6590 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 29 / Wednesday, February 12, 1997 / Notices

1 15 U.S.C. § 78s(b)(1).

2For purposes of this Rule, an ‘‘account’’ would

be deemed to be any account in which the same

person or persons is directly or indirectly

interested.

6. Before the termination of the

Existing Agreement, the board of the

Fund, including a majority of its

independent trustees, will have

approved the New Agreement as

required by Section 15(c) of the 1940

Act.

Conclusion

For the reasons set forth above,

Applicants submit that the exemptive

relief requested is necessary and

appropriate in the public interest, and

consistent with the protection of

investors and the purposes fairly

intended by the policy and provisions of

the 1940 Act.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Investment Management, pursuant to

delegated authority.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–3431 Filed 2–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[File No. 500–1]

Twenty First Century Health, Inc.;

Order of Suspension of Trading

February 10, 1997.

It appears to the Securities and

Exchange Commission that there is a

lack of adequate and accurate current

information concerning the securities of

Twenty First Century Health, Inc.

(‘‘TFCH’’), of Las Vegas, Nevada.

Questions have been raised about

publicly-disseminated information

concerning, among other things: (1)

TFCH’s financial condition; (2) the

existence, effectiveness, and

marketability of a medical device for

testing blood sugar purportedly licensed

by TFCH; (3) the size of the market for

that device; and (4) the ownership,

value, and business of certain

companies purportedly acquired by

TFCH.

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 9:00 a.m. EST, February 10,

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

February 24, 1997.

By the Commission.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–3625 Filed 2–10–97; 12:46 pm]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–38243; File No. SR–Amex–

97–02]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

American Stock Exchange, Inc.,

Relating to Amendments to Rules 103

and 950 Regarding Intra-day Trading

February 5, 1997.

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

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

January 22, 1997, the American Stock

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Amex’’ 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 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

Amex proposes to amend Exchange

Rules 103 and 950 regarding new intraday trading provisions. The text of the

proposed rule 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 the

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

1. Purpose

Under Rule 103(c), an Amex Floor

member, with certain exceptions, may

not exercise discretion with respect to

the choice of security to be bought or

sold, the total amount of the security to

be bought or sold, or whether the

transaction shall be a purchase or sale.

Currently, there are no provisions in

Rule 103(c), or otherwise, specifically

governing the practice of intra-day

trading. The term ‘‘intra-day trading’’

refers to the practice whereby a

customer places orders on both sides of

the market and attempts to profit by

buying at the bid and selling at the offer.

The Exchange proposes to amend

Rule 103 to add new intra-day trading

provisions. These provisions will apply

only when a Floor member

simultaneously represents, for the same

customer’s account,2 market or limit

orders on both sides of a minimum

variation market. Under the proposal, if

a Floor member acquires a position on

behalf of an intra-day trader’s account,

Rule 103(c)(2) will place certain

restrictions on how the member can

liquidate or cover that position during

the same trading session. Specifically,

the member will be required to obtain

a new liquidating order (i.e., one

entered subsequent to the acquisition of

the contra-side position) from his or her

customer. The new order must be timerecorded both upstairs and upon receipt

on the Trading Floor.

Proposed Rule 103(c)(3) will

thereafter require that the Floor member

must execute the liquidating order

entered pursuant to Rule 103(c)(2)

before he or she can execute any other

order for the same account on the same

side of the market as that liquidating

order. Pursuant to proposed

Commentary .01 to Rule 103, the

provisions of Rule 103(c) (2) and (3) will

not apply, however, to the execution of:

an order to liquidate or cover a position

carried over from a previous trading

session; a position assumed as part of a

strategy relating to bona fide arbitrage;

or a position assumed in reliance on the

exemption for block positioners.

Proposed Commentary .02 to Rule 103

sets forth examples of how the

provisions of Rule 103(c) (2) and (3) will

operate, while proposed Commentary

.03 to Rule 103 details the types of

orders that a Floor member may handle

simultaneously, without violating rule

103’s prohibition against a member

choosing whether a transaction will be

a purchase or sale.

These new changes are intended to

address trading situations where a Floor

member, representing at the same time

buy and sell orders at the minimum

variation for the same customer, may be

perceived as having a time and place

advantage over other market

participants in that he or she may be

able to trade for the same customer

without leaving the Trading Crowd. By

requiring the entry of a new liquidating
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 29 / Wednesday, February 12, 1997 / Notices 6591

3 15 U.S.C. § 78f(b).

4 15 U.S.C. § 78f(b)(5).

5 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4

3Securities Exchange Act Release No. 37924

(Nov. 6, 1996), 61 FR 58270.

4Letter from Claudia Crowley, Special Counsel,

Amex, to Michael Walinskas, Senior Special

Counsel, Division of Market Regulation, SEC, dated

January 31, 1997.

order, these amendments should

minimize any such perceived

advantage. It should be noted that the

proposed changes will not apply to

options trading, and Rule 950 will be

amended accordingly. In addition, the

proposed changes also will not apply to

system orders.

2. Statutory Basis

The proposed rule change is

consistent with Section 6(b) 3 of the Act

in general and furthers the objectives of

Section 6(b)(5) 4 in particular in that the

rules are designed to promote just and

equitable principles of trade, remove

impediments to and perfect the

mechanism of a free and open market

and, in general, to protect investors and

the public interest.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The proposed rule change will impose

no 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. 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 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 File No. SR–Amex–97–

02 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.5

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–3428 Filed 2–11–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–38238; File No. SR–AMEX–

96–39]

Self-Regulatory Organizations;

American Stock Exchange, Inc.; Order

Granting Approval to Proposed Rule

Change Relating to Various Updates to

Amex Trading Rules and Company

Guide Section 402.

February 4, 1997.

On October 16, 1996, the American

Stock Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Amex’’ or

‘‘Exchange’’) submitted to the Securities

and Exchange Commission

(‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section

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

of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4

thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to

incorporate various minor updates and

clarifications into the Exchange’s rules

and Company Guide.

The proposed rule change was

published for comment in the Federal

Register on November 13, 1996.3 No

comments were received on the

proposal. Subsequently, the Exchange

clarified its rationale for the

modification of Amex Rule 126, which

governs order precedence.4 This order

approves the proposal.

The Exchange proposed that the

following minor housekeeping changes

be made:

A. Rule 135—delete the reference to

sales sheets published by ‘‘Francis

Emory Fitch, Inc.’’ because the

Exchange no longer utilizes this

company’s service.

B. Rule 152—delete the reference to

Rule 570 because Rule 570 was

rescinded.

C. Rule 340—change the reference to

the Exchange’s ‘‘Market Operations

Division’’ to the ‘‘Exchange.’’

D. Rule 171—remove the prohibition

against specialist units of less than three

natural persons to conform with a

comparable NYSE provision.

E. Rule 904—change the reference to

the Exchange’s ‘‘Membership

Compliance Division’’ to the

‘‘Exchange.’’

F. Rule 950—delete Rule 170 from the

list of rules that are applicable in their

entirety to option transactions because

all of that rule’s commentary is not

applicable (paragraph (n) of Rule 950

already specifies which portions of Rule

170 are applicable).

G. Section 402 of the Company

Guide—add Bloomberg Business News

to the list of approved services for

disclosure of material information.

In addition, the Exchange proposed a

change to Amex Rule 126, which

provides generally that the highest bid

and lowest offer have priority in

execution. When bids or offers are made

at the same price, priority is determined

by the time order in which they were

placed. If bids and offers are made

simultaneously at the same price, they

are on parity and, as such, are entitled

to share equally in an execution at the

specified price. Amex Rule 108, which

governs parity and priority at openings,

contains similar provisions. In addition,

Amex Rule 108 grants a specialist’s

agency limit orders a preference over

other orders on parity whenever there is

a substantial accumulation of orders on

the book at a limit price equal to the

proposed opening price. Under these

circumstances, the specialist is entitled

to execute its agency limit orders at the

following percentages: 60% when there

is one broker on parity, 40% when there

are 2–5 brokers on parity, and 30%

when there are 6 or more brokers on

parity.

The Exchange believes that

procedures similar to those contained in

Amex Rule 108 should be utilized

throughout the trading day. Thus, under

the current proposal, when a specialist

has a substantial accumulation of

agency orders on its book and there are

also floor brokers in the trading crowd

that are on parity with those orders, the

specialist’s orders would be entitled to

the same percentage of shares of the

contra side order as is currently

provided for in Amex Rule 108. The

Exchange believes that keying the