• NASDAQ Market Data Distributors
• Market Data Administrators

• NASDAQ is providing guidance on the definitions and policies related to the non-professional status of subscribers.

Definition of Non-Professional:
Per the NASDAQ Subscriber Agreement, "non-professional" means any natural person who is not:

1. registered nor qualified in any capacity with the SEC, the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, any state securities agency, any securities exchange or association or any commodities or futures contract market or association;
2. engaged as an "investment advisor," as that term is defined in Section 202(a)(11) of the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 (whether or not registered or qualified under that Act)

Please note that the phrase "professional subscriber" applies to all other persons who do not meet the definition of non-professional subscriber.

Distributor Requirements:
Distributors are required to verify the status of any subscriber attempting to receive the non-professional subscription rates and are responsible for ensuring that subscribers registered with any state, federal or international securities agencies are classified as professional. The reduced rates only apply to individuals signing the NASDAQ Subscriber Agreement and may not be applied to organizations executing the NASDAQ Subscriber Agreement. Under NASDAQ’s Data Policies, it is the responsibility of the market data distributors to verify that a subscriber's non-professional status conforms to NASDAQ's requirements.

Determination of Non-Professional or Professional Status:
To qualify for the non-professional rate, an individual subscriber must be able to answer "NO" to all of the following questions. If the subscriber can answer "YES" to any of these questions, NASDAQ considers the subscriber to be professional and ineligible for the non-professional rate.

Non-Commercial Organizational Use:
NASDAQ's definition of non-professional subscriber permits individuals associated with certain non-commercial organizations (i.e., family investment trusts, investment clubs, etc.) to access NASDAQ market data at non-professional rates. Please note that the organization itself cannot be considered a non-professional subscriber, nor can any professional staff paid to support the organization’s activities (i.e., attorneys, accountants, administrative staff, etc.)

NASDAQ’s definition also permits individual subscribers associated with other organizations to access non-professional rates if the organization is established exclusively to manage accounts of the individual or the individual’s immediate family. In addition, non-commercial organizations solely owned by an individual and members of their immediate family (who themselves are non-professionals) utilizing the market data solely for their own personal investing may access data at non-professional rates.

To obtain the reduced non-professional rates for qualifying subscribers associated with non-commercial organizations, distributors are required to administer and maintain a separate NASDAQ Subscriber Agreement for each individual subscriber accessing NASDAQ data.

Subcontractors/Independent Contractors:
NASDAQ's definition of non-professional subscriber requires that the non-professional subscriber is a natural person. Subcontractors and independent contractors signing in their capacity as a subcontractor or independent contractor of the contracting firm are not natural persons. Individuals maintaining an employment, business or commercial relationship are considered extensions of the organization. Examples of organizational use include, but are not limited to, subcontractors, independent contractors, profit sharing partners, commission sharing partners and/or any use involving an employment relationship.

Trading Authorization:
NASDAQ's definition of non-professional subscriber requires distributors to separately determine the professional or non-professional status of each individual accessing NASDAQ market data. Distributors must separately report each subscriber accessing the account (unless the account is shared by immediate family members, such as husband and wife). In some cases, distributors provide access to the account to a person designated by the subscriber, via a Trading Authorization Form or similar. For each person designated by the subscriber, the distributor must obtain a NASDAQ Subscriber Agreement1 and report such persons as professionals, if applicable. Please note that the account itself cannot be considered a non-professional subscriber, nor can any professional staff paid to support the account activities be considered a non-professional subscriber (i.e., registered investment advisors, attorneys, accountants, etc.)

Examples of Non-Professional and Professional Statuses: The chart below provides specific examples of professional and non-professional usage:

Reporting Requirements:
Distributors are required to comply with NASDAQ’s Data Policies, including submission of regular usage reports listing the total number of devices with ability to access NASDAQ data during the reporting period. Upon request, distributors must have the ability to provide NASDAQ with a report detailing the name of each individual subscriber included under each account and each subscriber's respective professional or non-professional status.

Agreements:
To obtain a copy of the NASDAQ Vendor, Distributor or Subscriber Agreement, please refer to the NASDAQ Data Products Agreements and Forms section of the NASDAQ Trader^® website.

Piracy Concerns:
If an external market data subscriber has knowledge of or believes that a firm is providing non-professional rates to professional users, please contact the NASDAQ Market Data Distribution Auditor or use the Piracy Form on the NASDAQ Trader website.

• For questions regarding this notice, please contact: NASDAQ Market Data Distribution at 301.978.5307