[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 136 (Tuesday, July 18, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45943-45945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-15128]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-97885; File No. SR-CboeEDGA-2023-010]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc.; Notice 
of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To 
Amend Its Fee Schedule

July 12, 2023.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the ``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that on June 30, 2023, Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or 
``EDGA'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II 
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\ 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

    Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or ``EDGA'') proposes to 
amend its Fee Schedule. The text of the proposed rule change is 
provided in Exhibit 5.
    The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the 
Exchange's website (http://markets.cboe.com/us/equities/regulation/rule_filings/edga/), at the Exchange's Office of the Secretary, 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 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
    The Exchange proposes to amend its Fee Schedule applicable to its 
equities trading platform (``EDGA Equities'') by revising the fee 
associated with fee code DQ. The Exchange proposes to implement these 
changes effective July 3, 2023.
    The Exchange first notes that it operates in a highly competitive 
market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to 
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be 
excessive or incentives to be insufficient. More specifically, the 
Exchange is only one of 16 registered equities exchanges, as well as a 
number of alternative trading systems and other off-exchange venues 
that do not have similar self-regulatory responsibilities under the 
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``Act''), to which market 
participants may direct their order flow. Based on publicly

[[Page 45944]]

available information,\3\ no single registered equities exchange has 
more than 15% of the market share. Thus, in such a low-concentrated and 
highly competitive market, no single equities exchange possesses 
significant pricing power in the execution of order flow. The Exchange 
in particular operates a ``Taker-Maker'' model whereby it pays credits 
to members that remove liquidity and assesses fees to those that add 
liquidity. The Exchange's Fee Schedule sets forth the standard rebates 
and rates applied per share for orders that remove and provide 
liquidity, respectively. Currently, for orders in securities priced at 
or above $1.00, the Exchange provides a standard rebate of $0.00180 per 
share for orders that remove liquidity and assesses a fee of $0.0030 
per share for orders that add liquidity.\4\ For orders in securities 
priced below $1.00, the Exchange does not assess any fees or provide 
any rebates for orders that add or remove liquidity.\5\ Additionally, 
in response to the competitive environment, the Exchange also offers 
tiered pricing which provides Members opportunities to qualify for 
higher rebates or reduced fees where certain volume criteria and 
thresholds are met. Tiered pricing provides an incremental incentive 
for Members to strive for higher tier levels, which provides 
increasingly higher benefits or discounts for satisfying increasingly 
more stringent criteria.
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    \3\ See Cboe Global Markets, U.S. Equities Market Volume 
Summary, Month-to-Date (June 22, 2023), available at https://www.cboe.com/us/equities/market_statistics/.
    \4\ See EDGA Equities Fee Schedule, Standard Rates.
    \5\ Id.
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    The Exchange currently offers fee code DQ, which is appended to 
Midpoint Discretionary Orders (``MDOs'') \6\ using the Quote Depletion 
Protection (``QDP'') \7\ order instruction which add liquidity to the 
EDGA Book.\8\ QDP is designed to provide enhanced protections to MDOs 
by tracking significant executions that constitute the best bid or 
offer on the EDGA Book and enabling Users to avoid potentially 
unfavorable executions by preventing MDOs entered with the optional QDP 
instruction from exercising discretion to trade at more aggressive 
prices when QDP has been triggered.\9\ Currently, MDOs entered with a 
QDP instruction and which add liquidity to the EDGA Book are appended 
fee code DQ and assessed a flat fee of $0.0010 per share in securities 
at or above $1.00 and 0.30% of dollar value for securities priced below 
$1.00. The Exchange now proposes to amend the fee associated with fee 
code DQ from $0.0010 per share in securities at or above to $1.00 to 
$0.0015 per share. There is no proposed change in the fee assessed to 
securities priced below $1.00.
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    \6\ See Exchange Rule 11.8(e).
    \7\ See Exchange Rule 11.8(e)(10).
    \8\ See Exchange Rule 1.5(d).
    \9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 89016 (June 4, 
2020), 85 FR 35488 (June 10, 2020) (SR-CboeEDGA-2020-005) (``Notice 
of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval 
of a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, to Amend 
the Rule Relating to MidPoint Discretionary Orders to Allow Optional 
Offset or Quote Depletion Protection Instructions'').
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to the 
Exchange and, in particular, the requirements of Section 6(b) of the 
Act.\10\ Specifically, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change 
is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) \11\ requirements that the rules 
of an exchange be 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. 
Additionally, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is 
consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) \12\ requirement that the rules of 
an exchange not be designed to permit unfair discrimination between 
customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers as well as Section 6(b)(4) \13\ 
as it is designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable 
dues, fees and other charges among its Members and other persons using 
its facilities.
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    \10\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
    \12\ Id.
    \13\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4)
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    As described above, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive 
market in which market participants can readily direct order flow to 
competing venues if they deem fee levels at a particular venue to be 
excessive or incentives to be insufficient. The Exchange believes the 
proposed amendment to the fee associated with fee code DQ is reasonable 
as it does not represent a significant departure from the Exchange's 
general pricing structure. The Exchange notes that the proposed 
amendment to the fee associated with fee code DQ represents a modest 
increase over existing prices and yet the proposed fee is lower than 
other similar fees assessed to orders that add liquidity to the EDGA 
Book.\14\ In addition, the Exchange believes the proposed amendment 
represents an equitable allocation of fees and rebates and is not 
unfairly discriminatory because the fees will apply to all Members who 
add liquidity utilizing an MDO with a QDP instruction, equally.
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    \14\ See, e.g., EDGA Equity Fee Schedule, Fee Codes DA, DM, and 
HA.
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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 Act. Rather, as discussed above, 
the Exchange believes that the proposed changes would encourage the 
submission of additional order flow to a public exchange, thereby 
promoting market depth, execution incentives and enhanced execution 
opportunities, as well as price discovery and transparency for all 
Members. As a result, the Exchange believes that the proposed changes 
further the Commission's goal in adopting Regulation NMS of fostering 
competition among orders, which promotes ``more efficient pricing of 
individual stocks for all types of orders, large and small.''
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule changes do not impose any 
burden on intramarket competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The proposed fees associated 
with fee code DQ would apply to all Members equally in that all Members 
would be subject to the same flat fee for the execution of an MDO with 
a QDP instruction that adds liquidity to the Exchange. Both MDO and the 
associated QDP instruction are available to all Members on an equal and 
non-discriminatory basis. As a result, any Member can decide to use (or 
not use) the QDP instruction based on the benefits provided by that 
instruction in potentially avoiding unfavorable executions, and the 
associated charge that the Exchange proposes to amend.
    Next, the Exchange believes the proposed rule changes does not 
impose any burden on intermarket competition that is not necessary or 
appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. As previously 
discussed, the Exchange operates in a highly competitive market. 
Members have numerous alternative venues that they may participate on 
and direct their order flow, including other equities exchanges, off-
exchange venues, and alternative trading systems.

[[Page 45945]]

Additionally, the Exchange represents a small percentage of the overall 
market. Based on publicly available information, no single equities 
exchange has more than 15% of the market share.\15\ Therefore, no 
exchange possesses significant pricing power in the execution of order 
flow. Indeed, participants can readily choose to send their orders to 
other exchange and off-exchange venues if they deem fee levels at those 
other venues to be more favorable. Moreover, the Commission has 
repeatedly expressed its preference for competition over regulatory 
intervention in determining prices, products, and services in the 
securities markets. Specifically, in Regulation NMS, the Commission 
highlighted the importance of market forces in determining prices and 
SRO revenues and, also, recognized that current regulation of the 
market system ``has been remarkably successful in promoting market 
competition in its broader forms that are most important to investors 
and listed companies.'' \16\ The fact that this market is competitive 
has also long been recognized by the courts. In NetCoalition v. 
Securities and Exchange Commission, the D.C. Circuit stated as follows: 
``[n]o one disputes that competition for order flow is `fierce.' . . . 
As the SEC explained, `[i]n the U.S. national market system, buyers and 
sellers of securities, and the broker-dealers that act as their order-
routing agents, have a wide range of choices of where to route orders 
for execution'; [and] `no exchange can afford to take its market share 
percentages for granted' because `no exchange possesses a monopoly, 
regulatory or otherwise, in the execution of order flow from broker 
dealers'. . . .''.\17\ Accordingly, the Exchange does not believe its 
proposed fee change imposes any burden on competition that is not 
necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
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    \15\ Supra note 1.
    \16\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9, 
2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005).
    \17\ NetCoalition v. SEC, 615 F.3d 525, 539 (D.C. Cir. 2010) 
(quoting Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59039 (December 2, 
2008), 73 FR 74770, 74782-83 (December 9, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2006-
21)).
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C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on the 
proposed rule change.

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

    The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \18\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 \19\ 
thereunder. 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.
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    \18\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \19\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
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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 (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to [email protected]. Please include 
file number SR-CboeEDGA-2023-010 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-CboeEDGA-2023-010. 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 (https://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 
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for 
inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. Do not 
include personal identifiable information in submissions. You should 
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. We 
may redact in part or withhold entirely from publication submitted 
material that is obscene or subject to copyright protection. All 
submissions should refer to file number SR-CboeEDGA-2023-010 and should 
be submitted on or before August 8, 2023.
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    \20\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\20\
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-15128 Filed 7-17-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P