Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 30 / Friday, February 13, 1998 / Notices 7487

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND

SPACE ADMINISTRATION

[Notice (98018)]

NASA Advisory Council (NAC),

Aeronautics and Space Transportation

Technology Advisory Committee

(ASTTAC); Meeting

AGENCY: National Aeronautics and

Space Administration.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Federal Advisory Committee Act, Pub.

L. 92–463, as amended, the National

Aeronautics and Space Administration

announces a forthcoming meeting of the

NASA Advisory Council, Aeronautics

and Space Transportation Technology

Advisory Committee.

DATES: Thursday, March 12, 1998, 8:30

a.m. to 5 p.m.

ADDRESSES: National Aeronautics and

Space Administration, Room 7H46, 300

E Street, SW., Washington, DC 20546.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Mary-Ellen McGrath, Office of

Aeronautics and Space Transportation

Technology, National Aeronautics and

Space Administration, Washington, DC

20546 (202/358–4729).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

meeting will be open to the public up

to the seating capacity of the room. The

agenda for the meeting is as follows:

• Aeronautics and Space

Transportation Technology Overview

• Subcommittee Reports

• Scenario-Based Vehicle Study

• High-Speed Research—Phase ILA

Planning

• University Strategy Ad Hoc Group

Report

• Space Transportation Council

Integrated Working Group

It is imperative that the meeting be

held on these dates to accommodate the

scheduling priorities of the key

participants.

Dated: February 9, 1998.

Matthew M. Crouch,

Advisory Committee Management Officer,

National Aeronautics and Space

Administration.

[FR Doc. 98–3758 Filed 2–12–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7570–08–M

PENSION BENEFIT GUARANTY

CORPORATION

Interest Assumption for Determining

Variable-Rate Premium; Interest

Assumptions for Multiemployer Plan

Valuations Following Mass Withdrawal

AGENCY: Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

ACTION: Notice of interest rates and

assumptions.

SUMMARY: This notice informs the public

of the interest rates and assumptions to

be used under certain Pension Benefit

Guaranty Corporation regulations. These

rates and assumptions are published

elsewhere (or are derivable from rates

published elsewhere), but are collected

and published in this notice for the

convenience of the public. Interest rates

are also published on the PBGC’s home

page (http://www.pbgc.gov).

DATES: The interest rate for determining

the variable-rate premium under part

4006 applies to premium payment years

beginning in February 1998. The

interest assumptions for performing

multiemployer plan valuations

following mass withdrawal under part

4281 apply to valuation dates occurring

in March 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Harold J. Ashner, Assistant General

Counsel, Office of the General Counsel,

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,

1200 K Street, NW., Washington, DC

20005, 202–326–4024. (For TTY/TDD

users, call the Federal relay service tollfree at 1–800–877–8339 and ask to be

connected to 202–326–4024.)

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Variable-Rate Premiums

Section 4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) of the

Employee Retirement Income Security

Act of 1974 (ERISA) and § 4006.4(b)(1)

of the PBGC’s regulation on Premium

Rates (29 CFR part 4006) prescribe use

of an assumed interest rate in

determining a single-employer plan’s

variable-rate premium. The rate is the

‘‘applicable percentage’’ (described in

the statute and the regulation) of the

annual yield on 30-year Treasury

securities for the month preceding the

beginning of the plan year for which

premiums are being paid (the ‘‘premium

payment year’’). The yield figure is

reported in Federal Reserve Statistical

Releases G.13 and H.15.

For plan years beginning before July

1, 1997, the applicable percentage of the

30-year Treasury yield was 80 percent.

The Retirement Protection Act of 1994

(RPA) amended ERISA section

4006(a)(3)(E)(iii)(II) to change the

applicable percentage to 85 percent,

effective for plan years beginning on or

after July 1, 1997. (The amendment also

provides for a further increase in the

applicable percentage—to 100 percent—

when the Internal Revenue Service

adopts new mortality tables for

determining current liability.) The

assumed interest rate to be used in

determining variable-rate premiums for

premium payment years beginning in

February 1998 is 4.94 percent (i.e., 85

percent of the 5.81 percent yield figure

for January 1998).

(Under section 774(c) of the RPA, the

amendment to the applicable percentage

was deferred for certain regulated public

utility (RPU) plans for as long as six

months. The applicable percentage for

RPU plans has therefore remained 80

percent for plan years beginning before

January 1, 1998. For ‘‘partial’’ RPU

plans, the assumed interest rates to be

used in determining variable-rate

premiums can be computed by applying

the rules in § 4006.5(g) of the premium

rates regulation. The PBGC’s 1997

premium payment instruction booklet

also describes these rules and provides

a worksheet for computing the assumed

rate.)

The following table lists the assumed

interest rates to be used in determining

variable-rate premiums for premium

payment years beginning between

March 1997 and February 1998. The

rates for July through December 1997 in

the table (which reflect an applicable

percentage of 85 percent) apply only to

non-RPU plans. However, the rates for

months before July 1997 and after

December 1997 apply to RPU (and

‘‘partial’’ RPU) plans as well as to nonRPU plans.

For premium payment years

beginning in

The assumed interest rate

is

March 1997 ............................... 5.35

April 1997 .................................. 5.54

May 1997 .................................. 5.67

June 1997 ................................. 5.55

July 1997 .................................. 5.75

August 1997 .............................. 5.53

September 1997 ....................... 5.59

October 1997 ............................ 5.53

November 1997 ........................ 5.38

December 1997 ........................ 5.19

January 1998 ............................ 5.09

February 1998 .......................... 4.94

Multiemployer Plan Valuations

Following Mass Withdrawal

The PBGC’s regulation on Duties of

Plan Sponsor Following Mass

Withdrawal (29 CFR part 4281)

prescribes the use of interest

assumptions under the PBGC’s

regulation on Allocation of Assets in

Single-employer Plans (29 CFR part

4044). The interest assumptions

applicable to valuation dates in March

1998 under part 4044 are contained in

an amendment to part 4044 published

elsewhere in today’s Federal Register.

Tables showing the assumptions

applicable to prior periods are codified

in appendix B to 29 CFR part 4044.
7488 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 30 / Friday, February 13, 1998 / Notices

1 15 U.S.C. § 78s(b)(1).

2On January 14, 1998, the Exchange submitted

Amendment No. 1 to the filing, in which it

proposed a new rule, Phlx Rule 21, defining

‘‘Inactive Nominee,’’ and explaining the role of an

Inactive Nominee on the Phlx. See Letter from

Murray L. Ross, vice President and Secretary, Phlx,

to Richard Strasser, Assistant Director, Division of

Market Regulation, Commission, dated January 14,

1998. Amendment No. 1 is described further in note

3 and in the text, below.

3 In Amendment No. 1, the PHlx proposed a new

rule, to be designated as Rule 21, which would

define an Inactive Nominee as follows:

The term ‘‘inactive nominee’’ shall mean a

natural person associated with and designated by

a member organization whom has applied for and

been approved by the Admissions Committee for

such status and is registered as such with the Office

of the Secretary. An inactive nominee shall have no

rights or privileges of membership unless and until

said inactive nominee becomes a member of the

Exchange pursuant to the By-Laws and Rules of the

Exchange. An inactive nominee merely stands

ready to assume legal title to a membership upon

notice by the member organization to the Office of

the Secretary to be transferred intra-firm on an

expedited basis.

Issued in Washington, DC, on this 4th day

of February 1998.

David M. Strauss,

Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 98–3364 Filed 2–12–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–39622; File No. SR–PHLX–

97–45]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc.

To Amend Its By-Law Article XII,

Section 12–10, With Respect to the

Eligibility of Persons To Serve as

Inactive Nominees

February 4, 1998.

Purusant to Section 19(b)(1) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’),1 notice is hereby given that on

December 15, 1997, the Philadelphia

Stock Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Phlx’’ or

‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities

and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or

‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule

change as described in Items I, II, and

III below, which Items have been

prepared by the Phlx.2 The Commission

is publishing this notice to solicit

comments on the proposed rule changes

from interested persons.

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Terms of Substance of

the Proposed Rule Change

The Phlx hereby proposes to amend

its By-Law Article XII, Section 12–10,

with respect to the eligibility of persons

to serve as Inactive Nominees.3 The text

of the proposed rule change to By-Law

Article XII, Section 12–10, is set forth in

full in Exhibit A.

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for the Proposed Rule

Change

In its filing with the Commission, the

Phlx included statements concerning

the purpose of and basis for the

proposed rule change. The text of these

statements may be examined at the

places specified in Item IV below. The

Phlx has prepared summaries, set forth

in sections A, B and C below, of the

most significant aspects of such

statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

Phlx By-Law Article XII, Section 12–

10, sets forth the eligibility requirements

with respect to persons designated to

serve as Inactive Nominees. An Inactive

Nominee must be a person affiliated

with a member organization who has

submitted a membership application

and met all membership qualification

requirements, including an examination

administered by the Phlx’s Market

Surveillance Department. The proposed

amendment will allow an approved

Inactive Nominee to assume the legal

title to a membership on an intra-firm

and expedited basis in the event of an

emergency due to illness or other

factors. In Amendment No. 1, the Phlx

stated that an Inactive Nominee would

serve in the ‘‘event of an emergency due

to illness or other factors,’’ and ‘‘would

allow a member organization to have a

full complement of traders or specialists

available to conduct business on the

Exchange trading floors by transferring

legal title intra-firm to the inactive

nominee thereby making that person an

Exchange member.’’

The proposed rule change would

subject a person designated as an

Inactive Nominee to the existing

membership application process,

including fees. Additionally, the

member organization with whom an

Inactive Nominee is affiliated will be

subject to a fee for the privilege of

maintaining an Inactive Nominee’s

status.

A member organization seeking to

designate an affiliated person as an

Inactive Nominee shall submit a

membership application on behalf of a

proposed Inactive Nominee, who would

go through the existing membership

application process. Upon meeting all

membership requirements and after

posting for a two-week period in the

membership Bulletin, this person will

be registered as an Inactive Nominee.

Upon notice filed with the Phlx Office

of the Secretary in writing prior to 9

a.m. on any business day the Exchange

is open, under specified circumstances,

an Inactive Nominee may assume the

legal title to a membership on an intrafirm basis and be eligible to transact

business on the Exchange that day or for

such longer period consistent with the

seat lease or membership title and use

agreement (ABC agreement).

The proposed rule change is

consistent with Section 6 of the Act in

general, and in particular, with Section

6(b)(5) in that it is designed to promote

just and equitable principles of trade, to

prevent fraudulent and manipulative

acts and practices, to foster cooperation

and coordination with persons engaged

in regulating, clearing, settling,

processing information with respect to,

and facilitating transactions in

securities, to remove impediments to

and perfect the mechanism of a free and

open market and national market

system, as well as to protect investors

and the public interest.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The Phlx does not believe that the

proposed rule change will impose any

inappropriate burden on competition.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants or Others

No written comments were either

solicited or received.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

Within 35 days of the date of

publication of this notice in the Federal

Register or within such longer period (i)

as the Commission may designate up to

90 days of such date if it finds such

longer period to be appropriate and

publishes its reasons for so finding or

(ii) as to which the Phlx consents, the

Commission will:

A. by order approve such proposed

rule change, or

B. institute proceedings to determine

whether the proposed rule change

should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views and

arguments concerning the foregoing,

including whether the proposal is

consistent with the Act. Persons making

written submissions should file six

copies thereof with the Secretary,