Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”) and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, notice is hereby given that, on February 1, 2012, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange” or “NYSE Arca”) 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 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
The Exchange proposes to amend the NYSE Arca Equities Fee Schedule (“Fee Schedule”) to increase the Investor Tier 1 credit for ETP Holders and Market Makers. The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange, the Commission's Public Reference Room, and www.nyse.com.
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 increase the Investor Tier 1 credit for ETP Holders and Market Makers. The credit is designed to attract trading interest to and promote liquidity on the Exchange. The Exchange does not propose to make any changes to the Investor Tier 2 credit.
Currently, the Investor Tier 1 allows customers to earn a credit of $0.0032 per share for executed orders that provide liquidity to the Book for Tape A, Tape B and Tape C securities when they meet all of the following criteria on a monthly basis:
- Maintain a ratio of cancelled orders to total orders of less than 30%. In calculating this ratio, the Exchange will exclude Immediate-or-Cancel orders, which are liquidity removing in nature.
- Maintain a ratio of executed liquidity adding volume to total volume of greater than 80%.
- Firms must add liquidity that represents 0.45% or more of the total US average daily consolidated share volume (“ADV”) per month (volume on days when the market closes early is excluded from the calculation of ADV).
For example, if US ADV is 8.5 billion shares in a given month, the minimum adding ADV requirement for Investor Tier 1 would be 38.25 million adding shares a day.
The Exchange proposes to amend the Investor Tier 1 credit so that each ETP Holder and Market Maker will receive a credit of $0.0033 per share for orders that provide liquidity to the Book when they meet the above criteria on a monthly basis.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”), in general, and Section 6(b)(4) of the Act, in particular, in that it is designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among its members and other persons using its facilities. The proposed change is equitably allocated and not unfairly discriminatory because it applies uniformly to all similarly situated ETP Holders and Market Makers that provide liquidity to the Exchange. The Exchange believes that the proposal also is reasonable and equitably allocated because it provides higher credits to ETP Holders and Market Makers that contribute to market quality by providing higher volumes of liquidity. The Exchange believes that increasing the credits will attract additional order flow and liquidity to the Exchange.
15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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 the 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 foregoing rule change is effective upon filing pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-4 thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other charge imposed by the NYSE Arca.
17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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.
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-2012-13 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-NYSEArca-2012-13. 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 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-NYSEArca-2012-13 and should be submitted on or before March 8, 2012.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-3671 Filed 2-15-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P