
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 31 (Thursday, February 16, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10927-10931]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-03101]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-80011; File No. SR-ISEGemini-2016-17]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; ISE Gemini, LLC; Order Approving 
Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment Nos. 1 and 2, To Amend 
Various Rules in Connection With a System Migration to Nasdaq INET 
Technology

February 10, 2017.

I. Introduction

    On December 16, 2016, ISE Gemini, LLC (``ISE Gemini'' or 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``Commission''), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ a 
proposed rule change to amend various Exchange rules in connection with 
a system migration to Nasdaq, Inc. (``Nasdaq'') supported technology. 
The proposed rule change was published for comment in the Federal 
Register on December 29,

[[Page 10928]]

2016.\3\ On January 30, 2017, the Exchange filed Amendment No. 1 to the 
proposed rule change. On February 8, 2017, the Exchange filed Amendment 
No. 2 to the proposed rule change.\4\ The Commission received no 
comment letters on the proposed rule change. This order approves the 
proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment Nos. 1 and 2.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 79677 (December 22, 
2016), 81 FR 96114 (``Notice'').
    \4\ In Amendment No. 1, the Exchange made a minor correction to 
correct a cross-reference in proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d)(4). In 
Amendment No. 2, the Exchange revised proposed ISE Gemini Rule 
702(d)(2) to clarify how the system would handle Market Orders if an 
affected underlying is in a Limit or Straddle State. The Exchange 
also revised proposed Rule 714 to add a new subsection (b)(1)(iii) 
specifying that there will be three categories of options for 
Acceptable Trade Range. Because Amendment Nos. 1 and 2 do not 
materially alter the substance of the proposed rule change or raise 
unique or novel regulatory issues, they are not subject to notice 
and comment. Both amendments are available at: https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-isegemini-2016-17/isegemini201617.htm.
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II. Discussion and Commission Findings

    After careful review, the Commission finds that the proposed rule 
change, as modified by Amendment Nos. 1 and 2, is consistent with the 
requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder 
applicable to a national securities exchange.\5\ In particular, the 
Commission finds that the proposed rule change is consistent with 
Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,\6\ which requires, among other things, that 
the rules of a national securities exchange be 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 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. As noted above, the Commission 
received no comment letters regarding the proposed rule change.
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    \5\ In approving this proposed rule change, the Commission has 
considered the proposed rule's impact on efficiency, competition, 
and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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    The Exchange proposes to amend various Exchange rules to reflect 
the ISE Gemini system migration to a Nasdaq INET technology.\7\ In 
connection this system migration, as discussed below, the Exchange 
intends to adopt certain trading functionality currently utilized on 
Nasdaq Exchanges.\8\
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    \7\ INET is utilized across Nasdaq's markets, including The 
NASDAQ Options Market LLC (``NOM''), NASDAQ PHLX LLC (``Phlx''), and 
NASDAQ BX, Inc. (collectively, the ``Nasdaq Exchanges''). See 
Notice, supra note 3, at 96115.
    \8\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96115. The Exchange anticipates 
that it will begin implementation of the proposed rule changes in 
the first quarter of 2017. See Notice, supra note 3, at 96115. 
According to the Exchange, the system migration will be on a symbol 
by symbol basis. The Exchange will issue an alert to members in the 
form of an Options Trader Alert to provide notification of the 
symbols that will migrate and the relevant dates. See id. The 
Exchange has also separately filed a companion proposed rule change 
to amend the Exchange's opening process in connection with the 
system migration to INET technology. See Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 79679 (December 22, 2016), 81 FR 96062 (December 29, 
2016).
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A. Trading Halts

1. Cancellation of Quotes
    The Exchange proposes to amend ISE Gemini Rule 702 (Trading Halts) 
to conform the treatment of orders and quotes on the Exchange to Phlx 
Rule 1047(f). Specifically, the Exchange proposes to amend Rule 
702(a)(2) by providing that during a halt the Exchange will maintain 
existing orders on the book but not existing quotes. Pursuant to the 
revision, during the halt, the Exchange will accept orders and quotes 
and, for such orders and quotes, process cancels and modifications. 
Currently, the Exchange maintains existing orders and quotes during a 
trading halt. With respect to cancels and modifications during a 
trading halt, the Exchange represents that the current process on ISE 
Gemini will not change under the proposed rule change.\9\
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    \9\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96115.
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    The Exchange represents that its proposal to maintain existing 
orders on the book but not existing quotes during a halt on the 
Exchange would provide market participants with clarity as to the 
manner in which interest will be handled by the system.\10\ The 
Exchange believes that during a trading halt, the market may move and 
create risk to market participants with respect to resting 
interest.\11\ The Commission believes that that cancelling existing 
quotes during a trading halt would provide market participants the 
opportunity to update potentially stale quotes. Further, the Commission 
notes that the Exchange will process cancels and modifications to 
orders as well as quotes received during a halt. Finally, the 
Commission further notes that the proposed treatment of quotes during a 
halt is consistent with existing Phlx rule.\12\
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    \10\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96121.
    \11\ See id.
    \12\ See Phlx Rule 1047(f).
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2. Limit Up-Limit Down
    The Exchange proposes to replace existing ISE Gemini Rule 703A 
(Trading During Limit Up-Limit Down States in Underlying Securities) 
with proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d).\13\ Specifically, proposed ISE 
Gemini Rule 702(d) will provide that during a Limit State and Straddle 
State in the underlying NMS stock \14\ the Exchange will not open an 
affected option.\15\ However, provided the Exchange has opened an 
affected option for trading, the Exchange will: (i) Reject Market 
Orders \16\ and notify members of the reason for such rejection; \17\ 
(ii) continue to process Market Orders exposed at the NBBO pursuant to 
Supplementary Material. 02 to ISE Rule 1901 and pending in the system, 
and cancel such Market Orders if at the end of the exposure period the 
affected underlying is in a Limit or Straddle State; \18\ and (iii) 
elect Stop Orders if the condition is met, and, because such orders 
become Market Orders, cancel them back and notify members of the reason 
for such rejection.\19\ Moreover, when the security underlying an 
option class is in a Limit State or Straddle State, the Exchange will 
suspend the maximum quotation spread requirements for market maker 
quotes in ISE Gemini Rule 803(b)(4) and the continuous quotation 
requirements in ISE Gemini Rule 804(e).\20\ Additionally, the Exchange 
will not consider the time periods associated with Limit States and 
Straddle States

[[Page 10929]]

when evaluating whether a market maker has complied with its continuous 
quotation requirements in ISE Gemini Rule 804(e).\21\
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    \13\ The Exchange represents that proposed ISE Gemini Rule 
702(d) is similar to Phlx Rule 1047(d). See Notice, supra note 3, at 
96115.
    \14\ Proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d) states that capitalized 
terms used in Rule 702(d) shall have the same meaning as provided 
for in the Plan to Address Extraordinary Market Volatility Pursuant 
to Rule 608 of Regulation NMS, as it may be amended from time to 
time (the ``LULD Plan'').
    \15\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d)(1). The Exchange states 
that its rules do not currently address the opening rotation in the 
event that the underlying NMS stock is open but has entered into a 
Limit or Straddle State. See Notice, supra note 3, at 96116.
    \16\ See ISE Gemini Rule 715(a).
    \17\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d)(2).
    \18\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d)(2). If the affected 
underlying is no longer in a Limit or Straddle State after the 
exposure period, the Market Order will be processed with normal 
handling. See id. The Exchange currently cancels Market Orders 
pending in the system upon initiation of a Limit or Straddle State. 
See Notice, supra note 3, at 96116.
    \19\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d)(3). ISE Gemini 
currently does not elect Stop Orders that are pending in the system 
during a Limit or Straddle State. Under the proposal, the Exchange 
will elect Stop Orders that are pending in the system during a Limit 
or Straddle State, if conditions for such election are met; however, 
because such orders become Market Orders, they will be cancelled 
back to the member with a reason for such rejection. See Notice, 
supra note 3, at 96116.
    \20\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d)(4).
    \21\ See id. Proposed ISE Gemini Rule 703(d)(iv) is 
substantively identical to ISE Gemini Rule 703A(c). See Notice, 
supra note 3, at 96116.
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    The Commission believes that the proposed Rule 702(d) would provide 
certainty to market participants regarding the manner in which Limit 
up-Limit Down states would impact the opening process as well as Market 
Orders and Stop Orders. The Commission believes that the rejection of 
Market Orders (including elected Stop Orders) is reasonably designed to 
potentially prevent executions of un-priced orders during times of 
significant volatility.\22\ The Commission also notes that processing 
rather than cancelling existing Market Orders is reasonable because 
these Market Orders are only pending in the system if they are exposed 
at the NBBO pursuant to Supplementary Material .02 to ISE Gemini Rule 
1901.\23\ Further, the Exchange believes that electing Stop Orders that 
are pending in the system during a Limit or Straddle State, if 
conditions for such election are met, would provide market participants 
with the intended result.\24\ Lastly, the Commission notes that 
proposed ISE Gemini Rule 702(d)(4) is substantively identical to 
existing ISE Gemini Rule 703A(c), which is being deleted.
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    \22\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96121.
    \23\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96121-22.
    \24\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96122.
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3. Auction Handling During a Trading Halt
    The Exchange proposes to amend certain rules to account for the 
impact of a trading halt on the Exchange's auction mechanisms. First, 
the Exchange proposes to amend ISE Gemini Rule 723 (Price Improvement 
Mechanism for Crossing Transactions) regarding the manner in which a 
trading halt will impact an order entered into the Price Improvement 
Mechanism (``PIM''). Today, if a trading halt is initiated after an 
order is entered into the PIM, the Exchange terminates such auction and 
eligible interest is executed.\25\ The Exchange proposes to amend the 
current process by terminating the auction and not executing eligible 
interest when a trading halt occurs.\26\ Similarly, the Exchange also 
proposes to amend to ISE Gemini Rule 716 (Block Trades) to state that 
if a trading halt is initiated after an order is entered into the Block 
Order Mechanism, Facilitation Mechanism, or Solicited Order Mechanism, 
the Exchange will automatically terminate such auction without 
execution.\27\
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    \25\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96116.
    \26\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 723(d)(5).
    \27\ See proposed subsections (c)(3), (d)(3)(iv), and (e)(2)(iv) 
of ISE Gemini Rule 716. The Exchange represents that this proposed 
amendment represents the current process on ISE Gemini and is 
generally consistent with Phlx Rule 1047(c). See Notice, supra note 
3, at 96116.
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    The Exchange believes that its proposal to terminate the PIM 
auction, Block Order Mechanism, Facilitation Mechanism, and Solicited 
Order Mechanism and not execute eligible interest when a trading halt 
occurs will provide certainty to participants regarding how their 
interest will be handled.\28\ The Exchange believes that during a 
trading halt, the market may move and create risk to market 
participants with respect to resting interest.\29\ The Commission 
believes that the proposed rule provides transparency and clarity 
regarding the handling of these orders during a trading halt.
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    \28\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96122.
    \29\ See id.
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B. Market Order Spread Protection

    The Exchange proposes to amend ISE Gemini Rule 711 (Acceptance of 
Quotes and Orders) by adopting a new mandatory risk protection entitled 
Market Order Spread Protection.\30\ Pursuant to proposed ISE Gemini 
Rule 711(c), if the NBBO is wider than a preset threshold at the time a 
Market Order is received by the Exchange, the Exchange will reject the 
order. The Exchange will notify members of the threshold with a notice, 
and, thereafter, will notify members of any subsequent changes to the 
threshold.\31\ The Exchange represents that the Market Order Spread 
Protection will be the same for all options traded on the Exchange and 
is applicable to all members that submit Market Orders.\32\
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    \30\ The Exchange states that this mandatory feature is 
currently offered on NOM to protect Market Orders from being 
executed in very wide markets. See Notice, supra note 3, at 96116. 
See also NOM Rules at Chapter VI, Section 6(c).
    \31\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96117. The Exchange proposes 
to initially set the threshold to $5, similar to the threshold set 
on NOM. See id. The Exchange states that NOM set the differential at 
$5 to match the maximum bid/ask differential permitted for quotes on 
that exchange. See id. ISE Gemini also uses a similar $5 
differential. See id.
    \32\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96117.
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    The Exchange believes, and the Commission concurs, that the 
proposed Market Order Spread Protection would help mitigate risks 
associated with trading errors and help reduce the number of executions 
at dislocated prices.\33\ The Commission also notes that the protection 
is similar to a mandatory feature currently offered on NOM.\34\
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    \33\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96116, 96122.
    \34\ See NOM Rules at Chapter VI, Section 6(c).
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C. Acceptable Trade Range

    Today, ISE Gemini offers a Price Level Protection that places a 
limit on the number of price levels at which an incoming order or quote 
to sell (buy) would be executed automatically when there are no bids 
(offers) from other exchanges at any price for the options series.\35\ 
The Exchange proposes to replace the current Price Level Protection 
with Phlx's Acceptable Trade Range.\36\ The Exchange states that the 
proposed Acceptable Trade Range is a mechanism designed to prevent the 
system from experiencing dramatic price swings by preventing the market 
from moving beyond set thresholds.\37\ The system will calculate an 
Acceptable Trade Range to limit the range of prices at which an order 
or quote will be allowed to execute.\38\ The Acceptable Trade Range is 
calculated (upon receipt of a new order or quote) by taking the 
reference price, plus or minus a value to be determined by the Exchange 
(i.e., the reference price-(x) for sell orders/quotes and the reference 
price + (x) for buy orders).\39\ Upon receipt of a new order, the 
reference price is the National Best Bid (``NBB'') for sell orders/
quotes and the National Best Offer (``NBO'') for buy orders/quotes. If 
an order or quote reaches the outer limit of the Acceptable Trade Range 
(the ``Threshold Price'') without being fully executed, then any 
unexecuted balance will be cancelled.\40\ The Acceptable Trade Range 
will not available for all-or-none orders.\41\
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    \35\ See ISE Gemini Rule 714(b)(1).
    \36\ See Phlx Rule 1080(p). The Exchange states that the 
proposed Acceptable Trade Range will not include the posting period 
functionality available today on Phlx. See Notice, supra note 3, at 
96117. The Exchange will not post interest that exceeds the outer 
limit of the Acceptable Trade Range; rather the interest will be 
cancelled. See Notice, supra note 3, at 96119. Orders that do not 
exceed the outer limit of the Acceptable Trade Range will post to 
the order book and will reside on the order book at such price until 
they are either executed in full or cancelled by the member. See id. 
Unlike Phlx, ISE Gemini does not offer a general continuous re-
pricing mechanism. See id.
    \37\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96117.
    \38\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 714(b)(1)(i).
    \39\ The Exchange states that the Acceptable Trade Range 
settings are tied to the option premium. See Notice, supra note 3, 
at 96117, n.16. A table consisting of several steps based on the 
premium of an option will be displayed on the NASDAQTrader.com Web 
site and used to determine how far the market for a given option 
will be allowed to move. See Notice, supra note 3, at 96118. Updates 
to the table would be announced via an Exchange alert, generally the 
prior day. See id.
    \40\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 714(b)(1)(ii).
    \41\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 714(b)(1)(ii). Today, ISE 
Gemini's Price Level Protection rule is also not available for all-
or-none orders. See Notice, supra note 3, at 96117, n.17.

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[[Page 10930]]

    The Exchange represents that it will set the Acceptable Trade Range 
at levels to ensure that it is triggered infrequently.\42\ While the 
Acceptable Trade Range settings will be tied to the option premium, 
other factors will be considered when determining the exact 
settings.\43\ For example, the Exchange states that acceptable ranges 
may change if market-wide volatility is as high or if overall market 
liquidity is low based on historical trends.\44\ To ensure a well-
functioning market, the Exchange believes that different market 
conditions may require adjustments to the threshold amounts from time 
to time.\45\ Further, while the Acceptable Trade Range settings will 
generally be the same across all options traded on the Exchange, ISE 
Gemini proposes to set them separately based on characteristics of the 
underlying security.\46\ For example, the Exchange has generally 
observed that options subject to the Penny Pilot program quote with 
tighter spreads than options not subject to the Penny Pilot. 
Accordingly, the Exchange will set Acceptable Trade Ranges for three 
categories of options: (1) Penny Pilot Options trading in one cent 
increments for options trading at less than $3.00 and increments of 
five cents for options trading at $3.00 or more; (2) Penny Pilot 
Options trading in one-cent increments for all prices; and (3) Non-
Penny Pilot Options.\47\
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    \42\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96118.
    \43\ See id.
    \44\ See id.
    \45\ See id.
    \46\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96118.
    \47\ See proposed ISE Gemini Rule 714(b)(1)(iii).
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    The Exchange represents that the Acceptable Trade Range should 
prevent the system from experiencing dramatic price swings by 
preventing the market from moving beyond set thresholds.\48\ The 
Commission believes that the Acceptable Trade Range is reasonably 
designed to prevent executions of orders and quotes at prices that are 
significantly worse than the NBBO at time of an order's submission and 
may reduce the potential negative impacts of unanticipated volatility 
in individual options. Lastly, the Commission notes that the proposed 
Acceptable Trade Range is similar to an existing mechanism on Phlx.\49\
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    \48\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96122.
    \49\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96122; Phlx Rule 1080(p).
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D. PMM Order Handling and Opening Obligations

    The Exchange proposes to eliminate the Primary Market Maker 
(``PMM'') order handling and opening obligations in ISE Gemini Rule 
803(c).\50\ As described above, with the migration of ISE Gemini to the 
Nasdaq INET architecture, the Exchange is adopting the Acceptable Trade 
Range and opening rotation functionality currently offered on NOM and 
Phlx, which do not contain similar requirements for the PMMs as in ISE 
Gemini Rule 803(c).
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    \50\ ISE Gemini Rule 803(c) provides that, in addition to the 
obligations contained in Rule 803 for market makers generally, for 
options classes to which a market maker is the appointed PMM, PMM 
shall have the responsibility to: (1) As soon as practical, address 
Priority Customer Orders that are not automatically executed 
pursuant to Rule 714(b)(1) in a manner consistent with its 
obligations under Rule 803(b) by either (i) executing all or a 
portion of the order at a price that at least matches the NBBO and 
that improves upon the Exchange's best bid (in the case of a sell 
order) or the Exchange's best offer (in the case of a buy order); or 
(ii) releasing all or a portion of the order for execution against 
bids and offers on the Exchange; and (2) initiate trading in each 
series pursuant to Rule 701 (Trading Rotations).
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    The Exchange represents that PMMs' current obligations are no 
longer necessary due to the introduction of the Acceptable Trade Range 
and proposed changes to the Exchange's opening process.\51\ The 
Exchange states that its proposal to conform the Exchange's opening 
process to Phlx Rule 1017 will result in an opening initiated by the 
receipt of an appropriate number of valid width quotes by the PMM or 
Competitive Market Maker, instead of an opening process initiated by a 
PMM.\52\ Similarly, the Exchange believes the proposed Acceptable Trade 
Range functionality will continue to provide order protection to 
members without imposing any PMM obligations.\53\ The Exchange further 
represents that NOM and Phlx do not impose similar PMM order handling 
and opening obligations.\54\ Accordingly, the Commission believes that 
these changes are consistent with the Act.
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    \51\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96122. See also supra note 8.
    \52\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96119. See also supra note 8.
    \53\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96119. The Exchange states 
that Phlx does not currently have similar roles for a Specialist on 
its market. See id.
    \54\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96119.
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E. Back-Up PMM

    The Exchange proposes to amend Supplementary Material .03 to ISE 
Gemini Rule 803 to eliminate Back-Up PMMs. Today, any ISE Gemini member 
that is approved to act in the capacity of a PMM may voluntarily act as 
a Back-Up PMM in an options series in which it is quoting as a 
Competitive Market Maker (``CMM'').\55\ With the technology migration, 
the Exchange believes that a Back-Up PMM is no longer necessary because 
under INET the Exchange will not utilize the order handling obligations 
present on the Exchange today.\56\ The Exchange further represents that 
the proposed new opening process obviates the importance of such a role 
because it would no longer rely on a market maker to initiate the 
opening process.\57\ Accordingly, the Commission believes that these 
changes are consistent with the Act.
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    \55\ See ISE Gemini Rule 803, Supplementary Material .03.
    \56\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96119.
    \57\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96122. See also supra note 8.
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F. Market Maker Speed Bump

    The Exchange proposes to amend ISE Gemini Rule 804 (Market Maker 
Quotations) to establish default parameters for certain risk 
functionality. The Exchange currently offers a risk protection 
mechanism for market maker quotes that removes a member's quotes in an 
options class if a specified number of curtailment events occur during 
a set time period (``Market Maker Speed Bump'').\58\ In addition, the 
Exchange offers a market-wide risk protection that removes a market 
maker's quotes across all classes if a number of curtailment events 
occur (``Market-Wide Speed Bump'').\59\ ISE Gemini Rule 804(g) 
currently requires that market makers set curtailment parameters for 
both the Market Maker Speed Bump and the Market-Wide Speed Bump. Today, 
if a market maker does not set these parameters, for each Market Maker 
Speed Bump and the Market-Wide Speed Bump, the trading system rejects 
their quotes.\60\ With the technology migration, the Exchange proposes 
to provide default curtailment parameters, which will be determined by 
the Exchange and announced to members.\61\ The Commission believes that 
this change is consistent with the Act and notes that, although the 
Exchange will establish default curtailment settings, market makers 
will have discretion to set different curtailment settings appropriate 
for their trading and risk tolerance.
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    \58\ See ISE Gemini Rule 804(g)(1).
    \59\ See ISE Gemini Rule 804(g)(2). Market makers may request 
the Exchange to set the market wide parameter to apply to just ISE 
Gemini or across ISE Gemini and ISE. See id.
    \60\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96120.
    \61\ See id.
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G. Anti-Internalization

    The Exchange proposes to amend the Supplementary Material at .03 to 
ISE Gemini Rule 804 (Market Maker Quotations) to adopt an anti-
internalization rule. Today, ISE

[[Page 10931]]

Gemini's functionality prevents Immediate-or-Cancel (``IOC'') orders 
entered by a market maker from trading with the market maker's own 
quote.\62\ The Exchange proposes to replace this self-trade protection 
with anti-internalization functionality currently offered on Phlx.\63\ 
The Exchange proposes to provide that quotes and orders entered by 
market makers using the same member identifier will not be executed 
against quotes and orders entered on the opposite side of the market by 
the same market maker using the same member identifier. In such a case, 
the system will cancel the resting quote or order back to the entering 
party prior to execution. The proposed anti-internalization 
functionality will not apply in any auction. The Exchange states that 
this proposed functionality does not modify the duty of best execution 
owed to public customer orders.\64\
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    \62\ See id.
    \63\ See Phlx Rule 1080(p)(2).
    \64\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96120.
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    The Exchange represents that the proposal is designed to assist 
market makers in reducing trading costs from unwanted executions 
potentially resulting from the interaction of executable interest from 
the same firm performing the same market making function.\65\ The 
Commission believes that the proposed rule is reasonably designed to 
prevent the unwanted execution of quotes and orders entered by market 
makers using the same member identifier.
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    \65\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96123.
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H. Minimum Execution Quantity Orders

    The Exchange proposes to amend ISE Gemini Rule 715 (Types of 
Orders) to remove minimum quantity orders in subpart (q).\66\ The 
Exchange states that the utilization of minimum quantity orders by its 
members has been very limited, and therefore proposes to remove this 
order type.\67\ Furthermore, the Exchange proposes to remove two 
references to minimum quantity orders in Supplementary Material .02 to 
ISE Gemini Rule 713 and in Supplementary Material .04 to ISE Gemini 
Rule 717.
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    \66\ A Minimum Quantity Order is an order type that is available 
for partial execution only for a specified number of contracts or 
greater. A member may specify whether any subsequent executions of 
the order must also be for the specified number of contracts or 
greater, or if the balance may be executed as a regular order. If 
all executions are to be for a specified number of contracts or 
greater and the balance of the order after one or more partial 
execution(s) is less than the minimum, such balance is treated as 
all-or-none. See ISE Gemini Rule 715(q).
    \67\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96120.
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    The Exchange states that the removing the minimum quantity order 
type would simplify functionality available on the Exchange and reduce 
the complexity of its order types.\68\ The Exchange further represents 
that the utilization of minimum quantity orders by its members has been 
very limited and is currently being utilized to transact less than 1% 
of the Exchange's volume.\69\ Accordingly, the Commission believes it 
is appropriate for the Exchange to remove references to the minimum 
quantity order type.
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    \68\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96123.
    \69\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96120 n.35.
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I. Delay of Implementation of Directed Orders and Qualified Contingent 
Cross Orders

    Currently, ISE Gemini rules provide for the use of Directed Orders 
\70\ and Qualified Contingent Cross Orders.\71\ The Exchange proposes 
to amend ISE Gemini Rules 721 (Crossing Orders) and 811 (Directed 
Orders) to note that these functionalities will not be available as of 
a certain date in the first quarter of 2017 to be announced in a 
notice. The Exchange represents that it will recommence the Directed 
Orders and Qualified Contingent Cross functionalities on ISE Gemini 
within one year from the date of the filing of the proposed rule 
change. Otherwise, the Exchange will file a rule proposal with the 
Commission to remove these rules.
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    \70\ See ISE Gemini Rule 811.
    \71\ See ISE Gemini Rule 715(j).
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    The Exchange represents that it proposes to delay the 
implementation of the Directed Order and Qualified Contingent Cross 
Order functionalities on ISE Gemini to provide the Exchange additional 
time to rebuild the required technology on the new platform.\72\ The 
Exchange further represents that members have been given adequate 
notice of the implementation dates and that the Exchange will provide 
further notifications to members to ensure clarity about the delay of 
implementation of these functionalities.\73\ The Commission believes 
that the proposed rule change helps ensure clarity about the delay of 
implementation of this functionality.
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    \72\ See Notice, supra note 3, at 96123.
    \73\ See id.
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    For these reasons, the Commission believes that the proposed rule 
change, as modified by Amendment Nos. 1 and 2, is consistent with the 
Act.

IV. Conclusion

    It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the 
Act,\74\ that the proposed rule change (SR-ISEGemini-2016-17), as 
modified by Amendment Nos. 1 and 2, be, and hereby is, approved.
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    \74\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\75\
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    \75\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-03101 Filed 2-15-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


