OPRA - Datafeeds Policy

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OPRA defines a "datafeed" as any uncontrolled retransmission of OPRA market data. OPRA considers a retransmission to be "uncontrolled" if the retransmission sender does not control the entitlements of the devices to which the retransmission is being sent. OPRA requires that any datafeed, either real-time or delayed, be approved by OPRA prior to initiation of service.

OPRA classifies a datafeed recipient as either a "Vendor" or a "Professional Subscriber." In either case, the datafeed recipient must have a contract directly with OPRA. This direct relationship is essential to assuring that OPRA and the datafeed recipient share a common understanding of how the datafeed recipient will retransmit the OPRA market data, control device entitlements and report market data usage to OPRA.

OPRA will classify a datafeed recipient as a "Vendor" if the datafeed recipient intends to further retransmit the datafeed on an "external" basis, that is, to persons not employed by the datafeed recipient. In this case, the datafeed recipient must sign a "Vendor Agreement" with OPRA and comply with OPRA's requirements for Vendors. A Vendor that receives an uncontrolled retransmission from another OPRA Vendor is sometimes referred to as a "downstream Vendor," since it is "downstream" in the dissemination of the OPRA market data from the "upstream" Vendor that is sending the data to it.

OPRA will classify a datafeed recipient as a "Professional Subscriber" if the datafeed recipient intends to further retransmit the datafeed only on an "internal" basis, that is, only to persons employed by the datafeed recipient. In this case, the datafeed recipient must sign a "Professional Subscriber Agreement" and an "Indirect (Vendor Pass-Through) Circuit Connection Rider" with OPRA and comply with OPRA's requirements for Professional Subscribers. (link to the "Professional Subscriber Agreement")

Approval Process

Either the entity proposing to provide the datafeed or the entity that wishes to receive the datafeed must contact OPRA and describe the proposed arrangement. (Usually this is done by the entity proposing to provide the datafeed.) OPRA will confirm the contracts that must be in place before the datafeed is implemented.

After the prospective datafeed recipient sends the required documentation to OPRA, OPRA will review the documentation. If necessary, OPRA will contact the prospective datafeed recipient directly for additional information. The review of the application includes, among other things, a review of how the data will be displayed, the entitlements, and the reporting mechanism. The review and approval process takes approximately two weeks.

OPRA will communicate its approval to both the datafeed recipient and the datafeed sender. Once the approval is received, the datafeed sender is authorized to enable OPRA data to the recipient.

Reporting Requirements

Datafeed distributors must report all datafeeds to OPRA on a monthly basis via the Vendor Automated Reporting System (VARS).

Datafeed recipients must report market data usage to OPRA on a monthly or quarterly basis. (Professional Subscribers generally report on a quarterly basis; Vendors report on a monthly basis.) OPRA invoices all datafeed recipients for their OPRA market data usage based upon their monthly/quarterly reporting. The fees are determined in accordance with OPRA's Fee Schedules for Vendors and for Professional Subscribers. In general, an internal datafeed recipient (a Professional Subscriber) is subject to a monthly "indirect access fee" of $600 for a real-time datafeed plus a fee based on the number of devices receiving OPRA market data through the datafeed. (The word "indirect" in the phrase "indirect access fee" connotes that the Professional Subscriber is receiving the datafeed from a Vendor, i.e., "indirectly," rather than directly from OPRA's data processor SIAC.) In general, an external datafeed recipient (a downstream Vendor) is subject to a monthly "redistribution fee" of $1,500 for either real-time or delayed redistribution ($650 for redistribution only via the Internet).

Questions about OPRA's Datafeed Policy, Approval Process and Reporting Requirements should be directed to OPRA at opra@cboe.com.