Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 241 / Thursday, December 16, 2010 / Notices 78779 

1 17 U.S.C. 7202 et seq. 

2 17 CFR 202.190. See Release No. 33–8724 (July 

18, 2006) [71 FR 41998 (July 24, 2006)]. 

3See Release No. 34–61212 (Dec. 22, 2009). 

4Public Law 111–203, 124 Stat. 1376 (July 21, 

2010). 

5 15 U.S.C. 78a et seq. 

6See 17 CFR 240.190(b)(10). 

7 17 CFR 202.190(f). 

statutory deadline. In the interest of 

expedition, in light of the 120-day 

decision schedule, the Commission may 

request the Postal Service or other 

participants to submit information or 

memoranda of law on any appropriate 

issue. As required by the Commission 

rules, if any motions are filed, responses 

are due 7 days after any such motion is 

filed. See 39 CFR 3001.21. 

It is ordered: 

1. The Postal Service shall file the 

administrative record in this appeal, or 

otherwise file a responsive pleading to 

the appeal, by December 22, 2010. 

2. The procedural schedule listed 

below is hereby adopted. 

3. Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Katrina 

Martinez is designated officer of the 

Commission (Public Representative) to 

represent the interests of the general 

public. 

4. The Secretary shall arrange for 

publication of this Notice and Order and 

Procedural Schedule in the Federal 

Register. 

PROCEDURAL SCHEDULE

December 7, 2010 .............................................. Filing of Appeal. 

December 22, 2010 ............................................. Deadline for Postal Service to file administrative record in this appeal or responsive pleading. 

January 4, 2011 .................................................. Deadline for notices to intervene (see 39 CFR 3001.111(b)). 

January 11, 2010 ................................................ Deadline for Petitioner’s Form 61 or initial brief in support of petition (see 39 CFR 3001.115(a) 

and (b)). 

January 31, 2011 ................................................ Deadline for answering brief in support of Postal Service (see 39 CFR 3001.115(c)). 

February 15, 2011 ............................................... Deadline for reply briefs in response to answering briefs (see 39 CFR 3001.115(d)). 

February 22, 2011 ............................................... Deadline for motions by any party requesting oral argument; the Commission will schedule 

oral argument only when it is a necessary addition to the written filings (see 39 CFR 

3001.116). 

April 1, 2011 ........................................................ Expiration of the Commission’s 120-day decisional schedule (see 39 U.S.C. 404(d)(5)). 

By the Commission. 

Shoshana M. Grove, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–31554 Filed 12–15–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Securities Act of 1933 Release No. 9162/ 

December 10, 2010; Securities Exchange 

Act of 1934 Release No. 63526/December 

10, 2010] 

Order Approving Public Company 

Accounting Oversight Board 

Supplemental Budget Request To 

Establish an Office of Outreach and 

Small Business Liaison in 2010 

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 1 (the 

‘‘Sarbanes-Oxley Act’’) established the 

Public Company Accounting Oversight 

Board (the ‘‘PCAOB’’) to oversee the 

audits of companies and related matters, 

to protect investors, and to further the 

public interest in the preparation of 

informative, accurate and independent 

audit reports. The PCAOB is to 

accomplish these goals through 

registration of public accounting firms 

and standard setting, inspection, and 

disciplinary programs. Section 109 of 

the Sarbanes-Oxley Act directs the 

PCAOB to establish a budget for each 

fiscal year in accordance with the 

PCAOB’s internal procedures, subject to 

approval by the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’). 

The Commission’s Rules of Practice 

related to its Informal and Other 

Procedures includes a rule to facilitate 

the Commission’s review and approval 

of PCAOB budgets.2 This budget rule 

provides, among other things, a 

timetable for the preparation and 

submission of the PCAOB budget, limits 

on the PCAOB’s ability to incur 

expenses and obligations except as 

provided in the approved budget, and 

procedures relating to supplemental 

budget requests. In accordance with the 

Commission’s budget rule, the PCAOB 

submitted to the Commission a budget 

for calendar year 2010 that was 

approved by the Commission on 

December 22, 2009.3

Effective July 21, 2010, Section 982 of 

the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and 

Consumer Protection Act 4 (the ‘‘DoddFrank Act’’) amended the SarbanesOxley Act to authorize the PCAOB, 

among other things, to establish, subject 

to approval by the Commission, 

auditing and related attestation, quality 

control, ethics, and independence 

standards to be used by registered 

public accounting firms with respect to 

the preparation and issuance of audit 

reports to be included in broker-dealer 

filings with the Commission.5 In light of 

this new authority, the PCAOB 

reassessed its communications and 

outreach strategy. 

As a result of this reassessment, the 

PCAOB intends to enhance its outreach 

function by establishing a new Office of 

Outreach and Small Business Liaison 

(‘‘Office of Outreach’’) to act as a liaison 

between the PCAOB and any PCAOBregistered public accounting firm, or 

any other person affected by the Board’s 

regulatory activities, including in 

particular, entities in the small business 

community, such as the auditors of 

broker-dealers. In order to establish this 

office in 2010, the PCAOB is required 

under the budget rule to submit a 

supplemental budget request for 

Commission approval.6 Pursuant to the 

procedures set forth in the budget rule, 

on October 28, 2010, the PCAOB 

submitted to the Commission a 

supplemental budget request seeking 

approval to establish the Office of 

Outreach in 2010.7

The Board believes that the creation 

of the Office of Outreach would not 

result in a net cost increase in 2010. To 

the extent that any unanticipated costs 

emerge, the PCAOB proposes to 

accommodate them from within 

available funds currently budgeted for 

the Office of Communications in 2010. 

Costs associated with the Office of 

Outreach in future years will be 

considered by the Commission as part of 

its review of the PCAOB budgets for 

those years. 

Staff from the Commission’s Offices of 

the Chief Accountant and Executive 

Director reviewed and analyzed the 

PCAOB’s supplemental budget request 

and did not identify any matters that are 

inconsistent with Section 109 of the 

Sarbanes-Oxley Act or the 

Commission’s budget rule. Upon 

considering the staff’s review and 

analysis, the Commission has 

determined that the PCAOB’s request to 

create the Office of Outreach in 2010 is 

consistent with Section 109 of the 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
78780 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 241 / Thursday, December 16, 2010 / Notices 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3The term ‘‘Linkage’’ refers to the Options Order 

Protection and Locked/Crossed Market Plan. 

4The ORF was established in October 2008 as a 

replacement of Registered Representative fees. See 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58817 (October 

20, 2008), 73 FR 63744 (October 27, 2008). The ORF 

was to be effective January 1, 2009. In December 

2008 and January 2009, the Exchange filed 

proposed rule changes waiving the ORF for January 

and February, to allow additional time for the 

Exchange, OCC and firms to put in place 

appropriate procedures to implement the fee. See 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59182 

(December 30, 2008), 74 FR 730 (January 7, 2009), 

and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59355 

(February 3, 2009), 74 FR 6677 (February 10, 2009). 

The ORF was amended three additional times in 

2009. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

59427 (February 20, 2009), 74 FR 9013 (February 

27, 2009); Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

60093 (June 10, 2009), 74 FR 28749 (June 17, 2009); 

and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 60513 

(August 17, 2009), 74 FR 42719 (August 24, 2009). 

The ORF was amended in March 2010 to eliminate 

a reference to a one-cent charge per trade. See 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 61641 (March 

3, 2010), 75 FR 11220 (March 10, 2010). 

5 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

6 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 

7 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

8 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2). 

Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the 

Commission’s budget rule. Accordingly, 

It is ordered, pursuant to Section 109 

of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, that the 

PCAOB’s supplemental budget request 

to create the Office of Outreach in 2010 

is approved. 

By the Commission. 

Elizabeth M. Murphy, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–31537 Filed 12–15–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–63524; File No. SR–CBOE– 

2010–110] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

Chicago Board Options Exchange, 

Incorporated; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change Relating to the Options 

Regulatory Fee 

December 10, 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 December 

6, 2010, the Chicago Board Options 

Exchange, Incorporated (‘‘CBOE’’ 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 CBOE. 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 

Chicago Board Options Exchange, 

Incorporated (‘‘CBOE’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) 

proposes to increase its Options 

Regulatory Fee. The text of the proposed 

rule change is available on the 

Exchange’s Web site http:// 

www.cboe.org/legal/, at the Exchange’s 

Office of the Secretary, 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, 

CBOE 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. CBOE 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 charges an Options 

Regulatory Fee (‘‘ORF’’) of $.004 per 

contract to each Trading Permit Holder 

for all options transactions executed or 

cleared by the Trading Permit Holder 

that are cleared by The Options Clearing 

Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) in the customer 

range, excluding Linkage 3 orders, 

regardless of the exchange on which the 

transaction occurs. The ORF is collected 

indirectly from Trading Permit Holders 

through their clearing firms by OCC on 

behalf of the Exchange.4

The Exchange has reevaluated the 

current amount of the ORF in 

connection with its annual budget 

review. In light of increased regulatory 

costs and expected volume levels for 

2011, the Exchange proposes to increase 

the ORF from $.004 per contract to 

$.0045 per contract. The proposed fee 

change would become operative on 

January 3, 2011. 

The Exchange monitors the amount of 

revenue collected from the ORF to 

ensure that it, in combination with its 

other regulatory fees and fines, does not 

exceed regulatory costs. The Exchange 

will continue to monitor regulatory 

costs and revenues at a minimum on an 

annual basis. If the Exchange 

determines regulatory revenues exceed 

regulatory costs, the Exchange would 

adjust the ORF by submitting a fee 

change filing to the Commission. The 

Exchange notifies Trading Permit 

Holders of adjustments to the ORF via 

regulatory circular. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes the proposed 

rule change is consistent with Section 

6(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 

1934 (‘‘Act’’),5 in general, and furthers 

the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) 6 of the 

Act in particular, in that it is designed 

to provide for the equitable allocation of 

reasonable dues, fees, and other charges 

among its Trading Permit Holders. The 

Exchange believes the proposed ORF is 

reasonable because revenue from the 

proposed ORF, in combination with the 

Exchange’s other regulatory fees and 

fines, will not exceed regulatory costs. 

The Exchange believes the proposed 

ORF is equitable because it would apply 

uniformly to all Trading Permit Holders 

who are being assessed the ORF. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

CBOE does not believe that the 

proposed rule change will impose 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 

No written comments were solicited 

or received with respect to the proposed 

rule change. 

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) 

of the Act 7 and subparagraph (f)(2) of 

Rule 19b–4 8 thereunder. 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. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES