Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 164 / Thursday, August 23, 2018 / Notices 42735 

16 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 Nos. 83729 

(July 27, 2018) 83 FR 37870 (August 2, 2018) (SR– 

ISE–2018–65); 83731 (July 27, 2018), 83 FR 37867 

(August 2, 2018) (SR–GEMX–2018–26); and 83730 

(July 27, 2018), 83 FR 37873 (August 2, 2018) (SR– 

MRX–2018–25). Nasdaq Phlx LLC was filed as SR– 

Phlx–2018–54. The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC will 

submit a similar filing to amend The Nasdaq 

Options Market LLC ports. 

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 

Within 45 days of the date of 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register or within such longer period (i) 

as the Commission may designate up to 

90 days of such date if it finds such 

longer period to be appropriate and 

publishes its reasons for so finding or 

(ii) as to which the self-regulatory 

organization consents, the Commission 

will: 

(A) By order approve or disapprove 

such proposed rule change, or 

(B) institute proceedings to determine 

whether the proposed rule change 

should be 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: 

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– 

FINRA–2018–032 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–FINRA–2018–032. 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 

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 such 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of FINRA. 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–FINRA– 

2018–032, and should be submitted on 

or before September 13, 2018. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.16

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18167 Filed 8–22–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–83869; File No. SR–BX– 

2018–038] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq 

BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change To Codify the Definitions 

of the Protocols To Enter Quotes and 

Orders 

August 17, 2018. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

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

notice is hereby given that on August 

14, 2018, Nasdaq BX, Inc. (‘‘BX’’ or 

‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I, II, and 

III, below, which Items have been 

prepared by the Exchange. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange proposes to adopt new 

text at Chapter VI, Section 21 to codify 

the definitions of the protocols that 

Participants can use to enter quotes and 

orders on the Exchange. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available on the Exchange’s website at 

http://nasdaqbx.cchwallstreet.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 

Exchange 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 

statements may be examined at the 

places specified in Item IV below. The 

Exchange 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 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange proposes to adopt new 

rule text at Chapter VI, Section 21 to 

codify the Financial Information 

eXchange (‘‘FIX’’) and Specialized 

Quote Feed (‘‘SQF’’) protocols. The 

Exchange believes that codifying 

definitions of these protocols in its rules 

will increase transparency around its 

operations. The protocols used by 

Participants to submit quotes and orders 

play an important role in the operation 

of the System. The Exchange therefore 

believes that codifying definitions of 

these protocols in its rules will increase 

transparency around its operations. 

Furthermore, the proposed definitions 

will be harmonized where appropriate 

with definitions to be included in the 

rules of the Exchange’s affiliated options 

markets,3 including by using consistent 

terms to define the buckets of 

information transmitted, or the features 

available, on each protocol. 

The Exchange proposes to title 

Section 21 as ‘‘Order and Quote 

Protocols’’ and codify descriptions of 

the various protocols that Participants 

may use to enter quotes and orders on 

BX. The Exchange proposes to add a 


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42736 Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 164 / Thursday, August 23, 2018 / Notices 

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 80055 

(February 16, 2018), 82 FR 11381 (February 22, 

2017) (SR–BX–2017–009). The FIX port was 

previously referred to as the ‘‘Order Entry Port’’ and 

described as a connection to routing orders to the 

Exchange via an external order entry port. 

Participants access the Exchange’s network through 

order entry ports. A BX Options Market Participant 

may have more than one order entry port. The 

Exchange recently renamed the ‘‘Order Entry Port’’ 

as the ‘‘FIX Port’’ in the Exchange’s Pricing 

Schedule. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

83192 (May 9, 2018), 83 FR 22563 (May 15, 2018) 

(SR–BX–2018–017). 

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76952 

(January 21, 2016), 81 FR 4721 (January 27, 2016) 

(SR–BX–2016–003). This rule change generally 

described SQF as The SQF Port is a port that allows 

a Participant acting as a BX Options Market Maker 

to enter his markets into the BX Options markets. 

The SQF Port also allows a Market Maker to access 

information such as execution reports and other 

relevant data through a single feed. Market Makers 

rely on data available through the SQF Port to 

provide them the necessary information to perform 

market making activities in a swift and meaningful 

way. 

6All of the notification messages available on 

SQF ports as described above (i.e., options symbol 

directory messages, system event messages, trading 

action messages, etc.) are configurable in that BX 

Market Makers can select the specific types of 

notifications they wish to receive on their SQF 

ports. As such, SQF Purge Interface ports are a 

subpart of SQF ports that have been configured to 

only receive and notify of purge requests. 

7 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

9 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii). 

10 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6) requires a self-regulatory organization to give 

the Commission written notice of its intent to file 

the proposed rule change at least five business days 

prior to the date of filing of the proposed rule 

change, or such shorter time as designated by the 

Commission. The Exchange has satisfied this 

requirement. 

new section (a) to Chapter VI, Section 

21 entitled ‘‘Entry and Display of Orders 

and Quotes.’’ The Exchange proposes to 

state in proposed new Chapter VI, 

Section 21(a) ‘‘Participants may enter 

orders and quotes into the System as 

specified below.’’ The Exchange 

proposes to add a section Chapter VI, 

Section 21(a)(i) which provides, ‘‘The 

Exchange offers Participants the 

following protocols for entering orders 

and quotes respectively.’’ 

A. Financial Information eXchange 

Ports 

This protocol is not memorialized 

within the Exchange’s Rulebook, 

however rule changes describing FIX 

have been filed.4 The Exchange 

proposes to codify a description of this 

protocol to add even greater specificity 

within the Rulebook. The Exchange 

proposes to state that FIX is an interface 

that allows Participants and their 

Sponsored Customers to connect, send 

and receive messages related to orders 

and auction orders and responses to and 

from the Exchange. Features include the 

following: (1) Execution messages; (2) 

order messages; and (3) risk protection 

triggers and cancel notifications. 

B. Specialized Quote Feed Ports 

This protocol is not memorialized 

within the Exchange’s Rulebook, 

however rule changes describing SQF 

have been filed.5 At this time, the 

Exchange proposes to more specifically 

define the SQF Port. The Exchange 

proposes the following definition: 

SQF is an interface that allows Market 

Makers to connect, send, and receive 

messages related to quotes, Immediate-orCancel Orders, and auction responses into 

and from the Exchange. Features include the 

following: (1) Options symbol directory 

messages (e.g underlying instruments); (2) 

system event messages (e.g., start of trading 

hours messages and start of opening); (3) 

trading action messages (e.g., halts and 

resumes); (4) execution messages; (5) quote 

messages; (6) Immediate-or-Cancel Order 

messages; (7) risk protection triggers and 

purge notifications; (8) opening imbalance 

messages; (9) auction notifications; and (10) 

auction responses. The SQF Purge Interface 

only receives and notifies of purge request 

from the Market Maker.6

The Exchange believes that this 

information provides a more thorough 

description of the SQF protocol. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that its 

proposal is consistent with Section 6(b) 

of the Act,7 in general, and furthers the 

objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,8

in particular, in that it is designed to 

promote just and equitable principles of 

trade and to protect investors and the 

public interest by adding greater 

transparency to the order and quote 

protocols available on BX. 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the protection of investors and the 

public interest as it codifies the 

protocols used to connect to the 

Exchange’s System. While no functional 

changes to the protocols are proposed in 

this filing, the Exchange believes that 

including a description of the various 

order entry protocols in its rulebook 

will benefit Participants by increasing 

transparency around the operation of 

the Exchange. Furthermore, the 

proposed descriptions of the order entry 

protocols in one rule will more clearly 

and accurately reflect the information 

included on the protocols, and will be 

harmonized with language to be 

included in the rules of its affiliated 

exchanges to the extent that the 

protocols operate in the same manner. 

The protocols described in this filing 

provide a range of important features to 

Participants, including the ability to 

submit quotes and orders, and perform 

other functions necessary to manage 

trading on the Exchange. The Exchange 

believes codifying the quote and order 

entry protocols will increase 

transparency to the Participants that use 

these protocols to connect to the 

Exchange. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposed rule change will impose 

any burden on competition not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purposes of the Act. As explained 

above, the Exchange is codifying the 

quote and order entry protocols that 

Participants use to connect to the 

Exchange’s System. 

The Exchange does not believe that 

codifying the order entry protocols in 

the rulebook will have any competitive 

impact. Locating all the descriptions 

within a single rule and adding context 

around each order entry protocol will 

increase transparency around the 

operation of the Exchange without 

having any impact on inter-market or 

intra-market competition. All market 

participants have the ability to subscribe 

to the protocols for order entry. The 

quoting protocols are limited to the 

market participants who are permitted 

by rule to quote on BX, but the function 

is uniformly available to these eligible 

participants. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

No written comments were either 

solicited or received. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

Because the foregoing 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)(iii) of the Act 9 and 

subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b–4 

thereunder.10

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: (i) Necessary or appropriate in 

the public interest; (ii) for the protection 

of investors; or (iii) otherwise in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 


daltland on DSKBBV9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 164 / Thursday, August 23, 2018 / Notices 42737 

11 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

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

4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2). 

5The Exchange initially filed the proposed fee 

change on August 1, 2018 (SR–CboeEDGX–2018– 

028) for August 1, 2018 effectiveness. On business 

date August 9, 2018, the Exchange withdrew that 

filing and submitted this filing. 

If the Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

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: 

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–2018–038 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–2018–038. 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 the 

filing also will 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–2018–038 and should 

be submitted on or before September 13, 

2018. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.11

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2018–18157 Filed 8–22–18; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–83881; File No. SR– 

CboeEDGX–2018–034] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe 

EDGX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing 

and Immediate Effectiveness of a 

Proposed Rule Change To Amend the 

Options Regulatory Fee 

August 17, 2018. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

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

notice is hereby given that on August 9, 

2018, Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘EDGX’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I, II and III 

below, which Items have been prepared 

by the Exchange. The Exchange has 

designated the proposed rule change as 

one establishing or changing a member 

due, fee, or other charge imposed by the 

Exchange under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) 

of the Act 3 and Rule 19b–4(f)(2) 

thereunder,4 which renders the 

proposed rule change effective upon 

filing with the Commission. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange filed a proposal to 

amend its fee schedule related to the 

Options Regulatory Fee. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available at the Exchange’s website at 

www.markets.cboe.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 

Exchange 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 

statements may be examined at the 

places specified in Item IV below. The 

Exchange has prepared summaries, set 

forth in Sections A, B, and C below, of 

the most significant parts 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 Exchange proposes to modify the 

fee schedule applicable to the 

Exchange’s options platform (‘‘EDGX 

Options’’) to amend the rate of its 

Options Regulatory Fee (‘‘ORF’’).5

Currently, the Exchange charges an ORF 

in the amount of $0.0004 per contract 

side. The Exchange proposes to decrease 

the amount of ORF from $0.0004 per 

contract side to $0.0001 per contract 

side. The proposed change to ORF 

should continue to balance the 

Exchange’s regulatory expenses against 

the anticipated revenue. 

The ORF is assessed by the Exchange 

on each Member for options 

transactions cleared by the Member that 

are cleared by the Options Clearing 

Corporation (OCC) in the customer 

range, regardless of the exchange on 

which the transaction occurs. In other 

words, the Exchange imposes the ORF 

on all customer-range transactions 

cleared by a Member, even if the 

transactions do not take place on the 

Exchange. The ORF is collected by OCC 

on behalf of the Exchange from the 

Clearing Member or non-Clearing 

Member that ultimately clears the 

transaction. With respect to linkage 

transactions, the Exchange reimburses 

its routing broker providing Routing 

Services for options regulatory fees it 

incurs in connection with the Routing 

Services it provides. 

Revenue generated from ORF, when 

combined with all of the Exchange’s 

other regulatory fees and fines, is 

designed to recover a material portion of 

the regulatory costs to the Exchange of 

the supervision and regulation of 

Member customer options business. 

Regulatory costs include direct 

regulatory expenses and certain indirect 

expenses for work allocated in support 

of the regulatory function. The direct 

expenses include in-house and third 

party service provider costs to support 


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