Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Notices 80371 

16 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

17 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f). 18 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

equally available to all Members 

submitting AIM Agency Orders to the 

Exchange. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange 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. First, the 

Exchange believes that the proposed 

rule change does not impose any burden 

on intramarket competition that is not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purposes of the Act. The 

Exchange notes that the proposed 

changes apply uniformly to similarly 

situated Members. The Exchange 

believes that the proposed changes 

related to AIM transactions would not 

impose any burden on intramarket 

competition, but rather, serves to 

increase intramarket competition by 

incentivizing members to direct their 

AIM orders to the Exchange, in turn 

providing for more opportunities to 

compete at improved prices. 

The Exchange also believes the 

proposed rule change does not impose 

any burden on intermarket competition 

that is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 

As previously discussed, the Exchange 

operates in a highly competitive market. 

Members have numerous alternative 

venues they may participate on and 

direct their order flow, including 17 

other options exchanges. Additionally, 

the Exchange represents a small 

percentage of the overall market. Based 

on publicly available information, no 

single options exchange has more than 

17% of the market share. Therefore, no 

exchange possesses significant pricing 

power in the execution of order flow. 

Indeed, participants can readily choose 

to send their orders to other exchanges 

if they deem fee levels at those other 

venues to be more favorable. Moreover, 

the Commission has repeatedly 

expressed its preference for competition 

over regulatory intervention in 

determining prices, products, and 

services in the securities markets. 

Specifically, in Regulation NMS, the 

Commission highlighted the importance 

of market forces in determining prices 

and SRO revenues and, also, recognized 

that current regulation of the market 

system ‘‘has been remarkably successful 

in promoting market competition in its 

broader forms that are most important to 

investors and listed companies.’’ The 

fact that this market is competitive has 

also long been recognized by the courts. 

In NetCoalition v. Securities and 

Exchange Commission, the D.C. Circuit 

stated as follows: ‘‘[n]o one disputes 

that competition for order flow is 

‘fierce.’ . . . As the SEC explained, ‘[i]n 

the U.S. national market system, buyers 

and sellers of securities, and the brokerdealers that act as their order-routing 

agents, have a wide range of choices of 

where to route orders for execution’; 

[and] ‘no exchange can afford to take its 

market share percentages for granted’ 

because ‘no exchange possesses a 

monopoly, regulatory or otherwise, in 

the execution of order flow from broker 

dealers’. . . .’’. Accordingly, the 

Exchange does not believe its proposed 

fee change imposes 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 

The Exchange neither solicited nor 

received comments on 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 16 and paragraph (f) of Rule 

19b–4 17 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. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission will institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

change should be approved or 

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 

• Use the Commission’s internet 

comment form (https://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include file number 

SR–CboeEDGX–2023–068 on the 

subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to file 

number SR–CboeEDGX–2023–068. This 

file number should be included on the 

subject line if email 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 website (https://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 website 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 the filing also 

will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. Do not include personal 

identifiable information in submissions; 

you should submit only information 

that you wish to make available 

publicly. We may redact in part or 

withhold entirely from publication 

submitted material that is obscene or 

subject to copyright protection. All 

submissions should refer to file number 

SR–CboeEDGX–2023–068 and should be 

submitted on or before December 8, 

2023. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.18

Sherry R. Haywood, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25381 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[SEC File No. 270–267, OMB Control No. 

3235–0272] 

Proposed Collection; Comment 

Request; Extension: Rule 11a–2 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 


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80372 Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 221 / Friday, November 17, 2023 / Notices 

1Additional information about these motor 

carriers, including U.S. Department of 

Transportation (USDOT) numbers, motor carrier 

numbers, and USDOT safety fitness ratings, can be 

found in the application. (See Appl. 3–6, Ex. A.) 

100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 

20549–2736. 

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities 

and Exchange Commission (the 

‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments 

on the collection of information 

summarized below. The Commission 

plans to submit this existing collection 

of information to the Office of 

Management and Budget for extension 

and approval. 

Rule 11a–2 (17 CFR 270.11a–2) under 

the Investment Company Act of 1940 

(15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.) permits certain 

registered insurance company separate 

accounts, subject to certain conditions, 

to make exchange offers without prior 

approval by the Commission of the 

terms of those offers. Rule 11a–2 

requires disclosure, in certain 

registration statements filed pursuant to 

the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a 

et seq.) of any administrative fee or sales 

load imposed in connection with an 

exchange offer. 

The Commission staff estimates that 

657 registrants are governed by Rule 

11a–2. Based on this estimate, the total 

annual burden hours associated with 

the rule is estimated to be 657 hours. 

The estimated burden hours associated 

with rule 11a–2 has decreased by 19 

hours from the current allocation of 676 

hours. The decrease is due to a decrease 

in the number of registrants. The 

estimated external cost associated with 

this collection of information continues 

to be $0. The Commission includes the 

estimated burden of complying with the 

information collection required by Rule 

11a–2 in the total number of burden 

hours estimated for completing the 

relevant registration statements and 

reports the burden of Rule 11a–2 in the 

separate Paperwork Reduction Act 

(‘‘PRA’’) submissions for those 

registration statements (see the separate 

PRA submissions for Form N–3 (17 CFR 

274.11b), Form N–4 (17 CFR 274.11c) 

and Form N–6 (17 CFR 274.11d). The 

Commission is requesting a burden of 

one hour for Rule 11a–2 for 

administrative purposes. 

The estimate of average burden hours 

is made solely for the purposes of the 

PRA and is not derived from a 

comprehensive or even a representative 

survey or study of the costs of 

Commission rules or forms. The 

information collection requirements 

imposed by Rule 11a–2 are mandatory. 

Responses to the collection of 

information will not be kept 

confidential. 

Written comments are invited on: (a) 

whether the proposed collection of 

information is necessary for the proper 

performance of the functions of the 

Commission, including whether the 

information shall have practical utility; 

(b) the accuracy of the Commission’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 

by January 16, 2024. 

An agency may not conduct or 

sponsor, and a person is not required to 

respond to, a collection of information 

under the PRA unless it displays a 

currently valid OMB control number. 

Please direct your written comments 

to: David Bottom, Acting Director/Chief 

Information Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, c/o John 

Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, 

DC 20549 or send an email to: PRA_

Mailbox@sec.gov. 

Dated: November 14, 2023. 

Sherry R. Haywood, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2023–25477 Filed 11–16–23; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BOARD 

[Docket No. MCF 21111] 

Van Pool Transportation LLC— 

Acquisition of Control—PLSIII LLC 

AGENCY: Surface Transportation Board. 

ACTION: Notice Tentatively Approving 

and Authorizing Finance Transaction. 

SUMMARY: On October 19, 2023, Van 

Pool Transportation LLC (Van Pool or 

Applicant), a noncarrier, filed an 

application for Van Pool to acquire 

control of an interstate passenger motor 

carrier, PLSIII LLC (PLS), by acquiring 

all the outstanding equity interests in 

PLS from Founders Mobility LLC 

(Founders), the sole member of PLS. 

The Board is tentatively approving and 

authorizing the transaction, and, if no 

opposing comments are timely filed, 

this notice will be the final Board 

action. 

DATES: Comments must be filed by 

January 2, 2024. If any comments are 

filed, Van Pool may file a reply by 

January 16, 2024. If no opposing 

comments are filed by January 2, 2024, 

this notice shall be effective on January 

3, 2024. 

ADDRESSES: Comments may be filed 

with the Board either via e-filing or in 

writing addressed to: Surface 

Transportation Board, 395 E Street SW, 

Washington, DC 20423–0001. In 

addition, send one copy of comments to 

Van Pool’s representative: Andrew K. 

Light, Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson 

& Feary, P.C., 10 W Market Street, Suite 

1400, Indianapolis, IN 46204. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Sarah Fancher at (202) 245–0355. If you 

require an accommodation under the 

Americans with Disabilities Act, please 

call (202) 245–0245. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: According 

to the application, Van Pool is a limited 

liability company organized under 

Delaware law and headquartered in 

Wilbraham, Mass. (Appl. 2.) Applicant 

states that it is not a federally regulated 

carrier but that it indirectly owns and 

controls all equity and voting interest in 

eight interstate passenger motor carriers 

(the Affiliate Regulated Carriers) that are 

among its operating subsidiaries. (Id.) 

The Affiliate Regulated Carriers are as 

follows: 1

• NRT Bus, Inc., which primarily 

provides non-regulated student 

transportation services for schools in 

Massachusetts (Essex, Middlesex, 

Norfolk, Suffolk, and Worcester 

counties), and occasional charter 

services; 

• Trombly Motor Coach Service, Inc., 

which primarily provides non-regulated 

student transportation services for 

schools in Massachusetts (Essex and 

Middlesex counties), and occasional 

charter services; 

• Salter Transportation, Inc., which 

primarily provides non-regulated 

student transportation services for 

schools in Massachusetts (Essex County) 

and southern New Hampshire, and 

occasional charter services; 

• Easton Coach Company, LLC, 

which provides (i) intrastate paratransit, 

shuttle, and line-run services under 

contracts with regional transportation 

authorities and other organizations, 

primarily in New Jersey and eastern 

Pennsylvania, and (ii) private charter 

motor coach and shuttle services 

(interstate and intrastate), primarily in 

eastern Pennsylvania; 

• F. M. Kuzmeskus, Inc., d/b/a Travel 

Kuz, which provides (i) non-regulated 

school bus transportation services, (ii) 

intrastate and interstate motor coach 

and limousine charter services, and (iii) 

limited intrastate and interstate charter 

services, all in western Massachusetts 

and southern Vermont; 


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