Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 81257 

29 In addition, Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii) requires a selfregulatory organization to give the Commission 

written notice of its intent to file a proposed rule 

change, along with a brief description and text of 

such proposed rule change, at least five business 

days prior to the date of filing, or such shorter time 

as designated by the Commission. The Commission 

has designated a shorter time for delivery of such 

written notice. 

30See SR–MSRB–2018–10. 

31 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii). 

32For the purpose of waiving the 30-day 

operative delay for this proposal, the Commission 

has considered the proposed rule’s impact on 

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 

15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 

33 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 90177 

(October 14, 2020), 85 FR 66620. Comments on the 

proposed rule change can be found at: https://

www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nasdaq-2020-065/ 

srnasdaq2020065.htm. 

designate a shorter time if such action 

is consistent with the protection of 

investors and the public interest.29 The 

MSRB has requested that the 

Commission designate the proposed 

rule change operative upon filing,30 as 

specified in Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii),31

which would make the proposed rule 

change operative on December 2, 2020. 

The MSRB notes that the proposed 

rule change does not relieve regulated 

entities from compliance with 

underlying obligations. Rather, the 

proposed rule change provides 

regulated entities with additional time 

and flexibility to comply with certain 

compliance obligations for a temporary 

period of time. Additionally, it grants 

examining authorities an extension of 

time to examine dealers without 

substantially altering the examining 

authorities’ obligations. The MSRB 

believes the proposed rule change will 

afford regulated entities the ability to 

more effectively allocate resources to 

serve and promote the protection of 

investors, municipal entities, obligated 

persons and the public interest during 

the sustained pandemic. Further the 

MSRB stated, that by alleviating 

operational challenges, the proposed 

rule change will allow regulated entities 

to focus resources on the provision of 

advice and operations that facilitate 

transactions in municipal securities and 

municipal financial products. 

The Commission believes that 

waiving the 30-day operative delay is 

consistent with the protection of 

investors and the public interest. The 

proposed rule change does not relieve 

regulated entities from compliance with 

underlying obligations and will allow 

regulated entities to more effectively 

allocate resources during ongoing 

disruption to normal business functions 

as a result of the pandemic. Waiver of 

the 30-day operative period will 

alleviate operational challenges and 

facilitate the provision of advice and 

transactions in the municipal securities 

market in light of the ongoing impacts 

to in-person interactions, travel, health 

and safety presented by the pandemic. 

Accordingly, the Commission hereby 

waives the 30-day operative delay 

specified in Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii) and 

designates the proposed rule change to 

be operative upon filing.32

At any time within 60 days of the 

filing of the proposed rule change, the 

Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend such 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. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change 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 email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– 

MSRB–2020–09 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–MSRB–2020–09. This file 

number should be included on the 

subject line if email 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 website (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 website viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549 on official 

business days between the hours of 

10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the MSRB. All comments 

received will be posted without change. 

Persons submitting comments are 

cautioned that we do not redact or edit 

personal identifying information from 

comment submissions. You should 

submit only information that you wish 

to make available publicly. All 

submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–MSRB–2020–09 and should 

be submitted on or before January 5, 

2021. 

For the Commission, pursuant to delegated 

authority.33

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27486 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–90615; File No. SR– 

NASDAQ–2020–065] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Notice of 

Withdrawal of Proposed Rule Change 

To Lower the Enterprise License Fee 

for Broker-Dealers Distributing Nasdaq 

Basic to Internal Professional 

Subscribers as Set Forth in the Equity 

7 Pricing Schedule, Section 147, and 

the Enterprise License Fee for BrokerDealers Distributing Nasdaq Last Sale 

to Professional Subscribers at Equity 

7, Section 139 

December 9, 2020. 

On September 30, 2020, The Nasdaq 

Stock Market LLC (‘‘Exchange’’) filed 

with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant 

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

Exchange Act of 1934 1 and Rule 19b– 

4 thereunder,2 a proposed rule change 

to lower the enterprise license fee for 

broker-dealers distributing Nasdaq Basic 

to internal professional subscribers as 

set forth in the Equity 7 Pricing 

Schedule, Section 147, and the 

enterprise license fee for broker-dealers 

distributing Nasdaq Last Sale to 

professional subscribers at Equity 7, 

Section 139. The proposed rule change 

was published for comment in the 

Federal Register on October 20, 2020.3

On November 23, 2020, the Exchange 

withdrew the proposed rule change 

(SR–NASDAQ–2020–065). 

81258 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 241 / Tuesday, December 15, 2020 / Notices 

4 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

4 If FINRA seeks to provide additional temporary 

relief from the rule requirements identified in this 

proposed rule change beyond April 30, 2021, 

FINRA will submit a separate rule filing to further 

extend the temporary extension of time. 

5See Frequently Asked Questions Related to 

Regulatory Relief Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, 

available at https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/ 

key-topics/covid-19/faq. 

6See https://www.finra.org/rules-guidance/keytopics/covid-19/faq#qe. 

7At the outset of the COVID–19 pandemic, all 

FINRA qualification examinations were 

administered at test centers operated by Prometric. 

Based on the health and welfare concerns resulting 

from COVID–19, in March Prometric closed all of 

its test centers in the United States and Canada and 

began to slowly reopen some of them at limited 

capacity in May. Currently, Prometric has resumed 

testing in many of its United States and Canada test 

centers, at either full or limited occupancy, based 

on local and government mandates. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.4

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27485 Filed 12–14–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meetings 

TIME AND DATE: 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, 

December 17, 2020. 

PLACE: The meeting will be held via 

remote means and/or at the 

Commission’s headquarters, 100 F 

Street NE, Washington, DC 20549. 

STATUS: This meeting will be closed to 

the public. 

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: 

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. 

In the event that the time, date, or 

location of this meeting changes, an 

announcement of the change, along with 

the new time, date, and/or place of the 

meeting will be posted on the 

Commission’s website at https://

www.sec.gov. 

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), (6), (7), (8), 9(B) 

and (10) and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(3), 

(a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(7), (a)(8), (a)(9)(ii) and 

(a)(10), permit consideration of the 

scheduled matters at the closed meeting. 

The subject matter of the closed 

meeting will consist of the following 

topics: 

Institution and settlement of 

injunctive actions; 

Institution and settlement of 

administrative proceedings; 

Resolution of litigation claims; and 

Other matters relating to enforcement 

proceedings; and 

Disclosure of non-public information. 

At times, changes in Commission 

priorities require alterations in the 

scheduling of meeting agenda items that 

may consist of adjudicatory, 

examination, litigation, or regulatory 

matters. 

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION: 

For further information; please contact 

Vanessa A. Countryman from the Office 

of the Secretary at (202) 551–5400. 

Dated: December 10, 2020. 

Vanessa A. Countryman, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–27615 Filed 12–11–20; 11:15 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–90617; File No. SR–FINRA– 

2020–043] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

Financial Industry Regulatory 

Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed 

Rule Change To Extend the Effective 

Date of the Temporary Amendments 

Set Forth in SR–FINRA–2020–026 From 

December 31, 2020 to April 30, 2021 

December 9, 2020. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’ 

or ‘‘Exchange Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 

thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that 

on December 4, 2020, the Financial 

Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. 

(‘‘FINRA’’) filed with the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or 

‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I and II 

below, which Items have been prepared 

by FINRA. FINRA has designated the 

proposed rule change as constituting a 

‘‘non-controversial’’ rule change under 

paragraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b–4 under the 

Act,3 which renders the proposal 

effective upon receipt of this filing by 

the Commission. 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 

FINRA is proposing to extend the 

effective date of the temporary 

amendments set forth in SR–FINRA– 

2020–026 from December 31, 2020, to 

April 30, 2021.4 Due to the impacts of 

COVID–19 on the administration of 

FINRA qualification examinations at 

test centers, SR–FINRA–2020–026 

extended the 120-day period that certain 

individuals can function as a principal 

or Operations Professional without 

having successfully passed an 

appropriate qualification examination 

through December 31, 2020. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available on FINRA’s website at 

http://www.finra.org, at the principal 

office of FINRA 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, 

FINRA 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. FINRA 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 COVID–19 pandemic is an 

unpredictable, exogenous event that has 

resulted in unavoidable disruptions to 

the securities industry and impacted 

member firms, regulators, investors and 

other stakeholders. In response to 

COVID–19, earlier this year FINRA 

began providing temporary relief to 

member firms from FINRA rules and 

requirements via frequently asked 

questions (‘‘FAQs’’) on its website.5

Two of these FAQs 6 provided 

temporary relief to address disruptions 

to the administration of FINRA 

qualification examinations caused by 

the pandemic that have significantly 

limited the ability of individuals to sit 

for these examinations due to Prometric 

test center capacity issues.7

FINRA published the first FAQ on 

March 20, 2020, providing that 

individuals who were designated to 

function as principals under FINRA 

Rule 1210.04 prior to February 2, 2020,