Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2024 / Notices 91451 

8The Exchange believes that other exchanges will 

adopt position and exercise limits of 25,000 

contracts for IBIT Option ETPs. All Nasdaq 

affiliated markets have filed to adopt a 25,000 

contract position and exercise limit for IBIT 

options. 

9All Nasdaq affiliated markets have filed to adopt 

a 25,000 contract position and exercise limit for 

IBIT options. 

10 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

11 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b– 

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

give the Commission written notice of its intent to 

file the proposed rule change, along with a brief 

description and text of 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. 

12 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii). 

13See supra notes 4 and 5 and accompanying 

text. 

14For purposes only of waiving the 30-day 

operative delay, the Commission has also 

considered the proposed rule’s impact on 

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 

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

15 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12), (59). 

1Cboe Global Markets, Inc. operates Cboe 

Options, C2, BZX, and EDGX. See https://

www.cboe.com/us/options/overview. 

have the same position and exercise 

limits on NOM and ISE.8

Amending ‘‘exceed’’ to ‘‘exceeded’’ in 

Options 3, Section 15(a)(1) is a nonsubstantive change. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The proposed rule change does not 

impose any burden on competition that 

is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 

Amending Options 9, Sections 13 and 

15 to provide that the position and 

exercise limits for IBIT options shall be 

25,000 contracts does not impose an 

undue burden on competition as the 

position and exercise limits will apply 

to all trading for IBIT options on the 

Exchange as well as other exchanges 

that file a similar proposal.9 Amending 

‘‘exceed’’ to ‘‘exceeded’’ in Options 3, 

Section 15(a)(1) is a non-substantive 

change. 

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) of the Act 10 and Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6) thereunder.11

A proposed rule change filed 

pursuant to Rule 19b–4(f)(6) under the 

Act normally does not become operative 

for 30 days after the date of its filing. 

However, Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii) 12 permits 

the Commission to designate a shorter 

time if such action is consistent with the 

protection of investors and the public 

interest. The Exchange has requested 

that the Commission waive the 30-day 

operative delay so that the proposal may 

become operative immediately upon 

filing. The Commission notes that the 

proposal will conform NOM’s IBIT 

options position and exercise limits 

with ISE’s IBIT options position and 

exercise limits and will correct a 

grammatical error and therefore raises 

no novel legal or regulatory issues.13

Thus, the Commission believes that 

waiver of the 30-day operative delay is 

consistent with the protection of 

investors and the public interest. 

Accordingly, the Commission hereby 

waives the 30-day operative delay and 

designates the proposed rule change 

operative upon filing.14

At any time within 60 days of the 

filing of such 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. 

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– 

NASDAQ–2024–062 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–NASDAQ–2024–062. 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–NASDAQ–2024–062 and should be 

submitted on or before December 10, 

2024. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.15

Sherry R. Haywood, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–26872 Filed 11–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–101625; File No. 4–820] 

Options Price Reporting Authority; 

Order Disapproving a Proposed 

Amendment To Modify the OPRA Plan 

Relating to Dissemination of Exchange 

Proprietary Market Data Information 

November 14, 2024. 

I. Introduction 

On November 8, 2023, the Cboe 

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Cboe Options’’), Cboe 

C2 Exchange, Inc. (‘‘C2’’), Cboe BZX 

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘BZX’’), and Cboe EDGX 

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘EDGX’’) (collectively, 

‘‘Cboe’’) 1 filed with the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) 

a proposal (the ‘‘Proposed 

Amendment’’) to amend the plan of the 

Options Price Reporting Authority 


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2The terms under which exchanges participate in 

OPRA are set forth in the Limited Liability 

Company Agreement of Options Price Reporting 

Authority, LLC. See https://cdn.opraplan.com/ 

documents/OPRA_Plan.pdf. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99345 

(Jan. 16, 2024), 89 FR 3963 (Jan. 22, 2024) 

(‘‘Notice’’). 

4Comments received in response to the Notice 

are available on the Commission’s website at 

https://www.sec.gov/comments/4-820/4-820.htm. 

5 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2)(i). 

6See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 99994 

(Apr. 19, 2024), 89 FR 31785 (Apr. 25, 2024) 

(‘‘Order Instituting Proceedings’’). Comments 

received in response to the Order Instituting 

Proceedings are available on the Commission’s 

website at https://www.sec.gov/comments/4-820/4- 

820.htm. 

7See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 100495 

(July 11, 2024), 89 FR 58212 (July 17, 2024). 

8See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 101091 

(Sept. 18, 2024), 89 FR 77951 (Sept. 24, 2024). 

9Those exchanges are: (1) Cboe Options, (2) C2, 

(3) BZX, and (4) EDGX (all under the common 

control of Cboe Global Markets, Inc.); (5) Miami 

International Securities Exchange LLC, (6) MIAX 

Emerald, LLC, (7) MIAX PEARL, LLC, and (8) MIAX 

Sapphire, LLC (all under the common control of 

Miami International Holdings, Inc.); (9) Nasdaq BX, 

Inc., (10) Nasdaq GEMX, LLC, (11) Nasdaq ISE, LLC, 

(12) Nasdaq MRX, LLC, (13) Nasdaq PHLX LLC 

(‘‘Nasdaq Phlx’’), and (14) The Nasdaq Stock Market 

LLC (all under the common control of Nasdaq, Inc.); 

(15) NYSE Arca, Inc. and (16) NYSE American LLC 

(both under the common control of Intercontinental 

Exchange, Inc.); (17) BOX Exchange LLC; and (18) 

MEMX, LLC. 

10See By-Laws of The Options Clearing 

Corporation, Article I, Section 1(C)(27) (defining 

‘‘confirmed trade’’) and Article VI, Section 1. 

11See, e.g., Standard & Poor’s Corp. v. 

Commodity Exchange, Inc., 538 F. Supp. 1063 

(S.D.N.Y. 1982), aff’d, Standard & Poor’s Corp. v. 

Commodity Exchange, Inc., 683 F.2d 704 (2d Cir. 

1982). See also Dow Jones & Company, Inc. v. 

International Securities Exchange, Inc., and 

Options Clearing Corporation, 451 F.3d 295 (2d Cir. 

2006). Cboe, which has the largest number of 

proprietary index options, has expanded its 

proprietary product offerings through a licensing 

agreement to develop and list options based on 

FTSE and Russell indices, an agreement that has 

been extended to 2030. See Rick Rosenthal, What 

to Know about the Cboe and FTSE Russell 

Combination (Apr. 29, 2020), available at https://

www.cboe.com/insights/posts/what-to-know-aboutthe-cboe-and-ftse-russell-combination/. 

12See Cboe Options Exchange Symbol Data, 

available at https://www.cboe.com/us/options/ 

market_statistics/symbol_data/?mkt=cone. 

13See 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(1). 

14 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(1)(C)(iii). 

15See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 17638 

(Mar. 18, 1981), 22 SEC. Docket 484 (Mar. 31, 1981). 

New NMS Plans, and amendments to an effective 

NMS Plan, are published by the Commission after 

which the Commission may approve with such 

changes or subject to such conditions as the 

Commission may deem necessary or appropriate, 

disapprove the plan or amendment, or institute 

proceedings to consider whether to disapprove the 

plan or amendment. See 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2). 

16See OPRA Plan, Article II, Section 2.4 

(Purpose) and 15 U.S.C. 78c (a)(22). See also 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 43621 (Nov. 

27, 2000), 65 FR 75564, 75565 (Dec. 1, 2000) (File 

No. 4–434) (‘‘The OPRA Plan governs the process 

by which options market data are collected from 

participant exchanges, consolidated, and 

disseminated. Consolidated data, when it is 

disseminated in a timely manner, enable brokerdealers and investors to know the best price that is 

currently available for a particular product. It 

assists customers in setting the terms of their orders 

and in monitoring how well their brokers execute 

their orders. Consolidated data also assist investors’ 

brokers to obtain, as well as exchange market 

makers and specialists to provide, the best 

execution possible for an order.’’). 

17See 15 U.S.C. 78c (a)(22)(A) (defining 

‘‘securities information processor’’). See also 15 

U.S.C. 78k–1(b) (concerning registration of SIPs). 

See also Securities Exchange Act Release No. 43621 

(Nov. 27, 2000), 65 FR 75564, 75565 (Dec. 1, 2000) 

(File No. 4–434) (‘‘The OPRA committee selected 

the Securities Industry Automation Corporation 

(‘SIAC’) as the facility for gathering the last sale and 

quote information from each of the participant 

exchanges and consolidating and disseminating 

such data to approved vendors. All of the 

transactions executed on, and price quotations for 

options generated by, each options exchange are 

communicated to the public by OPRA through the 

facilities of its exclusive processor, SIAC. The 

messages are sent to OPRA and distributed to 

market data vendors on a consolidated basis for use 

by options market participants, including retail 

investors, broker-dealers, and the exchanges 

themselves.’’). 

18See OPRA Plan, Article II, Section 2.4 

(Purpose). 

(‘‘OPRA’’) for reporting of consolidated 

options last sale reports and quotation 

information (‘‘OPRA Plan’’ or ‘‘Plan’’).2

The Proposed Amendment was 

published for comment in the Federal 

Register on January 22, 2024.3 The 

Commission has received comment 

letters on the Proposed Amendment.4

On April 19, 2024, the Commission 

instituted proceedings under Rule 

608(b)(2)(i) of Regulation NMS,5 to 

determine whether to approve or 

disapprove the Proposed Amendment or 

to approve the Proposed Amendment 

with any changes or subject to any 

conditions the Commission deems 

necessary or appropriate after 

considering public comment.6 On July 

11, 2024, pursuant to Rule 608(b)(2)(i) of 

Regulation NMS, the Commission 

extended the period within which to 

conclude proceedings regarding the 

Proposed Amendment to September 18, 

2024.7 On September 18, 2024, pursuant 

to Rule 608(b)(2)(ii) of Regulation NMS, 

the Commission extended the period 

within which to conclude proceedings 

regarding the Proposed Amendment to 

November 15, 2024.8

This order disapproves the Proposed 

Amendment. 

II. Summary of the Proposed 

Amendment 

A. Background 

There are eighteen registered national 

securities exchanges that list and trade 

standardized listed options 

(‘‘options’’),9 which are issued and 

cleared by The Options Clearing 

Corporation. While the market structure 

for options resembles that of equities in 

certain respects, there are important 

differences. For example, while stocks 

can be traded on any of the sixteen 

national securities exchanges that trade 

them, as well as on off-exchange venues, 

options can be traded only on an 

options exchange,10 and certain index 

options are exclusively listed only on 

one exchange (or affiliated exchanges) 

pursuant to a licensing agreement with 

the index provider (e.g., Cboe’s index 

options on the S&P 500 Index and 

Nasdaq’s index options on the Nasdaq100 Index) or based on an index the 

exchange creates and calculates (e.g., 

Cboe’s VIX volatility index).11 On Cboe 

Options, its highest volume options are 

typically its proprietary index options.12

B. OPRA 

Congress directed the Commission to 

facilitate the establishment of a national 

market system for securities in 

accordance with the findings and 

objectives set forth in Section 11A(a)(1) 

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’).13 Among other things, Congress 

found that it is in the public interest and 

appropriate for the protection of 

investors and the maintenance of fair 

and orderly markets to assure ‘‘the 

availability to brokers, dealers, and 

investors of information with respect to 

quotations for and transactions in 

securities.’’ 14 In furtherance of this 

objective for the options market, the 

Commission directed the exchanges, 

through a national market system plan 

(‘‘NMS Plan’’), to create a centralized 

system for options market data pursuant 

to which the exchanges created, and the 

Commission approved, OPRA.15

The purpose of OPRA is to collect 

from each exchange information on the 

quotes displayed on, and transactions 

that occur on, each exchange, process 

and consolidate that information into a 

single ‘‘consolidated tape,’’ and then 

distribute the information to 

subscribers, including the exchanges 

and market participants, who pay 

subscription fees to OPRA.16 OPRA 

performs these functions through a 

contract with the Securities Information 

Automation Corporation, which acts as 

the securities information processor 

(‘‘SIP’’) for OPRA.17

As parties to OPRA, all options 

exchanges are responsible for ‘‘act[ing] 

jointly with respect to matters to which 

they share authority . . . in planning, 

developing, operating, or regulating’’ 

OPRA.18 To carry out this 

responsibility, each exchange appoints 

one member to the OPRA Management 

Committee, which is responsible for ‘‘all 

policy decisions on behalf of OPRA in 

furtherance of the functions and 


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19See OPRA Plan, Article IV, Section 4.1 (OPRA 

Management Committee). 

20Securities Exchange Act Release No. 43621 

(Nov. 27, 2000), 65 FR 75564 (Dec. 1, 2000) (File 

No. 4–434). See also Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 90610 (Dec. 9, 2020), 86 FR 18596, 

18598 (Apr. 9, 2021) (File No. S7–03–20) (‘‘Market 

Data Infrastructure Final Rule’’) (stating that the 

widespread availability of consolidated market data 

is ‘‘critical to the ability of market participants to 

participate effectively in the U.S. securities 

markets.’’). 

21See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

88827 (May 6, 2020), 85 FR 28702, 28704 (May 13, 

2020) (File No. 4–757) (‘‘CT Plan Order’’) 

(explaining in the equities context that ‘‘the 

proliferation of proprietary exchange data products 

have heightened the conflicts between the 

[exchanges’] business interests in proprietary data 

offerings and their obligations as [self-regulatory 

organizations] under the national market system to 

ensure prompt, accurate, reliable, and fair 

dissemination of core data through the jointly 

administered [equities plans].’’). 

22See, e.g., Market Data Infrastructure Final Rule, 

supra note 20, at 86 FR 18599 (discussing why 

market participants might purchase exchange 

proprietary data from equities exchanges). 

23See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 44580 

(July 20, 2001), 66 FR 39218 (July 27, 2001) (SR– 

OPRA–2001–02) (‘‘2001 Order’’) (discussing the 

OPRA Plan’s exclusivity clause). 

24See id. at 39219. 

25 Id. at 39218 (emphasis added). In addition, in 

2003, the Commission approved an amendment to 

the OPRA Plan proposed by the Plan participants 

to allow an exchange to offer proprietary market 

data to any person, not just to members of the 

exchange. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

48822 (Nov. 21, 2003), 68 FR 66892 (Nov. 28, 2003) 

(SR–OPRA–2003–01). 

26See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

97996 (July 26, 2023), 88 FR 50249 (Aug. 1, 2023) 

(SR–CBOE–2023–034) (notice of filing and 

immediate effectiveness of a proposed rule change 

to amend the market data section of Cboe Option’s 

fee schedule including, among other things, to 

establish fees for the Cboe One Options Feed). 

27See Cboe One Options Feed, available at 

https://www.cboe.com/market_data_services/us/ 

options/cboe_one/. The Cboe One Options Feed 

consolidates such data from Cboe Options, C2, BZX, 

and EDGX into a single data product, which allows 

a subscriber to purchase one product rather than 

four separate proprietary products that the user 

would then need to consolidate itself. See id. 

28See Notice, supra note 3, 89 FR 3965. 

29The OPRA ‘‘Usage-based Vendor Fee’’ is 

$0.0075 per quote packet or $0.03 per options 

chain, subject to a $1.25 maximum per month, 

whereas the ‘‘Nonprofessional Subscriber’’ fee is 

$1.25 for each nonprofessional subscriber per 

Continued 

objectives of OPRA under the [Act] and 

under [the OPRA Plan]’’ including 

determining the products that OPRA 

offers and the level of fees for 

subscribers.19

As the Commission has previously 

stated, the transparency provided by the 

consolidated OPRA data feed is a 

central feature of the U.S. securities 

markets that, ‘‘in turn, contributes to 

efficient price discovery, offsets the 

fragmentation of buying and selling 

interest on multiple exchanges, and 

facilitates the best execution of 

customers’ orders by broker-dealers.’’ 20

In addition to their responsibility to 

govern and administer the 

dissemination of consolidated options 

data through OPRA, today some 

exchanges separately sell their own 

‘‘proprietary market data.’’ 21 Unlike the 

consolidated SIP data that aggregates all 

quotes and transactions across all 

options exchanges, an exchange’s or an 

affiliated exchange group’s proprietary 

market data contains only those quotes 

and transactions that occur on its 

market alone or together with its 

affiliated exchanges. 

Exchange proprietary market data 

might be of interest, for example, to 

registered options market makers or 

non-market maker liquidity providers 

who might want to get exchange data 

directly and consolidate it themselves 

rather than wait for the OPRA SIP to 

consolidate and disseminate the data, 

which might help liquidity providers 

better manage their risk and thereby 

facilitate their ability to provide betterpriced displayed quotes to investors.22

C. Equivalent Access 

Options exchanges have not always 

been able to offer proprietary market 

data products. When the Commission 

approved the OPRA Plan in 1981, the 

Plan as filed by the options exchanges 

(including Cboe Options as one of the 

founding members) made OPRA the 

exclusive means for the dissemination 

of last sale reports and quotation 

information for options and did not 

allow the options exchanges to offer 

their own proprietary market data 

separately.23

In 2001, the Commission approved an 

amendment to the OPRA Plan proposed 

by the Plan participants to allow 

exchanges to offer proprietary market 

data to their members under certain 

conditions, provided that those 

members have ‘‘equivalent access’’ to 

the consolidated options market data 

disseminated by OPRA for the same 

classes or series of options that are 

included in the exchange proprietary 

market data.24 In that approval order the 

Commission cited the language used in 

the proposed amendment to the Plan 

when it stated that ‘‘[a]ccess would be 

deemed to be ‘equivalent’ if the 

information were equally accessible on 

the same terminal or workstation.’’ 25

The provisions in the OPRA Plan that 

govern the ability of an exchange to 

offer its own proprietary market data are 

contained in Section 5.2(c)(ii) and (iii), 

including the ‘‘equivalent access’’ 

provision in Section 5.2(c)(iii)(A) 

(‘‘Equivalent Access Provision’’), which 

states: 

(ii) A Member may disseminate 

information pertaining to quotations and 

transactions in its market (‘‘Proprietary 

Information’’) through a network separate 

from the OPRA System only if such 

dissemination meets the requirements of 

subparagraph (iii) of this paragraph (c). 

(iii) A Member may disseminate its 

Proprietary Information pursuant to 

subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph (c) 

provided that: 

(A) such dissemination is limited to other 

Members and to persons who also have 

equivalent access to consolidated Options 

Information disseminated by OPRA for the 

same classes or series of options that are 

included in the Proprietary Information. For 

purposes of this clause (A), ‘‘consolidated 

Options Information’’ means consolidated 

Last Sale Reports combined with either 

consolidated Quotation Information or the 

BBO furnished by OPRA, and access to 

consolidated Options Information and access 

to Proprietary Information are deemed 

‘‘equivalent’’ if both kinds of information are 

equally accessible on the same terminal or 

work station; and 

(B) a Member may not disseminate its 

Proprietary Information on any more timely 

basis than the same information is furnished 

to the OPRA System for inclusion in OPRA’s 

consolidated dissemination of Options 

Information. 

D. Cboe One Options Feed and the 

Equivalent Access Provision 

The Cboe exchanges offer a 

proprietary market data product called 

the ‘‘Cboe One Options Feed.’’ 26 Cboe 

describes it as offering ‘‘a 

comprehensive view of the U.S. options 

market through a single connection,’’ 

though it contains data on quotes and 

trades that take place only on the four 

Cboe exchanges (Cboe Options, C2, 

BZX, and EDGX).27

Cboe has stated that the Equivalent 

Access Provision can be satisfied if a 

subscriber to an exchange’s proprietary 

market data, such as the Cboe One 

Options Feed, subscribes to a ‘‘usagebased’’ plan from OPRA, which requires 

users to request information on a quote 

or trade and pay based on the amount 

of data consumed, instead of 

subscribing to the full streaming OPRA 

feed.28 Doing so would allow a 

subscriber of the Cboe One Options 

Feed to subscribe to OPRA’s less 

expensive usage-based product instead 

of OPRA’s more expensive 

nonprofessional subscriber product. In 

turn, a person that wants to purchase a 

Cboe One Options Feed subscription 

while minimizing the fees it would pay 

for the OPRA subscription that it also 

would be required to purchase because 

of OPRA’s Equivalent Access Provision, 

would have an incentive to minimize 

use of consolidated OPRA data under a 

usage-based OPRA subscription to 

greatly reduce or eliminate the fees it 

would otherwise pay to OPRA.29


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month for up to 75,000 such subscribers with lower 

tiered fees (down to $0.60) for more subscribers. See 

OPRA Fee Schedule, available at https://

cdn.opraplan.com/documents/OPRA_Fee_

Schedule.pdf. For comparison, Cboe offers the Cboe 

One Options Feed for a $0.25 non-pro user fee for 

the Summary feed. See Cboe One Feed Pricing, 

available at https://www.cboe.com/market_data_

services/us/equities/cboe_one/. 

30Rule 608(a)(1) provides that, ‘‘Any two or more 

self-regulatory organizations, acting jointly, . . . 

may propose an amendment to an effective national 

market system plan . . . by submitting the text of 

the . . . amendment to the Commission by email, 

together with a statement of the purpose of such 

. . . amendment and, to the extent applicable, the 

documents and information required by paragraphs 

(a)(4) and (5) of this section.’’ 17 CFR 242.608(a)(1). 

31Notice, supra note 3, 89 FR 3965. 

32 Id. (emphasis in original). In addition, Cboe 

proposes to amend the Equivalent Access Provision 

by adding a new subparagraph (C) under Section 

5.2(c)(iii) of the OPRA Plan that would address the 

display of ‘‘consolidated Options Information’’ by 

specifying two requirements. See proposed Section 

5.2(c)(iii)(C) of the OPRA Plan. First, Cboe proposes 

to require that dissemination of ‘‘consolidated 

Options Information’’ for the same classes or series 

of options that are included in the ‘‘Proprietary 

Information’’ must be displayed in a context in 

which a trading or order-routing decision can be 

implemented (i.e., the point of order entry or 

modification). Cboe states that its proposal would 

not require the display of consolidated data when 

‘‘market data is being provided on a purely 

informational website that does not offer any 

trading or order-routing capability.’’ Notice, supra 

note 3, 89 FR 3966. Second, Cboe proposes to 

require that ‘‘consolidated Options Information’’ 

must also be provided if a registered representative 

of a broker-dealer provides a quotation to a 

customer that can be used to assess the current 

market or the quality of trade execution. 

Specifically, proposed Section 5.2(c)(iii)(C) of the 

OPRA Plan would state the following requirement: 

‘‘dissemination of consolidated Options 

Information for the same classes or series of options 

that are included in the Proprietary Information 

must be displayed in a context in which a trading 

or order-routing decision can be implemented (i.e., 

the point of order entry or modification). 

Consolidated Options Information must also be 

provided if a registered representative of a brokerdealer provides a quotation to a customer that can 

be used to assess the current market or the quality 

of trade execution.’’ 

33See OPRA Plan, Article X, Section 10.3 

(Amendments). 

34See Notice, supra note 3, 89 FR 3963. 

35See id. at 3965. 

36See Letter from Corinne Klott, Assistant 

General Counsel, Cboe Global Markets, dated Feb. 

23, 2024 (‘‘Cboe Letter’’), at 2. See also 17 CFR 

242.608(a)(1). 

37See Cboe Letter, supra note 36, at 2 (emphasis 

in original). 

38 Id. at 2. 

39 Id. at 1 (emphasis in original). 

40 Id. at 3. 

41 Id. 

42See id. 

43See Letter from James P. Dombach, Davis 

Wright Tremaine LLP, dated Feb. 12, 2024 (‘‘OPRA 

Letter’’), at 1. 

44 Id. at 2. 

45 Id. 

46 Id. 

47 Id. 

E. Cboe’s Proposed OPRA Plan 

Amendment 

Cboe filed the proposed OPRA Plan 

amendment without obtaining the 

unanimous vote of the Plan participants. 

Cboe sought to amend the Equivalent 

Access Provision of the OPRA Plan by 

filing with the Commission the 

Proposed Amendment, stating that it 

was filing it pursuant to Rule 608(a)(1) 

of Regulation NMS.30 The Proposed 

Amendment would change the OPRA 

Plan to, among other things, allow a per 

usage OPRA subscription to satisfy the 

Equivalent Access Provision. 

Specifically, the Proposed Amendment 

would ‘‘clarify that access to 

consolidated Options Information and 

access to Proprietary Information are 

deemed ‘equivalent’ if ‘Proprietary 

Information’ and ‘consolidated Options 

Information’ (as those terms are defined 

in the OPRA Plan), are equally 

accessible on the same terminal or work 

station, regardless of whether the OPRA 

data is disseminated on a streaming or 

per usage-basis.’’ 31 Cboe states that 

‘‘[t]he new language would clarify that 

the Equivalent Access Provision is 

satisfied if a recipient of an exchange 

proprietary data product also is 

simultaneously authorized and entitled 

to receive OPRA data in one of the ways 

that OPRA makes its data available; that 

is, by maintaining a streaming 

subscription to the OPRA feed or having 

the ability to query OPRA data on a 

usage-basis.’’ 32

III. Discussion 

Under the terms of the OPRA Plan, 

the plan ‘‘may be amended from time to 

time when authorized by the affirmative 

vote of all of the [Plan participants], 

subject to the approval of the 

[Commission].’’ 33 Cboe did not obtain 

such authorization for the Proposed 

Amendment.34

Though the Proposed Amendment did 

not receive the affirmative vote of all of 

the members of the OPRA Plan in 

accordance with Section 10.3 of the 

OPRA Plan,35 Cboe nevertheless states 

that the Proposed Amendment was 

appropriately filed with the 

Commission pursuant to Rule 608(a)(1) 

of Regulation NMS, which provides that 

‘‘[a]ny two or more self-regulatory 

organizations, acting jointly, may file a 

national market system plan or may 

propose an amendment to an effective 

national market system plan. . . .’’ 36

Cboe states that more than two selfregulatory organizations (‘‘SROs’’)— 

Cboe Options, C2, BZX, and EDGX— 

jointly filed the Proposed Amendment 

with the Commission.37

Cboe states that under Rule 608(a)(1) 

of Regulation NMS ‘‘there is no 

requirement to separately satisfy the 

voting requirements of the OPRA Plan’’ 

for plan amendments and the OPRA 

Plan ‘‘nowhere directs that its 

amendment avenue is the only path to 

propose an amendment. . . .’’ 38 Under 

Cboe’s view, Section 10.3 of the OPRA 

Plan provides ‘‘one method for seeking 

to amend the OPRA Plan’’ where Rule 

608(a)(1) provides an ‘‘additional 

method[ ]’’ to do so.39 Cboe states that 

Section 10.3 of the OPRA Plan ‘‘does 

not foreclose any other route’’ to amend 

the Plan, ‘‘let alone one authorized by 

Commission regulation.’’ 40 Rather, Cboe 

states that Section 10.3 of the OPRA 

Plan provides an avenue for ‘‘OPRA as 

an entity to offer an amendment, 

unanimously’’ and, in contrast, Rule 

608(a)(1) of Regulation NMS ‘‘offers an 

amendment path where exchanges, 

without unanimous consent of OPRA 

members, wish to bring a proposed 

amendment to the Commission’s and 

public’s attention.’’ 41 Accordingly, 

Cboe states that it has complied with 

both the OPRA Plan and Regulation 

NMS.42

The OPRA Operating Committee 

disagrees with Cboe and states that the 

Commission should disapprove the 

Proposed Amendment ‘‘as improperly 

filed, violating the explicit terms of the 

OPRA Plan.’’ 43 OPRA states that the 

Proposed Amendment ‘‘did not receive 

unanimous approval from all of the 

[Plan participants] as required by the 

OPRA Plan.’’ 44 Stating that ‘‘Rule 608(c) 

provides that, ‘[e]ach self-regulatory 

organization shall comply with the 

terms of any effective national market 

system plan of which it is a sponsor or 

a participant,’ ’’ OPRA states that ‘‘[t]he 

general requirements of Rule 608(a)(1) 

cannot override the more specific 

requirements set forth in the OPRA 

Plan.’’ 45

OPRA further states that ‘‘Cboe is 

attempting to circumvent the 

requirements of the OPRA Plan through 

its incorrect interpretation of Rule 608’’ 

and states that ‘‘[n]ever has an NMS 

Plan amendment been submitted in the 

manner Cboe utilized rather than in 

accordance with the explicit 

requirements of the relevant NMS 

Plan.’’ 46 OPRA states that ‘‘by requiring 

heightened approval requirements, the 

market can be assured that any proposal 

has broad support among entities that 

have competing interests, thereby 

ensuring that only those proposals that 

are viewed as truly beneficial to the 

national market system are 

proposed.’’ 47 OPRA states that Cboe’s 

view would render Section 10.3 of the 

OPRA Plan as ‘‘superfluous’’ and states 

that ‘‘Rule 608(a)(1) must be interpreted 

as a floor to the requirements of 

submitting an NMS plan or amendment, 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 89, No. 223 / Tuesday, November 19, 2024 / Notices 91455 

48 Id. 

49See Letter from Greg Ferrari, Vice President, 

U.S. Options, Nasdaq, dated Feb. 12, 2024 (‘‘Nasdaq 

Letter’’), at 2. 

50 Id. at 2. 

51 Id. 

52See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 17638 

(Mar. 18, 1981), 22 SEC. Docket 484 (Mar. 31, 1981). 

See also OPRA Plan, Article X, Section 10.3 

(Amendments). 

53See, e.g., Joint Self-Regulatory Organization 

Plan Governing the Collection, Consolidation and 

Dissemination of Quotation and Transaction 

Information for Nasdaq-Listed Securities Traded on 

Exchanges on an Unlisted Trading Privilege Basis, 

Article XVI (Modifications to the Plan), available at 

https://www.utpplan.com/utp_plan. 

54See, e.g., Plan for the Purpose of Developing 

and Implementing Procedures to Facilitate the 

Listing and Trading of Standardized Options, 

available at https://www.theocc.com/getmedia/ 

198bfc93-5d51-443c-9e5b-fd575a0a7d0f/options_

listing_procedures_plan.pdf. 

55Rule 608 would, however, apply where an 

NMS Plan is silent on the topic and does not 

provide a specific voting clause to govern 

amendments. 

56See 17 CFR 242.608(a)(4)(ii)(E). 

57Notice, supra note 3, 89 FR 3967. 

58See 17 CFR 242.608(c) (‘‘Each [SRO] shall 

comply with the terms of any effective national 

market system plan of which it is a sponsor or a 

participant.’’). 

59 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(b)(2). 

60 In light of Cboe’s failure to obtain the required 

affirmative vote for the Proposed Amendment, the 

Commission need not make a determination on the 

merits of the proposal. 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

and the [Plan participants] have agreed 

to the heightened requirements set forth 

in the OPRA Plan (which have been 

approved by the Commission).’’ 48

A group of affiliated OPRA Plan 

participants similarly requested that the 

Commission disapprove the Proposed 

Amendment.49 Stating that ‘‘Rule 608(c) 

under Regulation NMS provides that, 

‘Each self-regulatory organization shall 

comply with the terms of any effective 

national market system plan of which it 

is a sponsor or a participant,’ ’’ and that 

‘‘the [Proposed] Amendment did not 

receive the affirmative vote of all of the 

members of the OPRA Plan pursuant to 

Section 10.3 of the OPRA Plan,’’ the 

commenter states that ‘‘Cboe’s 

submission of the [Proposed] 

Amendment violated Rule 608(c).’’ 50

The commenter further states that 

Cboe’s reading of Rule 608(a)(1)—that it 

alone can move to amend the OPRA Plan 

without regard to the views of other OPRA 

members—is nonsensical, contrary to Rule 

608 as a whole, and, if accepted by the 

Commission, would undermine the ability of 

all national market system plans to govern 

themselves. Cboe is contending, in effect, 

that any two SROs disappointed in the 

outcome in any NMS plan deliberations 

should be able to file their proposal with the 

Commission and rehash the same debate in 

a different forum. This will inject uncertainty 

in all NMS plan operations, and 

unnecessarily complicate the plan 

amendment process.51

Cboe cannot use Rule 608(a)(1) to 

bypass the requirements of the OPRA 

Plan. The Plan participants have 

included a clear and specific 

amendment clause in the OPRA Plan 

(Article X, Section 10.3) to govern the 

process of amending the Plan by the 

Plan participants. This amendment 

clause provides the specific 

requirements for amendments of the 

Plan and is more stringent than the 

requirements of Rule 608(a)(1). That is, 

the Plan requires unanimous participant 

approval for plan amendments, and the 

Commission approved the OPRA Plan 

with that unanimous consent 

amendment requirement.52 Such 

provisions are not uncommon, as other 

NMS Plans contain requirements to 

amend that are more restrictive than 

Rule 608 53 though some contain no 

general amendment provision.54 Rule 

608(a)(1) provides the minimum for 

plan amendments, but the Commission 

has approved many NMS Plans that 

include additional criteria that must be 

met for plan amendments to be filed 

with the Commission.55

Rule 608 permits the inclusion in 

NMS Plans of more stringent 

requirements for plan amendments that 

go beyond the ‘‘any two or more SROs 

acting jointly’’ minimum requirement in 

Rule 608. Specifically, the Rule states 

that any NMS Plan or amendment filed 

with the Commission must be 

accompanied by certain statements and 

representations, including ‘‘[i]n the case 

of a proposed amendment, a statement 

that such amendment has been 

approved by the sponsors in accordance 

with the terms of the plan.’’ 56 In Cboe’s 

Proposed Amendment, it stated ‘‘Not 

Applicable’’ in response to that 

requirement,57 though an applicable 

provision does exist and was not 

satisfied. As stated by OPRA, Cboe has 

not complied with the terms of Section 

10.3 of the OPRA Plan in that it failed 

to obtain the affirmative vote of all Plan 

participants to amend the OPRA Plan as 

required by the OPRA Plan.58

When reviewing amendments to an 

NMS Plan pursuant to Rule 608(b), the 

Commission evaluates whether a 

proposed amendment ‘‘is necessary or 

appropriate in the public interest, for 

the protection of investors and the 

maintenance of fair and orderly markets, 

to remove impediments to, and perfect 

the mechanisms of, a national market 

system, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act.’’ 59

The terms of the OPRA Plan are 

applicable to Cboe as Plan participants, 

and therefore unanimous agreement was 

needed for the amendment. 

Accordingly, the Commission cannot 

make a finding that the Proposed 

Amendment is necessary or appropriate 

in the public interest, for the protection 

of investors and the maintenance of fair 

and orderly markets, to remove 

impediments to, and perfect the 

mechanisms of, a national market 

system, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act.60

IV. Conclusion 

For the reasons set forth above, the 

Commission does not find, pursuant to 

Section 11A of the Act, and Rule 608 

thereunder, that the Proposed 

Amendment is necessary or appropriate 

in the public interest, for the protection 

of investors and the maintenance of fair 

and orderly markets, to remove 

impediments to, and perfect the 

mechanisms of, a national market 

system, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 11A of the Act, and Rule 

608(b)(2) thereunder, that the Proposed 

Amendment (File No. 8–420) be, and 

hereby is, disapproved. 

By the Commission. 

Vanessa A. Countryman, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2024–26959 Filed 11–18–24; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–101611; File No. SR– 

PEARL–2024–50] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX 

PEARL, LLC; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed 

Rule Change To Amend the MIAX Pearl 

Equities Fee Schedule 

November 13, 2024. 

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 October 

31, 2024, MIAX PEARL, LLC (‘‘MIAX 

Pearl’’ 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. 


ddrumheller on DSK120RN23PROD with NOTICES1