Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 32 / Friday, February 19, 2021 / Notices 10375 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90384 

(November 9, 2020), 85 FR 73113 (November 16, 

2020) (‘‘Notice’’). Comments on the proposed rule 

change can be found at https://www.sec.gov/ 

comments/sr-bx-2020-032/srbx2020032.htm. 

4 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90796 

(December 23, 2020), 85 FR 86590 (December 30, 

2020). 

6 In Amendment No. 1, the Exchange: (1) Stated 

that the proposed changes in Supplementary 

Material .07 of Options 4, Section 5 supersede 

Supplementary Material .03(d) and that the 

Exchange will not be able to utilize the rule text 

within Supplementary Material .03(d) to permit 

additional series to be opened for trading on the 

Exchange that have an expiration date more than 

twenty-one days from the listing date despite the 

noted circumstances when such additional series 

could otherwise be added; (2) clarified how a Short 

Term Option Opening Date is calculated when the 

Exchange is not open for business on the applicable 

Thursday or Friday; (3) provided that that Short 

Term Options Series that are newly eligible for 

listing pursuant to Options 4, Section 3(a) will not 

be subject to proposed Supplementary Material .07 

until after the end of the first full calendar quarter 

following the date the option class was first listed 

for trading on any options market; (4) discussed 

additional data underlying its proposal; (5) 

proposed to make publically available a report on 

a quarterly basis that indicates, for each Short Term 

Options Series eligible to be listed under proposed 

Supplementary Material .07 of Options 4, Section 

5, the applicable tiering, which includes the closing 

price of the underlying, and the average daily 

Customer volume of the option; and (6) changed its 

implementation timeframe for the proposed rule 

change from prior to March 31, 2021 to prior to June 

30, 2021. When the Exchange filed Amendment No. 

1, it also submitted it as a comment to the filing 

so that the text of Amendment No. 1 promptly 

became available at https://www.sec.gov/comments/ 

sr-bx-2020-032/srbx2020032-8359799-229182.pdf. 

7See Supplementary Material .03 of Options 4, 

Section 5. There are limits on the number of series 

that can participate in STOS (i.e., 30 initial series 

and up to 50 currently listed classes). See 

Supplementary Material .03 of Options 4, Section 

5(c). In addition to the weeklies, the Exchange may 

list series of options for trading with monthly 

expirations (that expire on the third Friday of the 

month) or quarterly expirations. See Options 4, 

Section 5(g) and Supplementary Material .04 of 

Options 4, Section 5, respectively. Exchange rules 

set forth the intervals between strike prices of series 

of options on individual stocks, which generally are 

$2.50, $5, and $10. In addition to those intervals, 

the Exchange may list certain series of options in 

finer increments, including, e.g., pursuant to the $1 

Strike Price Interval Program (Supplementary 

Material .01 of Options 4, Section 5) and the $0.50 

Strike Program (Supplementary Material .05 of 

Options 4, Section 5). 

8Specifically, (i) $0.50 or greater where the strike 

price is less than $100, and $1 or greater where the 

strike price is between $100 and $150 for all option 

classes that participate in the Short Term Options 

Series Program; (ii) $0.50 for option classes that 

trade in one dollar increments and are in the Short 

Term Options Series Program; or (iii) $2.50 or 

greater where the strike price is above $150. See 

Amendment No. 1, supra note 6, at 34. 

9The proposal does not apply to index options. 

10The table supersedes Supplementary Material 

.03(d), which currently permits additional series to 

be opened for trading on the Exchange when the 

Exchange deems it necessary to maintain an orderly 

market, to meet customer demand, or when the 

market price of the underlying security moves 

substantially from the exercise price or prices of the 

series already opened. As a result, the Exchange 

will not be able to utilize the rule text within 

Supplementary Material .03(d) to permit additional 

series to be opened for trading on BX that have an 

expiration date more than twenty-one days from the 

listing date despite the noted circumstances when 

such additional series could otherwise be added. 

(4) Files the annual report 

electronically with the Commission 

using an appropriate process. 

By the Commission. 

Jill M. Peterson, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03353 Filed 2–18–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–91125; File No. SR–BX– 

2020–032] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq 

BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing of 

Amendment No. 1 and Order Granting 

Accelerated Approval of Proposed 

Rule Change, as Modified by 

Amendment No. 1, To Amend Options 

4, Section 5, To Limit Short Term 

Options Series Intervals Between 

Strikes That Are Available for Quoting 

and Trading on BX 

February 12, 2021. 

I. Introduction 

On November 6, 2020, Nasdaq BX, 

Inc. (‘‘BX’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section 

19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act 

of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 

thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to 

amend Options 4, Section 5, ‘‘Series of 

Options Contracts Open for Trading’’ to 

limit Short Term Options Series 

intervals between strikes which are 

available for quoting and trading on BX. 

The proposed rule change was 

published for comment in the Federal 

Register on November 16, 2020.3 On 

December 23, 2020, pursuant to Section 

19(b)(2) of the Act,4 the Commission 

extended the time period within which 

to approve the proposed rule change, 

disapprove the proposed rule change, or 

institute proceedings to determine 

whether to approve or disapprove the 

proposed rule change, to February 14, 

2021.5 On February 10, 2021, the 

Exchange filed Amendment No. 1 to the 

proposed rule change, which replaced 

and superseded the proposed rule 

change in its entirety.6 The Commission 

is publishing this notice to solicit 

comments on the proposed rule change, 

as modified by Amendment No. 1, from 

interested persons, and is approving the 

proposed rule change, as modified by 

Amendment No. 1, on an accelerated 

basis. 

II. Description of the Proposed Rule 

Change 

Currently, under the Short Term 

Options Series (‘‘STOS’’) program (also 

referred to as the ‘‘weekly series’’ or 

‘‘weeklies’’), BX may open for trading 

on a Thursday or Friday (‘‘Short Term 

Option Opening Date’’) a series of 

options that expires on each of the next 

five Fridays that are business days and 

are not Fridays in which monthly 

options series or Quarterly Options 

series expire (‘‘Short Term Option 

Expiration Dates’’).7 Weeklies currently 

may have strike price intervals of $0.50, 

$1, or $2.50.8

In the proposed rule change, as 

modified by Amendment No. 1, the 

Exchange proposes to amend its STOS 

Program to increase, and thereby limit, 

the intervals between strikes in multiply 

listed equity options (excluding options 

on Exchange Traded Funds (‘‘ETFs’’) 

and Exchange Traded Notes (‘‘ETNs’’)) 

under the STOS program for those 

weeklies that have an expiration date 

more than twenty-one days from the 

listing date.9 Accordingly, the proposal 

seeks to reduce the number of strikes in 

the weeklies furthest from expiration. 

Specifically, the new applicable strike 

intervals will be as follows: 10

Tier Customer-range options average daily 

volume 

Underlying share price 

Less than 

$25 

$25 to less 

than $75 

$75 to less 

than $150 

$150 to less 

than $500 

$500 or 

greater 

1 ........................ greater than 5,000 ................................ $0.50 $1.00 $1.00 $5.00 $5.00 

2 ........................ 1,000 to 5,000 ....................................... 1.00 1.00 1.00 5.00 10.00 

3 ........................ 0 to 1,000 .............................................. 2.50 5.00 5.00 5.00 10.00 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
10376 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 32 / Friday, February 19, 2021 / Notices 

11The Customer-cleared ADV is the total number 

of options contracts traded in the Customer range 

in a given security for the applicable calendar 

quarter, divided by the number of trading days in 

the applicable calendar quarter. Beginning on the 

second trading day of each calendar quarter, the 

ADV will be calculated by using data from the prior 

calendar quarter based on volume cleared in the 

Customer range as reported by the Options Clearing 

Corporation (‘‘OCC’’). 

12See Amendment No. 1, supra note 6, at 42. 

13See id. at 22. 

14See id. at 40–41, for the Exchange’s data on 

average spreads in weekly options during the 

month of August 2020. 

15See id. at 44. 

16See id. at 45. 

17See id. at 45–46. 

18 In approving this proposed rule change, the 

Commission has considered the proposed rule’s 

impact on efficiency, competition, and capital 

formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 

19 17 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

20See Letters to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary, 

Commission, from Chris Halverson, Chairman of 

the Board, Security Traders Association and James 

Toes, President & CEO, Security Traders 

Association, dated December 9, 2020; from Joanna 

Mallers, Secretary, FIA Principal Traders Group, 

dated December 8, 2020; from Venu Palaparthi, 

Managing Director, Dash Financial Technologies 

LLC, dated December 7, 2020; from Andrew 

Stevens, General Counsel, IMC Chicago, LLC, dated 

December 7, 2020; from Joseph P. Kamnik, Chief 

Regulatory Counsel, Options Clearing Corporation, 

dated December 4, 2020; and from Ellen Greene, 

Managing Director, Equities & Options Market 

Structure, Securities Industry and Financial 

Markets Association, dated December 4, 2020. 

21See Letter to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary, 

Commission, from Laura G. Dickman Vice 

President, Associate General Counsel, Cboe 

Exchange, Inc., dated February 1, 2021 (‘‘Cboe 

Letter’’). 

22Cboe Letter, supra note 21 at 2. 

23 Id. 

24 Id. 

25 Id. 

26See Letter to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary, 

Commission, from Kevin Kennedy, Senior Vice 

President, North American Markets, Nasdaq, Inc., 

dated February 10, 2021 (‘‘BX Response’’), at 1. 

27 Id. 

As shown in the table, the proposal 

sets the strike increment for those 

weekly series with an expiration date of 

more than twenty-one days from the 

listing date (e.g., weeks 4 and 5) through 

a matrix of 15 possible choices 

representing 5 different strike intervals 

(i.e., $0.50, $1, $2.50, $5, or $10). The 

Exchange will determine the applicable 

strike interval through a combination of 

two factors: (1) The Customer-cleared 

average daily volume (‘‘ADV’’) tier for 

the option over the applicable quarter 11

and (2) the closing share price of the 

underlying stock on its primary market 

on the last day of the calendar quarter. 

The Exchange states that STOS 

comprise a significant portion of listed 

options, as the weekly strikes increased 

at a 8.9% compound annual growth rate 

(‘‘CAGR’’) from 2015 to 2020, compared 

to a 4.3% CAGR for standard 

expirations using 3rd Friday 

expirations. Weeklies are available on 

16% of underlying products, and 

weeklies with an expiration date greater 

than twenty-one days from the listing 

date account for 7.5% of the total 

number of strikes in the options market, 

equaling approximately 81,000 strikes.12

In its filing, the Exchange explains 

that it chose to use OCC Customercleared volume because the Exchange 

believes it represents a measure of 

customer demand, including for the 

weekly series.13 Under the proposal, 

higher customer demand results in a tier 

that corresponds to a more granular 

strike interval (e.g., $0.50 instead of 

$2.50). 

The Exchange further explains that its 

proposal seeks to reduce the number of 

strikes in the furthest weekly options 

series, which the Exchange believes 

typically have wider markets and lower 

market quality.14 The Exchange’s 

proposal imposes more distanced strike 

intervals where the underlying stock has 

higher priced shares and where there is 

less customer volume as measured by 

the ADV tiers. Conversely, the proposal 

preserves finer strike intervals for 

options that have higher Customer ADV 

and lower priced underlying stocks. 

BX also proposes to make publically 

and freely available a report on a 

quarterly basis that indicates, for each 

weekly series eligible to be listed under 

proposed Supplementary Material .07 of 

Options 4, Section 5, the applicable 

strike increment, the applicable closing 

price of the underlying stock sourced 

from the closing prices for Tape A, B 

and C securities published by the UTP 

and CTA/CQ Plans, and the applicable 

Customer ADV of the option sourced 

from OCC. BX will post the report by 

the close of business on the first trading 

day of the quarter. 

The Exchange intends that its 

proposal will allow market makers to 

deploy capital more efficiently, while 

improving displayed market quality, by 

tailoring the granularity of strikes to 

correspond to the anticipated future 

customer demand for the option and the 

price of the underlying stock, thus 

reducing the number of listed weekly 

options in the later weeks of the STOS 

program.15 The Exchange states that its 

proposal is responsive to concerns from 

industry members, including market 

makers, regarding the proliferation of 

strike prices.16 The Exchange expects 

that its proposal will be the first step in 

a broader initiative to revisit the 

patchwork of strike listing rules.17

III. Discussion and Commission 

Findings 

After careful review of the proposed 

rule change, as modified by Amendment 

No. 1, and the comment letters received 

on the proposal, the Commission finds 

that the proposed rule change, as 

modified by Amendment No. 1, is 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Act and the rules and regulations 

thereunder applicable to national 

securities exchanges.18 In particular, the 

Commission finds that the proposed 

rule change, as modified by Amendment 

No. 1, is consistent with Section 6(b)(5) 

of the Act,19 which requires that the 

rules of an exchange be designed, 

among other things, 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, 

and 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. 

The Commission received several 

comments expressing support for the 

proposed rule change.20 Another 

commenter expressed general support 

for the goals of the proposal but 

suggested ideas to simplify and clarify 

the proposal.21 In particular, that 

commenter recommends that the 

proposal be ‘‘simplified in its 

application’’ because it believes the 

ADV and underlying share price 

components could be ‘‘unduly 

burdensome from an exchange 

operational perspective.’’ 22 The 

commenter states that the proposal 

could ‘‘create significant operational 

overhead with respect to implementing 

and maintaining this proposed strike 

listing regime’’ but would only ‘‘result 

in a limited strike reduction’’.23 Further, 

the commenter states that the proposal’s 

‘‘complexity may also cause confusion 

among participants regarding 

permissible strikes.’’ 24 As an 

alternative, the commenter suggests 

‘‘use of a single ADV component for 

classes to qualify for the STOS 

program’’ such as 2,500 ADV.25

In response, the Exchange states that 

its proposal ‘‘was not intended to 

amend the current STOS program’’ but 

rather was to ‘‘curtail certain strike 

intervals within STOS to avoid 

operational burdens to listing 

exchanges.’’ 26 The Exchange believes 

that the commenter’s suggested 

alternative ‘‘may have a detrimental 

impact on of meeting customer demand 

in terms of the availability of STOS 

which are listed today.’’ 27 The 

Commission believes the Exchange has 


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28Cboe Letter, supra note 21, at 3. 

29 Id. 

30BX Response, supra note 26, at 2. 

31 Id. 

32 Id. 

33Cboe Letter, supra note 21, at 3. 

34BX Response, supra note 26, at 2. 

addressed the commenter’s concern. 

The Exchange’s proposal, though 

modest in scope, is an attempt to 

rationalize strike listing rules in the 

furthest-out weekly series, which may 

serve as a starting point to a broader 

initiative to revisit, harmonize, and 

update the panoply of strike listing rules 

more broadly. The Exchange’s proposal 

is but one of many possible alternative 

approaches that could address the same 

or similar goals. Nevertheless, the 

Exchange’s proposal reflects its 

preferred approach, which the 

Commission finds is consistent with the 

Act. 

The commenter also suggested certain 

aspects of the proposal that could be 

further clarified, including ‘‘whether 

exceptions would apply to extremely 

active option classes or new options on 

equities that were subject to recent 

initial public offerings’’ as such events 

‘‘often increase customer demand for 

more strikes, including at narrower 

intervals.’’ 28 The commenter also 

suggested that the proposal be flexible 

to allow more granular strikes when 

‘‘necessary to maintain an orderly 

market, to meet customer demand, or 

when the market price of the underlying 

security moves substantially.’’ 29

In response, the Exchange proposed 

text in Amendment No. 1 to address the 

initial public offering situation by 

adding a 3-month curtailment period by 

which the new rule would not take 

effect for such options until after the 

end of the first full calendar quarter 

following the date the options class was 

first listed on any options market.30 The 

Exchange states that the curtailment 

period will ‘‘allow the initial customer 

demand to be met’’ and ‘‘price discovery 

to occur in the offering’’ before the new 

strike intervals would apply in the 

further out weeklies.31 Further, the 

Exchange added text in Amendment No. 

1 to clarify that the proposal would not 

accommodate flexibility to add more 

granular strikes for stocks with volatile 

prices or in response to customer 

requests.32 The Commission believes 

the Exchange has addressed the 

commenter’s concerns. While the 

Exchange will not permit exceptions to 

its new rule, weeklies in the first few 

weeks are not impacted by the rule 

change, so the Exchange will continue 

to be able to list more granular strikes 

in those weeks as appropriate to meet 

customer demand in active classes or 

classes with volatile underlying stock 

prices. 

Finally, the commenter states that 

‘‘exchanges should use quarterly ADV 

data from a centralized party when 

identifying classes subject to the strike 

interval limits to ensure fair and 

consistent application of the rule across 

the industry.’’ 33 In response, the 

Exchange added detail in Amendment 

No. 1 to describe the report it will 

prepare and publicly post that details 

the applicable tier, Customer ADV, and 

closing price for each affected weekly 

series. The Exchange stated that the 

public availability of this report should 

‘‘provide consistency and relieve 

administrative burdens on other options 

markets’’ who ‘‘may elect to utilize [it] 

to validate their own information.’’ 34

The Commission believes the Exchange 

has addressed the commenter’s 

concerns. The Exchange will use OCC 

data to calculate the Customer ADV, 

which is available to all options 

exchanges, and will use the publiclyreported consolidated market data to 

determine the underlying share price, 

which also is available to all. Publishing 

each series subject to the new rule with 

its applicable strike increment, along 

with the inputs used to determine those 

increments, will promote transparency 

and certainty among all market 

participants of the application and effect 

of the Exchange’s rule. 

The Commission believes that the 

Exchange’s proposal, as amended, 

promotes just and equitable principles 

of trade, fosters cooperation and 

coordination with persons engaged in 

facilitating transactions in securities, 

and removes impediments to and 

perfect the mechanism of a free and 

open market and a national market 

system. Specifically, the Commission 

believes that the Exchange’s proposal to 

increase, and thus limit, the intervals 

between strikes listed under the STOS 

program that have an expiration date 

more than twenty-one days removes 

impediments to and perfects the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system by seeking 

to strike an efficient balance between 

offering customers choice of 

appropriately granular strikes in less 

liquid weekly options with higher 

underlying stock prices and setting 

rational and consistent strike intervals 

that do not unduly burden the market 

makers that quote them, the brokerdealers and customers that view and 

trade them, or the infrastructure and 

systems that handle the transmission, 

processing, and dissemination of 

quotations, orders, and trades. 

More efficient and better calibrated 

strike increment rules can have a 

positive impact on the options markets, 

as it can provide certainty, minimize 

confusion, and promote more efficient 

use of resources including among 

market makers that are obligated to 

continuously quote such series, all 

while still offering customers choice to 

meet their investment needs. The 

Exchange’s proposal should eliminate 

certain clusters of relatively granular 

strikes in further out weekly series, 

whose characteristics (e.g., risk 

properties) may closely resemble each 

other as a result of their close strike 

prices and length to time to expiration. 

Such clustering may not be necessary in 

less liquid further out weekly series 

where the price of the underlying stock 

is higher. The Exchange’s proposal 

seeks to focus more granular strike 

increments on those series where they 

are more relevant, applicable, and likely 

more in demand from customers. 

Accordingly, the Exchange’s proposal is 

designed to protect investors while also 

supporting market quality. For these 

reasons, the Commission finds that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the Act. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments on 

Amendment No. 1 to the Proposed Rule 

Change 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning whether the 

proposal, as modified by Amendment 

No. 1, 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 email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– 

BX–2020–032 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–BX–2020–032. 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 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
10378 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 32 / Friday, February 19, 2021 / Notices 

35 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

36 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

37 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 89564 

(August 14, 2020), 85 FR 51531 (‘‘Notice’’). 

4 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90062, 

85 FR 63312 (October 7, 2020). 

6Amendment No. 1 is available on the 

Commission’s website at: https://www.sec.gov/ 

comments/sr-cboe-2020-075/srcboe2020075- 

7940531-224727.pdf. 

7 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B). 

8See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90457, 

85 FR 75071 (November 24, 2020). 

9Amendment No. 2 is available on the 

Commission’s website at: https://www.sec.gov/ 

comments/sr-cboe-2020-075/srcboe2020075- 

8330243-228699.pdf. 

10 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

11See supra note 3. 

12 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

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 

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

filing will also be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the Exchange. 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–BX–2020–032 and should 

be submitted on or before March 12, 

2021. 

V. Accelerated Approval of Proposed 

Rule Change, as Modified by 

Amendment No. 1 

The Commission finds good cause to 

approve the proposed rule change, as 

modified by Amendment No. 1, prior to 

the thirtieth day after the date of 

publication of Amendment No. 1 in the 

Federal Register. In Amendment No. 1, 

the Exchange provided additional 

information to clarify and support the 

proposal, and did not materially change 

the substance of the proposal over what 

the Commission published in the 

Federal Register. Among other things, 

in the Amendment the Exchange 

committed to freely and publicly post a 

‘‘report’’ in which it will detail the 

weekly series that it will list under the 

proposal, along with information on the 

applicable strike interval tier and the 

underlying Customer ADV and 

underlying share price values upon 

which it determined the applicable 

strike interval. That information should 

be useful to market participants, as well 

as other options exchanges, as it will 

provide transparency into how BX 

applied its rule and should remove any 

potential for confusion that could be 

presented by a lack of transparency into 

the applicable strike intervals BX will 

apply under the new rule. Further, the 

Exchange added detail to address when 

the new rule will apply to a new option 

(e.g., an option on a recent initial public 

offering), which will provide certainty 

as to how the new rule applies in such 

cases. Accordingly, the Commission 

finds good cause, pursuant to Section 

19(b)(2) of the Act,35 to approve the 

proposed rule change, as modified by 

Amendment No. 1, on an accelerated 

basis. 

VI. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,36 that the 

proposed rule change SR–BX–2020–032, 

as modified by Amendment No. 1 be, 

and hereby is, approved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.37

Jill M. Peterson, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–03342 Filed 2–18–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–91127; File No. SR–CBOE– 

2020–075] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe 

Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Designation 

of a Longer Period for Commission 

Action on Proceedings To Determine 

Whether To Approve or Disapprove a 

Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by 

Amendment No. 2, To Make Qualified 

Contingent Cross Orders Available for 

FLEX Option Trading 

February 12, 2021. 

On August 3, 2020, Cboe Exchange, 

Inc. filed with the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’), 

pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 a 

proposed rule change to make Qualified 

Contingent Cross Orders available for 

FLEX option trading. The proposed rule 

change was published in the Federal 

Register on August 20, 2020.3 On 

October 1, 2020, pursuant to Section 

19(b)(2) of the Act,4 the Commission 

designated a longer period within which 

to approve the proposed rule change, 

disapprove the proposed rule change, or 

institute proceedings to determine 

whether to disapprove the proposed 

rule change.5 On October 23, 2020, the 

Exchange submitted Amendment No. 1 

to the proposed rule change, which 

replaced and superseded the proposed 

rule change as originally filed.6 On 

November 18, 2020, the Commission 

instituted proceedings under Section 

19(b)(2)(B) of the Act 7 to determine 

whether to approve or disapprove the 

proposed rule change, as modified by 

Amendment No. 1.8 On February 2, 

2021, the Exchange submitted 

Amendment No. 2 to the proposed rule 

change, which replaced and superseded 

the proposed rule change, as modified 

by Amendment No. 1.9

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act 10 provides 

that, after initiating proceedings, the 

Commission shall issue an order 

approving or disapproving the proposed 

rule change not later than 180 days after 

the date of publication of notice of filing 

of the proposed rule change. The 

Commission may extend the period for 

issuing an order approving or 

disapproving the proposed rule change, 

however, by not more than 60 days if 

the Commission determines that a 

longer period is appropriate and 

publishes the reasons for such 

determination. The proposed rule 

change was published for comment in 

the Federal Register on August 20, 

2020.11 The 180th day after publication 

of the Notice is February 16, 2021. The 

Commission is extending the time 

period for approving or disapproving 

the proposal for an additional 60 days. 

The Commission finds that it is 

appropriate to designate a longer period 

within which to issue an order 

approving or disapproving the proposed 

rule change so that it has sufficient time 

to consider the proposed rule change, as 

modified by Amendment No. 2. 

Accordingly, the Commission, pursuant 

to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,12

designates April 17, 2021, as the date by 

which the Commission shall either 

approve or disapprove the proposed 

rule change (File Number SR–CBOE– 

2020–075), as modified by Amendment 

No. 2. 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES