SEC Adopts Rules to Amend Minimum Pricing Increments and Access Fee Caps and to Enhance the Transparency of Better Priced Orders

The Securities and Exchange Commission today adopted amendments to certain rules under Regulation NMS to adopt an additional minimum pricing increment, or “tick size,” for the quoting of certain NMS stocks, reduce the access fee caps for protected quotations of trading centers, increase the transparency of exchange fees and rebates, and accelerate the implementation of rules that will make information about the market’s best priced, smaller-sized orders publicly available. The amendments are designed to reduce transaction costs and improve market quality for all investors and to help ensure that orders placed in the national market system reflect the best prices available for all investors.