International Securities Exchange To Introduce A Modified Maker/Taker Fee Schedule For Three Of The Most Actively Traded Options Products On Its Exchange

The International Securities Exchange (ISE) today announced that it will introduce a modified maker/taker fee structure for options on the PowerShares QQQ Exchange Traded Fund (Nasdaq: QQQQ), Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC).  

Effective April 1, 2010, market makers that meet minimum quoting requirements will receive a $0.10 maker rebate for posting liquidity in these names. Other highlights of the fee change include the introduction of competitive maker/taker fees for other market maker, broker dealer and professional customer orders as well as the elimination of payment for order flow. In addition, ISE will not charge maker fees for customer orders of any size and will not charge taker fees for customer orders of less than 100 contracts. The rebate-based fee structure combined with the elimination of payment for order flow will reduce overall costs for market makers, enabling them to improve the quality of ISE's markets. ISE's patented customer priority, pro-rata market structure will remain in place across all names.

"This unique fee structure in three of the most actively traded names at ISE will reward all market makers, further improve our high quality markets and preserve the market structure and pricing benefits that make ISE's market attractive to retail and institutional customers," said Boris Ilyevsky, Managing Director of ISE's options exchange. "By reducing the overall transaction costs for market makers in these highly competitive products, we will help them continue to provide deep liquidity and high quality markets."

ISE will also change its complex order fee structure for options on QQQQ, C and BAC. Customer orders of all sizes will receive a rebate of $0.15 per leg when trading against non-customer orders in the Complex Orderbook. ISE is maintaining its attractive pricing for crossing orders. For additional information about ISE's fees, contact Business Development at bizdev@ise.com.