15530 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 64 / Monday, April 6, 2009 / Notices 

7 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3The Commission has previously approved the 

establishment of the continuing disclosure service 

of EMMA, which will commence operation on July 

1, 2009. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

59061 (December 5, 2008), 73 FR 75778 (December 

12, 2008) (File No. SR–MSRB–2008–05) (approving 

the continuing disclosure service of EMMA with an 

effective date of July 1, 2009). The EMMA 

continuing disclosure service is designed to 

commence operation simultaneously with the 

effectiveness of certain amendments to Exchange 

Act Rule 15c2–12 adopted by the Commission. See 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59062 

(December 5, 2008), 73 FR 76104 (December 15, 

2008) (adopting amendments to Exchange Act Rule 

15c2–12). 

4The EMMA portal began operation on March 31, 

2008 as a pilot facility and is accessible at http:// 

emma.msrb.org. See Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 57577 (March 28, 2008), 73 FR 18022 

(April 2, 2008) (File No. SR–MSRB–2007–06) 

(approving operation of the EMMA pilot to provide 

free public access to the MSIL system collection of 

official statements and advance refunding 

documents and to the MSRB’s Real-Time 

Transaction Reporting System historical and realtime transaction price data) (the ‘‘EMMA portal 

pilot filing’’). 

100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–CBOE–2009–022. This file 

number should be included on the 

subject line if e-mail 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 inspection and copying 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–CBOE–2009–022 and 

should be submitted on or before April 

27, 2009. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.7

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–7663 Filed 4–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–59643; File No. SR–MSRB– 

2009–03] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

Municipal Securities Rulemaking 

Board; Notice of Filing of Proposed 

Rule Change Relating to the 

Establishment of a Pilot Phase of Its 

Upcoming Continuing Disclosure 

Service of the Electronic Municipal 

Market Access system (EMMA®) 

March 27, 2009. 

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 March 25, 

2009, the Municipal Securities 

Rulemaking Board (‘‘MSRB’’) 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 substantially prepared by the 

MSRB. 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 MSRB has filed with the 

Commission a proposed rule change to 

establish a pilot phase (the ‘‘continuing 

disclosure pilot’’) of the continuing 

disclosure service of the MSRB’s 

Electronic Municipal Market Access 

system (‘‘EMMA’’). The continuing 

disclosure pilot would receive 

electronic submissions of, and would 

make publicly available on the Internet, 

continuing disclosure documents and 

related information voluntarily 

submitted by issuers, obligated persons 

and their agents. The MSRB has 

requested approval of the continuing 

disclosure pilot to commence operation 

on May 11, 2009, or such later date as 

may be announced by the MSRB in a 

notice published on the MSRB Web site, 

which date shall be no later than 30 

days after Commission approval of the 

proposed rule change. In addition, the 

MSRB has requested approval of the 

continuing disclosure pilot for a period 

ending on July 1, 2009.3

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available on the MSRB’s Web site 

(http://www.msrb.org/msrb1/sec.asp), at 

the MSRB’s principal office, 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 

MSRB 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 MSRB 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 proposed rule change would 

establish a pilot phase of the continuing 

disclosure service of EMMA to provide, 

pending the commencement of 

operation of the permanent EMMA 

continuing disclosure service on July 1, 

2009, for the voluntary electronic 

submission to the MSRB of continuing 

disclosure documents and related 

information by issuers, obligated 

persons and their agents and to provide 

for the free public access to such 

documents through the EMMA portal.4

Under Exchange Act Rule 15c2– 

12(b)(5), an underwriter for a primary 

offering of municipal securities subject 

to the rule currently is prohibited from 

underwriting the offering unless the 

underwriter has determined that the 

issuer or an obligated person for whom 

financial information or operating data 

is presented in the final official 

statement, or a designated agent, has 

undertaken in writing to provide certain 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 64 / Monday, April 6, 2009 / Notices 15531 

5Under Rule 15c2–12(b)(5)(i), annual filings are 

to be sent to all existing nationally recognized 

municipal securities information repositories 

(‘‘NRMSIRs’’) and any applicable state information 

depositories (‘‘SIDs’’), while material event notices 

may be sent to all existing NRMSIRs or to the 

MSRB, as well as to any applicable SIDs. 

6The MSRB currently operates CDINet to process 

and disseminate notices of material events 

submitted to the MSRB. The MSRB urges, but does 

not require, submitters currently using CDINet to 

instead make any future submissions to the pilot 

phase of the EMMA continuing disclosure service, 

solely in electronic format, upon the launch of the 

pilot phase until such time as all submissions must 

be made to the permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure service. The MSRB intends to file in the 

near future a proposed rule change with the 

Commission to discontinue CDINet as of the 

commencement of operations of the permanent 

EMMA continuing disclosure service on July 1, 

2009. 7 15 U.S.C. 78o–4(b)(2)(C). 

items of information to the 

marketplace.5 The items to be provided 

include: (A) Annual financial 

information concerning obligated 

persons; (B) audited financial 

statements for obligated persons if 

available and if not included in the 

annual financial information; (C) notices 

of certain events, if material; and (D) 

notices of failures to provide annual 

financial information on or before the 

date specified in the written 

undertaking. The written agreement 

shall identify each obligated person or 

other person for whom information is to 

be provided, either by name or by an 

objective criteria for selecting such 

person, and also shall specify (i) the 

type of information to be included in 

the annual financial information, (ii) the 

accounting principles pursuant to 

which financial statements will be 

prepared and whether such financial 

statements will be audited, and (iii) the 

date on which the annual financial 

information will be provided. 

The pilot phase of the EMMA 

continuing disclosure service would 

accept voluntary submissions of 

continuing disclosure documents, 

including but not limited to items to be 

provided pursuant to Exchange Act Rule 

15c2–12. Submissions of continuing 

disclosure documents to the pilot phase 

of the EMMA continuing disclosure 

service would be made solely in 

electronic format by issuers, obligated 

persons and their agents through a 

secured, password-protected, Webbased interface with EMMA. Such 

submissions would be made as portable 

document format (PDF) files, 

accompanied by related indexing 

information, through the submission 

processes established with respect to the 

EMMA continuing disclosure service; 

provided that such processes may 

become available for use by voluntary 

submitters on a phased-in basis. No 

paper submissions would be accepted. 

Documents submitted by issuers, 

obligated persons and their agents 

would be made available to the public 

on the EMMA portal. The specific 

features of the EMMA portal established 

with respect to the EMMA continuing 

disclosure service may become available 

for use by public users of the EMMA 

Web site on a phased-in basis during the 

pilot phase. The MSRB also may make 

available test versions of the computerto-computer submission processes and 

data stream subscription services 

established with respect to the EMMA 

continuing disclosure service on a 

phased-in basis during the pilot phase. 

There would be no charge for the 

making of submissions during the pilot 

phase or for accessing such documents 

on the EMMA portal. 

The MSRB would view electronic 

submissions of continuing disclosure 

documents during the pilot phase of the 

EMMA continuing disclosure service as 

having been submitted to the MSRB for 

purposes of any existing continuing 

disclosure undertakings entered into 

consistent with Exchange Act Rule 

15c2–12.6 The MSRB takes no position 

with regard to whether a submission 

made to the pilot phase of the EMMA 

continuing disclosure service that is 

made publicly available through the 

EMMA portal would satisfy any other 

provisions of existing continuing 

disclosure undertakings. 

The MSRB would undertake to make 

the submission and EMMA portal access 

services available during the pilot phase 

on the same terms as established for the 

EMMA continuing disclosure service 

but would reserve the right to operate 

any feature on a more limited basis as 

necessary or appropriate, in the sole 

discretion of the MSRB, during the pilot 

phase. The pilot phase would be 

expected to operate for a limited period 

of time as the MSRB transitions to the 

permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure service anticipated to 

commence operation on July 1, 2009. 

The pilot phase would terminate 

automatically at such time as the 

permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure service becomes operational. 

The MSRB has designed EMMA, 

including the EMMA portal, as a 

scalable system with sufficient current 

capacity and the ability to add further 

capacity to meet foreseeable usage levels 

based on reasonable estimates of 

expected usage, and the MSRB would 

monitor usage levels in order to assure 

continued capacity in the future. 

The MSRB may restrict or terminate 

malicious, illegal or abusive usage for 

such periods as may be necessary and 

appropriate to ensure continuous and 

efficient access to the EMMA portal and 

to maintain the integrity of EMMA and 

its operational components. Such usage 

may include, without limitation, usage 

intended to cause the EMMA portal to 

become inaccessible by other users, to 

cause the EMMA database or 

operational components to become 

corrupted or otherwise unusable, to 

alter the appearance or functionality of 

the EMMA portal, or to hyperlink to or 

otherwise use the EMMA portal or the 

information provided through the 

EMMA portal in furtherance of 

fraudulent or other illegal activities 

(such as, for example, creating any 

inference of MSRB complicity with or 

approval of such fraudulent or illegal 

activities or creating a false impression 

that information used to further such 

fraudulent or illegal activities has been 

obtained from the MSRB or EMMA). 

Measures taken by the MSRB in 

response to such unacceptable usage 

shall be designed to minimize any 

potentially negative impact on the 

ability to access the EMMA portal. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The MSRB believes that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with Section 

15B(b)(2)(C) of the Act,7 which provides 

that the MSRB’s rules shall: 

be designed to prevent fraudulent and 

manipulative acts and practices, to promote 

just and equitable principles of trade, to 

foster cooperation and coordination with 

persons engaged in regulating, clearing, 

settling, processing information with respect 

to, and facilitating transactions in municipal 

securities, to remove impediments to and 

perfect the mechanism of a free and open 

market in municipal securities, and, in 

general, to protect investors and the public 

interest. 

The MSRB believes that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the Act. 

The EMMA continuing disclosure 

service, including the pilot phase 

thereof, would serve as an additional 

mechanism by which the MSRB works 

toward removing impediments to and 

helping to perfect the mechanisms of a 

free and open market in municipal 

securities. The pilot phase would be an 

important transitional step toward 

ensuring the effective and efficient 

operation of the permanent EMMA 

continuing disclosure service upon 

launch on July 1, 2009. 

The EMMA continuing disclosure 

service, including the pilot phase 

thereof, would help make information 

useful for making investment decisions 

more easily accessible to all participants 

in the municipal securities market on an 

equal basis throughout the life of the 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
15532 Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 64 / Monday, April 6, 2009 / Notices 

8Some states may require issuers and/or 

obligated persons to submit disclosure information 

to state information depositories or other venues 

pursuant to state law. 

9See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58256 

(July 30, 2008) 73 FR 46161 (August 7, 2008) (File 

No. SR–MSRB–2008–05) (proposing the 

establishment of the continuing disclosure service 

of EMMA). See also Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 59061 (December 5, 2008), 73 FR 75778 

(December 12, 2008) (File No. SR–MSRB–2008–05) 

(approving the continuing disclosure service of 

EMMA with an effective date of July 1, 2009). 

10Comment letters to the Commission on the 

permanent EMMA continuing disclosure filing are 

available at http://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-msrb2008-05/msrb200805.shtml. 

11See Letter from Susan A. Gaffney, Director, 

Federal Liaison Center, Government Finance 

Officers Association, to Ms. Harmon, dated 

September 22, 2008. 

12See Letter from William A. Holby, President, 

National Association of Bond Lawyers, to Ms. 

Harmon, dated September 22, 2008. 

13See Letter from Christopher Alwine, Head of 

Municipal Money Market and Bond Groups, 

Vanguard, to Ms. Harmon, dated September 24, 

2008. 

14See SR–MSRB–2008–05, Amendment No. 1 

(November 5, 2008). 

securities without charge through a 

centralized, searchable Internet-based 

repository, thereby removing potential 

barriers to obtaining such information. 

Broad access to continuing disclosure 

documents through the EMMA 

continuing disclosure service should 

assist in preventing fraudulent and 

manipulative acts and practices by 

improving the opportunity for public 

investors to access material information 

about issuers and their securities. 

Furthermore, the EMMA continuing 

disclosure service should reduce the 

effort necessary for issuers and obligated 

persons to comply with their continuing 

disclosure undertakings by making 

submissions to a single venue 8 using an 

electronic submission process, which 

should result in lower costs to issuers 

and savings to their citizens. Similarly, 

a single centralized and searchable 

venue for free public access to 

disclosure information should promote 

a more fair and efficient municipal 

securities market in which transactions 

are effected on the basis of material 

information available to all parties to 

such transactions, which should allow 

for fairer pricing of transactions based 

on a more complete understanding of 

the terms of the securities and the 

potential investment risks. Free access 

to this information—previously 

available in most cases only through 

paid subscription services or on a perdocument fee basis—should reduce 

transaction costs for dealers and 

investors. 

All of these factors serve to promote 

the statutory mandate of the MSRB to 

protect investors and the public interest. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The MSRB does not believe that the 

proposed rule change would impose any 

burden on competition not necessary or 

appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act. The pilot phase of 

the EMMA continuing disclosure 

service would be an important 

transitional step toward ensuring the 

effective and efficient operation of the 

permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure service upon launch on July 

1, 2009. As the MSRB has previously 

stated in its filing with the Commission 

in connection with the permanent 

EMMA continuing disclosure service 

(the ‘‘permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure filing’’),9 although the MSRB 

recognizes that the EMMA continuing 

disclosure service might require private 

enterprises to modify some aspects of 

the way they undertake their current 

business activities, the MSRB believes 

that the continuing disclosure service 

would promote, rather than hinder, 

further competition, growth and 

innovation in this area. The MSRB 

believes that the benefits realized by the 

investing public from the broader and 

easier availability of disclosure 

information about municipal securities 

that would be provided through the 

EMMA continuing disclosure service, 

including the pilot phase thereof, would 

justify any potentially negative impact 

on existing enterprises from the 

operation of EMMA. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

Written comments were neither 

solicited nor received on the proposed 

rule change. However, in connection 

with the permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure filing, the Commission 

received comments relating to, among 

other things, the effective date of the 

filing and a desire for a transition to the 

permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure filing.10 In the permanent 

EMMA continuing disclosure filing, the 

MSRB had originally proposed an 

effective date of January 1, 2009. In 

response, one commentator requested 

that the Commission establish a 

transition period before making 

electronic filings on EMMA mandatory 

as a result of the submissions needing 

to be submitted as PDF-word searchable 

files.11 Another commentator noted a 

need to address smaller issuers who 

may need additional time to familiarize 

themselves with an electronic system.12

A third commentator noted that 

‘‘municipal issuers and obligated 

persons may be confused as to where 

they should file continuing disclosure 

documents during the period of 

transition from the current system to the 

EMMA system’’ and suggested that 

these concerns ‘‘could be addressed 

during a short transition period.’’ 13

As a result, the MSRB amended the 

permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure filing to request that the 

Commission delay the implementation 

of the permanent EMMA continuing 

disclosure service to July 1, 2009.14 The 

MSRB noted that the delayed 

effectiveness would provide the MSRB 

with the opportunity to implement a 

pilot phase of the EMMA continuing 

disclosure service to allow voluntary 

submissions to be made prior to the 

effectiveness of the permanent EMMA 

continuing disclosure service. During 

this pilot period, submitters would be 

able to familiarize themselves with the 

submission process and receive 

assistance to establish user accounts. 

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 self-regulatory 

organization 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. 

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 e-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File 

Number SR–MSRB–2009–03 on the 

subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 74, No. 64 / Monday, April 6, 2009 / Notices 15533 

15 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3Nasdaq will file a proposed rule change within 

thirty days seeking permanenet [sic] approval oft 

[sic] the Nasdaq Last Sale pilot. 

100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–MSRB–2009–03. This file 

number should be included on the 

subject line if e-mail 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 inspection and copying 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 filing also will be 

available for inspection and copying at 

the principal office of the MSRB. 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–MSRB–2009–03 and should 

be submitted on or before April 27, 

2009. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.15

Florence E. Harmon, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E9–7583 Filed 4–3–09; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–59652; File No. SR– 

NASDAQ–2009–027) 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of 

Filing and Order Granting Accelerated 

Approval of Proposed Rule Change To 

Extend the Pilot Program for NASDAQ 

Last Sale Data Feeds and To Reduce 

the Monthly Cap on Fees 

March 30, 2009. 

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 March 25, 

2009, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC 

(‘‘NASDAQ’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘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, and is 

approving the proposal on an 

accelerated basis. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

NASDAQ is proposing to extend for 

three months the pilot that created the 

NASDAQ Last Sale (‘‘NLS’’) market data 

products. NLS allows data distributors 

to have access to real-time market data 

for a capped fee, enabling those 

distributors to provide free access to the 

data to millions of individual investors 

via the internet and television. 

Specifically, NASDAQ offers the 

‘‘NASDAQ Last Sale for NASDAQ’’ and 

‘‘NASDAQ Last Sale for NYSE/Amex’’ 

data feeds containing last sale activity in 

US equities within the NASDAQ Market 

Center and reported to the jointlyoperated FINRA/NASDAQ Trade 

Reporting Facility (‘‘FINRA/NASDAQ 

TRF’’). The purpose of this proposal is 

to extend the existing pilot program for 

three months and to reduce the cap on 

applicable fees as set forth below.3

This pilot program supports the 

aspiration of Regulation NMS to 

increase the availability of proprietary 

data by allowing market forces to 

determine the amount of proprietary 

market data information that is made 

available to the public and at what 

price. During the current pilot period, 

the program has vastly increased the 

availability of NASDAQ proprietary 

market data to individual investors. 

Based upon data from NLS distributors, 

NASDAQ believes that since its launch 

in July 2008, the NLS data has been 

viewed by over 50,000,000 investors on 

websites operated by Google, Interactive 

Data, and Dow Jones, among others. The 

text of the proposed rule change is 

available at NASDAQ, the Commission’s 

Public Reference Room, and http:// 

nasdaq.complinet.com. 

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 those statements may be examined at 

the places specified in Item III below. 

The Exchange has prepared summaries, 

set forth in sections A, B, and C below, 

of the most significant parts of such 

statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

Prior to the launch of NLS, public 

investors that wished to view market 

data to monitor their portfolios 

generally had two choices: (1) Pay for 

real-time market data or (2) use free data 

that is 15 to 20 minutes delayed. To 

increase consumer choice, NASDAQ 

proposed a four-month pilot to offer 

access to real-time market data to data 

distributors for a capped fee, enabling 

those distributors to disseminate the 

data via the internet and television at no 

cost to millions of internet users and 

television viewers. 

NASDAQ now proposes a threemonth extension of that pilot program 

and to reduce the capped fee to $50,000 

per month from $150,000 per month. 

The NLS pilot created two separate 

‘‘Level 1’’ products containing last sale 

activity within the NASDAQ market and 

reported to the jointly-operated FINRA/ 

NASDAQ TRF. First, the ‘‘NASDAQ 

Last Sale for NASDAQ Data Product,’’ a 

real-time data feed that provides realtime last sale information including 

execution price, volume, and time for 

executions occurring within the 

NASDAQ system as well as those 

reported to the FINRA/NASDAQ TRF. 

Second, the NASDAQ Last Sale for 

NYSE/Amex data product that provides 

real-time last sale information including 

execution price, volume, and time for 

NYSE- and Amex-securities executions 

occurring within the NASDAQ system 

as well as those reported to the FINRA/ 

NASDAQ TRF. 

NASDAQ established two different 

pricing models, one for clients that are 

able to maintain username/password 

entitlement systems and/or quote 

counting mechanisms to account for 

usage, and a second for those that are 

not. Firms with the ability to maintain 

username/password entitlement systems 


pwalker on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES