1. Standard online $0 commission does not apply to over-the-counter (OTC) equities. Options trades will be subject to the standard $0.59 per-contract fee. Exchange process, ADR, and Stock Borrow fees still apply.
4. Exchange Process Fee—This is a fee Aquas charges to offset fees imposed on us directly or indirectly by national securities exchanges, self-regulatory organizations, or U.S. option exchanges. Aquas shall have the right to determine the amount of such fees in its reasonable discretion, and such fees may differ from or exceed the actual third-party fees properly paid by Aquas in connection with any transaction. These differences may be caused by various internal and external factors, including, among other things, the rounding methodology used, the use of allocation accounts, transactions or settlement movements for which a fee may not be assessed, timing differences in changes, third-party rate caps and floors, calculation errors, and various other anomalous reasons.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) assesses transaction fees on national securities exchanges and self-regulatory organizations based on the aggregate dollar amount of sales of certain securities. The SEC recalculates the amount of this fee periodically—at least once per year but sometimes more often. National securities exchanges and self-regulatory organizations offset the transaction fees by charging their member broker-dealers such as Aquas, and Aquas, in turn, offsets this fee by charging you an Exchange Process Fee for covered sell transactions. U.S. option exchanges charge Aquas and other broker-dealers per-contract fees for purchases and sales of exchange-listed options. The exchanges may charge these fees even on transactions executed on other exchanges, which can result in multiple fees being imposed on Aquas for a single transaction. Aquas offsets these fees by charging you a single Exchange Process Fee for each covered transaction.
Any Exchange Process Fee that appears on your trade confirmation for a sale of an exchange-listed option combines the offsets for the fees charged by the U.S. option exchanges, national securities exchanges, and self-regulatory organizations.
Aquas Exchange Process Fee will rise or fall periodically depending upon the rates set by the SEC, self-regulatory organizations, or by the U.S. option exchanges, as applicable.
Several U.S. option exchanges currently assess a regulatory fee upon Aquas for covered transactions. This fee varies by option exchange, where an option trade executes, and whether the broker responsible for the trade is a member of a particular exchange. As a result, Aquas calculates a blended rate, and this blended rate is included in the Exchange Process Fee. As of January 2, 2024, the option regulatory fee blended rate is $0.02685.
5. Multiple leg online option orders such as spreads, straddles, combos and rollouts are charged US$0.59 per contract commissions for the total number of option contracts. Complex option orders involving both an equity and an option leg, including Buy/Writes or Write/Unwinds are charged per contract fees for the option.
