Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 8, 2010 / Notices 76505 

5 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3For a detailed description of the Investor 

Support Program, see Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 63270 (November 8, 2010), 75 FR 69489 

(November 12, 2010) (NASDAQ–2010–141) (notice 

of filing and immediate effectiveness) (the ‘‘ISP 

Filing’’). 

4The Commission has recently expressed its 

concern that a significant percentage of the orders 

of individual investors are executed at over the 

counter (‘‘OTC’’) markets, that is, at off-exchange 

markets; and that a significant percentage of the 

orders of institutional investors are executed in 

dark pools. Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

61358 (January 14, 2010), 75 FR 3594 (January 21, 

2010) (Concept Release on Equity Market Structure, 

‘‘Concept Release’’). See also Mary L. Schapiro, 

Strengthening Our Equity Market Structure (Speech 

at the Economic Club of New York, Sept. 7, 2010) 

(‘‘Schapiro Speech,’’ available on the Commission 

Web site) (comments of Commission Chairman on 

what she viewed as a troubling trend of reduced 

participation in the equity markets by individual 

investors, and that nearly 30 percent of volume in 

U.S.-listed equities is executed in venues that do 

not display their liquidity or make it generally 

available to the public). 

5NASDAQ notes that exclusion of partial trading 

days would be consistent with how the Exchange 

treats partial trading days for tabulation of pricing 

tiers under Rule 7018(j). 

6The term ‘‘ISP Execution Ratio’’ is defined as: 

The ratio of (i) the total number of liquidityproviding orders entered by a member through its 

ISP-designated ports during the specified time 

period to (ii) the number of liquidity-providing 

orders entered by such member through its ISPdesignated ports and executed (in full or partially) 

in the NASDAQ Market Center during such time 

period (provided that: (i) No order shall be counted 

as executed more than once; (ii) no Pegged Orders, 

odd-lot orders, or MIOC or SIOC orders shall be 

included in the tabulation; and (iii) no order shall 

be included in the tabulation if it executes but does 

not add liquidity). Rule 7014 (d)(3). 

7A partial trading day may occur, as an example, 

immediately after the Thanksgiving holiday. 

8There have been no partial trading days in the 

month of November previous to the date of 

submission of the filing and it would therefore not 

be retroactive in effect. 

2010–083 and should be submitted on 

or before December 29, 2010. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.5

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30804 Filed 12–7–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–63414; File No. SR– 

NASDAQ–2010–153] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice 

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness 

of a Proposed Rule Change by The 

NASDAQ Stock Market LLC To Clarify 

the Exclusion of Partial Trading Days 

From Certain Calculations Within the 

Investor Support Program 

December 2, 2010. 

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 November 

24, 2010, The NASDAQ Stock Market 

LLC (‘‘NASDAQ’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) 

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 the self-regulatory 

organization. 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 is filing with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or 

‘‘Commission’’) a proposal for the 

NASDAQ Options Market (‘‘NOM’’ or 

‘‘Exchange’’) to clarify that partial 

trading days will not be counted toward 

the calculation of certain Investor 

Support Program (‘‘ISP’’) credit 

eligibility requirements pursuant to 

subsection (c)(2) of the rule. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available from NASDAQ’s Web site at 

http://nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com/ 

Filings/, 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 the 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange is proposing to amend 

Rule 7014 to clarify that partial trading 

days will not be counted toward the 

calculation of certain ISP credit 

eligibility requirements pursuant to 

subsection (c)(2) of the rule, particularly 

the average daily number of shares of 

liquidity provided in orders entered by 

the member through its ISP-designated 

ports and executed in the Nasdaq 

Market Center during the month. 

The Exchange established an Investor 

Support Program that enables NASDAQ 

members to earn a monthly fee credit for 

providing additional liquidity to 

NASDAQ and increasing the NASDAQtraded volume of what are generally 

considered to be retail and institutional 

investor orders in exchange-traded 

securities (‘‘targeted liquidity’’).3 The 

goal of the ISP is to incentivize members 

to provide such targeted liquidity to the 

NASDAQ Market Center.4 The Exchange 

noted in the ISP Filing that maintaining 

and increasing the proportion of orders 

in exchange-listed securities executed 

on a registered exchange (rather than 

relying on any of the available offexchange execution methods) would 

help raise investors’ confidence in the 

fairness of their transactions and would 

benefit all investors by deepening 

NASDAQ’s liquidity pool, supporting 

the quality of price discovery, 

promoting market transparency and 

improving investor protection. 

Partial trading days are not excluded 

from the average daily number of shares 

of liquidity provided and executed 

pursuant to certain ISP credit eligibility 

criteria in the rule and the Exchange 

now proposes a change to do so.5

To further the ISP goal of attracting 

certain targeted retail and institution 

liquidity, the ISP limits ISP credit 

eligibility to targeted liquidityenhancing orders in large part by: 

Establishing a monthly ISP Execution 

Ratio 6 of 10 or above (subsection (c)(1)); 

and a monthly cap of 10 million for the 

average daily number of shares of 

liquidity provided in orders entered by 

the member through its ISP-designated 

ports and executed in the NASDAQ 

Market Center during the month 

(subsection (c)(2)). As noted, in the ISP 

Filing the Exchange did not exclude 

partial trading days from the calculation 

of order numbers pursuant to subsection 

(c)(2) of the rule. The Exchange believes 

that the inclusion of partial trading 

days 7 may serve to improperly skew the 

operative calculations. As such, the 

Exchange proposes to add new section 

(c)(3) that states that for purposes of 

determining the average daily number of 

shares of liquidity provided pursuant to 

subsection (c)(2) of this Rule, any day 

that the market is not open for the entire 

trading day will be excluded from such 

calculation.8


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
76506 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 235 / Wednesday, December 8, 2010 / Notices 

9 15 U.S.C. 78f. 

10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5). 

11 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii). 

12 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii). 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(4). 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed change to the ISP, which will 

be equally applicable to all ISP 

participants, should be conducive to 

further enhancing the program’s fairness 

and equitability. 

2. Statutory Basis 

NASDAQ believes that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the 

provisions of Section 6 of the Act,9 in 

general, and with Sections 6(b)(4) and 

6(b)(5) of the Act,10 in particular, in that 

it provides for the equitable allocation 

of reasonable dues, fees and other 

charges among members and issuers and 

other persons using any facility or 

system which NASDAQ operates or 

controls, and it is designed to promote 

just and equitable principles of trade, to 

remove impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market, 

and, in general, to protect investors and 

the public interest. The rule change 

enhances the Investor Support Program, 

which helps to raise investors’ 

confidence in the fairness of their 

transactions and benefit all investors by 

deepening NASDAQ’s liquidity pool, 

supporting the quality of price 

discovery, promoting market 

transparency and improving investor 

protection. 

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. 

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 foregoing rule change has become 

effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act.11 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. 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 e-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File 

Number SR–NASDAQ–2010–153 on the 

subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–NASDAQ–2010–153. 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 Web site 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 

a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such filing 

also will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. 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– 

NASDAQ–2010–153 and should be 

submitted on or before December 29, 

2010. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.12

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–30803 Filed 12–7–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–63415; File No. SR–DTC– 

2010–16] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

Depository Trust Company; Notice of 

Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of 

Proposed Rule Change Relating To 

Extending the End-of-Day Cutoff Time 

for Processing to The Federal Reserve 

and To Reflect Other Changes 

Requested by the Federal Reserve 

December 2, 2010. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’),1 notice is hereby given that on 

November 18, 2010, The Depository 

Trust Company (‘‘DTC’’) 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 

primarily by DTC. DTC filed the 

proposed rule change pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 2 and 

Rule 19b–4(f)(4) 3 thereunder so that the 

proposal was effective upon filing with 

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 

The proposed rule change will extend 

the end of day cutoff time for processing 

to the Federal Reserve and will reflect 

other changes requested by the Federal 

Reserve. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, 

DTC 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. DTC has prepared 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES