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Overview of SEC Fees

Under Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, U.S. national securities exchanges are obligated to pay transaction fees to the SEC based on the volume of securities that are sold on their markets. Exchange rules require their broker-dealer members to pay a share of these fees who, in turn, pass the responsibility of paying the fees to their customers.

 

This fee is intended to allow the SEC to recover costs associated with its supervision and regulation of the U.S. securities markets and securities professionals. It applies to stocks, options and single stock futures (on a round turn basis); however, Place Trade does not pass on the fee in the case of stock trades executed under the flat rate plan nor single stock futures trades.  Note that this fee is assessed only to the sale side of security transactions, thereby applying to the grantor of an option (fee based upon the option premium received at time of sale) and the exerciser of a put or call assignee (fee based upon option strike price).

 

As of the start of fiscal year 2011 the fee was assessed at a rate of $0.0000192 per $1.00 of sales proceeds, however, the rate is subject to annual and,in some cases, mid-year adjustments should realized transaction volume generate fees sufficiently below or in excess of targeted funding levels.1

 

Examples of the transactions impacted by this fee and sample calculations are outlined in the table below.

Transaction

Subject to Fee?

Example

Calculation

Stock Purchase

No

N/A

N/A

Stock Sale (cost plus commission option)

Yes

Sell 1,000 shares MSFT@ $25.87

$0.0000192 * $25.87 * 1,000 = $0.496704

Call Purchase

No

N/A

N/A

Put Purchase

No

N/A

N/A

Call Sale

Yes

Sell 10 MSFT June ’11 $25 calls @ $1.17

$0.0000192 * $1.17 * 100 * 10 = $0.022464

Put Sale

Yes

Sell 10 MSFT June ’11 $25 puts @ $0.41

$0.0000192 * $0.41 * 100 * 10 = $0.007872

Call Exercise

No

N/A

N/A

Put Exercise

Yes

Exercise of 10 MSFT June ’11 $25 puts

$0.0000192 * $25.00 * 100 * 10 = $0.48

Call Assignment

Yes

Assignment of 10 MSFT June ’11 $25 calls

$0.0000192 * $25.00 * 100 * 10 = $0.48

Put Assignment

No

N/A

N/A

 

1Information regarding current Section 31 fees may be found on the SEC's Frequently Requested Documents page located via this link.

 
 

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Other Fees

Under certain circumstances you will be charged additional fees (by our clearing firm or the exchanges). For example if you directly route your orders to specific exchanges or cancel certain types of trades you may incur a fee.  Place Trade passes these fees on to our clients without any additional markup.  

When considering fees please consider the overall low cost of trading, ultra low margin rates, access to experienced financial consultants and great customer service that you enjoy at Place Trade.  We believe that we offer the lowest overall trading cost of any full service broker.  

(The following links may take you to our clearing firm's site where you can see the fees and examples of each.)  

                         

                          

                          

                        

                               

 

Exchange Fees for US Options:

Options Minimum $1.50, No Base Fee, Simple $0.75 Per Contract (Exchange fees are passed through directly to you with no mark-up or payment to Place Trade Financial.)

 

For information regarding fees please call us at 1-919-719-7200.

 
     

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