13792 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 37 / Friday, February 23, 2024 / Notices 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3The term ‘‘Member’’ means an individual or 

organization approved to exercise the trading rights 

associated with a Trading Permit. Members are 

deemed ‘‘members’’ under the Exchange Act. See 

Exchange Rule 100. 

4See Exchange Rule 100. 

5 Id. 

6The Exchange also proposes to renumber 

existing footnotes ‘‘*’’ as ‘‘c.’’ and ‘‘**’’ as ‘‘d.’’ to 

account for the new footnotes proposed herein. The 

Exchange does not proposes to amend the substance 

of these existing footnotes. 

7See, e.g., Cboe Options Fees Schedule, Livevol 

Fees, Open-Close Data; Nasdaq ISE, LLC (‘‘ISE’’) 

Options 7 Pricing Schedule, Section 10.A; Nasdaq 

PHLX, LLC (‘‘PHLX’’) Options 7 Pricing Schedule, 

Section 10, PHLX Options Trade Outline 

(‘‘PHOTO’’); Cboe EDGX Exchange, Inc. (‘‘EDGX’’) 

fee schedule available at http://markets.cboe.com/ 

us/options/membership/fee_schedule/edgx/; and 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–99555; File No. SR– 

EMERALD–2024–06] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX 

Emerald, LLC; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed 

Rule Change To Amend Its Fee 

Schedule Regarding the Open-Close 

Report Data 

February 16, 2024. 

Pursuant to the provisions of 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 February 5, 2024, MIAX Emerald, 

LLC (‘‘MIAX Emerald’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) 

filed with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) a 

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 amend the 

MIAX Emerald Options Exchange Fee 

Schedule (the ‘‘Fee Schedule’’) 

regarding the Open-Close Report to 

allow subscribers who purchase IntraDay Open Close data the ability to 

request End-of-Day Open-Close data for 

no additional charge. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available on the Exchange’s website at 

https://www.miaxglobal.com/markets/ 

us-options/miax-options/rule-filings, at 

the Exchange’s principal office, 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 offers a data product 

known as the Open-Close Report that is 

available for purchase by Exchange 

Members 3 and non-Members. The 

Open-Close Report is described under 

Exchange Rule 531(d)(1). The data 

contained in the Open-Close Report is 

proprietary Exchange trade data and 

does not include trade data from any 

other exchange. It is also a historical 

data product and not a real-time data 

feed. The Exchange now proposes to 

amend fees for the Open-Close Report to 

allow subscribers who purchase IntraDay Open Close data the ability to 

request End-of-Day Open-Close data for 

no additional charge. 

By way of background, the Exchange 

offers two versions of the Open-Close 

Report, an end-of-day summary and 

intra-day report. The End-of-Day version 

is a volume summary of trading activity 

on the Exchange at the option level by 

origin (Priority Customer,4 Non-Priority 

Customer, Firm, Broker-Dealer, and 

Market Maker 5), side of the market (buy 

or sell), contract volume, and 

transaction type (opening or closing). 

The customer and professional customer 

volume is further broken down into 

trade size buckets (less than 100 

contracts, 100–199 contracts, greater 

than 199 contracts). 

The Intra-Day Open-Close Report 

provides similar information to that of 

the End-of-Day version but is produced 

and updated every 10 minutes during 

the trading day. Data is captured in 

‘‘snapshots’’ taken every 10 minutes 

throughout the trading day and is 

available to subscribers within five 

minutes of the conclusion of each 10- 

minute period. Each update represents 

the aggregate data captured from the 

current ‘‘snapshot’’ and all previous 

‘‘snapshots.’’ The Intra-Day Open-Close 

data provides a volume summary of 

trading activity on the Exchange at the 

option level by origin (Priority 

Customer, Non-Priority Customer, Firm, 

Broker-Dealer, and Market Maker), side 

of the market (buy or sell), and 

transaction type (opening or closing). 

All volume is further broken down into 

trade size buckets (less than 100 

contracts, 100–199 contracts, greater 

than 199 contracts). 

The Exchange assesses a monthly fee 

of $600 per month for subscribing to the 

End-of-Day summary Open-Close Report 

and $2,000 per month for subscribing to 

the Intra-Day Open-Close Report. The 

Exchange also assesses a fee of $500 per 

request per month for ad-hoc requests 

for historical End-of-Day Open-Close 

data. An ad-hoc request for historical 

End-of-Day Open-Close data can be for 

any number of months beginning with 

June 2021 for which the data is 

available. The Exchange also assesses a 

fee of $1,000 per request per month for 

ad-hoc requests for historical Intra-Day 

Open-Close data. An ad-hoc request for 

historical Intra-Day Open-Close data can 

be for any number of months beginning 

with March 2019 for which the data is 

available. 

The Exchange now proposes to amend 

fees for the Open-Close Report to allow 

subscribers who purchase Intra-Day 

Open Close data the ability to request 

End-of-Day Open-Close data for no 

additional charge. This proposal is akin 

to a fee break for subscribers because it 

would decrease the cost to purchase a 

broader scope of Open-Close Report 

data from the Exchange by allowing 

Intra-Day subscribers to request End-ofDay data for no additional charge. 

Specifically, the Exchange proposes to 

allow subscribers who purchase an 

Intra-Day monthly subscription to 

request an End-of-Day monthly 

subscription for no additional charge. 

Similarly, the Exchange proposes to also 

allow subscribers who purchase an 

Intra-Day Ad-hoc Request (historical 

data) to submit an End-of-Day Ad-hoc 

Request (historical data) for the same 

date or date range for no additional 

charge upon request. The Exchange 

proposes to codify these proposed 

changes under new footnotes a. and b. 

under Section 6 of its Fee Schedule.6

The Open-Close Report remains a 

completely voluntary product. The 

Exchange is not required by any rule or 

regulation to make this data available 

and potential subscribers may purchase 

it only if they voluntarily choose to do 

so. The Exchange notes that other 

exchanges offer a similar data product.7


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Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 37 / Friday, February 23, 2024 / Notices 13793 

the Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (‘‘BZX’’) fee schedule 

available at http://markets.cboe.com/us/options/ 

membership/fee_schedule/bzx/. 

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

9 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

11 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 

12See supra note 7. 

13See the ‘‘Market Share’’ section of the 

Exchange’s website, available at https://

www.miaxglobal.com/. 

14See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 

(June 9, 2005), 70 FR 37496, 37499 (June 29, 2005) 

(‘‘Regulation NMS Adopting Release’’). 

15See supra note 7. 

16The exchange notes that its Open-Close Report 

data product does not include data on any 

exclusive, singly-listed option series. 

Implementation Date 

The proposed changes are 

immediately effective. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

Section 6(b) of the Act,8 in general, and 

furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) 

of the Act,9 in particular, in that it is 

designed to prevent fraudulent and 

manipulative acts and practices, to 

promote just and equitable principles of 

trade, to remove impediments to and 

perfect the mechanism of a free and 

open market and a national market 

system, and to protect investors and the 

public interest, and that it is not 

designed to permit unfair 

discrimination among customers, 

brokers, or dealers. The Exchange also 

believes that its proposed changes to its 

Fee Schedule concerning fees for the 

Open-Close Report is consistent with 

Section 6(b) of the Act 10 in general, and 

furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) 

of the Act 11 in particular, in that it is 

an equitable allocation of dues, fees and 

other charges among its members and 

other recipients of Exchange data. 

In adopting Regulation NMS, the 

Commission granted self-regulatory 

organizations (‘‘SROs’’) and brokerdealers increased authority and 

flexibility to offer new and unique 

market data to the public. It was 

believed that this authority would 

expand the amount of data available to 

consumers, and also spur innovation 

and competition for the provision of 

market data. Particularly, the OpenClose Report further broadens the 

availability of U.S. option market data to 

investors consistent with the principles 

of Regulation NMS. The data product 

also promotes increased transparency 

through the dissemination of the OpenClose Report. Particularly, information 

regarding opening and closing activity 

across different option series during the 

trading day may indicate investor 

sentiment, which may allow market 

participants to make better informed 

trading decisions throughout the day. 

Subscribers to the data may also be able 

to enhance their ability to analyze 

option trade and volume data and create 

and test trading models and analytical 

strategies. The Exchange believes the 

Open-Close Report provides a valuable 

tool that subscribers can use to gain 

comprehensive insight into the trading 

activity in a particular series, but also 

emphasizes such data is not necessary 

for trading and completely optional. 

Moreover, other exchanges offer a 

similar data product.12

The Exchange operates in a highly 

competitive environment. Indeed, there 

are currently 16 registered options 

exchanges that trade options. As of 

January 30, 2024, based on publicly 

available information, no single options 

exchange has more than approximately 

14–15% of the equity options market 

share and currently the Exchange 

represents only approximately 3.59% of 

the equity options market share for the 

month of January 2024.13 The 

Commission has repeatedly expressed 

its preference for competition over 

regulatory intervention in determining 

prices, products, and services in the 

securities markets. Particularly, in 

Regulation NMS, the Commission 

highlighted the importance of market 

forces in determining prices and SRO 

revenues and, also, recognized that 

current regulation of the market system 

‘‘has been remarkably successful in 

promoting market competition in its 

broader forms that are most important to 

investors and listed companies.’’ 14

Making similar data products available 

to market participants fosters 

competition in the marketplace, and 

constrains the ability of exchanges to 

charge supra-competitive fees. In the 

event that a market participant views 

one exchange’s data product as more or 

less attractive than the competition they 

can and do switch between similar 

products. 

The Exchange believes its proposal 

proposes to amend fees for the OpenClose Report to allow subscribers who 

purchase Intra-Day Open Close data the 

ability to request End-of-Day OpenClose data for no additional charge 

promotes just and equitable principles 

of trade because it enables subscribers to 

request additional Open-Close data for 

no additional charge. The End-of-Day 

version is a volume summary of trading 

activity on the Exchange, and 

essentially contains the same data as is 

provided in the final Intra-Day version 

at the end of the trading day and it is, 

therefore, reasonable and equitable to 

provide that data to Intra-Day 

subscribers for no additional charge. 

The Exchange believes the proposal is 

reasonable as the Exchange is simply 

making additional Open-Close data 

available for no additional charge, and 

fees for the Open-Close Report continue 

to be both modest and similar to, or 

even lower than, the fees assessed by 

other exchanges that provide similar 

data products.15 The Exchange is not 

aware that any other U.S. options 

exchange offers portions of their OpenClose Report data for no additional 

charge, including as proposed herein. 

Nonetheless, should it propose to assess 

fees in a different manner or at a 

significantly higher rate than 

established fees for similar data 

products of other exchanges would 

simply serve to reduce demand for the 

Exchange’s data product, which as 

noted, is entirely optional. Like the 

Exchange’s Open-Close Report, other 

exchanges offer similar data products 

that each provide insight into trading on 

those markets and may likewise aid in 

assessing investor sentiment. Although 

each of these similar Open-Close data 

products provide only proprietary trade 

data and not trade data from other 

exchanges, it is possible investors are 

still able to gauge overall investor 

sentiment across different option series 

based on open and closing interest on 

any one exchange.16 Similarly, market 

participants may be able to analyze 

option trade and volume data, and 

create and test trading models and 

analytical strategies using only OpenClose data relating to trading activity on 

one or more of the other markets that 

provide similar data products. As such, 

if a market participant views another 

exchange’s Open-Close data as more 

attractive than its proposed Open-Close 

Report, then such market participant 

can merely choose not to purchase the 

Exchange’s Open-Close Report and 

instead purchase another exchange’s 

Open-Close data product, which offer 

similar data points, albeit based on that 

other market’s trading activity. 

Lastly, the Exchange believes the 

proposal is not unfairly discriminatory 

as it would apply equally to all users 

who choose to purchase or receive such 

data. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposed rule change will result in 

any burden on competition that is not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purposes of the Act. Rather, the 

Exchange believes that the proposal will 

promote competition by permitting the 


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13794 Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 37 / Friday, February 23, 2024 / Notices 

17See supra note 7. 

18 Id. 

19 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii). 

20 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2). 21 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

Exchange to enhance the value of a data 

product that is similar to those offered 

by other competitor options 

exchanges.17 The Exchange proposes to 

allow subscribers who purchase IntraDay Open Close data the ability to 

request End-of-Day Open-Close data for 

no additional charge to keep pace with 

evolving customer needs, and believes 

that providing such data to market 

participants that make requests for it 

will continue to contribute to robust 

competition among national securities 

exchanges. Multiple other U.S. options 

exchanges offer end-of-day and intraday Open-Close report data with fees 

that are substantially similar to the 

Exchange’s fees. As a result, the 

Exchange believes this proposed rule 

change permits fair competition among 

national securities exchanges. 

Furthermore, the Exchange operates 

in a highly competitive environment, 

and its ability to price Open-Close 

Report data is constrained by 

competition among exchanges that offer 

Open-Close report data to their 

customers. The Exchange notes that 

there are currently a number of similar 

products available to market 

participants and investors. Multiple 

other U.S. options exchanges offer 

Open-Close report data, which the 

Exchange must consider in its pricing 

discipline in order to compete for the 

market data.18 The Exchange notes that 

this proposal is akin to a fee break for 

subscribers because it would decrease 

the cost to purchase a broader scope of 

Open-Close Report data from the 

Exchange by allowing Intra-Day 

subscribers to request End-of-Day data 

for no additional charge. Further, the 

Exchange is not aware that any other 

U.S. options exchange offers portions of 

their Open-Close Report data for no 

additional charge, including as 

proposed herein. Nonetheless, should 

the Exchange propose fees that are 

excessively higher than established fees 

for Open-Close Report data would 

simply serve to reduce demand for the 

Exchange’s data product, which as 

discussed, market participants are under 

no obligation to utilize. In this 

competitive environment, potential 

purchasers are free to choose which, if 

any, similar product to purchase to 

satisfy their need for market 

information. As a result, the Exchange 

believes this proposed rule change 

permits fair competition among national 

securities exchanges. 

The Exchange also does not believe 

the proposal would cause any 

unnecessary or inappropriate burden on 

intermarket competition as other 

exchanges are free to introduce their 

own comparable data product and lower 

their prices for Open-Close Report data 

to better compete with the Exchange’s 

offering. The Exchange does not believe 

the proposed rule change would cause 

any unnecessary or inappropriate 

burden on intramarket competition. 

Particularly, the proposal would apply 

uniformly to any market participant. 

The proposal allows any interested 

Member or non-Member to request 

Open-Close Report data based on their 

business needs. 

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 

The foregoing rule change has become 

effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act,19 and Rule 

19b–4(f)(2) 20 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 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 (https://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include file number SR– 

EMERALD–2024–06 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–EMERALD–2024–06. 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 (https://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 

a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also 

will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. Do not include personal 

identifiable information in submissions; 

you should submit only information 

that you wish to make available 

publicly. We may redact in part or 

withhold entirely from publication 

submitted material that is obscene or 

subject to copyright protection. All 

submissions should refer to file number 

SR–EMERALD–2024–06 and should be 

submitted on or before March 15, 2024. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.21

Sherry R. Haywood, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–03645 Filed 2–22–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[Disaster Declaration #20170 and #20171; 

CALIFORNIA Disaster Number CA–20007] 

Presidential Declaration of a Major 

Disaster for the State of California 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This is a Notice of the 

Presidential declaration of a major 

disaster for the State of California 

(FEMA–4758–DR), dated 02/19/2024. 

Incident: Severe Storm and Flooding. 

Incident Period: 01/21/2024 through 

01/23/2024. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1