
[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 238 (Wednesday, December 13, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 86420-86425]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-27271]


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

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-99114; File No. SR-CboeBZX-2023-100]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc.; Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a 
Low Priced Stock Strike Price Interval Program

December 7, 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 4, 2023, Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (``Exchange'') filed with 
the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') the proposed 
rule change as described in Items I and II below, which Items have been 
prepared by the Exchange. The Exchange filed the proposal as a ``non-
controversial'' proposed rule change pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \3\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(6) thereunder.\4\ The

[[Page 86421]]

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.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or ``BZX Options'') 
proposes to adopt a Low Priced Stock Strike Price Interval Program. The 
text of the proposed rule change is provided in Exhibit 5.
    The text of the proposed rule change is also available on the 
Exchange's website (http://markets.cboe.com/us/equities/regulation/rule_filings/bzx/), at the Exchange's Office of the Secretary, 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 Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in 
sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant aspects 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 Rule 19.6. Miami International 
Securities Exchange, LLC (``MIAX'') recently received approval to amend 
its Rule 404 to implement a new strike interval program for stocks that 
are priced less than $2.50 and have an average daily trading volume of 
at least 1,000,000 shares per day for the 3 preceding calendar 
months.\5\ At this time, the Exchange proposes to adopt rules 
substantively identical to MIAX in proposed Rule 19.6, Interpretation 
and Policy .08 and amend Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .05(f) to 
harmonize the table within that Rule to the proposed rule text.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 98917 (November 13, 
2023), 88 FR 80361 (November 17, 2023) (SR-MIAX-2023-36) (Order 
Approving a Proposed Rule Change To Amend Exchange Rule 404, Series 
of Option Contracts Open for Trading).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Currently, Rule 19.6 describes the process and procedures for 
listing and trading series of options on the Exchange. Rule 19.6 
provides for a $2.50 Strike Price Program, where the Exchange may 
select up to 200 option classes on individual stocks for which the 
interval of strike prices will be $2.50 where the strike price is 
greater than $25 but less than $50.\6\ Rule 19.6, Interpretation and 
Policy .02 also provides for a $1 Strike Price Program, where the 
interval between strike prices of series of options on individual 
stocks may be $1.00 or greater provided the strike price is $50.00 or 
less, but not less than $1.00.\7\ Additionally, Rule 19.6, 
Interpretation and Policy .06 provides for a ``$0.50 Strike Program.'' 
The interval of strike prices of series of options on individual stocks 
may be $0.50 or greater beginning at $0.50 where the strike price is 
$5.50 or less, but only for options classes whose underlying security 
closed at or below $5.00 in its primary market on the previous trading 
day and which have national average daily volume that equals or exceeds 
1,000 contracts per day as determined by The Options Clearing 
Corporation (``OCC'') during the preceding three calendar months. The 
listing of $0.50 strike prices is limited to options classes overlying 
no more than 20 individual stocks as specifically designated by the 
Exchange. The Exchange may list $0.50 strike prices on any other option 
classes if those classes are specifically designated by other 
securities exchanges that employ a similar $0.50 Strike Program under 
their respective rules. A stock shall remain in the $0.50 Strike 
Program until otherwise designated by the Exchange.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ See Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .03(a).
    \7\ See Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .02(a).
    \8\ See Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .06.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange proposes to adopt a new strike interval program for 
stocks that are not in the aforementioned $0.50 Strike Program (or the 
Short Term Option Series Program) \9\ and that close below $2.50 and 
have an average daily trading volume of at least 1,000,000 shares per 
day for the three preceding calendar months. The $0.50 Strike Program 
considers stocks that have a closing price at or below $5.00 whereas 
the Exchange's proposal will consider stocks that have a closing price 
below $2.50. Currently, there is a subset of stocks that are not 
included in the $0.50 Strike Program as a result of the limitations of 
that program which provides that the listing of $0.50 strike prices is 
limited to option classes overlying no more than 20 individual stocks 
as specifically designated by the Exchange and requires a national 
average daily volume that equals or exceeds 1,000 contracts per day as 
determined by OCC during the preceding three calendar months.\10\ 
Therefore, the Exchange is proposing to implement a new strike interval 
program termed the ``Low Priced Stock Strike Price Interval Program.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .05.
    \10\ See Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .06.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To be eligible for the inclusion in the Low Priced Stock Strike 
Price Interval Program, an underlying stock must (1) close below $2.50 
in its primary market on the previous trading day; and (2) have an 
average daily trading volume of at least 1,000,000 shares per day for 
the three preceding calendar months. The Exchange notes that there is 
no limit to the number of classes that will be eligible for inclusion 
in the proposed program, provided, of course, that the underlying 
stocks satisfy both the price and average daily trading volume 
requirements of the proposed program.
    The Exchange also proposes that after a stock is added to the Low 
Priced Stock Strike Price Interval Program, the Exchange may list $0.50 
strike price intervals from $0.50 up to $2.00.\11\ For the purpose of 
adding strikes under the Low Priced Stock Strike Price Interval 
Program, the ``price of the underlying stock'' is measured in the same 
way as ``the price of the underlying security'' is measured as set 
forth in Section 3(g) of the Options Listing Procedures Plan 
(``OLPP''). Further, no additional series in $0.50 intervals may be 
listed if the underlying stock closes at or above $2.50 in its primary 
market. Additional series in $0.50 intervals may not be added until the 
underlying stock again closes below $2.50.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ While the Exchange may list new strikes on underlying 
stocks that meet the eligibility requirements of the new program, 
the Exchange will exercise its discretion and will not list strikes 
on underlying stocks the Exchange believes are subject to imminent 
delisting from their primary exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange's proposal addresses a gap in strike coverage for low 
priced stocks. The $0.50 Strike Program considers stocks that close 
below $5.00 and limits the number of option classes listed to no more 
than 20 individual stocks (provided that the open interest criteria is 
also satisfied). Whereas, the Exchange's proposal has a narrower focus, 
with respect to the underlying's stock price, and is targeted on those 
stocks that close below $2.50 and does not limit the number of stocks 
that may participate in the program (provided that the average daily 
trading volume is also satisfied). The Exchange does not believe that 
any market disruptions will be encountered with the addition of these 
new strikes. The Exchange

[[Page 86422]]

represents that it has the necessary capacity and surveillance programs 
in place to support and properly monitor trading in the proposed Low 
Priced Stock Strike Price Interval Program.
    The Exchange believes that the program's average daily trading 
volume requirement of 1,000,000 shares is a reasonable threshold to 
ensure adequate liquidity in eligible underlying stocks as it is 
substantially greater than the thresholds used for listing options on 
equities, American Depository Receipts (``ADRs''), and broad-based 
indexes. Specifically, underlying securities with respect to which put 
or call option contracts are approved for listing and trading on the 
Exchange must meet certain criteria as determined by the Exchange. One 
of those requirements is that trading volume (in all markets in which 
the underlying security is traded) has been at least 2,400,000 shares 
in the preceding 12 months.\12\ Rule 19.3(f) provides the criteria for 
listing options on ADRs if they meet certain criteria and guidelines 
set forth in Rule 19.3. One of the requirements is that the average 
daily trading volume for the security in the U.S. markets over the 
three months preceding the selection of the ADR for options trading is 
100,000 or more shares.\13\ Finally, the Exchange may trade options on 
a broad-based index pursuant to Rule 19b-4(e) of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``Act'') provided a number of conditions are 
satisfied. One of those conditions is that each component security that 
accounts for at least 1% of the weight of the index has an average 
daily trading volume of at least 90,000 shares during the last six-
month period.\14\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ See Rule 19.3(b)(4).
    \13\ See Rule 19.3(f)(3)(B).
    \14\ See Rule 29.3(b)(7).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Additionally, the Exchange proposes to amend the table in Rule 
19.6, Interpretation and Policy .05(f) to insert a new column to 
harmonize the Exchange's proposal to the strike intervals for Short 
Term Options Series as described in Rule 19.6, Interpretation and 
Policy .05. The table in Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .05(f) is 
intended to limit the intervals between strikes for multiply listed 
equity options within the Short Term Options Series program that have 
an expiration date more than twenty-one days from the listing date. 
Specifically, the table defines the applicable strike intervals for 
options on underlying stocks given the closing price on the primary 
market on the last day of the calendar quarter, and a corresponding 
average daily volume of the total number of options contracts traded in 
a given security for the applicable calendar quarter divided by the 
number of trading days in the applicable calendar quarter.\15\ However, 
the lowest share price column is titled ``less than $25.'' The Exchange 
now proposes to insert a column titled ``Less than $2.50'' and to set 
the strike interval at $0.50 for each average daily volume tier 
represented in the table. Also, the Exchange proposes to amend the 
heading of the column currently titled ``Less than $25,'' to ``$2.50 to 
less than $25'' as a result of the adoption of the new proposed column, 
``Less than $2.50.'' The Exchange believes this change will remove any 
potential conflict between the strike intervals under the Short Term 
Options Series Program and those described herein under the Exchange's 
proposal.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \15\ See Securities Exchange Release Act No. 91455 (April 1, 
2021), 86 FR 18099 (April 7, 2021) (SR-CboeBZX-2021-022) (Notice of 
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change To 
Amend Rule 19.6 (Series of Options Contracts Open for Trading) in 
Connection With Limiting the Number of Strikes Listed for Short Term 
Option Series Which Are Available for Quoting and Trading on the 
Exchange).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange recognizes that its proposal will introduce new 
strikes in the marketplace and further acknowledges that there has been 
significant effort to curb strike proliferation. For example, the 
Exchange filed a proposal focused on the removal, and prevention of the 
listing, of strikes which are extraneous and do not add value to the 
marketplace (the ``Strike Interval Proposal'').\16\ The Strike Interval 
Proposal was intended to remove repetitive and unnecessary strike 
listings across the weekly expiries. Specifically, the Strike Interval 
Proposal aimed to reduce the density of strike intervals that would be 
listed in the later weeks, by creating limitations for intervals 
between strikes which have an expiration date more than twenty-one days 
from the listing date.\17\ The Strike Interval Proposal took into 
account OCC customer-cleared volume, using it as an appropriate proxy 
for demand. The Strike Interval Proposal was designed to maintain 
strikes where there was customer demand and eliminate strikes where 
there was not demand. At the time of its proposal, the Exchange 
estimated that the Strike Interval Proposal would reduce the number of 
listed strikes in the options market by approximately 81,000 
strikes.\18\ The Exchange proposes to amend the table to define the 
strike interval at $0.50 for underlying stocks with a share price of 
less than $2.50. The Exchange believes this amendment will harmonize 
the Exchange's proposal with the Strike Interval Proposal described 
above.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ Id.
    \17\ Id.
    \18\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange recognizes that its proposal will moderately increase 
the total number of option series available on the Exchange. However, 
the Exchange's proposal is designed to only add strikes where there is 
investor demand \19\ which will improve market quality. Under the 
requirements for the Low Priced Stock Strike Price Interval Program as 
described herein, the Exchange determined that as of August 9, 2023, 
106 symbols met the proposed criteria. Of those symbols, the Exchange 
notes that 36 were in the $1 Strike Price Interval Program with $1.00 
and $2.00 strikes listed. Under the Exchange's proposal, the $0.50 and 
$1.50 strikes for these symbols would be added for the current 
expiration terms. The remaining 70 symbols eligible under the proposal 
would have $0.50, $1.00, $1.50 and $2.00 strikes added to their current 
expiration terms. Therefore, the Exchange notes that for the 106 
symbols eligible for the Low Priced Stock Strike Price Interval 
Program, a total of approximately 3,250 options would be added. As of 
August 9, 2023, the Exchange listed 1,106,550 options, and therefore, 
the additional options that would be listed under this proposal would 
represent a relatively minor increase of 0.294% in the number of 
options listed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ See proposed Rule 19.6, Interpretation and Policy .08(a), 
which requires that an underlying stock must (1) close below $2.50 
in its primary market on the previous trading day; and (2) have an 
average daily trading volume of at least 1,000,000 shares per day 
for the three preceding calendar months.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange does not believe that its proposal contravenes any 
previous efforts to curtail unnecessary strikes. The Exchange's 
proposal is targeted to only underlying stocks that close at less than 
$2.50 and that also meet the average daily trading volume requirement. 
Additionally, because the strike increment is $0.50 there are only a 
total of four strikes that may be listed under the program ($0.50, 
$1.00, $1.50, and $2.00) for an eligible underlying stock. Finally, if 
an eligible underlying stock is in another program (e.g., the $0.50 
Strike Program or the $1 Strike Price Interval Program) the number of 
strikes that may be added is further reduced if there are pre-existing 
strikes as part of another strike listing program. Therefore, the 
Exchange does not believe that it will list any unnecessary or 
repetitive strikes as part of its program, and that the strikes that 
will be listed will improve market quality and satisfy investor demand.

[[Page 86423]]

    The Exchange further believes that the Options Price Reporting 
Authority (``OPRA''), has the necessary systems capacity to handle any 
additional messaging traffic associated with this proposed rule change. 
The Exchange also believes that Members will not have a capacity issue 
as a result of the proposed rule change. Finally, the Exchange believes 
that the additional options will serve to increase liquidity, provide 
additional trading and hedging opportunities for all market 
participants, and improve market quality.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to the 
Exchange and, in particular, the requirements of Section 6(b) of the 
Act.\20\ Specifically, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change 
is consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) \21\ requirements that the rules 
of an 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 regulating, 
clearing, settling, processing information with respect to, and 
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. 
Additionally, the Exchange believes the proposed rule change is 
consistent with the Section 6(b)(5) \22\ requirement that the rules of 
an exchange not be designed to permit unfair discrimination between 
customers, issuers, brokers, or dealers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \20\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \21\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
    \22\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In particular, the Exchange believes its proposal promotes just and 
equitable principles of trade and removes impediments to and perfects 
the mechanisms of a free and open market and a national market system 
as the Exchange has identified a subset of stocks that are trading 
under $2.50 and do not have meaningful strikes available. For example, 
on August 9, 2023, symbol SOND closed at $0.50 and had open interest of 
over 44,000 contracts and an average daily trading volume in the 
underlying stock of over 1,900,000 shares for the three preceding 
calendar months.\23\ Currently the lowest strike listed is for $2.50, 
making the lowest strike 400% away from the closing stock price. 
Another symbol, CTXR, closed at $0.92 on August 9, 2023, and had open 
interest of 63,000 contracts and an average daily trading volume in the 
underlying stock of over 1,900,000 shares for the three preceding 
calendar months.\24\ Similarly, the lowest strike listed is for $2.50, 
making the lowest strike more than 170% away from the closing stock 
price. Currently, such products have no at-the-money options, as well 
as no in-the-money calls or out-of-the-money puts. The Exchange's 
proposal will provide additional strikes in $0.50 increments from $0.50 
up to $2.00 to provide more meaningful trading and hedging 
opportunities for this subset of stocks. Given the increased 
granularity of strikes as proposed under the Exchange's proposal out-
of-the-money puts and in-the-money calls will be created. The Exchange 
believes this will allow market participants to tailor their investment 
and hedging needs more effectively.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ See Yahoo! Finance, https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/SOND/history?p=SOND (last visited August 10, 2023).
    \24\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes its proposal promotes just and equitable 
principles of trade and removes impediments to and perfects the 
mechanisms of a free and open market and a national market system and, 
in general, protects investors and the public interest by adding 
strikes that improves market quality and satisfies investor demand. The 
Exchange does not believe that the number of strikes that will be added 
under the program will negatively impact the market. Additionally, the 
proposal does not run counter to any previous efforts to curb strike 
proliferation as those efforts focused on the removal and prevention of 
extraneous strikes where there was no investor demand. The Exchange's 
proposal requires the satisfaction of an average daily trading volume 
threshold in addition to the underlying stock closing at a price below 
$2.50 to be eligible for the program. The Exchange believes that the 
average daily trading volume threshold of the program ensures that only 
strikes with investor demand will be listed and fills a gap in strike 
interval coverage as described above. Further, being that the strike 
interval is $0.50, there are only a maximum of four strikes that may be 
added ($0.50, $1.00, $1.50, and $2.00). Therefore, the Exchange does 
not believe that its proposal will undermine any previous efforts to 
eliminate repetitive and unnecessary strikes in any fashion.
    The Exchange believes that the proposed program's average daily 
trading volume threshold promotes just and equitable principles of 
trade and removes impediments to and perfects the mechanisms of a free 
and open market and a national market system and, in general, protects 
investors and the public interest as it is designed to permit only 
those stocks with demonstrably high levels of trading activity to 
participate in the program. The Exchange notes that the proposed 
program's average daily trading volume requirement is substantially 
greater than the average daily trading requirement currently in place 
on the Exchange for options on equity underlyings,\25\ ADRs,\26\ and 
broad-based indexes.\27\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ See supra note 12.
    \26\ See supra note 13.
    \27\ See supra note 14.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange also believes the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b)(1) of the Act,\28\ which provides that the Exchange 
be organized and have the capacity to be able to carry out the purposes 
of the Act and to enforce compliance by the Exchange's Members and 
persons associated with its Members with the Act, the rules and 
regulations thereunder, and the rules of the Exchange. The proposed 
rule change allows the Exchange to respond to customer demand to 
provide meaningful strikes for low priced stocks. The Exchange does not 
believe that the proposed rule would create any capacity issue or 
negatively affect market functionality. Additionally, the Exchange 
represents that it has the necessary systems capacity to support the 
new options series and handle additional messaging traffic associated 
with this proposed rule change. The Exchange also believes that its 
Members will not experience any capacity issues as a result of this 
proposal. In addition, the Exchange represents that it believes that 
additional strikes for low priced stocks will serve to increase 
liquidity available as well as improve price efficiency by providing 
more trading opportunities for all market participants. The Exchange 
believes that the proposed rule change will benefit investors by giving 
them increased opportunities to execute their investment and hedging 
decisions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \28\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Finally, the Exchange believes its proposal is designed to prevent 
fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices as options may only be 
listed on underlyings that satisfy the listing requirements of the 
Exchange as described in 19.3. Specifically, Rule 19.3(a) requires that 
underlying securities for which put or call option contracts are 
approved for listing and trading on the Exchange must meet the

[[Page 86424]]

following criteria: (1) the security must be registered with the 
Commission and be an ``NMS stock'' as defined in Rule 600 of Regulation 
NMS under the Act; (2) the security shall be characterized by a 
substantial number of outstanding shares that are widely held and 
actively traded. Additionally, Rule 19.3(b) provides that, subject to 
other factors the Exchange may consider, an underlying security will 
not be selected for options transactions unless: (1) there are a 
minimum of 7,000,000 shares of the underlying security which are owned 
by persons other than those required to report their stock holdings 
under Section 16(a) of the Act; (2) there are a minimum of 2,000 
holders of the underlying security; (3) the issuer is in compliance 
with any applicable requirements of the Act; and (4) trading volume (in 
all markets in which the underlying security is traded) has been at 
least 2,400,000 shares in the preceding 12 months. The Exchange's 
proposal does not impact the eligibility of an underlying stock to have 
options listed on it, but rather addresses only the listing of new 
additional option classes on an underlying listed on the Exchange in 
accordance with the Exchange's listings rules. As such, the Exchange 
believes that the listing requirements described in Rule 19.3 address 
potential concerns regarding possible manipulation. Additionally, in 
conjunction with the proposed average daily volume requirement 
described herein, the Exchange believes any possible market 
manipulation is further mitigated.

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. The Exchange does not 
believe that its proposed rule change will impose any burden on 
intramarket competition as the Rules of the Exchange apply equally to 
all Members and all Members may trade the new proposed strikes if they 
so choose. Specifically, the Exchange believes that investors and 
market participants will significantly benefit from the availability of 
finer strike price intervals for stocks priced below $2.50, which will 
allow them to tailor their investment and hedging needs more 
effectively. The Exchange's proposal is substantively identical to MIAX 
Interpretations and Policies .11 and .12 to Rule 404.
    The Exchange does not believe that its proposed rule change will 
impose any burden on intermarket competition, as nothing prevents other 
options exchanges from proposing similar rules to list and trade 
options on low priced stocks. Rather the Exchange believes that its 
proposal will promote intermarket competition, as the Exchange's 
proposal will result in additional opportunities for investors to 
achieve their investment and trading objectives, to the benefit of 
investors, market participants, and the marketplace in general.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on the 
proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \29\ and Rule 19b-
4(f)(6) \30\ thereunder, the Exchange has designated this proposal as 
one that effects a change that: (i) does not significantly affect the 
protection of investors or the public interest; (ii) does not impose 
any significant burden on competition; and (iii) by its terms, does not 
become operative for 30 days after the date of the filing, or such 
shorter time as the Commission may designate if consistent with the 
protection of investors and the public interest.\31\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \29\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \30\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
    \31\ In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6) requires a self-regulatory 
organization to give the Commission written notice of its intent to 
file the proposed rule change at least five business days prior to 
the date of filing of the proposed rule change, or such shorter time 
as designated by the Commission. The Exchange has satisfied this 
requirement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    A proposed rule change filed pursuant to Rule 19b-4(f)(6) under the 
Act normally does not become operative for 30 days after the date of 
its filing. However, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) \32\ permits the Commission 
to designate a shorter time if such action is consistent with the 
protection of investors and the public interest. The Exchange requested 
that the Commission waive the 30-day operative delay so that the 
proposal may become operative immediately upon filing. The Commission 
notes it has approved a proposed rule change substantially identical to 
the one proposed by the Exchange.\33\ The proposed change raises no 
novel legal or regulatory issues. Therefore, the Commission believes 
that waiver of the 30-day operative delay is consistent with the 
protection of investors and the public interest. Accordingly, the 
Commission hereby waives the 30-day operative delay and designates the 
proposed rule change operative upon filing.\34\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \32\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii).
    \33\ See supra note 5.
    \34\ For purposes only of waiving the 30-day operative delay, 
the Commission has also considered the proposed rule's impact on 
efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 
78c(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 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 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:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to [email protected]. Please include 
file number SR-CboeBZX-2023-100 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-CboeBZX-2023-100. 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 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

[[Page 86425]]

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-CboeBZX-2023-100 and should be submitted on or before January 3, 
2024.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\35\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \35\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12), (59).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-27271 Filed 12-12-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


