MIAX Pearl Options Traders Pay for Past CAT Shortfall
Published Date: 5/12/2026
Notice
Summary
MIAX Pearl is updating its fee schedule to charge industry members for some leftover historical costs from the National Market System Plan’s Consolidated Audit Trail. This means traders and firms using MIAX Pearl will now pay fees covering about $39 million in past expenses that weren’t billed before. These new fees take effect right away, so affected members should be ready to pay up soon!
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 3 costs, 0 mixed.
Participants' One-Third Paid by Loan Cancellation
Participants (the exchanges) will not be invoiced for the one-third share of Historical CAT Costs 1 (one-third equals $106,019,939.67) because that amount will be satisfied by cancellation of loans the Participants previously made to CAT LLC; Participants also remain responsible for Excluded Costs of $83,253,090.
New $0.000002 Per-Share CAT Fee
MIAX Pearl will charge industry members a new fee called Historical CAT Assessment 1A to recover $38,964,855.34 in leftover Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) costs. The fee rate is $0.000002 per executed equivalent share, and CAT Executing Brokers will start receiving invoices in June 2026 based on May 2026 transactions.
How Fees Are Calculated (Share Equivalents)
For the fee calculation, executed equivalent shares count as follows: each executed share of an NMS stock = 1 executed equivalent share; each executed listed option contract = the option multiplier (e.g., 100 executed equivalent shares per contract); each executed OTC equity share = 0.01 executed equivalent share. The Historical CAT Assessment 1A multiplies executed equivalent shares by one-third and then by the $0.000002 fee rate per executed equivalent share for each transaction.
Who Pays: CAT Executing Brokers Identified
The new Historical CAT Assessment 1A will be charged to CAT Executing Brokers, defined as the Industry Members identified as the buy-side (CEBB) and sell-side (CEBS) executing brokers in CAT Data for exchange trades, and the executing and contra-side executing brokers in TRF/ORF/ADF data for off-exchange trades. The filing notes that Industry Members may pass-through CAT fees to customers.
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Previous: 2026-09361, Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX PEARL, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the MIAX Pearl Equities Fee Schedule To Establish Fees for Industry Members Related to Certain Historical Costs of the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail
MIAX Pearl is updating its fee schedule to charge industry members for some leftover historical costs tied to the National Market System Plan’s Consolidated Audit Trail. This means certain members will start paying fees to cover about $39 million in past expenses that weren’t billed before. The new fees take effect right away, so affected members should be ready to pay up soon!
Next: 2026-09363, Self-Regulatory Organizations; MIAX Sapphire, LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change To Amend the MIAX Sapphire Options Exchange Fee Schedule To Establish Fees for Industry Members Related to Certain Historical Costs of the National Market System Plan Governing the Consolidated Audit Trail
MIAX Sapphire is updating its fee schedule to charge industry members for some leftover historical costs from the National Market System’s Consolidated Audit Trail, which weren’t covered before. This means certain members will start paying fees soon to cover about $39 million in past expenses. The new fees kick in immediately to help wrap up these old costs.