Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 91 /Tuesday, May 12, 1998 / Notices 26231

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

10. The Participants, at least annually,

will submit to the Board of each Trust

such reports, materials, or data as a

Board reasonably may request so that

the trustees of the Board may fully carry

out the obligations imposed upon a

Board by the conditions contained in

the application, and said reports,

materials, and data will be submitted

more frequently if deemed appropriate

by a Board. The obligations of the

Participants to provide these reports,

materials, and data to a Board, when it

so reasonably requests, will be a

contractual obligation of all Participants

under their agreements governing

participation in the Portfolios.

11. All reports of potential or existing

conflicts received by a Board, and all

Board action with regard to determining

the existence of a conflict, notifying

Participants of a conflict, and

determining whether any proposed

action adequately remedies a conflict,

will be properly recorded in the minutes

of the relevant Board or other

appropriate records, and such minutes

or other records shall be made available

to the Commission upon request.

12. The Trusts will not accept a

purchase order from a Qualified Plan if

such purchase would make the Plan

shareholder an owner of 10 percent or

more of the assets of such Portfolio

unless such Plan executes an agreement

with the relevant Trust governing

participation in such Portfolio. A Plan

will execute an application containing

an acknowledgment of this condition at

the time of its initial purchase of shared

of any Portfolio.

Conclusion

For the reasons summarized above,

Applicants assert that the requested

exemptions are 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. 98–12555 Filed 5–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[File No. 81–926]

Application and Opportunity for

Hearing: Summit Properties Inc.

May 6, 1998.

Notice is hereby given that Summit

Properties Inc. (‘‘Applicant’’) has filed

an application pursuant to Section 12(h)

of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,

as amended (the ‘‘Exchange Act’’) for an

order exempting applicant from the

provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange

Act with respect to its ownership of and

transactions in units of limited

partnership interest of Summit

Properties Partnership, L.P.

For a detailed statement of the

information presented, all persons are

referred to this application, which is on

file at the office of the Commission in

the Public Reference Room 450 Fifth

Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549.

Notice is also given that any

interested person not later than June 1,

1998 may submit to the Commission in

writing its views or any substantial facts

bearing on the application, or the

desirability of a hearing thereon. Any

such communication or request should

be addressed to: Secretary, Securities

and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth

Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549,

and should state briefly the nature of the

interest of the person submitting such

information or requesting the hearing,

the reason for such a request, and the

issues of fact and law raised by the

application which it wishes to contest.

Persons who request a hearing or

advice as to whether a hearing is

ordered will receive any notices and

orders issued in this matter, including

the date of the hearing (if ordered) and

any postponements thereof. At any time

after the date, an order granting

application may be issued upon request

or upon the Commission’s own motion.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Corporation Finance, pursuant to delegated

authority.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–12559 Filed 5–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

Sunshine Act Meeting

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to

the provisions of the Government in the

Sunshine Act, Pub. L. 94–409, that the

Securities and Exchange Commission

will hold the following meeting during

the week of May 11, 1998.

A closed meeting will be held on

Thursday, May 14, 1998, at 10:00 a.m.

Commissioners, Counsel to the

Commissioners, the Secretary to the

Commission, and recording secretaries

will attend the closed meeting. Certain

staff members who have an interest in

the matters may also be present.

The General Counsel of the

Commission, or his designee, has

certified that, in his opinion, one or

more of the exemptions set forth in 5

U.S.C. 552b(c)(4), (8), (9)(A) and (10)

and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(4), (8), (9)(i) and

(10), permit consideration of the

scheduled matters at the closed meeting.

Commissioner Hunt, as duty officer,

voted to consider the items listed for the

closed meeting in a closed session.

The subject matter of the closed

meeting scheduled for Thursday, May

14, 1998, at 10:00 a.m., will be:

Institution of injunctive actions.

Institution and settlement of

administrative proceedings of an

enforcement nature.

At times, changes in Commission

priorities require alternations in the

scheduling of meeting items. For further

information and to ascertain what, if

any, matters have been added, deleted

or postponed, please contact: The Office

of the Secretary at (202) 942–7070.

Dated: May 7, 1998.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–12703 Filed 5–8–98; 2:37 pm]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–39959; File No. SR–AMEX–

98–16]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

the American Stock Exchange, Inc.,

Relating to the Announcement of

Closing Rotations in Equity Options

After 4:02 p.m.

May 5, 1998.

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 8,

1998, the American Stock Exchange,

Inc. (‘‘Amex’’ or ‘‘the Exchange’’), filed

with the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘the

Commission’’) the proposed rule change

as described in Items I, II, and III below,

which Items have been prepared by the

Amex. 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 Amex proposes to amend

Exchange Rule 1 to permit closing
26232 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 91 /Tuesday, May 12, 1998 / Notices

3Securities Exchange Act Release No. 38640,

(May 14, 1997), 62 FR 28081 (May 22, 1997).

4A closing rotation is a trading procedure to

determine appropriate closing prices or quotes for

each series of options on an underlying stock.

5 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).

6U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).

rotations in equity options to be

announced after 4:02 p.m. Language

proposed to be deleted is in brackets.

Hours of Business

Rule 1 No change.

* * * Commentary

.01 No change.

.02 Options Trading after 4:02 p.m.—

The Board has determined that no

option series shall freely trade after 4:02

p.m. except that broad stock index

group options shall freely trade until

4:15 p.m. each business day. However,

one trading rotation in any class of

options contracts may be effected even

though employment of the rotations will

result in the effecting of transactions on

the Exchange after 4:02 p.m., provided:

(1) No change.

(2) Such rotation was initiated due to

unusual market conditions pursuant to

Rule 918, and: (i) Notice of such rotation

is publicly disseminated no later than

the commencement of the rotation or

4:00 p.m. (N.Y. time), whichever is

earlier; or (ii) notice of such rotation is

publicly disseminated after 4:00 p.m.

[but before 4:02 p.m.], and the rotation

does not commence until five minutes

after news of such rotation is publicly

disseminated.

(3) No change.

If prior to 4:02 p.m., a trading rotation

is in progress and a Senior Floor Official

and a Floor Official determine that a

final trading rotation is needed to assure

a fair and orderly market, the rotation in

progress shall be halted and such final

rotation begun as promptly as possible

after 4:02 p.m. Any trading rotation

commenced after 4:02 p.m. must be

approved by a Senior Floor Official.

.03 through .04 No change.

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

Amex 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 Amex 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

On May 14, 1997, the Exchange

received approval to move the close of

equity options trading from 4:10 p.m. to

4:02 p.m.3 This change was prompted

by improvements in dissemination of

closing prices in the underlying

securities, the limited ability of public

customers to reach as quickly as

professional traders to news

announcements in the last ten minutes

of trading, and the difficulties

experienced by options specialists and

registered traders trying to make orderly

options markets without the ability to

hedge or otherwise offset market risk

with transactions in the underlying

stock. Following receipt of approval,

Rule 1 was amended to reflect this

change to 4:02 p.m. Inadvertently,

however, the provision that permits a

closing rotation 4 to be initiated due to

unusual market conditions, was

severely limited when the rule was

changed to require that notice of the

closing rotation had to be publicly

disseminated before 4:02 p.m. As

currently written, the rule gives Floor

Officials only two minutes to assess an

unusual market condition, determine

whether it is appropriate to have a

closing rotation and disseminate the

news of the rotation to the public.

The Exchange now proposes that Rule

1 by amended to permit the

announcement of closing rotations in

equity options after 4:02 p.m. provided

such a rotation does not begin sooner

than five minutes after the

announcement of the closing rotation is

disseminated. Permitting the

announcement of closing rotations after

4:02 p.m. will allow the Exchange to

more effectively address unusual market

conditions by increasing its flexibility in

the timing of announcing and

commencing closing rotations. Further,

such an amendment would conform

Rule 1 to other exchanges’ rules

concerning the announcement of closing

rotations.

2. Statutory Basis

The Exchange believes that the

proposed rule change is consistent with

Section 6(b) of the Act 5 in general and

furthers the objectives of Section

6(b)(5),6 in particular, in that it is

designed to prevent fraudulent and

manipulative acts and practices, to

promote just and equitable principles of

trade, to foster cooperation and

coordination with persons engage in

facilitating transactions in securities,

and to remove impediments to and

perfect the mechanism of a free and

open market and a national market

system.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The Exchange does not believe that

the proposed rule change will impose

any inappropriate 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 Amex 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,

including whether the proposed rule

change is consistent with the Act.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth street, N.W.,

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

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

Section, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, DC 20549. Copies of such

filing will also be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of the Amex. All submissions

should refer to the file number in the

caption above and should be submitted

by June 2, 1998.
Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 91 /Tuesday, May 12, 1998 / Notices 26233

7 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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

2See letter from David T. Rusoff, Foley & Lardner,

to Gail A. Marshall, Division of Market Regulation,

Commission, dated February 12, 1998.

3See CHX Manual, Art. XX, Rule 28 regarding

member liability for stopped orders.

4The MAX System provides an automated

delivery and, in certain cases, execution facility for

orders that are eligible for execution under Article

XX, Rule 37(a), and in certain other orders. See

CHX Manual, Art. XX, Rule 37(b).

5For purposes of this filing, a marketable limit

order is a limit order that is marketable when

entered into the MAX System, i.e., the limit price

of the order is at or past (higher for a buy order or

lower for a sell order) the relevant side of the ITS

BBO at the time the order is received in the MAX

System. If the ITS BBO subsequently moves away

from the limit price (i.e., if the limit price is lower

than the ITS best offer for a buy order or higher than

the ITS best bid for a sell order) after receipt of the

order but before execution of the order, the order

will still be considered a marketable limit order for

purposes of pending auto-stop. Conversely, if a

limit order is not marketable when received by the

MAX System, the order will not be considered a

marketable limit order for purposes of pending

auto-stop, even if the ITS BBO subsequently

becomes equal to or past the limit price of the order.

6The term ‘‘agency order’’ means an order for the

account of a customer, but does not include

professional orders as defined in CHX, Art. XXX,

Rule 2, interpretation and policy.04. That Rule

defines a ‘‘professional order’’ as any order for the

account of a broker-dealer, or any account in which

a broker-dealer or an associated person of a brokerdealer has any direct or indirect interest.

7 Dual Trading System Issues are issues that are

traded on the CHX, either through listing on the

CHX or pursuant to unlisted trading privileges, and

are also listed on either the New York Stock

Exchange or American Stock Exchange.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.7

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–12557 Filed 5–11–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–39956; File No. SR–CHX–

98–01]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change and

Amendment No. 1 by the Chicago

Stock Exchange, Incorporated Relating

to the Stopping of Market and

Marketable Limit Orders

May 5, 1998.

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

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

January 16, 1998, the Chicago Stock

Exchange, Incorporated (‘‘CHX’’ or

‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities

and Exchange Commission

(‘‘Commission’’) a proposed rule change

relating to the stopping of market and

marketable limit orders. On February

12, 1998, the Exchange filed amendment

No. 1 with the Commission.2 The

proposed rule change, as amended, is

described in Items I, II, and III below,

which Items have been prepared by the

self-regulatory 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 Exchange proposes to amend

Article XX, Rule 37(b) relating to the

stopping of market orders and

marketable limit orders in the Midwest

Automated Execution System (‘‘MAX

System’’). Below is the next of the

proposed rule change. Proposed new

language is italicized; proposed

deletions are in brackets.

Article XX, Rule 37. Guaranteed

Execution System and Midwest

Automated Execution System (b)

Automated Executions. The Exchange’s

Midwest Automated Execution System

(the MAX System) may be used to

provide an automated delivery and

execution facility for orders that are

eligible for execution under the

Exchange’s Article XX, Rule 37(a)

(‘‘BEST Rule’’) and certain other orders.

In the event that an order that is subject

to the BEST Rule is sent through MAX,

it shall be executed in accordance with

the parameters of the BEST Rule and the

following. In the event that an order that

is not subject to the BEST Rule is sent

through MAX, it shall be executed in

accordance with the parameters of the

following:

(1)–(9) No change in text.

(10) All market orders received

through the MAX System that would

result in an out of range execution shall

be deemed to be received with a request

to STOP. Additionally, specialists may

stop limit orders that are marketable

when entered into the MAX System.

Subject to Interpretations and Policies

.03 under [paragraph (a) under] this

Rule 37, a specialist may execute a

stopped order out of the primary market

range, at no worse than the stopped

price, provided the specialist receives

approval to do so from two floor

officials. All agency and professional

market orders received through the

MAX System that are from 100 shares

up to and including 599 shares (or such

greater amount designated by a

specialist on a stock-by-stock basis) (the

stop volume threshold), that are not

automatically executed pursuant to

subsections (6) and (7) hereof shall be

designated as ‘‘pending auto-stop’’

orders. A pending auto-stop order shall

be automatically stopped thirty seconds

after entry into the MAX System unless

the order has been canceled, executed,

manually stopped, or put on hold

during such thirty second period. The

pending auto-stop feature shall operate

from 8:45 a.m. until 2:57 p.m.

Notwithstanding the foregoing all or

none orders, fill or kill orders,

immediate or cancel orders and orders

that have been stopped under the

Enhanced SuperMAX program are not

eligible to be ‘‘pending auto-stop’’

orders.

(11)–(12) No change in text.

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.

As described more fully below, the

purpose of the proposed rule change is

to amend CHX rules relating to

‘‘stopped’’ orders 3 in the MAX System 4

(i) to permit specialists to stop a

marketable limit order 5 if the order is

not immediately executed, and (ii) to

automate the stopping of certain market

orders that are not automatically

executed.

Under the Exchange’s BEST Rule,

Exchange specialists are required to

guarantee executions of all agency 6

market and limit orders for Dual

Trading System issues 7 from 100 shares

up to and including 2099 shares.

Subject to the requirements of the short

sale rule, market orders must be

executed at a price equal to or better

than the Intermarket Trading System

(‘‘ITS’’) best bid or offer (‘‘BBO’’), up to

the size associated with the ITS BBO.

Limit orders must be executed at their

limit price or better when: (1) the ITS

BBO at the limit price has been

exhausted in the primary market; (2)

there has been a price penetration of the

limit in the primary market (generally

known as a trade-through of a CHX limit

order); or (3) the issue is trading at the

limit price on the primary market unless