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, 2019, NYSE American LLC (“NYSE American” or the “Exchange”) 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.
15 U.S.C. 78a.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to amend its NYSE American Equities Price List (“Price List”) and the NYSE American Options Fee Schedule (“Fee Schedule”) related to co-location services to make a ministerial change to reflect the name change of its affiliate Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc. and to correct a typographical error. The proposed change is available on the Exchange's website 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 Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend the Price List and Fee Schedule related to co-location services offered by the Exchange to make a ministerial change to reflect the name change of its affiliate Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc. (“CHX”) to NYSE Chicago, Inc. (“NYSE Chicago”) and to correct a typographical error.
The Exchange initially filed rule changes relating to its co-location services with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) in 2010. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62961 (September 21, 2010), 75 FR 59299 (September 27, 2010) (SR-NYSEAmex-2010-80). The Exchange operates a data center in Mahwah, New Jersey (the “data center”) from which it provides co-location services to Users. For purposes of the Exchange's co-location services, a “User” means any market participant that requests to receive co-location services directly from the Exchange. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76009 (September 29, 2015), 80 FR 60213 (October 5, 2015) (SR-NYSEMKT-2015-67). As specified in the Price List and Fee Schedule, a User that incurs co-location fees for a particular co-location service pursuant thereto would not be subject to co-location fees for the same co-location service charged by the Exchange's affiliates New York Stock Exchange LLC (“NYSE LLC”), NYSE Arca, Inc. (“NYSE Arca”) and NYSE National, Inc. (“NYSE National” and together, the “Affiliate SROs”). See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 70176 (August 13, 2013), 78 FR 50471 (August 19, 2013) (SR-NYSEMKT-2013-67).
On February 15, 2019, CHX changed its name to NYSE Chicago. In a non-substantive administrative change, the Exchange proposes to update General Note 4 related to co-location services as follows:
See Securities Exchange Release No. 84494 (October 26, 2018), 83 FR 54953 (November 1, 2018) (SR-CHX-2018-05).
General Note 4 describes the access to trading and execution systems and the connectivity to included data products which a User receives when it purchases access to the Liquidity Center Network (“LCN”) or internet protocol (“IP”) network, local area networks available in the data center. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 79728 (January 4, 2017), 82 FR 3035 (January 10, 2017) (SR-NYSEMKT-2016-126) (notice of filing and immediate effectiveness of proposed rule change amending the Exchange's Price List and Fee Schedule related to co-location services to increase LCN and IP network fees and add a description of access to trading and execution services and connectivity to included data products).
- Delete references to “Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc.” and “CHX” from the first paragraph of General Note 4, replacing them with references to “NYSE Chicago, Inc.” and “NYSE Chicago”; and
- In the table under Included Data Products, delete “Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX)” from the first line and add a line for “NYSE Chicago” in alphabetical order after NYSE Bonds.
In addition, in the third sentence of the first paragraph under “Connectivity to Third Party Data Feeds,” the Exchange proposes to correct a typographical error by replacing “Fees” with “Feeds.”
General
As is the case with all Exchange co-location arrangements, (i) neither a User nor any of the User's customers would be permitted to submit orders directly to the Exchange unless such User or customer is a member organization, a Sponsored Participant or an agent thereof (e.g., a service bureau providing order entry services); (ii) use of the co-location services proposed herein would be completely voluntary and available to all Users on a non-discriminatory basis; and (iii) a User would only incur one charge for the particular co-location service described herein, regardless of whether the User connects only to the Exchange or to the Exchange and one or more of the Affiliate SROs.
As is currently the case, Users that receive co-location services from the Exchange will not receive any means of access to the Exchange's trading and execution systems that is separate from, or superior to, that of other Users. In this regard, all orders sent to the Exchange enter the Exchange's trading and execution systems through the same order gateway, regardless of whether the sender is co-located in the data center or not. In addition, co-located Users do not receive any market data or data service product that is not available to all Users, although Users that receive co-location services normally would expect reduced latencies, as compared to Users that are not co-located, in sending orders to, and receiving market data from, the Exchange.
See 78 FR 50471, supra note 4, at 50471. NYSE, NYSE Arca and NYSE National have submitted substantially the same proposed rule change to propose the changes described herein. See SR-NYSE-2019-11, SR-NYSEArca-2019-11, and SR-NYSENat-2019-05.
The proposed change is not otherwise intended to address any other issues relating to co-location services and/or related fees, and the Exchange is not aware of any problems that Users 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, in general, and with Section 6(b)(1) in particular, in that it enables the Exchange to be so organized as to have the capacity to be able to carry out the purposes of the Exchange Act and to comply, and to enforce compliance by its exchange members and persons associated with its exchange members, with the provisions of the Exchange Act, the rules and regulations thereunder, and the rules of the Exchange.
15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(1).
The proposed rule change is a non-substantive change and does not impact the governance or ownership of the Exchange. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change would enable the Exchange to continue to be so organized as to have the capacity to carry out the purposes of the Exchange Act and comply and enforce compliance with the provisions of the Exchange Act by its members and persons associated with its members, because ensuring that the Price List and Fee Schedule accurately reflects the name change of its affiliate NYSE Chicago and correcting a typographical error would contribute to the orderly operation of the Exchange by adding clarity and transparency to such documents.
The Exchange also believes that the proposed change furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act because it 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 mechanisms of, a free and open market and a national market system and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest and because it is not designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.
The Exchange believes that the proposed change would remove impediments to, and perfect the mechanisms of, a free and open market and a national market system and, in general, protect investors and the public interest by ensuring that market participants can more easily navigate, understand and comply with the Price List and Fee Schedule. The Exchange believes that, by ensuring such documents accurately reflect the name change of its affiliate NYSE Chicago, the proposed change would reduce potential investor or market participant confusion by providing market participants with clarity as to what connectivity is included in the purchase of access to the LCN and IP network.
Similarly, correcting the typographical error in the third sentence of the first paragraph under “Connectivity to Third Party Data Feeds” would remove impediments to, and perfect the mechanisms of, a free and open market and a national market system and, in general, protect investors and the public interest because the change would clarify Exchange rules and alleviate any possible market participant confusion.
For the reasons above, the proposed changes do not unfairly discriminate between or among market participants that are otherwise capable of satisfying any applicable co-location fees, requirements, terms and conditions established from time to time by the Exchange.
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, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change will not impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act because it is ministerial in nature and is not designed to have any competitive impact, but rather to update references and correct a typographical error, thereby clarifying the Price List and Fee Schedule and alleviating any possible market participant confusion.
For the reasons described above, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change reflects this competitive environment.
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 has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and Rule 19b-4(f)(3) thereunder in that the proposed rule change is concerned solely with the administration of the Exchange.
17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(3).
At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule change, the Commission summarily may 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) of the Act to determine whether the proposed rule change should be approved or disapproved.
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-NYSEAMER-2019-02 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-NYSEAMER-2019-02. 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 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 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. 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-NYSEAMER-2019-02, and should be submitted on or before April 9, 2019.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-05086 Filed 3-18-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P