Cboe C2 raises on-exchange options regulatory fee to $0.01417 per side

On August 13, 2026, Cboe C2 Exchange, Inc. filed a proposed rule change (Release No. 34-106189; File No. SR-C2-2026-021) with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Commission published the filing on August 26, 2026 to solicit comments from interested parties.

The proposal amends the Exchange's Fees Schedule for the Options Regulatory Fee (ORF). Beginning July 1, 2026, the ORF will be assessed at $0.01417 per contract side for options transactions that clear in the customer range at the Options Clearing Corporation and that execute on Cboe C2. This replaces the prior rate of $0.0003 per contract side, which was applied to all customer-range transactions regardless of the executing exchange.

The Exchange states that ORF revenues, combined with other regulatory fees and fines, are intended to recover a material portion of its regulatory costs, which for 2026 are estimated to consist of roughly 76% direct expenses and 24% indirect expenses. The Exchange's practice limits ORF revenue to no more than 75% of total regulatory costs, and the proposed increase is designed to keep revenue within that ceiling while covering a material share of supervision, surveillance, and enforcement activities.

In addition to the fee increase, the Exchange proposes several nonsubstantive revisions: clarification of the ORF collection language, deletion of outdated references to "Clearing Participant," removal of provisions concerning routing-broker reimbursements, and elimination of requirements for Trading Permit Holders to submit OCC clearing numbers, as the Exchange now receives that data daily from OCC.

The Commission will consider any comments received before the comment-period deadline, after which the proposed rule change will become effective on the July 1, 2026 date specified in the filing.