Trading Fees

Unlike most options exchanges, BOX has no access fees, in keeping with BOX's "pay as you use" philosophy. Commission fees charged by BOX Participants to their clients are negotiable between client and dealer.

Brokerage Commissions

Private and institutional investors as well as Broker Dealers which are not BOX Participants must execute their options trades on BOX via a BOX Participant. The commissions due to the executing broker from the investor are fully negotiable. This section discusses only the fees charged by BOX to its Participants for trading, not those charged to the end user.

Public Customer

Orders executed for Public Customer accounts of a BOX Participant (OFPs) are subject to BOX exchange trading fees as outlined in the BOX Fee Schedule.

Non-Market Maker Professional Trading

Any BOX Participant may transact as principle or submit orders on behalf of other Broker Dealers. The fee for these trades ranges from $0.25 to $0.05 per contract executed on BOX. Any applicable licensing fees related to the trading of options on certain ETFs or Index classes will be passed through directly.

BOX Market Makers

BOX Market Makers pay a trade execution fee ranging from $0.25 to $0.05 per contract. For more details regarding BOX Market Maker trading fees, see Market Maker Fees.

Under the Take Credit/Make Charge pricing structure, any order, including an order with a Fill-and-Kill designation, which removes liquidity by trading immediately upon entry to the BOX Book or following its exposure as part of NBBO filtering, will receive a removal credit. This will be in addition to any applicable "standard" fees and surcharges.

Orders that add liquidity to the BOX Book will be charged a transaction fee per contract upon execution. This will be in addition to any applicable "standard" fees and surcharges. Any order, including an order with a Fill-and-Kill designation, which executes against an order which is being exposed before being placed on the BOX Book, will be considered to add liquidity and charged a make fee.

For more information regarding Take Credits and Make Charges please refer to our Fee Schedule.