2012-25105. Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc.; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend Exchange Rule 4758(a)(1)(A) To Reflect a Change in Its Routing Functionality To Allow Routable Orders To ...

October 5, 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 September 25, 2012, NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc. (“BX” or “Exchange”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”), a 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

BX proposes to amend Rule 4758(a)(1)(A) to reflect a change in its routing functionality. The Exchange is proposing to implement the rule change as soon as practicable, but in no case later than thirty calendar days from the filing date of this proposal. The text of the proposed rule change is available at http://nasdaqomxbx.cchwallstreet.com,, at BX's principal office, 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 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 Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose

BX is proposing to amend Rule 4758(a)(1)(A) to reflect a change in BX's order routing functionality, which will allow routable orders ^[3] to simultaneously execute against BX available shares and route to other markets for execution of the remainder of the order. Currently, when a routable order is entered into the BX system, the BX book is first checked for available shares. If such an order is not filled or filled only partially, then the order is routed to away markets with the best bid or best offer pursuant to BX's System routing table.^[4] For example, if a BX member submitted an order to buy 5,000 shares of a security, and BX had 500 shares displayed with another 500 shares undisplayed, under the current routing process 1,000 shares would be executed on BX. Thereafter, BX would route the remaining 4,000 shares of the order to other markets for execution.

BX has observed that upon partial execution of a routable order at BX, as in the example above, market participants often react to the order by cancelling their orders on other markets and entering new orders at inferior prices. This occurs because the current process directs the order to BX before attempting to access available liquidity at other markets and thereby allows market participants to react to the execution (an effect known as “market impact” or “information leakage”). As a consequence, the available shares at the away market are no longer available, resulting in a lower likelihood of successfully accessing liquidity on away markets (i.e., the “fill rate”) and an increased likelihood of ultimately receiving an execution at an inferior price. As such, BX is addressing this problem by changing how the routing process will operate.

BX is proposing to execute routable orders against the BX book for available shares and to simultaneously route any remaining shares to additional markets. Specifically, under the proposed change a routable order would attempt to execute against the available shares at BX and, to the extent the order would not be filled by such available shares, BX would simultaneously route the remainder of the order to other venues, according to BX's System routing table, in a manner consistent with Regulation NMS (i.e., satisfying all displayed protected quotes). For example, using the scenario above, if a member enters a routable order to buy 5,000 shares of a security and BX is displaying 500 shares of that security, with 500 undisplayed, BX would execute against the 500 displayed shares and 500 undisplayed shares, while simultaneously routing the remaining 4,000 shares to other venues for execution. In the event that the amount of shares on other markets is insufficient to completely fill the order, or the order fails to completely execute, BX would then post the remaining shares on the BX book or cancel the remaining shares per the routed order's instructions. BX believes that this simultaneous execution against BX available shares and routing to other venues' shares will avoid the deleterious effect of market impact discussed above and result in overall faster and better executions of its members' routable orders.

BX notes that it is not changing the execution and routing sequence of all routable orders. The BTFY, BMOP, and BCRT orders are designed to execute serially as part of their strategies, which is generally to reduce the blended fees associated with transacting on multiple markets. As such, simultaneous routing of such orders would not result in a better execution in terms of the goals of these routable order types.

The proposed change is based on the recently-approved change to the analogous NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (“NASDAQ”) rule.^[5] Although the Exchange does not have all of the order types that NASDAQ has, it is making the identical changes applicable to the analogous routable order types shared in common with NASDAQ. The Exchange will implement the proposed change as soon as practicable and in no event later than 30 calendar days from the filing date of this proposal.

2. Statutory Basis

The statutory basis for the proposed rule change is Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,^[6] which requires the rules of an exchange 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. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule meets these requirements in that it promotes efficiency in the market, and increases the speed of execution and likelihood that a routable order will be filled at the best price possible. In this regard, the Exchange notes that simultaneous execution minimizes the market impact a routable order has on other markets under the current multi-step execution and routing process, thus improving fill rates. Accordingly, the proposed rule change will serve to improve execution quality for investors sending their routable orders to the Exchange.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will result in any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act, as amended.

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

Written comments were neither solicited nor 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) of the Act ^[7] and Rule 19b-4(f)(6) ^[8] thereunder because the proposal does not: (i) Significantly affect the protection of investors or the public interest; (ii) impose any significant burden on competition; and (iii) by its terms, become operative for 30 days from the date on which it was filed, or such shorter time as the Commission may designate.^[9]

A proposed rule change filed under Rule 19b-4(f)(6) normally may not become operative prior to 30 days after the date of filing. However, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) ^[10] permits the Commission to designate a shorter time if such action is consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest. The Exchange has requested that the Commission waive the 30-day operative delay period. The Commission believes that waiver of the 30-day operative delay period is consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest. Specifically, the Commission believes that the proposal should increase the likelihood that a routable order would receive a more complete fill and should improve the Exchange's ability to process such orders. For these reasons, the Commission believes that waiving the 30-day operative delay is consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest. Therefore, the Commission designates the proposed rule change to be operative upon filing with the Commission.^[11]

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.^[12]

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-BX-2012-064 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-BX-2012-064. 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 such 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-BX-2012-064 and should be submitted on or before November 2, 2012.

For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.¹³

Kevin M. O'Neill,

Deputy Secretary.

Footnotes

1.  15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).

2.  17 CFR 240.19b-4.

3.  For purposes of this filing, a “routable order” is an order entered into the BX System, which is not of an Order Type precluded from routing to other markets.

4.  The “System routing table” is the proprietary process for determining the specific trading venues to which the System routes orders and the order in which it routes them. See Rule 4758(a)(1)(A).

5.  See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 67639 (August 10, 2012), 77 FR 49034 (August 15, 2012) (SR-NASDAQ-2012-071).

6.  15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).

7.  15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).

8.  17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).

9.  In addition, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) requires the Exchange to give the Commission written notice of the Exchange's intent to file the proposed rule change, along with a brief description and text of 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.

10.  17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii).

11.  For purposes only of waiving the operative delay for this proposal, the Commission has considered the proposed rule's impact on efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).

12.  15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(C).

13.  17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).