Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 248 / Monday, December 28, 2020 / Notices 84449 

14 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3 ‘‘Company’’ means the issuer of a security listed 

or applying to list on the Exchange. See LTSE Rule 

14.002(a)(5). 

4 If the Exchange expands the menu of 

promotional services offered, or elects to provide 

new products or services to listed Companies, the 

Exchange will incorporate such changes in a new 

proposed rule change. 

5 Such promotional services appear to be 

commonly provided by listing exchanges. See, e.g., 

The NYSE Listed Company Network, New York 

Stock Exchange LLC, available at https://

www.nyse.com/network (last visited December 6, 

2020) (featuring blog posts and videos about listed 

companies on NYSE). 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

should be approved or disapproved. 

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– 

FINRA–2020–044 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–FINRA–2020–044. 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 such 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of FINRA. 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–FINRA– 

2020–044 and should be submitted on 

or before January 19, 2021. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.14

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28514 Filed 12–23–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–90731; File No. SR–LTSE– 

2020–22] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; LongTerm Stock Exchange, Inc.; Notice of 

Filing of a Proposed Rule Change To 

Adopt Rules Related to Promotional 

Services and Listing Ceremonies for 

Listed Companies 

December 18, 2020. 

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 December 

10, 2020, Long-Term Stock Exchange, 

Inc. (‘‘LTSE’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I, II, and III below, which Items 

have been prepared by the Exchange. 

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 

LTSE proposes to adopt Rule 14.602 

to provide for promotional services and 

listing ceremonies that will be offered 

by the Exchange in connection with a 

Company’s approval for listing on the 

Exchange. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available at the Exchange’s website at 

https://longtermstockexchange.com/, at 

the principal office of the Exchange, 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, the 

self-regulatory organization 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. 

The self-regulatory organization 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 Exchange proposes to adopt Rule 

14.602 to provide for promotional 

services and listing ceremonies that will 

be offered by the Exchange in 

connection with a Company’s 3 approval 

for listing on the Exchange. 

Proposed LTSE Rule 14.602 states that 

in connection with a Company’s 

approval for listing, the Exchange offers 

promotional services (including press 

releases, articles, videos, and podcasts) 

and invites the Company to participate 

in listing ceremonies.4 The promotional 

services would be tailored to meet the 

needs of the Company, and would allow 

the Company access to media services 

that would support the creation of press 

releases, articles, videos, and podcasts 

featuring the Company and its 

personnel. These promotional services 

also would include assistance with 

distributing such content on traditional 

and social media platforms, including 

websites operated by the Exchange.5 A 

full suite of promotional services will be 

offered to each Company approved to 

list on the Exchange. Some Companies 

may choose to avail themselves of all 

promotional services, whereas others 

may choose only a subset of services or 

none. 

Although the Exchange is only 

accepting dual-listings at the present 

time, it believes that the decision of a 

Company to list on the Exchange and 

adopt Long-Term Policies consistent 

with LTSE Rule 14.425 is a significant 

event for which a listing ceremony 

would be appropriate. Accordingly, the 

Exchange will establish a listing 

ceremony to commemorate a Company 

becoming listed on the Exchange. The 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
84450 Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 248 / Monday, December 28, 2020 / Notices 

6 As noted in the order approving LTSE as a 

national securities exchange, LTSE maintains a 

commercial relationship with LTSE Services to 

leverage the company’s technological expertise to 

support the Exchange’s software needs. See In the 

Matter of the Application of Long Term Stock 

Exchange, Inc.; for Registration as a National 

Securities Exchange; Findings, Opinion, and Order 

of the Commission, Exchange Act Release No. 

85828 (May 10, 2019), 84 FR 21841, 21842 (May 15, 

2019). LTSE Services also provides 

communications and marketing services to the 

Exchange. The Exchange anticipates that it will use 

LTSE Services, among other things, to draft 

marketing content for review by the Exchange and 

the Company, produce and edit videos and 

podcasts, and coordinate listing ceremonies, 

whether done as in-person or remote events. 

7 See NYSE Listed Company Manual Section 

106.03 (‘‘The Exchange invites the company’s 

directors and officers to participate in listing 

ceremonies on the first day of trading. . . . The 

Exchange has a public relations area which will 

coordinate the publicity for the event including 

picture taking on the trading floor.’’). 

8 15 U.S.C. 78f. 

9 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 11 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(1). 

Exchange does not have a trading floor 

or a market site and thus will work with 

each Company to design and plan a 

listing ceremony that reflects the 

Company’s values and mission. The 

listing ceremony would be comparable 

to ‘‘ringing a bell’’ by gathering 

Company and Exchange personnel to 

celebrate that the Company has listed on 

the Exchange. The listing ceremony may 

be conducted in-person or remotely. 

Moreover, the absence of a LTSE trading 

floor or dedicated market site allows the 

Exchange to be flexible in providing 

listing ceremonies that can be more 

inclusive in terms of the number of 

Company personnel who may attend 

and the location of the ceremony.6

The listing ceremonies in the 

proposed rule change would be 

comparable to provisions in New York 

Stock Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’) Listed 

Company Manual Section 106.03,7

though tailored to address the fact that 

a Company listing on LTSE may be a 

public company and therefore is already 

trading on LTSE (as well as other 

national securities exchanges). 

Additionally, the Exchange proposes 

that its listing ceremonies be more 

inclusive, and does not plan to limit 

listing ceremonies to a particular 

physical location or solely to a 

Company’s directors and officers. The 

Exchange believes that the Company 

should determine where such 

ceremonies should take place and who 

should participate in the ceremonies. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the provisions of Section 6 of the Act,8

in general, and furthers the objectives of 

Section 6(b)(4) of the Act,9 in particular, 

in that it is designed to provide for the 

equitable allocation of reasonable dues, 

fees, and other charges among the 

Exchange’s members and issuers and 

other persons using its facilities. The 

Exchange also believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

Section 6(b)(5) of the Act 10 in that it is 

not designed to permit unfair 

discrimination between customers, 

issuers, brokers, or dealers. 

The Exchange believes that it is fair 

and reasonable to offer promotional 

services and listing ceremonies. The 

Exchange believes that the existing U.S. 

exchange listing market for operating 

companies is essentially a duopoly with 

the vast majority of operating companies 

listed on U.S. securities exchanges 

listing on NYSE or Nasdaq Stock Market 

LLC (‘‘Nasdaq’’). The Exchange expects 

to face competition from NYSE and 

Nasdaq as a new entrant into the 

exchange listing market, and believes 

that offering promotional services and 

listing ceremonies for Companies listing 

on the Exchange would allow the 

Exchange to more effectively attract 

Companies to list on the Exchange. The 

Exchange believes that to the extent the 

Exchange’s listing program is 

successful, it will provide a competitive 

alternative, which will thereby benefit 

companies and investors, and remove 

impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system, consistent 

with the protection of investors and the 

public interest. 

The Exchange believes that its 

proposed offer of promotional services 

and listing ceremonies for listed 

Companies is fair and not unfairly 

discriminatory because the promotional 

services and listing ceremonies will be 

offered to all listed Companies on the 

same terms and conditions without 

differentiation. The scope of 

promotional services and listing 

ceremonies provided by the Exchange to 

each Company ultimately will depend 

on which services the Company selects 

insofar as these are optional services for 

the Company. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange 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. To the 

contrary, and as discussed in the 

Statutory Basis section, LTSE believes 

that the proposed rule change will 

enhance competition by facilitating 

LTSE’s listing program which will allow 

the Exchange to provide companies 

with another listing option, thereby 

promoting intermarket competition 

between exchanges in furtherance of the 

principles of Section 11A(a)(1) of the 

Act 11 in that it is designed to promote 

fair competition between exchange 

markets by offering a new listing market 

to compete with Nasdaq and NYSE. 

Moreover, as a dual listing venue, LTSE 

expects to face competition from 

existing exchanges because companies 

have a choice to list their securities 

solely on a primary listing venue. 

Consequently, the degree to which 

LTSE’s promotional services and listing 

ceremonies for listed Companies could 

impose any burden on intermarket 

competition is extremely limited, and 

LTSE does not believe that such 

offerings would impose any burden on 

competing venues that is not necessary 

or appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act. 

LTSE also does not believe that the 

proposed rule change will result in any 

burden on intramarket competition 

since LTSE will offer the promotional 

services and listing ceremonies for all 

listed Companies on the same terms and 

conditions without differentiation. 

Consequently, LTSE does not believe 

that the proposal will impose any 

burden on intramarket competition that 

is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 

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 

Within 45 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 Exchange consents, 

the Commission shall: (a) by order 

approve or disapprove 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 proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 85, No. 248 / Monday, December 28, 2020 / Notices 84451 

12 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1Persons interested in submitting an OFA must 

first file a formal expression of intent to file an 

offer, indicating the type of financial assistance they 

wish to provide (i.e., subsidy or purchase) and 

demonstrating that they are preliminarily 

financially responsible. See 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2)(i). 

2The Board will grant a stay if an informed 

decision on environmental issues (whether raised 

by a party or by the Board’s Office of Environmental 

Analysis (OEA) in its independent investigation) 

cannot be made before the exemptions’ effective 

date. See Exemption of Out-of-Serv. Rail Lines, 5 

I.C.C.2d 377 (1989). Any request for a stay should 

be filed as soon as possible so that the Board may 

take appropriate action before the exemptions’ 

effective date. 

3Filing fees for OFAs and trail use requests can 

be found at 49 CFR 1002.2(f)(25) and (27), 

respectively. 

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– 

LTSE–2020–22 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–LTSE–2020–22. 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 Exchange. 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–LTSE–2020–22, and should 

be submitted on or before January 19, 

2021. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.12

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28515 Filed 12–23–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

Interest Rates 

The Small Business Administration 

publishes an interest rate called the 

optional ‘‘peg’’ rate (13 CFR 120.214) on 

a quarterly basis. This rate is a weighted 

average cost of money to the 

government for maturities similar to the 

average SBA direct loan. This rate may 

be used as a base rate for guaranteed 

fluctuating interest rate SBA loans. This 

rate will be 1.13 percent for the 

January–March quarter of FY 2021. 

Pursuant to 13 CFR 120.921(b), the 

maximum legal interest rate for any 

third party lender’s commercial loan 

which funds any portion of the cost of 

a 504 project (see 13 CFR 120.801) shall 

be 6% over the New York Prime rate or, 

in the event that rate exceeds the 

maximum interest rate permitted by the 

constitution or laws of a given State, the 

maximum interest rate will be the rate 

permitted by the constitution or laws of 

the given State. 

John Wade, 

Chief, Secondary Market Division, Office of 

Financial Assistance. 

[FR Doc. 2020–28533 Filed 12–23–20; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. AB 1302X] 

City of Temple, Tex.—Abandonment 

Exemption—in Bell County, Tex. 

[Docket No. AB 1309X] 

Temple & Central Texas Railway, 

LLC—Discontinuance of Service 

Exemption—in Bell County, Tex. 

The City of Temple, Tex. (the City), 

and Temple & Central Texas Railway, 

LLC (TCTR) (collectively, Applicants), 

jointly filed a verified notice of 

exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 

subpart F—Exempt Abandonments and 

Discontinuances of Service for the City 

to abandon and TCTR to discontinue 

service over approximately 6.277 miles 

of rail line between Belton, Tex., 

milepost 0.0, and Smith, Tex., milepost 

6.277, in Bell County, Tex. (the Line). 

The Line traverses U.S. Postal Service 

Zip Codes 76513 and 76502. 

Applicants have certified that: (1) No 

local traffic has moved over the Line for 

at least two years; (2) there is no 

overhead traffic on the Line; (3) no 

formal complaint filed by a user of rail 

service on the Line (or by a state or local 

government entity acting on behalf of 

such user) regarding cessation of service 

over the Line either is pending with the 

Surface Transportation Board (Board) or 

with any U.S. District Court or has been 

decided in favor of complainant within 

the two-year period; and (4) the 

requirements at 49 CFR 1105.7 and 

1105.8 (notice of environmental and 

historic report), 49 CFR 1105.12 

(newspaper publication), and 49 CFR 

1152.50(d)(1) (notice to governmental 

agencies) have been met. 

As a condition to these exemptions, 

any employee adversely affected by the 

abandonment and discontinuance of 

service shall be protected under Oregon 

Short Line Railroad—Abandonment 

Portion Goshen Branch Between Firth & 

Ammon, in Bingham & Bonneville 

Counties, Idaho, 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979). To 

address whether this condition 

adequately protects affected employees, 

a petition for partial revocation under 

49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be filed. 

Provided no formal expression of 

intent to file an offer of financial 

assistance (OFA) has been received,1 the 

exemptions will be effective on January 

27, 2021, unless stayed pending 

reconsideration. Petitions to stay that do 

not involve environmental issues,2

formal expressions of intent to file an 

OFA under 49 CFR 1152.27(c)(2), and 

interim trail use/rail banking requests 

under 49 CFR 1152.29 must be filed by 

January 7, 2021.3 Petitions to reopen or 

requests for public use conditions under 

49 CFR 1152.28 must be filed by January 

19, 2021. 

A copy of any petition filed with the 

Board should be sent to the City’s 

representative, Peter W. Denton, Steptoe 

& Johnson LLP, 1330 Connecticut 

Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036, 

and to TCTR’s representative, Bradley S. 

Gordon, Patriot Rail Company LLC, 

Patriot Port Holdings LLC, 10752 

Deerwood Park Boulevard, Suite 300, 

Jacksonville, FL 32256. 

If the verified notice contains false or 

misleading information, the exemptions 

are void ab initio. 

Applicants have filed a combined 

environmental and historic report that 


tkelley on DSKBCP9HB2PROD with NOTICES