Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 236 / Tuesday, December 9, 1997 / Notices 64903

8 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(A).

9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

3On November 28, 1997, the Philadelphia Stock

Exchange, Inc. amended the filing to clarify its

intent that the rule filing be deemed effective upon

filing pursuant to Rule 19b–4(e)(6)(iii). See letter

from J. Keith Kessel, Counsel, Philadelphia Stock

Exchange, Inc., to Mignon McLemore, Esquire,

Division of Market Regulation, SEC, dated

November 24, 1997.

4The Exchange has represented that this

proposed rule change: (i) Will not significantly

affect the protection of investors or the public

interest; (ii) will not impose any significant burden

on competition, and (iii) will not become operative

for 30 days after the date of this filing. The

Exchange did not provide the required five business

day advance notice to the Commission of its intent

to file this proposed rule change, as required by

Rule 19b–4(e)(6) under the Act. However, the

Commission has determined to waive the pre-filing

requirement. See supra note 3.

5Sections 3(a)(4) and 3(a)(5) of the Securities

Exchange Act of 1934 provide:

‘‘(4) The term ‘‘broker’’ means any person

engaged in the business of effecting transactions in

securities for the account of others, but does not

include a bank.’’

‘‘(5) The term ‘‘dealer’’ means any person engaged

in the business of buying and selling securities for

his own account, through a broker or otherwise, but

does not include a bank, or any person insofar as

he buys or sells securities for his own account,

either individually or in some fiduciary capacity,

but not as a part of a regular business.’’

that clearing members are unlikely to

change their systems just to be able to

use the HEDGE system. As a result, OCC

does not expect to be able to achieve

broad-based participation in the HEDGE

system with its current account

segregation requirements.

OCC has determined that there is no

legal reason for OCC’s by-laws to treat

stock loans under the HEDGE system as

hypothecations. Therefore, OCC has

concluded that it may eliminate the

HEDGE system’s account segregation

requirements for stock loans without

violating or causing clearing members to

violate the Commission’s hypothecation

rules.

OCC believes that the proposed rule

change is consistent with the

requirements of Section 17A(b)(3)(A) of

the Act 8 and the rules and regulations

thereunder because it promotes

efficiencies in the clearance and

settlement of securities transactions.

(B) Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

OCC does not believe that the

proposed rule change will have any

material impact on competition.

(C) Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants or Others

Written comments were not and are

not intended to be solicited by OCC

with respect to the proposed rule

change, and none have been received.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

Within thirty-five 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

ninety 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 OCC 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 in

the Commission’s Public Reference

Section, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such

filing also will be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of OCC. All submissions should

refer to File No. SR–OCC–97–11 and

should be submitted by December 30,

1997.

For the Commission by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.9

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–32171 Filed 12–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–39382; File No. SR–Phlx–

97–50]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness

of Proposed Rule Change by the

Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc.

Relating To Adopting a Definition of

‘‘Foreign Broker-Dealer’’ Into Its

Options Rules

December 2, 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 November

3, 1997,3 the Philadelphia Stock

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Phlx’’) or ‘‘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 Exchange.

The Exchange has designated the

proposed rule change as constituting a

‘‘non-controversial’’ rule change under

paragraph (e)(6) of Rule 19b–4 under the

Act which renders the proposal effective

upon receipt of this filing by the

Commission.4 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 Phlx is proposing to adopt a

definition of ‘‘foreign broker-dealer,’’

which will treat such broker-dealers like

their U.S. broker-dealer counterparts,

thus precluding foreign broker-dealers

from receiving treatment as customers

under the various option rules.

In accordance with the foregoing, the

Phlx is proposing to adopt Rule

1000(b)(41) to define the term ‘‘foreign

broker-dealer’’ as follows:

The term ‘‘foreign broker-dealer’’ means

any person or entity that is registered,

authorized or licensed, or required to be, by

a foreign governmental agency or foreign

regulatory organization to perform the

function of a broker or a dealer in securities,

or both. The terms ‘‘broker’’ or ‘‘dealer’’ mean

the same as set out in Sections 3(a)(4) and

3(a)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of

1934, as amended, provided that a broker or

dealer may be a bank.5 For purposes of Rules

1014, 1015, 1033 and 1080, the term brokerdealer includes foreign broker-dealers, which

are not public customers.

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
64904 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 236 / Tuesday, December 9, 1997 / Notices

6See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 38420,

(March 19, 1997); 62 FR 14488, (March 26, 1997)

(order approving SR–PSE–96–46).

7A non-broker-dealer customer executing a trade

through a foreign broker-dealer shall receive

treatment as a customer.

8Rule 1015(a)(viii) provides in relevant part that

‘‘floor brokers must make reasonable efforts to

ascertain whether each order entrusted to them is

for the account of a customer or a broker-dealer. If

it is ascertained that the order is for the account of

a broker-dealer, the responsible floor broker must

advise the crowd of that fact prior to bidding/

offering.’’

9Rule 1014(g)(i) provides in relevant part that

‘‘for purposes of this rule, an account type is either

a controlled account or a customer account. A

controlled account includes any account controlled

by or under common control with a member brokerdealer. Orders of controlled accounts must yield

priority to customer orders, but not to other

controlled account orders.

10Rule 1033(a) provides in relevant part that ‘‘the

Exchange may require that specialists and ROTs be

responsible for ensuring that public orders are filled

to a minimum depth of ten contracts at the best

quoted bid or offer.’’

11Rule 1080(b)(i) provides in relevant part that

‘‘for purposes of AUTOM, an agency order is an

order entered on behalf of a public customer, and

does not include any order entered for the account

of a broker-dealer or any account in which a brokerdealer has any direct or indirect interest.’’ Rule

1080(c) provides in relevant part that ‘‘AUTO–X is

a feature of AUTOM that automatically executes

public customer market orders up to the number of

contracts permitted by the Exchange. AUTOM

orders not eligible for AUTO–X are executed

manually.’’

12 17 CFR 240.19b–4(e)(6).

13 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).

14The thirty day delayed implementation date is

triggered from the most recent amendment to the

filing. See Securities Exchange Act Release No.

35123 (Dec. 20, 1994); 59 FR 66602 (Dec. 28, 1994).

places specified in Item IV below. The

Exchange 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

The Phlx is proposing to amend its

option rules by adopting a definition of

‘‘foreign broker-dealer’’ to ensure that

foreign broker-dealer orders shall

receive the same treatment as U.S.

broker-dealer orders for option orders

on the Exchange, as opposed to

customer treatment. The definition has

been designed to provide an objective

standard for the enforcement of

applicable option rules and to

substantially resemble the Pacific

Exchange’s definition.6

By ensuring that foreign brokerdealers receive the same treatment as

U.S. broker-dealers, this proposed rule

change shall consequently ensure that

forging broker-dealers are not afforded a

competitive advantage solely because

they are registered outside of the U.S.7

For instance, both foreign and U.S.

broker-dealers would not receive

customer treatment as specified in Rule

1015 8 regarding Quotation Guarantees,

in Rule 1014 9 and the concept of

priority/parity contemplated therein

regarding Obligations and Restrictions

Applicable to Specialists and Registered

Options Traders, in Rule 1033(a) 10

regarding Size of Bid/Offer and 10-up

Guarantee, and in Rule 1080 11 regarding

the Phlx Automated Options Market

(AUTOM) and Automatic Executive

System (AUTO–X).

In consideration of the globalization

of these securities markets, the customer

trading and protection rules should be

consistently applied so that foreign

broker-dealers trading options on the

Phlx do not have an unfair competitive

advantage over U.S. broker-dealers.

Based upon the objective nature of the

proposed definition, the Phlx will be

able to verify whether a person or entity

is registered, authorized or licensed by

a foreign governmental agency or a

foreign regulatory organization to

operate as a broker-dealer. Furthermore,

as a member of Intermarket Surveillance

Group (‘‘ISG’’), the Phlx may obtain

information from other ISG members

regarding the accounts of persons or

entities entering orders for execution on

the Phlx, including whether the order is

that of a broker-dealer or a customer.

The Phlx may also obtain information

from foreign exchanges and foreign

regulatory authorities with whom the

Phlx either has an effective surveillance

sharing agreement or from a foreign

exchange or regulatory authority that is

subject to a memorandum of

understanding with the Commission

that would require, upon appropriate

request, that those entities provide such

information to the Exchange.

By restricting foreign broker-dealers

from receiving volume guarantees and

gaining access to the automatic

execution system, the Phlx seeks to

ensure that such broker-dealers do not

exhaust such procedures or facilities,

which were intended for customers.

Likewise, allowing Registered Options

Traders (‘‘ROTs’’) to retain priority over

or have parity with both foreign and

U.S. broker-dealers will enhance ROTs’

ability to fulfill their market making

responsibilities.

The proposed rule change is

consistent with Section 6 of the Act in

general, and in particular, with Section

6(b)(5), in that it is designed to promote

just and equitable principles of trade,

prevent fraudulent and manipulative

acts and practices, remove impediments

to and perfect the mechanism of a free

and open market and a national market

system, protect investors and the public

interest, as well as, prevent the unfair

discrimination among customers,

issuers, brokers or dealers. Furthermore,

the proposed rule change is designed to

be consistent with Section

11A(a)(1)(C)(ii) of the Act in that it will

promote fair competition among brokers

and dealers and markets other than

exchange markets.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The Phlx does not believe that the

proposed rule chance will impose any

inappropriate burden on competition.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants or Others.

Written comments were neither

solicited nor received.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

This proposed rule change has been

filed by the Exchange as a

‘‘noncontroversial’’ rule change

pursuant to paragraph (e)(6) of Rule

19b–4.12 Consequently, the rule change

shall become operative 30 days after the

date of filing, or such shorter time as the

Commission may designate, if the

change (1) does not significantly affect

the projection of investors of the public

interest and (2) does not impose any

significant burden on competition,

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

the Act 13 and subparagraph (e)(6) of

Rule 19b–4 thereunder.

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.

Because the foregoing proposed rule

change: (1) Does not significantly affect

the protection of investors or the public

interest; (2) does not impose any

significant burden on competition; and

(3) does not become operative for 30

days from November 28, 1997, the date

on which it was filed,14 it has become

effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)

of the Act and Rule 19b–4(e)(6)

thereunder.

At any time within 60 days of the

filing of the proposed rule change, the

Commission 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,
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 236 / Tuesday, December 9, 1997 / Notices 64905

15 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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 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, 450 Fifth Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20549. Copies of such

filing will also be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of the Phlx. All submissions

should refer to File No. SR–Phlx–97–50

and should be submitted by December

30, 1997.

For the Commission by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.15

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–32103 Filed 12–8–97; 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 February 9, 1998.

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: ‘‘SBIC Financial Reports.’’

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Form No: 468.

Description of Respondents: Small

Business Investment Companies.

Annual Responses: 305.

Annual Burden: 5,185.

Title: ‘‘Portfolio Financing Report.’’

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Form No: 1031.

Description of Respondents: Small

Business Investment Companies.

Annual Responses: 2,100.

Annual Burden: 420.

Comments: Send all comments

regarding these information collections

to Cathy Fields, Program Analyst, Office

of Investment Division, Small Business

Administration, 409 3rd Street, S.W.,

Suite 6300, Washington, D.C. 20416.

Phone No: 202–205–6512.

Send comments regarding whether

these information collections are

necessary for the proper performance of

the function of the agency, accuracy of

burden estimate, in addition to ways to

minimize these estimate, and ways to

enhance the quality.

Title: ‘‘Application Forms for the 8(A)

Program.’’

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Form No: 1010B-Prop., 1010B-Part.,

1010B-Corp.

Description of Respondents:

Economically and Socially

Disadvantaged Individuals.

Annual Responses: 1.

Annual Burden: 55,000.

Title: ‘‘Program Evaluation SBA 7 (A)

Loan Program.’’

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Form No: N/A.

Description of Respondents: 7(A)

Loan Applications.

Annual Responses: 1,700.

Annual Burden: 312.

Comments: Send all comments

regarding these information collections

to Arthur Collins, Assistant

Administrator, Office of Program

Development, Small Business

Administration, 409 3rd Street, S.W.,

Suite 8000, Washington, D.C. 20416.

Phone No: 202–205–6416.

Send comments regarding whether

these information collections are

necessary for the proper performance of

the function of the agency, accuracy of

burden estimate, in addition to ways to

minimize these estimate, and ways to

enhance the quality.

Dated: December 3, 1997.

Jacqueline White,

Chief, Administrative Information Branch.

[FR Doc. 97–32202 Filed 12–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

[Declaration of Disaster #2991]

State of Florida

Osceola County and the contiguous

Counties of Brevard, Highlands, Indian

River, Lake, Okeechobee, Orange, and

Polk in the State of Florida constitute a

disaster area as a result of damages

caused by a fire which occurred on

November 14, 1997 in the Highway 192

Flea Market in the City of Kissimmee.

Applications for loans for physical

damage as a result of this disaster may

be filed until the close of business on

January 26, 1998 and for economic

injury until the close of business on

August 26, 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:

For Physical Damage

Homeowners with credit available

elsewhere: 7.625%.

Homeowners without credit available

elsewhere 3.812%.

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 7.125%.

For Economic Injury

Businesses and small agricultural

cooperatives without credit available

elsewhere 4.000%.

The number assigned to this disaster

for physical damage is 299105 and for

economic injury the number is 967100.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program Nos. 59002 and 59008)

Dated: November 26, 1997.

Aida Alvarez,

Administrator.

[FR Doc. 97–32200 Filed 12–8–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P