Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”) and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, notice is hereby given that, on March 1, 2011, C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated (“C2” or the “Exchange”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II below, which Items have been prepared by C2. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
17 CFR 240.19b-4.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change
C2 Options Exchange, Incorporated (“C2” or “Exchange”) proposes to establish a revenue sharing program with Correlix, Inc. The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site ( http://www.cboe.org/legal ), at the Exchange's Office of the Secretary and at the Commission.
II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
In its filing with the Commission, C2 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. C2 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 Exchange is filing a proposed rule change to establish a revenue sharing program with Correlix. The Exchange has entered into an agreement with Correlix to provide to users of the Exchange real-time analytical tools to measure the latency of orders to and from its systems. Under the agreement, the Exchange will receive 30% of the total monthly subscription fees received by Correlix from parties who have contracted directly with Correlix to use their RaceTeam latency measurement service for the Exchange's systems. The Exchange will not bill or contract with any Correlix RaceTeam customer directly.
Pricing for the Correlix RaceTeam product for the Exchange varies depending on the number of unique acronyms and logons selected by the customer for monitoring by Correlix. For the Exchange, the fee will be an initial $1,500 monthly base fee for the first unique acronym monitored. For each additional unique acronym sought to be monitored, an additional monthly charge of $1,500 will be assessed. The monthly price for each unique acronym includes the monitoring of up to 25 Exchange logons associated with that particular acronym. Customers that wish to exceed 25 logons per-acronym for monitoring can purchase additional 25 logon blocks for an additional fee of $750 per month per acronym.
Under the program, Correlix will see an individualized unique Exchange-generated identifier that will allow Correlix RaceTeam to determine round trip order time, from the time the order reaches the Exchange extranet, through the Exchange matching engine, and back out of the Exchange extranet. The RaceTeam product offering does not measure latency outside of the Exchange extranet. The unique identifier serves as a technological information barrier so that the RaceTeam data collector will only be able to view data for Correlix RaceTeam subscriber firms related to latency. Correlix will not see subscriber's individual order detail such as security, price or size. Individual RaceTeam subscribers' logins will restrict access to only their own latency data. Correlix will see no specific information regarding the trading activity of non-subscribers. The Exchange believes that the above arrangement will provide users of its systems greater transparency into the processing of their trading activity and allow them to make more efficient trading decisions.
The product measures latency of orders whether the orders are rejected, executed or partially executed.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”), in general, and with Section 6(b)(5) of the Act in particular, in that the proposal is designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and coordination with persons engaged in regulating, clearing, settling, processing information with respect to, and facilitating transactions in securities, to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system, and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest. In particular, the proposal will provide greater transparency into trade and information processing and thus allow market participants to make better informed and more efficient trading decisions.
15 U.S.C. 78(f)(b)(5).
In addition, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the provisions of Section 6 of the Act in general, and with Section 6(b)(4) of the Act in particular, in that it provides for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges among C2 Trading Permit Holders and other persons using any facility or system which the Exchange operates or controls. In particular, the Exchange notes that the use of Correlix latency measurement services is entirely voluntary and made available on a non-discriminatory basis. In addition, the Exchange believes the proposed fees are equitable and reasonable in that they are charged uniformly to all market participants and are comparable to the fees charged by Correlix in connection with its revenue sharing programs with other exchanges.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
C2 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 Exchange has filed the proposed rule change pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act and Rule 19b-4(f)(6) thereunder. Because the proposed rule change does not: (i) Significantly affect the protection of investors or the public interest; (ii) impose any significant burden on competition; and (iii) become operative prior to 30 days from the date on which it was filed, or such shorter time as the Commission may designate, if consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest, the proposed rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) thereunder.
17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6) requires a self-regulatory organization to give the Commission written notice of its intent to file the proposed rule change at least five business days prior to the date of filing of the proposed rule change, or such shorter time as designated by the Commission. The Commission notes that the Exchange satisfied this five-day pre-filing requirement.
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-C2-2011-010 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-C2-2011-010. 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 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-C2-2011-010 and should be submitted on or before April 4, 2011.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.
Cathy H. Ahn,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-5720 Filed 3-11-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P