30 Day Notice

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2023 / Notices
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 has become
effective pursuant to Section
19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act.15 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: (i)
necessary or appropriate in the public
interest; (ii) for the protection of
investors; or (iii) otherwise in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
If the Commission takes such action, the
Commission shall institute proceedings
to determine whether the proposed rule
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:

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Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include file number SR–
GEMX–2023–19 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–GEMX–2023–19. 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 (https://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
15 15

U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).

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18:15 Dec 20, 2023

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
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. Do not include personal
identifiable information in submissions;
you should submit only information
that you wish to make available
publicly. We may redact in part or
withhold entirely from publication
submitted material that is obscene or
subject to copyright protection. All
submissions should refer to file number
SR–GEMX–2023–19 and should be
submitted on or before January 11, 2024.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.16
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023–28041 Filed 12–20–23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–222, OMB Control No.
3235–0233]

Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request; Extension: Form
2–E
Upon Written Request, Copies Available
From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549–2736
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the
‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget
(‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension of the
previously approved collection of
information discussed below.
Rule 609 (17 CFR 230.609) under the
Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a et
seq.) requires small business investment
companies and business development
companies that have engaged in
offerings of securities that are exempt
from registration pursuant to Regulation
E under the Securities Act of 1933 (17
CFR 230.601 to 610a) to report semiannually on Form 2–E (17 CFR 239.201)
the progress of the offering. The form
solicits information such as the dates an
16 17

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CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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offering commenced and was completed
(if completed), the number of shares
sold and still being offered, amounts
received in the offering, and expenses
and underwriting discounts incurred in
the offering. The information provided
on Form 2–E assists the staff in
monitoring the progress of the offering
and in determining whether the offering
has stayed within the limits set for an
offering exempt under Regulation E.
Although there have been no filings of
Form 2–E since 2017, for administrative
purposes the Commission estimates
that, on average, approximately one
respondent submits a Form 2–E filing
each year. The Commission further
estimates that this information
collection imposes an annual burden of
four hours and imposes no annual
external cost burden.
The collection of information under
Form 2–E is mandatory. The
information provided by the form will
not be kept confidential. An agency may
not conduct or sponsor, and a person is
not required to respond to, a collection
of information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
Written comments continue to be
invited on: (a) whether this collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden imposed by the collection
of information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including
through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information
under the PRA unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
The public may view background
documentation for this information
collection at the following website:
www.reginfo.gov. Find this particular
information collection by selecting
‘‘Currently under 30-day Review—Open
for Public Comments’’ or by using the
search function. Written comments and
recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent
within 30 days of publication of this
notice by January 22, 2024 to (i)
MBX.OMB.OIRA.SEC_desk_officer@
omb.eop.gov and (ii) David Bottom,
Director/Chief Information Officer,
Securities and Exchange Commission, c/
o John Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE,
Washington, DC 20549, or by sending an
email to: [email protected].

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88464

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 244 / Thursday, December 21, 2023 / Notices

Dated: December 18, 2023.
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.

Exchange has prepared summaries, set
forth in sections A, B, and C below, of
the most significant aspects of such
statements.

[FR Doc. 2023–28116 Filed 12–20–23; 8:45 am]

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

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–99187; File No. SR–
NASDAQ–2023–054]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The
Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of
Proposed Rule Change To Amend
Options 7, Section 3
December 15, 2023.

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 December
5, 2023, The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC
(‘‘NASDAQ’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘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.

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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
Nasdaq Options Market LLC’s (‘‘NOM’’)
Rules at Options 7, Section 3, Nasdaq
Options Market—Ports and Other
Services.3
The text of the proposed rule change
is available on the Exchange’s website at
https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/
rulebook/nasdaq/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
1 15

U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 The Exchange initially filed the proposed
pricing changes on November 28, 2023 (SR–
NASDAQ–2023–050). On December 5, 2023, the
Exchange withdrew that filing and submitted this
filing.
2 17

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1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend
Options 7, Section 3, Nasdaq Options
Market—Ports and Other Services.
Specifically, the Exchange proposes to
amend Options 7, Section 3(i) to
increase the per port, per month SQF
Port 4 and SQF Purge 5 Port Fees for all
ports over 20 ports (21 and above) from
$500 to $750.6
Today, NOM assesses SQF Ports and
SQF Purge Ports a per port, per month
fee based on a tiered fee schedule.
Specifically, NOM assesses an SQF Port
and an SQF Purge Port fee of $1,500 per
port, per month for the first 5 ports (1–
5), a $1,000 per port, per month fee for
the next 15 ports (6–20), and a $750 per
port, per month fee for all ports over 20
ports (21 and above).
The Exchange proposes to amend the
per port, per month fee for SQF Ports
and SQF Ports above 20 ports (21 and
above) from $500 to $750 per port, per
month. The Exchange is not amending
the SQF Port and SQF Purge Port fees
for ports below 20 ports. SQF Ports and
SQF Purge Ports over 20 ports are
unnecessary for a NOM Market Maker to
fulfill its regulatory requirements.7 A
NOM Market Maker requires only one
SQF Port to submit quotes in its
assigned options series into NOM. A
NOM Market Maker may submit all
quotes through one SQF Port and utilize
4 ‘‘Specialized Quote Feed’’ or ‘‘SQF’’ is an
interface that allows Market Makers to connect,
send, and receive messages related to quotes and
Immediate-or-Cancel Orders into and from the
Exchange. Features include the following: (1)
options symbol directory messages (e.g., underlying
instruments); (2) system event messages (e.g., start
of trading hours messages and start of opening); (3)
trading action messages (e.g., halts and resumes); (4)
execution messages; (5) quote messages; (6)
Immediate-or-Cancel Order messages; (7) risk
protection triggers and purge notifications; and (8)
opening imbalance messages. The SQF Purge
Interface only receives and notifies of purge
requests from the Market Maker. Market Makers
may only enter interest into SQF in their assigned
options series. Immediate-or-Cancel Orders entered
into SQF are not subject to the Order Price
Protection, Market Order Spread Protection, or Size
Limitation in Options 3, Section 15(a)(1) and (a)(2),
and (b)(2), respectively. See Options 3, Section
7(e)(1)(B).
5 SQF Purge is a specific port for the SQF
interface that only receives and notifies of purge
requests from the NOM Market Maker.
6 The Exchange also proposes a technical
amendment to remove an extraneous period in
Options 7, Section 3 in the second paragraph.
7 See NOM Options 2, Sections 4 and 5.

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one SQF Purge Port to view its purge
requests. While a NOM Market Maker
may elect to obtain multiple SQF Ports
and SQF Purge Ports to organize its
business,8 only one SQF Port and SQF
Purge Port is necessary for a NOM
Market Maker to fulfill its regulatory
quoting obligations.9
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that its
proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)
of the Act,10 in general, and furthers the
objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) and 6(b)(5)
of the Act,11 in particular, in that it
provides for the equitable allocation of
reasonable dues, fees, and other charges
among members and issuers and other
persons using any facility, and is not
designed to permit unfair
discrimination between customers,
issuers, brokers, or dealers.
The Exchange’s proposed pricing
change to increase fees for certain SQF
Ports and SQF Purge Ports is reasonable
in several respects. As a threshold
matter, the Exchange is subject to
significant competitive forces in the
market for options securities transaction
services that constrain its pricing
determinations in that market. The fact
that this market is competitive has long
been recognized by the courts. In
NetCoalition v. Securities and Exchange
Commission, the D.C. Circuit stated as
follows: ‘‘[n]o one disputes that
competition for order flow is ‘fierce.’
. . . As the SEC explained, ‘[i]n the U.S.
national market system, buyers and
sellers of securities, and the brokerdealers that act as their order-routing
agents, have a wide range of choices of
where to route orders for execution’;
[and] ‘no exchange can afford to take its
market share percentages for granted’
because ‘no exchange possesses a
monopoly, regulatory or otherwise, in
the execution of order flow from broker
dealers’. . . .’’ 12
The Commission and the courts have
repeatedly expressed their preference
8 For example, a NOM Market Maker may desire
to utilize multiple SQF Ports for accounting
purposes, to measure performance, for regulatory
reasons or other determinations that are specific to
that NOM Participant.
9 NOM Market Makers have various regulatory
requirements as provided for in Options 2, Section
4. Additionally, NOM Market Makers have certain
quoting requirements with respect to their assigned
options series as provided in Options 2, Section 5.
The Exchange notes that SQF Ports are the only
quoting protocol available on NOM and only NOM
Market Makers may utilize SQF Ports. The same is
true for SQF Purge Ports.
10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
11 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5).
12 NetCoalition v. SEC, 615 F.3d 525, 539 (D.C.
Cir. 2010) (quoting Securities Exchange Act Release
No. 59039 (December 2, 2008), 73 FR 74770, 74782–
83 (December 9, 2008) (SR–NYSEArca–2006–21)).

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