[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 6 (Tuesday, January 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 1135-1136]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-00176]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-99270; File No. SR-BX-2023-034]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the 
Exchange's Schedule of Fees at Equity 7, Section 118

January 3, 2024.
    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 December 21, 2023, Nasdaq BX, Inc. (``BX'' or ``Exchange'') filed 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') the 
proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, and III, 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 amend the Exchange's schedule of fees at 
Equity 7, Section 118.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's 
website at https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/bx/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 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
    On December 13, 2023, BX experienced a technical issue with its 
RASH order handling system. The issue involved a duplication of an 
internal order identification numbers, which impacted a subset of 
orders for some members, including unacknowledged orders, an inability 
to cancel open orders, intermittent port disconnects, missing execution 
reports, and mismatched execution reports.
    Because BX's fee and rebate schedule in Equity 7, Section 118 
provide that members may achieve better pricing if they achieve certain 
specified volumes of activity during a given month (as measured by 
Consolidated Volume (defined below) and Average Daily Volume 
(``ADV'')), the RASH issue may have impacted the ability of affected 
members to reach the required volumes. By way of illustration, a member 
with shares of liquidity provided in all securities through one of its 
market participant identifiers (``MPIDs'') that represent more than 
0.50% [sic] of the total consolidated volume reported to all 
consolidated transaction reporting plans by all exchanges and trade 
reporting facilities in equity securities of at least one round lot 
(``Consolidated Volume'') during a month is charged a fee of $0.0020 
per share executed with respect to liquidity that it provides during 
the month through displayed orders. By contrast, members providing 
lower volumes of liquidity pay a higher fee of $0.0030 per share 
executed. If a member had provided liquidity that

[[Page 1136]]

represented slightly in excess of 0.50% [sic] of Consolidated Volume on 
each day of December 2023 other than December 13, but was prevented 
from reaching comparable levels on that date due to the RASH issue, it 
is possible that the rebate it would ultimately earn for the entire 
month would be lower than would otherwise have been the case. 
Similarly, a member may be entitled to receive an enhanced rebate under 
BX's Qualified Market Maker Program or its Retail Price Improvement 
Program, based on its achievement of certain Consolidated Volume or ADV 
criteria specified in the rule. The ability of a member to achieve 
these criteria may have also been affected by the RASH issue.
    Accordingly, in order to ensure that fees and rebates are not 
adversely impacted by the RASH issue, BX proposes to exclude December 
13, 2023 from calculations of Consolidated Volume and ADV made under 
Equity 7, Section 118 if doing so would allow a member to achieve more 
favorable pricing than would be the case if the day were included. 
Thus, members that are unaffected by the RASH issue would not have the 
day arbitrarily excluded from their calculations. BX will perform all 
calculations needed to implement the change.
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 Sections 
6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5) of the Act,\4\ in particular, in that it provides 
for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges 
among members and issuers and other persons using any facility, and is 
not designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, 
issuers, brokers, or dealers.
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    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
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    BX believes that the proposed change is reasonable because it will 
allow members to receive December 2023 pricing that is based on either 
the exclusion, or the inclusion, of December 13, whichever is more 
favorable to the member. The proposed change is equitable and not 
unfairly discriminatory, because it will ensure that the fees and 
rebates applicable to members that were subject to the RASH issue are 
not adversely affected by the issue.

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. The change will help to ensure 
that members that were affected by the RASH issue are not required to 
pay higher fees, or receive lower rebates, during December 2023 than 
would otherwise be the case. Accordingly, BX believes that the proposed 
changes will protect members from incurring unanticipated charges.

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

    The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act.\5\
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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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: (i) 
necessary or appropriate in the public interest; (ii) for the 
protection of investors; or (iii) 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 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 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-BX-2023-034 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-BX-2023-034. 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-BX-2023-034 and should be 
submitted on or before January 30, 2024.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\6\
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    \6\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-00176 Filed 1-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P