[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 41 (Thursday, February 29, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14915-14918]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-04167]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-99591; File No. SR-NYSE-2024-08]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To 
Amend the Content of the NYSE Best Quote & Trades Data Feed

February 23, 2024.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (the ``Act''),\2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby 
given that on February 14, 2024, New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE'' 
or the ``Exchange'') 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\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
    \3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.

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[[Page 14916]]

I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to amend the content of the NYSE Best Quote & 
Trades (``NYSE BQT'') data feed to identify the current day 
consolidated first price and last price of a security published by the 
securities information processors for all listed equity securities. The 
proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's website at 
www.nyse.com, 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 self-regulatory organization 
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 the 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to enhance the content of NYSE BQT to 
identify the current day consolidated first price and last price of a 
security published by the securities information processors (``SIPs'') 
for all listed equity securities.
    The NYSE BQT \4\ data feed provides a unified view of best bid and 
offer (``BBO'') and last sale information (``Trades'') for the Exchange 
and its affiliates, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE Arca''), NYSE American LLC 
(``NYSE American''), NYSE National, Inc. (``NYSE National'') and NYSE 
Chicago, Inc. (``NYSE Chicago'') and consists of data elements from ten 
existing market data feeds: NYSE Trades,\5\ NYSE BBO,\6\ NYSE Arca 
Trades,\7\ NYSE Arca BBO,\8\ NYSE American Trades,\9\ NYSE American 
BBO,\10\ NYSE National Trades,\11\ NYSE National BBO,\12\ NYSE Chicago 
Trades,\13\ and NYSE Chicago BBO.\14\
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    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73553 (November 6, 
2014), 79 FR 67491 (November 13, 2014) (Notice of Amendment No. 1 
and Order Granting Accelerated Approval to a Proposed Rule Change, 
as Modified by Amendment No. 1, To Establish the NYSE Best Quote and 
Trades Data Feed).
    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 59290 (January 23, 
2009), 74 FR 5707 (January 30, 2009) (SR-NYSE-2009-05); and 59606 
(March 19, 2009), 74 FR 13293 (March 26, 2009) (SR-NYSE-2009-04).
    \6\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62181 (May 26, 
2010), 75 FR 31488 (June 3, 2010) (SR-NYSE-2010-30).
    \7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 59289 (January 23, 
2009), 74 FR 5711 (January 30, 2009) (SR-NYSEArca-2009-06); and 
59598 (March 18, 2009), 74 FR 12919 (March 25, 2009) (SR-NYSEArca-
2009-05).
    \8\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62188 (May 27, 
2010), 75 FR 31484 (June 3, 2010) (SR-NYSEArca-2010-23).
    \9\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62187 (May 27, 
2010), 75 FR 31500 (June 3, 2010) (SR-NYSEAmex-2010-35).
    \10\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62187 (May 27, 
2010), 75 FR 31500 (June 3, 2010) (SR-NYSEAmex-2010-35).
    \11\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 83350 (May 31, 
2018), 83 FR 26332 (June 6, 2018) (SR-NYSENAT-2018-09).
    \12\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 83350 (May 31, 
2018), 83 FR 26332 (June 6, 2018) (SR-NYSENAT-2018-09).
    \13\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 87389 (October 23, 
2019), 84 FR 57904 (October 29, 2019) (SR-NYSECHX-2019-15).
    \14\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 87389 (October 23, 
2019), 84 FR 57904 (October 29, 2019) (SR-NYSECHX-2019-15).
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    NYSE BBO, NYSE Arca BBO, NYSE American BBO, NYSE National BBO and 
NYSE Chicago BBO are existing data feeds that distribute on a real-time 
basis the same BBO information that NYSE, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, 
NYSE National and NYSE Chicago, respectively, report under the 
Consolidated Quotation (``CQ'') Plan for inclusion in the CQ Plan's 
consolidated quotation information data stream. NYSE Trades, NYSE Arca 
Trades, NYSE American Trades, NYSE National Trades and NYSE Chicago 
Trades are existing data feeds that distribute on a real-time basis the 
same last sale information that NYSE, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE 
National and NYSE Chicago, respectively, report under the Consolidated 
Tape Association (``CTA'') Plan for inclusion in the CTA Plan's 
consolidated data streams. Among other things, NYSE BQT also includes 
consolidated volume for all listed equity securities regardless of 
where a transaction is executed.
    The Exchange also previously amended NYSE BQT to include the 
consolidated high and consolidated low price for all equity securities 
as obtained directly from the SIPs.\15\ The consolidated high and 
consolidated low price for all equity securities is disseminated via 
NYSE BQT after the CTA Plan and Unlisted Trading Privileges (``UTP'') 
Plan SIP delay period.\16\
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    \15\ See Securities Exchange Act No. 93000 (September 15, 2021), 
86 FR 52505 (September 21, 2021) (SR-NYSE-2021-51) (Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the 
Content of the NYSE Best Quote & Trades).
    \16\ Id.
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    Now, in addition to the information currently provided in NYSE BQT, 
the Exchange proposes to include the current day consolidated first 
price \17\ and current day consolidated last price of a security 
published by the SIPs for all listed equity securities as obtained 
directly from the SIPs. The consolidated first price and consolidated 
last price for all equity securities would be disseminated via NYSE BQT 
after the CTA and UTP Plan delay period. The delay period for CTA 
equity securities is currently 15 minutes after publication and the 
delay period for UTP equity securities is 15 minutes after the end of 
the current day. Such information would provide NYSE BQT users with a 
static benchmark against which to compare price movements shown on NYSE 
BQT using first and last prices in the consolidated market. The 
Exchange's proposal is in response to requests by subscribers using 
NYSE BQT, and also to achieve feature parity with a competitor 
exchange's data product.\18\
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    \17\ Consolidated first price is the first last-sale eligible 
trade published by the SIP.
    \18\ See Securities Exchange Act No. 91241 (March 2, 2021), 86 
FR 13427 (March 8, 2021) (SR-NASDAQ-2021-010) (Notice of Filing and 
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Enhance the End 
of Day Summary Message on Nasdaq Last Sale Plus).
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    The NYSE BQT data feed is offered in a capacity similar to that of 
a vendor. The Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE National and 
NYSE Chicago are the exclusive distributors of the 10 BBO and Trades 
feeds \19\ from which certain data elements are taken to create NYSE 
BQT. By contrast, the Exchange would not be the exclusive distributor 
of the aggregated and consolidated information that composes the NYSE 
BQT data feed. Other vendors would be able, if they chose, to create a 
data feed with the same information included in NYSE BQT, and to 
distribute it to clients with no greater latency than the Exchange 
would be able to distribute NYSE BQT.
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    \19\ These data feeds are offered pursuant to pre-existing and 
already effective rules filed with the Commission; those rules will 
not be altered by this filing.
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    The Exchange will announce the implementation date of this proposed 
rule change by Trader Update, which, subject to the effectiveness of 
this proposed rule change, will be no later than the second quarter of 
2024. The Exchange is not proposing any change to the fees for NYSE BQT 
as a result of this modification.

[[Page 14917]]

2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b) \20\ of the Act (``Act''), in general, and furthers 
the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) \21\ of the Act, in particular, in 
that 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, and it is not 
designed to permit unfair discrimination among customers, brokers, or 
dealers. This proposal is in keeping with those principles in that it 
promotes increased transparency through the dissemination of the NYSE 
BQT market data feed to those interested in receiving it. The NYSE BQT 
data feed is a product that relies on the Exchange's receipt of 
underlying data, which is available to all market participants, before 
it can aggregate and consolidate information to create the NYSE BQT; 
this is a process that a vendor could also perform. Accordingly, the 
Exchange is not the only distributor of the NYSE BQT data feed.
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    \20\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \21\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    The Exchange also believes that the proposed rule change is 
consistent with Section 11(A) of the Act \22\ in that it supports (1) 
fair competition among brokers and dealers, among exchange markets, and 
between exchange markets and markets other than exchange markets and 
(2) the availability to brokers, dealers, and investors of information 
with respect to quotations for and transactions in securities.
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    \22\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
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    Furthermore, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is 
consistent with Rule 603 of Regulation NMS,\23\ which provides that any 
national securities exchange that distributes information with respect 
to quotations for or transactions in an NMS stock do so on terms that 
are not unreasonably discriminatory. In adopting Regulation NMS, the 
Commission granted self-regulatory organizations and broker dealers 
increased authority and flexibility to offer new and unique market data 
to consumers of such data. It was believed that this authority would 
expand the amount of data available to users and consumers of such data 
and also spur innovation and competition for the provision of market 
data.
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    \23\ 17 CFR 242.603.
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    The proposed rule change is designed to promote just and equitable 
principles of trade and remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism 
of a free and open market and a national market system by identifying 
the consolidated first price and consolidated last price of a security 
published by the SIPs for all listed equity securities as obtained 
directly from the SIPs. Such information would provide NYSE BQT users 
with a static benchmark against which to compare price movements shown 
on NYSE BQT using first and last prices in the consolidated market. 
Therefore, the consolidated first and consolidated last price for 
listed equity securities would provide meaningful information to 
investors.
    The Exchange also believes this proposal is consistent with Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act because it protects investors and the public 
interest and promotes just and equitable principles of trade by 
providing investors with new options for receiving such information. As 
noted above, another exchange currently provides similar price 
information in its market data product.\24\ Therefore, the Exchange 
believes the proposed rule change removes impediments to and perfects 
the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system, 
and, in general, protects investors and the public interest as it would 
provide an additional avenue for investors to receive this information 
from a competing product.
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    \24\ See, note 18, supra.
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    In addition, this proposal would not permit unfair discrimination 
because NYSE BQT will continue to be available to all of the Exchange's 
customers through SFTI and market data vendors on an equivalent basis. 
In addition, any customer that wished to continue to be able to 
purchase one or more of the individual underlying data feeds would be 
able to do so.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act,\25\ 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. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule 
change will enhance competition because it would enable the Exchange to 
include the consolidated first price and consolidated last price of a 
security published by the SIPs for all listed equity securities as part 
of NYSE BQT, thereby enabling it to better compete with similar market 
data products offered by another exchange that includes such 
information.\26\ As noted above, the Exchange already offers NYSE BQT 
and this proposed rule change simply amends the content of the current 
market data product to include the consolidated first and consolidated 
last price for all listed equity securities. The Exchange is not the 
exclusive distributor of the consolidated first and consolidated last 
price information that would compose the amended NYSE BQT data feed. 
Vendors would be able, if they chose, to create a data feed with the 
same information as NYSE BQT and distribute it to their clients on a 
level-playing field with respect to latency and cost as compared to the 
Exchange's product. Specifically, a competing vendor could receive the 
consolidated first and consolidated last price from the SIPs and 
include that information as part of their market data products to be 
disseminated to customers pursuant to the same terms and policies as 
the Exchange.\27\
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    \25\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
    \26\ See, note 18, supra.
    \27\ See CTA Consolidated Volume Display Policy with FAQ at 
https://www.ctaplan.com/publicdocs/ctaplan/Policy_CTA_Consolidated_Volume_Display_with_FAQ.pdf.
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    The Exchange believes the proposal will have no impact on 
intramarket competition as the proposal is not targeted at, or expected 
to be limited in its applicability to, any particular segment of market 
participants and no segment of retail investors, the general investing 
public, or any other market participant is expected to benefit more 
than any other. Therefore, the Exchange believes the inclusion of the 
consolidated first and consolidated last price in NYSE BQT would not 
impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

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

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

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

    The Exchange has filed the proposed rule change pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \28\ and Rule

[[Page 14918]]

19b-4(f)(6) thereunder.\29\ Because the 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 prior to 30 days from the date on which it was filed, 
or such shorter time as the Commission may designate, if consistent 
with the protection of investors and the public interest, the proposed 
rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the 
Act \30\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) thereunder.\31\
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    \28\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
    \29\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
    \30\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \31\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6) 
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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    At any time within 60 days of the filing of such 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 under 
Section 19(b)(2)(B) \32\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed 
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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    \32\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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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-NYSE-2024-08 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-NYSE-2024-08. 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-NYSE-2024-08 and should be 
submitted on or before March 21, 2024.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\33\
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    \33\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12), (59).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-04167 Filed 2-28-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P