[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 220 (Tuesday, November 16, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 70059-70060]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-28747]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-63283; File No. SR-ISE-2010-106]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; International Securities
Exchange, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
Rule Change Relating to Fees and Rebates for Adding and Removing
Liquidity
November 9, 2010.
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 October 26, 2010, the International Securities Exchange, LLC
(the ``Exchange'' or the ``ISE'') filed with the Securities and
Exchange 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 the
Substance of the Proposed Rule Change
The ISE is proposing to amend its transaction fees and rebates for
adding and removing liquidity. The text of the proposed rule change is
available on the Exchange's Web site (http://www.ise.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 these statements may be examined at
the places specified in Item IV below. The self-regulatory organization
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 currently assesses a per contract transaction charge
to market participants that add or remove liquidity from the Exchange
(``maker/taker fees'') in 100 options classes (the ``Select
Symbols'').\3\ The Exchange currently charges a take fee of: (i) $0.25
per contract for Market Maker, Market Maker Plus,\4\ Firm Proprietary
and Customer (Professional) \5\ orders; (ii) $0.35 per contract for
Non-ISE Market Maker \6\ orders; (iii) $0.20 per contract for Priority
Customer \7\ orders for 100 or more contracts. Priority Customer orders
for less than 100 contracts are not assessed a fee for removing
liquidity. The Exchange proposes to increase the take fee to $0.40 per
contract for Market Maker, Market Maker Plus, Firm Proprietary,
Customer (Professional) and Non-ISE Market Maker interest that responds
to special orders.\8\ A special order is an order submitted for
execution in the Exchange's Facilitation Mechanism, Solicited Order
Mechanism, Block Order Mechanism and Price Improvement Mechanism. A
response to a special order is any contra-side interest submitted after
the commencement of an auction in the Exchange's Facilitation
Mechanism, Solicited Order Mechanism, Block Order Mechanism and Price
Improvement Mechanism.\9\
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\3\ Options classes subject to maker/taker fees are identified
by their ticker symbol on the Exchange's Schedule of Fees.
\4\ A Market Maker Plus is a market maker who is on the National
Best Bid or National Best Offer 80% of the time for series trading
between $0.03 and $5.00 (for options whose underlying stock's
previous trading day's last sale price was less than or equal to
$100) and between $0.10 and $5.00 (for options whose underlying
stock's previous trading day's last sale price was greater than
$100) in premium in each of the front two expiration months and 80%
of the time for series trading between $0.03 and $5.00 (for options
whose underlying stock's previous trading day's last sale price was
less than or equal to $100) and between $0.10 and $5.00 (for options
whose underlying stock's previous trading day's last sale price was
greater than $100) in premium across all expiration months in order
to receive the rebate. The Exchange determines whether a market
maker qualifies as a Market Maker Plus at the end of each month by
looking back at each market maker's quoting statistics during that
month. If at the end of the month, a market maker meets the
Exchange's stated criteria, the Exchange rebates $0.10 per contract
for transactions executed by that market maker during that month.
The Exchange provides market makers a report on a daily basis with
quoting statistics so that market makers can determine whether or
not they are meeting the Exchange's stated criteria.
\5\ A Customer (Professional) is a person who is not a broker/
dealer and is not a Priority Customer.
\6\ A Non-ISE Market Maker, or Far Away Market Maker
(``FARMM''), is a market maker as defined in Section 3(a)(38) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (``Exchange Act''),
registered in the same options class on another options exchange.
\7\ A Priority Customer is defined in ISE Rule 100(a)(37A) as a
person or entity that is not a broker/dealer in securities, and does
not place more than 390 orders in listed options per day on average
during a calendar month for its own beneficial account(s).
\8\ The proposed fee for responses to special orders is similar
to fees currently in place at other options exchanges. See
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62632 (August 3, 2010), 75 FR
47869 (August 9, 2010) (Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness
of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the Fee Schedule of the Boston
Options Exchange Facility) (SR-BX-2010-049).
\9\ Pre-existing Market Maker, Market Maker Plus, Firm
Proprietary and Customer (Professional) interest that trades with
special orders in the Exchange's various auctions will continue to
be charged $0.25 per contract.
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Additionally, to incentivize members, the Exchange currently offers
a rebate of $0.15 per contract to contracts that do not trade with the
contra order in the Exchange's Facilitation Mechanism and Price
Improvement Mechanism. The Exchange proposes to (i) extend that $0.15
per contract rebate to contracts that do not trade with the contra
order in the Exchange's Solicited Order Mechanism, and (ii) increase
the rebate applied to contracts that do not trade with the contra order
in the Exchange's Price Improvement Mechanism from $0.15 per contract
to $0.25 per contract.
Finally, the Exchange currently charges Non-ISE Market Maker orders
a fee of $0.20 per contract for adding liquidity. The Exchange proposes
to lower this fee to $0.10 per contract. With this proposed fee
reduction, the fee charged to Non-ISE Market Maker orders that add
liquidity shall be equal to all other non-Priority Customer orders that
add liquidity.
The Exchange also proposes to change the symbol for UAL Corporation
on the Schedule of Fees from ``UAUA'' to
[[Page 70060]]
``UAL'' to reflect a recent corporate action.\10\
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\10\ On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation announced that as a
result of a merger between UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines,
Inc. that it would change its name and underlying symbol. UAL
Corporation is now known as United Continental Holding, Inc.
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The Exchange has designated this proposal to be operative on
November 1, 2010.
2. Statutory Basis
The basis under the Exchange Act for this proposed rule change is
the requirement under Section 6(b)(4) \11\ that an exchange have an
equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges among
its members and other persons using its facilities. The impact of the
proposal upon the net fees paid by a particular market participant will
depend on a number of variables, most important of which will be its
propensity to add or remove liquidity in options overlying the Select
Symbols. The Exchange operates in a highly competitive market in which
market participants can readily direct order flow to another exchange
if they deem fee levels at a particular exchange to be excessive. The
Exchange believes that the proposed fees are within the range assessed
by other exchanges \12\ and therefore continue to be reasonable and
equitably allocated to those members that opt to direct orders to the
Exchange rather than to a competing exchange. The Exchange's maker/
taker fees, which are currently applicable to each market participant,
will continue to apply to the Select Symbols.
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\11\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
\12\ See supra note 8.
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The proposed rule change does not impose any burden on competition
that is 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
The Exchange has not solicited, and does not intend to solicit,
comments on this proposed rule change. The Exchange has not received
any unsolicited written comments from members or other interested
parties.
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.\13\ 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 to determine whether the
proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.
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\13\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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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 (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an e-mail to [email protected]. Please include
File Number SR-ISE-2010-106 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-ISE-2010-106. This file
number should be included on the subject line if e-mail 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 Web site (http://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 on
official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies
of such filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the
principal offices of the Exchange. All comments received will be posted
without change; the Commission does not edit personal identifying
information from submissions. You should submit only information that
you wish to make available publicly. All submissions should refer to
File Number SR-ISE-2010-106, and should be submitted on or before
December 7, 2010.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\14\
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\14\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-28747 Filed 11-15-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P