55 East 52nd Street

New York, NY 10055

BY ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION

Submission No. 19-173

June 10, 2019

Mr. Christopher J. Kirkpatrick

Secretary of the Commission

Office of the Secretariat

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Three Lafayette Centre

1155 21st Street, NW

Washington, DC 20581

Re: Amendments to Precious Metal Contract Exchange Member Fee Program

Submission Pursuant to Section 5c(c)(1) of the Act and Regulation 40.6

Dear Mr. Kirkpatrick:

Pursuant to Commission Regulation 40.6(a), ICE Futures U.S., Inc. (“IFUS” or

“Exchange”) submits, by written certification, notice that the Exchange is amending the Precious

Metal Futures Contract Exchange Member Fee Program (“Program”) to extend the term through

June 30, 2020, as set forth in Exhibit A. All other Program terms remain unchanged.

The Program, which was launched on June 30, 2014 and set to expire on June 30, 2018,

offers market participants that are members of ICE Futures US or other exchanges the ability to

earn discounted Exchange and Clearing fees for all proprietary volume in Precious Metals futures

and options and NYSE Arca Gold Miner’s Index futures. Currently, each month Program

participants are entitled to receive discounted Exchange and Clearing fees for their proprietary

volume in the respective contract, based upon their average daily volume (“ADV”) in the respective

track in that month (see Exhibit A).

The Exchange certifies that the Program complies with the requirements of the Commodity

Exchange Act and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder. In particular, the amendments

comply with Core Principle 4 (Monitoring of Trading), Core Principle 9 (Execution of

Transactions) and Core Principle 12 (Protection of Market Participants). The Program does not

impact order execution priority or otherwise give participants any execution preference or

advantage. In addition, the Exchange’s Market Regulation Department actively monitors for

trading abuses using electronic exception reports and will take appropriate action against any

participants engaging in market abuses.

The Exchange further certifies that, concurrent with this filing, a notice of pending

certification was posted on the Exchange’s website. A copy of this submission may be accessed at

(https://www.theice.com/futures-us/regulation#rule-filings). The Exchange is not aware of

any opposing views with respect to the amendments, which will become effective on June 30, 2018.
If you have any questions or need further information, please contact me at 212-748-4021

or at jason.fusco@theice.com.

Sincerely,

Jason V. Fusco

Assistant General Counsel

Market Regulation

Enc.

cc: Division of Market Oversight
EXHIBIT A

ICE Futures U.S., Inc. Precious Metal Contract Exchange Member Fee Program

Program Purpose

The purpose of the Program is to incentivize volume in the covered contracts, to increase the

overall liquidity of the products to the benefit of all market participants.

Product Scope

Mini Gold and 1000 oz. Silver futures and options contracts and NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index

futures contracts (collectively, “the small-size contracts”) and 100 oz. Gold and 5000 oz. Silver

futures and options contracts (collectively, “the large-size contracts”).

Eligible Participants

Any entity that is a member of a qualifying derivatives exchange may enroll in the program to earn

discounted Exchange and Clearing fees for proprietary trading volume in program contracts.

Program Term

The start date for the Program shall be the date on which the program contracts are listed for trading

on ICE Futures U.S. and the initial term of the program shall end on June 30, 20[19]20. The

Exchange reserves the right to revise the terms of the program and to terminate the program upon

notice to all current Participants.

Obligations

Participants are required to provide the Exchange with information acceptable to the Exchange

detailing Participants’ trading activity under the program, and the Exchange may require an

additional third party verification report.

Program Incentives

In each calendar month and separately for each set of contracts, a Participant who trades at least

1,000 lots of small-size contracts during such month and/or at least 1,000 lots of large-size contracts

during such month for its proprietary trading account shall be eligible to receive the following

discounted rates for their small-size and large-size proprietary volume in that set of contracts in that

month:

Small-size contracts: Outright futures and all options 15 cents per side

Explicit futures spreads 7.5 cents

Large-size contracts: Outright futures and all options 45 cents per side

Explicit futures spreads 22.5 cents

Any volume that is eligible for discounted Exchange and Clearing fees in the programs listed below

is not eligible for the above discount rate:
• Precious Metals Futures Designated Market Maker Program

• The Precious Metals Options Designated Market Maker Program

Monitoring and Termination of Status

The Exchange shall monitor trading activity and Participants’ performance and shall retain the right

to revoke Participants’ status if it concludes from review that a Program Participant has failed to

meet its obligations or no longer meets the eligibility requirements of this Program.