Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 28, 2021 / Notices 40665 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3Pursuant to an Index Swaption, one party (the 

‘‘Swaption Buyer’’) has the right (but not the 

obligation) to cause the other party (the ‘‘Swaption 

Seller’’) to enter into an index credit default swap 

transaction at a pre-determined strike price on a 

specified expiration date on specified terms. In the 

case of Index Swaptions cleared by ICC, the 

underlying index credit default swap is limited to 

certain CDX and iTraxx index credit default swaps 

that are accepted for clearing by ICC, and which 

would be automatically cleared by ICC upon 

exercise of the Index Swaption by the Swaption 

Buyer in accordance with its terms. 

mail addressed to the Office of the 

Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 

Washington, DC 20555–0001, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; or 

(2) courier, express mail, or expedited 

delivery service to the Office of the 

Secretary, 11555 Rockville Pike, 

Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: 

Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. 

Participants filing adjudicatory 

documents in this manner are 

responsible for serving the document on 

all other participants. Filing is 

considered complete by first-class mail 

as of the time of deposit in the mail, or 

by courier, express mail, or expedited 

delivery service upon depositing the 

document with the provider of the 

service. A presiding officer, having 

granted a request for exemption from 

using E-Filing, may require a participant 

or party to use E-Filing if the presiding 

officer subsequently determines that the 

reason for granting the exemption from 

use of E-Filing no longer exists. 

Documents submitted in adjudicatory 

proceedings will appear in the NRC’s 

electronic hearing docket which is 

available to the public at https://

adams.nrc.gov/ehd, unless excluded 

pursuant to an order of the Commission 

or the presiding officer. If you do not 

have an NRC-issued digital ID certificate 

as previously described, click cancel 

when the link requests certificates and 

you will be automatically directed to the 

NRC’s electronic hearing dockets where 

you will be able to access any publicly 

available documents in a particular 

hearing docket. Participants are 

requested not to include personal 

privacy information, such as social 

security numbers, home addresses, or 

personal phone numbers in their filings, 

unless an NRC regulation or other law 

requires submission of such 

information. For example, in some 

instances, individuals provide home 

addresses in order to demonstrate 

proximity to a facility or site. With 

respect to copyrighted works, except for 

limited excerpts that serve the purpose 

of the adjudicatory filings and would 

constitute a Fair Use application, 

participants are requested not to include 

copyrighted materials in their 

submission. 

Detailed information about the 

subsequent license renewal process can 

be found under the Nuclear Reactors 

icon at https://www.nrc.gov/reactors/ 

operating/licensing/renewal.html on the 

NRC’s website. Copies of the application 

to renew the operating licenses for ONS 

are available for public inspection at the 

NRC’s PDR, and at https://www.nrc.gov/ 

reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/ 

subsequent-license-renewal.html, the 

NRC’s website while the application is 

under review. The application may be 

accessed in ADAMS through the NRC 

Library on the internet at https://

www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html 

under ADAMS Package Accession No. 

ML21158A193. As previously stated, 

persons who do not have access to 

ADAMS or who encounter problems in 

accessing the documents located in 

ADAMS may contact the NRC’s PDR 

reference staff by telephone at 1–800– 

397–4209 or 301–415–4737, or by email 

to pdr.resources@nrc.gov. 

Dated: July 22, 2021. 

For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

Lauren K. Gibson, 

Chief, License Renewal Project Branch, 

Division of New and Renewed Licenses, Office 

of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. 

[FR Doc. 2021–16011 Filed 7–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7590–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–92468; File No. SR–ICC– 

2021–016] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; ICE 

Clear Credit LLC; Notice of Proposed 

Rule Change Relating to the ICC 

Exercise Procedures 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934, (the 

‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on July 8, 

2021, ICE Clear Credit LLC (‘‘ICC’’) filed 

with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission the proposed rule change 

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

which Items have been prepared 

primarily by ICC. The Commission is 

publishing this notice to solicit 

comments on the proposed rule change 

from interested persons. 

I. Clearing Agency’s Statement of the 

Terms of Substance of the Proposed 

Rule Change 

The principal purpose of the 

proposed rule change is to revise the 

Exercise Procedures in connection with 

the clearing of credit default index 

swaptions (‘‘Index Swaptions’’). 

II. Clearing Agency’s Statement of the 

Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the 

Proposed Rule Change 

In its filing with the Commission, ICC 

included statements concerning the 

purpose of and basis for the proposed 

rule change, security-based swap 

submission, or advance notice and 

discussed any comments it received on 

the proposed rule change, securitybased swap submission, or advance 

notice. The text of these statements may 

be examined at the places specified in 

Item IV below. ICC has prepared 

summaries, set forth in sections (A), (B), 

and (C) below, of the most significant 

aspects of these statements. 

(A) Clearing Agency’s Statement of the 

Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the 

Proposed Rule Change 

(a) Purpose 

ICC proposes revising the Exercise 

Procedures in connection with the 

clearing of Index Swaptions. The 

Exercise Procedures supplement the 

provisions of Subchapter 26R of the ICC 

Clearing Rules (the ‘‘Rules’’) with 

respect to Index Swaptions 3 and 

provide further detail as to the manner 

in which Index Swaptions may be 

exercised by Swaption Buyers, the 

manner in which ICC will assign such 

exercises to Swaption Sellers, and 

certain actions that ICC may take in the 

event of technical issues. ICC proposes 

to make the changes effective following 

Commission approval of the proposed 

rule change. The proposed revisions are 

described in detail as follows. 

ICC proposes changes related to 

certain fallback measures included in 

the Exercise Procedures. ICC proposes 

to amend Paragraph 2.6, which includes 

procedures to address a failure of the 

electronic system established by ICC for 

exercise (‘‘Exercise System Failure’’). In 

such case, Paragraph 2.6 currently 

provides ICC with the following 

options: (i) Cancel and reschedule the 

Exercise Period (i.e., the period on the 

expiration date of an Index Swaption 

during which the Swaption Buyer may 

deliver an exercise notice to ICC to 

exercise all or part of such Index 

Swaption); (ii) determine that automatic 

exercise will apply; and/or (iii) take 

such other action as ICC determines to 

be appropriate to permit exercising 

parties to submit exercise notices and to 

permit ICC to assign such notices. The 

proposed changes remove the ability to 

cancel and reschedule the Exercise 

Period and renumber the following 

options accordingly. 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
40666 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 28, 2021 / Notices 

4An Existing Restructuring is defined in ICC Rule 

26R–319(c) and is applicable upon the occurrence 

of an M(M)R Restructuring Credit Event with 

respect to an Index Swaption for which the DC 

Credit Event Announcement or Regional CDS 

Committee Restructuring Announcement occurs on 

or prior to the expiration date. 

5The Exercise Period starts at the Swaption 

Exercise Start Time (with respect to an Index 

Swaption referencing a CDX.NA index, 9:00 a.m., 

New York time and referencing an iTraxx Europe 

index, 9:00 a.m., London time) and ends at the 

Swaption Exercise Cut-Off Time (with respect to an 

Index Swaption referencing a CDX.NA index, 11:00 

a.m., New York time and referencing an iTraxx 

Europe index, 4:00 p.m., London time) under the 

Exercise Procedures. 

6 15 U.S.C. 78q–1. 

7 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22. 

8 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F). 

9 Id. 

10 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22. 

11 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(1). 

12 Id. 

13 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(17)(i)–(ii). 

14 Id. 

ICC maintains the ability to effect an 

automatic exercise under Paragraph 2.8, 

which addresses the situation where 

ICC will automatically exercise on the 

expiration date each open position (of 

all exercising parties) in an Index 

Swaption that is determined by ICC to 

be ‘‘in the money’’ on such date. 

Whether an Index Swaption is ‘‘in the 

money’’ is currently based on the 

average of the end-of-day (‘‘EOD’’) price 

of the underlying CDS contract on the 

preceding business day and on the 

expiration date, and where relevant, 

also based on the average of the EOD 

price on the preceding business day and 

on the expiration date of each single 

name constituent contract with respect 

to which an Existing Restructuring 4 has 

occurred. Under the proposed changes, 

whether an Index Swaption is ‘‘in the 

money’’ is based on the relevant marketobserved prices for the underlying CDS 

contract determined by ICC using the 

intraday market data available to it at 

the time, or the EOD price of the 

underlying CDS contract on the 

expiration date established at any 

Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (‘‘ICE’’) 

clearinghouse, and where relevant, also 

based on the last available ICE EOD 

price of each single name constituent 

contract with respect to which an 

Existing Restructuring has occurred. 

Such changes provide ICC with 

additional flexibility, as ICC need not 

wait until EOD to execute an automatic 

exercise, and allow this fallback 

measure to coincide with the timing of 

the Exercise Period.5

(b) Statutory Basis 

ICC believes that the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the 

requirements of Section 17A of the Act 6

and the regulations thereunder 

applicable to it, including the applicable 

standards under Rule 17Ad–22.7 In 

particular, Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the 

Act 8 requires that the rule change be 

consistent with the prompt and accurate 

clearance and settlement of securities 

transactions and derivative agreements, 

contracts and transactions cleared by 

ICC, the safeguarding of securities and 

funds in the custody or control of ICC 

or for which it is responsible, and the 

protection of investors and the public 

interest. ICC proposes changes related to 

certain fallback measures in the Exercise 

Procedures. Removing the option to 

cancel and reschedule the Exercise 

Period under Paragraph 2.6 would 

streamline and simplify ICC’s 

procedures in the case of an Exercise 

System Failure, thereby reducing the 

potential for confusion regarding ICC’s 

practices under such circumstances. 

Moreover, to provide consistency where 

possible in the event of an Exercise 

System Failure, amended Paragraph 2.8 

allows the timing of automatic exercise 

to coincide with the timing of the 

Exercise Period. Accordingly, in ICC’s 

view, the proposed rule change will 

facilitate understanding of how 

unforeseen operational or technical 

issues are handled and promote 

preparedness by market participants to 

enhance the implementation of the 

Exercise Procedures, thereby promoting 

the prompt and accurate clearing and 

settlement of the contracts cleared by 

ICC, including Index Swaptions, the 

safeguarding of securities and funds in 

the custody or control of ICC or for 

which it is responsible, and the 

protection of investors and the public 

interest, within the meaning of Section 

17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act.9

The amendments would also satisfy 

relevant requirements of Rule 17Ad22.10 Rule 17Ad–22(e)(1) 11 requires 

each covered clearing agency to 

establish, implement, maintain, and 

enforce written policies and procedures 

reasonably designed to provide for a 

well-founded, clear, transparent, and 

enforceable legal basis for each aspect of 

its activities in all relevant jurisdictions. 

The Exercise Procedures supplement 

the provisions of Subchapter 26R of the 

Rules with respect to Index Swaptions 

and further ensure that ICC’s Rules 

clearly reflect the terms and conditions 

applicable to Index Swaptions. As 

described above, the proposed revisions 

would support the clearing of Index 

Swaptions by ICC by providing 

additional consistency to market 

participants and simplifying the 

procedures in the case of an Exercise 

System Failure. The proposed rule 

change would continue to support the 

legal basis for ICC’s clearance of Index 

Swaptions and operation of the exercise 

and assignment process, including 

addressing situations where there are 

operational or technical issues. As such, 

the proposed rule change would satisfy 

the requirements of the Rule 17Ad– 

22(e)(1).12

Rule 17Ad–22(e)(17) 13 requires, in 

relevant part, each covered clearing 

agency to establish, implement, 

maintain, and enforce written policies 

and procedures reasonably designed to 

manage its operational risks by (i) 

identifying the plausible sources of 

operational risk, both internal and 

external, and mitigating their impact 

through the use of appropriate systems, 

policies, procedures, and controls; and 

(ii) ensuring that systems have a high 

degree of security, resiliency, 

operational reliability, and adequate, 

scalable capacity. The Exercise 

Procedures allow ICC to manage the 

operational risks associated with the 

exercise and assignment process by 

establishing procedures for the exercise 

and assignment of Index Swaptions and 

including fallback measures, which help 

mitigate the impact from operational or 

technical issues and ensure that the 

system has a high degree of security, 

resiliency, operational reliability, and 

adequate, scalable capacity. The 

proposed changes remove the option to 

cancel and reschedule an Exercise 

Period, which would reduce the 

potential for confusion regarding ICC’s 

practices under such circumstances. 

The proposed changes also provide ICC 

with additional flexibility for 

determining whether an Index Swaption 

is ‘‘in the money’’ such that ICC need 

not wait until EOD to execute an 

automatic exercise to provide 

consistency where possible in the case 

of an Exercise System Failure. ICC 

believes that these amendments would 

streamline and simplify ICC’s 

procedures in the event of an Exercise 

System Failure and help mitigate the 

impact from operational or technical 

issues. The proposed rule change is 

therefore reasonably designed to meet 

the requirements of Rule 17Ad– 

22(e)(17).14

(B) Clearing Agency’s Statement on 

Burden on Competition 

ICC does not believe the proposed 

amendments would have any impact, or 

impose any burden, on competition not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purpose of the Act. The proposed 

changes to the Exercise Procedures will 

apply uniformly across all market 

participants. Therefore, ICC does not 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 142 / Wednesday, July 28, 2021 / Notices 40667 

15 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3References herein to Nasdaq Rules in the 4000 

Series shall mean Rules in Nasdaq Equity 4. 

4The ‘‘Nasdaq Closing Cross’’ refers to Nasdaq’s 

process for determining the price at which it will 

execute orders at the close and for executing those 

orders, as set forth in Rule 4754. 

5The ‘‘LULD Closing Cross’’ refers to Nasdaq’s 

modified process for determining the price at which 

it will execute orders at the close, following a 

Trading Pause, as set forth in Rule 4120(a), which 

exists at or after 3:50 p.m. and before 4:00 p.m., as 

well as the process for executing those orders, as 

set forth in Rule 4754(b)(6). 

believe the proposed rule change 

imposes any burden on competition not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purpose of the Act. 

(C) Clearing Agency’s Statement on 

Comments on the Proposed Rule 

Change Received From Members, 

Participants or Others 

Written comments relating to the 

proposed rule change have not been 

solicited or received. ICC will notify the 

Commission of any written comments 

received by ICC. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change for Commission 

Action 

Within 45 days of the date of 

publication of this notice in the Federal 

Register or within such longer period 

up to 90 days (i) as the Commission may 

designate 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 or disapprove 

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 email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– 

ICC–2021–016 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

Send paper comments in triplicate to 

Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–ICC–2021–016. This file 

number should be included on the 

subject line if email 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 website (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 website viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 

10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of such 

filings will also be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of ICE Clear Credit and on ICE 

Clear Credit’s website at https://

www.theice.com/clear-credit/regulation. 

All comments received will be posted 

without change. Persons submitting 

comments are cautioned that we do not 

redact or edit personal identifying 

information from comment submissions. 

You should submit only information 

that you wish to make available 

publicly. All submissions should refer 

to File Number SR–ICC–2021–016 and 

should be submitted on or before 

August 18, 2021. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.15

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–15993 Filed 7–27–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–92466; File No. SR– 

NASDAQ–2021–040] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Notice of 

Filing of Proposed Rule Change To 

Establish the ‘‘Extended Trading 

Close’’ and a New ‘‘Extended Trading 

Close’’ Order Type 

July 22, 2021. 

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 July 12, 

2021, 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. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

The Exchange proposes to amend 

Equity 4, Rule 4702 and Rule 4703, and 

add Rule 4755, to establish the 

‘‘Extended Trading Close’’ and new 

‘‘ETC Eligible LOC’’ and ‘‘Extended 

Trading Close’’ Order Types, as is 

described further below. 

The text of the proposed rule change 

is available on the Exchange’s website at 

https://listingcenter.nasdaq.com/ 

rulebook/nasdaq/rules, at the principal 

office of the Exchange, 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 

Exchange 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 

Exchange 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 Exchange proposes to adopt new 

Equity 4, Rule 4755 3 to establish the 

‘‘Extended Trading Close.’’ The 

Extended Trading Close will allow 

Participants an additional opportunity 

to access liquidity in Nasdaq-listed 

securities at the Nasdaq Official Closing 

Price for a limited period of time after 

the Nasdaq Closing Cross 4 or the LULD 

Closing Cross,5 (collectively, the 

‘‘Closing Cross’’) concludes. The 

Exchange also proposes to amend Rule 

4702 and Rule 4703 to establish new 

‘‘ETC Eligible LOC’’ and ‘‘Extended 

Trading Close’’ Order Types that may 


khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with NOTICES