Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 242 / Wednesday, December 16, 2020 / Notices 81531 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(3). 

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 81745 

(September 28, 2017), 82 FR 46332 (October 4, 

2017) (SR–DTC–2017–014; SR–NSCC–2017–013; 

SR–FICC–2017–017) (‘‘Initial Filing’’). 

6 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(17). 

7 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(17)(i) and (ii). 

8 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(17). 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–90626; File Nos. SR–DTC– 

2020–015; SR–FICC–2020–016; SR–NSCC– 

2020–019] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

Depository Trust Company; Fixed 

Income Clearing Corporation; National 

Securities Clearing Corporation; 

Notice of Filings and Immediate 

Effectiveness of Proposed Rule 

Changes To Amend the Clearing 

Agency Operational Risk Management 

Framework 

December 10, 2020. 

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 

1, 2020, The Depository Trust Company 

(‘‘DTC’’), Fixed Income Clearing 

Corporation (‘‘FICC’’), and National 

Securities Clearing Corporation 

(‘‘NSCC,’’ and collectively, the 

‘‘Clearing Agencies’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

changes as described in Items I, II and 

III below, which Items have been 

primarily prepared by the Clearing 

Agencies. The Clearing Agencies filed 

the proposed rule changes pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 3 and Rule 

19b–4(f)(3) thereunder.4 The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

changes from interested persons. 

I. Clearing Agencies’ Statement of the 

Terms of Substance of the Proposed 

Rule Changes 

The proposed rule changes consist of 

amendments to the Clearing Agency 

Operational Risk Management 

Framework (‘‘ORM Framework’’ or 

‘‘Framework’’) of Clearing Agencies. 

Specifically, the proposed rule changes 

would (1) include a description of the 

Clearing Agencies’ incident 

management procedures; (2) update the 

ORM Framework to reflect recent 

changes to group names and 

responsibilities, and other processes and 

matters described in the Framework; 

and (3) enhance the descriptions of 

certain matters within the ORM 

Framework to improve its clarity and 

comprehensiveness, as further described 

below. 

II. Clearing Agencies’ Statement of the 

Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the 

Proposed Rule Changes 

In their filings with the Commission, 

the Clearing Agencies included 

statements concerning the purpose of 

and basis for the proposed rule changes 

and discussed any comments they 

received on the proposed rule changes. 

The text of these statements may be 

examined at the places specified in Item 

IV below. The Clearing Agencies have 

prepared summaries, set forth in 

sections A, B, and C below, of the most 

significant aspects of such statements. 

(A) Clearing Agencies’ Statement of the 

Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the 

Proposed Rule Changes 

1. Purpose 

The Clearing Agencies adopted the 

ORM Framework 5 to provide an outline 

for how each of the Clearing Agencies 

manages its operational risks. In this 

way, the Framework supports the 

Clearing Agencies’ compliance with 

Rules 17Ad–22(e)(17) of the Standards 

for Covered Clearing Agencies 

(‘‘Standards’’) under the Act,6 as 

described in the Initial Filing. In 

addition to setting forth the manner in 

which each of the Clearing Agencies 

addresses these requirements, the ORM 

Framework also contains a section titled 

‘‘Framework Ownership and Change 

Management’’ that, among other 

matters, describes the Framework 

ownership and the required governance 

process for review and approval of 

changes to the Framework. 

In connection with the annual review 

and approval of the Framework by the 

Boards of Directors of each of the 

Clearing Agencies (each a ‘‘Board’’ and 

collectively, the ‘‘Boards’’), the Clearing 

Agencies are proposing to make certain 

revisions to the Framework. 

Such proposed changes would 

include a description of the Clearing 

Agencies’ incident management 

procedures in connection with its 

information technology risk 

management. The proposed changes 

would also update the ORM Framework 

to reflect recent changes to group names 

and responsibilities, certain processes 

and other matters described in the 

Framework. Finally, the proposed 

changes would enhance the descriptions 

of certain matters within the ORM 

Framework to improve its clarity and 

comprehensiveness. Each of these 

proposed changes are further described 

below. 

i. Proposed Amendments To Describe 

Incident Management Procedures 

First, the proposed changes would 

add a description of the Clearing 

Agencies’ incident management 

procedures in Section 5 of the 

Framework, which currently describes 

information technology management. 

The Clearing Agencies currently follow 

these incident management procedures, 

which support the Clearing Agencies’ 

compliance with the requirements of 

Rule 17Ad–22(e)(17)(i) and (ii) and 

define the actions that are taken 

following detection of systems 

incidents.7 The purpose of these 

procedures, as proposed to be described 

in Section 5 of the Framework, is to 

define the actions that are taken 

following the detection of systems 

incidents. Generally, these actions 

include identification and classification, 

investigation and diagnosis, and 

resolution and recovery of the incidents 

that affect the Clearing Agencies’ 

systems. 

The proposed change would be to 

include a description of these existing 

procedures in the Framework in 

connection with its description of 

information technology management. 

This proposed change would improve 

the Framework by including this 

important aspect of operational risk 

management and providing a more 

complete description of the Clearing 

Agencies’ processes that support their 

compliance with the requirements of 

Rule 17Ad–22(e)(17)(i) and (ii). 

ii. Proposed Amendments To Update 

the Framework 

Second, the proposed changes would 

update the ORM Framework to reflect 

recent developments with respect to the 

names and responsibilities of groups 

that take certain actions described in the 

Framework. The proposed changes 

would also reflect updates to processes 

and other matters described in the 

Framework, as described below. These 

proposed changes do not substantively 

impact how the Clearing Agencies 

manage operational risk in compliance 

with the requirements of Rule 17Ad– 

22(e)(17).8

1. Proposed Change to the Name of 

Business Continuity Management 

Section 6 of the ORM Framework 

describes the Clearing Agencies’ 

management of business continuity risk 

and the business continuity plans that 


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81532 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 242 / Wednesday, December 16, 2020 / Notices 

9 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(17)(iii). 

10 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(3). 

11 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(3)(i). 

12 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(3), (17). 

13 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(3)(i). 

14 Id. 

15The parent company of the Clearing Agencies 

is The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation 

(‘‘DTCC’’). DTCC operates on a shared services 

model with respect to the Clearing Agencies. Most 

corporate functions are established and managed on 

an enterprise-wide basis pursuant to intercompany 

agreements under which it is generally DTCC that 

provides a relevant service to a Clearing Agency. 

have been established and maintained 

by the Clearing Agencies in compliance 

with the requirements of Rule 17Ad– 

22(e)(17)(iii).9 The group responsible for 

these activities was previously called 

Business Continuity Management. 

While the role and responsibilities of 

this risk management function have not 

changed, its name has been changed to 

‘‘Business Continuity & Resiliency’’ to 

reflect an increased focus on 

strengthening the resiliency of the 

Clearing Agencies and the ability of 

their systems to sustain and recover 

from numerous incidents. The 

Framework would be updated to reflect 

the change to the name of this group. 

2. Proposed Change To Revise 

Description of Document Repository 

Section 4.1 of the ORM Framework 

describes Risk Tolerance Statements, 

which document the overall risk 

reduction or mitigation objectives for 

the Clearing Agencies with respect to 

identified risks to the Clearing Agencies. 

Risk Tolerance Statements also 

document the risk controls and other 

measures used to manage identified 

risks, including escalation requirements 

in the event of risk metric breaches. 

Currently, Section 4.1 states that Risk 

Tolerance Statements are located in the 

DTCC Enterprise Policy Repository. 

The name of the repository where all 

policies, procedures and related 

documents are maintained has changed. 

Therefore, the Clearing Agencies are 

proposing to update this Section of the 

Framework to refer generally to the 

central repository for all policies, 

procedures and related documents, 

rather than refer to the specific name of 

that central repository. This proposed 

change would allow the Framework to 

accurately describe where Risk 

Tolerance Statements are maintained, 

notwithstanding this recent, and any 

potential future, change to the name of 

that document management tool. 

3. Proposed Change To Reflect 

Expansion of Operating Centers 

Section 6 of the ORM Framework, 

which describes business continuity 

risk management, currently includes a 

statement that the operating centers that 

support the Clearing Agencies are run 

from no fewer than three geographic 

regions in the United States. Since the 

ORM Framework was adopted the 

Clearing Agencies have expanded the 

geographic spread and diversity of their 

operating centers. In order to reflect this 

change, the ORM Framework would be 

updated to state that these operating 

centers are run from geographic regions 

globally (i.e., without the limitation that 

they are located in the United States). 

iii. Proposed Amendments To Clarify 

and Enhance Descriptions in the 

Framework 

Finally, the proposed changes would 

enhance the descriptions of certain 

matters within the ORM Framework to 

improve its clarity and 

comprehensiveness, as described below. 

1. Proposed Change To Describe Annual 

Approval of Framework by Boards 

Section 2 of the ORM Framework 

addresses the Framework’s ownership 

and change management. This section 

currently states that the Framework 

should be reviewed by the document 

owner no less frequently than annually 

but does not specify the regulatory 

requirement that the Framework also be 

approved by the Boards on an annual 

basis. The Clearing Agencies are 

proposing to amend Section 2 of the 

Framework to include the requirement 

that the Framework be approved by the 

Boards, or a duly authorized committee 

of the Boards, annually. 

Rule 17Ad–22(e)(3) under the Act 

requires that the Clearing Agencies 

maintain a sound risk management 

framework for comprehensively 

managing the risks that arise in or are 

borne by the Clearing Agencies, 

including operational risks.10 Rule 

17Ad–22(e)(3)(i) under the Act requires 

that the risk management policies, 

procedures, and systems that are 

maintained in compliance with Rule 

17Ad–22(e)(3) be subject to review on a 

specified periodic basis and be 

approved by the Boards annually.11 As 

stated above, the Framework provides 

an outline for how each of the Clearing 

Agencies manage operational risks, as 

required by both Rules 17Ad–22(e)(3) 

and (17) under the Act.12 Therefore, the 

ORM Framework is reviewed and 

approved by the Boards annually, as 

required by Rule 17Ad–22(e)(3)(i) under 

the Act.13

The Clearing Agencies are proposing 

to amend Section 2 of the Framework to 

state that the Framework shall be 

approved by the Boards, or a duly 

authorized committee of the Boards, 

annually. The proposed change would 

enhance the comprehensiveness of the 

Framework to specify this requirement, 

which is aligned with the applicable 

requirements of Rule 17Ad–22(e)(3)(i) 

under the Act.14

2. Proposed Change To Clarify 

Description of Risk Profiles 

Section 4.2 of the ORM Framework 

describes the Risk Profiles, which are 

tools used by the Operational Risk 

Management group within the Group 

Chief Risk Office of The Depository 

Trust & Clearing Corporation 

(‘‘ORM’’) 15 to document risk 

assessments and consolidate pertinent 

operational risk and control data, 

including, without limitation, incidents, 

audit findings, compliance testing 

results, and risk metrics, to support an 

overall assessment of the applicable 

Clearing Agency Business’ or Clearing 

Agency Support Area’s inherent risk 

and residual risk. The Clearing Agencies 

are proposing changes to this Section to 

clarify and simplify the description of 

Risk Profiles. 

First, the proposed changes would 

clarify that the assessments documented 

in Risk Profiles both (1) assess inherent 

risks, and (2) identify residual risks. The 

proposed changes would do this by 

revising the relevant sentence and by 

removing the current description of risk 

acceptance of residual risks, which is a 

process that is separate from the 

description of Risk Profiles. The 

proposed changes would focus the 

description on the two types of risks 

that are relevant to the Risk Profiles. 

Second, the proposed change would 

simplify the description of how the Risk 

Profiles are created by removing 

reference to ORM as the responsible 

group. Currently, both ORM and the 

Clearing Agency business and support 

areas are jointly responsible for the tasks 

related to creating and documenting 

Risk Profiles. Over time, the 

responsibility for these tasks has shifted 

away from ORM, and to the Clearing 

Agency business and support areas. The 

proposed changes would continue to 

identify the crucial tasks related to the 

creation and maintenance of Risk 

Profiles but would simplify this section 

of the Framework by removing reference 

to the division of responsibilities among 

these groups. 

Third, the proposed changes would 

clarify that Clearing Agency businesses 

and support areas are responsible for the 

day-to-day management of all risk 

applicable to their area. Currently, 

Section 4.2 states that these groups are 

only responsible for the management of 

residual risks. The proposed change 


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Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 242 / Wednesday, December 16, 2020 / Notices 81533 

16 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

17 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(17)(i) and (ii). 

18 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

19 Id. 

20 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(3)(i). 

21 Id. 

would correct this statement and clarify 

these groups’ responsibilities. 

Finally, the proposed changes would 

clarify that the Clearing Agency 

businesses and support areas are 

responsible for updating their policies 

and procedures to support risk 

management at the Clearing Agencies. 

Currently, the relevant sentence in 

Section 4.2 states that such policies and 

procedures support operational risk 

management at the Clearing Agencies. 

The proposed change would clarify the 

responsibilities of these groups and the 

role of policies and procedures in risk 

management. 

3. Proposed Change To Clarify the 

Responsibilities of the ORM Group 

Section 4.3 of the ORM Framework 

describes the responsibilities of ORM. 

Currently, this Section states that this 

group is responsible for reviewing, 

revising and creating Risk Tolerance 

Statements. However, ORM is 

responsible for working with the 

businesses that own the relevant risks in 

reviewing, revising and creating Risk 

Tolerance Statements. Therefore, the 

proposed changes would clarify ORM’s 

responsibilities with respect to Risk 

Tolerance Statements. 

4. Proposed Changes To Clarify 

Description of Business Continuity Risk 

Management 

Section 6 of the ORM Framework 

describes how the Clearing Agencies 

manage business continuity risks. The 

Clearing Agencies are proposing 

changes to this section to clarify the 

description of business continuity risk 

management and to make this section 

more comprehensive. 

First, the proposed changes would 

include a reference to events that have 

the potential to disrupt the Clearing 

Agencies’ businesses in a statement that 

refers generally to the types of events 

that could impact the Clearing Agencies. 

This update would make the statement 

more comprehensive by including 

events that are considered ‘‘near-miss’’ 

events, or events that did not have had 

an impact on the Clearing Agencies but 

had the potential of causing an impact 

on their businesses. This proposed 

change would align the description to 

current practice, by which the Clearing 

Agencies take into account ‘‘near-miss’’ 

events in its risk management processes. 

Second, the proposed changes would 

update the description of the ‘‘tiers’’ 

that are used to rank the criticality of 

the Clearing Agencies’ businesses and 

support areas. The proposed changes 

would not impact the way these tiered 

rankings are applied and would align 

the description in the Framework to the 

current description in the Clearing 

Agencies’ internal procedures. Among 

the updates to the description of the 

tiers, the proposed changes would 

include a clarifying statement that the 

Clearing Agencies’ support areas are 

automatically assigned the same tier as 

the Clearing Agency business that they 

support, and would remove references 

to the Clearing Agency support areas in 

the description of the process that 

results in a group’s tier. 

Finally, the proposed changes to 

Section 6 would clarify statements in 

connection with the creation of business 

impact analyses (‘‘BIA’’), which are 

used to assign each Clearing Agency 

business with a tier. The proposed 

changes would clarify, for example, that 

appropriate risk controls may be applied 

with respect to an applicable Clearing 

Agency business at any time, and not 

only during a business continuity event. 

The proposed changes would also 

clarify that the BIA identify product 

dependencies within an applicable 

Clearing Agency business. While the 

process for creating BIA has not 

changed, the proposed changes to 

Section 6 of the Framework would 

enhance the description of the process 

by making it clearer and more 

comprehensive. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Clearing Agencies believe that the 

proposed changes are consistent with 

Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act 16 and 

Rule 17Ad–22(e)(3)(i), and (17)(i) and 

(ii) promulgated under the Act,17 for the 

reasons described below. 

The Clearing Agencies believe that the 

proposed changes are consistent with 

Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act, which 

requires, in part, that the rules of a 

registered clearing agency be designed 

to promote the prompt and accurate 

clearance and settlement of securities 

transactions, and to assure the 

safeguarding of securities and funds 

which are in the custody or control of 

the clearing agency or for which it is 

responsible, for the reasons described 

below.18 The proposed changes would 

update and clarify the Framework and 

would make it more comprehensive in 

how it describes operational risk 

management of the Clearing Agencies, 

as described above. By creating clearer, 

updated and more comprehensive 

descriptions, the Clearing Agencies 

believe the proposed changes would 

make the ORM Framework more 

effective in providing an overview of the 

important risk management activities 

described therein. 

As described in the Initial Filing, the 

risk management functions described in 

the ORM Framework allow the Clearing 

Agencies to continue the prompt and 

accurate clearance and settlement of 

securities and can continue to assure the 

safeguarding of securities and funds 

which are in their custody or control or 

for which they are responsible 

notwithstanding the default of a 

member of an affiliated family. The 

proposed changes to improve the clarity 

and accuracy of the descriptions of 

these functions within the ORM 

Framework would assist the Clearing 

Agencies in carrying out these risk 

management functions. Therefore, the 

Clearing Agencies believe the proposed 

changes are consistent with the 

requirements of Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of 

the Act.19

Rule 17Ad–22(e)(3)(i) under the Act 

requires, in part, that each covered 

clearing agency establish, implement, 

maintain and enforce written policies 

and procedures reasonably designed to 

maintain a sound risk management 

framework for comprehensively 

managing operational risks that arise in 

or are borne by the covered clearing 

agency, which includes risk 

management policies, procedures, and 

systems that are subject to review on a 

specified periodic basis and approved 

by the board of directors annually.20 As 

described above, the Framework is 

currently approved by the Board 

annually, in compliance with the 

requirements of Rule 17Ad–22(e)(3)(i). 

The proposed changes would describe 

this annual approval in Section 2 of the 

Framework, where the Framework’s 

ownership and change management is 

addressed. By including a description of 

the required annual Board approval of 

the Framework, the proposed changes 

are consistent with the requirements of 

Rule 17Ad–22(e)(3)(i) under the Act.21

Rule 17Ad–22(e)(17) under the Act 

requires, in part, that each covered 

clearing agency establish, implement, 

maintain and enforce written policies 

and procedures reasonably designed to 

manage the covered clearing agency’s 

operational risks by (i) identifying the 

plausible sources of operational risk, 

both internal and external, and 

mitigating their impact through the use 

of appropriate systems, policies, 

procedures, and controls; and (ii) 

ensuring that systems have a high 

degree of security, resiliency, 


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81534 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 242 / Wednesday, December 16, 2020 / Notices 

22 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(17)(i) and (ii). 

23 Id. 

24 Id. 

25 15 U.S.C 78s(b)(3)(A). 

26 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f). 

27 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

4The Exchange originally filed to amend the Fee 

Schedule on December 1, 2020 (SR–NYSEArca– 

2020–106) and withdrew such filing on December 

7, 2020. 

operational reliability, and adequate, 

scalable capacity.22

The Framework would be amended to 

include a description of the Clearing 

Agencies’ incident management 

procedures. As described above, these 

procedures address how the Clearing 

Agencies detect, identify, investigate 

and resolve incidents that affect the 

Clearing Agencies’ systems. These 

procedures are designed to help address 

the Clearing Agencies’ compliance with 

the requirements of Rule 17Ad– 

22(e)(17)(i) and (ii).23 Therefore, the 

Clearing Agencies believe that the 

proposed rule changes to include a 

description of these procedures in the 

Risk Management Framework is 

consistent with Rule 17Ad–22(e)(17)(i) 

and (ii).24

(B) Clearing Agencies’ Statement on 

Burden on Competition 

The Clearing Agencies do not believe 

that the proposed changes to the ORM 

Framework described above would have 

any impact, or impose any burden, on 

competition. As described above, the 

proposed rule changes would update 

the Framework and would improve the 

clarity and comprehensiveness of the 

descriptions of certain matters within 

the Framework. Therefore, the proposed 

changes are technical and non-material 

in nature, relating mostly to the 

operation of the ORM Framework rather 

than the risk management functions 

described therein. As such, the Clearing 

Agencies do not believe that the 

proposed rule changes would have any 

impact on competition. 

(C) Clearing Agencies’ Statement on 

Comments on the Proposed Rule 

Changes Received From Members, 

Participants, or Others 

The Clearing Agencies have not 

solicited or received any written 

comments relating to this proposal. The 

Clearing Agencies will notify the 

Commission of any written comments 

received by the Clearing Agencies. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Changes, and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The foregoing rule changes have 

become effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A) 25 of the Act and paragraph 

(f) 26 of Rule 19b–4 thereunder. At any 

time within 60 days of the filing of the 

proposed rule changes, the Commission 

summarily may temporarily suspend 

such rule changes 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. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

changes are 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 email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– 

DTC–2020–015, SR–FICC–2020–016, or 

SR–NSCC–2020–019 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–DTC–2020–015, SR–FICC– 

2020–016, or SR–NSCC–2020–019. 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 (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the 

submission, all subsequent 

amendments, all written statements 

with respect to the proposed rule 

changes that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed rule changes 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 

10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the Clearing Agencies and on 

DTCC’s website (http://dtcc.com/legal/ 

sec-rule-filings.aspx). All comments 

received will be posted without change. 

Persons submitting comments are 

cautioned that we do not redact or edit 

personal identifying information from 

comment submissions. You should 

submit only information that you wish 

to make available publicly. All 

submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–DTC–2020–015, SR–FICC– 

2020–016, or SR–NSCC–2020–019 and 

should be submitted on or before 

January 6, 2021. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.27

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27596 Filed 12–15–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–90629; File No. SR– 

NYSEArca–2020–109] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE 

Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change Modifying the NYSE Arca 

Options Fee Schedule Regarding the 

Criteria To Qualify for the Market 

Maker Incentive for Penny Issues 

December 10, 2020. 

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 December 

7, 2020, NYSE Arca, Inc. (‘‘NYSE Arca’’ 

or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I, II, and 

III 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. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange proposes to modify the 

NYSE Arca Options Fee Schedule (‘‘Fee 

Schedule’’) regarding the criteria to 

qualify for a Market Maker Incentive for 

Penny Issues. The Exchange proposes to 

implement the fee change effective 

December 7, 2020.4 The proposed rule 

change is available on the Exchange’s 

website at www.nyse.com, at the 

principal office of the Exchange, and at 


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