Document ID: SEC-2021-1070-0001
Agency: sec
Document Type: Notice
Title: Self-Regulatory Organizations; Proposed Rule Changes: Nasdaq PHLX, LLC
Posted Date: 2021-08-11T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 152 (Wednesday, August 11, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44096-44100]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17089]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-92585; File No. SR-Phlx-2021-39]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq PHLX LLC; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change to Amend Phlx's 
Options Regulatory Fee

August 5, 2021.
    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 July 30, 2021, Nasdaq PHLX LLC (``Phlx'' or ``Exchange'') filed 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission'') 
the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II, 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.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to amend Phlx's Pricing Schedule at Options 
7, Section 6, Part D related to the Options Regulatory Fee or ``ORF''.
    While the changes proposed herein are effective upon filing, the 
Exchange has designated the amendments become operative on October 1, 
2021.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's 
website at https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/rulebook/phlx/rules, 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 aspects of such 
statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    Currently, Phlx assesses an ORF of $0.0042 per contract side as 
specified in Phlx's Pricing Schedule at Options 7, Section 6, Part D. 
The Exchange proposes to waive its ORF from October 1, 2021 to January 
31, 2022, and then recommence the ORF on February 1, 2022.
    By way of background, the options industry has experienced 
extremely high options trading volumes and volatility. This historical 
anomaly of persistent increased options volumes has impacted Phlx's ORF 
collection which, in turn, has caused the Exchange to continue to 
revisit its financial forecast to reflect the sustained elevated 
options volumes and volatility. As the Exchange continues to monitor 
the amount of revenue collected from the ORF to ensure that our ORF 
collection, in combination with other regulatory fees and fines, does 
not exceed regulatory costs, the Exchange has found it difficult to 
determine when volumes will return to more normal levels. In order to 
avoid iterative rule changes to amend its ORF, the Exchange believes it 
is prudent to instead waive its ORF from October 1, 2021 to January 31, 
2022, to permit the Exchange to plan future forecasts without the need 
to account for any ORF collection during that timeframe. This proposal 
would ensure that revenue collected from the ORF, in combination with 
other regulatory fees and fines, would not exceed the Exchange's total 
regulatory costs. Phlx would recommence assessing its current ORF rate 
of $0.0042 per contract side as of February 1, 2022. Furthermore, prior 
to February 1, 2022, Phlx will examine its ORF rate to determine if the 
$0.0042 per contract side ORF is justified given the current volumes in 
2022 as well as the current Exchange regulatory expenses at that time. 
Phlx would file a proposed rule change to amend its per contract ORF if 
changes are necessary to ensure an equitable allocation of reasonable 
ORF, if e.g., the Exchange believes that the volumes Phlx experiences 
in the second half of 2021 are likely to persist throughout 2022. Of 
note, Phlx proposes to continue to operate with the ORF fee waived in 
January 2022 to allow its member organizations and other broker dealers 
time to align their systems for February 1, 2022, allowing for time 
after the holiday period which traditionally have year-end code freezes 
in place.
Collection of ORF
    Currently, Phlx assesses its ORF for each customer option 
transaction that is either: (1) Executed by a member organization \3\ 
on Phlx; or (2) cleared by a Phlx member organization at The Options 
Clearing Corporation (``OCC'') in the customer range,\4\ even if the 
transaction was executed by a non-member organization of Phlx, 
regardless of the exchange on which the transaction occurs.\5\
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    \3\ The term ``member organization'' means a corporation, 
partnership (general or limited), limited liability partnership, 
limited liability company, business trust or similar organization, 
transacting business as a broker or a dealer in securities and which 
has the status of a member organization by virtue of (i) admission 
to membership given to it by the Membership Department pursuant to 
the provisions of General 3, Sections 5 and 10 or the By-Laws or 
(ii) the transitional rules adopted by the Exchange pursuant to 
Section 6-4 of the By-Laws. References herein to officer or partner, 
when used in the context of a member organization, shall include any 
person holding a similar position in any organization other than a 
corporation or partnership that has the status of a member 
organization. See General 1, Section 1(17).
    \4\ Participants must record the appropriate account origin code 
on all orders at the time of entry of the order. The Exchange 
represents that it has surveillances in place to verify that member 
organizations mark orders with the correct account origin code.
    \5\ The Exchange uses reports from OCC when assessing and 
collecting the ORF.
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ORF Revenue and Monitoring of ORF
    The Exchange monitors the amount of revenue collected from the ORF 
to ensure that it, in combination with other

[[Page 44097]]

regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed regulatory costs. In 
determining whether an expense is considered a regulatory cost, the 
Exchange reviews all costs and makes determinations if there is a nexus 
between the expense and a regulatory function. The Exchange notes that 
fines collected by the Exchange in connection with a disciplinary 
matter offset ORF.
    Revenue generated from ORF, when combined with all of the 
Exchange's other regulatory fees and fines, is designed to recover a 
material portion of the regulatory costs to the Exchange of the 
supervision and regulation of member \6\ and member organization 
customer options business including performing routine surveillances, 
investigations, examinations, financial monitoring, and policy, 
rulemaking, interpretive, and enforcement activities. Regulatory costs 
include direct regulatory expenses and certain indirect expenses in 
support of the regulatory function. The direct expenses include in-
house and third-party service provider costs to support the day-to-day 
regulatory work such as surveillances, investigations and examinations. 
The indirect expenses include support from such areas as Office of the 
General Counsel, technology, and internal audit. Indirect expenses are 
estimated to be approximately 42% of the total regulatory costs for 
2021. Thus, direct expenses are estimated to be approximately 58% of 
total regulatory costs for 2021.
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    \6\ The term ``member'' means a permit holder which has not been 
terminated in accordance with the By-Laws and these Rules of the 
Exchange. A member is a natural person and must be a person 
associated with a member organization. Any references in the rules 
of the Exchange to the rights or obligations of an associated person 
or person associated with a member organization also includes a 
member. See General 1, Section 1(16).
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    The ORF is designed to recover a material portion of the costs to 
the Exchange of the supervision and regulation of its members and 
member organizations, including performing routine surveillances, 
investigations, examinations, financial monitoring, and policy, 
rulemaking, interpretive, and enforcement activities.
Proposal
    Based on the Exchange's most recent review, the Exchange proposes 
to waive ORF from October 1, 2021 to January 31, 2022, to help ensure 
that revenue collected from the ORF, in combination with other 
regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed the Exchange's total 
regulatory costs. Phlx would recommence assessing its current ORF rate 
of $0.0042 per contract side as of February 1, 2022. The Exchange 
issued an Options Trader Alert on July 2, 2021 indicating the proposed 
rate change for October 1, 2021.\7\
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    \7\ See Options Trader Alert 2021-41.
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    The proposed waiver is based on recent options volume which has 
remained at abnormally and unexpectedly high levels. Options volume in 
2021 remains significantly high when that volume is compared to 2019 
and 2020 options volume. For example, total options contract volume in 
November 2020 was 71% higher than the total options contract volume in 
November 2019.\8\ Below is industry data from OCC \9\ which illustrates 
the significant increase in volume during the fourth quarter of 2020.
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    \8\ See data from OCC at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201202005584/en/OCC-November-2020-Total-Volume-Up-71-Percent-From-a-Year-Ago.
    \9\ See data from OCC at: https://www.theocc.com/Market-Data/Market-Data-Reports/Volume-and-Open-Interest/Volume-by-Account-Type.

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             Volume                  October 2020        November 2020       December 2020          Q4 2020
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Total...........................         633,365,184         673,660,858         753,568,354       2,060,594,396
Customer........................         587,707,301         630,297,252         708,037,956       1,926,042,509
Total ADV.......................       28,789,326.55       33,683,042.90       34,253,107.00       32,196,787.44
Customer ADV....................       26,713,968.23       31,514,862.60       32,183,543.45       30,094,414.20
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[[Page 44098]]

    Below is industry data from OCC \10\ which illustrates the 
significant increase in volume from January 2021 through March 2021. 
The options volume in the first quarter of 2021 was higher than the 
fourth quarter of 2020. Also, April and May 2021 volumes remain 
significantly high as compared to 2020 options volume in general.
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    \10\ Id.

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                       Volume                            January 2021        February 2021        March 2021          April 2021           May 2021
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Total...............................................         838,339,790         823,412,827         898,653,388         711,388,828         718,368,993
Customer............................................         784,399,878         782,113,450         837,247,059         667,208,963         659,913,862
Total ADV...........................................       44,123,146.84       43,337,517.20       39,071,886.40       33,875,658.50       35,918,449.70
Customer ADV........................................       41,284,204.11       41,163,865.79       36,402,046.04       31,771,855.38       32,995,693.10
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    As a result of the historical anomaly created by these high options 
volumes, Phlx has no assurance that the Exchange's final costs for 2021 
will not differ materially from these expectations and prior practice, 
nor can the Exchange predict with certainty whether options volume will 
remain at the current level going forward. The Exchange notes however, 
that when combined with regulatory fees and fines, the revenue being 
generated utilizing the current ORF rate may result in revenue in 
excess of the Exchange's estimated regulatory costs for the year. 
Particularly, as noted above, the options market has seen a substantial 
increase in volume in 2021 as compared to 2020, due in large part to 
the continued extreme volatility in the marketplace as a result of the 
COVID-19 pandemic. This unprecedented spike in volatility resulted in 
significantly higher volume than was originally projected by the 
Exchange (thereby resulting in substantially higher ORF revenue than 
projected). The Exchange therefore proposes to waive ORF from October 
1, 2021 to January 31, 2022 to ensure it does not exceed its regulatory 
costs for 2021. Particularly, the Exchange believes that waiving ORF 
from October 1, 2021 to January 31, 2022 and considering all of the 
Exchange's other regulatory fees and fines would allow the Exchange to 
continue covering a material portion of its regulatory costs, while 
lessening the potential for generating excess revenue that may 
otherwise occur using the current rate.\11\
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    \11\ The Exchange notes that its regulatory responsibilities 
with respect to member compliance with options sales practice rules 
have largely been allocated to FINRA under a 17d-2 agreement. The 
ORF is not designed to cover the cost of that options sales practice 
regulation.
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    Phlx would recommence assessing its current ORF rate of $0.0042 per 
contract side as of February 1, 2022. Until October 1, 2021, the 
Exchange will continue to monitor the amount of revenue collected from 
the ORF to ensure that it, in combination with its other regulatory 
fees and fines, does not exceed regulatory costs. The Exchange would 
also continue monitoring the amount of revenue collected from the ORF 
when it recommences assessing ORF on February 1, 2022. If the Exchange 
determines regulatory revenues exceed regulatory costs, the Exchange 
will adjust the ORF by submitting a fee change filing to the Commission 
and notifying \12\ its member organizations via an Options Trader 
Alert.\13\
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    \12\ The Exchange will provide member organizations with such 
notice at least 30 calendar days prior to the effective date of the 
change.
    \13\ The Exchange notes that in connection with this proposal, 
it provided the Commission confidential details regarding the 
Exchange's projected regulatory revenue, including projected revenue 
from ORF, along with a projected regulatory expenses.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``Act'') and the rules and 
regulations thereunder applicable to the Exchange and, in particular, 
the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act.\14\ Specifically, the 
Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 
6(b)(4) of the Act,\15\ which provides that Exchange rules may provide 
for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other 
charges among its members, member organizations, and other persons 
using its facilities. Additionally, the Exchange believes the proposed 
rule change is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) \16\ requirement 
that the rules of an exchange not be designed to permit unfair 
discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.
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    \14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \15\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
    \16\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    The Exchange believes the proposed fee waiver is reasonable because 
customer transactions will be subject to no ORF from October 1, 2021 to 
January 31, 2022. Moreover, the proposed waiver is necessary, so the 
Exchange does not collect revenue in excess of its anticipated 
regulatory costs, in combination with other regulatory fees and fines, 
which is consistent with the Exchange's practices.
    The Exchange designed the ORF to generate revenues that would be 
less than the amount of the Exchange's regulatory costs to ensure that 
it, in combination with its other regulatory fees and fines, does not 
exceed regulatory costs, which is consistent with the view of the 
Commission that regulatory fees be used for regulatory purposes and not 
to support the Exchange's business operations. As discussed above, 
however, after review of its regulatory costs and regulatory revenues, 
which includes revenues from ORF and other regulatory fees and fines, 
the Exchange determined that absent a reduction in ORF, it may be 
collecting revenue in excess of its regulatory costs. Indeed, the 
Exchange notes that when considering the recent options volume, which 
included an increase in customer options transactions, it estimates the 
ORF may generate revenues that may cover more than the approximated 
Exchange's projected regulatory costs. As such, the Exchange believes 
it's reasonable and appropriate to waive ORF from October 1, 2021 to 
January 31, 2022 and recommence assessing ORF on February 1, 2022.
    The Exchange also believes the proposed fee change is equitable and 
not unfairly discriminatory as no member organization would be assessed 
an ORF from October 1, 2021 to January 31, 2022. While the Exchange has 
assessed and collected ORF from January through September, 2021, but 
will not collect ORF, with this proposal, from October 2021 through 
January 2022, the Exchange does not believe that it is unfairly 
discriminatory to not assess the ORF from October 2021 through January 
2022 because the ORF is designed and intended to recover a portion of 
the Exchange's regulatory costs without collecting in excess of those 
costs. Unexpectedly high and sustained customer volume has resulted in 
higher revenues from the ORF that, if not suspended, will likely result 
in over-collection of ORF, which would be inconsistent with the 
Exchange's prior representations and undertaking to not collect ORF in 
excess of regulatory expenses. Despite decreasing the

[[Page 44099]]

amount of the ORF on April 1, 2021, the Exchange did not decrease the 
amount of the ORF again in 2021 because it did not expect, based on its 
prior experience, that customer volume would remain abnormally high. 
Also, it is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory to recommence the 
assessment of the ORF on February 1, 2022 because assessing the ORF to 
each member organization for options transactions cleared by OCC in the 
customer range where the execution occurs on another exchange and is 
cleared by aa Phlx member organization is an equitable allocation of 
reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among its members and issuers 
and other persons using its facilities.\17\
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    \17\ If the OCC clearing member is a Phlx member organization, 
ORF is assessed and collected on all cleared customer contracts 
(after adjustment for CMTA); and (2) if the OCC clearing member is 
not a Phlx member organization, ORF is collected only on the cleared 
customer contracts executed at Phlx, taking into account any CMTA 
instructions which may result in collecting the ORF from a non-
member organization.
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    The Exchange believes recommencing the ORF on February 1, 2022 at 
the same rate, unless options volumes at that time warrant a proposed 
rule change, continues to ensure fairness by assessing higher fees to 
those member organizations that require more Exchange regulatory 
services based on the amount of customer options business they conduct. 
As noted in prior ORF rule changes which set the current ORF rate of 
$0.0042 per contract side, regulating customer trading activity is much 
more labor intensive and requires greater expenditure of human and 
technical resources than regulating non-customer trading activity, 
which tends to be more automated and less labor-intensive. For example, 
there are costs associated with main office and branch office 
examinations (e.g., staff expenses), as well as investigations into 
customer complaints and the terminations of registered persons.\18\
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    \18\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 91418 (March 26, 
2021), 86 FR 17254 (April 1, 2021) (SR-Phlx-2021-16) (Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend 
Phlx's Pricing Schedule at Options 7, Section 6, Part D To Reduce 
the Phlx Options Regulatory Fee). The Exchange also noted in this 
rule change that, ``As a result, the costs associated with 
administering the customer component of the Exchange's overall 
regulatory program are materially higher than the costs associated 
with administering the non-customer component (e.g., member 
organization proprietary transactions) of its regulatory program. 
Moreover, the Exchange notes that it has broad regulatory 
responsibilities with respect to activities of its member 
organizations, irrespective of where their transactions take place. 
Many of the Exchange's surveillance programs for customer trading 
activity may require the Exchange to look at activity across all 
markets, such as reviews related to position limit violations and 
manipulation. Indeed, the Exchange cannot effectively review for 
such conduct without looking at and evaluating activity regardless 
of where it transpires. In addition to its own surveillance 
programs, the Exchange also works with other SROs and exchanges on 
intermarket surveillance related issues. Through its participation 
in the Intermarket Surveillance Group (``ISG'') the Exchange shares 
information and coordinates inquiries and investigations with other 
exchanges designed to address potential intermarket manipulation and 
trading abuses. Accordingly, there is a strong nexus between the ORF 
and the Exchange's regulatory activities with respect to customer 
trading activity of its member organizations.'' See 86 FR 17256-7.
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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 not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange does not believe 
that this proposal creates an unnecessary or inappropriate intra-market 
or inter-market burden on competition for several reasons. First, ORF 
has been amended several times since its inception in 2009.\19\ For 
example, most recently on April 1, 2021, Phlx amended its ORF rate from 
$0.0050 to $0.0042 per contract side as of April 1, 2021. Member 
organizations who either executed a transaction on Phlx or cleared a 
transaction at OCC in the customer range would have been assessed a 
higher ORF for a transaction executed on Phlx on March 31, 2021 
($0.0050 per contract side) as compared to April 1, 2021 ($0.0042 per 
contract side). There have been other ORF amendments prior to 2021 
which have caused Phlx to assess different ORF rates to member 
organizations for different time periods causing member organizations 
to have paid different ORFs since 2009. Second, Phlx's regulatory costs 
have varied over time. For example, if Phlx received payment of a fine 
from a disciplinary action, that fine would offset regulatory costs and 
would cause Phlx to require less regulatory revenue for a particular 
period. The changing regulatory costs would impact the ORF assessed by 
Phlx to member organizations. In the past, the Exchange has amended ORF 
to be higher or lower,\20\ thereby impacting the amount paid by member 
organizations in a calendar year. Third, options markets assess ORF at 
different rates. For instance, today, Nasdaq MRX, LLC (``MRX'') 
assesses a lower ORF of $0.0004 per contract side.\21\ MRX has assessed 
this rate since February 1, 2019.\22\ Depending on where a customer 
order is executed, a member organization could be assessed a much 
different ORF. For example, in the case where a customer order is sent 
to Phlx and routed to MRX, and a non-member organization cleared that 
transaction, the Phlx ORF of $0.0042 would not be assessed to the 
member organization who executed the transaction or cleared the 
transaction, rather the MRX rate of $0.0004 per contract side would be 
assessed. In that same scenario presuming a non-member organization 
cleared the transaction, if the customer order could have executed on 
Phlx instead of routing away the member organization would have been 
assessed the Phlx ORF of $0.0042 per contract side. The customer, in 
that instance, would have no knowledge of where the order could be 
executed, as the liquidity profile of each exchange may differ at that 
exact moment. Therefore, member organizations could be assessed a 
different ORF on the same day on the same transaction based on routing 
decisions, and in those cases the member organization would continue to 
benefit from the regulatory program available on each market and 
discover where the liquidity is available, irrespective of any ORF rate 
differentials across markets.
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    \19\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 61133 (December 9, 
2009), 74 FR 66715 (December 16, 2009) (SR-Phlx-2009-100); 1529 
(February 17, 2010), 75 FR 8421 (February 24, 2010) (SR-Phlx-2010-
17); 62619 (July 30, 2010), 75 FR 47874 (August 9, 2010) (SR-Phlx-
2010-100); 63436 (December 6, 2010), 75 FR 77021 (December 10, 2010) 
(SR-Phlx-2010-166); 65897 (December 6, 2011), 76 FR 77277 (December 
12, 2011) (SR-Phlx-2011-163); 66664 (March 27, 2012), 77 FR 19743 
(April 2, 2012) (SR-Phlx-2012-36); 71569 (February 19, 2014), 79 FR 
10593 (February 25, 2014) (SR-Phlx-2014-12); 75749 (August 21, 
2015), 80 FR 52073 (August 27, 2017) (SR-Phlx-2015-71); 77032 
(February 2, 2016), 81 FR 6560 (February 8, 2016) (SR-Phlx-2016-04); 
and 79751 (January 6, 2017), 82 FR 3826 (January 12, 2017) (SR-Phlx-
2017-02); 81343 (August 8, 2017), 82 FR 37964 (August 14, 2017) (SR-
Phlx-2017-54); and 85125 (February 13, 2019), 84 FR 5171 (February 
20, 2019) (SR-Phlx-2019-01).
    \20\ Id.
    \21\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 85127 (February 
13, 2019), 84 FR 5173 (February 20, 2019) (SR-MRX-2019-03).
    \22\ Of note, prior to February 1, 2019, MRX assessed no ORF 
thereby creating a calendar year where member organizations were 
assessed no ORF for a period similar to what is proposed.
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    The Exchange believes recommencing the ORF on February 1, 2022 at 
the same rate, unless options volumes or the Exchange's regulatory 
expenses at that time warrant a proposed rule change, does not create 
an undue burden on competition because the ORF applies to all customer 
activity, thereby raising regulatory revenue to offset regulatory 
expenses. It also supplements the regulatory revenue derived from non-
customer activity. Recommencing the assessment of the current ORF does 
not create an unnecessary or inappropriate inter-market burden on 
competition

[[Page 44100]]

because it is a regulatory fee that supports regulation in furtherance 
of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange is obligated to ensure that 
the amount of regulatory revenue collected from the ORF, in combination 
with its other regulatory fees and fines, does not exceed regulatory 
costs.

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 is effective upon filing pursuant to 
Section 19(b)(3)(A) \23\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 
19b-4 \24\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other 
charge imposed by the Exchange.
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    \23\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \24\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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    At any time within 60 days of the filing of such 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. If the Commission 
takes such action, the Commission shall institute proceedings under 
Section 19(b)(2)(B) \25\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed 
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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    \25\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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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 email to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File No. SR-Phlx-2021-39 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 No. SR-Phlx-2021-39. 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 website (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 website 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. 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 No. SR-Phlx-2021-39, and should be submitted on or 
before September 1, 2021.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\26\
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    \26\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-17089 Filed 8-10-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P