Options exchange operator Nasdaq ISE has filed a request with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to raise non-transactional fees on its primary and competitive market makers to offset increasing overhead costs while eliminating its annual regulatory fee for all its members.
If approved, primary market makers would pay a $5,000 monthly access fee, which is up from the current $4,000 per month access fee. Competitive market markets would see their monthly access fee grow to $2,500 from $2,000 per month per CMM membership. The monthly access fee for electronic access members would remain unchanged at $500 per month.
Nasdaq ISE also would do away with its regulatory fee, which ranges from $5,000 for EAM members and initial CMM memberships to $7,500 for a PMM’s initial membership.
“The exchange is essentially consolidating these fees rather than having members pay two separate charges for their use of the Exchange,” wrote the authors of the filing. “With the proposed changes, market makers may be assessed at a higher rate overall to use the exchange, while EAMs may be assessed at a lower rate because the exchange is increasing the monthly access fee for market makers only, but eliminating the annual regulatory fee for all members.”
The SRO implemented its access and regulatory fees in 2000 so that it could recover the technical, regulatory, and administrative costs of operating the options market and has not reassessed its fees since 2006, according to its filing.