
[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9278-9279]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-3671]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-66378; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2012-13]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing 
and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Amending the NYSE 
Arca Equities Fee Schedule To Increase the Investor Tier 1 Credit for 
ETP Holders and Market Makers

February 10, 2012.
    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 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 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

[[Page 9279]]

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).\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 66115 (January 6, 
2012), 77 FR 1969 (January 12, 2012) (SR-NYSEArca-2011-101) (notice 
of filing and immediate effectiveness of a proposed rule change 
replacing numerical thresholds with percentage thresholds for the 
Investor Tiers' volume requirements).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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''),\4\ in general, and Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,\5\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \5\ 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) \6\ of the Act and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-
4 \7\ thereunder, because it establishes a due, fee, or other charge 
imposed by the NYSE Arca.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \7\ 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.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-3671 Filed 2-15-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


