22596 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 88 / Monday, May 8, 1995 / Notices

1See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 33121

(October 29 1993), 58 FR 59085 (November 5, 1993).

2See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 33121,

supra note 1, at n.3.

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 33369

(December 23, 1993), 58 FR 69431 (December 30,

1993).

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 35175

(December 29, 1994), 60 FR 2167 (January 6, 1995).

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 35661

(May 2, 1995) (File No. SR–NYSE–95–05).

[Release No. 34–35662; File No. SR–NYSE–

95–06]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

New York Stock Exchange, Inc.,

Relating to Amendment of the

Exchange’s Allocation Policy and

Procedures

May 2, 1995.

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’), 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1), notice is

hereby given that on February 28, 1995,

the New York Stock Exchange, Inc.

(‘‘NYSE’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) 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 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 proposed rule change consists of

an amendment to the Exchange’s

Allocation Policy and Procedures (the

‘‘Policy’’) which would limit, to 25%,

the weight that the Specialist

Performance Evaluation Questionnaire

(‘‘SPEQ’’) could be given in the

Exchange’s allocation decision making

process.

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

The intent of the Policy is to ensure

that each security is allocated in the

fairest manner possible to the best

specialist unit for that security. In order

to enhance its stock allocation

decisions, the Exchange conducts

periodic reviews of its allocation

process. As the result of its most recent

review, the Exchange is proposing to

amend the Policy to limit, to no more

than 25%, the weight that he SPEQ may

be given in the allocation decision

making process. Currently, the Policy

permits the Allocation Committee to

grant up to one third weight to SPEQ

results in its allocation decisions. The

Allocation Committee also considers

objective measures of specialist

performance and its own professional

judgment in making its allocation

decisions.

In 1992, the Exchange proposed to

limit the weight that the SPEQ could be

given in the allocation decision making

process to 25%.1 At that time, there was

no limit to the weight that the SPEQ

could be afforded. The Exchange

proposed this limit in order to increase

the emphasis that its Allocation

Committee would give to objective

measures of performance, as well as the

Committee’s expert professional

judgment. The Exchange also proposed,

at that time, to amend the Policy to state

explicitly that its objective measures of

performance also included a specialist’s

TTV (twice total volume) rate,

stabilization rate, and any other

measures that the Exchange might later

adopt. While the Commission stated its

belief that it was appropriate to limit the

SPEQ’s weight in order to increase the

emphasis given to objective measures of

performance, it requested that the

Exchange amend its proposal to limit

the weight granted the SPEQ to one

third.2

Since 1992, the Exchange has

developed two new objective measures

of specialist performance that it believes

should play an important role in

allocation decisions. The first objective

measure of performance pertains to

specialist capital utilization. Adopted in

December 1993, on a pilot basis, the

capital utilization measure of specialist

performance focuses on a specialist

unit’s use of its own capital in relation

to the total dollar value of trading

activity in the unit’s stocks.3 The pilot

has been extended until June 30, 1995.4

The Allocation Committee is being

provided with specialist capital

utilization information for its use in

allocation decisions. The second

objective measure of performance,

which was recently developed, pertains

to ‘‘near neighbors.’’ The Exchange has

filed, on a one year pilot basis, for

Commission approval of this new

measure.5 The ‘‘near neighbors’’

measure compares certain performance

measures of a given stock (price

continuity, depth, quotation spread, and

capital utilization) to those of its ‘‘near

neighbors,’’ i.e., stocks that have certain

similar characteristics. The Exchange

would provide ‘‘near neighbor’’

information to the Allocation

Committee for its use in allocating

newly-listed stocks.

With the addition of these new

objective measures of performance, the

Exchange believes that it would be

appropriate to limit the weight that the

SPEQ is afforded in the allocation

process to 25%.

2. Statutory Basis

The basis under the Act for the

proposed rule change is the requirement

under Section 6(b)(5) that an Exchange

have rules that are designed to promote

just and equitable principles of trade, to

remove impediments to, and perfect the

mechanism of a free and open market

and, in general, to protect investors and

the public interest. The proposed rule

change is consistent with these

objectives in that it enables the

Exchange to further enhance the process

by which stocks are allocated.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The Exchange does not believe that

the proposed rule change will impose

any burden on competition that is not

necessary or appropriate in furtherance

of the purposes of the Act.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants or Others

The Exchange has neither solicited

nor received written comments on the

proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Act

Within 35 days of the publication of

this notice in the Federal Register or

within such other 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 the proposed

rule change, or
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 88 / Monday, May 8, 1995 / Notices 22597

(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.

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 at

the Commission’s Public Reference

section, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549. Copies of such

filing will also be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of the NYSE. All submissions

should refer to File No. SR–NYSE–95–

06 and should be submitted by May 30,

1995.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–11231 Filed 5–5–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Reporting and Recordkeeping

Requirements Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice of reporting requirements

submitted for review.

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35), agencies are required to

submit proposed reporting and

recordkeeping requirements to OMB for

review and approval, and to publish a

notice in the Federal Register notifying

the public that the agency has made

such a submission.

DATES: Comments should be submitted

within 30 days of this publication in the

Federal Register. If you intend to

comment but cannot prepare comments

promptly, please advise the OMB

Reviewer and the Agency Clearance

Office before the deadline.

COPIES: Request for clearance (OMB 83–

1), supporting statement, and other

documents submitted to OMB for

review may be obtained from the

Agency Clearance Officer. Submit

comments to the Agency Clearance

Office and the OMB Reviewer.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Agency Clearance Officer: Small

Business Administration, 409 3rd

Street, S.W., 5th Floor, Washington,

D.C. 20416, Telephone: (202) 205–

6629

OMB Reviewer: Donald Arbuckle, Office

of Information and Regulatory Affairs,

Office of Management and Budget,

New Executive Office Building,

Washington, D.C. 20503

Title: Lender/EDI Participant Profile

Form No.: SBA Form 1944

Frequency: On Occasion

Description of Respondents: SBA

Participating Lenders

Annual Responses: 8,337

Annual Burden: 2,779

Calvin Jenkins,

Assistant Administrator for Administration.

[FR Doc. 95–11232 Filed 5–5–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–M

[Declaration of Economic Injury Disaster

Loan Area #8506]

Declaration of Disaster Loan Area;

Commonwealth of Massachusetts (and

Contiguous Counties in New

Hampshire)

Essex County and the contiguous

counties of Middlesex and Suffolk in

the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

and Hillsborough and Rockingham in

the State of New Hampshire constitute

an economic injury disaster area as a

result of damages caused by a fire which

occurred on February 27, 1995 in the

town of Peabody, Massachusetts.

Eligible small businesses without credit

available elsewhere and small

agricultural cooperatives without credit

available elsewhere may file

applications for economic injury

assistance until the close of business on

February 1, 1996 at the address listed

below: U.S. Small Business

Administration, Disaster Area 1 Office,

360 Rainbow Blvd. South, 3rd Floor,

Niagara Falls, NY 14303, or other locally

announced locations: The interest rate

for eligible small businesses and small

agricultural cooperatives is 4 percent.

The economic injury number assigned

to this disaster for the State of New

Hampshire is 850700.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Program No. 59002)

Dated: May 1, 1995.

Cassandra M. Pulley,

Acting Administrator.

[FR Doc. 95–11233 Filed 5–5–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–M