Document ID: SEC-2011-0973-0001
Agency: sec
Document Type: Notice
Title: Self-Regulatory Organizations; Proposed Rule Changes: C2 Options Exchange, Inc.
Posted Date: 2011-07-12T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 133 (Tuesday, July 12, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 40964-40965]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-17383]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-64825; File No. SR-C2-2011-014]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change 
Relating to PULSe Fees

 July 6, 2011.
    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 July 1, 2011, C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated (the 
``Exchange'' or ``C2'') 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 this proposal as one establishing 
or changing a 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\ The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit 
comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
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    \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).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange is proposing to amend its Fees Schedule to extend a 
fee waiver related to the PULSe workstation and to adopt a limited fee 
waiver for new users of the PULSe workstation. The text of the proposed 
rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site (http://www.c2exchange.com), 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, Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The purpose of this proposed rule change is to extend a fee waiver 
related to the PULSe workstation and to adopt a limited fee waiver for 
new users of the PULSe workstation. By way of background, the PULSe 
workstation is a front-end order entry system designed for use with 
respect to orders that may be sent to the trading systems of C2. In 
addition to providing the capability to send orders to the C2 market, 
the PULSe workstation will also provide a user with the capability to 
send options orders to other U.S. options exchanges and stock orders to 
other U.S. stock exchanges through a PULSe Routing Intermediary.\5\
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    \5\ For a more detailed description of the PULSe workstation and 
its other functionalities, see, e.g., Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 63246 (November 4, 2010), 75 FR 69478 (November 12, 
2010) (SR-C2-2010-007).
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    The first purpose of this proposed rule change is to extend the 
waiver of the PULSe Routing Intermediary fee. Currently the Exchange 
has waived the Routing Intermediary fee through June 30, 2011. The 
Exchange is proposing to extend this waiver through September 30, 2011. 
Thus this fee will be assessed beginning October 1, 2011.

[[Page 40965]]

    The second purpose of this proposed rule change is to adopt a 
limited waiver for new users of the PULSe workstation. The Exchange 
currently charges a fee of $350 per month for the first 10 users of a 
Trading Permit Holder (``TPH'') and $100 per month for all subsequent 
users. TPHs may also make the workstation available to their customers, 
which may include non-broker dealer public customers and non-TPH broker 
dealers (referred to herein as ``non-TPHs''). For such non-TPH 
workstations, the Exchange currently charges a fee of $350 per month 
per workstation.\6\
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    \6\ In instances where two or more TPHs wish to make a PULSe 
workstation available to the same non-TPH customer, a fee reduction 
applies. Under the reduction, if two or more TPHs make the PULSe 
workstation available to the same non-TPH customer, then the monthly 
fee is reduced from $350 to $250 per workstation per TPH.
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    In order to give new users time to become familiar with and fully 
acclimated to the PULSe workstation functionality, the Exchange is 
proposing to adopt a fee waiver applicable to new PULSe workstation 
users. Specifically, the Exchange is proposing to waive the monthly 
workstation fees for the first month for the first new user of a TPH 
using the PULSe workstation. Similarly the Exchange is proposing to 
waive the monthly workstation fees for the first new user of a non-TPH 
using the PULSe workstation. The proposed fee waivers are based on C2's 
billing period, which is based on a calendar month (i.e., begins on the 
first day of each month and ends on the last day of each month). So, if 
a new user begins using the PULSe workstation on July 15th, the user's 
workstation fees would be waived from July 15th-July 31st. This new 
user fee waiver will be operative July 1, 2011.
2. Statutory Basis
    The proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the 
Act,\7\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of 
the Act,\8\ in particular, in that it is designed to provide for the 
equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among 
C2 Permit Holders in that the same fees and fee waivers are applicable 
to all Permit Holders that use the PULSe workstation. The Exchange also 
believes that the fee waivers will serve as an incentive for TPHs and 
their sponsored user customers to use the PULSe workstation as an 
additional trading tool on their trading desks.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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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 competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of purposes of the Act.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants or Others

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    The proposed rule change is designated by the Exchange as 
establishing or changing a due, fee, or other charge, thereby 
qualifying for effectiveness on filing pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act \9\ and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-4 
\10\ thereunder.
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \10\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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    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:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File Number SR-C2-2011-014 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-C2-2011-014. This file 
number should be included on the subject line if e-mail 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 
a.m. and 3 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-C2-2011-014 and should be 
submitted on or before August 2, 2011.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
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    \11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Cathy H. Ahn,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-17383 Filed 7-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P