Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 139 / Thursday, July 19, 2018 / Notices 34277 

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

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

4 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

5 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

6 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

7 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

8See standard FIX tag 18 (ExecInst) in the 

Investors Exchange FIX Specification, available on 

the Exchange’s public website. 

9See Rule 1.160(nn). 

10See Rule 11.230(c). The term ‘‘System routing 

table’’ refers to the proprietary process for 

determining the specific trading venues, including 

the Order Book, to which the System routes orders 

and the order in which it routes them. The 

Exchange reserves the right to maintain a different 

System routing table for different routing options 

and to modify the System routing table at any time 

without notice. 

the analyst’s personal views and 

whether or not the research analyst 

received or will receive any 

compensation in connection with the 

views or recommendations expressed in 

the research report. Regulation AC also 

requires broker-dealers to, on a quarterly 

basis, make, keep, and maintain records 

of research analyst statements regarding 

whether the views expressed in public 

appearances accurately reflected the 

analyst’s personal views, and whether 

any part of the analyst’s compensation 

is related to the specific 

recommendations or views expressed in 

the public appearance. Regulation AC 

also requires that research prepared by 

foreign persons be presented to U.S. 

persons pursuant to Securities Exchange 

Act Rule 15a–6 and that broker-dealers 

notify associated persons if they would 

be covered by the regulation. Regulation 

AC excludes the news media from its 

coverage. 

The collections of information under 

Regulation AC are necessary to provide 

investors with information with which 

to determine the value of the research 

available to them. It is important for an 

investor to know whether an analyst 

may be biased with respect to securities 

or issuers that are the subject of a 

research report. Further, in evaluating a 

research report, it is reasonable for an 

investor to want to know about an 

analyst’s compensation. Without the 

information collection, the purposes of 

Regulation AC could not be met. This 

regulation does not involve the 

collection of confidential information. 

The Commission estimates that 

Regulation AC imposes an aggregate 

annual time burden of approximately 

25,844 hours on 5,186 respondents, or 

approximately 5 hours per respondent. 

The Commission estimates that the total 

annual internal cost of compliance for 

the 25,844 hours is approximately 

$12,452,349, or approximately $2,401 

per respondent, annually. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

under the PRA unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

The public may view background 

documentation for this information 

collection at the following website: 

www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be 

directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, Room 10102, New Executive 

Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, 

or by sending an email to: Shagufta_

Ahmed@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Pamela 

Dyson, Director/Chief Information 

Officer, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, c/o Candace Kenner, 100 F 

Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or by 

sending an email to: PRA_Mailbox@

sec.gov. Comments must be submitted to 

OMB within 30 days of this notice. 

Dated: July 13, 2018. 

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15380 Filed 7–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–83634; File No. SR–IEX– 

2018–15] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

Investors Exchange LLC; Notice of 

Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of 

Proposed Rule Change To Discontinue 

the Router Basic Routing Option 

July 13, 2018. 

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 July 10, 

2018, the Investors Exchange LLC 

(‘‘IEX’’ 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 

Pursuant to the provisions of Section 

19(b)(1) under the Securities Exchange 

Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’),4 and Rule 19b–4 

thereunder,5 Investors Exchange LLC 

(‘‘IEX’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) is filing with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) a proposed rule change 

to amend Rule 11.230(c) (Routing 

Options) to discontinue the Router Basic 

routing option and delete references 

thereto. The Exchange has designated 

this rule change as ‘‘non-controversial’’ 

under Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 6

and provided the Commission with the 

notice required by Rule 19b–4(f)(6) 

thereunder.7

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available at the Exchange’s website at 

www.iextrading.com, at the principal 

office of the Exchange, and at the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, the 

self-regulatory organization included 

statements concerning the purpose of 

and basis for the proposed rule change 

and discussed any comments it received 

on the proposed rule change. The text 

of these statement may be examined at 

the places specified in Item IV below. 

The self-regulatory organization has 

prepared summaries, set forth in 

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

significant aspects of such statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and the 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The purpose of this proposed rule 

change is to amend Rule 11.230(c) 

(Routing Options) to delete references to 

the Router Basic routing option. The 

Exchange currently offers two routing 

options—Router and Router Basic— 

which may be elected by a User upon 

entry of an order eligible for routing to 

the Exchange.8 The Exchange proposes 

to discontinue the Router Basic option. 

Rule 11.230(c)(1) describes the 

Exchange’s Router Basic routing option 

under which the System 9 sends 

routable orders to market centers on the 

Exchange’s proprietary System routing 

table.10 If shares remain unexecuted 

after routing, they are posted on the 

Order Book or canceled, as per User 

instructions. Once posted to the Order 

Book, the unexecuted portion of such an 

order is eligible for the re-sweep 

behavior described in Rule 11.230(c)(3), 

market conditions permitting. 

Furthermore, Rule 11.230(c)(2) 

describes the Exchange’s Router routing 

option under which the System sends 

routable orders to the Order Book to 

check for available shares and then any 

remainder is sent to market centers on 

the Exchange’s proprietary System 

routing table. If shares remain 

unexecuted after routing, they are 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
34278 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 139 / Thursday, July 19, 2018 / Notices 

11For example, during the first quarter of 2018, 

over two thirds of routable orders entered on the 

Exchange were entered under the Router option, 

instead of Router Basic. 

12 15 U.S.C. 78f. 

13 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

14 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

15 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

16 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B). 

posted on the Order Book or canceled, 

as per User instructions. Once posted to 

the Order Book, the unexecuted portion 

of such an order is eligible for the resweep behavior described in Rule 

11.230(c)(3), market conditions 

permitting. 

The Exchange evaluates its product 

and service offerings on an ongoing 

basis to identify opportunities for 

enhancement and simplification. After 

several internal analyses, the Exchange 

has identified that relatively fewer Users 

elect Router Basic in comparison to the 

Exchange’s Router option.11

Accordingly, the Exchange has 

determined to simplify the routing 

options offered by the Exchange by 

discontinuing the Router Basic option, 

considering the current demand for 

Router Basic does not warrant the 

infrastructure and ongoing maintenance 

expenses required to support the 

product. Users seeking to route orders to 

market centers on the System routing 

table via the Exchange will continue to 

be able to do so using the Router option. 

Furthermore, use of the Exchange’s 

router will continue to be optional and 

Users may access liquidity on away 

market centers using alternative 

methods, such as connecting to those 

exchanges directly or through a thirdparty service provider. 

In conjunction with the proposed 

discontinuation of Router Basic, the 

Exchange proposes to reserve paragraph 

(1) of Rule 11.230(c). The Exchange 

intends to implement the proposed rule 

change on the operative date of this 

filing. 

2. Statutory Basis 

IEX believes that the proposed rule 

change is consistent with Section 6(b) of 

the Act in general,12 and further the 

objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,13

in particular, in that it is designed 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, 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. 

As discussed in the Purpose section, 

the proposed rule change is designed to 

simplify the Exchange’s routing options, 

which the Exchange believes is 

consistent with the protection of 

investors and the public interest. 

Furthermore, the Exchange believes the 

proposed changes are consistent with 

the protection of investors and the 

public interest in that, as described 

above, the Exchange has relatively few 

Users electing Router Basic. 

Accordingly, the Exchange has 

determined to simplify the routing 

options offered by the Exchange by 

discontinuing the Router Basic option, 

considering the current demand for 

Router Basic does not warrant the 

infrastructure and ongoing maintenance 

expenses required to support the 

product. Routing through the Exchange 

is voluntary, and an alternative routing 

option offered by the Exchange as well 

as other methods remain available to 

Users that wish to route to market 

centers on the System routing table. In 

addition, the Router Basic routing 

option is not a core product offering of 

the Exchange, nor is the Exchange 

required by the Act to offer such 

product. Therefore, the Exchange 

believes the proposed rule change 

would simplify the Exchange’s routing 

options, and make its rules clearer and 

less confusing for investors by removing 

a routing option that will no longer be 

offered by the Exchange, thereby 

removing impediments to and 

perfecting the mechanism of a free and 

open market and a national market 

system, and, in general, protecting 

investors and the public interest. Lastly, 

the Exchange does not believe that this 

proposal will permit unfair 

discrimination among customers, 

brokers, or dealers because the Router 

Basic routing option will no longer be 

available to any Users of the Exchange. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposal will impose any burden on 

competition not necessary or 

appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act. The proposed rule 

change is not designed to address any 

competitive issues but rather simplify 

the Exchange’s routing options, and 

eliminate the infrastructure and ongoing 

maintenance expenses to support a 

product that Members use relatively 

less. 

Furthermore, the Exchange believes 

the proposed rule change does not 

impose any burden on intra-market 

competition not necessary or 

appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act because, as 

described above, the Router Basic 

routing option will no longer be 

available to any Users of the Exchange, 

and thus all Users will be impacted in 

the same manner. Further, Users seeking 

to route orders to market centers on the 

System routing table will continue to be 

able to do so using the Router option or 

may access liquidity on away market 

centers using alternative methods, such 

as connecting to those exchanges 

directly or through a third-party service 

provider. 

The Exchange also does not believe 

that the proposed rule change would 

impose a burden on inter-market 

competition since other exchanges are 

free to adopt comparable routing 

options. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

Written comments were neither 

solicited nor received. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The Exchange has designated this rule 

filing as non-controversial under 

Section 19(b)(3)(A) 14 of the Act and 

Rule 19b–4(f)(6) 15 thereunder. Because 

the proposed rule change does not: (i) 

Significantly affect the protection of 

investors or the public interest; (ii) 

impose any significant burden on 

competition; and (iii) become operative 

for 30 days from the date on which it 

was filed, or such shorter time as the 

Commission may designate, it has 

become effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6) thereunder. 

At any time within 60 days of the 

filing of the proposed rule change, the 

Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend such rule change if 

it appears to the Commission that such 

action is necessary or appropriate in the 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

under Section 19(b)(2)(B) 16 of the Act to 

determine whether the proposed rule 

change should be approved or 

disapproved. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 139 / Thursday, July 19, 2018 / Notices 34279 

17 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 98 

(February 12, 1935). 

2See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 7011 

(February 5, 1963), 28 FR 1506 (February 16, 1963). 

3Rule 12d2–2 prescribes the circumstances under 

which a security may be delisted from an exchange 

and withdrawn from registration under Section 

12(b) of the Act, and provides the procedures for 

taking such action. 

4The Exchanges are BOX Options 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., 

Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc., Investors Exchange 

LLC, Miami International Securities Exchange, 

MIAX PEARL, LLC, Nasdaq BX, Inc., Nasdaq 

GEMX, LLC, Nasdaq ISE, LLC, Nasdaq MRX, LLC, 

Nasdaq PHLX LLC, The Nasdaq Stock Market, New 

York Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc., NYSE 

American LLC, NYSE National, Inc. 

5 In fact, some exchanges do not file any trading 

suspension reports in a given year. 

6The 964 figure was calculated by averaging the 

numbers for compliance in 2016 and 2017, which 

are 1,002 and 925, respectively. 

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– 

IEX–2018–15 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–IEX–2018–15. 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 

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–IEX–2018–15 and should 

be submitted on or before August 9, 

2018. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.17

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–15369 Filed 7–18–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 

100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 

20549–2736 

Extension: 

Rule 12d2–1, SEC File No. 270–098, OMB 

Control No. 3235–0081 

Notice is hereby given that pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(‘‘PRA’’) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget 

(‘‘OMB’’) a request for approval of 

extension of the previously approved 

collection of information provided for in 

Rule 12d2–1 (17 CFR 240.12d2–1), 

under the Securities Exchange Act of 

1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (‘‘Act’’). 

On February 12, 1935, the 

Commission adopted Rule 12d2–1 1

(‘‘Suspension of Trading’’) which sets 

forth the conditions and procedures 

under which a security may be 

suspended from trading under Section 

12(d) of the Act.2 Rule 12d2–1 provides 

the procedures by which a national 

securities exchange may suspend from 

trading a security that is listed and 

registered on the exchange. Under Rule 

12d2–1, an exchange is permitted to 

suspend from trading a listed security in 

accordance with its rules, and must 

promptly notify the Commission of any 

such suspension, along with the 

effective date and the reasons for the 

suspension. 

Any such suspension may be 

continued until such time as the 

Commission may determine that the 

suspension is designed to evade the 

provisions of Section 12(d) of the Act 

and Rule 12d2–2 thereunder.3 During 

the continuance of such suspension 

under Rule 12d2–1, the exchange is 

required to notify the Commission 

promptly of any change in the reasons 

for the suspension. Upon the restoration 

to trading of any security suspended 

under Rule 12d2–1, the exchange must 

notify the Commission promptly of the 

effective date of such restoration. 

The trading suspension notices serve 

a number of purposes. First, they inform 

the Commission that an exchange has 

suspended from trading a listed security 

or reintroduced trading in a previously 

suspended security. They also provide 

the Commission with information 

necessary for it to determine that the 

suspension has been accomplished in 

accordance with the rules of the 

exchange, and to verify that the 

exchange has not evaded the 

requirements of Section 12(d) of the Act 

and Rule 12d2–2 thereunder by 

improperly employing a trading 

suspension. Without Rule 12d2–1, the 

Commission would be unable to fully 

implement these statutory 

responsibilities. 

There are 21 national securities 

exchanges 4 that are subject to Rule 

12d2–1. The burden of complying with 

Rule 12d2–1 is not evenly distributed 

among the exchanges, however, since 

there are many more securities listed on 

the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., the 

NASDAQ Stock Exchange, and the 

NYSE American LLC than on the other 

exchanges.5 There are approximately 

964 responses 6 under Rule 12d2–1 for 

the purpose of suspension of trading 

from the national securities exchanges 

each year, and the resultant aggregate 

annual reporting hour burden would be, 

assuming on average one-half reporting 

hour per response, 482 annual burden 

hours for all exchanges. The related 

internal compliance costs associated 

with these burden hours are $103,871 

per year. 

The collection of information 

obligations imposed by Rule 12d2–1 is 

mandatory. The response will be 

available to the public and will not be 

kept confidential. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

under the PRA unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

The public may view background 

documentation for this information 

collection at the following website: 

www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be 

directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES