MIAX Emerald, LLC has filed a rule change with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to amend its Options Exchange Fee Schedule by removing language that previously capped the number of Limited Service MIAX Emerald Express Interface (MEI) Ports available to each market maker.
The proposed change took immediate effect as of June 2, 2025.
Previously, MIAX Emerald’s fee schedule limited market makers to a maximum of ten additional Limited Service MEI Ports per matching engine, totalling fourteen per engine when combined with the four initially allocated.
The new amendment eliminates this cap from the fee schedule, aligning MIAX Emerald’s policy with those of its affiliated exchanges—MIAX, MIAX Pearl, and MIAX Sapphire—which do not include similar restrictions in their fee schedules1.
Limited Service MEI Ports allow market makers to send simple and complex electronic quotes and quote purge messages to the MIAX Emerald system, but not full market maker quotes.
Market makers initially receive four such ports per matching engine and can purchase additional ports for a monthly fee of $420 each.
The exchange stated that the removal of the cap was intended to provide consistency with affiliated exchanges and to facilitate more flexible and equitable access for all market makers.
The cap will now be referenced in the MEI interface specification document available on the exchange’s website, rather than in the fee schedule itself.
This approach enables the exchange to adjust access as needed, based on market participant requests and planned network upgrades, without requiring further changes to the fee schedule.
MIAX Emerald stated that the change was not intended to drive additional revenue, but rather to ensure fair and equal access among market participants and to maintain consistency across its group of exchanges.
The SEC has published the notice of the proposed rule change and is soliciting comments from interested parties.
