FACT SHEET

Volume-Based 

Exchange Transaction 

Pricing for NMS Stocks

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION PAGE 1 OF 2

Why This Matters

As self-regulatory organizations, exchanges are subject to unique principles and processes 

that do not apply to other businesses. Among other things, exchange rules, including 

transaction pricing schedules, may not be designed to permit unfair discrimination between 

brokers and may not impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Exchange Act. Through increasingly complex transaction 

pricing schedules, many exchanges offer their broker-dealer members lower fees or higher 

rebates as the number of shares the member executes on the exchange reaches 

successively higher predefined volume-based tiers. The large number of available pricing 

tiers, and the possible combinations of some tiers, make exchange transaction pricing 

schedules difficult to understand. Volume-based exchange transaction pricing raises 

competitive concerns among exchange members and among exchanges. Further, the desire 

to qualify for volume-based transaction pricing tiers exacerbates a conflict of interest 

between members and their customers when members route customers’ orders for 

execution because the member can economically benefit from its routing decision.

The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed Rule 6b-1 under the Securities Exchange 

Act of 1934 to: 

● Prohibit national securities exchanges from offering volume-based transaction pricing in 

connection with the execution of agency or riskless principal (“agency-related”) orders in 

NMS stocks; and

● Require exchanges that offer volume-based transaction pricing in connection with the 

execution of proprietary orders in NMS stocks for the account of a member to:

o Electronically submit to the Commission, on a monthly basis, tables in structured 

data format that disclose certain information, including the number of members that 

qualify for each volume-based transaction pricing tier; and 

o Have anti-evasion measures, including rules requiring members to engage in 

practices that facilitate the exchange’s ability to comply with the proposed rule and 

written policies and procedures reasonably designed to detect and deter members 

from receiving volume-based transaction pricing in connection with the execution of 

agency-related orders in NMS stocks.
FACT SHEET | Volume-Based Exchange Transaction Pricing for NMS Stocks

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Page 2 of 2

How The Rule Would Apply

Proposed Rule 6b-1 would:

• Prohibit exchanges from offering volume-based transaction pricing in connection with 

the execution of agency or riskless principal orders in NMS stocks;

• Require exchanges that offer volume-based transaction pricing in connection with 

the execution of proprietary orders in NMS stocks for the account of a member to 

have anti-evasion measures, including rules requiring members to engage in 

practices that facilitate the exchange’s ability to comply with the prohibition, and 

written policies and procedures reasonably designed to detect and deter members 

from receiving volume-based pricing in connection with the execution of agencyrelated orders in NMS stocks; and 

• Require exchanges that offer volume-based transaction pricing in connection with 

the execution of proprietary orders in NMS stocks for the account of a member to 

submit electronic, machine-readable structured data tables of certain information 

about their volume-based transaction pricing tiers and the number of members that 

qualify for each tier in an Interactive Data File in accordance with Rule 405 of 

Regulation S-T, which the public would be able to access through the Commission’s 

EDGAR system.

Additional Information:

The public comment period will remain open 60 days after the date of publication of the proposing 

release in the Federal Register.