There is no Primary Market Maker or Specialist on BOX; responsibilities and privileges are equal for all market makers in a given class as is order matching priority (price and time). There is no pre-determined limit to the number of market makers on an individual class; however, temporary limits may be implemented while BOX adjusts messaging capacity to demand from Participants.
Wow, a competitive marketplace.
Market Makers pay a monthly assessment per appointed class (a âclassâ consists of all those options series on the same underlying security or index). This fee is variable by class (the most active classes being subject to a higher monthly fee than the less active classes). The Market Maker monthly fee per class will act as a "credit" against the Market Makerâs trading fees such that the monthly fee is effectively very low for actively trading Market Makers.
and
BOX will match orders using a strict price/time priority algorithm at all times with the sole exception of the conclusion of the Price Improvement Process. All BOX Participants are treated equally in the matching process as all orders on the BOX central limit order book are valid for their entire quantity to any Participant, including broker/dealers and specialists/market makers at other exchanges. Any BOX Participant may enter an order on any BOX traded instrument.
The way it should be.