9050 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 39 / Wednesday, February 28, 2007 / Notices 

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). 

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51685 

(May 11, 2005), 70 FR 28587 (May 18, 2005) (SR–

Amex–2005–050). 

6See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 53341 

(February 21, 2006), 71 FR 10085 (February 28, 

2006) (SR–Amex–2006–15). 

7Section 6(b)(4) of the Act states that the rules of 

a national securities exchange should provide for 

the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, 

and other charges among its members and issuers 

and other persons using its facilities. 15 U.S.C. 

78f(b)(4). 

8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

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

notify OPM when any such waiver is 

terminated. 

[FR Doc. E7–3454 Filed 2–27–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6325–43–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–55328; File No. SR–Amex–

2007–16] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

American Stock Exchange LLC; Notice 

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness 

of a Proposed Rule Change as 

Modified by Amendment No. 1 Thereto 

Relating to an Amendment to the 

Options Marketing Fee 

February 21, 2007. 

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 February 

2, 2007, the American Stock Exchange 

LLC (‘‘Amex’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I, II, and III below, which Items 

have been substantially prepared by the 

Exchange. On February 14, 2007, the 

Amex submitted Amendment No. 1 to 

the proposed rule change. Amex has 

designated this proposal as one 

establishing or changing a due, fee, or 

other charge imposed by Amex 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 

filing with the Commission. The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change, as amended, from interested 

persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange proposes to decrease 

the equity options marketing fee from 

the current level of $0.75 to $0.35 per 

contract for those equity, exchange 

traded fund share, and trust issued 

receipt options series that quote and 

trade in one cent increments under the 

penny pilot program. The text of the 

proposed rule change is available at the 

Exchange, the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, and www.amex.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 

Exchange 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. Amex 

has substantially 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 the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The proposal seeks to reduce the 

current fee of $0.75 per contract to $0.35 

per contract for those equity, exchange 

traded fund share, and trust issued 

receipt options series that quote and 

trade in one cent increments under the 

penny pilot program. In February, 2006, 

the Exchange increased its equity 

options marketing fee from $0.40 per 

contract on the transactions of 

specialists and registered options 

traders (‘‘ROTs’’) in equity options to 

$0.75 per contract (except for SPDR 

options which will continue to remain 

subject to the current fee level of $1.00 

per contract 5).6

Currently, the equity options 

marketing fee is assessed on 

electronically executed customer orders 

from firms that accept payment for 

directing their orders to the Exchange 

(‘‘payment accepting firms’’) with whom 

a specialist has negotiated a payment for 

order flow arrangement. 

The Exchange has no role with 

respect to the negotiations between 

specialists and payment accepting firms. 

The Exchange collects and administers 

the payment of the fee collected on 

those transactions for which the 

specialist has advised the Exchange that 

it has negotiated with a payment 

accepting firm to pay for the firm’s order 

flow. Included in this general 

administrative support, the Exchange 

tracks the number of qualified orders 

sent by a payment accepting firm, bills 

specialists and ROTs through their 

clearing firms, and issues payments to 

payment accepting firms to reflect the 

collection and payment of the marketing 

fee. The Exchange rebates to specialists 

and ROTs, on a quarterly basis, the 

amount of marketing fees collected that 

have not been paid to order flow 

providers. 

The specialists are solely responsible, 

but are not required, to negotiate 

payment for order flow agreements with 

payment accepting firms and are 

responsible for any arrangements made 

with the payment accepting firms. The 

specialists will use the funds that are 

collected from a particular post on the 

Exchange to market for those specific 

products traded at that particular post 

on the Exchange. Additionally, 

supplemental registered options traders 

have the ability to enter into payment 

for order flow agreements with affiliated 

firms. So long as it is within the above 

described parameters, the specific terms 

governing the orders that qualify for 

payment and the amount of any 

payments are determined by the 

specialists in their discretion. 

The Exchange asserts that the 

proposal is equitable, as required by 

Section 6(b)(4) of the Act.7 In 

connection with the revision to the said 

options marketing fee, the Exchange 

notes that decreasing the fee in the 

delineated circumstances from $0.75 to 

$0.35 per contract is reasonable given 

the competitive pressure to attract 

options order flow. Accordingly, the 

Exchange believes that the proposal is 

an equitable allocation of reasonable 

fees among Exchange members. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

Section 6(b) of the Act 8 in general, and 

Section 6(b)(4) of the Act 9 in particular, 

in that it is designed to provide for the 

equitable allocation of reasonable dues, 

fees, and other charges among exchange 

members and issuers and other persons 

using exchange facilities. 

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. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 39 / Wednesday, February 28, 2007 / Notices 9051 

10 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii). 

11 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2). 

12For purposes of calculating the 60-day period 

within which the Commission may summarily 

abrogate the proposed rule change, the Commission 

considers the period to commence on February 14, 

2007, the date on which the Exchange filed 

Amendment No. 1. 

13 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). 

4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

5Nasdaq has requested that the Commission 

waive the 5-day written notice of intention to file 

the proposed rule change. In addition, Nasdaq has 

asked the Commission to waive the 30-day 

operative delay. See Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii). 17 CFR 

240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii). 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

No written comments were solicited 

or received with respect to the proposed 

rule change. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The foregoing proposed rule change 

has been designated as a fee change 

pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the 

Act 10 and Rule 19b–4(f)(2) 11

thereunder, because it establishes or 

changes a due, fee, or other charge 

imposed by the Exchange. Accordingly, 

the proposal will take effect upon filing 

with the Commission. At any time 

within 60 days of the filing of such 

proposed rule change the Commission 

may summarily abrogate 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.12

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 (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an e-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File 

Number SR–Amex–2007–16 on the 

subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Nancy M. Morris, Secretary, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–Amex–2007–16. 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 inspection and copying in 

the Commission’s Public Reference 

Room. Copies of such filing also will be 

available for inspection and copying at 

the principal office of Amex. 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–Amex–2007–16 and should 

be submitted on or before March 21, 

2007. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated 

authority.13

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E7–3408 Filed 2–27–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–55329; File No. SR–

NASDAQ–2007–008] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of 

Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of 

Proposed Rule Change To Clarify 

Opening Process for Nasdaq Market 

Center 

February 21, 2007. 

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 February 

12, 2007, The NASDAQ Stock Market 

LLC (‘‘Nasdaq’’), 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 

substantially by Nasdaq. The Exchange 

filed the proposal as a ‘‘noncontroversial’’ proposed rule change 

pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the 

Act,3 and Rule 19b–4(f)(6) thereunder,4

which renders the proposal effective 

upon filing with the Commission.5 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 the Substance 

of the Proposed Rule Change 

Nasdaq is proposing to modify Rule 

4752 to clarify that in the Nasdaq 

Market Center (‘‘System’’), securities 

listed on the New York and American 

Stock Exchanges, which are not subject 

to an opening cross, open for the premarket session in the same manner as 

Nasdaq-listed securities. The text of the 

proposed rule change is available at 

Nasdaq, the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, and http:// 

www.nasdaq.complinet.com/nasdaq/ 

display/index.html. 

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 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. Nasdaq 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 the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

Nasdaq is proposing to modify Rule 

4752 to clarify that in the Nasdaq 

Market Center (‘‘System’’), securities 

listed on the New York and American 

Stock Exchanges, which are not subject 

to an opening cross, open for the premarket session in the same manner as 

Nasdaq-listed securities. Specifically, at 

7 a.m., the System adds to the Nasdaq 

book in time priority all eligible orders 

in accordance with each order’s defined 

characteristics. At 9:25 a.m., the System 

opens all remaining unopened Quotes 

in accordance with each firm’s 

instructions. As with Nasdaq securities, 

market participants quoting in NYSE/ 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES