14110 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 50 / Tuesday, March 15, 2011 / Notices 

and assume substantially all of the 

liabilities of the Seller relating to the 

business of employing employees under 

the Plan. The Buyer agreed to contribute 

to the Plan for substantially the same 

number of contribution base units as the 

Seller. The Seller agreed to be 

secondarily liable for any withdrawal 

liability it would have had with respect 

to the sold operations (if not for section 

4204) should the Buyer withdraw from 

the Plan within the five plan years 

following the sale and fail to pay its 

withdrawal liability. The amount of the 

bond/escrow required under section 

4204(a)(1)(B) of ERISA is $4,068,868. 

The estimated amount of the unfunded 

vested benefits allocable to the Seller 

with respect to the operations subject to 

the sale is $34,030,359. While the 

separate major league clubs are the 

nominal contributing employers to the 

Plan, the Major League Central Fund 

under the Office of the Commissioner 

receives the revenues and makes the 

payments for certain common expenses, 

including each club’s contribution to 

the Plan. In support of the waiver 

request, the requester asserts that: ‘‘[t]he 

Plan is funded from the Revenues which 

are paid from the Central Fund directly 

to the Plan without passing through the 

hands of any of the Clubs. Therefore, the 

Plan enjoys a substantial degree of 

security with respect to contributions on 

behalf of the Clubs. A change in 

ownership of a particular Club does not 

affect the obligation of the Central Fund 

to fund the Plan out of the Revenues. As 

such, approval of this exemption 

request would not significantly increase 

the risk of financial loss to the Plan.’’ 

Based on the facts of this case and the 

representations and statements made in 

connection with the request for an 

exemption, PBGC has determined that 

an exemption from the bond/escrow 

requirement is warranted, in that it 

would more effectively carry out the 

purposes of Title IV of ERISA and 

would not significantly increase the risk 

of financial loss to the Plan. Therefore, 

PBGC hereby grants the request for an 

exemption for the bond/escrow 

requirement. The granting of an 

exemption or variance from the bond/ 

escrow requirement of section 

4204(a)(1)(B) does not constitute a 

finding by PBGC that the transaction 

satisfies the other requirements of 

section 4204(a)(1). The determination of 

whether the transaction satisfies such 

other requirements is a determination to 

be made by the Plan sponsor. 

Issued at Washington, DC, on this 7th day 

of March, 2011. 

Joshua Gotbaum, 

Director. 

[FR Doc. 2011–5886 Filed 3–14–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7709–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF PREVIOUS

ANNOUNCEMENT: [To be announced]. 

STATUS: Closed meeting. 

PLACE: 100 F Street, NE., Washington, 

DC. 

DATE AND TIME OF PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED

MEETING: March 17, 2011 at 10 a.m. 

CHANGE IN THE MEETING: Additional item. 

The following matter will also be 

considered during the 10 a.m. closed 

meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 

17, 2011: A litigation matter. 

Commissioner Casey, as duty officer, 

voted to consider the item listed for the 

closed meeting in closed session, and 

determined that no earlier notice thereof 

was possible. 

At times, changes in Commission 

priorities require alterations in the 

scheduling of meeting items. For further 

information and to ascertain what, if 

any, matters have been added, deleted 

or postponed, please contact the Office 

of the Secretary at (202) 551–5400. 

Dated: March 11, 2011. 

Elizabeth M. Murphy, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6132 Filed 3–11–11; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to 

the provisions of the Government in the 

Sunshine Act, Public Law 94–409, that 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission will hold a Closed Meeting 

on Thursday, March 17, 2011 at 10 a.m. 

Commissioners, Counsel to the 

Commissioners, the Secretary to the 

Commission, and recording secretaries 

will attend the Closed Meeting. Certain 

staff members who have an interest in 

the matters also may be present. 

The General Counsel of the 

Commission, or his designee, has 

certified that, in his opinion, one or 

more of the exemptions set forth in 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(3), (5), (7), 9(B) and (10) 

and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(3), (5), (7), 9(ii) 

and (10), permit consideration of the 

scheduled matters at the Closed 

Meeting. 

Commissioner Paredes, as duty 

officer, voted to consider the items 

listed for the Closed Meeting in a closed 

session. 

The subject matter of the Closed 

Meeting scheduled for Thursday, March 

17, 2011 will be: 

Institution and settlement of injunctive 

actions; institution and settlement of 

administrative proceedings; and other 

matters relating to enforcement proceedings. 

At times, changes in Commission 

priorities require alterations in the 

scheduling of meeting items. 

For further information and to 

ascertain what, if any, matters have been 

added, deleted or postponed, please 

contact: 

The Office of the Secretary at (202) 

551–5400. 

Dated: March 10, 2011. 

Elizabeth M. Murphy, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2011–6075 Filed 3–11–11; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Securities Act of 1933, Release No. 9191/ 

February 24, 2011; Securities Exchange Act 

of 1934, Release No. 63956/February 24, 

2011] 

Order Regarding Review of FASB 

Accounting Support Fee for 2011 

Under Section 109 of the SarbanesOxley Act of 2002 

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the 

‘‘Act’’) provides that the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (the 

‘‘Commission’’) may recognize, as 

generally accepted for purposes of the 

securities laws, any accounting 

principles established by a standard 

setting body that meets certain criteria. 

Consequently, Section 109 of the Act 

provides that all of the budget of such 

a standard setting body shall be payable 

from an annual accounting support fee 

assessed and collected against each 

issuer, as may be necessary or 

appropriate to pay for the budget and 

provide for the expenses of the standard 

setting body, and to provide for an 

independent, stable source of funding, 

subject to review by the Commission. 

Under Section 109(f) of the Act, the 

amount of fees collected for a fiscal year 

shall not exceed the ‘‘recoverable budget 

expenses’’ of the standard setting body. 

Section 109(h) amends Section 13(b)(2) 

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

to require issuers to pay the allocable 

share of a reasonable annual accounting 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 50 / Tuesday, March 15, 2011 / Notices 14111 

1Financial Reporting Release No. 70. 

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3The term ‘‘Options Participant’’ or ‘‘Participant’’ 

means a firm or organization that is registered with 

the Exchange pursuant to Chapter II of the NOM 

Rules for purposes of participating in options 

trading on NOM as a ‘‘Nasdaq Options Order Entry 

Firm’’ or ‘‘Nasdaq Options Market Maker.’’ 

4See NOM Rules, Chapter VII, Section 2. 

5See NOM Rules, Chapter VII, Section 5(a). 

6See NOM Rules, Chapter VII, Section 2(a). 

7See NOM Rules, Chapter VII, Section 2. 

8See NOM Rules, Chapter VII, Rule 2(c). 

9See NOM Rules, Chapter VII, Section 4(b). 

support fee or fees, determined in 

accordance with Section 109 of the Act. 

On April 25, 2003, the Commission 

issued a policy statement concluding 

that the Financial Accounting Standards 

Board (‘‘FASB’’) and its parent 

organization, the Financial Accounting 

Foundation (‘‘FAF’’), satisfied the 

criteria for an accounting standardsetting body under the Act, and 

recognizing the FASB’s financial 

accounting and reporting standards as 

‘‘generally accepted’’ under Section 108 

of the Act.1 As a consequence of that 

recognition, the Commission undertook 

a review of the FASB’s accounting 

support fee for calendar year 2011. In 

connection with its review, the 

Commission also reviewed the budget 

for the FAF and the FASB for calendar 

year 2011. 

Section 109 of the Act also provides 

that the standard setting body can have 

additional sources of revenue for its 

activities, such as earnings from sales of 

publications, provided that each 

additional source of revenue shall not 

jeopardize, in the judgment of the 

Commission, the actual or perceived 

independence of the standard setter. In 

this regard, the Commission also 

considered the interrelation of the 

operating budgets of the FAF, the FASB 

and the Governmental Accounting 

Standards Board (‘‘GASB’’), the FASB’s 

sister organization, which sets 

accounting standards used by State and 

local government entities. The 

Commission has been advised by the 

FAF that neither the FAF, the FASB nor 

the GASB accept contributions from the 

accounting profession. 

After its review, the Commission 

determined that the 2011 annual 

accounting support fee for the FASB is 

consistent with Section 109 of the Act. 

Accordingly, 

It is ordered, pursuant to Section 109 

of the Act, that the FASB may act in 

accordance with this determination of 

the Commission. 

By the Commission. 

Elizabeth M. Murphy, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2011–5847 Filed 3–14–11; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–64054; File No. SR– 

NASDAQ–2011–036] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of 

Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of 

Proposed Rule Change To Modify 

NASDAQ Options Market Rules 

Chapter VII, Various Sections, Dealing 

With Market Maker Obligations 

March 8, 2011. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on March 3, 

2011, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC 

(‘‘NASDAQ’’), filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I and II 

below, which Items have been prepared 

by NASDAQ. The Commission is 

publishing this notice to solicit 

comments on the proposed rule change 

from interested persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

NASDAQ proposes to amend Chapter 

VII, Section 3, Continuing Market Maker 

Registration, Section 5, Obligations of 

Market Makers, and Section 6, Market 

Maker Quotations, of the NASDAQ 

rulebook for the NASDAQ Options 

Market (‘‘NOM’’) to: (a) Permit market 

maker assignment by option rather than 

by series; (b) adopt a $5 quotation 

spread parameter; and (c) amend the 

quoting requirement for Market Makers 

as explained further below. These 

changes are scheduled to be 

implemented on NOM on or about May 

31, 2011; the Exchange will announce 

the implementation schedule by 

Options Trader Alert, once the rollout 

schedule, which will be based in part on 

NOM participants’ readiness, is 

finalized. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available at 

nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com, at 

NASDAQ’s principal office, and at the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, 

NASDAQ included statements 

concerning the purpose of and basis for 

the proposed rule change and discussed 

any comments it received on the 

proposed rule change. The text of these 

statements may be examined at the 

places specified in Item IV below. 

NASDAQ 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 

1. Purpose 

The purpose of the proposed rule 

change is to strengthen Market Maker 

obligations. The NASDAQ Options 

Market (‘‘NOM’’), the options trading 

facility of The NASDAQ Stock Market 

LLC, has been fully operational for over 

two years. During this time, NASDAQ 

has carefully considered the role of 

Market Makers in the NOM marketplace 

and their concomitant obligations. 

An Options Market Maker is a 

Participant 3 registered with NASDAQ 

as a Market Maker.4 Market Makers on 

NOM have certain obligations such as 

maintaining two-sided markets and 

participating in transactions that are 

‘‘reasonably calculated to contribute to 

the maintenance of a fair and orderly 

market.’’ 5 To register as a Market Maker, 

a Participant must file a written 

application with Nasdaq Regulation, 

which will consider an applicant’s 

market making ability and other factors 

it deems appropriate in determining 

whether to approve an applicant’s 

registration.6 All Market Makers are 

designated as specialists on NOM for all 

purposes under the Act or rules 

thereunder.7 The NOM Rules place no 

limit on the number of qualifying 

entities that may become Market 

Makers.8 The good standing of a Market 

Maker may be suspended, terminated, 

or withdrawn if the conditions for 

approval cease to be maintained or the 

Market Maker violates any of its 

agreements with NASDAQ or any 

provisions of the NOM Rules.9

Currently, a Participant that has 

qualified as a Market Maker may register 

to make markets in individual series of 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES