Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 83667 

order to determine whether to halt trading in a 

series of Managed Portfolio Shares, and the 

Exchange retains sole discretion in determining 

whether trading should be halted. As provided in 

the Exemptive Application, each series of Managed 

Portfolio Shares would employ a pricing 

verification agent to continuously compare two 

intraday indicative values during regular trading 

hours in order to ensure the accuracy of the VIIV. 

See id. at 13, n.19. 

28See id. at 14. 

29See Amendment No. 2, supra note 5, at 3. 

30See Amendment No. 1, supra note 5, at 13. 

31The Bulletin will discuss the following: (1) The 

procedures for purchases and redemptions of 

Shares; (2) NYSE Arca Rule 9.2–E(a), which 

imposes a duty of due diligence on its ETP Holders 

to learn the essential facts relating to every 

customer prior to trading the Shares; (3) how 

information regarding the VIIV is disseminated; (4) 

the requirement that ETP Holders deliver a 

prospectus to investors purchasing newly issued 

Shares prior to or concurrently with the 

confirmation of a transaction; (5) trading 

information; and (6) that the portfolio holdings of 

the Shares are not disclosed on a daily basis. See 

id. at 14–15. 

32See id. at 14. 

33See id. at 6, n.6. 

34See id. at 14. 

35 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

36 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(1)(C)(iii). 

37 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

38 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78mm. 

2 17 CFR 242.608(e). 

Arca Rule 8.900–E(d)(2)(C)(ii) provides 

that, if the Exchange becomes aware 

that: (i) The VIIV of a series of Managed 

Portfolio Shares is not being calculated 

or disseminated in one second intervals, 

as required; (ii) the NAV with respect to 

a series of Managed Portfolio Shares is 

not disseminated to all market 

participants at the same time; (iii) the 

holdings of a series of Managed 

Portfolio Shares are not made available 

on at least a quarterly basis as required 

under the 1940 Act; or (iv) such 

holdings are not made available to all 

market participants at the same time 

(except as otherwise permitted under 

the applicable Exemptive Order or noaction relief granted by the Commission 

or Commission staff to the Investment 

Company with respect to the series of 

Managed Portfolio Shares), it will halt 

trading in such series until such time as 

the VIIV, the NAV, or the holdings are 

available, as required. 

In support of this proposal, the 

Exchange has also made the following 

representations: 

(1) The Shares will conform to the 

initial and continued listing criteria 

under NYSE Arca Rule 8.900–E, as well 

as all terms in the Exemptive Order.28

(2) The Exchange states that a 

minimum of 100,000 Shares of each 

Fund will be outstanding at the 

commencement of trading on the 

Exchange.29

(3) The Exchange deems the Shares to 

be equity securities, thus rendering 

trading in the Shares subject to the 

Exchange’s existing rules governing the 

trading of equity securities.30

(4) Prior to the commencement of 

trading, the Exchange will inform its 

Equity Trading Permit Holders (‘‘ETP 

Holders’’) in an Information Bulletin 

(‘‘Bulletin’’) of the special 

characteristics and risks associated with 

trading the Shares.31

(5) FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, 

or the regulatory staff of the Exchange, 

or both, will communicate as needed 

regarding trading in the Shares and 

certain exchange-traded instruments 

with other markets and other entities 

that are members of the Intermarket 

Surveillance Group (‘‘ISG’’), and FINRA, 

on behalf of the Exchange, or the 

regulatory staff of the Exchange, or both, 

may obtain trading information 

regarding trading such securities from 

such markets and other entities. In 

addition, the Exchange may obtain 

information regarding trading in the 

Shares and certain exchange-traded 

instruments from markets and other 

entities that are members of ISG or with 

which the Exchange has in place a 

comprehensive surveillance sharing 

agreement.32

(6) The Exchange represents that, for 

initial and/or continued listing, each 

Fund will be in compliance with Rule 

10A–3 under the Act.33

This approval order is based on all of 

the Exchange’s statements and 

representations set forth above and in 

Amendments No. 1 and No. 2. 

Additionally, the Exchange states that 

all statements and representations made 

in its proposal regarding (a) the 

description of the portfolio or reference 

assets, (b) limitations on portfolio 

holdings or reference assets, or (c) the 

applicability of Exchange rules shall 

constitute continued listing 

requirements for listing the Shares on 

the Exchange, as provided under NYSE 

Arca Rule 8.900–E(b)(1). The issuer of 

the Shares will be required to represent 

to the Exchange that it will advise the 

Exchange of any failure by a Fund to 

comply with the continued listing 

requirements, and, pursuant to its 

obligations under Section 19(g)(1) of the 

Act, the Exchange will surveil for 

compliance with the continued listing 

requirements. If a Fund is not in 

compliance with the applicable listing 

requirements, the Exchange will 

commence delisting procedures under 

NYSE Arca Rule 5.5–E(m).34

For the foregoing reasons, the 

Commission finds that the proposed 

rule change, as modified by 

Amendments No. 1 and No. 2, is 

consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the 

Act 35 and Section 11A(a)(1)(C)(iii) of 

the Act 36 and the rules and regulations 

thereunder applicable to a national 

securities exchange. 

IV. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,37 that the 

proposed rule change (SR–NYSEArca– 

2020–94), as modified by Amendments 

No. 1 and No. 2, be, and it hereby is, 

approved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.38

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28147 Filed 12–21–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–90689] 

Order Granting Temporary Exemptive 

Relief, Pursuant to Section 36 of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Exchange Act’’) and Rule 608(e) of 

Regulation NMS Under the Exchange 

Act, From Section 8.1.1 and Section 

8.1.2 of Appendix D of the National 

Market System Plan Governing the 

Consolidated Audit Trail 

December 16, 2020. 

I. Introduction 

By letter dated December 1, 2020 

(‘‘Participant Letter’’), BOX Exchange 

LLC, Cboe BYX Exchange, Inc., Cboe 

BZX Exchange, Inc., Cboe C2 Exchange, 

Inc., Cboe EDGA Exchange, Inc., Cboe 

EDGX Exchange, Inc., Cboe Exchange, 

Inc., Financial Industry Regulatory 

Authority, Inc. (‘‘FINRA’’), Investors 

Exchange LLC, Long-Term Stock 

Exchange, Inc., MEMX LLC, Miami 

International Securities Exchange LLC, 

MIAX Emerald, LLC, MIAX PEARL, 

LLC, NASDAQ BX, Inc., Nasdaq GEMX, 

LLC, Nasdaq ISE, LLC, Nasdaq MRX, 

LLC, NASDAQ PHLX LLC, The 

NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, New York 

Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE American 

LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc., NYSE Chicago, 

Inc., and NYSE National, Inc. 

(collectively, the ‘‘Participants’’) request 

that the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’), 

pursuant to the Commission’s authority 

under Section 36 of the Exchange Act 1

and Rule 608(e) of Regulation NMS 

under the Exchange Act,2 grant 

exemptive relief from the national 

market system plan governing the 


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83668 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 

3The Commission approved the CAT NMS Plan, 

as modified, on November 15, 2016. See Securities 

Exchange Act Release Nos. 79318 (November 15, 

2016), 81 FR 84696 (November 23, 2016) (‘‘CAT 

NMS Plan Approval Order’’). The CAT NMS Plan 

functions as the limited liability company 

agreement of the jointly owned limited liability 

company formed under Delaware state law through 

which the Participants conduct activities related to 

the consolidated audit trail (the ‘‘Company’’). 

4See id. at Appendix D, Section 8.1.1. See also 

Letter from Michael Simon, CAT NMS Plan 

Operating Committee Chair, to Vanessa 

Countryman, Secretary, Commission, dated 

December 1, 2020, available at https://

catnmsplan.com/sites/default/files/2020-12/ 

12.01.20-CAT-Exemption-Request-OTQT.pdf 

(‘‘Participant Letter’’). The Participants state that 

this exemptive relief request amends and replaces 

in its entirety the request previously submitted to 

the Commission on November 16, 2020. See id. at 

2 n.5. 

5 ‘‘Plan Processor’’ is a defined term under the 

CAT NMS Plan and means ‘‘the Initial Plan 

Processor or any other Person selected by the 

Operating Committee pursuant to SEC Rule 613 and 

Sections 4.3(b)(i) and 6.1, and with regard to the 

Initial Plan Processor, the Selection Plan, to 

perform the CAT processing functions required by 

SEC Rule 613 and set forth in this Agreement.’’ See 

CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at Section 1.1. 

6 ‘‘CAT Data’’ is a defined term under the CAT 

NMS Plan and means ‘‘data derived from 

Participant Data, Industry Member Data, SIP Data, 

and such other data as the Operating Committee 

may designate as ‘‘CAT Data’’ from time to time.’’ 

See id. 

7 ‘‘Central Repository’’ is a defined term under the 

CAT NMS Plan and means ‘‘the repository 

responsible for the receipt, consolidation, and 

retention of all information reported to the CAT 

pursuant to SEC Rule 613 and this Agreement.’’ See 

id. 

8See Participant Letter, supra note 4, at 2; see 

also CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at Section 

6.10(c)(i). 

9See CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at 

6.10(c)(i)(A). 10See id. at Appendix D, Section 8.1.1. See also 

Participant Letter, supra note 4, at 2. 11See Participant Letter, supra note 4, at 2–3. The 

Participants describe this functionality as ‘‘Error 

Correction Time Functionality,’’ but the 

Commission believes that the term ‘‘Error 

Correction Rate Functionality’’ more accurately 

describes the functionality. 12See Participant Letter, supra note 4, at 3. 13See id. at 3. The Participants note that this 

schedule would align the release of the Error 

Correction Rate Functionality with other 

functionality releases that will add data for OTQT 

queries concerning ‘‘the new equity exchange order 

book and volume concentration using equity 

exchange data.’’ See id. at 3. 14See id. at 2. 15See id. at 3. The Participants note that ‘‘DIVER’’ 

and ‘‘MIRS’’ are FINRA CAT’s versions of the 

OTQT. See id. at 2 n.6 

16 ‘‘BDSQL’’ is the name used by FINRA to 

describe its proprietary user-defined direct query 

tool. 

17See id. at 3. 

18See id. at 3. See also CAT NMS Plan, supra 

note 3, at Appendix D, Section 8.1.2 (setting out the 

following timeframes: (1) ‘‘Within 1 minute for all 

trades and related lifecycle events for a specific 

Customer or CAT Reporter with the ability to filter 

by security and time range for a specified time 

window up to and including an entire day,’’ (2) 

‘‘within 30 minutes for all trades and related 

lifecycle events for a specific Customer or CAT 

Reporter in a specified date range (maximum 1 

month),’’ and (3) ‘‘within 6 hours for all trades and 

related lifecycle events for a specific Customer or 

CAT Reporter in a specified date range (maximum 

12-month duration from the most recent 24 

months)’’). 

19See Participant Letter, supra note 4, at 4. See 

also CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at Section 8.1.2. 

20See Participant Letter, supra note 4, at 4. 

21See id. at 4–5. 

22See id. at 4. 

23See id. 

consolidated audit trail (the ‘‘CAT NMS 

Plan’’).3 Specifically, the Participants 

request that the Commission provide 

temporary exemptive relief from certain 

requirements of the CAT NMS Plan that 

relate to the online targeted query tool 

(‘‘OTQT’’) described in Section 

6.10(c)(i) of the CAT NMS Plan.4

For the reasons set forth below, this 

Order grants the Participants’ request for 

temporary exemptive relief from the 

above-described provisions of the CAT 

NMS Plan, subject to certain conditions. 

II. Request for Relief 

In their letter, the Participants explain 

that Section 6.10(c)(i) of the CAT NMS 

Plan requires the Plan Processor 5 to 

provide Participants and the 

Commission with access to all CAT 

Data 6 stored in the Central Repository 7

through three different methods: (1) The 

OTQT, (2) user-defined direct queries, 

and (3) and bulk extracts.8 Sections 

8.1.1 and 8.1.2 of Appendix D of the 

CAT NMS Plan set forth certain 

functionality requirements for the 

OTQT from which the Participants seek 

relief. 

A. Error Correction Rate Functionality 

The Participants state that the OTQT 

must ‘‘provide authorized users with the 

ability to retrieve CAT Data via an 

online query screen that includes the 

ability to choose from a variety of predefined selection criteria,’’ 9 including, 

among other things, the ‘‘CAT Reporter 

correction rate over time.’’ 10 The 

Participants request temporary 

exemptive relief from compliance with 

the requirement in Section 8.1.1 of 

Appendix D of the CAT NMS Plan that 

authorized users must be able to 

conduct targeted queries through the 

OTQT with respect to the CAT Reporter 

correction rate over time (the ‘‘Error 

Correction Rate Functionality’’).11 The 

Participants state that the Plan Processor 

needs additional time to incorporate the 

Error Correction Rate Functionality to 

the OTQT.12 Specifically, the 

Participants believe that regulators will 

able to perform searches with respect to 

the CAT Reporter correction rate over 

time by April 30, 2021.13 The 

Participants therefore request that any 

exemptive relief granted by the 

Commission with respect to the Error 

Correction Rate Functionality extend 

until April 30, 2021.14

To support their request, the 

Participants state that the Participants 

and the Commission currently have 

access to ‘‘a variety of fields of 

processed CAT Data and/or validated 

(unlinked) data’’ via existing Plan 

Processor tools called DIVER and 

MIRS.15 The Participants further 

represent that, by December 2020, the 

Participants and the Commission will 

have access to information regarding the 

CAT Reporter correction rate over time 

for ‘‘compliance review purposes’’ 

either through the CAT Reporter Portal 

or through another existing Plan 

Processor tool called BDSQL,16 such 

that providing the CAT Reporter 

correction rate over time through the 

OTQT would in many ways be 

duplicative.17

B. Search Return Functionality and 

Simultaneous Query Functionality 

The Participants state that Section 

8.1.2 of Appendix D of the CAT NMS 

Plan sets forth various performance 

requirements for OTQT searches. One of 

these requirements sets forth timeframes 

in which results must be returned for 

various types of queries (‘‘Search Return 

Functionality’’).18 Another requirement 

set forth in Section 8.1.2 of Appendix D 

is that the OTQT must ‘‘be able to 

process up to 300 simultaneous query 

requests with no performance 

degradation’’ (‘‘Simultaneous Query 

Functionality’’).19

According to the Participant Letter, 

the OTQT provided by the Plan 

Processor is based on a data mart model 

that ‘‘supports multi-day/month/year 

queries on any field in the CAT and can 

return all records to the regulatory user 

for further filtering and analytics.’’ 20

The Participants state that this model 

has been used by FINRA in its 

surveillance and market oversight 

operations for approximately five years 

that ‘‘has proven to be an effective and 

reliable surveillance tool that produces 

timely results for regulatory use 

cases.’’ 21 ‘‘[I]f the user requests data for 

a single symbol during a specified time 

period on a single trade date, all data for 

that date and symbol (hundreds of 

millions of records) must be scanned to 

locate the specific records requested.’’ 22

A data mart is then created which 

allows a regulatory user to perform any 

subsequent filtering and analysis.23 The 

Participants state that, once a data mart 

has been created, the results from any 

subsequent filtering and analysis are 

returned ‘‘well within the timeframes 

set forth in Section 8.1.2 of Appendix 


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24See id. With respect to complex queries, the 

Participants state that the OTQT returns data marts 

to regulatory users ‘‘well before’’ the 24-hour time 

limit set forth in the CAT NMS Plan. See id.; see 

also CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at Appendix D, 

Section 8.1.2. However, the Participants also state 

that ‘‘a request for related lifecycles makes a query 

complex.’’ See Participant Letter, supra note 4, at 

5 n.18. The Commission does not agree that a 

request for related lifecycles makes a query 

complex. See Part III infra for further discussion of 

the OTQT requirements set forth in the CAT NMS 

Plan. In addition, and as discussed in Part III infra, 

the Commission believes that the timeframe for 

‘‘returning results’’ in Section 8.1.2 of Appendix D 

of the CAT NMS Plan begins with the submission 

of the query in the OTQT and ends with the return 

of the results of the query to the user inclusive of 

related linkages. 

25See Participant Letter, supra note 4, at 4. 

26See id. at 4–5. 

27See id. at 6. 

28See id. 

29See id. at 5. 

30See id. 

31See id. 

32See CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at 

6.10(c)(i)(A). 

33See id. at Appendix D, Section 8.1.1. 

34See id. at Appendix D, Section 8.1.2. 

35Appendix D, Section 8.1.1 requires that the 

OTQT ‘‘must provide a record count of the result 

set, the date and time the query request is 

submitted, and the date and time the result set is 

provided to the users.’’ It also requires that the 

OTQT must ‘‘log submitted queries and parameters 

used in the query, the user ID of the submitter, the 

date and time of the submission, as well as the 

delivery of results.’’ See id. at Appendix D, Section 

8.1.1. Since the CAT NMS Plan requires the OTQT 

to record the date and time the query request is 

submitted, the query response times set forth in the 

CAT NMS Plan should be based on this 

information. 

36See, e.g., note 34 supra. 

37See CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at Appendix 

D, Section 8.1.2. 

38See CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at Appendix 

D, Section 8.1.1. 

D.’’ 24 In some instances, however, the 

Participants acknowledge that the 

amount of time required by the OTQT 

to populate a data mart is longer than 

the timeframes set forth in the CAT 

NMS Plan.25 They state, for example, 

that ‘‘[i]t typically currently takes up to 

four minutes for queries for a single day 

involving equities trades and up to six 

minutes for options trade queries for a 

single day for the OTQT to create and 

return a data mart in response to 

targeted search requests with a required 

response time of one minute under 

Section 8.1.2 of Appendix D.’’ 26

The Participants therefore request 

temporary exemptive relief from 

compliance with the Search Return 

Functionality and the Simultaneous 

Query Functionality requirements of 

Section 8.1.2 of Appendix D of the CAT 

NMS Plan until July 31, 2023.27 During 

the period of the exemption, the 

Participants assert that they will 

‘‘continue to assess the performance of 

the OTQT and look for opportunities to 

further reduce the time that it takes to 

build the data mart in response to OTQT 

queries on a consistent basis.’’ 28 In this 

respect, the Participants represent that 

they have been working with the Plan 

Processor to reduce the time that it takes 

to populate an OTQT data mart.29 They 

explain that the Plan Processor runs 

‘‘multiple benchmark queries each day 

that are designed to measure system 

performance given CAT Data sets and 

query usage, including the times to 

create data marts for various types of 

queries and responses during 

simultaneous querying,’’ and shares its 

results with the Participants and the 

Commission to identify areas for 

potential performance enhancements.30

The Participant Letter further states that 

such efforts have already reduced the 

time required to populate data marts in 

the OTQT.31

III. Discussion 

As the Participants note, Sections 

6.10(c) and Appendix D, Section 8.1.1 of 

the CAT NMS Plan require the OTQT to 

‘‘provide authorized users with the 

ability to retrieve CAT Data via an 

online query screen that includes the 

ability to choose from a variety of predefined selection criteria,’’ 32 including, 

among other things, the ‘‘CAT Reporter 

correction rate over time’’ (or, the ‘‘Error 

Correction Rate Functionality’’).33

Section 8.1.2 of Appendix D of the CAT 

NMS Plan further sets forth minimum 

performance requirements for OTQT 

searches that include equities and 

options trade data only in the search 

criteria, including returning results 

within the following timeframes: (1) 

‘‘within 1 minute for all trades and 

related lifecycle events for a specific 

Customer or CAT Reporter with the 

ability to filter by security and time 

range for a specified time window up to 

and including an entire day’’; (2) 

‘‘within 30 minutes for all trades and 

related lifecycle events for a specific 

Customer or CAT Reporter in a specified 

date range (maximum 1 month)’’; and 

(3) ‘‘within 6 hours for all trades and 

related lifecycle events for a specific 

Customer or CAT Reporter in a specified 

date range (maximum 12-month 

duration from the most recent 24 

months).’’ 34

The timeframe for ‘‘returning results’’ 

in Section 8.1.2 of Appendix D (i.e., the 

time to ‘‘return results’’ or the ‘‘Search 

Return Functionality’’) begins with the 

submission of the query in the OTQT 

and ends with the return of the results 

of the query to the user; it does not 

begin with the population of a data 

mart. ‘‘Returning results’’ captures the 

entirety of the time it takes to generate 

results in response to the user’s initial 

query. If the query response time 

requirements for ‘‘returning results’’ 

begins at a time later than the time the 

query was submitted, query response 

times would fail to fully reflect the total 

time necessary for the OTQT to generate 

results, and display them to the user.35

This would be inconsistent with the 

plain meaning of the CAT NMS Plan 

language concerning query response 

time requirements and would 

undermine the purpose of the 

performance standard. 

Appendix D, Section 8.1.2 of the CAT 

NMS Plan sets forth requirements for 

‘‘related lifecycle events’’ and ‘‘complex 

queries.’’ ‘‘Related lifecycle events’’ are 

covered by the 1 minute, 30 minute, and 

6 hour requirements in the CAT NMS 

Plan set forth above,36 whereas 

Appendix D, Section 8.1.2 of the CAT 

NMS Plan separately provides that 

‘‘[f]or the complex queries that either 

scan large volumes of data (e.g., 

multiple trade dates) or return large 

result sets (≤1M records), the response 

time must generally be available within 

24 hours of the submission of the 

request.’’ 37 Under the CAT NMS Plan, 

therefore, queries for ‘‘related lifecycle 

events’’ are not ‘‘complex queries’’ and 

thus the 24 hour requirement does not 

apply. If queries including ‘‘related 

lifecycle events’’ were ‘‘complex 

queries,’’ then any query that included 

‘‘related lifecycle events’’ would be 

subject to the 24 hour requirement. This 

is not consistent with the language of 

the CAT NMS Plan. Rather, based on the 

language of the CAT NMS Plan, ‘‘related 

lifecycle events’’ are included in, and 

thus are subject to, the 1 minute, 30 

minute, and 6 hour requirements for 

OTQT searches that include equities 

and options trade data only as search 

criteria. Interpreting any query that 

includes ‘‘related lifecycle events’’ as a 

‘‘complex query’’ contradicts the 

presence of ‘‘related lifecycle events’’ in 

the CAT NMS Plan language setting 

forth the 1 minute, 30 minute, and 6 

hour requirements. 

Appendix D, Section 8.1.2 also 

requires that ‘‘[t]he online targeted 

query tool must be able to process up to 

300 simultaneous query requests with 

no performance degradation’’ (or, the 

‘‘Simultaneous Query Functionality’’).38

As stated above, the timeframe for 

‘‘returning results’’ begins with the 

submission of the query in the OTQT 

and ends with the return of the results 

of the query to the user. The 

Commission understands that the 

Participants have not yet determined the 

meaning of ‘‘performance degradation,’’ 


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83670 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 

39See, e.g., notes 34–37 and associated text supra. 

40See CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at Appendix 

D, Section 8.5 (requiring the establishment of SLAs 

for ‘‘query performance and response times’’). 

41The OTQT is required at all times to meet the 

CAT NMS Plan requirement to process up to 300 

simultaneous query requests with no performance 

degradation. 

42 15 U.S.C. 78mm(a)(1). 

43 17 CFR 242.608(e). 

44This release will include, among other things, 

industry member reporting of new equity exchange 

order book and volume concentration data and 

expanded OTQT functionality related to this data. 

See id. at 3. 

45See id. at 3. 

46See id. at 3. However, the Error Correction Rate 

Functionality is still critical, as it will facilitate a 

regulatory user’s ability to determine the quality of 

CAT Data for regulatory use (versus compliance 

review purposes). 

47See note 13 supra. To the extent that the 

Participants are availing themselves of exemptive 

relief from a CAT NMS Plan requirement, including 

requirements relating to Error Correction Rate 

Functionality, Search Return Functionality, and 

Simultaneous Query Functionality, such 

requirement shall not be included in the 

requirements for the Full Implementation of Core 

Equity Reporting Requirements milestone, provided 

that the conditions of the exemption are satisfied. 

However, to meet the Full Implementation of Core 

Equity Reporting Requirements milestone, all other 

functionality required by Section 8.1.1 and Section 

8.1.2 of Appendix D of the CAT NMS Plan must 

incorporate the relevant equities transaction data 

and be available to Participants and to the 

Commission. See CAT NMS Plan, supra note 3, at 

Section 1.1 (‘‘Full Implementation of Core Equity 

Requirements’’ definition). 

but the Commission believes 

‘‘performance degradation’’ on query 

requests should be based on the ability 

of the OTQT to meet the abovedescribed timeframes set forth by 

Appendix D, Section 8.1.2 of the CAT 

NMS Plan.39 Performance degradation is 

a deterioration in performance as 

measured according to a certain 

standard. The Commission believes it is 

reasonable to assess ‘‘performance 

degradation’’ based on a measurement 

of performance against the CAT NMS 

Plan and service level agreement 

(‘‘SLA’’) requirements,40 because the 

Participants are already required to meet 

these standards. Thus, if the OTQT is 

able to process up to 300 simultaneous 

query requests while meeting the CAT 

NMS Plan and SLA requirements, there 

would be no ‘‘performance 

degradation.’’ 41

Section 36 of the Exchange Act grants 

the Commission the authority, with 

certain limitations, to ‘‘conditionally or 

unconditionally exempt any person, 

security, or transaction . . . from any 

provision or provisions of [the Exchange 

Act] or of any rule or regulation 

thereunder, to the extent that such 

exemption is necessary or appropriate 

in the public interest, and is consistent 

with the protection of investors.’’ 42 Rule 

608(e) of Regulation NMS under the 

Exchange Act authorizes the 

Commission to exempt, either 

unconditionally or on specified terms 

and conditions, any self-regulatory 

organization, member thereof, or 

specified security, from the provisions 

of the rule if the Commission 

determines that such exemption is 

consistent with the public interest, the 

protection of investors, the maintenance 

of fair and orderly markets and the 

removal of impediments to, and 

perfection of the mechanisms of, a 

national market system.43

The Commission believes that, 

pursuant to Section 36 of the Exchange 

Act, the temporary exemptive relief 

requested by the Participants is 

appropriate in the public interest and 

consistent with the protection of 

investors, and that, pursuant to Rule 

608(e) under the Exchange Act, the 

temporary exemptive relief requested by 

the Participants is consistent with the 

public interest, the protection of 

investors, the maintenance of fair and 

orderly markets and the removal of 

impediments to, and the perfection of 

the mechanisms of, a national market 

system. The OTQT is an important 

regulatory tool required by the CAT 

NMS Plan; it is one of only three access 

methods that regulators have to query 

CAT Data, and it is the only method that 

can be used by regulatory staff without 

programming experience to directly 

access the CAT using tools provided by 

the Plan Processor. Thus, it is consistent 

with the public interest, the protection 

of investors, and the maintenance of fair 

and orderly markets that all facets of the 

OTQT are implemented consistent with 

the CAT NMS Plan. The Commission 

understands that implementing the 

above-described functionality will 

require software development and 

architectural changes to the existing 

OTQT. Providing the requested 

temporary exemptive relief will give the 

Participants additional time to properly 

implement the above-described 

functionality. The Commission believes 

that the long-term benefits of allowing 

the Participants sufficient time to 

correctly implement these facets of the 

OTQT outweigh any concerns regarding 

the impact of delayed implementation. 

The Commission also believes that 

providing the requested exemptive relief 

on the schedule proposed by the 

Participants is appropriate. With respect 

to the Error Correction Rate 

Functionality requirements, the 

Participants request that temporary 

exemptive relief be granted until April 

30, 2021. This schedule will align the 

release of the Error Correction Rate 

Functionality with another planned 

functionality release,44 while still 

providing a certain deadline that will 

encourage progress towards the 

implementation of the required OTQT 

functionality. The Commission believes 

that such alignment will enable the 

SROs to leverage planned functionality 

release activities—including user 

acceptance testing, documentation, and 

approvals—for the release of the Error 

Correction Rate Functionality. 

Moreover, the Commission believes that 

granting the requested exemptive relief 

on the schedule proposed by the 

Participants would have only a limited 

impact on regulators’ utilization of the 

OTQT. As stated in the Participant 

Letter, the Participants and the 

Commission currently have access to a 

variety of fields of processed CAT Data 

and/or validated (unlinked) data via the 

OTQT,45 and information regarding the 

CAT Reporter correction rate over time 

will likewise be available for 

compliance review purposes through 

the CAT Reporter Portal and/or the Plan 

Processor’s BDSQL tool by December 

2020.46

With respect to the Search Return 

Functionality and the Simultaneous 

Query Functionality requirements, the 

Participants request that temporary 

exemptive relief be granted until July 

31, 2023. The Commission believes this 

deadline will give the Participants and 

the Plan Processor sufficient time to 

develop the necessary systems and 

technology. 

The Commission is also conditioning 

this temporary exemptive relief on the 

following: 

First, as a condition to this exemptive 

relief, the Participants would be 

required to satisfy all other 

requirements of the Full 

Implementation of Core Equity 

Reporting Requirements milestone by 

December 31, 2020.47

Second, to better enable the 

Commission to monitor progress 

towards the reduction of query response 

times, the Participants would be 

required, as a condition to this 

exemptive relief, to perform the 

following benchmark queries to 

measure, on a monthly basis, the 

timeframes in which the OTQT returns 

results for the following types of 

queries: (1) All trades and related 

lifecycle linkages and/or events for a 

specific Customer or CAT Reporter with 

the ability to filter by security and time 

range for a specified time window up to 

and including an entire day; (2) all 

trades and related lifecycle linkages 

and/or events for a specific Customer or 

CAT Reporter in a specified date range 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 246 / Tuesday, December 22, 2020 / Notices 83671 

48 ‘‘Industry Member’’ is a defined term under the 

CAT NMS Plan and means ‘‘means a member of a 

national securities exchange or a member of a 

national securities association.’’ See CAT NMS 

Plan, supra note 3, at Section 1.1. 

49Pursuant to Section 6.6(c)(ii) of the CAT NMS 

Plan, Quarterly Progress Reports must be filed with 

the Commission and made publicly available on 

each SRO’s website or collectively on the CAT NMS 

Plan website. 

50 15 U.S.C. 78mm(a)(1). 

51 17 CFR 242.608(e). 

(maximum 1 month); and (3) all trades 

and related lifecycle linkages and/or 

events for a specific Customer or CAT 

Reporter in a specified date range 

(maximum 12-month duration from the 

most recent 24 months). For each 

benchmark query, the Participants 

should provide the average, standard 

deviation, maximum, and minimum 

timeframes in which the OTQT returns 

results, as the Commission believes it is 

important to capture not only 

information regarding the average 

timeframes in which the OTQT returns 

results, but also information regarding 

the variability and consistency of the 

timeframes in which the OTQT returns 

results. In addition, for each benchmark 

query, the Participants should use all 

available CAT Data, including 

Participant data submitted by FINRA 

and national securities exchanges, data 

submitted by Industry Members,48 and 

other data. Finally, the Participants 

should provide monthly reports 

regarding any actual queries done by 

regulatory users with the average, 

standard deviation, maximum, and 

minimum timeframes in which the 

OTQT returns results for actual queries. 

All of the above-described 

measurements should be provided to 

the Operating Committee on a monthly 

basis and should be clearly set forth as 

factual indicators in the Quarterly 

Progress Reports required by Section 

6.6(c) of the CAT NMS Plan. This 

condition will permit the Commission 

and the public to track the Participants’ 

progress towards meeting the abovedescribed CAT NMS Plan requirements 

and providing regulators with an 

effective OTQT by the July 31, 2023 

deadline.49

Third, to better enable the 

Commission to monitor their progress 

towards meeting the parallel processing 

requirements of the CAT NMS Plan, the 

Participants would also be required, as 

a condition to this exemptive relief, to 

measure on a monthly basis, using 

benchmark queries, the time it takes to 

provide results to users from OTQT 

searches that are run concurrently with 

either 50–100, 100–200, or 200–300 

queries, and to evaluate whether such 

results otherwise meet current CAT 

NMS Plan and SLA performance 

requirements for targeted and complex 

queries. These measurements should be 

provided to the Operating Committee on 

a monthly basis and should be clearly 

set forth as factual indicators in the 

Quarterly Progress Reports required by 

Section 6.6(c) of the CAT NMS Plan. 

IV. Conclusion 

Accordingly, it is hereby ordered, 

pursuant to Section 36(a)(1) of the 

Exchange Act 50 and Rule 608(e) under 

the Exchange Act,51 that the 

Commission grants the Participants’ 

request for temporary exemptive relief, 

as set forth in the Participant Letter and 

subject to the conditions described 

herein, from the requirements in Section 

8.1.1 of Appendix D of the CAT NMS 

Plan with respect to the Error Correction 

Rate Functionality until April 30, 2021 

and from the requirements in Section 

8.1.2 of Appendix D of the CAT NMS 

Plan with respect to the Search Return 

Functionality and the Simultaneous 

Query Functionality until July 31, 2023. 

By the Commission. 

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28153 Filed 12–21–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice: 11284] 

Notice of Determinations; Culturally 

Significant Objects Being Imported for 

Exhibition—Determinations: 

‘‘Fotoclubismo: Brazilian Modernist 

Photography, 1946–1964’’ Exhibition 

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given of the 

following determinations: I hereby 

determine that certain objects being 

imported from abroad pursuant to 

agreements with their foreign owners or 

custodians for temporary display in the 

exhibition ‘‘Fotoclubismo: Brazilian 

Modernist Photography, 1946–1964’’ at 

The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 

New York, and at possible additional 

exhibitions or venues yet to be 

determined, are of cultural significance, 

and, further, that their temporary 

exhibition or display within the United 

States as aforementioned is in the 

national interest. I have ordered that 

Public Notice of these determinations be 

published in the Federal Register. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Chi 

D. Tran, Program Administrator, Office 

of the Legal Adviser, U.S. Department of 

State (telephone: 202–632–6471; email: 

section2459@state.gov). The mailing 

address is U.S. Department of State, 

L/PD, SA–5, Suite 5H03, Washington, 

DC 20522–0505. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

foregoing determinations were made 

pursuant to the authority vested in me 

by the Act of October 19, 1965 (79 Stat. 

985; 22 U.S.C. 2459), Executive Order 

12047 of March 27, 1978, the Foreign 

Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 

1998 (112 Stat. 2681, et seq.; 22 U.S.C. 

6501 note, et seq.), Delegation of 

Authority No. 234 of October 1, 1999, 

and Delegation of Authority No. 236–3 

of August 28, 2000. 

Marie Therese Porter Royce, 

Assistant Secretary, Educational and Cultural 

Affairs, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28165 Filed 12–21–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–05–P 

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION 

Federal Aviation Administration 

[Docket No. FAA–2020–0997] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities: Requests for Comments; 

Clearance of Renewed Approval of 

Information Collection: Noise 

Certification Standards for Subsonic 

Jet Airplanes and Subsonic Transport 

Category Large Airplanes 

AGENCY: Federal Aviation 

Administration (FAA), DOT. 

ACTION: Notice and request for 

comments. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA 

invites public comments about our 

intention to request the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB) 

approval to renew an information 

collection. The Federal Register Notice 

with a 60-day comment period soliciting 

comments on the following collection of 

information was published on October 

21, 2020. 

DATES: Written comments should be 

submitted by January 21, 2021. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are 

invited to submit written comments on 

the proposed information collection to 

the Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget. Comments should be addressed 

to the attention of the Desk Officer, 

Department of Transportation/FAA, and 

sent via electronic mail to oira_

submission@omb.eop.gov, or faxed to 

(202) 395–6974, or mailed to the Office 

of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th 

Street NW, Washington, DC 20503. 


jbell on DSKJLSW7X2PROD with NOTICES