75852 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 2014 / Notices 

14 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3The Commission notes that the Exchange 

initially filed the proposed rule change on 

November 24, 2014 under File Number SR–BX– 

2014–058. On December 3, 2014, the Exchange 

withdrew SR–BX–2014–058 due to errors in the 

Form 19b–4 and Exhibit 1, and refiled the proposed 

rule change under SR–BX–2014–059. 

4Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73410 

(October 23, 2014), 79 FR 64447 (October 29, 2014) 

(SR–BX–2014–048) (proposing RPI program and 

exemption from SEC Rule 612 under Regulation 

NMS, 17 CFR 242.612, in connection therewith). 

5A Retail Order is defined in BX Rule 4780(a)(2), 

in part, as ‘‘an agency or riskless principal order 

that satisfies the criteria of FINRA Rule 5320.03, 

that originates from a natural person and is 

submitted to the Exchange by a Retail Member 

Organization, provided that no change is made to 

the terms of the order with respect to price (except 

in the case that a market order is changed to a 

marketable limit order) or side of market and the 

order does not originate from a trading algorithm or 

any other computerized methodology.’’ 

6A Retail Price Improvement Order is defined in 

BX Rule 4780(a)(3), in part, as consisting of ‘‘nondisplayed liquidity on the Exchange that is priced 

better than the Protected NBBO by at least $0.001 

and that is identified as such.’’ 

7 15 U.S.C. 78f. 

8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5). 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

Internet Web site (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 Web site 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; 

the Commission does not edit personal 

identifying information from 

submissions. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. All submissions 

should refer to File Number SR–CBOE– 

2014–091 and should be submitted on 

or before January 9, 2015. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.14

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29699 Filed 12–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–73836; File No. SR–BX– 

2014–059] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

NASDAQ OMX BX; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed 

Rule Changes to Amend Rule 7018 to 

establish Fees and Rebates in 

Connection with BX’s Retail Price 

Improvement (‘‘RPI’’) Program 

December 15, 2014. 

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 December 

3, 2014, NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc. (‘‘BX’’ 

or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or 

‘‘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.3

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange is proposing changes to 

amend BX Rule 7018 to establish fees 

and rebates in connection with BX’s 

Retail Price Improvement (‘‘RPI’’) 

Program. The Exchange proposes to 

implement the proposed rule change on 

December 1, 2014, contemporaneously 

with the launch of the RPI Program. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available on the Exchange’s Web site 

at http://

nasdaqomxbx.cchwallstreet.com, at the 

principal office of the Exchange, 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. 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 purpose of this proposal is to 

amend BX Rule 7018 to establish fees 

and rebates for execution of orders 

under BX’s recently filed RPI Program.4

Under the RPI Program, a member (or a 

division thereof) approved by the 

Exchange to participate in the program 

(a ‘‘Retail Member Organization’’ or 

‘‘RMO’’) may submit designated ‘‘Retail 

Orders’’ 5 for the purpose of seeking 

price improvement. All BX members 

may enter retail price improvement 

orders (‘‘RPI Orders’’),6 a form of nondisplayed orders that are priced more 

aggressively than the Protected National 

Best Bid or Offer (‘‘NBBO’’) by at least 

$0.001 per share, for the purpose of 

offering such price improvement. RMOs 

may use two types of Retail Orders. A 

Type 1 Retail Order is eligible to 

execute only against RPI Orders and 

other orders (such as midpoint pegged 

orders) that will provide price 

improvement. Type 2 Retail Orders 

interact first with available RPI Orders 

and other price improving orders, and 

then are eligible to access non-price 

improving liquidity on the BX book and 

to route to other trading venues if so 

designated. 

BX proposes to offer a rebate of 

$0.0025 per share executed to RMOs 

with respect to Retail Orders that 

execute against RPI Orders. RMO orders 

that execute against other orders 

providing price improvement with 

respect to the NBBO will receive a 

rebate otherwise applicable to 

executions of orders that access 

liquidity. For Type 2 Retail Orders that 

execute against non-price improving 

orders on the BX book, BX will offer a 

rebate otherwise applicable to execution 

of orders that access liquidity. Similarly, 

when Type 2 Retail Orders are routed 

and execute at another trading venue, 

BX will charge the fee otherwise 

applicable to execution of routed orders. 

For RPI orders that provide liquidity, 

BX will charge a fee of $0.0025 per 

share executed. Other orders that 

provide liquidity to Retail Orders will 

receive the credit or pay the fee 

otherwise applicable to orders that 

provide liquidity. 

2. Statutory Basis 

BX believes that the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the provisions 

of Section 6 of the Act,7 in general, and 

with Sections 6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5) of the 

Act,8 in particular, in that it provides for 

the equitable allocation of reasonable 

dues, fees and other charges among 

members and issuers and other persons 

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Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 2014 / Notices 75853 

9Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67347 (July 

3, 2012), 77 FR 40763 [sic], 40769–40680 [sic] (July 

10, 2012) (SR–NYSE–2011–55; SR–NYSEAmex– 

2011–84). 10 Id. 

11 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

12 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f). 

using any facility or system which BX 

operates or controls, and is not designed 

to permit unfair discrimination between 

customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers. 

The proposed fees with respect to the 

RPI program are reflective of BX’s 

ongoing efforts to use pricing incentive 

programs to attract orders of retail 

customers to BX and improve market 

quality. The goal of this program and 

similar pricing incentives is to provide 

meaningful incentives for members that 

represent the orders of retail customers 

to increase their participation on BX. 

The proposed credit of $0.0025 per 

share executed with respect to Retail 

Orders that access Retail Price 

Improvement Order liquidity offering 

price improvement is reasonable 

because it will result in a significant 

increase of rebates with respect to such 

orders, thereby reducing the costs of 

members that represent retail customers 

and that take advantage of the program, 

and potentially also reducing costs to 

the customers themselves. The change is 

consistent with an equitable allocation 

of fees because BX believes that it is 

reasonable to use rebate increases as a 

means to encourage greater retail 

participation in BX. Because retail 

orders are likely to reflect long-term 

investment intentions, they promote 

price discovery. Accordingly, their 

presence in the BX market has the 

potential to benefit all market 

participants. For this reason, BX 

believes that it is equitable to provide 

significant financial incentives to 

encourage greater retail participation in 

the market. BX further believes that the 

proposed program is not unreasonably 

discriminatory because it is offered to 

firms representing retail customers 

without regard to the firm’s trading 

volumes, and is therefore 

complementary to existing programs, 

such as the Routable Order Program that 

already aim to encourage greater retail 

participation, but that have minimum 

volume requirements associated with 

them. The proposed fees and credits 

with respect to Retail Orders that 

execute against liquidity other than that 

provided by Retail Price Improvement 

Orders or by routing to other trading 

venues are reasonable, equitably 

allocated, and not unreasonably 

discriminatory because they do not 

reflect a change from the fees and 

credits currently in effect with respect 

to orders that access liquidity on BX or 

route. 

The proposed fee with respect to a 

Retail Price Improvement Order that 

provides liquidity is reasonable because, 

as previously recognized by the 

Commission, it reflects the fact that 

markets often seek to distinguish 

between orders of individual retail 

investors and orders of professional 

traders.9 In this instance, the RPI seeks 

to balance the consideration that ‘‘retail 

investors may [sic] on average be less 

informed about short-term price 

movements . . . [than] professional 

traders’’ 10 with a fee charged to 

liquidity providers and a program 

designed to provide retail investors with 

price improvement and favorable 

execution prices. BX further believes 

that the fee charged with respect to 

Retail Price Improvement Orders is 

equitable and not unreasonably 

discriminatory for this same reason, and 

also because the use of such orders by 

liquidity providers is voluntary. Firms 

that believe that potential advantages of 

interacting with Retail Orders outweigh 

the costs of price improvement and the 

fee charged by BX will employ this new 

order type. Those that do not are free to 

forego involvement in the program and 

pay a fee under BX’s standard price 

schedule when providing liquidity. 

Finally, BX notes that it operates in a 

highly competitive market in which 

market participants can readily favor 

competing venues if they deem fee 

levels at a particular venue to be 

excessive. In such an environment, BX 

must continually adjust its fees to 

remain competitive with other 

exchanges and with alternative trading 

systems that have been exempted from 

compliance with the statutory standards 

applicable to exchanges. BX believes 

that the proposed rule change reflects 

this competitive environment because it 

is designed to allow BX to compete with 

other exchanges and that offer similar 

price improvement programs for retail 

orders. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

BX does not believe that the proposed 

rule change will result in any burden on 

competition that is not necessary or 

appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act, as amended. In this 

instance, the introduction of the RPI 

program is designed to allow BX to 

compete more effectively with the New 

York Stock Exchange (‘‘NYSE’’), NYSE 

MKT LLC (‘‘MKT’’), NYSE Arca, Inc. 

(‘‘Arca’’’’) and the BATS–Y Exchange, 

all of which offer similar programs 

designed to attract retail order flow. BX 

has structured its fees in a manner 

similar to these exchanges, but as a new 

‘‘entrant’’ in the field of those exchanges 

offering such programs. Specifically, BX 

will offer a higher credit to Retail Orders 

than NYSE, MKT, or Arca and will offer 

the credit with respect to all securities 

priced above $1 that it trades. BX will, 

however, offset these higher credits for 

retail orders by charging a higher fee to 

liquidity providers than is the case with 

some of its competitors. BX believes that 

the proposed higher credits with respect 

to Retail Orders will enhance 

competition by drawing additional retail 

order flow to BX and possibly 

encouraging other trading venues to 

make competitive pricing changes. 

With respect to the proposed fees for 

Retail Price Improvement Orders, 

because the market for order execution 

is extremely competitive, members that 

provide liquidity may readily opt to 

forego participation in the BX program 

if they believe that alternatives offer 

them better value. For these reasons and 

the reasons discussed in connection 

with the statutory basis for the proposed 

rule change, BX does not believe that 

the proposed changes will impair the 

ability of members or competing order 

execution venues to maintain their 

competitive standing in the financial 

markets. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

No written comments were either 

solicited or received. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The foregoing rule change has become 

effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) 

of the Act 11 and paragraph (f) of Rule 

19b–4 thereunder.12 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. 

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: 

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75854 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 244 / Friday, December 19, 2014 / Notices 

13 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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– 

BX–2014–059 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–BX–2014–059. 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 Web site (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 Web site 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 such 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the Exchange. All comments 

received will be posted without change; 

the Commission does not edit personal 

identifying information from 

submissions. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. All submissions 

should refer to File Number SR–BX– 

2014–059 and should be submitted on 

or before January 9, 2015. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.13

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–29698 Filed 12–18–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Determination of Trade Surplus in 

Certain Sugar and Syrup Goods and 

Sugar-Containing Products of Chile, 

Morocco, Costa Rica, the Dominican 

Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, 

Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, 

and Panama 

AGENCY: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In accordance with relevant 

provisions of the Harmonized Tariff 

Schedule of the United States (HTS), the 

Office of the United States Trade 

Representative (USTR) is providing 

notice of its determination of the trade 

surplus in certain sugar and syrup goods 

and sugar-containing products of Chile, 

Morocco, Costa Rica, the Dominican 

Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, 

Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru, Colombia, 

and Panama. As described below, the 

level of a country’s trade surplus in 

these goods relates to the quantity of 

sugar and syrup goods and sugarcontaining products for which the 

United States grants preferential tariff 

treatment under (i) the United StatesChile Free Trade Agreement (Chile 

FTA); (ii) the United States-Morocco 

Free Trade Agreement (Morocco FTA); 

(iii) the Dominican Republic-Central 

America-United States Free Trade 

Agreement (CAFTA–DR); (iv) the United 

States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement 

(Peru TPA); (v) the United StatesColombia Trade Promotion Agreement 

(Colombia TPA), and (vi) the United 

States-Panama Trade Promotion 

Agreement (Panama TPA). 

DATES: Effective Date: January 1, 2015. 

ADDRESSES: Inquiries may be mailed or 

delivered to Ronald Baumgarten, 

Director of Agricultural Affairs, Office of 

Agricultural Affairs, Office of the United 

States Trade Representative, 600 17th 

Street NW., Washington, DC 20508. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Ronald Baumgarten, Office of 

Agricultural Affairs, telephone: (202) 

395–6127 or facsimile: (202) 395–4579. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Chile: Pursuant to section 201 of the 

United States-Chile Free Trade 

Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 

108–77; 19 U.S.C. 3805 note), 

Presidential Proclamation No. 7746 of 

December 30, 2003 (68 FR 75789) 

implemented the Chile FTA on behalf of 

the United States and modified the HTS 

to reflect the tariff treatment provided 

for in the Chile FTA. 

Note 12(a) to subchapter XI of HTS 

chapter 99 provides that USTR is 

required to publish annually in the 

Federal Register a determination of the 

amount of Chile’s trade surplus, by 

volume, with all sources for goods in 

Harmonized System (HS) subheadings 

1701.11, 1701.12, 1701.91, 1701.99, 

1702.20, 1702.30, 1702.40, 1702.60, 

1702.90, 1806.10, 2101.12, 2101.20, and 

2106.90, except that Chile’s imports of 

goods classified under HS subheadings 

1702.40 and 1702.60 that qualify for 

preferential tariff treatment under the 

Chile FTA are not included in the 

calculation of Chile’s trade surplus. (HS 

subheading 1701.11 was reclassified as 

1701.13 and 1701.14 by Proclamation 

8771 of December 29, 2011, 77 FR 413.) 

Note 12(b) to subchapter XI of HTS 

chapter 99 provides duty-free treatment 

for certain sugar and syrup goods and 

sugar-containing products of Chile 

entered under subheading 9911.17.05 in 

an amount equal to the lesser of Chile’s 

trade surplus or the specific quantity set 

out in that note for that calendar year. 

U.S. Note 12(c) to subchapter XI of 

HTS chapter 99 provides preferential 

tariff treatment for certain sugar and 

syrup goods and sugar-containing 

products of Chile entered under 

subheading 9911.17.10 through 

9911.17.85 in an amount equal to the 

amount by which Chile’s trade surplus 

exceeds the specific quantity set out in 

that note for that calendar year. 

During calendar year (CY) 2013, the 

most recent year for which data is 

available, Chile’s imports of sugar and 

syrup goods and sugar-containing 

products described above exceeded its 

exports of those goods by 413,505 

metric tons according to data published 

by the Servicio Nacional de Aduana 

(Chile Customs). Based on this data, 

USTR determines that Chile’s trade 

surplus is negative. Therefore, in 

accordance with U.S. Note 12(b) and 

U.S. Note 12(c) to subchapter XI of HTS 

chapter 99, goods of Chile are not 

eligible to enter the United States dutyfree under subheading 9911.17.05 or at 

preferential tariff rates under 

subheading 9911.17.10 through 

9911.17.85 in CY 2015. 

Morocco: Pursuant to section 201 of 

the United States-Morocco Free Trade 

Agreement Implementation Act (Pub. L. 

108–302; 19 U.S.C. 3805 note), 

Presidential Proclamation No. 7971 of 

December 22, 2005 (70 FR 76651) 

implemented the Morocco FTA on 

behalf of the United States and modified 

the HTS to reflect the tariff treatment 

provided for in the Morocco FTA. 

Note 12(a) to subchapter XII of HTS 

chapter 99 provides that USTR is 

required to publish annually in the 

Federal Register a determination of the 

amount of Morocco’s trade surplus, by 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES