Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 145 / Tuesday, July 29, 1997 / Notices 40561

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

2According to the Amex, the retroactive

application of the proposed fee schedule will allow

the Exchange to apply a single fee schedule to

transactions effected in June, thereby allowing the

Exchange to avoid the administrative billing burden

inherent in applying one fee schedule to the first

half of the month of June and another fee schedule

to the latter half of the month. Telephone

conversation between J. Bruce Ferguson, Associate

General Counsel, Legal & Regulatory Policy, and

George A. Villasana, Division of Market Regulation

(‘‘Division’’), SEC, on July 16, 1997. See also letter

from J. Bruce Ferguson, Associate General Counsel,

Legal & Regulatory Policy, to George A. Villasana,

Attorney, Division, SEC, dated July 17, 1997. The

Amex stated that members were notified of the

proposed fee change via Amex Information Circular

97–0535 and that the proposal would not result in

increased fees for any members. Id.

3 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).

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

organization consents, the Commission

will:

(A) by order approve such proposed

rule change, or

(B) institute proceedings to determine

whether the proposed rule change

should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views and

arguments concerning the foregoing.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20549. 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 the

Commission’s Public Reference Room in

Washington, D.C. Copies of such filing

will also be available for inspection and

copying at the principal office of the

Amex. All submissions should refer to

the file number in the caption above and

should be submitted by August 19,

1997.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–19835 Filed 7–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–38859; File No. SR–Amex–

97–22]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness

of Proposed Rule Change by the

American Stock Exchange, Inc.

Relating to Revised Options Fee

Schedule

July 22, 1997.

Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’),1 notice is hereby given that on

June 18, 1997, the American Stock

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘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 prepared by the selfregulatory organization. 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 Substance of

the Proposed Rule Change

The American Stock Exchange has

revised its schedule of charges imposed

on trades in options executed on the

Exchange. The text of the fee change is

available at the Office of the Secretary,

the Amex and at the Commission.

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

self-regulatory organization 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.

The self-regulatory organization 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

The Exchange currently imposes a

transaction charge on options trades

executed on the Exchange, with the

charge varying depending on whether it

is an equity or index option and then on

whether it was executed for a specialist

or market maker, for a member firm’s

proprietary account, or for a customer.

The Exchange also imposes a charge for

clearance of options trades, as well as an

options floor brokerage charge which

again varies like the above transaction

charge depending on whom the trade

was executed for.

The Exchange has revised its schedule

of options charges to impose caps on the

number of options contracts subject to

Exchange option charges. Options

charges will be imposed on customer

trades for the first 2,000 contracts and

on member firm proprietary, specialist,

and market maker trades for the first

3,000 contracts. The caps will apply to

all three options charges—transaction,

options clearance, and options floor

brokerage and will apply to one day’s

trades of 100 or more contracts per

execution on one side of any series

executed by one specialist/trader/broker

(for one member firm) and cleared by

one clearing firm. Trades of less than

100 contracts that are multiple contra

parties to trades of 100 or more

contracts will also be added to the total

number of contracts subject to the cap.

The same fee schedule and cap

provision will apply to standardized

and FLEX options. The special fee

schedule on box transactions is also

being repealed in the expectation that

the proposed caps will be more

attractive to the users of boxes than the

special box schedule. The Exchange

believes that the changes are necessary

in order to make the Exchange’s option

fee schedule more competitive with

costs of trading other financial

instruments and to increase the number

of options orders that are routed to the

Exchange.

The Exchange’s schedule of options

charges, as revised above, has been

submitted as Exhibit A to the submitted

filing. The revised options fee schedule

has been implemented starting with

transactions effected on and after June 2,

1997.2

2. Statutory Basis

The proposed rule change is

consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act 3

in general and furthers the objectives of

Section 6(b)(4) 4 in particular in that it

provides for the equitable allocation of

reasonable dues, fees, and other charges

among the Exchange’s members and

other persons using its facilities.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The proposed rule change does not

impose any burden on competition that

is not necessary or appropriate in

furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
40562 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 145 / Tuesday, July 29, 1997 / Notices

5 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).

6 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

7 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants, or Others

The Exchange has neither solicited

nor received written comments on the

proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

The foregoing rule change constitutes

or changes a due, fee, or other charge

imposed by the Exchange and, therefore,

has become effective pursuant to

Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 5 and

subparagraph (e) of rule 19b–4

thereunder.6

At any time within 60 days of the

filing of the 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.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views, and

arguments concerning the foregoing.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549. 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 that

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 at

the Commission’s Public Reference

Section, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549. Copies of such

filing also will be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of the American Stock Exchange.

All submissions should refer to File No.

SR–Amex–97–22 and should be

submitted by [insert date 21 days from

date of publication].

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.7

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–19837 Filed 7–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Data Collection Available for Public

Comments and Recommendations

ACTION: Notice and request for

comments.

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this

notice announces the Small Business

Administration’s intentions to request

approval on a new, and/or currently

approved information collection.

DATES: Comments should be submitted

on or before September 29, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Curtis B. Rich, Management Analyst,

Small Business Administration, 409 3rd

Street, S.W., Suite 5000, Washington,

D.C. 20416. Phone Number: 202–205–

6629.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Title: ‘‘Customer Survey’’.

Type of Request: New Collection.

Form No: N/A.

Description of Respondents:

Participating SBA Lenders and

Participants in SBA Programs.

Annual Responses: 13,800.

Annual Burden: 2,300.

Comments: Send all comments

regarding this information collection to

Patricia Holden, Management Analyst,

Office of Field Operations, Small

Business Administration, 409 3rd Street,

S.W., Suite 7125, Washington, D.C.

20416. Phone No: 202–205–6385. Send

comments regarding whether this

information collection is necessary for

the proper performance of the function

of the agency, accuracy of burden

estimate, in addition to ways to

minimize this estimate, and ways to

enhance the quality.

Dated: July 22, 1997.

Jacqueline White,

Chief, Administrative Information Branch.

[FR Doc. 97–19895 Filed 7–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

[Declaration of Disaster #2968]

State of Minnesota

Ramsey County and the contiguous

Counties of Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin,

and Washington in the State of

Minnesota constitute a disaster area as

a result of damages caused by severe

storms, flash flooding, and sewer

backup which occurred on July 1–17,

1997. Applications for loans for

physical damages may be filed until the

close of business on September 18, 1997

and for economic injury until the close

of business on April 20, 1998 at the

address listed below or other locally

announced locations: U.S. Small

Business Administration, Disaster Area

2 Office, One Baltimore Place, Suite

300, Atlanta, GA 30308.

The interest rates are:

percent

For Physical Damage:

Homeowners with Credit Available Elsewhere ...................... 8.000

Homeowners Without Credit

Available Elsewhere .............. 4.000

Businesses With Credit Available Elsewhere ...................... 8.000

Businesses and Non-Profit Organizations Without Credit

Available Elsewhere .............. 4.000

Others (Including Non-Profit Organizations) With Credit

Available Elsewhere .............. 7.250

For Economic Injury:

Businesses and Small Agricultural Cooperatives Without

Credit Available Elsewhere ... 4.000

The number assigned to this disaster

for physical damage is 296806 and for

economic injury the number is 953700.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 59002 and 59008)

Dated: July 18, 1997.

Aida Alvarez,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–19824 Filed 7–28–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

[Declaration of Disaster #2962]

State of Texas

Amendment #1

In accordance with notices from the

Federal Emergency Management Agency

dated July 15, 16, and 18, 1997, the

above-numbered Declaration is hereby

amended to include the Counties of

Blanco, Comal, Eastland, Edwards, and

Hays in the State of Texas as a disaster

area due to damages caused by severe

thunderstorms and flooding. This

declaration is further amended to

establish the incident period for this

disaster as beginning on June 21, 1997

and continuing through July 15, 1997.

In addition, applications for economic

injury loans from small businesses

located in the following contiguous