Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 26, 2009 / Notices 43173 

pursuant to other rules, and would keep these 

records in any case as a matter of business practice. 

1 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

2 17 CFR 242.608. 

3On July 6, 2001, the Commission approved the 

OLPP, which was originally proposed by the 

American Stock Exchange LLC (k/n/a NYSE Amex), 

CBOE, ISE, OCC, Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. 

(k/n/a Phlx), and Pacific Exchange, Inc. (k/n/a 

NYSE Arca). See Securities Exchange Act Release 

No. 44521, 66 FR 36809 (July 13, 2001). On 

February 5, 2004, the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc. 

(k/n/a BX) was added as a sponsor to the OLPP. See 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 49199, 69 FR 

7030 (February 12, 2004). On March 21, 2008, 

NASDAQ was added as a sponsor to the OLPP. See 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 57546 (March 

21, 2008), 73 FR 16393 (March 27, 2008). 

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 60365 

(July 22, 2009), 74 FR 37266 (‘‘Notice’’). 

5This restriction would not prohibit the listing of 

at least three options series per expiration month 

in an option class. 

total hourly burden per year for all 

funds to comply with current 

information collection requirements 

under rule 12b–1, is 157,675 hours (371 

fund families × 425 hours per fund 

family = 157,675 hours) over the three 

year period for which we are requesting 

approval of the information collection 

burden). 

If a currently operating fund seeks to 

(i) adopt a new Rule 12b–1 plan or (ii) 

materially increase the amount it spends 

for distribution under its Rule 12b–1 

plan, Rule 12b–1 requires that the fund 

obtain shareholder approval. As a 

consequence, the fund will incur the 

cost of a proxy. Based on conversations 

with fund industry representatives, 

Commission staff estimates that 

approximately three funds per year 

prepare a proxy in connection with the 

adoption or material amendment of a 

Rule 12b–1 plan. The staff further 

estimates that the cost of each fund’s 

proxy is $30,000. Thus the total annual 

cost burden of Rule 12b–1 to the fund 

industry is $90,000 (3 funds requiring a 

proxy × $30,000 per proxy). 

The collections of information 

required by Rule 12b–1 are necessary to 

obtain the benefits of the rule. Notices 

to the Commission will not be kept 

confidential. An agency may not 

conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 

required to respond to a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently valid control number. 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

Whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

agency, including whether the 

information will have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate 

of the burden of the collection of 

information; (c) ways to enhance the 

quality, utility, and clarity of the 

information collected; and (d) ways to 

minimize the burden of the collection of 

information on respondents, including 

through the use of automated collection 

techniques or other forms of information 

technology. Consideration will be given 

to comments and suggestions submitted 

in writing within 60 days of this 

publication. 

Please direct your written comments 

to Charles Boucher, Director/CIO, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

C/O Shirley Martinson, 6432 General 

Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312; or 

send an e-mail to: 

PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: August 19, 2009. 

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–20529 Filed 8–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–60531; File No. 4–443] 

Joint Industry Plan; Order Approving 

Amendment No. 3 to the Plan for the 

Purpose of Developing and 

Implementing Procedures Designed To 

Facilitate the Listing and Trading of 

Standardized Options 

August 19, 2009. 

I. Introduction 

On June 30, 2009, June 16, 2009, June 

12, 2009, June 22, 2009, June 18, 2009, 

June 23, 2009, July 8, 2009, the Chicago 

Board Options Exchange, Incorporated 

(‘‘CBOE’’), International Securities 

Exchange, LLC (‘‘ISE’’), NASDAQ Stock 

Market LLC (‘‘NASDAQ’’), NASDAQ 

OMX BX, Inc. (‘‘BX’’), NASDAQ OMX 

PHLX (‘‘Phlx’’), NYSE Amex LLC 

(‘‘NYSE Amex’’), NYSE Arca Inc. 

(‘‘NYSE Arca’’), and The Options 

Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’), 

respectively, filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section 

11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 

1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 608 

thereunder,2 Amendment No. 3 to the 

Plan for the Purpose of Developing and 

Implementing Procedures Designed to 

Facilitate the Listing and Trading of 

Standardized Options (‘‘Plan’’ or 

‘‘OLPP’’).3 Amendment No. 3 would 

apply uniform objective standards to the 

range of options series exercise (or 

strike) prices available for trading on the 

Plan Sponsor exchanges. 

The proposed Amendment was 

published for comment in the Federal 

Register on July 28, 2009.4 The 

Commission received no comment 

letters in response to the Notice. This 

order approves Amendment No. 3 to the 

OLPP. 

II. Description of the Proposed 

Amendment 

Amendment No. 3 would apply 

uniform objective standards to the range 

of options series exercise (or strike) 

prices available for trading on the Plan 

Sponsor exchanges as a quote mitigation 

strategy. Specifically, the proposal 

applies certain ‘‘range limitations’’ to 

the addition of new series strike prices 

for options classes overlying equity 

securities, Exchange Traded Fund 

Shares, or Trust Issued Receipts. As 

proposed, if the price of the underlying 

security is less than or equal to $20, the 

Series Selecting Exchange would not list 

new option series with an exercise price 

more than 100 percent above or below 

the price of the underlying security.5 If 

the price of the underlying security is 

greater than $20, the Series Selecting 

Exchange would not list new option 

series with an exercise price more than 

50 percent above or below the price of 

the underlying security. 

The proposed Amendment provides 

for an objective basis upon which the 

underlying prices for the price range 

limitations described above would be 

determined, specifically, in regards to 

intra-day add-on series and next-day 

series additions, new expiration months 

and for option series to be added as a 

result of pre-market trading. 

Furthermore, 8 a.m. Chicago time is 

proposed as the earliest permissible 

time at which a Series Selecting 

Exchange may notify the OCC, and each 

other exchange also trading the same 

options class, that it has commenced 

trading new series as a result of premarket trading. This earliest permissible 

time is established to ensure that outlier 

prices for the underlying security which 

occur at 6 a.m. Chicago time, for 

example (i.e., well in advance of the 

opening of the standard trading session), 

are not relied upon for purposes of the 

exercise price range limitations. 

The proposal also allows each Plan 

Sponsor exchange to designate up to 

five underlying securities to except from 

the aforementioned 50 percent 

restriction and instead apply the 100 

percent restriction. These designations 

would be made on an annual basis and 

could not be removed during the 

calendar year unless the option class 

was delisted by the designating 

exchange, in which case the designating 

exchange could designate another class 

to replace the delisted class. If a 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES
43174 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 164 / Wednesday, August 26, 2009 / Notices 

6Application of any of the aforementioned 

exceptions and/or exemptions to the strike price 

range limitations for an underlying security would 

be available to all exchanges listing options on such 

security. 7 In approving this proposed Amendment, the 

Commission has considered its impact on 

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. 15 

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

8 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

9 17 CFR 242.608. 

10See Notice, supra note 4. 

11 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

12 17 CFR 242.608. 

13 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(29). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 57219 

(Jan. 29, 2008), 73 FR 6542 (Feb. 4, 2008) (SR– 

NYSEArca–2008–13). 

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 55733 

(May 10, 2007), 72 FR 27602 (May 16, 2007) (SR– 

Amex–2007–34) (the ‘‘May 2007 Amex Order’’) and 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 56629 (October 

9, 2007), 72 FR 58689 (October 16, 2007) (SR– 

Amex–2007–87) (the ‘‘October 2007 Amex Order’’). 

These two orders approved changes to Section 

107A of the Amex Company Guide. 

designated class is delisted by the 

designating exchange but continues to 

trade on at least one other exchange, any 

additional series for the class which are 

added from that point forward would 

again be subject to the proposed 

exercise price range limitations, unless 

the class is subsequently designated by 

another exchange. The proposal also 

provides an exchange with a procedure 

to request, if conditions warrant, 

additional case-by-case exceptions even 

when it has already so designated five 

underlying securities. 

In addition, a procedure is created for 

a Series Listing Exchange to request an 

exemption, on a case-by-case basis, from 

the 100 percent range limitation, 

whereby, if unanimously agreed upon 

by all exchanges that list the particular 

options class, the Series Listing 

Exchange may list options series with 

strike prices that are more than 100 

percent above or below the price of the 

underlying security.6

The proposal would not allow for the 

listing of options series that would 

otherwise be prohibited by the rules of 

a Series Selecting Exchange or the Plan, 

nor does it restrict the ability of an 

exchange to list options series that have 

been properly listed by another 

exchange. The proposal also expressly 

eliminates the applicability of the strike 

price range limitations with regard to: 

(1) The listing of $1 strike prices in 

option classes participating in the $1 

Strike Program, where instead, the 

Series Selecting Exchange would be 

permitted to list $1 strike prices to the 

fullest extent as permitted under its 

rules for the $1 Strike Program; and (2) 

the listing of series of Flexible Exchange 

Options. 

III. Discussion 

After careful review, the Commission 

finds that Amendment No. 3 is 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Act and the rules and regulations 

thereunder.7 Specifically, the 

Commission finds that Amendment No. 

3 to the OLPP is consistent with section 

11A of the Act 8 and Rule 608 

thereunder 9 in that it is necessary or 

appropriate in the public interest, for 

the protection of investors and the 

maintenance of fair and orderly markets, 

to remove impediments to, and perfect 

the mechanisms of, a national market 

system. 

The Commission notes that according 

to one study cited by the Plan Sponsor 

exchanges, the options industry would 

expect an approximate four percent 

reduction in the number of series 

traded, with only a nominal reduction 

in trading volume, upon 

implementation of the changes 

proposed in this Amendment.10

Therefore, the Commission believes that 

adopting uniform objective standards to 

the range of options series exercise (or 

strike) prices available for trading on the 

Plan Sponsor exchanges should reduce 

the number of option series available for 

trading, and thus should reduce 

increases in the options quote message 

traffic because market participants will 

not be submitting quotes in those series. 

Accordingly, the Commission believes 

that it is necessary or appropriate in the 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors and the maintenance of fair 

and orderly markets, to remove 

impediments to, and perfect 

mechanisms of, a national market 

system to approve Amendment No. 3 to 

the OLPP. 

IV. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 11A of the Act,11 and Rule 608 

thereunder,12 that proposed 

Amendment No. 3 to the OLPP be, and 

it hereby is, approved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.13

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–20538 Filed 8–25–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–60514; File No. SR– 

NASDAQ–2009–075] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of 

Filing and Order Granting Accelerated 

Approval of a Proposed Rule Change 

Relating to the Listing Standards for 

Selected Equity-Linked Debt Securities 

August 17, 2009. 

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 August 6, 

2009, 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 Nasdaq. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change from interested persons and is 

approving the proposed rule change on 

an accelerated basis. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

Nasdaq is proposing to amend Nasdaq 

Rule 5715, the Exchange’s listing 

standards for selected equity-linked 

debt securities (‘‘SEEDS’’). The text of 

the proposed rule change is available 

from Nasdaq’s Web site at http:// 

nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com, 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. The text of these 

statements may be examined at the 

places specified in Item III below, and 

is set forth in Sections A, B, and C 

below. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange is proposing to amend 

Nasdaq Rule 5715, the Exchange’s 

listing standards for SEEDS, to provide 

for greater flexibility in the listing 

criteria for such securities, as set forth 

below. The proposed substantive rule 

changes herein are based upon the rules 

of NYSE Arca, Inc. (‘‘NYSEArca’’) 3 and 

the American Stock Exchange LLC 

(‘‘Amex’’).4 Similar proposed rule 

changes by other national securities 


jlentini on DSKJ8SOYB1PROD with NOTICES