706 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2004 / Notices 

1 15 U.S.C. 78k–1.

2 17 CFR 240.11Aa3–2.

compulsory repositories will ensure that 

investors have continued access to 

terms and provisions relating to certain 

static features of those municipal 

securities. The provisions of Rule 15c2–

12 regarding an issuer’s continuing 

disclosure requirements assist investors 

by ensuring that information about an 

issue or issuer remains available after 

the issuance. 

Municipal offerings of less than $1 

million are exempt from the rule, as are 

offerings of municipal securities issued 

in large denominations that are sold to 

no more than 35 sophisticated investors, 

have short-term maturities, or have 

short-term tender or put features. It is 

estimated that approximately 12,000 

brokers, dealers, municipal securities 

dealers, issuers of municipal securities, 

and nationally recognized municipal 

securities information repositories will 

spend a total of 123,850 hours per year 

complying with Rule 15c2–12. 

There is no specific retention period 

applied by Rule 15c2–12 for the 

recordkeeping requirement contained in 

Rule 15c2–12. The retention period is 

determined by private agreement 

between a nationally recognized 

municipal securities information 

repository and the issuer. 

The recordkeeping requirement is 

mandatory to ensure that investors have 

access to information about the issuer 

and particular issues of municipal 

securities. This rule does not involve 

the collection of confidential 

information. Please note that an agency 

may not conduct or sponsor, and a 

person is not required to respond to, a 

collection of information unless it 

displays a currently valid control 

number. 

General Comments regarding the 

estimated burden hours should be 

directed to the following persons: (i) 

Desk Officer for the Securities and 

Exchange Commission, Office of 

Information and Regulatory Affairs, 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Room 10102, New Executive Office 

Building, Washington, DC 20503; and 

(ii) Kenneth A. Fogash, Acting Associate 

Executive Director/CIO, Office of 

Information Technology, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20549. Comments 

must be submitted to OMB within 30 

days of this notice.

Dated: December 29, 2003. 

Margaret H. McFarland, 

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–215 Filed 1–5–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of Filings and 

Information, Washington, DC 20549.

Extension: Rule 17Ad-10; SEC File No. 270–

265; OMB Control No. 3235–0273.

Notice is hereby given that pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget a 

request for extension of the previously 

approved collection of information 

discussed below. 

• Rule 17Ad–10: Prompt posting of 

certificate detail to master 

securityholder files, maintenance of 

accurate securityholder files, 

communications between co-transfer 

agents and recordkeeping transfer 

agents, maintenance of current control 

book, retention of certificate detail and 

‘‘buy-in’’ of physical over-issuance 

Rule 17Ad–10, 17 CFR 240.17Ad–10, 

under the Securities Exchange Act of 

1934, requires approximately 950 

registered transfer agents to create and 

maintain minimum information on 

securityholders’ ownership of an issue 

of securities for which it performs 

transfer agent functions, including the 

purchase, transfer and redemptions of 

securities. In addition, the rule also 

requires transfer agents that maintain 

securityholder records to keep 

certificate detail that has been cancelled 

from those records for a minimum of six 

years and to maintain and keep current 

an accurate record of the number of 

shares or principle dollar amount of 

debt securities that the issuer has 

authorized to be outstanding (a ‘‘control 

book’’). These recordkeeping 

requirements assist in the creation and 

maintenance of accurate securityholder 

records, the ability to research errors, 

and ensure the transfer agent is ware of 

the number of securities that are 

properly authorized by the issuer, 

thereby avoiding overissuance. 

There are approximately 950 transfer 

agents currently registered with the 

Commission. The staff estimates that the 

average number of hours necessary for 

each transfer agent to comply with Rule 

17Ad–10 is approximately 20 hours per 

year, totalling 19,000 hours industrywide. The average cost per hour is 

approximately $20 per hour, with the 

industry-wide cost estimated at 

approximately $380,000. However, the 

information required by Rule 17Ad–10 

generally already is maintained by 

registered transfer agents. The amount 

of time devoted to compliance with 

Rule 17Ad–10 varies according to 

differences in business activity. 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s 

estimates of the burden of the proposed 

collection of information; (c) ways to 

enhance the quality, utility, and clarity 

of the information to be collected; and 

(d) ways to minimize the burden of the 

collection of information on 

respondents, including through the use 

of automated collection techniques or 

other forms of information technology. 

Consideration will be given to 

comments and suggestions submitted in 

writing within 60 days of this 

publication. 

Please direct your written comments 

to Kenneth A. Fogash, Acting Associate 

Executive Director/CIO, Office of 

Information Technology, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street, 

NW., Washington, DC 20549.

Dated: December 22, 2003. 

Margaret H. McFarland, 

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–218 Filed 1–5–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–49010; File No. 4–429] 

Joint Industry Plan; Notice of Filing of 

Joint Amendment No. 8 to the Options 

Intermarket Linkage Plan Relating to 

Satisfaction Orders and TradeThroughs 

December 30, 2003. 

Pursuant to Section 11A of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 11Aa3–2 

thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that 

on December 18, 2003, December 22, 

2003, December 29, 2003, and December 

30, 2003, the International Securities 

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘ISE’’), the Pacific 

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘PCX’’), the American 

Stock Exchange LLC (‘‘Amex’’), the 

Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. 

(‘‘Phlx’’), and the Chicago Board 

Options Exchange, Inc. (‘‘CBOE’’) 

(collectively, the ‘‘Participants’’), 

respectively, filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 3 / Tuesday, January 6, 2004 / Notices 707

3On July 28, 2000, the Commission approved a 

national market system plan for the purpose of 

creating and operating an intermarket options 

market linkage (‘‘Linkage’’) proposed by Amex, 

CBOE, and ISE. See Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 43086 (July 28, 2000), 65 FR 48023 

(August 4, 2000). Subsequently, Phlx and PCX 

joined the Linkage Plan. See Securities Exchange 

Act Release Nos. 43573 (November 16, 2000), 65 FR 

70850 (November 28, 2000) and 43574 (November 

16, 2000), 65 FR 70851 (November 28, 2000). On 

June 27, 2001 and May 30, 2002, respectively, the 

Commission approved amendments to the Linkage 

Plan. See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 

44482 (June 27, 2001), 66 FR 35470 (July 5, 2001) 

and 46001 (May 30, 2002), 67 FR 38687 (June 5, 

2002).

4A ‘‘Trade-Through’’ is defined as a transaction 

in an options series at a price that is inferior to the 

national best bid and offer in an options series 

calculated by a Participant.

5The Commission approved the pilot on a 120-

day temporary basis on January 31, 2003. See

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 47298 (January 

31, 2003), 68 FR 6524 (February 7, 2003). On June 

18, 2003, the Commission approved the pilot until 

January 31, 2004. See Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 48055, 68 FR 37869 (June 25, 2003) 

(File No. 4–429).

6See letter from Michael Simon, Senior Vice 

President and General Counsel, ISE, to Annette 

Nazareth, Director, Division of Market Regulation, 

Commission, dated November 19, 2002.

7See supra note 4.

8The Participants explain that, for example, if an 

exchange receives a Satisfaction Order for 50 

contracts and only fills 10, 40 contracts ‘‘would 

have been filled absent this exemption.’’ To the 

extent the Participants have the relevant 

information, the Report will compare the size of 

Satisfaction Orders they could have sent in the last 

seven minutes of the trading day with the size of 

the actual fills. However, the ability to provide this 

data will depend on whether a particular 

Participant has the data on the size of the tradethroughs underlying the Satisfaction Orders, and 

not just the data on the size of the Satisfaction 

Orders themselves. 9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(29).

‘‘Commission’’) an amendment 

(‘‘Amendment No. 8’’) to the Options 

Intermarket Linkage Plan (‘‘Linkage 

Plan’’).3 In proposed Joint Amendment 

No. 8, the Participants propose to 

extend the pilot provision limiting 

trade-through liability to 10 contracts 

for each Satisfaction Order (‘‘S Order’’) 

at the end of the day for an additional 

five months, until June 30, 2004. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments from interested 

persons on the proposed Linkage Plan 

amendment.

I. Description and Purpose of the 

Amendment 

The Participants are proposing to 

extend the pilot provision that limits 

‘‘trade-through’’ 4 liability to 10 

contracts for each S Order at the end of 

the day for an additional five months, 

until June 30, 2004, in order to gain 

more experience with the effect of this 

limitation on trade-through liability. 

Pursuant to the pilot, an Participant 

member’s trade-through liability is 

limited to 10 contracts per Satisfaction 

Order for the period between five 

minutes prior to the close of trading in 

the underlying security and the close of 

trading in the options class.

The Participants originally proposed 

this limitation on liability as a one-year 

pilot in Amendment No. 4 to the Plan.5

In Amendment No. 4, the Participants 

represented that members of various 

exchanges had raised concerns 

regarding their obligation to fill 

Satisfaction Orders (which they receive 

when an options exchange 

disseminating a better price complains 

about a trade-through) at the close of 

trading in the underlying security. 

Specifically, members expressed 

concern that they may not have time to 

hedge the positions they acquire.6 Thus, 

the Participants proposed to limit 

liability for trade-throughs for the last 

five minutes of the trading day in the 

underlying security to the filling of 10 

contracts per Participant, per 

transaction. The Participants 

represented that they believed that the 

proposal would protect small customer 

orders, yet establish a reasonable limit 

for their members’ liability. Further, the 

Participants represented that the 

proposal would not affect a member’s 

potential liability under an exchange’s 

disciplinary rule for engaging in a 

pattern or practice of trading through 

other markets under Section 8(c)(i)(C) of 

the Linkage Plan.

In the order approving the pilot, 

Commission stated that in the event the 

Participants chose to seek permanent 

approval of this limitation, the 

Participants must provide the 

Commission with a report (the 

‘‘Report’’) regarding data on the use of 

the exemption no later than 60 days 

before seeking permanent approval.7 In 

Amendment No. 8, the Participants 

represente that if they seek to make the 

limitations on trade-throughs 

permanent, they will submit the Report 

to the Commission no later than March 

31, 2004.

With respect to the Report, the 

Participants represente in Amendment 

No. 8 that each Participant currently 

plans to submit individual Reports 

regarding the requested data as it 

pertains to their own exchange. They 

further represent that these Reports will 

detail the number of trade-throughs in 

the last seven minutes and the rest of 

the day, as well as the number and size 

of Satisfaction Orders that would have 

been filled absent the current 

exemption.8 In addition, the 

Participants represent that the Reports 

will provide information on the extent 

to which the exchange’s members hedge 

their options trading during the day as 

part of their overall risk management. 

Finally, the Participants represent that 

they will make every effort to provide 

specific information regarding hedging 

at the end of the trading day.

II. Implementation of the Plan 

Amendment 

The Participants propose to make the 

proposed amendment to the Linkage 

Plan reflected in this filing effective 

when the Commission approves the 

amendment. 

III. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed Linkage 

Plan amendment is consistent with the 

Act. Persons making written 

submissions should file six copies 

thereof with the Secretary, Securities 

and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth 

Street, NW., Washington DC 20549–

0609. Comments may also be submitted 

electronically at the following e-mail 

address: rule-comments@sec.gov. All 

comment letters should refer to File No. 

4–429. This file number should be 

included on the subject line if e-mail is 

used. To help the Commission process 

and review your comments more 

efficiently, comments should be sent in 

hardcopy or by e-mail but not by both 

methods. Copies of the submissions, all 

subsequent amendments, all written 

statements with respect to the proposed 

Linkage Plan amendment that are filed 

with the Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed Linkage Plan amendment 

between the Commission and any 

person, other than those that may be 

withheld from the public in accordance 

with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will 

be available for inspection and copying 

at the Commission’s Public Reference 

Room. Copies of such filings will also be 

available for inspection and copying at 

the principal offices of the Amex, CBOE, 

ISE, Phlx, and PCX. All submissions 

should refer to File No. 4–429 be 

submitted by January 21, 2004.

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated 

authority.9

Margaret H. McFarland, 

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 04–217 Filed 1–5–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P