Under Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act, exchanges may designate rule changes — including virtually all fee changes — as immediately effective upon filing, without waiting for SEC approval. An analysis of 9,261 Federal Register filings from 2017 through May 2026 reveals just how thoroughly this mechanism shapes the modern regulatory pipeline: 8,008 filings (86.5%) took effect the same day they were filed.
Every exchange rule change in the United States must be filed with the SEC under Section 19(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The process has two tracks:
Immediate-effectiveness filings are the primary mechanism by which exchanges change fees for ports, colocation, market data, and routing. When a port fee increases, subscribers typically have 30 days notice — but the SEC has already received a fait accompli. Understanding which fee categories require SEC review vs. simple notification is essential for forecasting costs and comment-letter strategy.
The scope of what qualifies for immediate effectiveness has been a contested area of securities law. The SEC's 2020 proposal to require a pilot period before certain fee increases could take effect — which would have curtailed immediate effectiveness for some fee categories — was withdrawn in 2023 after exchange opposition. The data below reflects the current regime.
The overall self-certification rate trended upward from 77.9% in 2017 to 86.5% today. The 2017 figure is lower because the dataset captures a transitional period when the Bats exchanges (Cboe's predecessor) filed many structural rule changes following the Cboe acquisition of Bats Global Markets in March 2017.
The 2022 anomaly — the lowest total volume (784 filings) with the highest withdrawal count (50) — coincides with the SEC's active market structure reform agenda under Chair Gensler, when exchanges pulled several pending fee proposals amid regulatory uncertainty. Filing volume rebounded sharply in 2024 (1,112) and 2025 (1,140).
| Year | Total | Immediate | Notice & Comment | Withdrawn | IE Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 1,047 | 816 | 222 | 9 | 77.9% |
| 2018 | 942 | 833 | 102 | 7 | 88.4% |
| 2019 | 982 | 864 | 96 | 22 | 88.0% |
| 2020 | 1,011 | 862 | 140 | 9 | 85.3% |
| 2021 | 891 | 758 | 123 | 10 | 85.1% |
| 2022 | 784 | 688 | 46 | 50 | 87.8% |
| 2023 | 822 | 731 | 67 | 24 | 88.9% |
| 2024 | 1,112 | 1,003 | 77 | 32 | 90.2% |
| 2025 | 1,140 | 963 | 176 | 1 | 84.5% |
| 2026* | 530 | 490 | 36 | 4 | 92.5% |
* 2026 data through May 25, 2026 (partial year).
NYSE Group files the most notice-and-comment filings in absolute terms (409) and has the lowest immediate-effectiveness rate (82.2%) of the major exchange groups. This reflects NYSE's dominant position in listing fees and complex market structure rules — categories where the SEC more frequently requires public input. MIAX leads on self-certification at 91.7%, consistent with its newer-entrant focus on straightforward fee schedules.
| Exchange Group | Total Filings | Immediate | Notice & Comment | Withdrawn | IE Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cboe | 2,633 | 2,242 | 333 | 58 | 85.2% |
| Nasdaq | 2,422 | 2,159 | 237 | 26 | 89.1% |
| NYSE | 2,405 | 1,977 | 409 | 19 | 82.2% |
| MIAX | 1,071 | 982 | 46 | 43 | 91.7% |
| BOX | 252 | 213 | 33 | 6 | 84.5% |
| IEX | 212 | 193 | 18 | 1 | 91.0% |
| MEMX | 183 | 166 | 3 | 14 | 90.7% |
| LTSE | 83 | 76 | 6 | 1 | 91.6% |
The most striking finding in the dataset is the 100% immediate-effectiveness rate for transaction (routing) fee changes. Every single one of the 202 routing fee filings in our dataset — maker-taker credits, taker fees, add/remove fee schedules — was effective the same day it was filed. Market data and general fee changes follow at 95–96% IE rates.
At the other end, listing fees have the lowest self-certification rate (69.0%), reflecting the SEC's historical scrutiny of listing standards and the competitive sensitivity of annual listing fees between NYSE and Nasdaq. CAT (Consolidated Audit Trail) funding fees also show a below-average IE rate of 76.3%, consistent with the contentious history of CAT cost allocations between exchanges and broker-dealers.
| Category | Total | Immediate | Notice & Comment | IE Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Routing / Transaction Fees | 202 | 202 | 0 | 100.0% |
| Market Data Fees | 263 | 252 | 1 | 95.8% |
| General Fee Changes | 2,748 | 2,636 | 56 | 95.9% |
| Colocation Fees | 336 | 318 | 17 | 94.6% |
| Port / Connectivity Fees | 437 | 365 | 40 | 83.5% |
| CAT Funding Fees | 308 | 235 | 58 | 76.3% |
| Listing Fees | 116 | 80 | 34 | 69.0% |
| Structural Rule Changes | 4,851 | 3,920 | 879 | 80.8% |
The 308 Consolidated Audit Trail (CAT) funding fee filings stand out: 76.3% immediate effectiveness, well below the overall average. CAT budget assessments — which apportion the costs of the NMS plan across exchanges and broker-dealers — have been routinely challenged by SIFMA and large broker-dealers as excessive. The SEC has on multiple occasions issued abrogation orders or required exchanges to refile CAT fee proposals through notice-and-comment, explaining the lower self-certification rate for this category.
Data source: Federal Register API (federalregister.gov/api/v1), filtered for SEC agency + "self-regulatory organizations" term, 2017-01-01 through 2026-05-25.
In-scope exchanges: NYSE Group (NYSE, NYSE Arca, NYSE American, NYSE National, NYSE Chicago, NYSE Texas), Nasdaq Group (Nasdaq, Nasdaq BX, Phlx, ISE, ISE Mercury/Gemini, GEMX, MRX, NasdaqTX), Cboe Group (Cboe, C2, BZX, BYX, EDGA, EDGX, CFE, Bats legacy), IEX, MEMX, MIAX Group (MIAX, PEARL, Emerald, Sapphire), BOX, LTSE.
Excluded: FINRA (280), OCC/NSCC/DTC/FICC clearinghouses (616), ICEEU (143), ICC (108), MSRB (73), LCH SA (69), NFA (5), and 24X/TXSE new entrants not yet operational (37). Total excluded: 1,349.
Classification: Filing type determined by title keyword matching (immediate_effectiveness / notice_and_comment / withdrawn). Category assigned by rule-based pattern matching against filing titles: routing fees (rebate/taker/maker-taker/transaction), port fees (port fee/connectivity/VCC), colocation (co-location/cabinet/rack), market data (ITCH/PITCH/data fee/OPRA), CAT fees (CAT/consolidated audit trail), listing fees, and structural rule changes.
Limitations: Category classification is title-based and may misclassify filings with non-standard titling conventions. The 2026 data covers only through May 25 (partial year). Effective dates for notice-and-comment filings are not captured in this dataset.
The underlying dataset — 10,610 total SRO filings including out-of-scope entries — is available as a JSON export. The SQLite database is maintained locally and updated via incremental re-scrape.