Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 120 /Tuesday, June 23, 1998 / Notices 34209

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

3See Letter from Timothy Thompson, Director,

Regulatory Affairs, Legal Department, CBOE, to Ken

Rosen, Attorney, Division of Market Regulation,

Commission, dated May 11, 1998 (‘‘Amendment

No. 1’’).

4Securities Exchange Act Release No. 39992 (May

14, 1998), 63 FR 28019.

5See Amendment No. 1.

The PBGC estimates that plan

sponsors each year (1) give benefit

reduction notices for 1 plan, (2) give

notices of insolvency for 2 plans, (3)

give notices of insolvency benefit level

and annual updates for 23 plans, and (4)

submit requests for financial assistance

for 18 plans. The estimated annual

burden of the collection of information

is 1 hour and $66,900.

Issued in Washington, DC, this 18th day of

June 1998.

Stuart A. Sirkin,

Director, Corporate Policy and Research

Department, Pension Benefit Guaranty

Corporation.

[FR Doc. 98–16679 Filed 6–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7708–01–P

POSTAL RATE COMMISSION

Facility Visit

AGENCY: Postal Rate Commission.

ACTION: Notice of visit.

SUMMARY: Arrangements have been

made for members of the Commission

and certain advisory staff members to

visit the World Headquarters and

Technology Center of Pitney Bowes in

Stamford, Connecticut. The purpose is

to gain a better understanding of new

and evolving technologies and their

potential impact on the nature of the

mailstream and postal operations.

Information obtained during the visit

will assist Commissioners and staff in

the execution of their duties.

DATES: The tour is scheduled for

Monday, July 20, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Steven L. Sharfman, General Counsel,

(202) 789–6820.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A report

of the visit will be filed in the

Commission’s Docket Room.

(Authority: 39 U.S.C. 404(b), 3603, 3622–

3624, 3661, 3662)

Dated: June 17, 1998.

Margaret P. Crenshaw,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–16611 Filed 6–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–M

UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE

BOARD OF GOVERNORS

Sunshine Act Meeting

TIMES AND DATES: 1:00 p.m., Monday,

June 29, 1998; 8:30 a.m., Tuesday, June

30, 1998.

PLACE: Washington, D.C., at U.S. Postal

Service Headquarters, 475 L’Enfant

Plaza, S.W., in the Benjamin Franklin

Room.

STATUS: June 29 (Closed); June 30

(Open).

MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED:

Monday, June 29—1:00 p.m. (Closed)

1. Postal Rate Commission Opinion and

Recommended Decision in Docket No.

R97–1.

2. Post Office Online.

3. Compensation Issues.

Tuesday, June 30—8:30 a.m. (Open)

1. Minutes of the Previous Meeting, June

1–2, 1998.

2. Remarks of the Postmaster General/

Chief Executive Officer.

3. Consideration of Board Resolution on

Audit Committee Charter.

4. Capital Investments.

a. Delivery Operations Information

System (DOIS)—R&D.

b. 546 Delivery Bar Code Sorter

(DBCS) Output Subsystem Kits.

5. Tentative Agenda for the August 3–

4, 1998, meeting in Harrisburg,

Pennsylvania.

CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Thomas J. Koerber, Secretary of the

Board, U.S. Postal Service, 475 L’Enfant

Plaza, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20260–

1000. Telephone (202) 268–4800.

Thomas J. Koerber,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–16722 Filed 6–18–98; 4:19 pm]

BILLING CODE 7710–12–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–40096; File No. SR–CBOE–

98–13]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Order

Granting Accelerated Approval of

Proposed Rule Change By the Chicago

Board Options Exchange, Inc. Relating

to the Automatic Execution of Small

Retail Orders in Equity Options

June 16, 1998.

I. Introduction

On April 6, 1998, the Chicago Board

Options Exchange, Inc. (‘‘CBOE’’ or

‘‘Exchange’’) submitted to the Securities

and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or

‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section

19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act

of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4

thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to

amend Interpretation and Policy .02

under CBOE Rule 6.8 governing the

operations of the Exchange’s Retail

Automatic Execution System (‘‘RAES’’).

On May 13, 1998, the CBOE filed with

the Commission Amendment No. 1 to

the proposed rule change.3 The

proposed rule change, as amended, was

published for comment in the Federal

Register on May 21, 1998.4 The

Commission received no comments

regarding the proposal. This order

approves the proposal, as amended, on

an accelerated basis.

II. Description of the Proposal

Presently, under CBOE Rule 6.8(a)(ii),

the execution price automatically

attached to an equity option order

executed in RAES is the prevailing

market quote on the CBOE at the time

the order is entered into the system. If

at that same time another market is

displaying a better quote for the option,

under CBOE Rules the order is not

automatically executed, but instead,

pursuant to Interpretation and Policy

.02 under CBOE Rule 6.8, is rerouted for

non-automated handling. In most cases,

especially where the market away from

the CBOE is better by only one ‘‘tick’’

(i.e., by one minimum quote interval),

the order is usually manually executed

on the CBOE at the better price.

The CBOE now proposes to amend

Interpretation and Policy .02 to

automate the process of filling equity

option orders through RAES at any

better price being quoted in another

market, so long as the price is better by

no more than one tick (‘‘RAES AutoStep-Up’’). If the market away from the

CBOE is better than the CBOE’s quoted

market by more than one tick, the

existing procedure will continue to

apply whereby the order is rerouted out

of RAES to the Designated Primary

Market Maker or Order Book Official for

non-automated handling.

While the Exchange expects that

eventually the Floor Procedure

Committees will determine to apply the

RAES Auto-Step-Up to all or nearly all

option classes traded on the floor, the

proposed rule change would permit the

program to be initiated on a class by

class or trading station by trading

station basis.5 To provide for the orderly

introduction of this change to the

Exchange’s RAES procedures and to

measure its effect before expanding it to

equity options floor-wide, the Exchange

intends to introduce the changed RAES

procedure to selected classes of equity
34210 Federal Register / Vol. 63, No. 120 /Tuesday, June 23, 1998 / Notices

6See Amendment No. 1.

7 In approving this rule, the Commission has

considered the proposed rule’s impact on

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. 15

U.S.C. 78c(f).

8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).

9 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).

10 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

options during an initial evaluation

period, and then over time to expand

the changed procedure to cover a larger

number of equity options unless, upon

evaluation, such expansion appears not

to be warranted. Members will be given

advance notice of each class of options

to which these revised procedures

apply.

In addition, the proposed rule change

authorizes the Chairman of the

appropriate Floor Procedure Committee

or his or her designee to disable RAES

Auto-Step-Up for specified classes or

series of options or in respect of

specified markets when ‘‘quotes in such

options or markets are deemed not to be

reliable.’’ This authority would be

expected to be exercised in

circumstances such as communication

or system problems, fast markets, and

similar situations that could make

quotes unreliable. For instance, the

Exchange is infrequently faced with

delays in the dissemination of quotes

because of queues on the Options Price

Reporting Authority (‘‘OPRA’’). When

the Exchange is made aware of OPRA

delays, it knows that there is a delay in

the dissemination of quotes from the

other exchanges. As a result, those

quotes likely would be stale. Under that

circumstance, the Chairmen of the Floor

Procedure Committees might decide to

exercise their exemptive authority

under the proposal. The Exchange has

represented to the Commission that it

expects such authority to be exercised

infrequently.6

III. Discussion

After careful review, the Commission

finds that the proposed rule change is

consistent with the requirements of the

Act. In particular, the Commission

believes the proposal is consistent with

Section 3(f) 7 and Section 6(b)(5) 8 of the

Act. Section 6(b)(5) requires, among

other things, that the rules of an

exchange be designed to promote just

and equitable principles of trade and to

protect investors and the public interest.

By automating the execution of

eligible retail orders for equity options

through the RAES Auto-Step-Up, the

amended Interpretation and Policy .02

should help to insure that investors

receive prompt, automatic execution of

RAES orders at the best available prices,

even if those prices are being quoted in

a market other than the Exchange, when

the better prices in other markets do not

improve on the CBOE’s market by more

than one tick. This proposal should

minimize the delay inherent in

manually handling orders in this

circumstance, and thereby reduce the

risk to investors that, as a result of an

adverse move in the market while their

orders are being manually handled, they

may receive an inferior execution.

Moreover, the amendment to

Interpretation and Policy .02 is

consistent with Section 3(f) of the Act.

Among other things, that Section

requires the Commission to consider

whether proposed rule changes will

promote competition. The RAES AutoStep-Up feature, when activated, should

enhance competition by requiring

executions on the CBOE at better prices

found on other exchanges.

The Commission finds good cause for

approving the proposed rule change, as

amended, prior to the thirtieth day after

the date of publication of notice thereof

in the Federal Register. This will permit

customers to receive the benefits of

automatic price improvement under the

proposed rule change more quickly. In

addition, the Commission recognizes

that orders are already eligible for

manual price improvement when routed

to the floor. This proposal merely

automates that price improvement for

those options to which the Auto-StepUp feature applies. Moreover, the

Commission notes that the full 21 day

comment period has expired, and no

adverse comments were received.

IV. Conclusion

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to

section 19(b)(2) of the Act,9 that the

proposed rule change (SR–CBOE–98–

13), as amended, is hereby approved on

an accelerated basis.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.10

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 98–16583 Filed 6–22–98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Office of The Secretary

Reports, Forms and Recordkeeping

Requirements Agency Information

Collection Activity Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Office of the Secretary, DOT.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: In compliance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35), this notice

announces that the Information

Collection Requests (ICRs) abstracted

below have been forwarded to the Office

of Management and Budget (OMB) for

review and comment. The ICRs describe

the nature of the information collection

and their expected burden. The Federal

Register Notice with a 60-day comment

period soliciting comments on (1)

Incident and Annual Reports for Gas

Pipeline Operators 2137–0522, was

published on April 14, 1998 [63 FR

18251–18252]; (2) Transportation of

Hazardous Liquids by Pipeline:

Recordkeeping and Accident Reporting

2137–0047, was published on April 14,

1998 [63 FR 18251–18252]; and (3)

Reporting of Safety-Related Conditions

on Gas, Hazardous Liquid, and Carbon

Dioxide Pipelines and Liquefied Natural

Gas Facilities 2137–0578, was published

on April 14, 1998 [63 FR 18251–18252].

DATES: Comments on this notice must be

received on or before July 23, 1998.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Marvin Fell, Office of Pipeline Safety

Research and Special Programs

Administration, U.S. Department of

Transportation 400 Seventh Street, SW.,

Washington, D.C. 20590, (202) 366–

6205, or fax (202) 36604566 or by

electronic mail

‘‘marvin.fell@rspa.dot.gov’’.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Research and Special Programs

Administration (RSPA)

(1). Title: Incident and Annual

Reports for Gas Pipeline Operators.

OMB Control Number: 2137–0522.

Form(s): 7100.1, 7100.2, 7100.1–1,

7100.2–1.

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Gas pipeline

operators.

Abstract: 49 CFR 191 requires that gas

pipeline operators report certain

pipeline incidents that involve injuries,

fatalities, fires, property damage or

environmental damage. Additionally,

gas pipeline operators must submit

annual reports on their operations to the

Department of Transportation.

Estimated Annual Burden Hours:

6717 hours.

(2). Title: Transportation of Hazardous

Liquids by Pipeline: Recordkeeping and

Accident Reporting.

OMB Number: 2137–0047.

Form(s): DOT 7000–1.

Type of Request: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

Affected Public: Hazardous Liquid

Pipeline Operators.

Abstract: Federal statute requires that

hazardous liquid pipeline operators

prepare and maintain written records