[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 233 (Tuesday, December 6, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 74688-74689]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-26441]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-96411; File No. SR-Phlx-2022-38]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq PHLX LLC; Order Granting 
Approval of a Proposed Rule Change To Permit the Listing and Trading of 
P.M.-Settled Nasdaq 100 Micro Index Options That Expire on Tuesday or 
Thursday Under Its Nonstandard Expirations Pilot Program

November 30, 2022.

I. Introduction

    On October 4, 2022, Nasdaq PHLX LLC (``Phlx'' or the Exchange'') 
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission''), 
pursuant to section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ a proposed rule change to 
expand the Exchange's Nonstandard Expirations Pilot Program (``Pilot 
Program'') to permit the listing and trading of P.M.-settled Nasdaq 100 
Micro Index Options (``XND'') that expire on Tuesday or Thursday. The 
proposed rule change was published for comment in the Federal Register 
on October 21, 2022.\3\ No comments were received. The Commission is 
approving the proposed rule change.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 96090 (October 17, 
2022), 87 FR 64119 (``Notice'').
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II. Description of the Proposal

    The Exchange proposes to expand the Pilot Program by amending 
Options 4A, Section 12(b)(5) to permit the listing and trading of XND 
options that expire on any Tuesday or Thursday. The Pilot Program 
permits the listing and trading of P.M.-settled options on broad-based 
indexes with nonstandard expirations dates.\4\ Under the Pilot Program, 
the Exchange may open for trading P.M.-settled options on broad-based 
indexes that expire on: (1) any Monday, Wednesday, or Friday and, with 
respect to options on the Nasdaq-100 Index (``NDX''),\5\ any Tuesday or 
Thursday (``Weekly Expirations'') \6\ and (2) the last trading day of 
the month (``EOMs'').\7\ The Exchange notes that permitting XND options 
with Tuesday and Thursday expirations, as proposed, would be in 
addition to the XND options with Monday, Wednesday and Friday 
expirations that the Exchange currently lists, as they are permissible 
Weekly Expirations for options on a broad-based index pursuant to 
Options 4A, Section 12(b)(5)(A).\8\
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    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 82341 (December 15, 
2017), 82 FR 60651 (December 21, 2017) (approving SR-Phlx-2017-79) 
(Order Approving a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment 
No. 1 and Granting Accelerated Approval of Amendment No. 2, of a 
Proposed Rule Change To Establish a Nonstandard Expirations Pilot 
Program) (``Pilot Program Approval Order'').
    \5\ XND options trade independently of and in addition to NDX 
options, and the XND options are subject to the same rules that 
presently govern the trading of index options based on the Nasdaq-
100 Index, including sales practice rules, margin requirements, 
trading rules, and position and exercise limits. See Notice, supra 
note 3, at 64119.
    \6\ See Options 4A, Section 12(b)(5)(A).
    \7\ See Options 4A, Section 12(b)(5)(B).
    \8\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 64119.
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    The Exchange states that the Pilot Program will apply to XND 
options with Tuesday and Thursday expirations in the same manner as it 
currently applies to all other P.M.-settled broad-based index options 
with Monday, Wednesday, and Friday expirations and to Nasdaq-100 Index 
options with Tuesday and Thursday expirations.\9\ Options with Tuesday 
and Thursday expirations, including the proposed XND Tuesday and 
Thursday expirations, would be subject to all provisions within Options 
4A, Section 12(b)(5) and treated the same as options on the same 
underlying index that expire on the third Friday of the expiration 
month; provided, however, that Weekly Expirations are P.M.-settled, and 
new series in Weekly Expirations may be added up to and including on 
the expiration date for an expiring Weekly Expiration.\10\
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    \9\ See id.
    \10\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 64119-64120.
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    The Exchange states that the maximum number of XND options 
expirations that may be listed for each Weekly Expiration (i.e., a 
Monday expiration, Tuesday expiration, Wednesday expiration, Thursday 
expiration, or Friday expiration, as applicable) in a given class would 
be the same as the maximum number of expirations permitted in Options 
4A, Section 12(a)(4) \11\ for standard options on the same broad-based 
index.\12\
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    \11\ Options 4A, Section 12(a)(4) provides, ``Index options 
contracts may expire at three (3)-month intervals or in consecutive 
weeks or months. The Exchange may list: (i) up to six (6) standard 
monthly expirations at any one time in a class, but will not list 
index options that expire more than twelve (12) months out; (ii) up 
to 12 standard monthly expirations at any one time for any class 
that the Exchange (as the Reporting Authority) uses to calculate a 
volatility index; and (iii) up to 12 standard (monthly) expirations 
in NDX options and XND options.''
    \12\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 64120.
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    Weekly Expirations need not be for consecutive Monday, Tuesday, 
Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday expirations as applicable; however, the 
expiration date of a non-consecutive expiration may not be beyond what 
would be considered the last expiration date if the maximum number of 
expirations were listed consecutively. Weekly Expirations that are 
initially listed in a given class may expire up to four weeks from the 
actual listing date. If the Exchange lists EOMs and Weekly Expirations 
as applicable in a given class, the Exchange will list an EOM instead 
of a Weekly Expiration that expires on the same day in the given class. 
Other expirations in the same class are not counted as part of the 
maximum number of Weekly Expirations for an applicable broad-based 
index class.\13\
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    \13\ See id.
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    If the Exchange is not open for business on a respective Monday, 
the normally Monday expiring Weekly Expirations will expire on the 
following business day.\14\ If the Exchange is not open for business on 
a respective Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday, the normally 
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday expiring Weekly Expirations 
will expire on the previous business day.\15\ The proposed rule change 
also adds that if two different Weekly Expirations on XND options would 
expire on the same day because the Exchange is not open for business on 
a certain weekday, the Exchange will list only one of such Weekly 
Expirations. Transactions in Weekly Expirations may be effected on the 
Exchange between the hours of 9:30 a.m. (Eastern Time) and 4:15 p.m. 
(Eastern Time), except that that on the last trading day, transactions 
in expiring P.M.-settled broad-based index options may be effected on 
the Exchange

[[Page 74689]]

between the hours of 9:30 a.m. (Eastern time) and 4:00 p.m. (Eastern 
time).\16\
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    \14\ See id.
    \15\ See id.
    \16\ See id.; see also, Options 4A, Section 12(b)(5)(D).
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Pilot Report
    The Exchange states that it intends to submit a rule change 
proposing permanency of the Pilot Program to the Commission and would 
include data regarding XND options that expire on Tuesdays or Thursdays 
as it does for current Weekly Expirations on any broad-based index 
option either by providing additional data in such proposal or in an 
annual report regarding XND options that expire on each trading day of 
the week, as proposed.\17\ The Exchange would also continue to provide 
the Commission with ongoing data regarding XND options that expire on 
Tuesdays or Thursdays unless and until the Pilot Program is made 
permanent or discontinued.\18\
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    \17\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 64120.
    \18\ See id.
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    As provided in the Pilot Program Approval Order,\19\ the annual 
report will contain an analysis of volume, open interest and trading 
patterns. In addition, for series that exceed certain minimum open 
interest parameters, the annual report will provide analysis of index 
price volatility and, if needed, share trading activity.\20\ 
Additionally, the Exchange will provide the Commission with any 
additional data or analyses the Commission requests because it deems 
such data or analyses necessary to determine whether the Pilot Program, 
including XND options with Tuesday and Thursday expirations as 
proposed, is consistent with the Act.\21\ As it does for current Pilot 
Program products, the Exchange will make public on its website all data 
and analyses in connection with XND options with Tuesday and Thursday 
expirations it submits to the Commission under the Pilot Program.\22\ 
Going forward, the Exchange will include the same areas of analysis for 
XND options with Tuesday and Thursday expirations. The Exchange also 
proposes to include the following market quality data, over sample 
periods determined by the Exchange and the Commission, for XND options 
(XND and standard NDX options) as part of the annual reports going 
forward: (1) time-weighted relative quoted spreads; (2) relative 
effective spreads; and (3) time-weighted bid and offer sizes.\23\
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    \19\ See supra note 5.
    \20\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 64120.
    \21\ See id.
    \22\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 64120-64121.
    \23\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 64121.
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III. Discussion and Commission Findings

    After careful review, the Commission finds that the proposed rule 
change is consistent with the requirements of the Act and the rules and 
regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange 
and, in particular, with section 6(b) of the Act.\24\ In particular, 
the Commission finds that the proposed rule change is consistent with 
section 6(b)(5) of the Act,\25\ which requires, among other things, 
that a national securities exchange have rules 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 regulating, clearing, settling, processing 
information with respect to, and 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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    \24\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). In approving this proposed rule change, 
the Commission has considered the proposed rule's impact on 
efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 
78c(f).
    \25\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    As the Commission noted in its recent order approving the listing 
and trading of P.M.-settled options on the S&P 500 Index that expire on 
Tuesday or Thursday, the Commission has had concerns about the 
potential adverse effects and impact of P.M. settlement upon market 
volatility and the operation of fair and orderly markets on the 
underlying cash markets at or near the close of trading, including for 
cash-settled derivatives contracts based on a broad-based index.\26\ 
The potential impact today remains unclear, given the significant 
changes in the closing procedures of the primary markets in recent 
decades. The Commission is mindful of the historical experience with 
the impact of P.M. settlement of cash-settled index derivatives on the 
underlying cash markets, but recognizes that these risks may be 
mitigated today by the enhanced closing procedures that are now in use 
at the primary equity markets.
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    \26\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 94682 (April 12, 
2022), 87 FR 22993 (April 18, 2022) (CBOE-2022-005).
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    The Exchange's proposal to add Tuesday and Thursday XND expirations 
to the existing Pilot Program would offer additional investment options 
to investors and may be useful for their investment or hedging 
objectives while providing the Commission with data to monitor the 
effects of Tuesday and Thursday XND expirations and the impact of P.M. 
settlement on the markets. To assist the Commission in assessing any 
potential impact of Tuesday and Thursday XND expirations on the options 
markets as well as the underlying cash equities markets, the Exchange 
will be required to submit data to the Commission in connection with 
the Pilot Program.\27\ Further, including the proposed Tuesday and 
Thursday XND expirations in the Pilot Program, together with the data 
and analysis that the Exchange will provide to the Commission, will 
allow the Exchange and the Commission to monitor for and assess any 
potential for adverse market effects of allowing Tuesday and Thursday 
XND expirations, including on the underlying component stocks. In 
particular, the data collected from the Pilot Program will help inform 
the Commission's consideration of whether the Pilot Program, as amended 
to include Tuesday and Thursday XND expirations, should be modified, 
discontinued, extended, or permanently approved. Furthermore, the 
Exchange's ongoing analysis of the Pilot Program should help it monitor 
any potential risks from large P.M.-settled positions and take 
appropriate action if warranted.
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    \27\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 64120-64121.
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    For the foregoing reasons, the Commission finds that the proposed 
rule change is consistent with the Act.

IV. Conclusion

    It is therefore ordered, pursuant to section 19(b)(2) of the 
Act,\28\ that the proposed rule change (SR-Phlx-2022-38), be, and 
hereby is, approved.
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    \28\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\29\
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    \29\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-26441 Filed 12-5-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P