7080 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 31 / Friday, February 14, 1997 / Notices

1The consulting services may include, but are not

limited to: preventative maintenance inspections of

customers’ energy facilities and energy-consuming

equipment, grounding of electrical systems, and

lightning protection. AYP or MARKETCO may also

provide diagnostic services and recommend and

perform power quality solutions.

2Such devices would include uninterruptible

power supplies, power monitoring equipment,

surge protection equipment designed to protect

electrical components, communication equipment,

satellite dishes and other electrical equipment from

damage due to transient overvoltage/undervoltage

conditions in their electric supply.

as surety on bonds, indebtedness and

performance and other obligations

issued or undertaken by AYP, the

NEWCOs or the Project NEWCOs

subject to the $100 million investment

authority.

By order dated October 9, 1996

(HCAR No. 26590) APS and AYP were

allowed to increase the limit on loans

and guarantees from $100 million to

$300 million for all authorized

activities.

The applicants now request

Commission authorization, through

December 31, 1999 unless further

Commission approval is no longer

required, or the Commission has

approved the continuation of the

activities pursuant to a new application,

for AYP to acquire one or more

subsidiaries (‘‘MARKETCOS’’).

Applicants further propose AYP be

authorized, directly or indirectly

through MARKETCOS, to market and

sell to industrial, commercial and

residential customers located within the

United States, appliance and equipment

repair warranties, service plans, or other

maintenance agreements, covering

heating and air conditioning systems

and other major appliances.

The applicants state that AYP or the

MARKETCO may contract with a third

party or parties to provide some support

services such as underwriting, handling

service claims, marketing, billing and/or

cash processing.

The applicants state that they expect

the appliance service operation to be

largely self-supporting, and estimate

that the program will result in gross

sales revenue of about $700,000 in the

first year which will rise steadily to

approximately $2.5 million at the end of

the fifth year.

Applicants also propose that AYP

and/or MARKETCOS, through

December 31, 1999, unless further

Commission approval is no longer

required, or the Commission has

approved the continuation of the

activities pursuant to a new application,

engage in consulting for,1 marketing,

selling, leasing, financing, and

acquisition and installation of power

quality devices to customers within the

United States.2

AYP or MARKETCO would sell or

lease the power quality equipment/

services to customers and may make

loans to customers to finance the

purchase. Loans would be evidenced by

promissory notes, the term of which

shall not exceed the expected useful life

of the equipment. Such secured and

unsecured loans would be at market

interest rates and on market terms and

conditions. The aggregate amount of

equipment financing outstanding at any

one time under Applicants’ power

quality program will not exceed $4

million.

Applicants estimate that the program

will result in gross sales revenue of

about $560,000 in the first year and this

will rise steadily to about $2.6 million

at the end of the fifth year.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Investment Management, pursuant to

delegated authority.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–3702 Filed 2–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–38261; File No. SR–CBOE–

97–06]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness

of Proposed Rule Change by the

Chicago Board Options Exchange,

Inc., Relating to Enhancements to the

CBOE’s Order Routing System

February 10, 1997.

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’), 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1), notice is

hereby given that on February 5, 1997,

the Chicago Board Options Exchange,

Inc. (‘‘CBOE’’ 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

The CBOE is adopting certain

enhancements to the Exchange’s

electronic Order Routing System

(‘‘ORS’’) on a pilot basis until May 30,

1997, while the Exchange evaluates the

changes and determines whether to

implement them on a permanent basis.

The enhancements, which will be

described in an Information Circular to

CBOE members, include the following:

(1) Allowing the electronic routing and

processing of contingency and

discretionary orders; (2) allowing ORS

to recognize firm and broker-dealer

orders; (3) allowing the routing of firm

and broker-dealer orders to the Public

Automated Routing (‘‘PAR’’) System

workstations in the Standard & Poor’s

100 Index (‘‘OEX’’) crowd; and (4)

allowing the execution of certain

contingency orders on the CBOE’s Retail

Automated Execution System (‘‘RAES’’).

The text of the proposed rule change

is available at the Office of the

Secretary, 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

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

The CBOE is adopting an Information

Circular that describes certain

enhancements to ORS. These changes

will be implemented on a pilot basis

while the Exchange evaluates the

changes and determines whether to

implement them on a permanent basis.

The pilot will expire on May 30, 1997.

In the meantime, the Exchange will

decide whether to seek permanent

approval for the changes.

The information circular that will be

distributed to the membership of the

Exchange will describe certain

enhancements to ORS and certain

limitations that will continue to apply

to the use of ORS. Specifically, the

changes will allow the electronic

routing and processing of contingency

and discretionary orders, the

recognition by ORS of firm and brokerdealer orders, the routing of firm and

broker-dealer orders to the PAR System

workstations in the OEX crowd, and the

execution of certain contingency orders

on RAES, as further explained below.

ORS provides member and

correspondent firms with a method of

efficiently delivering orders to and

reports from the CBOE trading floor.
Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 31 / Friday, February 14, 1997 / Notices 7081

1Orders that are phoned to the floor or wired to

firm-owned house printers can also be re-entered

into ORS by the firm’s booth staff.

ORS also interfaces with several other

peripheral systems at CBOE, including

the CBOE Trade Match system, the

Time-and-Sales system, the Auto-Quote

system, and the market maker handheld terminals. Member firms with

wires attached to the CBOE’s front-end

computer can send orders electronically

from their branches or order desk to

ORS. Reports for such orders are sent

back electronically to the point from

which the order was entered.

Currently, non-contingency and nonbroker-dealer orders received by ORS

are logged to the ORS database and

evaluated, based on volume and price,

to determine their routing destination

on the CBOE floor. There are four

possible destinations for an ORS order:

(1) RAES; (2) the Electronic Book

(‘‘EBOOK’’); (3) the PAR System and

floor broker routing; and (4) a firm’s

booth.

RAES automatically and

instantaneously executes customer

market and marketable limit orders for

eligible series, generally for orders of up

to ten contracts. The EBOOK receives

pre-open market and limit orders.

Generally, intra-day limit orders at least

one tick away from the same-side

market quote are also sent to EBOOK.

Market orders not eligible for automatic

execution by RAES, and limit orders

‘‘near’’ the market quote may be floor

broker routed to the trading crowd.

Such orders are delivered either to

printers or to PAR electronic touchscreen workstations at the trading post.

Orders not eligible for RAES, EBOOK, or

floor broker routing are printed on ORS

printers in the member firm booths.

These orders are then either run out to

the trading crowds or electronically rerouted via the CBOE’s Booth Entry and

Routing System (‘‘BERS’’) from booth

terminals to EBOOK by the firm staff.1

Currently, all contingency orders,

complex orders (such as spreads), and

non-customer orders sent over the ORS

wires are delivered to ORS printers in

the firm booths. Approximately 70% of

customer orders at CBOE are entered

through ORS.

The Exchange has recently completed

a systems enhancement to ORS, as a

result of which it will now be possible

to electronically route and process

contingency and discretionary orders

and to accept firm and broker-dealer

orders as valid origin types. The systems

enhancements specifically will allow for

the routing of the following types of

contingency and discretionary orders:

All or None orders (‘‘AON’’), Immediate

or Cancel orders (‘‘IOC’’), Fill or Kill

order (‘‘FOK’’), Minimum Quantity

orders (‘‘MIN’’), Stop orders (‘‘STP’’),

Stop Loss orders (‘‘STP LOSS’’),

Opening Only orders (‘‘OPG’’), Market

on Close orders (‘‘MOC’’), Closing Only

orders ‘‘CLO’’), Market if Touched

orders (‘‘MIT’’), Not Held orders (‘‘NH’’),

and With Discretion orders. Due to

systems and administrative limitations,

ORS will continue to be unavailable for

stop limit orders as well as spreads,

straddles, combos, and other multi-part

orders.

There will be a number of practical

results from these systems

enhancements for customers, brokers,

and the Exchange. As a result of these

changes, customer orders that are

otherwise RAES-eligible market and

marketable limit orders tagged with

AON, IOC, FOK, or MIN now will be

executed on RAES. For MIN orders, the

total order quantity must be within the

RAES volume. The system

enhancements will also have the effect

of improving the efficiency of reporting

and the accuracy of audit trails for firm

and broker-dealer orders because these

orders will now have an ORS-id. In

addition, the Exchange will enable the

system to actually route firm and

broker-dealer orders electronically to

the PAR workstations in OEX. After the

Exchange gains experience with routing

firm and broker-dealer orders to the

PAR workstations in OEX, it may

determine to enable the system to route

such orders to equity and Standard &

Poor’s 500 Index (‘‘SPX’’) crowds at

some future date.

The Exchange expects the system

enhancements to provide for more

efficient processing of trades because

they will allow for electronic fill and

cancel reporting to the originating

customer destination. In addition, the

fill reports will automatically generate

an electronic trade match entry. The

systems enhancements will also provide

parameter controls so that different

order types can be selectively crowd

routed at the member firm’s option. This

flexibility will allow the member firms

to employ ORS in the method that each

firm believes is the most efficient. The

flexibility also allows the firms to

change the routing depending upon the

market circumstances.

Because the system enhancements to

ORS will allow the electronic

processing and routing of a greater

number of order types and because the

enhancements will provide greater

flexibility for member firms in the

routing of their orders, the Exchange

believes this rule change is consistent

with and furthers the objectives of

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

of Section 6(b)(5), in particular, in that

it will foster cooperation and

coordination with persons engaged in

regulating, clearing, settling, and

processing information with respect to,

and facilitating transactions in

securities, and will remove

impediments to and perfect the

mechanism of a free and open market in

a manner consistent with the protection

of 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 either

solicited or received with respect to the

proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

Because the foregoing rule change

effects a change in an existing orderentry system of the Exchange that: (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 have the effect of limiting

access to or availability of the system, it

has become effective on a pilot basis

until may 30, 1997, pursuant to Section

19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and Rule 19b–

4(e)(5) 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.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views and

arguments concerning the foregoing.

Persons making written submission

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
7082 Federal Register / Vol. 62, No. 31 / Friday, February 14, 1997 / Notices

2 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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. Copies of such filing

will also be available for inspection and

copying at the principal office of the

above-mentioned self-regulatory

organization. All submissions should

refer to the file number in the caption

above and should be submitted by

March 7, 1997.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.2

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97–3789 Filed 2–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES

TRADE REPRESENTATIVE

Request for Public Comments on U.S.

Positions in Negotiations on the

People’s Republic of China’s

Accession to the World Trade

Organization

AGENCY: Office of the United States

Trade Representative.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

SUMMARY: The Trade Policy Staff

Committee (TPSC) is requesting

additional written comments from the

public with respect to issues arising in

the context of negotiations on the terms

and conditions of the People’s Republic

of China’s (China) accession to the

World Trade Organization (WTO). In

particular, the TPSC is seeking

information on market access issues,

including tariffs, non-tariff measures,

services, access for agricultural

products, subsidies and investment

policies, and protection of intellectual

property rights. The Executive Branch

will consider the written comments

received in developing and refining U.S.

positions and objectives in China’s

accession negotiations.

EFFECTIVE DATE: Written comments must

be received no later than noon, March

14, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Martha Cheng, Director for China, 202–

395–5050, or Catherine Field, Senior

Counsel for Multilateral Affairs, 202–

395–3432, Office of the United States

Trade Representative, 600 17th Street,

NW., Washington, DC 20508.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The

Chairman of the TPSC invites written

comments from the public on issues to

be addressed in the context of

negotiations on China’s accession to the

WTO. Although the TPSC requested and

received comments from the public in

July 1994 and August 1988 on China’s

accession to GATT 1947, the need to

obtain more current views and advice

on a broad range of issues prompted this

request. Specifically, the TPSC is

seeking written comments on the full

range of issues in China’s accession

process including: (1) Market access

issues related to industrial goods,

agriculture, and services (including

financial and telecommunications

services), such as tariff rates, trading

rights, standards, sanitary and

phytosanitary measures, import

licensing, customs valuation, state

trading and trade-related investment

measures; (2) non-tariff measures

affecting U.S. imports such as licenses,

quotas, registration requirements or

other measures; (3) China’s application

of WTO ‘‘rules’’ and disciples, such as

transparency, judicial review, uniform

application of its trade rules,

compliance with subsidies and

antidumping rules, (4) safeguards and

(5) protection of intellectual property

rights.

All comments will be considered in

developing the U.S. position and

objectives. Information on products or

practices subject to these negotiations

should include, whenever appropriate,

the import or export tariff classification

number used by China for the product

concerned.

Written Comments From the Public:

Requirements for Submission

Interested persons are invited to

submit written comments concerning

the issues identified in this notice.

Comments must be filed in accordance

with the requirements set forth in 15

CFR 2006.8(b) (55 FR 20593) and must

be filed on or before noon on Friday,

March 14, 1997. Comments must be in

English and provided in twenty copies

to: Gloria Blue, Room 501, Office of the

U.S. Trade Representative, 600 17th

Street NW., Washington DC 20508. If

the comments contains business

confidential information and a party is

requesting an exemption from

disclosure, each page containing such

information should be clearly marked

‘‘BUSINESS CONFIDENTIAL,’’ in a

contrasting color ink at the top of each

page, and 20 copies of a nonconfidential summary of the

confidential information and a cover

letter requesting and justifying such

treatment submitted. The version that

does not contain business confidential

information (the public version) should

be clearly marked at the top and bottom

of each page (public version or

nonconfidential). This version and the

nonconfidential summary shall be

available for public inspection by

appointment, in the USTR Reading

Room, 600 17th Street, NW., Room 101,

Washington, DC, Monday through

Friday, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon and

1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Frederick L. Montgomery,

Chairman, Trade Policy Staff Committee.

[FR Doc. 97–3759 Filed 2–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3190–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

[Docket 37554]

Notice of Order Adjusting the Standard

Foreign Fare Level Index

Section 41509(e) of Title 49 of the

United States Code requires that the

Department, as successor to the Civil

Aeronautics Board, establish a Standard

Foreign Fare Level (SFFL) by adjusting

the SFFL base periodically by

percentage changes in actual operating

costs per available seat-mile (ASM).

Order 80–2–69 established the first

interim SFFL, and Order 96–12–14

established the currently effective twomonth SFFL applicable through January

31, 1997.

In establishing the SFFL for the twomonth period beginning February 1,

1997, we have projected non-fuel costs

based on the year ended September 30,

1996 data, and have determined fuel

prices on the basis of the latest available

experienced monthly fuel cost levels as

reported to the Department.

By Order 97–2–6 fares may be

increased by the following adjustment

factors over the October 1979 level:

Atlantic—1.5555

Latin America—1.5851

Pacific—1.5971

For Further Information Contract:

Keith A. Shangraw (202) 366–2439.

By the Department of Transportation.

Dated: February 10, 1997.

Patrick V. Murphy,

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Aviation and

International Affairs.

[FR Doc. 97–3757 Filed 2–13–97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–62–M

Federal Aviation Administration

Notice of Passenger Facility Charge

(PFC) Approvals and Disapprovals

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.