Nasdaq ISE Sharpens Options Fee Formula for 2026
Published Date: 7/31/2025
Notice
Summary
Starting January 2, 2026, Nasdaq ISE will change how it charges the Options Regulatory Fee (ORF). Only options trades done on ISE and cleared in the Customer range at the Options Clearing Corporation will be charged this fee. This means traders using other exchanges won’t pay the ORF to ISE anymore, making the fee fairer and clearer for everyone involved.
Analyzed Economic Effects
6 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 1 costs, 2 mixed.
ORF charged only for ISE-executed Customer trades
Starting January 2, 2026, ISE will assess the Options Regulatory Fee (ORF) only on options transactions that are executed on ISE and cleared in the OCC Customer range. Trades executed on other exchanges will not be subject to an ISE ORF after that date.
ORF per-contract rate rise on ISE
Effective January 2, 2026, ISE will raise its ORF from $0.0013 per contract side to $0.0092 per contract side for Customer contracts executed on ISE.
ORF billing tied to clearing instruction at execution
ISE will bill ORF based on the clearing instruction provided on the execution on trade date and will not take into account CMTA transfers or clearing changes that occur at OCC after trade date; same-day ISE adjustments will be taken into account.
Market Makers and non-Customer trades excluded
ISE will continue to assess ORF only on Customer transactions and will not assess ORF on Market Maker transactions, Firm Proprietary transactions, or Broker-Dealer transactions (non-Customer activity).
ORF revenue cap at 82% of regulatory cost
ISE will endeavor to ensure that ORF Regulatory Revenue does not exceed 82% of Options Regulatory Cost (and will continue to ensure ORF revenue does not exceed total Options Regulatory Cost).
Temporary change with February 1, 2026 sunset
The proposed ORF methodology and higher rate effective January 2, 2026, will sunset on February 1, 2026, at which point ISE would revert to the prior ORF methodology and $0.0013 per contract side rate unless the Exchange reconsiders the sunset.
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