[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 93 (Monday, May 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26763-26765]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-10278]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-91843; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2021-039]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to 
Temporarily Suspend Publication on Certain Proprietary Data Feeds

May 11, 2021.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on May 4, 2021, The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq'' or 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``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 temporarily suspend publication on certain 
proprietary data feeds of last sale information on securities that are 
projected to exceed 98 percent of the maximum allowable value of the 
feed. The suspension will be effective on May 4, 2021, and will 
conclude on May 17, 2021, when the maximum allowable value of the feed 
will be substantially enhanced. The proposed suspension will impact the 
following data feeds: Nasdaq Last Sale and Nasdaq Last Sale Plus 
(Equity 7, Section 139), Nasdaq Basic (Equity 7, Section 147), and 
Nasdaq FilterView (Equity 7, Section 137).
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's 
website at https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/nasdaq/rules, 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 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 these statements may be examined at the

[[Page 26764]]

places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, 
set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant 
aspects of such statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    Nasdaq proposes to temporarily suspend, on an emergency basis, the 
publication on certain proprietary data feeds of last sale information 
on securities that are projected to exceed 98 percent of the maximum 
allowable value of the feed. The suspension will be effective on May 4, 
2021, and will conclude on May 17, 2021, when the maximum allowable 
value of the feed will be substantially enhanced. The proposed 
suspension will impact the following data feeds: Nasdaq Last Sale and 
Nasdaq Last Sale Plus (Equity 7, Section 139), Nasdaq Basic (Equity 7, 
Section 147), and Nasdaq FilterView (Equity 7, Section 137).
    The last sale data on the four data feeds listed above is currently 
written in a 4-byte hexadecimal computer code format, which establishes 
a maximum allowable value of $429,496.7926. If the price of a security 
meets the maximum allowable price, it resets to zero. Nasdaq plans to 
remove that maximum allowable price on May 17, 2021, by substituting 
the 4-byte hexadecimal format with an 8-byte hexadecimal format using a 
long-form trade message, eliminating the possibility that the price of 
any existing security will reset to zero. Until May 17, however, as a 
protective safeguard to prevent the dissemination of incorrect data, 
Nasdaq proposes to suspend reporting of any security that is projected 
to exceed 98 percent of the maximum allowable value of the feed 
($420,906.856). This is a temporary measure that will have no permanent 
impact on any of the four data feeds listed above after the upgrade 
goes into effect on May 17, 2021.
    Only one NMS security is projected to exceed 98 percent of the 
maximum allowable value between May 4 and May 17, 2021, based on 
intraday price movements observed on May 3, 2021.
    The last sale data for any security not published on the Nasdaq 
proprietary data feeds will be available through the securities 
information processors.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 
6(b) of the Act,\3\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act,\4\ in particular, in that it is designed to promote 
just and equitable principles of trade, 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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    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    The purpose of this proposal is to prevent the last sale price for 
any of the proprietary data feeds listed above from resetting to zero 
because a security has reached the maximum allowable value of 
$429,496.7926. Nasdaq believes that this protective safeguard will 
prevent the dissemination of incorrect data, and will thereby promote 
just and equitable principles of trade, remove impediments to and 
perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market 
system, and, in general, protect investors and the public interest.

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 not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. As explained above, the 
Proposal is a protective safeguard to prevent the dissemination of 
incorrect data. It will have no impact on intermarket competition (the 
competition among SROs) because this temporary measure will have no 
long-term impact on the competition among exchanges in the sale of top-
of-book data. It will have no impact on intramarket competition (the 
competition among exchange customers) because no purchaser of the 
affected data feeds will be treated any differently than any other 
purchaser of the affected data feeds.

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

    No written comments were either solicited or 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 \5\ and Rule 19b-
4(f)(6) thereunder.\6\
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \6\ 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 Commission has waived this requirement in this case.
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    A proposed rule change filed pursuant to Rule 19b-4(f)(6) under the 
Act \7\ normally does not become operative for 30 days after the date 
of its filing. However, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) \8\ permits the 
Commission to designate a shorter time if such action is consistent 
with the protection of investors and the public interest. The Exchange 
has requested that the Commission waive the 30-day operative delay. 
Waiver of the operative delay would allow the Exchange to avoid 
disseminating inaccurate last sale information in its proprietary 
market data feeds without delay, in the event the last sale price for 
any security reaches the maximum allowable value of $429,496.7926. 
According to the Exchange, only one NMS security is projected to be 
affected by the temporary suspension, which will conclude on May 17, 
2021 when the maximum allowable value of the feeds will be 
substantially enhanced. Moreover, last sale information for any 
security not published on the Exchange's proprietary market data feeds 
will be available through the securities information processors. 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. Accordingly, the Commission hereby waives the 30-day 
operative delay and designates the proposed rule change operative upon 
filing.\9\
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    \7\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
    \8\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii).
    \9\ For purposes only of waiving the 30-day operative delay, the 
Commission has also considered the proposed rule'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 Act. If the Commission 
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings to 
determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or 
disapproved.

[[Page 26765]]

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-NASDAQ-2021-039 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-NASDAQ-2021-039. 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-NASDAQ-2021-039 and should be submitted 
on or before June 7, 2021.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\10\
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    \10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-10278 Filed 5-14-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P