Document ID: SEC-2015-0574-0001
Agency: sec
Document Type: Notice
Title: Self-Regulatory Organizations; Proposed Rule Changes: NYSE Arca, Inc.
Posted Date: 2015-04-03T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 64 (Friday, April 3, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18269-18270]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-07620]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-74605; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2015-21]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Amending the NYSE 
Arca Equities Schedule of Fees and Charges for Exchange Services To 
Change the ETP Fee

March 30, 2015.
    Pursuant to section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (the ``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby 
given that, on March 19, 2015, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or 
``NYSE Arca'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, 
and III below, which Items have been prepared by the self-regulatory 
organization. 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\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
    \3\ 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 the NYSE Arca Equities Schedule of 
Fees and Charges for Exchange Services to change the ETP Fee. The text 
of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site at 
www.nyse.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 self-regulatory organization 
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 those 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 the 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to amend the Fee Schedule to change the name 
of the ``Monthly ETP Fee'' to ``ETP Fee'' and to cease to waive the ETP 
Fee by adding an ETP Fee of $15,000 per year. The Exchange proposes to 
implement the fee change on April 1, 2015.
    The Fee Schedule currently includes a Monthly ETP Fee charged to 
ETP Holders that the Exchange has waived since 2002.\4\
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    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 45680 (April 2, 
2002), 67 FR 17094 (April 9, 2002) (SR-PCX-2002-16) (the ``2002 
Filing''). NYSE Arca Equities Rule 1.1(m) defines ``ETP'' as an 
Equity Trading Permit issued by the Exchange for effecting approved 
securities transactions on the Exchange.
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    Beginning April 1, 2015, the Exchange proposes to change the name 
of the ``Monthly ETP Fee'' to the ``ETP Fee,'' and to set the ETP Fee 
at $15,000 per year per ETP Holder.\5\ The Fee Schedule would specify 
that each ETP Holder would be assessed the ETP Fee on a monthly basis 
for each month during which the ETP is held for any portion of the 
month. Billing would commence with the month of April 2015.
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    \5\ Pursuant to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 1.1(n), the term ``ETP 
Holder'' refers to a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, 
limited liability company or other organization in good standing 
that has been issued an ETP. An ETP Holder must be a registered 
broker or dealer pursuant to section 15 of the Act.
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    The Exchange believes it appropriate to charge the ETP Fee to fund 
the administrative and operating costs of the activity of the Exchange. 
The Exchange notes that the ETP Fee would be comparable to the 
analogous membership fees assessed by other markets. For example, The 
Nasdaq Stock Market, LLC (``Nasdaq'') assesses a membership fee of 
$3,000 per year, a trading rights fee of $1,000 per month and a fee of 
$500 per month per market participant identifier and market participant 
identifiers issued to a member.\6\ The Exchange's affiliate, the New 
York Stock Exchange (``NYSE'') assesses an annual fee of $50,000 for 
the first license held by a member

[[Page 18270]]

organization, and $15,000 for each additional license.\7\
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    \6\ See Nasdaq Rule 7001.
    \7\ See https://www.nyse.com/publicdocs/nyse/markets/nyse/NYSE_Price_List.pdf.
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    The proposed change is not otherwise intended to address any other 
issues, and the Exchange is not aware of any problems that ETP Holders 
would have in complying with the proposed change.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with section 6(b) of the Act,\8\ in general, and furthers the 
objectives of sections 6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5) of the Act,\9\ in 
particular, because it provides for the equitable allocation of 
reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among its members, issuers and 
other persons using its facilities and does not unfairly discriminate 
between customers, issuers, brokers or dealers. The Exchange believes 
that charging the ETP Fee is a reasonable and equitable method of 
ensuring that Exchange fees fund the administrative and operating costs 
of the activity of the Exchange. The Exchange because further believes 
that the proposal to charge an ETP Fee is equitable and not unfairly 
discriminatory because all similarly situated ETP Holders would be 
subject to the same ETP Fee and because access to the Exchange's market 
would continue to be offered on fair and nondiscriminatory terms.
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    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
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    For these reasons, the Exchange believes that the proposal is 
consistent with the Act.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    In accordance with section 6(b)(8) of the Act,\10\ the Exchange 
believes that the proposed rule change would not impose any burden on 
competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the 
purposes of the Act.
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    \10\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(8).
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    As discussed above, the Exchange's membership fees are comparable 
to the analogous membership fees of Nasdaq and the NYSE. In addition, 
membership fees are subject to competition from other exchanges. The 
Exchange 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, 
the Exchange 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. Because competitors are free to modify their own fees in 
response, and because market participants may readily adjust their 
order routing practices, the Exchange believes that the degree to which 
fee changes in this market may impose any burden on competition is 
extremely limited. As a result of all of these considerations, the 
Exchange does not believe that the proposed changes will impair the 
ability of ETP Holders 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 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 foregoing rule change is effective upon filing pursuant to 
section 19(b)(3)(A) \11\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 
19b-4 \12\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other 
charge imposed by the Exchange.
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    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \12\ 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) \13\ of the Act to determine whether the proposed 
rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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    \13\ 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 Number SR-NYSEArca-2015-21 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-NYSEArca-2015-21. 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 Section, 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 will also 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-
NYSEArca-2015-21 and should be submitted on or before April 24, 2015.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\14\
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    \14\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Brent J. Fields,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-07620 Filed 4-2-15; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P