Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 54 / Tuesday, March 20, 2012 / Notices 16311 

15 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3Pursuant to ISE Rule 100(37A), a Priority 

Customer is a person or entity that is not a broker 

or dealer in securities, and does not place more 

than 390 orders in listed options per day on average 

during a calendar month for its own beneficial 

account. 

4Pursuant to ISE Rule 1900(f) of the Distributive 

Linkage rules, a customer is an individual or 

organization that is not a broker-dealer. 

5See Securities and Exchange Act Release No. 

60791 (October 5, 2009), 74 FR 52521 (October 13, 

2009) (SR–ISE–2009–74). 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

should be approved or disapproved. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s Internet 

comment form (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File 

Number SR–NASDAQ–2012–036 on the 

subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 

20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–NASDAQ–2012–036. This 

file number should be included on the 

subject line if email is used. To help the 

Commission process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml). 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 Web site viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE., 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also 

will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. All comments received will 

be posted without change; the 

Commission does not edit personal 

identifying information from 

submissions. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. All submissions 

should refer to File Number SR– 

NASDAQ–2012–036 and should be 

submitted on or before April 10, 2012. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.15

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6616 Filed 3–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–66589; File No. SR–ISE– 

2012–13] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

International Securities Exchange, 

LLC; Notice of Filing and Immediate 

Effectiveness of Proposed Rule 

Change To Adopt a Route-Out Fee for 

Priority Customer Orders 

March 14, 2012. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Exchange Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 

thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that 

on February 29, 2012, the International 

Securities Exchange, LLC (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or the ‘‘ISE’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I and II 

below, which Items have been prepared 

by the Exchange. 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 ISE is proposing to adopt a fee 

related to the execution of Priority 

Customer orders subject to linkage 

handling. The text of the proposed rule 

change is available on the Exchange’s 

Web site (http://www.ise.com), at the 

principal office of the Exchange, and at 

the Commission’s Public Reference 

Room. 

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 purpose of this proposed rule 

change is to adopt a fee related to the 

execution of Priority Customer 3 orders 

subject to linkage handling. 

On August 31, 2009, the Exchange 

implemented the new Options Order 

Protection and Locked/Crossed Market 

Plan (‘‘Distributive Linkage’’) and the 

use of Intermarket Sweep Orders 

(‘‘ISOs’’). Consistent with Distributive 

Linkage and pursuant to ISE rules, the 

Exchange’s Primary Market Makers 

(‘‘PMMs’’) have an obligation to address 

customer 4 orders when there is a better 

market displayed on another exchange. 

ISE’s PMMs meet this obligation via the 

use of ISOs. In meeting their obligations, 

PMMs may incur fees when they send 

ISOs, especially when sending ISOs to 

exchanges that charge ‘‘taker’’ fees. To 

minimize the PMM’s financial burden 

and help offset such fees, the ISE 

amended its schedule of fees on October 

1, 2009 to adopt a rebate for the PMM 

of $0.20 per contract on all ISO orders 

sent to an away exchange (regardless of 

the fee charged by the exchange where 

the ISO order sent away was executed).5

With the costs associated with 

servicing Priority Customer orders that 

must be executed at another exchange 

coupled with the cost of funding the 

existing fee credit, the Exchange 

believes it is appropriate to charge a fee 

for these orders. Therefore, the 

Exchange now proposes to charge 

Priority Customer orders a fee of $0.25 

per contract for executions that result 

from the PMM routing ISOs to another 

exchange in a limited number of 

symbols. Specifically, the proposed fee 

will only be charged for Priority 

Customer orders that are routed to an 

away exchange in symbols that are 

subject to the Exchange’s modified 

maker/taker pricing model. These 

symbols, which currently number 101, 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
16312 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 54 / Tuesday, March 20, 2012 / Notices 

6See Securities and Exchange Act Release No. 

61855 (April 6, 2010), 75 FR 19441 (April 14, 2010) 

(SR–ISE–2010–26). 

7See NASDAQ OMX PHLX Fee Schedule, 

Section V. 

8 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii). 

are identified on the Exchange’s 

Schedule of Fees as Select Symbols. The 

proposed fee change will allow the 

Exchange to equitably assess reasonable 

fees incurred for processing such orders, 

and permit the Exchange to recoup 

administrative and other costs. Under 

this proposed rule change, Priority 

Customer orders that are routed out to 

another exchange will be charged $0.25 

per contract instead of the standard 

taker fee applicable to the Select 

Symbols. 

The Exchange notes that it currently 

has a similar fee and credit for Customer 

(Professional) orders. Specifically, the 

Exchange currently charges PMMs a fee 

of $0.45 per contract for executions of 

Customer (Professional) orders that are 

routed to one or more exchanges in 

connection with Distributive Linkage, 

and also provides PMMs with a credit 

equal to the fee charged by the 

destination exchange for such Customer 

(Professional) orders, but not more than 

$0.45 per contract.6 This routing fee and 

credit applies to all the symbols that are 

traded on the Exchange. 

The Exchange also proposes to make 

two clarifying changes to its Schedule of 

Fees related to ISO fees and credits 

previously adopted by the Exchange 

under SR–ISE–2009–74 and SR–ISE– 

2010–26. First, as noted above, the $0.20 

per contract fee credit adopted in SR– 

ISE–2009–74 applies to all the symbols 

that are traded on the Exchange, 

including the Select Symbols. The 

Exchange has been providing this credit 

to PMMs since the inception of the 

Exchange’s modified maker/taker 

pricing model. For the sake of clarity, 

the Exchange proposes to add language 

on page 20 of its Schedule of Fees that 

specifically references the credit, as 

follows: ‘‘Intermarket Sweep Order 

Credit for Priority Customer—A fee 

credit of $0.20 per contract applies to 

Primary Market Makers (PMM)—for 

classes in which it serves as a PMM— 

that send an Intermarket Sweep Order to 

other exchanges.’’ The proposed 

language is almost identical to the 

language that currently appears on page 

5 of the Exchange’s Schedule of Fees. 

Second, again, as noted above, the 

$0.45 per contract fee and credit 

adopted in SR–ISE–2010–26 currently 

applies to all the symbols that are traded 

on the Exchange, including the Select 

Symbols. And the Exchange has been 

charging this fee and providing a 

corresponding credit when PMMs 

address their obligations under 

Distributive Linkage and route these 

orders for executions to an away 

exchange. Again, for the sake of clarity, 

the Exchange proposes to add language 

on page 20 of its Schedule of Fees that 

specifically references both the fee and 

the credit, respectively, as follows: 

‘‘Intermarket Sweep Order Fee for 

Customer (Professional)—A fee of $0.45 

per contract applies to executions of 

orders from persons who are not broker/ 

dealers and who are not Priority 

Customers that are routed to one or 

more exchanges in connection with the 

Options Order Protection and Locked/ 

Crossed Market Plan’’ and ‘‘Intermarket 

Sweep Order Credit for Customer 

(Professional)—Primary Market Makers 

will receive a credit equal to the fee 

charged by a destination market, but not 

more than $0.45 per contract, for 

executing orders from persons who are 

not broker/dealers and who are not 

Priority Customers.’’ The proposed 

language for both the fee and the credit 

is identical to the language that 

currently appears on page 5 of the 

Exchange’s Schedule of Fees. 

The Exchange has designated this 

proposal to be operative on March 1, 

2012. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The basis under the Securities 

Exchange Act of 1934 (the ‘‘Exchange 

Act’’) for this proposed rule change is 

the requirement under Section 6(b)(4) 

that an exchange have an equitable 

allocation of reasonable dues, fees and 

other charges among its members and 

other persons using its facilities. In 

particular, the Exchange believes 

charging a route-out fee for Priority 

Customer orders is reasonable if doing 

so provides the Exchange the ability to 

recover the costs of funding a credit the 

Exchange provides to its PMMs, who, in 

the course of meeting their obligation, 

are incurring a financial burden. The 

Exchange further believes it is equitable 

and reasonable to assess the proposed 

fee to recoup costs associated with 

routing Priority Customer orders to 

away markets. The Exchange also 

believes that the proposed fees are 

equitable and not unfairly 

discriminatory because the fees would 

be uniformly applied to all Priority 

Customer orders. ISE notes that a 

number of other exchanges currently 

charge a variety of routing related fees 

associated with customer and noncustomer orders that are subject to 

linkage handling. The Exchange further 

notes that the fees proposed herein are 

substantially lower than the level of fees 

charged by some of the Exchange’s 

competitors.7

Further, the Exchange believes it is 

equitable, reasonable and not unfairly 

discriminatory to note on its Schedule 

of Fees, to provide clarity, that the fees 

and credits adopted in SR–ISE–2009–74 

and SR–ISE–2101–26 and which, as a 

result have already been established on 

the Exchange, are applicable to the 

Select Symbols. Since the Exchange has 

applied these fees and credits to all the 

symbols traded on the Exchange, 

including the Select Symbols, since the 

inception of these fees and credits, 

noting them on the Exchange’s Schedule 

of Fees will simply add more clarity to 

the Exchange’s Schedule of Fees and 

promote further transparency on the 

Exchange. 

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 

Exchange Act. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

The Exchange has not solicited, and 

does not intend to solicit, comments on 

this proposed rule change. The 

Exchange has not received any 

unsolicited written comments from 

members or other interested parties. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The foregoing rule change has become 

effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Exchange Act.8 At 

any time within 60 days of the filing of 

such proposed rule change, the 

Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend 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 Exchange Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

should be approved or disapproved. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed rule 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 54 / Tuesday, March 20, 2012 / Notices 16313 

9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

change is consistent with the Exchange 

Act. Comments may be submitted by 

any of the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s Internet 

comment form (http://www.sec.gov/

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– 

ISE–2012–13 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 

20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–ISE–2012–13. This file 

number should be included on the 

subject line if email is used. To help the 

Commission process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/

rules/sro.shtml). 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 Web site viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE., 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 10 

a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also 

will be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of the 

Exchange. All comments received will 

be posted without change; the 

Commission does not edit personal 

identifying information from 

submissions. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. All submissions 

should refer to File Number SR–ISE– 

2012–13 and should be submitted on or 

before April 10, 2012. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.9

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6614 Filed 3–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

Data Collection Available for Public 

Comments and Recommendations 

ACTION: 60-day 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: Submit comments on or before 

May 21, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Send all comments 

regarding whether this information 

collection is necessary for the proper 

performance of the function of the 

agency, whether the burden estimates 

are accurate, and if there are ways to 

minimize the estimated burden and 

enhance the quality of the collection, to 

Eric Eide, Innovation and Technology 

Analyst, Office of Technology, Small 

Business Administration, 409 3rd Street, 

6th Floor, Washington, DC 20416. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Eric 

Eide, Innovation and Technology, 

mailto:202-205- 

7507%20%20gail.hepler@sba.gov 202– 

205–7576 eric.eide@sba.gov Curtis B. 

Rich, Management Analyst, 202–205– 

7030 curtis.rich@sba.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

National Defense Reauthorization Act of 

2012 (Pub. L. 112–81, Section 5001) 

contains the SBIR/STTR 

Reauthorization Act of 2011 

(Reauthorization Act), which amends 

the Small Business Act. The legislation 

extends and broadens a requirement for 

the Small Business Administration 

(SBA) to maintain searchable, electronic 

databases that include pertinent 

information concerning each SBIR and 

STTR awards made through the 

programs. The legislation contains a 

new data reporting requirement from 

companies concerning their potential 

ownership by venture capital, hedge 

fund, and private equity firms. 

Additional data fields will be collected 

from applicants and awardees 

concerning applicant demographics and 

company information (such as number 

of employees, additional funding 

received). These new data reporting 

requirements supplement demographic 

and company information already 

collected from awardees (such as 

women or minority owned, award 

amount information, research abstract, 

Principal Investigator’s name, etc). The 

legislation differentiates between data 

that is available to the public and data 

that is available to the government only. 

SBA is required to collect this 

information and report on it annually to 

Congress. 

Title: ‘‘Small Business Innovation 

Research (SBIR) and Small Business 

Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. 

Individuals and small businesses may 

be applicants and awardees’’ 

Description of Respondents: 

Respondents include individuals, and 

small businesses, that are participating 

in the SBIR and STTR programs. 

Individuals and small businesses may 

be applicants and awardees. 

Form Number: N/A. 

Annual Responses: 13,500. 

Annual Burden: 38,500. 

Curtis B. Rich, 

Acting Chief, Administrative Information 

Branch. 

[FR Doc. 2012–6702 Filed 3–19–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[Disaster Declaration #13031 and #13032] 

North Carolina Disaster #NC–00043 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This is a notice of an 

Administrative declaration of a disaster 

for the State of North Carolina dated 03/ 

12/2012. 

Incident: Severe Storms and 

Tornadoes. 

Incident Period: 03/03/2012. 

Effective Date: 03/12/2012. 

Physical Loan Application Deadline 

Date: 05/11/2012. 

Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan 

Application Deadline Date: 12/12/2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan 

applications to: U.S. Small Business 

Administration, Processing and 

Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport 

Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. 

Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, 

U.S. Small Business Administration, 

409 3rd Street SW., Suite 6050, 

Washington, DC 20416. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is 

hereby given that as a result of the 

Administrator’s disaster declaration, 

applications for disaster loans may be 

filed at the address listed above or other 

locally announced locations. 

The following areas have been 

determined to be adversely affected by 

the disaster: 

Primary Counties: Cherokee. 

Contiguous Counties: 

North Carolina: Clay, Graham, Macon. 


srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES