35270 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 111 / Thursday, June 9, 2022 / Notices 

11 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

12 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(57). 

1See Letter from Jeffrey S. Davis, Senior Vice 

President and Senior Deputy General Counsel, 

Nasdaq, to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary, 

Commission (Feb. 11, 2022). 

2 15 U.S.C 78k–1(a)(3). 

3 17 CFR 242.608. 

4The Plan was created to enhance the 

effectiveness and efficiency of the national market 

system and to provide for fair competition between 

the self-regulatory organizations that list equity 

securities by establishing a uniform system for the 

selection and reservation of securities symbols. The 

Plan, among other things, sets forth the process for 

securing perpetual and limited-time reservations, 

the use of a waiting list, the right to reuse a symbol 

and the ability to request the release of a symbol. 

5The Plan Participants are BOX Exchange LLC, 

Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGA Exchange, 

Inc., CBOE EDGX Exchange, Inc., Cboe Exchange, 

Inc., Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc., 

Investors Exchange LLC, Long-Term Stock 

Exchange, Inc., MEMX LLC, Miami International 

Securities Exchange, LLC, MIAX PEARL, LLC, 

Nasdaq, Nasdaq BX, Inc., Nasdaq ISE, LLC, Nasdaq 

PHLX LLC, New York Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE 

American LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc., NYSE Chicago, 

Inc., and NYSE National, Inc. 

6See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 94351 

(March 2, 2022), 87 FR 13027 (March 8, 2022) 

(‘‘Amendment No. 4 Notice’’). The Commission 

received comment letters that are not germane to 

the Amendment and are available on the 

Commission’s website at: https://www.sec.gov/ 

comments/4-533/4-533.htm. 

7See Letter from Jeffrey S. Davis, Senior Vice 

President and Senior Deputy General Counsel, 

Nasdaq, to Vanessa Countryman, Secretary, 

Commission, dated April 13, 2022 (‘‘Modification 

Letter’’). In the Modification Letter, the Participants 

corrected the list of Participants that was submitted 

with the Amendment. The Plan submitted with the 

Amendment included two exchanges that are not 

currently Participants in the Plan. The Plan 

submitted with the Modification Letter reflects the 

current Participants in the Plan and made no other 

changes to the Amendment. 

8See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58904, 

73 FR 67218 at 67222–23 (November 13, 2008) (File 

No. 4–533) (‘‘Symbology Plan Approval Order’’). 

disapproving the proposal for an 

additional 60 days. 

The Commission finds that it is 

appropriate to designate a longer period 

within which to issue an order 

approving or disapproving the proposed 

rule change so that it has sufficient time 

to consider the proposed rule change, as 

modified by Amendment No. 1, and the 

comments that have been submitted in 

connection therewith. Accordingly, the 

Commission, pursuant to Section 

19(b)(2) of the Act,11 designates August 

4, 2022, as the date by which the 

Commission should either approve or 

disapprove the proposed rule change 

(File No. SR–CboeBYX–2021–028), as 

modified by Amendment No. 1. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.12

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12400 Filed 6–8–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–95040; File No. 4–533] 

Joint Industry Plan; Order Approving 

Amendment No. 4 to the National 

Market System Plan for the Selection 

and Reservation of Securities Symbols 

Submitted by The Nasdaq Stock 

Market LLC, BOX Exchange LLC, Cboe 

BZX Exchange, Inc., Cboe EDGA 

Exchange, Inc., CBOE EDGX 

Exchange, Inc., Cboe Exchange, Inc., 

Financial Industry Regulatory 

Authority, Inc., Investors Exchange 

LLC, Long-Term Stock Exchange, Inc., 

MEMX LLC, Miami International 

Securities Exchange, LLC, MIAX 

PEARL, LLC, Nasdaq BX, Inc., Nasdaq 

ISE, LLC, Nasdaq PHLX LLC, New York 

Stock Exchange LLC, NYSE American 

LLC, NYSE Arca, Inc., NYSE Chicago, 

Inc., and NYSE National, Inc. 

June 3, 2022. 

I. Introduction 

On February 11, 2021,1 The Nasdaq 

Stock Market LLC (‘‘Nasdaq’’), on behalf 

of itself and the participants to the 

National Market System Plan for the 

Selection and Reservation of Securities 

Symbols (‘‘Symbology Plan’’ or ‘‘Plan’’), 

filed with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant 

to Section 11A of the Securities 

Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 

608 of Regulation National Market 

System (‘‘NMS’’) thereunder,3 a 

proposal to amend the Symbology 

Plan.4 The proposal represents the 

fourth substantive amendment to the 

Plan (‘‘Amendment’’) and reflects 

changes unanimously approved by the 

Plan participants (‘‘Participants’’).5

Amendment No. 4 was published for 

comment in the Federal Register on 

March 8, 2022.6 On April 13, 2022, 

Nasdaq submitted a letter to the 

Commission related to Amendment No. 

4, which corrected an error in the Plan 

document included in the original 

filing.7 This Order approves 

Amendment No. 4 to the Plan as 

reflected in the Modification Letter. 

II. Background and Description of the 

Proposal 

A. Background 

The Plan was created to establish a 

uniform system for the selection and 

reservation of securities symbols and 

sets forth, among other things, the 

process for securing symbol 

reservations, the use of a waiting list, 

the ability to request the release of a 

symbol, and the ability to reuse a 

symbol, provided that it does not create 

investor confusion. Currently, Section 

IV of the Plan outlines the procedures 

for the symbol reservation system, and 

provides Participants the ability to 

reserve 20 perpetual (‘‘List A’’) and 

1,500 limited-time (‘‘List B’’) 

reservations, for 1-, 2-, and 3-character 

symbols, on the one hand, and also for 

4- and 5-character symbols, on the 

other. For List B reservations, the Plan 

requires Plan Participants to have a 

reasonable basis to believe that it will 

use the symbol within 24 months in 

order to reserve a symbol, but does not 

include a requirement that such basis be 

furnished or that a symbol be reserved 

for a specific issuer. There is also a 

process for reserving symbols under the 

Plan, which provides for the use of a 

third-party processor and a symbol 

reservation database. The Plan also 

includes, among other things, 

provisions for the use of a waiting list, 

the right to reuse a symbol, the ability 

to request the release of a symbol, the 

terms of confidentiality, and the process 

for becoming a new Plan participant.8

B. Description of Proposal 

In Amendment No. 4, the Participants 

propose to modify the Plan in several 

aspects: (1) to require the release of all 

perpetual (List A) reservations, except 

for those used for test symbols; (2) to 

increase the number of List B symbols 

that can be reserved for 1-, 2-, and 3- 

character symbols and for 4- and 5- 

character symbols, respectively, from 

1,500 to 2,500 symbols; (3) to require a 

party making a List B reservation to 

specify confidentially an issuer 

associated with that reservation and to 

maintain documentation supporting that 

request; (4) to require List B reservations 

for exchange-traded products to be 

made at the request of the issuer (or its 

agent); (5) to require Participants to 

release any symbol that it no longer has 

a reasonable basis for believing that the 

issuer will list a security using the 

symbol; (6) to require a reservation for 

an issuer to be transferred to another 

Participant, if it decides to list on that 

Participant; (7) to prohibit the 

reservation of more than one symbol for 

a potential listing that is not an 

exchange-traded product; (8) to allow 

Participants who have reserved a 

symbol for one issuer to be on the 

waitlist for that symbol for another 

issuer; and (9) to eliminate the costs of 

entry for new Participants to the Plan, 

consistent with existing practice. In 

addition, Amendment No. 4 also 

includes several technical and 


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Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 111 / Thursday, June 9, 2022 / Notices 35271 

9See Amendment No. 4 Notice, supra note 6, for 

a more detailed description of the proposed 

changes. See also Modification Letter, supra note 7. 

10See 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(3)(B). 

11See 17 CFR 242.608. 

12See 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2). 

13See 17 CFR 242.608. 

14See Notice, supra, at 13028. 

15Specifically, according to the Participants, 

there were 613 SPAC IPOs in 2021 as compared to 

248 SPAC IPOs in 2020, representing a 247% 

increase. See id. 

16See Symbology Plan Approval Order, supra 

note 9, at 67219–20. In the Symbology Plan 

Approval Order, the Commission stated that several 

factors have been increasing the demand 

particularly for one, two and three character 

symbols, including: increased listings of innovative 

products such as exchange-traded funds; the move 

by Nasdaq to begin using one, two and three 

character symbols; and the proliferation of 

standardized options. 

17See Symbology Plan Approval Order at 67225. 18A corresponding clarifying change is proposed 

to Section IV(b)(3)(C) to clarify that List B 

reservation requests must be submitted in 

accordance with sub clauses (i) to (v) of Section 

IV(b)(1)(B). 

ministerial proposed changes to provide 

current information about the names 

and principal place of business of 

certain Participants to the Plan, and also 

makes changes to update outdated 

language in Sections IV(b)(1–3) and 

(c)(1) the Plan regarding reservations 

prior to the original effective date of the 

Symbology Plan.9

III. Discussion and Commission 

Findings 

After careful review, the Commission 

is approving Amendment No. 4, as 

modified, for the reasons discussed 

below. Section 11A of the Act 

authorizes the Commission, by rule or 

order, to authorize or require the selfregulatory organizations to act jointly 

with respect to matters as to which they 

share authority under the Act in 

planning, developing, operating, or 

regulating a facility of the national 

market system.10 Rule 608 of Regulation 

NMS authorizes two or more SROs, 

acting jointly, to file with the 

Commission proposed amendments to 

an effective NMS plan,11 and further 

provides that the Commission shall 

approve an amendment to an effective 

NMS plan if it finds that the 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.12

The Commission believes that 

Amendment No. 4, as modified, is 

consistent with the Act and meets the 

applicable standard provided in Rule 

608 of Regulation NMS.13 As described 

in the Notice, the Plan Participants seek 

to amend the Symbology Plan to 

eliminate perpetual reservations (except 

for test symbols), increase the number of 

List B, limited-time symbol reservations, 

and make certain other amendments to 

the Plan regarding the processes by 

which Plan Participants may make 

symbol reservations. 

With respect to List A reservations, 

the Plan Participants have agreed to 

release all their perpetual reservations 

and eliminate all perpetual reservations, 

except for those used as test symbols. 

The Participants stated that elimination 

of perpetual reservations was proposed 

in connection with the changes to 

require that all reservations be made at 

the request of an issuer. The 

Commission believes that removing the 

List A perpetual reservations other than 

test symbols will help to ensure that 

Participants can only reserve symbols 

related to identified issuers, which 

should promote fair competition among 

exchanges that list securities. Ensuring 

that Participants can only reserve 

symbols related to identified issuers is 

also appropriate in the public interest 

because it should enable issuers to make 

listing decisions based on factors that 

relate to the quality of the listing 

markets, rather than on considerations 

of symbol reservation. 

With respect to List B reservations, 

the Amendment proposes to amend 

Section IV(b)(1)(B) to increase the 

number of symbol reservations that a 

party can reserve from 1,500 to 2,500 

symbols for symbols using one, two or 

three characters, on the one hand, and 

for symbols using four or five symbols, 

on the other hand. In the Notice, the 

Plan Participants stated that this 

increase is ‘‘necessary given the 

substantial increase in the number of 

IPOs and other new listings,’’ and noted 

that IPOs were at a 20-year low, with 62 

IPOs that year, at the time the 

Symbology Plan was approved in 2008, 

whereas more recently, there were 480 

and 1,058 IPOs in 2020 and 2021, 

respectively.14 The Plan Participants 

also pointed to an increase in recent 

years in the popularity of SPACs, which 

has similarly necessitated the need to 

reserve of more symbols.15 The Plan 

Participants stated that, given this 

current activity, the original 1,500 

symbol reservation limits for one, two or 

three character symbols, on the one 

hand, and for four or five character 

symbols, on the other hand, are no 

longer appropriate. In approving the 

Symbology Plan in 2008, the 

Commission discussed the history of 

ticker symbols and noted that the 

increasing scarcity of available symbols 

highlighted the need for a NMS plan to 

efficiently and fairly manage the supply 

of ticker symbols.16 At that time, the 

Commission believed that the allotment 

of 1,500 List B reservations for symbols 

using one, two or three characters, on 

the one hand, and for symbols using 

four or five symbols, on the other hand, 

was sufficient to allow Plan Participants 

to reserve ‘‘a sufficient number of 

symbols in the short-term for any 

pending use.’’ 17 The Commission 

believes that it is appropriate for the 

maintenance of fair and orderly markets 

to increase the number of List B symbol 

reservations to accommodate recent 

listing activity. 

The Plan Participants also seek to 

make certain other amendments to 

Section IV(b)(1)(B) of the Plan with 

respect to the process for symbol 

reservations, including specifying that: 

(i) no party shall make a List B 

reservation request with respect to a 

particular symbol unless said party has 

a reasonable basis to believe it will 

utilize such symbol within the next 24 

months; (ii) each List B request made by 

a party for non-exchange traded 

products must be made in connection 

with the potential listing of a security 

on such party at the request of the issuer 

(or an agent of the issuer) of such 

security, and the reserving party must 

confidentially indicate the potential 

listing in the Symbol Reservation 

System and maintain documentation 

demonstrating that it has a reasonable 

basis to believe that it will utilize such 

symbol for the listing of such security 

within the next 24 months; (iii) all List 

B reservation requests made by a party 

for exchange-traded products must be 

made at the request of the issuer (or an 

agent of the issuer) of such security; (iv) 

the party shall release the symbol if it 

no longer reasonably believes that the 

issuer will list a security using the 

symbol; and (v) a party shall not reserve 

more than one symbol per potential 

security listing that is not an exchangetraded product.18 The Plan Participants 

state that these changes are intended to 

ensure that each party reserves a symbol 

in connection with a potential listing. 

The Commission believes that the 

amendments to Section IV(b)(1)(B) that 

put in place requirements for the 

request of a symbol reservation are 

appropriate in the public interest 

because they should help to ensure that 

the Plan operates in a fair and orderly 

manner by requiring each party to 

reserve symbols in connection with a 

potential listing. In addition, sub 

clauses (iii) and (v) would put in place 

a process to allow exchanges to reserve 

multiple symbols at the request of an 

issuer for exchange-traded products that 


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35272 Federal Register / Vol. 87, No. 111 / Thursday, June 9, 2022 / Notices 

19See Modification Letter, supra note 7. 

20 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

21 17 CFR 242.608. 

22 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

23 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 93688 

(December 1, 2021), 86 FR 69319 (‘‘Notice’’). The 

comment letters received on the proposed rule 

change are available on the Commission’s website 

at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-cboebzx-2021- 

078/srcboebzx2021078.htm. 

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

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 94010, 

87 FR 4075 (January 26, 2022). The Commission 

designated March 7, 2022 as the date by which the 

Commission shall approve or disapprove, or 

institute proceedings to determine whether to 

disapprove, the proposed rule change. 6 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B). 

7See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 94372, 

87 FR 14053 (March 11, 2022). 8See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 94788 

(April 22, 2022), 87 FR 25328. 9 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

10See Notice, supra note 3. 11 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

12 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(57). 

is listing multiple potential securities, 

as these issuers commonly issue more 

than one product with different root 

symbols, unlike corporate issuers who 

rely on the same root symbol even 

where they have multiple classes. The 

Commission believes that allowing 

exchanges to reserve multiple symbols 

for issuers of such exchange-traded 

products is appropriate in the public 

interest because it should reduce 

investor confusion by allowing related 

exchange-traded products to potentially 

have similar symbols. The Amendment 

also makes changes to the waitlist 

provision in Section IV(b)(6)(c) that 

relate to the new List B reservation 

process. Specifically, the Amendment 

would permit Participants that already 

have a symbol reserved for a potential 

issuer to be placed on the waitlist for 

the same symbol on behalf of another 

potential issuer. The Commission 

believes that this change should 

promote fair competition among the 

exchanges by allowing such Participant 

to be placed on the waitlist, similar to 

other Participants. 

The Participants also propose to 

amend Section I(c) of the Plan to 

eliminate the costs of entry for new 

participants because, as the Amendment 

notes, the pro rata costs for new 

participants have been de minimis or 

zero in recent years. The Commission 

believes that amending Section I(c) of 

the Plan to eliminate such costs should 

remove impediments to, and perfect the 

mechanisms of, a national market 

system, by removing what has become 

an administrative burden for new 

participants. In addition, the 

Amendment makes other technical and 

ministerial changes to clarify provisions 

that pertain only to the initial operation 

of the Plan and to update Participant 

information.19 The Commission believes 

that these changes are appropriate in the 

public interest and consistent with the 

Act, because they will provide clarifying 

and more accurate information about 

the existing practices under the Plan 

and also updated information about the 

Plan Participants. 

For the reasons discussed, the 

Commission finds that Amendment No. 

4 to the Plan, as reflected in the 

Modification Letter, is consistent with 

the requirements of the Act and the 

rules and regulations thereunder, and in 

particular, Section 11A of the Act 20 and 

Rule 608 21 thereunder in that 

Amendment No. 4 is 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. 

IV. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 11A of the Act,22 and Rule 

608(b)(2) thereunder,23 that Amendment 

No. 4 to the Plan, as modified, (File No. 

4–533) is approved. 

By the Commission. 

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12396 Filed 6–8–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–95034; File No. SR– 

CboeBZX–2021–078] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe 

BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of 

Designation of a Longer Period for 

Commission Action on Proceedings To 

Determine Whether To Approve or 

Disapprove a Proposed Rule Change, 

as Modified by Amendment No. 1, To 

Introduce a New Data Product To Be 

Known as the Short Volume Report 

June 3, 2022. 

On November 17, 2021, Cboe BZX 

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘BZX’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) 

filed with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant 

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

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

19b–4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule 

change to amend Exchange Rule 11.22(f) 

to introduce a new data product to be 

known as the Short Volume Report. The 

proposed rule change was published for 

comment in the Federal Register on 

December 7, 2021.3 On January 20, 

2022, 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 determine whether to 

disapprove the proposed rule change.5

On March 7, 2022, the Commission 

instituted proceedings under Section 

19(b)(2)(B) of the Act 6 to determine 

whether to approve or disapprove the 

proposed rule change.7 On March 30, 

2022, the Exchange filed Amendment 

No. 1 to the proposed rule change, 

which superseded the proposed rule 

change as originally filed. The proposed 

rule change, as modified by Amendment 

No. 1, was published for comment in 

the Federal Register on April 28, 2022.8

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act 9 provides 

that, after initiating proceedings, the 

Commission shall issue an order 

approving or disapproving the proposed 

rule change not later than 180 days after 

the date of publication of notice of the 

filing of the proposed rule change. The 

Commission may extend the period for 

issuing an order approving or 

disapproving the proposed rule change, 

however, by not more than 60 days if 

the Commission determines that a 

longer period is appropriate and 

publishes the reasons for such 

determination. The proposed rule 

change was published for comment in 

the Federal Register on December 7, 

2021.10 The 180th day after publication 

of the proposed rule change is June 5, 

2022. The Commission is extending the 

time period for approving or 

disapproving the proposal for an 

additional 60 days. 

The Commission finds that it is 

appropriate to designate a longer period 

within which to issue an order 

approving or disapproving the proposed 

rule change so that it has sufficient time 

to consider the proposed rule change, as 

modified by Amendment No. 1, and the 

comments that have been submitted in 

connection therewith. Accordingly, the 

Commission, pursuant to Section 

19(b)(2) of the Act,11 designates August 

4, 2022, as the date by which the 

Commission should either approve or 

disapprove the proposed rule change 

(File No. SR–CboeBZX–2021–078), as 

modified by Amendment No. 1. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.12

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2022–12399 Filed 6–8–22; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 


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