FINRA 
Rule 1210.04 \7\ prior to February 2, 2020, would be given until May 
31, 2020, to pass the appropriate principal qualification 
examination.\8\ On May 19,

[[Page 7438]]

2020, FINRA extended the relief to pass the appropriate examination 
until June 30, 2020. On June 29, 2020, FINRA again extended the 
temporary relief providing that individuals who were designated to 
function as principals under FINRA Rule 1210.04 prior to May 4, 2020, 
would be given until August 31, 2020, to pass the appropriate principal 
qualification examination. On August 28, 2020, FINRA again extended the 
temporary relief to pass the principal qualification examinations until 
December 31, 2020.\9\
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    \7\ BOX Rule 2020(d) is similar to FINRA Rule 1210.04. The 
Exchange notes there are several differences between its rule text 
and FINRA's rule. FINRA's rule provides that registered persons 
under the rule must have at least 18 months of experience 
functioning as a representative within a five-year period 
immediately preceding their designation as principal, and the person 
must have fulfilled all applicable prerequisite registration, fee 
and examination requirements prior to their designation as 
principal. The Exchange's rule does not have similar qualifying 
prerequisites. Unlike the Exchange's rule text, FINRA's rule also 
provides that the requirements of the rule apply to any principal 
category, and persons registered as an ``Order Processing Assistant 
Representative'', or a ``Foreign Associate'' are not eligible to be 
designated as a principal under the rule. Lastly, FINRA's rule also 
accounts for situations in which a person registered as a principal 
can function in another principal category for a period of 120 
calendar days prior to passing an appropriate qualification 
examination. The Exchange believes these differences are minor in 
substance and do not materially impact this proposal. Specifically, 
the Exchange simply seeks to adopt similar relief in regards to its 
examination requirements for representatives functioning as 
principals, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
    \8\ FINRA Rule 1210.04 (Requirements for Registered Persons 
Functioning as Principals for a Limited Period) allows a member firm 
to designate certain individuals to function in a principal capacity 
for 120 calendar days before having to pass an appropriate principal 
qualification examination. BOX Rule 2020(d) provides the same 
allowance to Participants.
    \9\ See Exchange Act Release No. 89732 (September 1, 2020), 85 
FR 55535 (September 8, 2020) (SR-FINRA-2020-026).
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    The COVID-19 conditions necessitating the extension of relief 
provided in the FINRA FAQ continue to persist and in fact appear to be 
worsening.\10\ One of the impacts of COVID-19 continues to be serious 
interruptions in the administration of FINRA qualification examinations 
at Prometric test centers and the limited ability of individuals to sit 
for the examinations.\11\ Although Prometric has been reopening its 
test centers, Prometric's safety practices mean that currently not all 
test centers are open, some of the open test centers are at limited 
capacity, and some open test centers are delivering only certain 
examinations that have been deemed essential by the local 
government.\12\ Furthermore, Prometric has had to close some reopened 
test centers due to incidents of COVID-19 cases. The initial nationwide 
closure in March along with the inability to fully reopen all Prometric 
test centers due to COVID-19 have led to a significant backlog of 
individuals who are waiting to sit for FINRA examinations that are not 
available online, including the General Securities Principal Exam 
(Series 24).\13\
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    \10\ See, e.g., Meryl Kornfield, Jacqueline Dupree, Marisa Iati, 
Paulina Villegas, Siobhan O'Grady and Hamza Shaban, New daily 
coronavirus cases in U.S. rise to 145,000, latest all-time high, 
Wash. Post, November 11, 2020, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/11/coronavirus-covid-live-updates-us/.
    \11\ Information about continued impact of COVID-19 on FINRA-
administered examinations is available at https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/key-topics/covid-19/exams.
    \12\ Information from Prometric about its safety practices and 
the impact of COVID-19 on its operations is available at https://www.prometric.com/corona-virus-update. See also id.
    \13\ Earlier this year, an online test delivery service was 
launched for candidates seeking to take qualification examination 
remotely. Only certain qualification examinations are available 
online. See supra note 11. FINRA is considering making additional 
qualification examinations available remotely on a limited basis.
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    In addition, firms are continuing to experience operational 
challenges with much of their personnel working from home due to 
shelter-in-place orders, restrictions on businesses and social activity 
imposed in various states, and adherence to other social distancing 
guidelines consistent with the recommendations of public health 
officials.\14\ As a result, firms continue to face potentially 
significant disruptions to their normal business operations that may 
include a limitation of in-person activities and staff absenteeism as a 
result of the health and welfare concerns stemming from COVID-19. Such 
potential disruptions may be further exacerbated and may even affect 
client services if firms cannot continue to keep principal positions 
filled as they may have difficulty finding other qualified individuals 
to transition into these roles or may need to reallocate employee time 
and resources away from other critical responsibilities at the firm.
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    \14\ See, e.g., Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How 
to Protect Yourself & Others, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html.
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    These ongoing, extenuating circumstances make it impracticable for 
Participants to ensure that the individuals whom they have designated 
to function in a principal capacity, as set forth in BOX Rule 2020(d), 
are able to successfully sit for and pass an appropriate qualification 
examination within the 120-calendar day period required under the rule, 
or to find other qualified staff to fill this position. The ongoing 
circumstances also require individuals to be exposed to the health 
risks associated with taking an in-person examination, because the 
General Securities Principal examination is not available online. 
Therefore, the Exchange is proposing to continue the temporary relief 
provided through the FINRA FAQs and FINRA's subsequent rule filings 
\15\ by adopting IM-2020-1 to extend the 120-day period during which an 
individual can function as a principal before having to pass an 
applicable qualification examination until April 30, 2021. The proposed 
rule change would apply only to those individuals who were designated 
to function as a principal prior to January 1, 2021. Any individuals 
designated to function as a principal on or after January 1, 2021, 
would need to successfully pass an appropriate qualification 
examination within 120 days.
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    \15\ See supra notes 4 and 9.
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    The Exchange believes that this proposed extension of time is 
tailored to address the needs and constraints on a Participant's 
operations during the COVID-19 pandemic, without significantly 
compromising critical investor protection. The proposed extension of 
time will help to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on Participants by 
providing continued flexibility so that Participants can ensure that 
principal positions remain filled. The potential risks from the 
proposed extension of the 120-day period are mitigated by the 
Participant's continued requirement to supervise the activities of 
these designated individuals and ensure compliance with federal 
securities laws and regulations, as well as the Exchange's rules.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposal is consistent with the 
requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act,\16\ in general, and Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act,\17\ in particular, because it is designed to 
prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just 
and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and 
coordination with persons engaged in facilitating transactions in 
securities, to remove impediments to, and perfect the mechanism of, a 
free and open market and a national market system and, in general, to 
protect investors and the public interest.
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    \16\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \17\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    The proposed rule change is intended to minimize the impact of 
COVID-19 on Participant operations by extending the 120-day period 
certain individuals may function as a principal without having 
successfully passed an appropriate qualification examination under BOX 
Rule 2020(d) until April 30, 2021. The proposed rule change does not 
relieve Participants from maintaining, under the circumstances, a 
reasonably designed system to supervise the activities of their 
associated persons to achieve compliance with applicable securities 
laws and regulations, and with applicable BOX rules that directly serve 
investor protection. In a time when faced with unique challenges 
resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Exchange believes that the 
proposed rule change is a sensible accommodation that will continue to 
afford Participants the ability to ensure that critical positions are 
filled and client services maintained, while continuing to serve and 
promote the protection of investors and the public interest in this 
unique environment.

[[Page 7439]]

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 Exchange Act. The proposed rule 
change is intended to provide temporary relief given the impacts of the 
COVID-19 pandemic crisis and to also maintain consistency with the 
rules of other self-regulatory organizations (``SROs'') with respect to 
the registration requirements applicable to Participants and their 
registered personnel. In that regard, the Exchange believes that any 
burden on competition would be clearly outweighed by providing 
Participants with temporary relief in this unique environment while 
also ensuring clear and consistent requirements applicable across SROs 
and mitigating any risk of SROs implementing different standards in 
these important areas. In its filing, FINRA notes that the proposed 
rule change is necessary to temporarily rebalance the attendant 
benefits and costs of the obligations under FINRA Rule 1210 in response 
to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is equally applicable to 
the changes the Exchange proposes.\18\ The Exchange accordingly 
incorporates FINRA's abbreviated economic impact assessment by 
reference.
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    \18\ See FINRA Filing, 85 FR at 81260.
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C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    Written comments were neither solicited nor received.

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

    Because the foregoing proposed rule change does not: (i) 
Significantly affect the protection of investors or the public 
interest; (ii) impose any significant burden on competition; and (iii) 
become operative for 30 days from the date on which it was filed, or 
such shorter time as the Commission may designate, it has become 
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \19\ and Rule 19b-
4(f)(6) thereunder.\20\
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    \19\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \20\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) 
requires a self-regulatory organization to give the Commission 
written notice of its intent to file the proposed rule change, along 
with a brief description and text of the proposed rule change, at 
least five business days prior to the date of filing of the proposed 
rule change, or such shorter time as designated by the Commission. 
The Exchange has satisfied this requirement.
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    A proposed rule change filed under Rule 19b-4(f)(6) normally does 
not become operative for 30 days after the date of filing. However, 
pursuant to Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii), the Commission may designate a 
shorter time if such action is consistent with the protection of 
investors and the public interest. The Exchange has asked the 
Commission to waive the 30-day operative delay so that the proposed 
rule change may become operative immediately upon filing. As noted 
above, the Exchange stated that the proposed extension of time will 
help minimize the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on Participants' 
operations by allowing them to keep principal positions filled and 
minimizing disruptions to client services and other critical 
responsibilities. The Exchange further stated that the ongoing 
extenuating circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic make it impractical 
to ensure that individuals designated to act in these capacities are 
able to take and pass the appropriate qualification examination during 
the 120-calendar day period required under the rules. The Exchange also 
explained that shelter-in-place orders, restrictions on business and 
social activity, and adherence to social distancing guidelines 
consistent with the recommendations of public officials remain in place 
in various states.\21\ In addition, the Exchange observed that, 
following a nationwide closure of all test centers earlier in the year, 
some test centers have re-opened, but are operating at limited capacity 
or are only delivering certain examinations that have been deemed 
essential by the local government.\22\ Although, as the Exchange noted, 
FINRA has launched an online test delivery service to help address this 
backlog, the General Securities Principal (Series 24) Examination is 
not available online.\23\ Nevertheless, the Exchange explained that the 
proposed rule change will provide needed flexibility to ensure that 
these positions remain filled and is tailored to address the 
constraints on Participants' operations during the COVID-19 pandemic 
without significantly compromising critical investor protection.\24\
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    \21\ See supra note 14.
    \22\ See supra notes 11 and 12. The Exchange states that 
Prometric has also had to close some reopened test centers due to 
incidents of COVID-19 cases.
    \23\ See supra note 13. FINRA is considering making additional 
qualification examinations available remotely on a limited basis.
    \24\ The Exchange states that Participants remain subject to the 
continued requirement to supervise the activities of these 
designated individuals and ensure compliance with federal securities 
laws and regulations, as well as BOX rules.
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    The Commission observes that the Exchange's proposal, like FINRA's 
analogous filing, provides only temporary relief from the requirement 
to pass certain qualification examinations within the 120-day period in 
the rules. As proposed, this relief would extend the 120-day period 
that certain individuals can function as principals through April 30, 
2021. If a further extension of temporary relief from the rule 
requirements identified in this proposal beyond April 30, 2021 is 
required, the Exchange noted that it may submit a separate rule filing 
to extend the effectiveness of the temporary relief under these 
rules.\25\ For these reasons, the Commission believes that waiver of 
the 30-day operative delay is consistent with the protection of 
investors and the public interest.\26\ Accordingly, the Commission 
hereby waives the 30-day operative delay and designates the proposal 
operative upon filing.\27\
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    \25\ See supra note 3.
    \26\ As noted above by the Exchange, this proposed temporary 
change is based on a recent filing by FINRA that the Commission 
approved with a waiver of the 30-day operative delay. See FINRA 
Filing, 85 FR at 81260.
    \27\ For purposes only of waiving the 30-day operative delay, 
the Commission has considered the proposed rule change's impact on 
efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 
78c(f).
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    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 Exchange Act. If the 
Commission takes such action, the Commission shall institute 
proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule should be approved 
or disapproved.

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 Exchange 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-BOX-2021-02 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities 
and Exchange

[[Page 7440]]

Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-BOX-2021-02. 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 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 such filing also will be available for inspection 
and copying at the principal office of BOX. 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-BOX-2021-02 and should be submitted on or before February 18, 2021.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\28\
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    \28\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-01837 Filed 1-27-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P