[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 85 (Wednesday, May 1, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35260-35265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2024-09326]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-100030; File No. SR-NYSE-2024-24]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To 
Establish the NYSE Pillar Depth Data Feed

April 25, 2024.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby given 
that on April 24, 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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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to establish the NYSE Pillar Depth (``Pillar 
Depth'') data feed. 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 establish the Pillar Depth data feed. The 
Pillar Depth data feed is a frequency-based depth of book market data 
feed that would provide a consolidated view of the ten (10) best price 
levels on both the bid and offer sides across the NYSE Group's combined 
limit order books for securities traded on the NYSE Group equities 
markets, i.e., New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE''), NYSE American 
LLC (``NYSE American''), NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE Arca''), NYSE Chicago, 
Inc. (``NYSE Chicago'') and NYSE National, Inc. (``NYSE National''), 
for which the NYSE Group equities markets report quotes and trades 
under the Consolidated Tape Association (``CTA'') Plan or the Nasdaq/
UTP Plan.
Background
    The Exchange recently established the NYSE Aggregated Lite (``NYSE 
Agg Lite'') data feed.\4\ The NYSE Agg Lite is a NYSE-only frequency-
based depth of book market data feed of the NYSE's limit order book for 
up to ten (10) price levels on both the bid and offer sides of the 
order book for securities traded on NYSE and for which NYSE reports 
quotes and trades under the CTA Plan or the Nasdaq/UTP Plan.\5\ The 
NYSE Agg Lite would be updated no less frequently than once per second. 
The NYSE Agg Lite would include depth of book order data as well as 
security status messages. The security status message would inform 
subscribers of changes in the status of a specific security, such as 
trading halts, short sale restriction, etc. In addition, the NYSE Agg 
Lite would also include order

[[Page 35261]]

imbalance information prior to the opening and closing of trading.\6\
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    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99689 (March 7, 
2024), 89 FR 18466 (March 13, 2024) (SR-NYSE-2024-12) (Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to 
Establish the NYSE Aggregated Lite Market Data Feed) (``NYSE Agg 
Lite Filing''). The NYSE Agg Lite data feed is not yet available. In 
the NYSE Agg Lite Filing, the NYSE noted that it would publish a 
Trader Update to announce the date when the NYSE Agg Lite data feed 
would become available for subscribers and vendors.
    \5\ Id.
    \6\ Id.
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    Additionally, NYSE American recently established the NYSE American 
Aggregated Lite (``NYSE American Agg Lite'') data feed.\7\ The NYSE 
American Agg Lite is a NYSE American-only frequency-based depth of book 
market data feed of the NYSE American's limit order book for up to ten 
(10) price levels on both the bid and offer sides of the order book for 
securities traded on NYSE American and for which NYSE American reports 
quotes and trades under the CTA Plan or the Nasdaq/UTP Plan.\8\ The 
NYSE American Agg Lite would be updated no less frequently than once 
per second. The NYSE American Agg Lite would include depth of book 
order data as well as security status messages. The security status 
message would inform subscribers of changes in the status of a specific 
security, such as trading halts, short sale restriction, etc. In 
addition, the NYSE American Agg Lite would also include order imbalance 
information prior to the opening and closing of trading.\9\
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    \7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99690 (March 7, 
2024), 89 FR 18445 (March 13, 2024) (SR-NYSEAMER-2024-14) (Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to 
Establish the NYSE American Aggregated Lite Market Data Feed) 
(``NYSE American Agg Lite Filing''). The NYSE American Agg Lite data 
feed is not yet available. In the NYSE American Agg Lite Filing, 
NYSE American noted that it would publish a Trader Update to 
announce the date when the NYSE American Agg Lite data feed would 
become available for subscribers and vendors.
    \8\ Id.
    \9\ Id.
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    Additionally, NYSE Arca recently established the NYSE Arca 
Aggregated Lite (``NYSE Arca Agg Lite'') data feed.\10\ The NYSE Arca 
Agg Lite is a NYSE Arca-only frequency-based depth of book market data 
feed of the NYSE Arca's limit order book for up to ten (10) price 
levels on both the bid and offer sides of the order book for securities 
traded on NYSE Arca and for which NYSE Arca reports quotes and trades 
under the CTA Plan or the Nasdaq/UTP Plan.\11\ The NYSE Arca Agg Lite 
would be updated no less frequently than once per second. The NYSE Arca 
Agg Lite would include depth of book order data as well as security 
status messages. The security status message would inform subscribers 
of changes in the status of a specific security, such as trading halts, 
short sale restriction, etc. In addition, the NYSE Arca Agg Lite would 
also include order imbalance information prior to the opening and 
closing of trading.\12\
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    \10\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99713 (March 12, 
2024), 89 FR 19381 (March 18, 2024) (SR-NYSEArca-2024-22) (Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to 
Establish the NYSE Arca Aggregated Lite Market Data Feed) (``NYSE 
Arca Agg Lite Filing''). The NYSE Arca Agg Lite data feed is not yet 
available. In the NYSE Arca Agg Lite Filing, NYSE Arca noted that it 
would publish a Trader Update to announce the date when the NYSE 
Arca Agg Lite data feed would become available for subscribers and 
vendors.
    \11\ Id.
    \12\ Id.
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    Further, NYSE Chicago recently established the NYSE Chicago 
Aggregated Lite (``NYSE Chicago Agg Lite'') data feed.\13\ The NYSE 
Chicago Agg Lite is a NYSE Chicago-only frequency-based depth of book 
market data feed of the NYSE Chicago's limit order book for up to ten 
(10) price levels on both the bid and offer sides of the order book for 
securities traded on NYSE Chicago and for which NYSE Chicago reports 
quotes and trades under the CTA Plan or the Nasdaq/UTP Plan.\14\ The 
NYSE Chicago Agg Lite would be updated no less frequently than once per 
second. The NYSE Chicago Agg Lite would include depth of book order 
data as well as security status messages. The security status message 
would inform subscribers of changes in the status of a specific 
security, such as trading halts, short sale restriction, etc. The NYSE 
Chicago Agg Lite would not include order imbalance information.\15\
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    \13\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99691 (March 7, 
2024), 89 FR 18468 (March 13, 2024) (SR-NYSECHX-2024-08) (Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to 
Establish the NYSE Chicago Aggregated Lite Market Data Feed) (``NYSE 
Chicago Agg Lite Filing''). The NYSE Chicago Agg Lite data feed is 
not yet available. In the NYSE Chicago Agg Lite Filing, NYSE Chicago 
noted that it would publish a Trader Update to announce the date 
when the NYSE Chicago Agg Lite data feed would become available for 
subscribers and vendors.
    \14\ Id.
    \15\ Id.
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    Finally, NYSE National recently established the NYSE National 
Aggregated Lite (``NYSE National Agg Lite'') data feed.\16\ The NYSE 
National Agg Lite is a NYSE National-only frequency-based depth of book 
market data feed of the NYSE National's limit order book for up to ten 
(10) price levels on both the bid and offer sides of the order book for 
securities traded on NYSE National and for which NYSE National reports 
quotes and trades under the CTA Plan or the Nasdaq/UTP Plan.\17\ The 
NYSE National Agg Lite would be updated no less frequently than once 
per second. The NYSE National Agg Lite would include depth of book 
order data as well as security status messages. The security status 
message would inform subscribers of changes in the status of a specific 
security, such as trading halts, short sale restriction, etc. The NYSE 
National Agg Lite would not include order imbalance information.\18\
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    \16\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99715 (March 12, 
2024), 89 FR 19383 (March 18, 2024) (SR-NYSENAT-2024-06) (Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to 
Establish the NYSE National Aggregated Lite Market Data Feed) 
(``NYSE National Agg Lite Filing''). The NYSE National Agg Lite data 
feed is not yet available. In the NYSE National Agg Lite Filing, 
NYSE National noted that it would publish a Trader Update to 
announce the date when the NYSE National Agg Lite data feed would 
become available for subscribers and vendors.
    \17\ Id.
    \18\ Id.
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Proposed Pillar Depth Data Feed
    In response to customer requests, the Exchange proposes to 
establish the Pillar Depth data feed, a data feed consisting of certain 
data elements from five market data feeds--NYSE Agg Lite, NYSE American 
Agg Lite, NYSE Arca Agg Lite, NYSE Chicago Agg Lite and NYSE National 
Agg Lite. The Exchange does not currently offer this product. As noted 
above, the Pillar Depth data feed would be a frequency-based depth of 
book market data feed that would provide a consolidated view of the ten 
(10) best price levels on both the bid and offer sides across the NYSE 
Group's combined limit order books for securities traded on the NYSE 
Group equities markets for which the NYSE Group equities markets report 
quotes and trades under the CTA Plan or the Nasdaq/UTP Plan. In other 
words, Pillar Depth would be a compilation of limit order data that the 
Exchange would provide to vendors and subscribers. As proposed, the 
Pillar Depth data feed would be updated no less frequently than once 
per second. In addition to depth of book order data, Pillar Depth would 
also include security status messages. The security status message 
would inform vendors and subscribers of changes in the status of a 
specific security, such as trading halts, short sale restriction, etc. 
In addition, Pillar Depth would publish imbalance messages no less 
frequently than once per second during auctions to update price and 
volume information, prior to the opening and closing of trading on 
NYSE, NYSE American and NYSE Arca.
    For each security, Pillar Depth would only include the top ten (10) 
bids and top ten (10) offers from among the five NYSE Group equities 
markets. The resting interest at each price level would be aggregated 
across the five NYSE Group equities markets, and a market center ID 
will attribute the exchanges included in this interest. For example, if 
XYZ stock were traded on both NYSE and NYSE Arca, and one of the top 10 
price levels on NYSE was 1,000 shares

[[Page 35262]]

on offer at $10.00, and one of the top 10 price levels on NYSE Arca was 
500 shares on offer at $10.00. If there were no shares of XYZ on offer 
on any of the remaining NYSE Group equities markets, then Pillar Depth 
would represent 1,500 shares on offer at $10.00. This type of 
aggregation would be repeated for each of the 10 best price levels on 
both the bid and offer sides across the five NYSE Group equities 
markets.
    The Exchange proposes to offer Pillar Depth after receiving 
requests from vendors and subscribers that would like to receive the 
data described above in a consolidated fashion at a pre-defined 
publication interval, in this case updates no less than once per 
second. A consolidated data feed may provide greater efficiencies and 
reduce errors for vendors and subscribers that currently choose to 
consolidate the above data into a single offering after receiving it 
from the Exchange through existing products and adjust the publication 
frequency based on a subscriber's needs. The Exchange believes that 
providing vendors and subscribers with the option to subscribe to a 
market data product that consolidates a subset of data from existing 
products and where such consolidated data is published at a pre-defined 
interval, thus lowering bandwidth, infrastructure and operational 
requirements, would allow vendors and subscribers to choose the best 
solution for their specific business needs. The Exchange notes that 
publishing only the top ten price levels on both the bid and offer 
sides across the NYSE Group equities markets' order book where such 
data is communicated to subscribers at a pre-defined interval would 
reduce the overall volume of messages required to be consumed by 
subscribers when compared to a full order-by-order data feed or a full 
depth of book data feed. Providing data in this format and publication 
frequency would make Pillar Depth more easily consumable by vendors and 
subscribers, especially for display purposes.
    The Exchange proposes to offer Pillar Depth through the Exchange's 
Liquidity Center Network (``LCN''), a local area network in the 
Exchange's Mahwah, New Jersey data center that is available to users of 
the Exchange's co-location services. The Exchange would also offer 
Pillar Depth through the ICE Global Network (``IGN''), through which 
all other users and members access the Exchange's trading and execution 
systems and other proprietary market data products.
    The Exchange believes that Pillar Depth would provide high-quality, 
comprehensive depth of book order data for the Exchange, NYSE Arca, 
NYSE American, NYSE Chicago and NYSE National in a unified view and 
respond to subscriber demand for such a product. The Exchange notes 
that an anticipated end user might use Pillar Depth for purposes of 
identifying an indicative price of Tape A, B, and C securities through 
leveraging the depth and breadth of NYSE, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, 
NYSE Chicago and NYSE National without having to purchase consolidated 
data and thus it would not be a latency-sensitive product. The Exchange 
does not anticipate that an end user would, or could, use the Pillar 
Depth data for purposes of making order-routing or trading decisions. 
Rather, the Exchange notes that under Rule 603 of Regulation NMS, 
Pillar Depth could not be substituted for consolidated data in all 
instances in which consolidated data is used and certain subscribers 
would still be required to purchase consolidated data for trading and 
order-routing purposes.\19\
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    \19\ 17 CFR 242.603(c).
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Exchange Not an Exclusive Distributor of Pillar Depth
    The Exchange proposes to offer the Pillar Depth data feed in a 
capacity similar to that of a vendor. The Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE 
American, NYSE Chicago and NYSE National are the exclusive distributors 
of the five Agg Lite data feeds \20\ from which certain data elements 
would be taken to create Pillar Depth. By contrast, the Exchange would 
not be the exclusive distributor of the aggregated and consolidated 
information that would compose the proposed Pillar Depth data feed. 
Other vendors would be able, if they chose, to create a data feed with 
the same information as proposed for inclusion in Pillar Depth, and to 
distribute it to clients with no greater latency than the Exchange 
would be able to distribute Pillar Depth. In addition, as discussed 
further below, the pricing the Exchange would charge clients for Pillar 
Depth would not be lower than the cost to a vendor of creating a 
comparable product, including the cost of receiving the underlying data 
feeds.
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    \20\ These other 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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    After creating Pillar Depth, the Exchange would distribute this 
data feed through IGN and market data vendors. The path for 
distribution by the Exchange of this data would not be faster than a 
vendor that independently created a Pillar Depth-like product could 
distribute its own product. As such, the proposed Pillar Depth data 
feed is a data product that a competing vendor could create and sell 
without being in a disadvantaged position relative to the Exchange. In 
recognition that the Exchange is the source of its own market data and 
is affiliated with NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE Chicago and NYSE 
National, the Exchange represents that the source of the market data it 
uses to create the proposed Pillar Depth is the same as the source 
available to other vendors.
    With respect to latency, the Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, 
NYSE Chicago and NYSE National are located in the same data center in 
Mahwah, New Jersey. The system creating and supporting the proposed 
Pillar Depth data feed would need to obtain the five underlying data 
feeds from these five exchanges before it could aggregate and 
consolidate information to create Pillar Depth and then distribute it 
to end users. The Exchange also offers third parties access to its data 
center through co-location. Accordingly, a competing market data vendor 
co-located in the Exchange's Mahwah, New Jersey facility offering a 
similar competing product would similarly need to obtain the five 
underlying data feeds.
    The Exchange has designed the Pillar Depth data feed so that it 
would not have a competitive advantage over a competing vendor with 
respect to the speed of access to those five underlying data feeds. 
Likewise, the Pillar Depth data feed would not have a speed advantage 
vis-[agrave]-vis competing vendors co-located in the data center with 
respect to access to end user customers, whether those end users are 
also co-located or not. As such, a market data vendor could perform the 
aggregation and consolidation function in the Mahwah facility and 
redistribute a competing product from that location to similarly 
situated customers on a level playing field with respect to the speed 
that the Exchange could create and redistribute the Pillar Depth data 
feed.
    With respect to cost, the Exchange will file a separate rule filing 
to establish the fees for Pillar Depth. To ensure that vendors could 
compete with the Exchange by creating the same product as Pillar Depth 
and sell it to their clients, the Exchange would charge its clients for 
the Pillar Depth data feed an amount that represents the cost to a 
market data vendor to obtain the five underlying Agg Lite data feeds, 
plus an additional amount to be determined that would reflect the value 
of the aggregation and consolidation function. The Exchange notes that 
a competing vendor might engage in a different analysis of assessing 
the cost of a

[[Page 35263]]

competing product, which may incorporate passing through fees 
associated with co-location at the Mahwah, New Jersey data center. 
However, the incremental co-location costs to a particular vendor might 
be inconsequential if such vendor is already co-located and is able to 
allocate its co-location costs over numerous product and customer 
relationships. The Exchange therefore believes that a competing vendor 
could create and offer a product similar to the proposed Pillar Depth 
data feed at a similar cost. For these reasons, the Exchange believes 
that vendors could readily offer a product similar to Pillar Depth on a 
competitive basis.
    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, is anticipated to be on May 13, 2024.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b) \21\ of the Act (``Act''), in general, and furthers 
the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) \22\ 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 Pillar 
Depth to those interested in receiving it.
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    \21\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \22\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    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 market data as 
requested by market data vendors and subscribers. The proposed rule 
change would benefit investors by facilitating their prompt access to 
the frequency-based and consolidated depth of book information 
contained in the Pillar Depth market data feed.
    The Exchange also believes that the proposed rule change is 
consistent with Section 11(A) of the Act \23\ in that it supports (i) 
fair competition among brokers and dealers, among exchange markets, and 
between exchange markets and markets other than exchange markets and 
(ii) the availability of information with respect to quotations for and 
transactions in securities to brokers, dealers, and investors. 
Furthermore, the proposed rule change is consistent with Rule 603 of 
Regulation NMS,\24\ 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. The Pillar Depth market data feed would be accessed and 
subscribed to on a voluntary basis, in that neither the Exchange nor 
market data vendors are required by any rule or regulation to make this 
data available. Accordingly, vendors and subscribers can discontinue 
their use at any time and for any reason.
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    \23\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \24\ See 17 CFR 242.603.
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    In adopting Regulation NMS, the Commission granted self-regulatory 
organizations (``SROs'') 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. The 
Exchange believes that Pillar Depth is precisely the sort of market 
data product that the Commission envisioned when it adopted Regulation 
NMS. The Commission concluded that Regulation NMS would itself further 
the Act's goals of facilitating efficiency and competition:

    Efficiency is promoted when broker-dealers who do not need the 
data beyond the prices, sizes, market center identifications of the 
NBBO and consolidated last sale information are not required to 
receive (and pay for) such data. The Commission also believes that 
efficiency is promoted when broker-dealers may choose to receive 
(and pay for) additional market data based on their own internal 
analysis of the need for such data.\25\
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    \25\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 (June 9, 
2005), 70 FR 37496 (June 29, 2005) (Regulation NMS Adopting 
Release).

    In addition, Pillar Depth removes impediments to and perfects the 
mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system by 
providing investors with alternative market data and would compete with 
similar market data products currently offered by the four U.S. 
equities exchanges operated by Cboe Exchange, Inc.--Cboe BZX Exchange, 
Inc. (``BZX''), Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc. (``BYX''), Cboe EDGA Exchange, 
Inc. (``EDGA''), and Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (``EDGX''), each of which 
offers a market data product called Cboe One Feed.\26\ Similar to Cboe 
One Premium Feed, Pillar Depth can be utilized by vendors and 
subscribers to quickly access and distribute aggregated order book 
data. As noted above, Pillar Depth, similar to Cboe One Premium Feed, 
would provide aggregated depth per security, including the bid, ask and 
share quantity for orders received by the NYSE Group markets, except 
unlike Cboe One Premium Feed, which provides aggregated depth per 
security for up to five (5) price levels, Pillar Depth would provide a 
consolidated view of the ten (10) best price levels on both the bid and 
offer sides across the NYSE Group's combined limit order books for 
securities traded on the NYSE Group equities markets.
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    \26\ See BZX Rule 11.22(j); BYX Rule 11.22(i); EDGA Rule 
13.8(b); and EDGX Rule 13.8(b). The Cboe One Feed offered by BZX, 
BYX, EDGA and EDGX is a data feed that contains the aggregate best 
bid and offer of all displayed orders for securities traded on the 
Cboe exchanges. The Cboe One Feed also contains the individual last 
sale information, consolidated volume, the primary listing market's 
official opening and closing price, and the current day consolidated 
high and low price for all listed equity securities. Cboe One Feed 
recipients may also elect to receive aggregated two-sided quotations 
from the Cboe exchanges for five (5) price levels (``Cboe One 
Premium Feed'').
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    The Exchange notes that the existence of alternatives to the 
Exchange's proposed product, including real-time consolidated data, 
free delayed consolidated data, and proprietary data from other 
sources, as well as the continued availability of the Exchange's 
separate data feeds, ensures that the Exchange is not unreasonably 
discriminatory because vendors and subscribers can elect these 
alternatives as their individual business cases warrant.
    As noted above, the Exchange would be acting in the capacity of a 
vendor with respect to the proposed Pillar Depth data feed. The 
proposed Pillar Depth 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 Pillar Depth; this is a process that a competing vendor could 
also perform. Accordingly, although the Exchange might be the only 
distributor of the Pillar Depth data feed initially, it is not in an 
exclusive position to provide a product like the Pillar Depth data 
feed. Therefore, the Exchange believes that the proposed

[[Page 35264]]

rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) \27\ of the Act, in 
general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) \28\ of the 
Act, in particular, in that it is designed 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.
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    \27\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \28\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    Specifically, the Exchange has taken into consideration its 
affiliated relationship with NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE Chicago and 
NYSE National in its design of the Pillar Depth data feed to assure 
that similarly situated competing vendors would be able to offer a 
similar product on the same terms as the Exchange, both from the 
perspective of latency and cost. As discussed in detail above, the 
Exchange proposes to begin offering the Pillar Depth data feed 
voluntarily in response to demand from vendors and subscribers that are 
interested in receiving consolidated depth of order book information 
from the Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE Chicago and NYSE 
National in a unified view. Specifically, portfolio managers, wealth 
managers, back-office employees, and others are looking for a cost-
effective, easy-to-administer, high-quality market data product with 
the characteristics of the Pillar Depth data feed. The Pillar Depth 
data feed will help to protect a free and open market by providing 
vendors and subscribers with additional choices in receiving this type 
of market data, thus promoting competition and innovation.
    As noted above, the Exchange believes that Pillar Depth will offer 
an alternative to the use of consolidated data products and proprietary 
data products such as the Cboe One Premium Feed offered by BZX, BYX, 
EDGX and EDGA. The Exchange believes that Pillar Depth will offer a 
competitive alternative to the market data products currently offered 
by the Cboe family of exchanges.
    In addition, the proposal would not permit unfair discrimination 
because the data feed would be available to all vendors and subscribers 
through both the LCN and IGN on an equivalent basis. In addition, any 
customer that wishes to continue to be able to purchase one or more of 
the individual underlying data feeds would be able to do so.
    The Exchange does not believe that the proposal would permit unfair 
discrimination among customers, brokers, or dealers and thus is 
consistent with the Act because the Exchange will be offering the 
product on terms that a competing vendor could offer a competing 
product. Specifically, the proposed data feed does not represent 
Exchange core data, but rather a new product that represents an 
aggregation and consolidation of existing, previously filed market data 
products of the Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE Chicago and 
NYSE National. As such, a competing vendor could similarly obtain the 
five underlying data feeds and perform a similar aggregation and 
consolidation function to create the same data product with the same 
latency. More specifically, a competing vendor that is co-located in 
the Exchange's Mahwah, New Jersey data center could obtain the five 
underlying data feeds from the Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE 
Chicago and NYSE National on the same latency basis as the system that 
would be performing the aggregation and consolidation of the proposed 
Pillar Depth data feed and provide the same type of product to its 
customers with the same latency they could achieve by purchasing Pillar 
Depth from the Exchange. As such, the Exchange would not have any 
unfair advantage over competing vendors with respect to obtaining data 
from NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE Chicago and NYSE National; in fact, 
the technology supporting the Pillar Depth data feed would similarly 
need to obtain the Exchange's data feed as well and even this 
connection would be on a level playing field with a competing vendor 
co-located at the data center. In addition, the Exchange would be 
charging for the proposed Pillar Depth data feed competitively with the 
price that a competing vendor could assess for a competing product.

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

    In accordance with Section 6(b)(8) of the Act,\29\ 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. As noted above, the Exchange proposes to offer 
the Pillar Depth data feed in a capacity similar to that of a vendor. 
Although the Exchange, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE Chicago and NYSE 
National are the exclusive distributors of the five Agg Lite feeds from 
which certain data elements would be taken to create Pillar Depth, the 
Exchange would not be the exclusive distributor of the aggregated and 
consolidated information that would compose the proposed Pillar Depth 
data feed. Vendors would be able, if they chose, to create a data feed 
with the same information as Pillar Depth and distribute it to their 
clients on a level-playing field with respect to latency and cost as 
compared to the Exchange's proposed data feed. In addition, the pricing 
the Exchange would charge clients for Pillar Depth would not be lower 
than the cost to a vendor of receiving the underlying data feeds and of 
maintaining co-located operations to receive and distribute such data 
feeds with no greater latency than the Exchange.
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    \29\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
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    The Exchange has designed the Pillar Depth data feed so that it 
would not have a competitive advantage over a competing vendor with 
respect to the speed of access to those five underlying data feeds. 
Likewise, the Pillar Depth data feed would not have a speed advantage 
vis-[agrave]-vis competing vendors co-located in the data center with 
respect to access to end user customers, whether those end users are 
also co-located or not. As such, a market data vendor could perform the 
aggregation and consolidation function in the Mahwah facility and 
redistribute a competing product from that location to similarly 
situated customers on a level-playing field with respect to the speed 
that the Exchange could create and redistribute the Pillar Depth data 
feed.
    With respect to cost, the Exchange will file a separate rule filing 
to establish the fee for Pillar Depth. To ensure that vendors could 
compete with the Exchange by creating the same product as Pillar Depth 
and sell it to their clients, the Exchange would charge its clients for 
the Pillar Depth feed an amount that represents the cost to a market 
data vendor to obtain the five underlying data feeds, plus an 
additional amount to be determined that would reflect the value of the 
aggregation and consolidation function. The Exchange notes that a 
competing vendor might engage in a different analysis of assessing the 
cost of a competing product, which may incorporate passing through fees 
associated with co-location at the Mahwah, New Jersey data center. 
However, the incremental co-location costs to a particular vendor may 
be inconsequential if such vendor is already co-located and is able to 
allocate its co-location costs over numerous product and customer 
relationships. The Exchange therefore believes that a competing vendor 
could create and offer a product similar to the proposed Pillar Depth 
data feed at a similar cost. For

[[Page 35265]]

these reasons, the Exchange believes that vendors could readily offer a 
product similar to Pillar Depth on a competitive basis.
    The Exchange further believes that Pillar Depth will promote 
competition among exchanges by offering an alternative to the CBOE One 
Premium Feed offered by BZX, BYX, EDGA and EDGX. Because other 
exchanges already offer similar products, the Exchange's proposed 
Pillar Depth data feed will enhance competition. The Pillar Depth data 
feed will foster competition by providing an alternative to similar 
products offered by other exchanges, including the Cboe One Premium 
Feed.\30\ The Pillar Depth data feed would provide investors with a new 
option for receiving market data, which was a primary goal of the 
market data amendments adopted by Regulation NMS.\31\ Thus, the 
Exchange believes the proposed rule change is necessary to permit fair 
competition among national securities exchanges. For these reasons, the 
Exchange believes that offering Pillar Depth will promote, rather than 
unnecessarily or inappropriately burden, competition for market data 
products that are offered in the capacity as a vendor and are not core 
exchange market data products.
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    \30\ See supra, note 26.
    \31\ See supra, note 25, at 37503.
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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 \32\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(6) thereunder.\33\ 
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 and Rule 19b-
4(f)(6)(iii) thereunder.\34\
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    \32\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
    \33\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
    \34\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii). 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 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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    A proposed rule change filed under Rule 19b-4(f)(6) \35\ normally 
does not become operative prior to 30 days after the date of the 
filing. However, pursuant to Rule 19b4(f)(6)(iii),\36\ the Commission 
may designate a shorter time if such action is consistent with the 
protection of investors and the public interest. The Exchange has asked 
the Commission to waive the 30-day operative delay so that the proposal 
may become operative immediately upon filing. The Exchange states that 
the proposal raises no novel issues and that waiver of the operative 
delay will permit the Exchange to make the Pillar Depth data feed 
available to subscribers, with an anticipated launch date of May 13, 
2024, as an alternative to similar products offered by BZX, BYX, EDGA 
and EDGX, as well the Cboe One Premium Feed. For these reasons, the 
Commission finds that waiver of the 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 
proposal operative upon filing.\37\
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    \35\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
    \36\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii).
    \37\ For purposes only of accelerating the operative date of 
this proposal, the Commission has considered the proposed rule's 
impact on efficiency, competition, and capital formation. 15 U.S.C. 
78c(f).
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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) \38\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed 
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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    \38\ 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-2024-24 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-2024-24. 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-2024-24 and should be 
submitted on or before May 22, 2024.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\39\
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    \39\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2024-09326 Filed 4-30-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P