Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 71 / Thursday, April 12, 2012 / Notices 22019 

14 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

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–2012–048 and should be 

submitted on or before May 3, 2012. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.14

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8838 Filed 4–11–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–66766; File No. SR–ICC– 

2012–05] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; ICE 

Clear Credit LLC; Notice of Filing of 

Proposed Rule Change to Membership 

Qualifications 

April 6, 2012. 

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 April 3, 

2012, ICE Clear Credit LLC (‘‘ICC’’) filed 

with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I, II, and III below, which Items 

have been prepared primarily by ICC. 

The Commission is publishing this 

notice to solicit comments on the 

proposed rule change from interested 

persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of Terms of Substance of the 

Proposed Rule Change 

The purpose of proposed rule change 

is to conform the ICC membership 

qualifications to be in compliance with 

Commodity Futures Trading 

Commission (‘‘CFTC’’) Regulations 

39.12(a)(2)(ii) and 39.12(a)(2)(iii) no 

later than the May 7, 2012 effective date 

of CFTC Regulations 39.12(a)(2)(ii) and 

39.12(a)(2)(iii). ICC believes these 

changes are also consistent with 

Commission Proposed Rule 17Ad– 

22(b)(7). 

As discussed in more detail in Item 

II(A) below, the changes to Chapters 1 

and 2 of the ICC Rules provide for 

amendments to the membership 

qualifications of ICC and related 

definitions. 

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of Purpose of, and Statutory 

Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 

In its filing with the Commission, ICC 

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. ICC has prepared 

summaries, set forth in sections (A), (B), 

and (C) below, of the most significant 

aspects of these statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of Purpose of, and Statutory 

Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 

CFTC Regulation 39.12(a)(2)(ii) 

provides that ‘‘the participant 

requirements shall set forth capital 

requirements that are based on 

objective, transparent, and commonly 

accepted standards that appropriately 

match capital to risk. Capital 

requirements shall be scalable to the 

risks posed by clearing members.’’ 

Accordingly, ICC revised Rule 209 

(Risk-Based Capital Requirement) to 

provide that if at any time and for so 

long as a Clearing Participant has a 

required contribution to the ICC General 

Guaranty Fund that exceeds 25% of its 

‘‘excess net capital,’’ ICC may (in 

addition to imposing the trading activity 

limitations provided for in ICC Rule 

203(b)) require such Clearing Participant 

to prepay and maintain with ICE Clear 

Credit an amount up to the Clearing 

Participant’s assessment obligation. ICC 

Rule 102, the definitional section of the 

Rules, has been amended to define 

‘‘excess net capital’’ as the amount 

reported on Form 1–FR–FCM or FOCUS 

Report or as otherwise reported to the 

CFTC under CFTC Rule 1.12. For a 

Participant that is not an FCM or a 

Broker-Dealer, there is no standard 

equivalent to ‘‘excess net capital’’ which 

can be utilized across all types of 

Clearing Participant entities. Therefore, 

Rule 102 places the burden on the 

Clearing Participant to demonstrate that 

its capital exceeds the capital 

requirement that would be applicable to 

it if it were an FCM, as determined 

pursuant to a methodology acceptable to 

ICC. 

CFTC Regulation 39.12(a)(2)(iii) 

provides that ‘‘a derivatives clearing 

organization shall not set a minimum 

capital requirement of more than $50 

million for any person that seeks to 

become a clearing member in order to 

clear swaps’’. [Emphasis added.] 

Accordingly, ICC revised Rule 

201(b)(ii) incorporates the CFTC 

mandated $50,000,000 minimum 

adjusted net capital requirement for all 

ICC Clearing Participants. For a 

Participant that is not an FCM or a 

Broker-Dealer, there is no standard 

equivalent to ‘‘adjusted net capital’’ 

which can be utilized across all types of 

Clearing Participant entities. Therefore, 

Rule 201(b)(ii)(C) places the burden on 

the Clearing Participant to demonstrate 

that its capital exceeds the capital 

requirement that would be applicable to 

it if it were an FCM, as determined 

pursuant to a methodology acceptable to 

ICC. 

In addition, in order to promote 

compliance with the capital adequacy 

requirements, Rule 201(b)(i) has been 

amended to provide that a Clearing 

Participant must be regulated for capital 

adequacy by a competent authority such 

as the CFTC, SEC, Federal Reserve 

Board, Office of the Comptroller of the 

Currency, U.K. Financial Services 

Authority or any other regulatory body 

ICC designates from time to time for this 

purpose, or is an affiliate of an entity 

that satisfies the capital adequacy 

regulatory requirement and is subject to 

consolidated holding company group 

supervision. 

The Board of Managers approved the 

above amendments on March 22, 2012 

after receiving recommendations to 

approve from the ICE Clear Credit Risk 

Committee on March 21, 2012, and the 

ICE Clear Credit Risk Management 

Subcommittee on March 7, 2012. 

However, the ICE Clear Credit Board, 

Risk Committee and Risk Management 

Subcommittee expressed concern with 

respect the Amended Rules relating to 

Commission Proposed Rule 17Ad– 

22(b)(7) and CFTC Regulation 

39.12(a)(2)(iii) and only recommended 

approval or approved the same in order 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

22020 Federal Register / Vol. 77, No. 71 / Thursday, April 12, 2012 / Notices 

3 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3The term ‘‘System’’ is defined in EDGA Rule 

1.5(cc). 

for ICC to be in compliance with the 

law. The ICE Clear Credit Board, Risk 

Committee and Risk Management 

Subcommittee discussed with concern 

the extreme reduction in the minimum 

capital requirement from the current 

ICC requirement of $5,000,000,000 for 

non-FCM or Broker Dealer Clearing 

Participants to the minimum capital 

requirement of $50,000,000 mandated 

by CFTC Regulation 39.12(a)(2)(iii) and 

proposed in Commission Rule 17Ad– 

22(b)(7). 

Similarly, the ICE Clear Credit Board, 

Risk Committee and Risk Management 

Subcommittee discussed the very 

significant reduction in the minimum 

capital requirement initially established 

by ICC for its FCM or Broker Dealer 

Clearing Participants of $500,000,000 

(subsequently reduced to $100,000,000) 

to the minimum capital requirement of 

$50,000,000 mandated by CFTC 

Regulation 39.12(a)(2)(iii) and proposed 

in Commission Rule 17Ad–22(b)(7). The 

concerns raised by the ICE Clear Credit 

Board, Risk Committee, and Risk 

Management Subcommittee are 

mitigated in part by the Risk-Based 

Capital Requirement ICC is proposing. 

ICC believes that the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the 

requirements of Section 17A of the Act 

and the rules and regulations 

thereunder applicable to it. ICC believes 

that the proposed membership 

requirements will comply with the Act 

and the rules and regulations 

thereunder. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

ICC does not believe that the 

proposed rule change would impose any 

burden on competition. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

Written comments relating to the 

proposed rule change have not been 

solicited or received. ICC will notify the 

Commission of any written comments 

received by ICC. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

Within 45 days of the date of 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register or within such longer period 

up to 90 days (i) as the Commission may 

designate 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 or disapprove 

the 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, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

• Electronic comments may be 

submitted by using 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 No. SR–ICC–2012– 

05 on the subject line. 

• Paper comments should be sent 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–ICC–2012–05. 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 such filings 

will also be available for inspection and 

copying at the principal office of ICE 

Clear Credit and on ICE Clear Credit’s 

Web site at https://www.theice.com/ 

publicdocs/regulatory_filings/ 

032812_SEC_ICEClearCredit.pdf. 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–ICC–2012–05 and should 

be submitted on or before May 3, 2012. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.3

Kevin M. O’Neill, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2012–8790 Filed 4–11–12; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–66764; File No. SR–EDGA– 

2012–14] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGA 

Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change Relating to New EDGA 

Rule 11.22 Requiring Members To 

Input Accurate Information Into the 

System 

April 6, 2012. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on April 2, 

2012, EDGA Exchange, Inc. (the 

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

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I, II, and 

III 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 Exchange proposes to adopt new 

EDGA Rule 11.22 to require Members to 

input accurate information into the 

System,3 including, but not limited to, 

identifying each order accurately as a 

principal, agency, or riskless principal 

order. The text of the proposed rule 

change is available on the Exchange’s 

Web site at www.directedge.com, at the 

Exchange’s principal office, and at the 

Public Reference Room of 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 

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 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES