59844 Federal Register / Vol. 65, No. 195 / Friday, October 6, 2000 / Notices

standing high bids from previous

rounds using the withdraw bid function.

A high bidder that withdraws its

standing high bid from a previous round

is subject to the bid withdrawal

payment provisions. We seek comment

on these bid removal and bid

withdrawal procedures.

27. In the Part 1 Third Report and

Order, 63 FR 770 (January 7, 1998), the

Commission explained that allowing bid

withdrawals facilitates efficient

aggregation of licenses and the pursuit

of efficient backup strategies as

information becomes available during

the course of an auction. The

Commission noted, however, that in

some instances bidders may seek to

withdraw bids for improper reasons,

including to delay the close of the

auction for strategic purposes. The

Bureau, therefore, has discretion, in

managing the auction, to limit the

number of withdrawals to prevent

strategic delay of the close of the

auction or other abuses. The

Commission stated that the Bureau

should assertively exercise its

discretion, consider limiting the number

of rounds in which bidders may

withdraw bids, and prevent bidders

from bidding on a particular market it

finds that a bidder is abusing the

Commission’s bid withdrawal

procedures.

28. Applying this reasoning, we

propose to limit each bidder in Auction

No. 37 to withdraw standing high bids

in no more than two rounds during the

course of the auction. To permit a

bidder to withdraw bids in more than

two rounds would likely encourage

insincere bidding or the use of

withdrawals for anti-competitive

strategic purposes. The two rounds in

which withdrawals are utilized will be

at the bidder’s discretion; withdrawals

otherwise must be in accordance with

the Commission’s rules. There is no

limit on the number of standing high

bids that may be withdrawn in either of

the rounds in which withdrawals are

utilized. Withdrawals will remain

subject to the bid withdrawal payment

provisions specified in the

Commission’s rules. We seek comment

on these proposals.

E. Stopping Rule

29. For Auction No. 37, the Bureau

proposes to employ a simultaneous

stopping rule approach. The Bureau has

discretion ‘‘to establish stopping rules

before or during multiple round

auctions in order to terminate the

auction within a reasonable time.’’ A

simultaneous stopping rule means that

all construction permits remain open

until the first round in which no new

acceptable bids, proactive waivers or

withdrawals are received. After the first

such round, bidding closes

simultaneously on all construction

permits. Thus, unless circumstances

dictate otherwise, bidding would

remain open on all construction permits

until bidding stops on every permit.

30. The Bureau seeks comment on a

modified version of the simultaneous

stopping rule. The modified stopping

rule would close the auction for all

construction permits after the first

round in which no bidder submits a

proactive waiver, a withdrawal, or a

new bid on any construction permit on

which it is not the standing high bidder.

Thus, absent any other bidding activity,

a bidder placing a new bid on a

construction permit for which it is the

standing high bidder would not keep

the auction open under this modified

stopping rule. The Bureau further seeks

comment on whether this modified

stopping rule should be utilized.

31. We propose that the Bureau

retains the discretion to keep an auction

open even if no new acceptable bids or

proactive waivers are submitted and no

previous high bids are withdrawn. In

this event, the effect will be the same as

if a bidder had submitted a proactive

waiver. The activity rule, therefore, will

apply as usual and a bidder with

insufficient activity will either lose

bidding eligibility or use a remaining

activity rule waiver.

32. Finally, we propose that the

Bureau reserve the right to declare that

the auction will end after a specified

number of additional rounds (‘‘special

stopping rule’’). If the Bureau invokes

this special stopping rule, they will

accept bids in the final round(s) only for

construction permits on which the high

bid increased in at least one of the

preceding specified number of rounds.

The Bureau proposes to exercise this

option only in certain circumstances,

such as, for example, where the auction

is proceeding very slowly, there is

minimal overall bidding activity, or it

appears likely that the auction will not

close within a reasonable period of time.

Before exercising this option, the

Bureau is likely to attempt to increase

the pace of the auction by, for example,

increasing the number of bidding

rounds per day, and/or increasing the

amount of the minimum bid increments

for the limited number of construction

permits where there is still a high level

of bidding activity. We seek comment

on these proposals.

Federal Communications Commission.

Margaret Wiener,

Deputy Chief, Auctions and Industry Analysis

Division.

[FR Doc. 00–25741 Filed 10–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6712–01–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Change in Bank Control Notices;

Acquisitions of Shares of Banks or

Bank Holding Companies

The notificants listed below have

applied under the Change in Bank

Control Act (12 U.S.C. 1817(j)) and

§ 225.41 of the Board’s Regulation Y (12

CFR 225.41) to acquire a bank or bank

holding company. The factors that are

considered in acting on the notices are

set forth in paragraph 7 of the Act (12

U.S.C. 1817(j)(7)).

The notices are available for

immediate inspection at the Federal

Reserve Bank indicated. The notices

also will be available for inspection at

the offices of the Board of Governors.

Interested persons may express their

views in writing to the Reserve Bank

indicated for that notice or to the offices

of the Board of Governors. Comments

must be received not later than October

20, 2000.

A. Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago

(Phillip Jackson, Applications Officer)

230 South LaSalle Street, Chicago,

Illinois 60690–1414:

1. John Mark DeCook, Pella, Iowa, and

Martin ‘‘Bruce’’ Heerema, Pella, Iowa;

each to retain voting shares of Vermeer

Investment Company, Pella, Iowa, and

thereby indirectly retain voting shares of

Marion County State Bank, Pella, Iowa.

2. Raymond James Schirmer, and

Robert Lawrence Foust, both of

Strawberry Point, Iowa; to acquire

additional voting shares of Munter

Agency, Inc., Strawberry Point, Iowa,

and thereby indirectly acquire

additional voting shares of Union Bank

and Trust Company, Strawberry Point,

Iowa.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve

System, October 2, 2000.

Robert deV. Frierson,

Associate Secretary of the Board.

[FR Doc. 00–25667 Filed 10–5–00; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6210–01–P

FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM

Formations of, Acquisitions by, and

Mergers of Bank Holding Companies

The companies listed in this notice

have applied to the Board for approval,

pursuant to the Bank Holding Company