11604 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 47 / Thursday, March 11, 2010 / Notices 

10 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 61424 

(January 26, 2010), 75 FR 5367. 

5The Exchange also proposes to amend Rule 309 

to explicitly provide that failure to pay trading 

license fee installments will be governed by 

proposed Rule 300(h). 

6The Exchange represents that, if it denies a 

member organization’s appeal under Rule 300(h), 

the Exchange will notify the Commission in the 

manner required by Exchange Act Rule 19d–1. 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–MSRB–2010–01. 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 

MSRB. 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–MSRB–2010–01 and should 

be submitted on or before April 1, 2010. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.10

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5215 Filed 3–10–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–61646; File No. SR–NYSE– 

2010–03] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; New 

York Stock Exchange LLC; Order 

Approving Proposed Rule Change 

Amending the Rule Governing the 

Issuance of Trading Licenses 

March 4, 2010. 

I. Introduction 

On January 13, 2010, New York Stock 

Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’ or the 

‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission (the 

‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section 

19(b)(1) 1 of the Securities Exchange Act 

of 1934 (the ‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 

thereunder,3 a proposal to amend its 

Rule 300 (Trading Licenses) and Rule 

309 (Failure to Pay Exchange Fees). The 

proposed rule change was published for 

comment in the Federal Register on 

February 2, 2010.4 The Commission 

received no comments regarding the 

proposal. This order approves the 

proposed rule change. 

II. Description of the Proposal 

NYSE Rule 300 provides that member 

organizations may buy trading licenses 

in the annual offering and may buy 

licenses at any other time in the year, 

provided that the maximum number of 

1,366 licenses has not been issued and 

subject to limitations on the number of 

licenses a single member organization 

may hold. Member organizations must 

pay for their trading licenses in 12 

monthly installments, with the first 

installment due prior to the 

commencement of the applicable year. 

The Exchange represents that it relies in 

part on the revenues from trading 

license fees to pay for the maintenance 

of the trading floor and to fund its 

trading floor regulatory activities. 

According to the Exchange, if some 

member organizations consistently fail 

to pay their trading license fee bills, the 

Exchange would be forced to impose 

higher fees on those member 

organizations which do pay their bills. 

The Exchange therefore proposes to 

amend Rule 300 to provide that a 

member organization shall be ineligible 

to purchase a trading license, either in 

the annual offering or subsequently, if, 

at the time of such proposed purchase, 

such member organization remains 

three months in arrears in paying 

monthly installments of the trading 

license fee payable in respect of any 

previously purchased trading license.5

Any trading license purchased by a 

member organization in the annual 

auction for the calendar year 

commencing January 1, 2010, will be 

subject to automatic revocation at the 

close of business on March 31, 2010, if 

the member organization that holds 

such license remains three months in 

arrears in making such payments at that 

time. 

The Exchange also proposes to adopt 

appeal procedures for the denial or 

revocation of a member organization’s 

trading license. One calendar month 

prior to the effective date of any 

potential denial of renewal or 

revocation of a trading license (the 

‘‘Expiration Date’’) pursuant to Rule 

300(h), the Exchange would notify each 

applicable member organization that is 

currently two months or more in arrears 

in paying monthly installments of the 

trading license fee payable in respect of 

any previously purchased trading 

license of the amount of then overdue 

trading license installment payments 

and the possibility of denial of renewal 

or revocation of the trading license on 

the Expiration Date. The notice must 

include a description of the appeal 

process. If the member organization 

believes the Exchange’s records are 

incorrect, the member organization must 

submit a written appeal within five 

business days of receipt of the 

Exchange’s notice to the officer of the 

Exchange identified for that purpose in 

such notice, providing an explanation as 

to why it believes the Exchange’s 

records are incorrect, and providing 

copies of any relevant documentation. 

The Exchange would be required to 

provide a final determination in writing 

in response to any such appeal no later 

than 15 calendar days prior to the 

effective date of the potential denial of 

renewal or revocation of the applicable 

trading license.6 If the Exchange denies 

the appeal, its written final 

determination must specifically address 

the arguments made by the member 

organization in its submission. The 

Exchange’s written determination 

would be final and conclusive action by 

the Exchange. 

A written record would be required to 

be kept of any proceedings under Rule 

300(h). As the appeal procedures under 

proposed Rule 300(h) would not include 

any provision for an oral hearing, the 

Exchange expects that the written 

record would generally consist of (i) the 

written appeal and supporting 

documents (if any) submitted by the 

member organization and (ii) the 

Exchange’s written determination. 

Finally, the Exchange states that any 

member organization which forfeits its 

trading licenses as of March 31, 2010 

would only owe the pro rata license fee 

for 2010 through that date. Any member 

organization which forfeits its trading 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 47 / Thursday, March 11, 2010 / Notices 11605 

7 In approving this proposed rule change, the 

Commission has considered the proposed rule’s 

impact on efficiency, competition, and capital 

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

8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4); 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5); 15 U.S.C. 

78f(b)(7). 

9 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 

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

11 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(7). 

12 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4). 

13The first such notice will be sent to member 

organizations that are two months or more in 

arrears as of the end of February 2010. See e-mail 

from John Carey, Chief Counsel—U.S. Equities, 

NYSE Euronext LLC, to David Liu, Assistant 

Director, and Leigh W. Duffy, Attorney-Adviser, 

Division of Trading and Markets, Commission, 

dated January 25, 2010. 

14 15 U.S.C. 78f. 

15 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

16 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

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

4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2). 

licenses in 2010 or is ineligible to 

purchase trading licenses thereafter may 

purchase trading licenses (to the extent 

there are available unsold licenses) at 

such time as it is no longer three months 

in arrears in its payments. 

III. Discussion and Commission 

Findings 

The Commission finds that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the requirements of the Act and the 

rules and regulations thereunder 

applicable to a national securities 

exchange 7 and, in particular, the 

requirements of Sections 6(b)(4), 6(b)(5) 

and 6(b)(7) of the Act.8 Section 6(b)(4) 

of the Act 9 requires that the rules of the 

exchange provide for the equitable 

allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and 

other charges among its members and 

issuers and other persons using its 

facilities. Section 6(b)(5) of the Act 10

requires, among other things, that the 

rules of a national securities exchange 

are not designed to permit unfair 

discrimination between customers, 

issuers, brokers or dealers. Section 

6(b)(7) of the Act 11 requires, among 

other things, that the exchange’s rules 

provide fair procedures for prohibiting 

or limiting any person with respect to 

access to services offered by the 

exchange or member thereof. 

The Commission believes that the 

proposal is consistent with Section 

6(b)(4) of the Act 12 in that it provides 

for an equitable allocation of fees among 

member organizations. The Exchange 

represents that it relies in part on the 

revenues from trading license fees to 

pay for the maintenance of the trading 

floor and to fund its trading floor 

regulatory activities. The trading license 

fees and rules limiting the number of 

trading licenses that may be initially 

applied for are the same for all member 

organizations, and member 

organizations would be denied trading 

floor privileges only if they have not 

paid the trading license fee for several 

months. The Commission notes that the 

proposal may encourage member 

organizations to pay their bills more 

promptly and thereby enable the 

Exchange to avoid imposing the cost of 

the nonpayment by a small number of 

member organizations on the majority of 

other member organizations that 

routinely pay on time. 

The Commission also believes that the 

proposal is consistent with Sections 

6(b)(5) and 6(b)(7) of the Act. The 

Commission notes that the new 

procedures specify procedures to 

provide notice to member organizations 

of a pending denial or revocation. In 

addition, member organizations receive 

monthly trading license bills that reflect 

unpaid balances from previous periods. 

The Exchange has also represented that 

it would distribute an Information 

Memorandum to its member 

organizations to inform them of the 

proposed rule change.13 Thereafter, the 

procedures provide that, one calendar 

month prior to the Expiration Date, the 

Exchange will notify each applicable 

member organization that is currently 

two months or more in arrears in paying 

monthly installments of the trading 

license fee payable in respect of any 

previously purchased trading license of 

the amount of then overdue trading 

license installment payments and the 

possibility of denial of renewal or 

revocation of the trading license on the 

Expiration Date. The notice must 

include a description of the appeal 

process. 

The Commission also notes that the 

proposal clarifies the scope of the 

Exchange’s review on appeal and sets 

forth specific time frames for scheduling 

and conducting an appeal of a pending 

denial or revocation. If the member 

organization believes the Exchange’s 

records are incorrect, the member 

organization must submit a written 

appeal within five business days of 

receipt of the Exchange’s notice, 

providing an explanation as to why it 

believes the Exchange’s records are 

incorrect, and providing copies of any 

relevant documentation. In addition, the 

Exchange must provide a final 

determination in writing in response to 

any such appeal no later than 15 

calendar days prior to the effective date 

of the potential denial of renewal or 

revocation of the applicable trading 

license. If the Exchange denies the 

appeal, its written final determination 

must specifically address the arguments 

made by the member organization in its 

submission. The written determination 

shall be final and conclusive action by 

the Exchange. In addition, the Exchange 

has required a written record of any 

proceedings. 

For these reasons, the Commission 

finds that the proposed rule change is 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Act.14

IV. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,15 that the 

proposed rule change (SR–NYSE–2010– 

03) is hereby approved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.16

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5214 Filed 3–10–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–61648; File No. SR–FINRA– 

2010–009] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

Financial Industry Regulatory 

Authority, Inc.; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change To Provide Additional 

Relief Relating to Certain FINRA/ 

Nasdaq Trade Reporting Facility and 

OTC Reporting Facility Fees 

March 4, 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 March 1, 

2010, 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, II 

and III below, which Items have been 

prepared by FINRA. FINRA has 

designated the proposed rule change as 

‘‘establishing or changing a due, fee or 

other charge’’ under Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act 3 and Rule 19b– 

4(f)(2) thereunder,4 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. 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES