It really ticks me off that my NYSE exchange fees, which are much higher than either Nasdaq or AMEX, may be paying Grasso's compensation package. With the shake-up at the NYSE, is there anything we can do to get these fees down to a more reasonable level?
The idea to avoid the high professional subscriber fees, is to arrange your situation to qualify as a non-professional, which for many on-line traders / unlicensed proprietary traders is not all that difficult if given some creative thought. ===================== Classification of a Non-Professional Subscriber is any natural person who is not registered or qualified with: The Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") The Commodities Futures Trading Commission Any state securities agency Any securities exchange or association Any commodities or futures contract market or association A Non-Professional Subscriber is also any natural person who is not: Engaged as an "investment advisor" definition consistent with Section 202(a)(11) of the Investment Advisor's Act of 1940 Employed by a bank or other organization exempt from registration under Federal and/or state securities laws If you do not qualify as a Non-Professional Subscriber, then you are a Professional Subscriber.
I understand your point, but I'm an Investment Adviser Rep of my wholly-owned corporation which is an Investment Adviser. I don't think any amount of creative thought helps me avoid the professional status. The point of my post is to call attention to the excessive fees being charged to professinals by the NYSE for real-time data.
I am thinking about entering as a professional and wonder how much are the fee's? My interactive platform connects directly to all exchanges, and my fees are waived if i trade "x" amount of times per month....
You claim you are an investment advisor rep of your wholly owende corporation. You are mistaken. There is no such thing. Period. End of discussion. When you wholly own a corporation (such as an S-Corp or an LLC). You do not have to fill out any investment advisor BS, and if you did so it was your brokers mistake. I myself clear directly through SLK and run both an S-Corp and a Pension Plan (which are owned entirely by myself). When I first opened the above accounts I started getting charged pro fees from a bunch of exchanges and I read the exchange agreements closely, as you also should, and called my broker to ask why they filed me as a pro when I said I was not.....this is a big firm (SLK) and apparently no one there reads the exchange agreements either. As it turns out exchange agreements are always with a person, even if you work for a corporation the agreement is with each individual trader. So I called NYSE (since their decision as to whether or not you should be charged pro fee's is followed by all other exchanges). Anyhow I told them I was trading my own dough through a corporation and a pension and showed them where (on the exchange agreement) it was worded (or actually not worded, but everything else was specifically mentioned),..... Fuck this I'd have to write a 10 page paper to explain this exactly and I'm done. Anyhow, I got someone over at the NYSE to agree with me and write SLK a letter to tell them that I was not a professional and so SLK refiled my agreements as a non pro and everyone stopped billing me and I even got money back from OPRA.
basically it doesnt matter much how you are structured as long as you are running only your money and not giving anyone advise either. So if you are just trading your own account, you can structure however and stil be non-pro. If you join an llc or put up money with a prop shop then of course you are not just trading your own money.