2016-00252. Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Delay of Implementation of Kill Switch

January 5, 2016.

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 23, 2015, 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 and II 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.

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

The Exchange proposes to extend the implementation timeframe for adopting an optional Kill Switch protection.

The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site at http://nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com,, 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 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 purpose of the proposal is to extend the implementation of the timeframe to adopt a new risk protection, a Kill Switch, applicable to all NOM Participants. In its rule change adopting this new risk protection in Chapter VI, Section 6, the Exchange stated, “The Exchange proposes to implement this rule within ninety (90) days of the implementation date.” ^[3] The Exchange stated that it will issue an Options Trader Alert in advance to inform market participants of such date. At this time, the Exchange desires to extend the implementation of this rule change to 120 days from the operative date. The Exchange will announce the date of implementation by issuing an Options Trader Alert.

By way of background, the Kill Switch will allow NOM Participants to remove quotes and cancel open orders and prevent new order submission. The NASDAQ Options Kill Switch will be an optional tool that enables Participants to initiate a message(s) ^[4] to the System to: (i) Promptly remove quotes; and/or (ii) promptly cancel orders. Participants may submit a request to the System to remove/cancel quotes and/or orders based on certain identifiers on either a user or group level. Participants may elect to remove quotes and cancel orders by Exchange account, port, and/or badge or mnemonic (“Identifier”) or by a group (one or more Identifier combinations),^[5] which are provided by such Participant to the Exchange.^[6] Participants may not remove quotes/orders by symbol. The System will send an automated message to the Participant when a Kill Switch request has been processed by the Exchange's System.

If the Participant selects quotes to be cancelled utilizing the Kill Switch, the NOM Participant must send a message to the Exchange to request the removal of all quotes requested for the certain specified Identifier(s). The NOM Participant will be unable to enter any additional quotes for the affected Identifier(s) until re-entry has been enabled pursuant to proposed section (d)(iii).^[7] If the Participant selects orders to be cancelled utilizing the Kill Switch, the NOM Participant must send a message to the Exchange to request the cancellation of all orders requested for the certain specified Identifier(s). The NOM Participant will be unable to enter additional orders for the affected Identifier(s) until re-entry has been enabled pursuant to section (d)(iii). The NOM Participant will be unable to enter additional quotes and/or orders for the affected Identifier(s) until the NOM Participant has made a request to the Exchange and Exchange staff has set a re-entry indicator to enable re-entry.^[8] Once enabled for re-entry, the System will send a Re-entry Notification Message to the NOM Participant. The applicable Clearing Participant for that NOM Participant also will be notified of the re-entry into the System after quotes and/or orders are removed/cancelled as a result of the Kill Switch, provided the Clearing Participant has requested to receive such notification.

2. Statutory Basis

The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act ^[9] in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act ^[10] in particular, in that it is designed to promote just and equitable principles of trade, 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, by enhancing the risk protections available to Exchange members. The proposal promotes policy goals of the Commission which has encouraged execution venues, exchange and non-exchange alike, to enhance risk protection tools and other mechanisms to decrease risk and increase stability.

The delay of the implementation of NOM Rules at Chapter VI, Section 6 will permit the Exchange an additional thirty days within which to implement this risk protection that will be utilized by NOM Participants.

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 not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The proposal does not impose an undue burden on inter-market competition because all NOM Participants may avail themselves of the Kill Switch, which functionality will be optional. The proposed rule change is meant to protect NOM Participants in the event the NOM Participant is suffering from a systems issue or from the occurrence of unusual or unexpected market activity that would require them to withdraw from the market in order to protect investors. The ability to control risk at either the user or group level will permit the NOM Participant to protect itself from inadvertent exposure to excessive risk at the each level. Reducing such risk will enable NOM Participants to enter quotes and orders without any fear of inadvertent exposure to excessive risk, which in turn will benefit investors through increased liquidity for the execution of their orders. Such increased liquidity benefits investors because they receive better prices and because it lowers volatility in the options market. For these reasons, the Exchange does not believe this proposal imposes an undue burden on inter-market competition, rather, the proposed rule change will have no impact on competition.

The delay of the implementation of NOM Rules at Chapter VII, Section 6(f) will permit the Exchange additional time to implement this risk protection that will be utilized by NOM Participants.

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

Because the proposed rule change does not (i) significantly affect the protection of investors or the public interest; (ii) impose any significant burden on competition; and (iii) become operative for 30 days from the date on which it was filed, or such shorter time as the Commission may designate if consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest, the proposed rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act ^[11] and Rule 19b-4(f)(6) thereunder.^[12]

Nasdaq requested that the Commission waive the 30-day operative delay. The Commission believes that waiving the 30-day operative delay is consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest, because the extension will provide the Exchange with the additional time it requires to implement the Kill Switch program. The Commission further notes that Nasdaq's proposal to adopt the Kill Switch ^[13] was approved by the Commission ^[14] and that the extension of the implementation period does not affect the parameters of the Kill Switch program. For these reasons, the Commission designates the proposed rule change to be operative upon filing.^[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 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 (http://www.sec.gov/​rules/​sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to [e-mail]. Please include File Number SR-NASDAQ-2015-163 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-NASDAQ-2015-163. 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 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 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-NASDAQ-2015-163 and should be submitted on or before February 1, 2016.

For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.¹⁶

Robert W. Errett,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).

2.  17 CFR 240.19b-4.

3.  See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 75743 (August 20, 2015), 80 FR 51850 (August 26, 2015) (SR-NASDAQ-2015-096).

4.  NOM Participants will be able to utilize an interface to send a message to the Exchange to initiate the Kill Switch or they may contact the Exchange directly.

5.  The type of group permissible would be within a broker-dealer. For example, this could be including but not limited to all market maker accounts or all order entry ports.

6.  Orders submitted by NOM Market Makers over Ouch to Trade Options (OTTO) interface will be treated as quotes for purposes of this rule.

7.  Sweeps will also be cancelled. A sweep is a one-sided electronic quote submitted over the Specialized Quote Feed, which is the market making quoting interface.

8.  The NOM Participant must directly and verbally contact the Exchange to request the re-set.

9.  15 U.S.C. 78f(b).

10.  15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).

11.  15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).

12.  17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6). 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.

13.  See note 3.

14.  See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76123 (Oct. 9, 2015), 80 FR 62591 (Oct. 16, 2015) (SR-NASDAQ-2015-096).

15.  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).

16.  17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12) and (59).