76512 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 21, 2004 / Notices 

7Release No. 34–50405 (Sept. 16, 2004), 69 FR 

57118 (Sept. 23, 2004) (Notice of Filing).

8 15 U.S.C. 78o–3(b)(6).

9 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(i).

10 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(1).

11For purposes of calculating the 60-day period 

within which the Commission may summarily 

abrogate the proposed rule change under Section 

19(b)(3)(C) of the Act, the Commission considers 

that period to commence on December 6, 2004, the 

date Nasdaq filed Amendment No. 1. See 15 U.S.C. 

78s(b)(3)(C). 12 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

no cross, is consistent with the 

Exchange Act and the policy underlying 

short sale regulation. Nasdaq believes 

that short selling provides the market 

with important benefits, such as market 

liquidity and pricing efficiency, and that 

short selling should not be restricted 

unnecessarily. As a result, the primary 

objective of short sale regulation is to 

prevent manipulative short selling, such 

as ‘‘bear raids’’ from driving the price of 

securities through successively lower 

price levels. Nasdaq also believes that 

its two opening processes, the Nasdaq 

Opening Cross and the Modified 

Opening Process, will reduce the 

incentive and potential effectiveness of 

manipulative short selling at the open 

by aggregating substantial trading 

interest and executing it in an 

organized, transparent fashion. After 

those processes are complete, the short 

sale bid arrow is immediately 

recalculated according to the first bids 

Nasdaq receives, making it immediately 

available to detect and address 

problematic short selling that could 

occur on Nasdaq. Nasdaq also notes that 

Nasdaq’s proposed regulation of short 

selling is far more effective than the 

practice in other markets that currently 

trade Nasdaq securities with no price 

test at all. 

Nasdaq will implement this change 

with the launch of its recently proposed 

modified opening process described in 

SR–NASD–2004–71.7 In that filing, 

Nasdaq proposed to establish an 

Opening Cross for certain Nasdaq-listed 

stocks and to improve the opening 

process for all others. Under the 

interpretation herein, the bid arrow 

would be designated as an up arrow 

during the Opening Cross, which will be 

the first activity in the market at 9:30. 

The bid arrow would be up at the 

conclusion of the Opening Cross, and 

would change based upon the first bid 

change processed immediately 

following the Opening Cross. For 

Nasdaq stocks for which there is no 

Opening Cross, the bid arrow will be 

designated as an up arrow immediately 

at 9:30 and then will change based upon 

the first bids processed after 9:30.

2. Statutory Basis 

Nasdaq believes that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the 

provisions of Section 15A(b)(6) of the 

Act,8 which requires, among other 

things, that NASD rules be designed to 

prevent fraudulent and manipulative 

acts and practices, to promote just and 

equitable principles of trade, and, in 

general, to protect investors and the 

public interest. Nasdaq believes the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the Act in that it updates Nasdaq’s short 

sale rule to reflect the increase in afterhours and pre-opening trading and also 

promotes compliance with and 

regulation of short sale requirements.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

Nasdaq does not believe that the 

proposed rule change will result in any 

burden on competition that is not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purposes of the Act, as amended. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received from 

Members, Participants, or Others 

Written comments were neither 

solicited nor received. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The forgoing rule change has become 

effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(i) 9 of the Act, and 

subparagraph (f)(1) of Rule 19b–4,10

because the proposal constitutes a stated 

policy, practice, or interpretation with 

respect to meaning, administration, or 

enforcement of an existing NASD rule. 

At any time within 60 days of the filing 

of a proposed rule change pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act, the 

Commission may summarily abrogate 

the proposed rule change if it appears to 

the Commission that such action is 

necessary or appropriate in the public 

interest, for the protection of investors, 

or otherwise in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act.11

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change, as amended, is consistent with 

the Act. Comments may be submitted by 

any of the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s Internet 

comment form (http://www.sec.gov/

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an e-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File 

Number SR–NASD–2004–150 on the 

subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Jonathan G. Katz, Secretary, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 

20549–0609. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–NASD–2004–150. 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, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/

rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the 

submission, all subsequent 

amendments, all written statements 

with respect to the proposed rule 

change that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed rule change 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 in 

the Commission’s Public Reference 

Section, 450 Fifth Street, NW., 

Washington, DC 20549–0609. Copies of 

such filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the NASD. All comments 

received will be posted without change; 

the Commission does not edit personal 

identifying information from 

submissions. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. All submissions 

should refer to File Number SR–NASD–

2004–150 and should be submitted on 

or before January 11, 2005.

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated 

authority.12

Margaret H. McFarland, 

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. E4–3761 Filed 12–20–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Region IV North Florida District 

Advisory Council; Public Meeting 

The U.S. Small Business 

Administration (SBA) North Florida 

District Advisory Council located in 

Jacksonville, Florida, will host a public 

meeting at 12 p.m. e.s.t. on Wednesday, 

January 19, 2005 at the SBA North 

Florida District Office located at 7825 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 244 / Tuesday, December 21, 2004 / Notices 76513

Baymeadows Way, Jacksonville, FL 

32256, to discuss such matters that may 

be presented by members, and staff of 

the U.S. Small Business Administration, 

or others present. Anyone wishing to 

make an oral presentation to the Board 

must contact Wilfredo J. Gonzalez, 

District Director, in writing by letter or 

fax no later than Monday, January 3, 

2005, in order to be placed on the 

agenda. 

Contact information: Wilfredo J. 

Gonzalez, District Director, U.S. Small 

Business Administration, 7825 

Baymeadows Way; Suite 100B, 

Jacksonville, FL 32256, Telephone (904) 

443–1900, FAX (202) 481–4188.

Matthew K. Becker, 

Committee Management Officer.

[FR Doc. 04–27831 Filed 12–20–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES 

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE 

Trade Policy Staff Committee; Request 

for Public Comment on Review of 

Employment Impact of United StatesOman Free Trade Agreement 

Negotiations

AGENCIES: Office of the United States 

Trade Representative; Department of 

Labor.

ACTION: Request for comments.

SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff 

Committee (TPSC) gives notice that the 

Office of the United States Trade 

Representative (USTR) and the 

Department of Labor (Labor) are 

initiating a review of the impact of a 

proposed free trade agreement (FTA) 

between the United States and Oman on 

U.S. employment, including labor 

markets. This notice seeks written 

public comment on potentially 

significant sectoral or regional 

employment impacts (both positive and 

negative) in the United States as well as 

other likely labor market impacts of the 

FTA.

DATES: USTR and Labor will accept any 

comments received during the course of 

the negotiations of the FTA. However, 

comments should be received by noon, 

February 16, 2005, to be assured of 

timely consideration.

ADDRESSES: Submissions by electronic 

mail: FR0513@ustr.eop.gov.

Submissions by facsimile: Gloria Blue, 

Executive Secretary, Trade Policy Staff 

Committee, at (202) 395–6143.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For 

procedural questions concerning public 

comments, contact Gloria Blue, 

Executive Secretary, TPSC, Office of the 

USTR, 1724 F Street, NW., Washington, 

DC 20508, telephone (202) 395–3475. 

Substantive questions concerning the 

employment impact review should be 

addressed to Jorge Perez-Lopez, 

Director, Office of International 

Economic Affairs, Bureau of 

International Labor Affairs, U.S. 

Department of Labor, 200 Constitution 

Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20210, 

telephone (202) 693–4883; or William 

Clatanoff, Assistant U.S. Trade 

Representative for Labor, telephone 

(202) 395–6120.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

1. Background Information 

In accordance with section 2104 of 

the Trade Act of 2002 (Trade Act) (19 

U.S.C. 3804), on November 15, 2003, the 

USTR notified the Congress of the 

President’s intent to initiate FTA 

negotiations with Oman. Pursuant to the 

requirements of the Trade Act of 1974, 

the USTR requested the U.S. 

International Trade Commission (ITC) to 

provide advice on probable economic 

effects no later than February 28, 2005. 

In addition, USTR published a notice in 

the Federal Register soliciting views 

from the public on the negotiations in 

general, and the TPSC will hold a public 

hearing on January 14, 2005. The United 

States intends to begin negotiations with 

Oman in March 2005. 

2. Employment Impact Review 

Section 2102(c)(5) of the Trade Act 

(19 U.S.C. 3802(c)(5)) directs the 

President to review the impact of future 

trade agreements on U.S. employment, 

including labor markets, modeled after 

Executive Order 13141 to the extent 

appropriate in establishing procedures 

and criteria, report to the Committee on 

Ways and Means of the House of 

Representatives and the Committee on 

Finance of the Senate on such review, 

and make that report available to the 

public. USTR and Labor will conduct 

the employment reviews through the 

TPSC. 

The employment impact review will 

be based on the following elements, 

which are modeled to the extent 

appropriate after those in EO 13141. The 

review will be: (1) Written; (2) initiated 

through a notice in the Federal Register

soliciting public comment and 

information on the employment impact 

of the FTA in the United States; (3) 

made available to the public in draft 

form for public comment, to the extent 

practicable; and (4) made available to 

the public in final form.

Comments may be submitted on 

potentially significant sectoral or 

regional employment impacts (both 

positive and negative) in the United 

States as well as other likely labor 

market impacts of the FTA. Persons 

submitting comments should provide as 

much detail as possible in support of 

their submissions. 

3. Requirements for Submissions 

In order to ensure prompt and full 

consideration of response, the TPSC 

strongly urges and prefers electronic (email) submissions in response to this 

notice. In the event that an e-mail 

submission is impossible, submissions 

should be made by facsimile. 

Persons making submissions by email should use the following subject 

line: ‘‘U.S.-Oman FTA Employment 

Impact Review.’’ Documents should be 

submitted as WordPerfect, MSWord, or 

text (.TXT) files. Spreadsheets 

submitted as supporting documentation 

are acceptable as Quattro Pro or Excel 

files. If any document submitted 

electronically contains business 

confidential information, the file name 

of the business confidential version 

should begin with the characters ‘‘BC-,’’

and the file name of the public version 

should begin with the character ‘‘P-.’’

The ‘‘P-’’ or ‘‘BC-’’ should be followed 

by the name of the submitter. Persons 

who make submissions by e-mail should 

not provide separate cover letters; 

information that might appear in a cover 

letter should be included in the 

submission itself. To the extent 

possible, any attachments to the 

submission should be included in the 

same file as the submission itself, and 

not as separate files. 

Written comments will be placed in a 

file open to public inspection pursuant 

to 15 CFR 2003.5, except confidential 

business information exempt from 

public inspection in accordance with 15 

CFR 2003.6. Confidential business 

information submitted in accordance 

with 15 CFR 2003.6 must be clearly 

marked ‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL’’

at the top of each page, including any 

cover letter or cover page, and must be 

accompanied by a non-confidential 

summary of the confidential 

information. All public documents and 

non-confidential summaries shall be 

available for public inspection in the 

USTR Reading Room in Room 3 of the 

Annex of the Office of the USTR, 1724 

F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20508. 

An appointment to review the file may 

be made by calling (202) 395–6186. The 

USTR Reading Room is generally open 

to the public from 10 a.m–12 noon and 

1–4 p.m. Monday through Friday.