Nasdaq has begun implementing a new pricing plan for the fees associated with stock quoting and trading.

The first phase of this plan was submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission in late September and took effect on October 1. The second phase of the plan was submitted to the SEC this week, for implementation on November 1. The third phase is being submitted to the SEC today for implementation on December 3.

A key factor driving the pricing change is the successful implementation of SuperSoes in July. That system was a sea change in how market participants interact with Nasdaq to obtain quotes and execute trades.

SuperSoes has made accessing liquidity more efficient, allowing participants to access large blocks of shares automatically in one order compared with the pre-SuperSoes environment, which required numerous trades to achieve the same result.

Historically, Nasdaq charged fees to market participants based primarily on the number of trades executed. The new integrated pricing structure includes an order-entry charge and a per-share execution charge. Ultimately, Nasdaq will begin to differentiate prices in order to reward full participation in the market. Nasdaq will also begin to share a portion of the market data revenue with brokers.

Nasdaq’s price package constitutes an approximate 8% cost reduction when compared to the pre-SuperSoes pricing model. The overall fees assessed for Nasdaq trading haven’t changed significantly from the pre-SuperSoes environment; rather, the relative prices across the fee structure have been adjusted. It hopes the new pricing plan will increase liquidity, provide fairer treatment to all participants, and reduce overall trading costs.

Nasdaq president Richard Ketchum said, “We think this pricing plan will improve the market by encouraging participants to provide more liquidity, is more fair for market participants, and is expected to reduce overall trading costs by about 8% from pre-SuperSoes levels. The key benefit of the plan is that there will be an increased economic incentive for participants to provide liquidity — a feature that is good for investors and Nasdaq-listed companies.”