Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 36 / Friday, February 22, 2013 / Notices 12411 

6Telephone conversation February 15, 2013 

among Michelle Weiler, Assistant General Counsel, 

ICE Clear Credit; Marta Chaffee, Assistant Director, 

SEC; Gena Lai, Senior Special Counsel, SEC; 

Jennifer Ogasawara, Financial Economist, SEC; and 

Justin Byrne, Attorney-Advisor, SEC. 

7 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(C). 

8 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

9 7 U.S.C. 2(h); see also Clearing Requirement 

Determination Under Section 2(h) of the CEA, Final 

Rule, 77 FR 74283 (Dec. 13, 2012) at 74291, 74336– 

74337. 

10 15 U.S.C. 78q–1. 

11 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

12 In approving this proposed rule change the 

Commission has considered the proposed rule’s 

impact of efficiency, competition, and capital 

formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 13 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

Series 8 with a 5-year maturity, 

maturing on December 20, 2012. 

ICC also updated its Policies and 

Procedures to provide for the clearance 

of iTraxx Contracts, specifically the ICC 

Treasury Operations Policies & 

Procedures, ICC Risk Management 

Framework and ICC End-of-Day 

(‘‘EOD’’) Price Discovery Policies and 

Procedures. Consistent with the changes 

to Schedule 401 of the ICC Rules, the 

ICC Treasury Operations Policies & 

Procedures have been updated to 

include Initial Margin and Guaranty 

Fund liquidity requirements for NonClient and Client-Related positions for 

both US Dollar and Euro denominated 

products. In order to accommodate the 

return of funds during London banking 

hours, the ICC Treasury Operations 

Policies & Procedures have been 

updated to require requests for Euro 

withdrawals to be submitted by 9:00 

a.m. Eastern. 

The ICC Risk Management Framework 

has been updated to account for Euro 

denominated portfolios. Specifically, 

updates have been made to the Guaranty 

Fund, Initial Margin and Mark-toMarket Methodologies to address: 

Wrong Way Risk, Foreign Exchange 

Risk, Liquidity Risk, Time Zone Risk, 

and Operational Risk. Additionally, the 

Portfolio Approach was updated to 

include appropriate portfolio benefits 

between North American CDS Indices 

and iTraxx Contracts. ICE Clear Credit 

will continue to review risk parameters 

with Clearing Participants through 

existing governance procedures and will 

notify Clearing Participants of any 

changes.6

The ICC EOD Price Discovery Policies 

and Procedures has been updated to 

provide that ICC will use ICE Clear 

Europe’s EOD prices for iTraxx 

Contracts and rely on the ICE Clear 

Europe Firm Trade process to ensure the 

accuracy of price submissions. ICC will 

extend the risk time-horizon for iTraxx 

Contracts to account for the half day 

difference, on average, between the EOD 

price discovery process timings. The 

extended risk horizon accounts for the 

fact that European markets close earlier 

and new financial information may be 

reflected only in the North American 

instrument prices and not reflected in 

the iTraxx Contracts, in general. 

III. Discussion 

Section 19(b)(2)(C) of the Act directs 

the Commission to approve a proposed 

rule change of a self-regulatory 

organization if it finds that such 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

the requirements of the Act and the 

rules and regulations thereunder 

applicable to such organization.7

Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act requires, 

among other things, that the rules of a 

clearing agency be designed to promote 

the prompt and accurate clearance and 

settlement of securities transactions 

and, to the extent applicable, derivative 

agreements, contracts, and transactions, 

as well as to assure the safeguarding of 

securities and funds in the custody or 

control of the clearing agency or for 

which the clearing agency is 

responsible.8

After careful review, 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 registered 

clearing agency. The Commission 

carefully considered ICC’s ability to 

clear the iTraxx Contracts in a manner 

that assures the safeguarding of 

securities and funds which are in the 

custody and control of ICC or for which 

ICC is responsible. In addition, the 

Commission notes that the Commodity 

Futures Trading Commission has 

determined that iTraxx Contracts are to 

be subject to mandatory clearing under 

Section 2(h) of the Commodity 

Exchange Act.9 ICC’s clearance of 

iTraxx Contracts therefore will promote 

the prompt and accurate clearance and 

settlement of securities transactions 

and, to the extent applicable, derivative 

agreements, contracts, and transactions. 

IV. Conclusion 

On the basis of the foregoing, the 

Commission finds that the proposal is 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Act and in particular with the 

requirements of Section 17A of the 

Act 10 and the rules and regulations 

thereunder. 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,11 that the 

proposed rule change (File No. SR–ICC– 

2012–23) be, and hereby is, approved.12

For the Commission by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.13

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2013–04097 Filed 2–21–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 8195] 

Shipping Coordinating Committee 

Notice of Renewal of Charter 

SUMMARY: The Department of State has 

renewed the Charter for the Shipping 

Coordinating Committee (SHC) without 

significant substantive change. Through 

this Committee, the Department of State 

will continue to obtain the views and 

advice of interested government 

agencies and bureaus and public 

members in the maritime and related 

fields, on issues related to maritime 

security, safety of life at sea, and 

protection of the marine environment 

considered by the International 

Maritime Organization (IMO), and other 

matters relating to international 

maritime shipping. The Under Secretary 

for Management has determined the 

Committee is necessary and in the 

public interest. 

The Committee follows the 

procedures prescribed by the Federal 

Advisory Committee Act (FACA). 

Meetings will be open to the public 

unless a determination is made in 

accordance with section 10(d) of the 

FACA and 5 U.S.C. 552b(c) that a 

meeting or portion of the meeting 

should be closed to the public. Notice 

of each meeting will be published in the 

Federal Register at least 15 days prior 

to the meeting, unless there are 

extraordinary circumstances that require 

shorter notice. 

For further information, please 

contact: Lieutenant Commander Brian 

W. Robinson, Executive Secretary, 

Shipping Coordinating Committee, U.S. 

Department of State, Office of Oceans 

Affairs, at RobinsonBW@state.gov or by 

telephone at 202–647–3946. A copy of 

the Committee charter may also be 

obtained by accessing the FACA 

database maintained by the General 

Services Administration: http:// 

fido.gov/facadatabase. 

Dated: January 22, 2013. 

Brian W. Robinson, 

Executive Secretary, Shipping Coordinating 

Committee, Department of State. 

[FR Doc. 2013–04144 Filed 2–21–13; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–09–P 


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