53040 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 197 / Friday, October 10, 1997 / Notices

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 19264

(November 22, 1982), 47 FR 53981 (November 30,

1982).

For the Commission, by the Division of

Investment Management, under delegated

authority.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–26903 Filed 10–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Agency Meeting

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to

the provisions of the Government in the

Sunshine Act, Pub. L. 94–409, that the

Securities and Exchange Commission

will hold the following meeting during

the week of October 13, 1997.

A closed meeting will be held on

Tuesday, October 14, 1997, at 10:30 a.m.

Commissioners, Counsel to the

Commissioners, the Secretary to the

Commission, and recording secretaries

will attend the closed meeting. Certain

staff members who have an interest in

the matters may also be present.

The General Counsel of the

Commission, or his designee, has

certified that, in his opinion, one or

more of the exemptions set forth in 5

U.S.C. 552b(c) (4), (8), (9)(A) and (10)

and 17 CFR 200.402(a) (4), (8), (9)(i) and

(10), permit consideration of the

scheduled matters at the closed meeting.

Commissioner Hunt, as duty officer,

voted to consider the items listed for the

closed meeting in a closed session.

The subject matter of the closed

meeting scheduled for Tuesday, October

14, 1997, at 10:30 a.m., will be:

Institution of injunctive actions.

Institution and settlement of

administrative proceedings of an

enforcement nature.

At times, changes in Commission

priorities require alterations in the

scheduling of meeting items. For further

information and to ascertain what, if

any, matters have been added, deleted

or postponed, please contact:

The Office of the Secretary at (202)

942–7070.

Dated: October 7, 1997.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–27097 Filed 10–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[File No. 500–1]

United States Properties, Inc.; Order of

Suspension of Trading

October 7, 1997.

It appears to the Securities and

Exchange Commission that there is a

lack of current and accurate information

concerning the securities of United

States Properties, Inc. (‘‘USPI’’).

Questions have been raised regarding

the accuracy of assertions by USPI, and

by others, in documents sent to and

statements made to market-makers of

the stock of USPI, other broker-dealers,

and to investors concerning, among

other things: (1) the identity of the

persons in control of the operations and

management of the company; (2) the

purported members of USPI’s advisory

board; and (3) the trading and true value

of the common stock of USPI.

The Commission is of the opinion that

the public interest and the protection of

investors require a suspension of trading

in the securities of the above-listed

company.

Therefore, it is ordered, pursuant to

Section 12(k) of the Securities Exchange

Act of 1934, that trading in the above

listed company is suspended for the

period from 9:30 a.m. EDT, October 8,

1997 through 11:59 p.m. EDT, on

October 21, 1997.

By the Commission.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–27096 Filed 10–8–97; 11:30 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–39192; File No. SR–CBOE–

97–48]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

the Chicago Board Options Exchange,

Incorporated Relating to a Reduction

in the Value of the Standard & Poor’s

100 Stock Index

October 3, 1997.

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

September 19, 1997, the Chicago Board

Options Exchange, Incorporated

(‘‘CBOE’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with

the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)

the proposed rule change as described

in Items I, II and III below, which Items

have been prepared by the CBOE. 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 CBOE is filing this rule change to

inform the Commission that Standard &

Poor’s (‘‘S&P’’) intends to reduce the

value of its S&P 100 Stock Index

(‘‘Index’’) option (‘‘OEX’’) to one-half of

its present value by doubling the divisor

used in calculating the Index. In

connection with this change, the

Exchange proposes doubling the current

OEX position and exercise limits. The

text of the proposed rule change is

available at the Office of the Secretary,

the CBOE, 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

CBOE 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 CBOE 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, Proposed Rule

Change

1. Purpose

The CBOE began trading OEX options

in March 1983.3 OEX options are

American-style, cash-settled options on

the S&P 100 Stock Index. The Exchange

notes that, on the strength of a sustained

bull market, the value of the OEX has

doubled in value since mid-1995, such

that the value of the index stood at

928.20 as of August 7, 1997. As a result

of the significant increase in the value

of the underlying index, the premium

for OEX options has also increased. This

has caused OEX options to trade at a

level that may be uncomfortably high

for retail investors, a large and

important part of the market for OEX.

As a result, at the request of the

CBOE, S&P, the reporting authority for

the Index, has agreed to a ‘‘two-for-one
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 197 / Friday, October 10, 1997 / Notices 53041

4The Exchange has separately filed for an

increase in the position and exercise limits for OEX

in SR–CBOE–97–11 (noticed in Securities Exchange

Act Release No. 38525 (April 18, 1997), 62 FR

20046 (April 24, 1997). In the event that SR–CBOE–

97–11 is approved by the Commission prior to this

filing, the Exchange would seek a doubling of those

higher limits. 5 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).

6 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12)

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

2Securities Exchange Act Release No. 38923

(August 11, 1997), 62 FR 44025.

3For a detailed description of the valued

securities program, refer to Securities Exchange Act

Continued

split’’ of the Index. The change will be

instituted after Commission approval of

this proposed rule change. This change

will result in a doubling of the OEX

contracts outstanding, such that for each

OEX contract held, the holder will

receive two contracts at the reduced

value, with a strike price of one-half of

the original strike price. For instance,

the holder of an OEX 930 call will

receive two OEX 465 calls. The trading

symbol will remain as OEX (plus any

necessary wrap symbols).

In addition to the strike price being

reduced by one-half, the CBOE proposes

to double the position and exercise

limits applicable to the OEX from

25,000 to 50,000.4 The Exchange

believes this increase in the position

and exercise limits is justified because

the reduction in the divisor would

result in each contract overlying only

one-half of the value of a current OEX

contract. Consequently, the revised

position and exercise limits would be

equivalent to the current levels in terms

of the value of the Index.

The CBOE will announce the effective

date of the change by way of an

Exchange circular to the membership,

which will also describe the change to

the strike prices and the position and

exercise limits.

The Exchange expects the proposed

changes to attract additional customer

business in OEX in those series in

which retail customers are most

interested in trading. For example, a

September 930 (at the money) call

option series currently trades at

approximately $2600 per contract. With

the Index split, the same option series

(once adjusted), with all else remaining

equal, would trade at approximately

$1300 per contract. The Exchange

believes the proposed change will

permit some investors to trade these

options who have otherwise been priced

out of the market due to the recent

market surge. The Exchange believes

that OEX options provide an important

opportunity for investors to hedge and

speculate upon the market risk

associated with the stocks comprising

this broad-based widely followed Index.

By reducing the value of the Index,

investors will be able to utilize this

trading vehicle, while extending a

smaller outlay of capital. The Exchange

believes this should attract additional

investors, and, in turn, create a more

active and liquid trading environment.

The Exchange believes that reducing

the value of the Index does not raise

manipulation concerns and will not

cause adverse market impact because

the Exchange will continue to employ

the same surveillance procedures and

has proposed an orderly procedure to

achieve the Index split, including

adequate prior notice to market

participants.

2. Statutory Basis

The Exchange believes that the

proposed rule change is consistent with

and furthers the objectives of Section

6(b)(5) of the Act,5 in that it is designed

to perfect the mechanisms of a free and

open market and to protect investors

and the public interest.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The CBOE does not believe that the

proposed rule change will impose any

burden on competition.

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

Within 35 days of the date of

publication of this notice in the Federal

Register or within such longer period (i)

as the Commission may designate up to

90 days of such date if it finds such

longer period to be appropriate and

publishes its reasons for so finding or

(ii) as to which the self-regulatory

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. 25049. 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

Section, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 25049. Copies of such

filing will also be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of the CBOE. All submissions

should refer to File No. SR–CBOE–97–

48 and should be submitted by October

31, 1997.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.6

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–26901 Filed 10–9–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–39201; File No. SR–OCC–

97–09]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The

Options Clearing Corporation; Order

Approving a Proposed Rule Change

Seeking To Amend the Valuation Rate

Applied to Equity Securities and

Corporate Debt Deposited as Margin

Collateral

October 3, 1997.

On May 21, 1997, The Options

Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) filed with

the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) a

proposed rule change (File No. SR–

OCC–97–09) pursuant to Section

19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act

of 1934 (‘‘Act’’).1 Notice of the proposal

was published in the Federal Register

on August 18, 1997.2 No comment

letters were received. For the reasons

discussed below, the Commission is

approving the proposed rule change.

I. Description

OCC currently operates a program to

accept deposits of equity securities and

corporate debt as margin collateral

(‘‘valued securities program’’) under its

rule 604(d).3 The proposed rule change