The Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday extended temporary exemptive relief for Rules 600(b)(89)(i)(F), 610(c) and 612 of Regulation NMS until the first business day of November 2027, and proposed rescinding Rule 611, the trade-through rule.
In practical terms, the rollout of smaller tick sizes and lower access fee caps adopted in September 2024 is now deferred for another year while the SEC reconsiders the market-structure framework underneath them.
The 2024 rulemaking had introduced a $0.005 minimum pricing increment for certain NMS stocks and cut the Rule 610(c) access fee cap to $0.001 per share for stocks priced at $1.00 or more. The Commission had already pushed compliance to November 2026 last October.
The SEC said the further extension was needed “to allow for an orderly implementation of these rules in light of other regulatory initiatives scheduled for the balance of 2026.”
SEC Chairman Paul S. Atkins also directed staff to review Rules 610(c) and 612 by year-end, including whether changes to access fee caps and minimum pricing increments are warranted.
The move follows pressure from exchanges including MEMX, which applied for relief in February, and Cboe Global Markets, which argued in an April comment letter that the SEC should defer the fee-cap changes until it had resolved the future of Rule 611.
