Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2010 / Notices 82115 

23 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

24 In approving the proposed rule change, the 

Commission has considered its impact on 

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 

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

25 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2The text of proposed new Section 12 to NSCC 

Rule 57 can be viewed at http://www.dtcc.com/ 

downloads/legal/rule_filings/2010/nscc/2010- 

18.pdf. 

settlement of securities transactions.23

With the rule change modifying and 

enhancing the RECAPS to establish the 

OW service, NSCC will provide for 

greater efficiency and transparency with 

respect to securities transactions 

obligations processed through the OW. 

Furthermore, the modifications and 

enhancements will allow NSCC to 

improve its service by providing prompt 

and automated confirmation, 

comparison, and tracking of fail 

transactions.24

Accordingly, for the reasons stated 

above the Commission believes that the 

rule change is consistent with NSCC’s 

obligation under Section 17A of the 

Exchange Act, as amended, and the 

rules and regulations thereunder. 

IV. Conclusion 

On the basis of the foregoing, the 

Commission finds that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the 

requirements of the Act and in 

particular with the requirements of 

Section 17A of the Act and the rules and 

regulations thereunder. 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, that the 

proposed rule change (File No. SR– 

NSCC–2010–11) be and hereby is 

approved. 

For the Commission by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.25

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32730 Filed 12–28–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–63604; File No. SR–NSCC– 

2010–18] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

National Securities Clearing 

Corporation; Notice of Filing of 

Proposed Rule Change Relating to the 

Insurance and Retirement Processing 

Services To Incorporate a New 

Analytics Reporting Service 

December 23, 2010. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

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

December 10, 2010, the National 

Securities Clearing Corporation 

(‘‘NSCC’’) 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 NSCC. 

The Commission is publishing this 

notice to solicit comments on the 

proposed rule change from interested 

persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of Terms of Substance of the 

Proposed Rule Change 

NSCC is proposing to expand its 

Insurance and Retirement Processing 

Service (‘‘IPS’’) by providing a new 

Analytics Reporting Service in order to 

provide greater transparency to the 

insurance market. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of Purpose of, and Statutory 

Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 

In its filing with the Commission, 

NSCC 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. NSCC 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 Purpose of, and Statutory 

Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 

1. Background 

Currently, service providers that make 

insurance information available to the 

insurance industry generally utilize a 

combination of publicly accessible 

financial information, responses 

provided by market participants to 

optional surveys, and proprietary 

analytical tools. These services also rank 

the various market participants and 

products in the insurance market to 

provide relative rankings by revenue or 

other criteria. Reliance on survey results 

and the aggregation and analysis of 

those results often makes the 

information several months old by the 

time it is distributed to subscribers. 

2. Proposed Amendments 

NSCC proposes to add a new Section 

12 to NSCC Rule 57 to provide an 

Analytics Reporting Service.2 The 

Analytics Reporting Service would use 

actual transaction information currently 

used by NSCC in processing IPS 

transactions rather than survey results. 

NSCC believes that this would allow IPS 

to provide more efficient, cost-effective, 

and timely benchmarking and other 

market information about the insurance 

market. The Analytics Reporting Service 

would assist NSCC Members and 

Limited Members in better 

understanding their business and the 

broader market for insurance products; 

would help them to better understand 

investor needs; would support the 

efficient development of products that 

meet investor needs; and would assist 

them in making decisions related to 

sales, marketing, and product 

development. 

3. Overview 

The Analytics Reporting Service 

would provide NSCC Members and 

Limited Members with the ability to 

perform market analysis based on IPS 

data. This market analysis (commonly 

referred to as ‘‘benchmarking’’) would 

allow users of this service to obtain and 

compare aggregated data from different 

perspectives including, but not limited 

to, geographic location, type of 

transaction, and other criteria that NSCC 

and the NSCC Members and Limited 

Members determine to be most useful. 

The benchmarking portion of the service 

would provide information on an 

aggregate basis and would not reveal the 

confidential or proprietary information 

of any NSCC Member or Limited 

Member. The service would permit 

NSCC Members and Limited Members 

to monitor and to analyze their business 

through benchmarking relative 

performance by comparing their own 

transactional information against the 

overall market’s and by conducting 

market research and analyzing market 

trends. 

Additionally, NSCC would provide 

information that attributes aggregated 

transaction information to specific 

NSCC Members and Limited Members 

for the purposes of providing a relative 

ranking of products and market 

participants (i.e., league tables). This 

aspect of the Analytics Reporting 

Service would allow NSCC Members 

and Limited Members to conduct peer 

analysis and to understand their 

performance relative to other NSCC 

Members or Limited Members. 

Although service providers already 

provide league tables on the basis of 

surveys and other tools, this information 

may be considered confidential or 

proprietary information by NSCC or the 

individual NSCC Members or Limited 

Members to which it pertains. 

NSCC would offer the Analytics 

Reporting Service through a proprietary 

online service. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
82116 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2010 / Notices 

3NSCC Important Notices are notices issued to 

NSCC Members and Limited Members in relation 

to, among other things, every rule filing submitted 

to the Commission by NSCC. 4 15 U.S.C. 78q–1. 

4. NSCC’s Right to Release Clearing Data 

‘‘Clearing Data’’ as defined in NSCC’s 

Rule 49 includes data received by NSCC 

for inclusion in the clearance and 

settlement process of NSCC or such 

data, reports, or summaries produced as 

a result of NSCC processing such 

transaction data. Rule 49 generally 

prohibits the release of Clearing Data 

relating to a transaction to parties other 

than the NSCC Members or Limited 

Members that are involved in the 

transaction. 

The use of IPS-related Clearing Data 

as part of the Analytics Reporting 

Service for purposes of providing 

benchmarking data does not violate this 

general prohibition of Rule 49. Rule 49 

explicitly permits NSCC to utilize 

Clearing Data in a form that prevents the 

disclosure of proprietary or confidential 

financial, operational, or trading data of 

a particular NSCC Member or Limited 

Member. Thus, Rule 49 permits the 

sharing of cleansed or aggregate 

reporting of transaction information or 

Clearing Data. The Analytics Reporting 

Service would utilize Clearing Data for 

benchmarking purposes in a manner 

that is consistent with existing NSCC 

rules because it would provide only 

cleansed or aggregated reporting data 

that would not reveal the proprietary or 

confidential information of any NSCC 

Member or Limited Member. 

Because the league tables that provide 

a relative ranking of NSCC Members and 

Limited Members and their products 

may be considered by some NSCC 

Members and Limited Members to be 

the release of confidential or proprietary 

information, NSCC is providing notice 

of its intent to release this data in 

accordance with NSCC Rule 49(c). 

NSCC Rule 49(c) provides that an NSCC 

Member or Limited Member may 

request the release of any Clearing Data 

whose release is not otherwise 

permitted under Rule 49 either in 

writing or by written agreement. NSCC 

intends this proposed rule change and 

the addition of the Analytics Reporting 

Service to serve as the written 

agreement providing for the release of 

the Clearing Data under Rule 49(c). 

NSCC believes that this proposed rule 

change, the amendment to its rules, and 

NSCC’s Important Notice to NSCC 

Members and Limited Members 3 (a 

notice issued to NSCC Members and 

Limited Members in relation to every 

rule filing submitted to the Commission 

by NSCC) provides NSCC Members and 

Limited Members with reasonable and 

sufficient notice of its intent to 

distribute cleansed and aggregated IPS 

related Clearing Data. 

5. Right to Opt-Out 

Due to potential concerns that the 

attribution of aggregated transactions to 

specific NSCC Members and Limited 

Members within league tables may 

potentially reveal confidential data, 

NSCC Members and Limited Members 

that utilize IPS (‘‘IPS Members’’) would 

be able to request that NSCC not 

attribute and not include their 

respective transaction information with 

respect to league tables in the Analytics 

Reporting Service. That is, they may 

‘‘opt-out.’’ By opting-out, the IPS 

Member would prohibit NSCC from 

associating their transactions in any 

discernible manner (e.g., listing the IPS 

Member in a league table). However, 

opting-out would not prohibit NSCC 

from including the information for 

purposes of describing the market in a 

particular geographic location or in 

accordance with other criteria that does 

not identify a specific IPS Member for 

purposes of benchmarking. This opt-out 

provision would provide an IPS 

Member with the ability to prevent 

disclosure of potentially confidential or 

proprietary information attributable to 

its activity, just as it may prevent the 

disclosure of its individual transactions. 

Yet, it would not prevent NSCC from 

providing the marketplace with useful 

information regarding the overall 

insurance market. 

In order to opt-out of the Analytics 

Reporting Service prior to the service 

becoming available, IPS Members would 

have to notify NSCC in writing during 

the initial ninety (90) day opt-out 

period. NSCC would announce the 

beginning of this ninety (90) day period 

through an Important Notice. A new IPS 

Member would be allowed to opt-out by 

providing NSCC with written notice of 

their election to opt-out at any time 

prior to account activation. Once the 

Analytics Reporting Service commences 

to include the information of an IPS 

Member, the IPS Member would be 

allowed to opt-out by providing NSCC 

with thirty (30) days’ written notice. 

By opting-out, the IPS Member would 

authorize NSCC to disclose that the 

league tables and other information that 

compares IPS Members and their 

insurance products do not include 

information from that IPS Member. This 

would clarify the content of the 

benchmarking data that NSCC would 

provide. 

Finally, an IPS Member that opts-out 

would forfeit any portion of NSCC’s 

annual refund, if any, that is directly 

attributable to the revenue generated by 

the Analytics Reporting Service. 

6. Prohibiting Disclosures Prior to 

Earnings Reports 

The Analytics Reporting Service 

would allow IPS Members to prevent 

the disclosure or attribution of 

transactions to a specific IPS Member in 

order to permit compliance with the 

laws and regulations governing 

disclosure of such information prior to 

earnings reporting. Based on 

discussions with IPS Members, NSCC 

has established a policy that applies an 

embargo period of sixty (60) days after 

the end of the first, second, and third 

calendar quarters and ninety (90) days 

after the end of the calendar year. 

7. Fees 

NSCC intends to propose fees for the 

Analytics Reporting Service in a 

subsequent proposed rule filing. Until 

then, NSCC Members and Limited 

Members would be able to use the 

Analytics Reporting Service without any 

additional charge to the current 

Financial Activity Reporting fees. 

Parties that are not NSCC Members or 

Limited Members would not be able to 

use the Analytics Reporting Service 

until appropriate fees for non-members 

have become effective. 

NSCC states that the proposed change 

will permit NSCC Members and Limited 

Members to enhance their monitoring 

and analysis of their respective 

businesses. NSCC further states that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the requirements set forth under Section 

17A of the Act 4 that require the rules of 

a clearing agency be designed to foster 

cooperation and coordination with 

persons engaged in the clearance and 

settlement of securities transactions, to 

remove impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a national system for the 

prompt and accurate clearance and 

settlement of securities transactions, 

and, in general, to protect investors and 

the public interest. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

NSCC does not believe that the 

proposed rule change will have any 

impact or impose any burden on 

competition that is not necessary or 

appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act. 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 249 / Wednesday, December 29, 2010 / Notices 82117 

5 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. 62479 

(July 9, 2010), 75 FR 41264 (July 15, 2010) (SR– 

NYSEAmex–2010–31) (Notice of Filing of 

Amendment Nos. 2 and 3, and Order Granting 

Accelerated Approval to a Proposed Rule Change, 

as Modified by Amendment Nos. 1, 2, and 3 

Thereto, To Adopt as a Pilot Program a New Rule 

Series for the Trading of Securities Listed on the 

Nasdaq Stock Market Pursuant to Unlisted Trading 

Privileges). See also Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 62857 (September 7, 2010), 75 FR 

55837 (September 14, 2010) (SR–NYSEAmex–2010– 

89) (Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of 

Proposed Rule Change To Extend the Pilot Program 

That Allows Nasdaq Stock Market Securities To Be 

Traded on the Exchange Pursuant to UTP). 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

NSCC has not solicited and does not 

intend to solicit comments regarding 

this proposed rule change. NSCC has 

not received any unsolicited written 

comments from members or other 

interested parties. However, NSCC has 

worked with NSCC Members and 

Limited Members in designing this 

service. 

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 self-regulatory 

organization consents, the Commission 

will: 

(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. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic comments may be 

submitted by using the Commission’s 

Internet comment form (http:// 

www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml), or send 

an e-mail to rule-comment@sec.gov. 

Please include File No. SR–NSCC– 

2010–18 on the subject line. 

• Paper comments should be sent 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 No. 

SR–NSCC–2010–18. 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 NSCC’s principal office and 

NSCC’s Web site (http://www.dtcc.com/ 

legal/rule_filings/nscc/2010.php). 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 No. 

SR–NSCC–2010–18 and should be 

submitted by January 19, 2011. 

For the Commission by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.5

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–32787 Filed 12–28–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–63601; File No. 

SR–NYSEAmex–2010–124] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice 

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness 

of Proposed Rule Change by NYSE 

Amex LLC Extending the Operation of 

the Pilot Program That Allows Nasdaq 

Stock Market Securities to be Traded 

on the Exchange Pursuant to a Grant 

of Unlisted Trading Privileges 

December 22, 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 

20, 2010, NYSE Amex LLC (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE Amex’’) filed with 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I and II 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 

The Exchange proposes to amend 

NYSE Amex Equities Rule 500 to extend 

the operation of the pilot program that 

allows Nasdaq Stock Market (‘‘Nasdaq’’) 

securities to be traded on the Exchange 

pursuant to a grant of unlisted trading 

privileges. The pilot is currently 

scheduled to expire on January 31, 

2011; the Exchange proposes to extend 

it until the earlier of Securities and 

Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or 

‘‘Commission’’) approval to make such 

pilot permanent or August 1, 2011. The 

text of the proposed rule change is 

available at the principal office of the 

Exchange, on the Commission’s Web 

site at http://www.sec.gov, at the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room, 

and http://www.nyse.com. 

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 those statements may be examined at 

the places specified in Item IV below. 

The Exchange has prepared summaries, 

set forth in sections A, B, and C below, 

of the most significant parts of such 

statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

NYSE Amex Equities Rules 500–525, 

as a pilot program, govern the trading of 

any Nasdaq-listed security on the 

Exchange pursuant to unlisted trading 

privileges (‘‘UTP Pilot Program’’).3 The 

Exchange hereby seeks to extend the 

operation of the UTP Pilot Program, 

currently scheduled to expire on 

January 31, 2011, until the earlier of 


srobinson on DSKHWCL6B1PROD with NOTICES