Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 25, 2017 / Notices 49429 

9See 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2). 10See 17 CFR 242.608(b)(3)(iii). 

1 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

2 17 CFR 242.608. 

3The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan 

approved by the Commission pursuant to Section 

11A of the Act and Rule 608 thereunder. See 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 17638 (March 

18, 1981), 22 S.E.C. Docket 484 (March 31, 1981). 

The full text of the OPRA Plan and a list of its 

fifteen participants are available at http://

www.opradata.com. The OPRA Plan provides for 

the collection and dissemination of last sale and 

quotation information on options that are traded on 

the participant exchanges. 

in the short term the Vendor that has 

had the benefit of the Enterprise Rate 

Nonpro Fee may reduce its distribution 

of OPRA data to Nonprofessional 

Subscribers and that these changes may 

therefore result in a decrease in OPRA’s 

annual revenues. In the longer term, 

OPRA anticipates that it is possible that 

the tiered Nonprofessional Subscriber 

fees may accomplish OPRA’s original 

expectation for the Enterprise Rate 

Nonpro Fee by providing an incentive 

for Vendors to increase the number of 

Nonprofessional Subscribers to whom 

they distribute OPRA data in view of the 

reduced fees in the higher tiers. 

The text of the amendment to the 

OPRA Plan is available at OPRA, the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room, 

the OPRA Web site at http://

opradata.com, and on the Commission’s 

Web site at www.sec.gov. 

(b) Implementation of the OPRA Plan 

Amendment 

Pursuant to paragraph (b)(3)(i) of Rule 

608 of Regulation NMS under the Act, 

OPRA designated this amendment as 

establishing or changing fees or other 

charges collected on behalf of all of the 

OPRA participant exchanges in 

connection with access to or use of 

OPRA facilities. In order to give persons 

subject to these fees advance notice of 

the changes, OPRA proposes that they 

go into effect on January 1, 2018. 

(c) Phases of Development and 

Implementation 

Not applicable. 

(d) Impact on Competition 

OPRA believes that the proposed 

amendment will impose no burdens on 

competition that are not justified in 

light of the purposes of the Act. 

(e) Written Understandings or 

Agreements Among the Plan 

Participants 

Not applicable. 

(f) Approval of the Proposed 

Amendment 

OPRA represents that the proposed 

amendments to the OPRA Fee Schedule 

were approved in accordance with the 

provisions of the OPRA Plan. 

The Commission may summarily 

abrogate the amendment within sixty 

days of its filing and require refiling and 

approval of the amendment by 

Commission order pursuant to Rule 

608(b)(2) under the Act 9 if it appears to 

the Commission that such action is 

necessary or appropriate in the public 

interest, for the protection of investors, 

or 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.10

II. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the OPRA Plan 

amendment 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 No. SR– 

OPRA–2017–02 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–OPRA–2017–02. 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 OPRA Plan 

amendment that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the OPRA 

Plan amendment 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 OPRA. 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–OPRA– 

2017–02 and should be submitted on or 

before November 15, 2017. 

By the Commission. 

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23115 Filed 10–24–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–81899; File No. SR–OPRA– 

2017–01] 

Options Price Reporting Authority; 

Notice of Filing and Immediate 

Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment 

To Modify the OPRA Fee Schedule To 

Amend the Professional Subscriber 

Device-Based Fee 

October 19, 2017. 

Pursuant to Section 11A of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 608 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on 

September 27, 2017, the Options Price 

Reporting Authority (‘‘OPRA’’) 

submitted to the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) 

an amendment to the Plan for Reporting 

of Consolidated Options Last Sale 

Reports and Quotation Information 

(‘‘OPRA Plan’’).3 The OPRA Plan 

amendment would implement changes 

to the Professional Subscriber DeviceBased Fee effective January 1, 2018. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

provide interested persons an 

opportunity to submit written 

comments on the OPRA Plan 

amendment. 

I. Description and Purpose of the Plan 

Amendment 

(a) Fee Schedule Amendments 

The purpose of the proposed Fee 

Schedule amendments is to specify 

OPRA’s Professional Subscriber DeviceBased Fee effective January 1, 2018 and 

make conforming changes in OPRA’s 

Enterprise Rate Professional Subscriber 

Fee. OPRA’s Enterprise Rate 

Professional Subscriber Fee is available 

to those Professional Subscribers that 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
49430 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 25, 2017 / Notices 

4OPRA’s Enterprise Rate is based on the number 

of a Professional Subscriber’s U.S. registered 

representatives and independent investment 

advisers who contract with the Subscriber to 

provide advisory services to the Subscriber’s 

customers. 

5See footnote 2 in the OPRA Fee Schedule and 

OPRA’s Policies with respect to Device-based Fees. 

6The year 2015 was an exception: For 2015, 

OPRA implemented an increase of $1.50 in its 

Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee, because 

during 2015 one of OPRA’s member exchanges 

initiated after-hours trading, causing OPRA to incur 

additional expenses associated with data 

dissemination during expanded trading hours. 

OPRA implemented $1.00/month increases in its 

Professional Subscriber Device-Based Fee for each 

of the years 2008–2014 and for the years 2016 and 

2017. See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 

72826, 79 FR 48777 (August 18, 2014) (File No. SR– 

OPRA–2014–06), 77585, 81 FR 22668 (April 18, 

2016) (File No. SR–OPRA–2015–02), and 79152, 81 

FR 75462 (October 31, 2016) (File No. SR–OPRA– 

2016–01). 

7See 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2). 

8See 17 CFR 242.608(b)(3)(iii). 

elect that rate in place of the regular 

OPRA device-based fees.4

Specifically, it is proposed, effective 

January 1, 2018: To increase the current 

$30.50 monthly per device fee by $1.00; 

to increase the Enterprise Rate, 

currently a monthly fee of $30.50 times 

the number of a Professional 

Subscriber’s U.S.-based registered 

representatives, to be a monthly fee of 

$31.50 times the number of the 

Subscriber’s U.S.-based registered 

representatives; and to make conforming 

changes to the minimum monthly fee 

under the Enterprise Rate. ‘‘Professional 

Subscribers’’ are persons who subscribe 

to OPRA data, do not qualify for the 

reduced fees charged to 

‘‘Nonprofessional Subscribers,’’ and do 

not redistribute the OPRA data to third 

parties. OPRA permits the counting of 

‘‘User IDs’’ as a surrogate for counting 

‘‘devices’’ for purposes of its 

Professional Subscriber Device-based 

Fees.5

The number of devices reported to 

OPRA as subject to Professional 

Subscriber Device-Based Fees has been 

steadily trending downwards over many 

years. In 2008, OPRA received devicebased fees, including enterprise fees, 

with respect to approximately 210,500 

devices. In 2015, OPRA received devicebased fees, including enterprise fees, 

with respect to approximately 141,300 

devices, and in 2016 OPRA received 

device-based fees, including enterprise 

fees, with respect to approximately 

137,100 devices. OPRA is receiving 

device-based fees in the third calendar 

quarter of 2017 with respect to 

approximately 128,500 devices—already 

a reduction of approximately 6.3% from 

2016. OPRA believes that this long-term 

downward trend is the result of the 

increasing use of trading algorithms and 

automated trading platforms and other 

fundamental changes in the securities 

industry, and OPRA anticipates that this 

trend is likely to continue. 

The proposed increase in the 

Professional Subscriber Device-Based 

Fees is consistent with OPRA’s past 

practice of making incremental $1.00 

increases in its monthly Professional 

Subscriber Device-Based Fees,6 and 

OPRA believes that OPRA’s Professional 

Subscribers should not be surprised by 

the increase. The proposed increase in 

the Professional Subscriber DeviceBased Fee—which is an increase of 

approximately 3.3%—will partially 

offset the impact on revenue of the 

reduction in the number of devices in 

2017 as compared to 2016. 

The text of the amendment to the 

OPRA Plan is available at OPRA, the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room, 

the OPRA Web site at http://

opradata.com, and on the Commission’s 

Web site at www.sec.gov. 

(b) Implementation of the OPRA Plan 

Amendment 

Pursuant to paragraph (b)(3)(i) of Rule 

608 of Regulation NMS under the Act, 

OPRA designated this amendment as 

establishing or changing fees or other 

charges collected on behalf of all of the 

OPRA participant exchanges in 

connection with access to or use of 

OPRA facilities. OPRA proposes to put 

the changes in the Professional 

Subscriber Device-Based Fee into effect 

as of January 1, 2018. Implementation of 

the changes in the Professional 

Subscriber Device-Based Fee on January 

1 is consistent with OPRA’s prior 

practice with respect to changes in this 

fee, and OPRA represents that this will 

provide ample opportunity to give 

persons subject to this fee advance 

notice of the change. 

(c) Phases of Development and 

Implementation 

Not applicable. 

(d) Impact on Competition 

OPRA believes that the proposed 

amendment will impose no burdens on 

competition that are not justified in 

light of the purposes of the Act. 

(e) Written Understanding or 

Agreements Among the Plan 

Participants 

Not applicable. 

(f) Approval of the Proposed 

Amendment 

OPRA represents that the proposed 

amendments to the OPRA Fee Schedule 

were approved in accordance with the 

provisions of the OPRA Plan. 

The Commission may summarily 

abrogate the amendment within sixty 

days of its filing and require refiling and 

approval of the amendment by 

Commission order pursuant to Rule 

608(b)(2) under the Act 7 if it appears to 

the Commission that such action is 

necessary or appropriate in the public 

interest, for the protection of investors, 

or 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.8

II. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the OPRA Plan 

amendment 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 No. SR– 

OPRA–2017–01 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–OPRA–2017–01. 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 OPRA Plan 

amendment that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the OPRA 

Plan amendment 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 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 205 / Wednesday, October 25, 2017 / Notices 49431 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

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

4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2). 

5The term ‘‘Member’’ is defined as ‘‘any 

registered broker or dealer that has been admitted 

to membership in the Exchange.’’ See Exchange 

Rule 1.5(n). 

6Fee code B is appended to displayed orders that 

add liquidity to BZX (Tape B) and is provided a 

standard rebate of $0.0025 per share. See the 

Exchange’s fee schedule available at http://

www.bats.com/us/equities/membership/fee_

schedule/bzx/. 

7Fee code V is appended to displayed orders that 

add liquidity to BZX (Tape A) and is provided a 

standard rebate of $0.0020 per share. Id. 

8Fee code Y is appended to displayed orders that 

add liquidity to BZX (Tape C) and is provided a 

standard rebate of $0.0020 per share. Id. 

9 ‘‘OCV’’, for purposes of equities pricing means 

the total equity and ETF options volume that clears 

in the Customer range at the Options Clearing 

Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) for the month for which the 

fees apply, excluding volume on any day that the 

Exchange experiences an Exchange System 

Disruption and on any day with a scheduled early 

market close, using the definition of Customer as 

provided under the Exchange’s fee schedule for 

BZX Options. See the Exchange’s fee schedule 

available at http://www.bats.com/us/equities/ 

membership/fee_schedule/bzx/. 

10 ‘‘Options Market Maker Add OCV’’ for 

purposes of equities pricing means ADAV resulting 

from Market Maker orders as a percentage of OCV, 

using the definitions of ADAV, Market Maker and 

OCV as provided under the Exchange’s fee schedule 

for BZX Options. Id. 

11 ‘‘ADV’’ means average daily volume calculated 

as the number of shares added or removed, 

combined, per day. Id. 

12 ‘‘TCV’’ means total consolidated volume 

calculated as the volume reported by all exchanges 

and trade reporting facilities to a consolidated 

transaction reporting plan for the month for which 

the fees apply. Id. 

13The Exchange initially filed the proposed rule 

change on September 29, 2017 (SR–BatsBZX–2017– 

64). On October 10, 2017, the Exchange withdrew 

SR–BatsBZX–2017–64 and submitted this filing. 

14 15 U.S.C. 78f. 

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

office of OPRA. 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–OPRA– 

2017–01 and should be submitted on or 

before November 15, 2017. 

By the Commission. 

Eduardo A. Aleman, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2017–23114 Filed 10–24–17; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–81906; File No. SR– 

BatsBZX–2017–67] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Bats 

BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing 

and Immediate Effectiveness of a 

Proposed Rule Change Related to 

Transaction Fees for the Exchange’s 

Equity Platform 

October 19, 2017. 

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 October 

10, 2017, Bats BZX Exchange, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BZX’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I, II and III 

below, which Items have been prepared 

by the Exchange. The Exchange has 

designated the proposed rule change as 

one establishing or changing a member 

due, fee, or other charge imposed by the 

Exchange under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) 

of the Act 3 and Rule 19b–4(f)(2) 

thereunder,4 which renders the 

proposed rule change effective upon 

filing with the Commission. 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 

The Exchange filed a proposal to 

amend the fee schedule applicable to 

Members 5 and non-Members of the 

Exchange pursuant to BZX Rules 15.1(a) 

and (c). 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available at the Exchange’s Web site 

at www.bats.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 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 parts 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 applicable to its equities 

trading platform (‘‘BZX Equities’’) to 

amend the criteria for Cross-Asset Add 

Volume Tier 3 under footnote 1. The 

Exchange currently offers four CrossAsset Add Volume tiers under footnote 

1 that provide an enhanced rebate 

ranging from $0.0028 to $0.0030 per 

share for orders that yield fee codes B,6

V,7 and Y 8 upon a Member achieving 

each tier’s required criteria. Currently, 

under Cross-Asset Add Volume Tier 3, 

Members receives an enhanced rebate of 

$0.0028 per share where they have on 

the Exchange’s equity options platform 

(‘‘BZX Options’’) an ADAV greater than 

or equal to 2.00% of average OCV.9 The 

Exchange now proposes to amend the 

criteria necessary to receive the 

enhanced rebate provided by CrossAsset Tier 3. As amended, Cross-Asset 

Add Volume Tier 3 would require that 

the Member have on BZX Options an 

Options Market Maker Add OCV 10

equal to or greater than 1.85% of 

average OCV and that Member must also 

add an ADV 11 equal to or greater than 

0.10% of TCV.12 The Exchange 

proposes to implement these 

amendments to its fee schedule 

immediately.13

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the objectives of Section 6 of the Act,14

in general, and furthers the objectives of 

Section 6(b)(4),15 in particular, as it is 

designed to provide for the equitable 

allocation of reasonable dues, fees and 

other charges among its Members and 

other persons using its facilities. The 

Exchange also notes that it operates in 

a highly-competitive market in which 

market participants can readily direct 

order flow to competing venues if they 

deem fee levels at a particular venue to 

be excessive. The proposed rule change 

reflects a competitive pricing structure 

designed to incent market participants 

to direct their order flow to the 

Exchange. The Exchange believes the 

rates remain competitive with those 

charged by other venues and, therefore, 

reasonable and equitably allocated to 

Members. 

Volume-based rebates and fees such 

as the proposed Cross-Asset Add 

Volume Tier have been widely adopted 

by equities and options exchanges and 

are equitable because they are open to 

all Members on an equal basis and 

provide additional benefits or discounts 

that are reasonably related to the value 

to an exchange’s market quality 

associated with higher levels of market 

activity, such as higher levels of 

liquidity provision and/or growth 


sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES