Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 61 / Wednesday, March 30, 2022 / Notices 18411 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3The Exchange initially filed the proposed fee 

changes on March 1, 2022 (SR–CboeBZX–2022– 

013). On March 14, 2022, the Exchange withdrew 

that filing and submitted this proposal. 

4Logical Ports include FIX and BOE ports (used 

for order entry), drop logical port (which grants 

users the ability to receive and/or send drop copies) 

and ports that are used for receipt of certain market 

data feeds. 

5Bulk Quoting Capabilities Ports provide users 

with the ability to submit and update multiple bids 

and offers in one message through logical ports 

enabled for bulk-quoting. 

6Purge Ports allow users to submit a cancelation 

for all open orders, or a subset thereof, across 

multiple sessions under the same Executing Firm ID 

(‘‘EFID’’). 

7Spin Ports and GRP Ports are used to request 

and receive a retransmission of data from the 

Exchange’s Multicast PITCH data feeds. 

8For example, if a Member maintains 3 FIX 

Certification Logical Ports, 1 Purge Certification 

Logical Port, and 1 set of Multicast PITCH Spin 

Server Certification Logical Port, the Member will 

be assessed $500 per month for Certification Logical 

Port Fees (i.e., 1 FIX, 1 Purge and 1 set of Multicast 

PITCH Spin Server Certification Logical Ports × $0 

and 2 FIX Certification Logical Ports × $250). 

9For example, a Member may obtain a 

Certification Purge Port free of charge, even if that 

Member has not otherwise purchased a Purge Port 

for the live production environment. Certification 

Logical Ports are not automatically enabled for each 

User, but rather must be proactively requested by 

users. 

10See e.g., Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, Equity 7, 

Pricing Schedule, Section 130. See also MIAX 

Options Exchange Fee Schedule, Section 4, Testing 

and Certification Fees. 

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

12 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–94511; File No. SR– 

CboeBZX–2022–021] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe 

BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing 

and Immediate Effectiveness of a 

Proposed Rule Change To Amend Its 

Fee Schedule 

March 24, 2022. 

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 March 14, 

2022, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BZX’’) 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 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 

Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BZX’’) is filing with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) a proposed rule change 

to amend its Fee Schedule. The text of 

the proposed rule change is provided as 

Exhibit 5. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is also available on the Exchange’s 

website (http://markets.cboe.com/us/ 

equities/regulation/rule_filings/bzx/), at 

the Exchange’s Office of the Secretary, 

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 amend its 

fee schedule for its equity options 

platform (‘‘BZX Options’’) to adopt fees 

for Certification Logical Port fees, 

effective March 1, 2022.3

By way of background, the Exchange 

offers a variety of logical ports, which 

provide users with the ability within the 

Exchange’s System to accomplish a 

specific function through a connection, 

such as order entry, data receipt or 

access to information. Specifically, the 

Exchange offers Logical Ports,4 Logical 

Ports with Bulk Quoting Capabilities,5

Purge Ports,6 GRP Ports and Multicast 

PITCH Server Ports.7 For each type of 

the aforementioned logical ports that is 

used in the production environment, the 

Exchange also offers corresponding 

ports which provide Members and nonMembers access to the Exchange’s 

certification environment to test 

proprietary systems and applications 

(i.e., ‘‘Certification Logical Ports’’). The 

certification environment facilitates 

testing using replicas of the Exchange’s 

production environment process 

configurations which provide for a 

robust and realistic testing experience. 

For example, the certification 

environment allows unlimited firmlevel testing of order types, order entry, 

order management, order throughput, 

acknowledgements, risk settings, mass 

cancelations, and purge requests. 

Historically, the Exchange has not 

assessed fees for Certification Logical 

Ports. The Exchange now proposes to 

establish a monthly fee for Certification 

Logical Ports. Particularly, the Exchange 

proposes to adopt a monthly fee of $250 

per Certification Logical Port. However, 

the Exchange notes that it will continue 

to offer free of charge one Certification 

Logical Port per logical port type offered 

in the production environment (i.e., 

Logical Ports, Logical Ports with Bulk 

Quoting Capabilities, Purge Ports, GRP 

Ports and Multicast PITCH Server Ports) 

to each Member or non-Member, as 

applicable. Any additional Certification 

Logical Ports will be assessed $250 per 

month per port.8 Additionally, Members 

and non-Members are not required to 

purchase any particular production 

logical port in order to receive a 

corresponding Certification Logical Port 

free of charge.9 Further, the Exchange 

notes that purchasing additional 

Certification Logical Ports is voluntary 

and not required in order to participate 

in the production environment, 

including live production trading on the 

Exchange. The Exchange also notes that 

other exchanges similarly assess fees 

related to their respective testing 

environments.10

Lastly, the Exchange does not intend 

to prorate Certification Logical Ports for 

the first month of service and intends to 

make this clear in the notes section 

under the Options Logical Port Fees 

section of the Fees Schedule. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Act’’) and the rules and regulations 

thereunder applicable to the Exchange 

and, in particular, the requirements of 

Section 6(b) of the Act.11 Specifically, 

the Exchange believes the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Section 

6(b)(5) 12 requirements that the rules of 

an exchange be 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 regulating, clearing, settling, 

processing information with respect to, 

and facilitating transactions in 

securities, to remove impediments to 

and perfect the mechanism of a free and 


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18412 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 61 / Wednesday, March 30, 2022 / Notices 

13 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 

14See Cboe BZX Options Fees Schedule, Options 

Logical Port Fees. 

15See e.g., Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, Equity 7, 

Pricing Schedule, Section 130. See also MIAX 

Options Exchange Fee Schedule, Section 4, Testing 

and Certification Fees. 

16Although many Users use Certification Logical 

Ports on a daily basis, the Exchange notes frequency 

of use of Certification Logical Ports varies by User 

and depends on a User’s business needs. To the 

extent a User purchases additional Certification 

Logical Ports and its respective needs change or it 

determines it no longer wishes to maintain excess 

Certification Logical Ports, the User is free to cancel 

such ports for the following month(s). 

17See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73639 

(November 19, 2014), 79 FR 72251 (December 5, 

2014) (File No. S7–01–13) (Regulation SCI Adopting 

Release). 

open market and a national market 

system, and, in general, to protect 

investors and the public interest. 

Additionally, the Exchange believes the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,13 which 

requires that Exchange rules provide for 

the equitable allocation of reasonable 

dues, fees, and other charges among its 

Members and other persons using its 

facilities. 

As noted above, the Exchange’s 

certification environment provides a 

robust and realistic testing experience 

using a replica of the Exchange’s 

production environment process 

configurations. This environment 

enables market participants to manage 

risk more effectively through testing 

software development changes in 

certification prior to implementing them 

in the live trading environment, thereby 

reducing the likelihood of a potentially 

disruptive system failure in the live 

trading environment, which has the 

potential to affect all market 

participants. As such, the Exchange 

believes it’s reasonable to adopt a 

Certification Logical Port fee as it better 

enables the Exchange to continue to 

maintain and improve its testing 

environment, which the Exchange 

believes serves to improve live 

production trading on the Exchange. 

The Exchange also believes the 

proposed Certification Logical Port fee 

is reasonable because while such ports 

will no longer be completely free, 

Members and non-Members will 

continue to be entitled to receive free of 

charge one Certification Logical Port for 

each type of logical port that are 

currently offered in the production 

environment. Notably, the Exchange 

believes one Certification Logical Port 

per logical port type will be sufficient 

for most users and indeed anticipates 

that the majority of users will not 

purchase additional Certification 

Logical Ports. More specifically, while 

the Exchange has no way of predicting 

with certainty the impact of the 

proposed changes, it anticipates 

approximately 17% of Users to be 

assessed fees for Certification Logical 

Ports (i.e., request Certification Ports in 

excess of the Certification Logical Ports 

provided free of charge). For those users 

who wish to obtain additional 

Certification Logical Ports based on 

their respective business needs, they are 

able to do so for a modest fee. Indeed, 

the proposed fee is lower than the fees 

assessed for the corresponding logical 

ports used in the Exchange’s production 

environment.14 Additionally, the 

Exchange notes other exchanges 

similarly assess fees relating to their 

respective testing environments.15

Further, the decision to purchase 

additional ports is optional and no 

market participant is required or under 

any regulatory obligation to purchase 

excess Certification Logical Ports in 

order to access the Exchange’s 

certification environment.16

The Exchange believes the proposed 

fee is also equitable and not unfairly 

discriminatory because it applies 

uniformly to all market participants that 

choose to obtain additional Certification 

Logical Ports. The Exchange also 

believes the proposed fee is reasonable, 

equitable and not unfairly 

discriminatory because it is designed to 

encourage market participants to be 

efficient with their respective 

Certification Logical Port usage. Without 

some sort of fee for its Certification 

Logical Ports, the Exchange believes that 

Members and non-Members may be less 

efficient in testing their systems, 

potentially resulting in excessive time 

and resources being consumed by the 

Exchange in supporting testing and 

certifying Members and non-Members to 

the detriment of all market participants 

as Exchange resources are diverted away 

from other trading operations. 

Additionally, similar to its production 

environment, the Exchange’s 

certification environment does not have 

unlimited system capacity to support 

unlimited testing. As such, the proposed 

fee structure also ensures that firms that 

use the most capacity pay for that 

capacity, rather than placing that 

burden on market participants that have 

more modest needs. The Exchange lastly 

believes that its proposed fee is aligned 

with the goals of the Commission in 

facilitating a competitive market for all 

firms that trade on the Exchange and of 

ensuring that critical market 

infrastructure has ‘‘levels of capacity, 

integrity, resiliency, availability, and 

security adequate to maintain their 

operational capability and promote the 

maintenance of fair and orderly 

markets.’’ 17

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 intramarket or 

intermarket competition that is not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purposes of the Act. The 

Exchange does not believe that the 

proposed rule change will impose any 

burden on intramarket competition 

because as the proposed change applies 

uniformly to all market participants. 

Additionally, the Exchange does not 

believe that the proposed fee creates an 

undue burden on competition because 

the Exchange will continue to offer free 

of charge one Certification Logical Port 

per each logical port type offered in the 

production environment. Although the 

Exchange now proposes to charge users 

for additional Certification Logical 

Ports, the Exchange believes without 

some sort of fee assessed for excess 

Certification Logical Ports, Members 

and non-Members may be less efficient 

in testing their systems, potentially 

resulting in excessive time and 

resources being consumed by the 

Exchange and also potentially impacting 

the certification environment’s capacity 

thresholds. The proposed fee structure 

therefore would ensure that market 

participants that pay the proposed fee 

are the ones that demand the most 

resources from the Exchange. Also as 

discussed, the purchase of additional 

ports is optional and based on the 

business needs of each market 

participant. Moreover, such market 

participants will continue to benefit 

from access to the certification 

environment, which the Exchange 

believes provides a robust and realistic 

testing experience via a replica of the 

production environment. 

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposed rule changes will impose 

any burden on intermarket competition 

that is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 

Particularly, the proposed change 

applies only to the Exchange’s 

certification environment. Additionally, 

the Exchange notes that it operates in a 

highly competitive market. Members 

have numerous alternative venues that 

they may participate on and direct their 

order flow, including 15 other options 

exchanges, as well as off-exchange 

venues, where competitive products are 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 61 / Wednesday, March 30, 2022 / Notices 18413 

18See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51808 

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

19NetCoalition v. SEC, 615 F.3d 525, 539 (D.C. 

Cir. 2010) (quoting Securities Exchange Act Release 

No. 59039 (December 2, 2008), 73 FR 74770, 74782– 

83 (December 9, 2008) (SR–NYSEArca–2006–21)). 

20 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

21 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f). 

22 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 92839 

(Sep. 1, 2021), 86 FR 50408. Comments received on 

the proposal are available on the Commission’s 

website at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nyse2021-42/srnyse202142.htm. 

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

available for trading. Indeed, 

participants can readily choose to send 

their orders to other exchange, and, 

additionally off-exchange venues, if 

they deem overall fee levels at those 

other venues to be more favorable. 

Moreover, the Commission has 

repeatedly expressed its preference for 

competition over regulatory 

intervention in determining prices, 

products, and services in the securities 

markets. Specifically, 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.’’ 18 The 

fact that this market is competitive has 

also long been recognized by the courts. 

In NetCoalition v. Securities and 

Exchange Commission, the D.C. Circuit 

stated as follows: ‘‘[n]o one disputes 

that competition for order flow is 

’fierce.’ . . . As the SEC explained, ’[i]n 

the U.S. national market system, buyers 

and sellers of securities, and the brokerdealers that act as their order-routing 

agents, have a wide range of choices of 

where to route orders for execution’; 

[and] ‘no exchange can afford to take its 

market share percentages for granted’ 

because ‘no exchange possesses a 

monopoly, regulatory or otherwise, in 

the execution of order flow from broker 

dealers’. . . .’’.19 Accordingly, the 

Exchange does not believe its proposed 

fee change imposes any burden on 

competition that is not necessary or 

appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

The Exchange neither solicited nor 

received comments on the proposed 

rule change. 

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) 

of the Act 20 and paragraph (f) of Rule 

19b–4 21 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 will institute proceedings 

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: 

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– 

CboeBZX–2022–021 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–CboeBZX–2022–021. 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–CboeBZX–2022–021 and 

should be submitted on or before April 

20, 2022. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.22

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–06633 Filed 3–29–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–94516; File No. SR–NYSE– 

2021–42] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; New 

York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of 

Withdrawal of Proposed Rule Change 

To Amend the Requirements of 

Section 102.06 of the NYSE Listed 

Company Manual To Allow an 

Acquisition Company To Contribute a 

Portion of Its Trust Account to a New 

Acquisition Company and Spin-Off the 

New Acquisition Company to Its 

Shareholders 

March 24, 2022. 

On August 23, 2021, the New York 

Stock Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’ or 

‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section 

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

of 1934 (‘‘Act’’ or ‘‘Exchange Act’’) 1 and 

Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule 

change to amend the requirements of 

Section 102.06 of the NYSE Listed 

Company Manual to allow an 

acquisition company to contribute a 

portion of the amount held in its trust 

account to a trust account of a new 

acquisition company and spin off the 

new acquisition company to its 

shareholders in certain situations. The 

proposed rule change was published for 

comment in the Federal Register on 

September 8, 2021.3

On September 30, 2021, pursuant to 

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

Commission designated a longer period 

within which to approve the proposed 

rule change, disapprove the proposed 

rule change, or institute proceedings to 


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