Cboe Urges ETP Issuers to Comply with Executive Order 13959

Cboe BZX Exchange, Inc. has published a notice to urge the issuers of Cboe-listed exchange traded product (ETP) that includes in its portfolio a Communist Chinese military company (CCMC) to comply with the United States Executive Order 19359 ("the Order" or "EO 13959").

The Order effective 9:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on 11 January 2021 prohibits any transaction by a United States person from trading in publicly traded securities, or any securities that are derivative of, or are designated to provide investment exposure to, companies identified as of the date of EO 13959 as a CCMC. 

EO 13959 further permits purchases for value or sales solely to divest, in whole or in part, from securities held by any United States person, in accordance with timeframes specified in the Executive Order.

Cboe further reminds its listed issuers of their obligation to comply with Cboe’s rules related to material news and disclosure obligations under Rule 14.6. In Cboe's view, an issuer's determination that a transaction in its listed securities would violate EO 13959 is material news that must be immediately disclosed to the marketplace in accordance with applicable Cboe rules, and as the listing market, Cboe would expect to halt trading in the listed security on all U.S. exchanges based on that news.