46746 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 158 / Thursday, August 19, 2021 / Notices 

12 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

4The term ‘‘Marketable’’ is defined in Rule 

900.2NY(39) to mean, for a Limit Order, the price 

matches or crosses the NBBO on the other side of 

the market and that market orders are always 

considered marketable. 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 

If the Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

should be approved or 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– 

NASDAQ–2021–061 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–NASDAQ–2021–061. 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 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. 

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–NASDAQ–2021–061 and 

should be submitted on or before 

September 9, 2021. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.12

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17761 Filed 8–18–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–92668; File No. SR– 

NYSEAMER–2021–36] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE 

American LLC; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change To Amend Rule 952NY To 

Provide an Option for ATP Holders To 

Instruct the Exchange To Cancel 

Marketable Orders if a Series Is Not 

Opened Within a Specified Time Period 

August 13, 2021. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3

notice is hereby given that on August 

10, 2021, NYSE American LLC (‘‘NYSE 

American’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed 

with the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the 

proposed rule change as described in 

Items I and II 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 

Rule 952NY (Opening Process) to 

provide an option for ATP Holders to 

instruct the Exchange to cancel 

Marketable orders if a series is not 

opened within a specified time period. 

The proposed rule change is available 

on the Exchange’s website at 

www.nyse.com, 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 

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 IV 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 the 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange proposes to amend 

Rule 952NY (Opening Process) to 

provide an option for ATP Holders to 

instruct the Exchange to cancel 

Marketable 4 orders if a series is not 

opened within a specified time period. 

Rule 952NY sets forth the Exchange’s 

process for opening and reopening a 

series for trading. Rule 952NY(b) 

provides that the Exchange will accept 

market and limit orders for inclusion in 

the opening auction process (‘‘Auction 

Process’’) until such time as the Auction 

Process is initiated in that option series. 

As further provided for in Rule 

952NY(b), once the primary market for 

the underlying security disseminates a 

quote and a trade that is at or within the 

quote, the Exchange will open the 

related option series automatically 

based on the principles and procedures 

set forth in paragraphs (A)–(F) of Rule 

952NY(b). However, as described in 

Rule 952NY(b)(D), the Exchange will 

not conduct an Auction Process if the 

bid-ask differential for that series is not 

within an acceptable range, i.e., is not 

within the bid-ask differential 

guidelines established in Rule 

925NY(b)(4). Because Rule 952NY(b)(D) 

cross-references the bid-ask differential 

requirement of Rule 925NY(b)(4), which 

relates to the obligations of Market 

Makers in appointed classes, the 

Exchange will not open a series for 

trading if Market Makers have not 

entered quotations in a series that are 

within such bid-ask differentials. If a 

series does not open for trading, market 

and limit orders entered in advance of 

the Auction Process will remain in the 

Consolidated Book and will not be 

routed, even if another exchange opens 

that series for trading and such orders 

become Marketable against an away 

market NBBO. 

The Exchange proposes to amend 

Rule 952NY to provide ATP Holders 


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Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 158 / Thursday, August 19, 2021 / Notices 46747 

5The Exchange proposes a non-substantive 

amendment to Rule 952NY to renumber current 

subparagraph (d) to that Rule as subparagraph (e). 

6The term ‘‘Core Trading Hours’’ is defined in 

Rule 900.2NY(15) to mean the regular trading hours 

for business set forth in the rules of the primary 

markets underlying those option classes listed on 

the Exchange. 

7See, e.g., Commentary .03 to Rule 928NY (Risk 

Limitation Mechanism) (providing that the 

Exchange will ‘‘specify via Trader Update any 

applicable time period(s) for the Risk Limitation 

Mechanisms; provided, however, that the Exchange 

will not specify a time period of less than 100 

milliseconds, inclusive of the duration of any 

trading halt occurring within that time’’). The 

Exchange also provides for flexibility in its rules for 

other risk mechanism parameters. See, e.g., Rule 

967NY(b) (‘‘Unless determined otherwise by the 

Exchange and announced to ATP Holders via 

Trader Update, the specified percentage shall be as 

follows: 100% for the contra-side NBB or NBO 

priced at or below $1.00; and 50% for the contraside NBB or NBO priced above $1.00.’’) 

8As defined in Rule 900.2NY(20), the term 

‘‘Electronic Order Capture System’’ or ‘‘EOC’’ 

means the Exchange’s electronic audit trail and 

order tracking system that provides an accurate 

time-sequenced record of all orders and 

transactions on the Exchange. As further defined, 

the EOC includes the electronic communications 

interface between EOC booth terminals and the 

Floor Broker Hand Held applications and also 

contains an electronic order entry screen. 

9 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4) and (5). 

with an option to instruct the Exchange 

to cancel their Marketable orders if an 

option series has not been opened 

within a specified time period. As 

proposed, new subparagraph (d) to Rule 

952NY 5 would provide that an ATP 

Holder may instruct the Exchange to 

cancel all Marketable orders in a series, 

including GTC Orders, if that series has 

not opened within a designated time 

period after the Exchange receives 

notification that the primary market for 

the underlying security has 

disseminated a quote and a trade that is 

at or within the quote. This proposed 

change is designed to provide ATP 

Holders that electronically enter orders 

before Core Trading Hours 6 begin in a 

multitude of option series with an 

optional risk protection mechanism for 

the Exchange to automatically cancel 

Marketable orders on their behalf. ATP 

Holders could submit requests to cancel 

such orders themselves, but would have 

to monitor which series have been 

opened on the Exchange. The proposed 

optional functionality would reduce 

operational risk for ATP Holders that 

sent orders in multiple series by 

providing them with a bulk cancel 

feature that would instruct the Exchange 

to cancel orders on their behalf if a 

series has not been opened by a 

specified time. Specifically, rather than 

have Marketable orders remain 

unexecuted on the Consolidated Book if 

the option series has not opened on the 

Exchange within a specified time 

period, ATP Holders would have the 

option to instruct the Exchange to 

cancel such orders back to the ATP 

Holder. Once cancelled back, the ATP 

Holder could choose to re-enter such 

orders on an exchange that has opened 

that series for trading. 

The Exchange further proposes to 

provide that the Exchange would not 

cancel any Marketable orders received 

after the designated time period ends, 

even if the series has not yet opened. 

The Exchange believes that if an ATP 

Holder sends an order in an option 

series to the Exchange after Core 

Trading Hours begin, and more than the 

designated time period after the primary 

market for the underlying security has 

opened (i.e., the series open trigger), 

such ATP Holder should be aware that 

the Exchange has not opened that series 

for trading when it sends the order to 

the Exchange, and therefore intends for 

such order to be sent to the Exchange 

even though it has not yet opened that 

series for trading. 

Proposed Rule 952NY(d) would also 

provide that the designated time period 

would be two minutes, unless 

determined otherwise by the Exchange 

and announced to ATP Holders via 

Trader Update, in which case the 

designated time period would not be 

greater than five minutes. The Exchange 

believes that a two-minute period would 

provide time for Market Makers to 

update their quotes after the Exchange 

receives the series open trigger so that 

the bid-ask differential in an option 

series can be within an acceptable range 

and therefore the series can open for 

trading on the Exchange. Specifically, 

the Exchange has observed that on a 

typical trading day, nearly 98% of all 

series are opened by 9:32 a.m. Eastern 

Time, and nearly 99% of all series are 

opened by 9:35 a.m. Eastern Time. By 

waiting two minutes before cancelling 

orders, the Exchange believes that the 

majority of series would be opened, 

thereby minimizing the number of series 

where there would be a bulk cancel of 

Marketable orders. In addition, ATP 

Holders that want to cancel orders less 

than two minutes after the series open 

trigger would still be able to submit 

requests to cancel individual orders. 

The Exchange further believes that it is 

appropriate to provide the Exchange 

with the ability to adjust the designated 

time period via Trader Update to no 

more than five minutes because it 

would provide additional flexibility for 

the Exchange to respond to the needs of 

ATP Holders to implement the 

instruction to cancel Marketable orders 

on a different time basis. The Exchange 

believes that a cap of five minutes 

would be reasonable because very few 

series remain unopened five minutes 

after the series open trigger. The 

Exchange notes that this is an optional 

instruction, and therefore no ATP 

Holder is required to use this proposed 

new risk feature. The Exchange further 

notes that Exchange flexibility in 

connection with designating time 

periods for risk limitation measures is 

consistent with current Exchange rules.7

Finally, proposed Rule 952NY(d) 

would provide that this instruction 

would not be available for orders 

entered by Floor Brokers via the 

Electronic Order Capture System.8 The 

current EOC provider could not 

systemically apply the proposed 

optional instruction on a firm-by firm 

basis and therefore it would not be 

available to individual Floor Brokers. 

The Exchange believes that because of 

the unique role of Floor Brokers on the 

Exchange to provide manual, high-touch 

services on behalf of customers, Floor 

Brokers should not need this optional 

feature. Specifically, unlike an off-Floor 

ATP Holder that may be relying on an 

algorithm to send orders in a multitude 

of series, a Floor Broker that provides 

high-touch services would be present on 

the Trading floor and in a position to 

monitor whether the Exchange has 

opened a series, and if not, whether to 

cancel an order that becomes 

Marketable. 

The Exchange will announce via 

Trader Update when this proposed 

optional feature will be available, 

which, subject to effectiveness of this 

proposed rule change, the Exchange 

anticipates will be in early August 2021. 

2. Statutory Basis 

For the reasons set forth above, the 

Exchange believes the proposed rule 

change is consistent with Section 6(b) of 

the Act 9 in general, and furthers the 

objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) and (5) of 

the Act,10 in that it is designed to 

promote just and equitable principles of 

trade, remove impediments to and 

perfect the mechanism of a free and 

open market and a national market 

system and, in general, to protect 

investors and the public interest. 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change would remove 

impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system because it 

is designed to provide ATP Holders 

with an optional risk protection 

mechanism to instruct the Exchange to 

cancel Marketable orders in an option 

series on their behalf if that series has 

not opened on the Exchange within a 


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46748 Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 158 / Thursday, August 19, 2021 / Notices 

11See supra note 7. 

12 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

13 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6)(iii) requires a self-regulatory organization to 

give the Commission written notice of its intent to 

file the proposed rule change, along with a brief 

description and text of the proposed rule change, 

at least five business days prior to the date of filing 

of the proposed rule change, or such shorter time 

as designated by the Commission. The Exchange 

has satisfied this requirement. 

specified time period. The Exchange 

does not open a series if Market Makers 

have not quoted within the acceptable 

range of bid-ask differentials as 

specified in Rule 925NY(b)(4). However, 

it is possible that another exchange, 

with different opening process rules, 

could have opened that series for 

trading even if the Exchange does not. 

If an order that an ATP Holder sent to 

the Exchange before Core Trading Hours 

begins becomes Marketable on another 

exchange before the Exchange opens 

that series for trading, such ATP Holder 

could choose to cancel the order and 

then send it to the other exchange. By 

providing ATP Holders with an option 

to instruct the Exchange to cancel their 

Marketable orders in a series under the 

specified circumstances, the Exchange 

would perform this monitoring function 

on behalf of ATP Holders, thereby 

reducing their operational risk. 

The Exchange believes that it would 

remove impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system to provide 

that such instructions would not be 

applicable to Marketable orders received 

after the designated time period ends 

because the Exchange believes that ATP 

Holders that send orders to the 

Exchange more than a specified period 

after series open trigger should be aware 

that the Exchange has not yet opened 

that series for trading. Therefore, any 

orders sent after that designated time 

period ends were likely purposefully 

directed to the Exchange even though 

the Exchange has not yet opened that 

series for trading. 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed designated time period of two 

minutes would remove impediments to 

and perfect the mechanism of a free and 

open market and a national market 

system because it is designed to provide 

time for Market Makers to update their 

quotes so that the bid-ask differential in 

an option series is within an acceptable 

range and therefore the series can open 

for trading on the Exchange. The 

Exchange believes that the proposed 

two-minute period is reasonable 

because on a typical trading day, 

approximately 98% of all series that 

trade on the Exchange are open. ATP 

Holders that want to cancel orders less 

than two minutes after the series open 

trigger would still be able to submit 

requests to cancel individual orders. 

The Exchange further believes that 

providing the Exchange with flexibility 

to change the designated time period via 

Trader Update, provided that it would 

never be longer than five minutes, 

would enable the Exchange to respond 

to the needs of ATP Holders to 

implement the instruction to cancel 

Marketable orders on a different time 

basis. The Exchange believes that the 

proposed cap of five minutes would 

remove impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system because 

on a typical day, approximately 99% of 

all series are opened by 9:35 a.m. 

Eastern Time. The Exchange further 

notes that this proposed risk mechanism 

would be optional, and therefore ATP 

Holders would not be required to 

request that the Exchange cancel 

unexecuted Marketable orders on their 

behalf if a series has not opened within 

the designated time period. In addition, 

Exchange flexibility in connection with 

designating time periods for risk 

limitation measures is consistent with 

current Exchange rules.11

Finally, the Exchange believes that 

the proposal that the optional 

instruction would not be available for 

orders entered by Floor Brokers via the 

EOC would remove impediments to and 

perfect the mechanism of a free and 

open market and a national market 

system because the current EOC 

provider could not systemically apply 

the proposed optional instruction on a 

firm-by firm basis. The instruction 

could therefore not be segregated by 

individual Floor Brokers that each use 

the EOC. The Exchange believes that 

because of the unique role of Floor 

Brokers on the Exchange to provide 

manual, high-touch services on behalf of 

customers, Floor Brokers should not 

need this optional bulk-cancel feature. 

Specifically, unlike an off-Floor ATP 

Holder that may be relying on an 

algorithm to send orders in a multitude 

of series, a Floor Broker that provides 

high-touch services would be present on 

the Trading floor and in a position to 

monitor whether the Exchange has 

opened a series, and if not, whether to 

cancel an order that becomes 

Marketable. 

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. The 

Exchange does not believe the proposed 

rule change would impose any burden 

on intermarket competition, as the 

proposed rule change is designed to 

provide an option for ATP Holders to 

instruct the Exchange to cancel 

Marketable orders if an option series 

does not open on the Exchange within 

a designated time period. The Exchange 

believes that the proposed rule change 

would promote intermarket competition 

because if the Exchange cancels such 

orders on the instruction of an ATP 

Holder, such ATP Holder could then 

choose to route such orders to another 

exchange that has opened the option 

series for trading. 

The Exchange does not believe that 

the proposed rule change would impose 

any burden on intramarket competition 

that is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act 

because the proposed rule change 

provides for optional functionality. ATP 

Holders would not be required to use 

this functionality. In addition, the 

Exchange believes that because of the 

unique role of Floor Brokers on the 

Exchange to provide manual, high-touch 

services on behalf of customers, Floor 

Brokers should not need this optional 

bulk-cancel feature and it would not 

impose any undue burden on 

intramarket competition not to provide 

this optional feature to Floor Brokers. 

Specifically, unlike an off-Floor ATP 

Holder that may be relying on an 

algorithm to send orders in a multitude 

of series, a Floor Broker that provides 

high-touch services would be present on 

the Trading floor and in a position to 

monitor whether the Exchange has 

opened a series, and if not, whether to 

cancel an order that becomes 

Marketable. 

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 

Because the foregoing proposed rule 

change does not: (i) Significantly affect 

the protection of investors or the public 

interest; (ii) impose any significant 

burden on competition; and (iii) become 

operative for 30 days from the date on 

which it was filed, or such shorter time 

as the Commission may designate, it has 

become effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 12 and Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6) thereunder.13


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1
Federal Register / Vol. 86, No. 158 / Thursday, August 19, 2021 / Notices 46749 

14 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

15 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii). 

16For purposes only of waiving the 30-day 

operative delay, the Commission also has 

considered the proposed rule’s impact on 

efficiency, competition, and capital formation. See 

15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 17 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

A proposed rule change filed under 

Rule 19b–4(f)(6) 14 normally does not 

become operative prior to 30 days after 

the date of the filing. However, pursuant 

to Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii),15 the 

Commission may designate a shorter 

time if such action is consistent with the 

protection of investors and the public 

interest. The Exchange has requested 

that the Commission waive the 30-day 

operative delay so that the proposed 

rule change may become operative prior 

to 30 days after the date of the filing. 

The Exchange states that waiver of the 

operative delay would be consistent 

with the protection of investors and the 

public interest because the proposed 

rule change, as described above, would 

offer ATP Holders an additional, and 

optional, risk limitation feature to 

instruct the Exchange to cancel their 

Marketable orders if the Exchange does 

not open an option series within a 

designated time frame. The Exchange 

further states that the technology 

supporting the proposed rule change 

will be available prior to 30 days after 

the date of the filing, and the Exchange 

seeks to implement the proposed rule 

change without delay. For these reasons, 

the Commission believes that waiver of 

the 30-day operative delay is consistent 

with the protection of investors and the 

public interest. Accordingly, the 

Commission hereby waives the 

operative delay and designates the 

proposed rule change operative upon 

filing.16

At any time within 60 days of the 

filing of the proposed rule change, the 

Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend such rule change if 

it appears to the Commission that such 

action is necessary or appropriate in the 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

change should be approved or 

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– 

NYSEAMER–2021–36 on the subject 

line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street, NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–NYSEAMER–2021–36. 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 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. 

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–NYSEAMER–2021–36, and 

should be submitted on or before 

September 9, 2021. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.17

J. Matthew DeLesDernier, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17757 Filed 8–18–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF STATE 

[Public Notice 11503] 

Certification Related to Foreign Military 

Financing for Colombia Under 

Regulations of the Department of 

State, Foreign Operations, and Related 

Programs Appropriations Act, 2021 

Pursuant to the authority vested in the 

Secretary of State, including under 

section 7045(b)(2)(B) of the Department 

of State, Foreign Operations, and 

Related Programs Appropriations Act, 

2021 (Div. K, Pub. L. 116–260), I hereby 

certify that: 

(i) The Special Jurisdiction for Peace 

and other judicial authorities are taking 

effective steps to hold accountable 

perpetrators of gross violations of 

human rights in a manner consistent 

with international law, including for 

command responsibility, and sentence 

them to deprivation of liberty; 

(ii) the Government of Colombia is 

taking effective steps to prevent attacks 

against human rights defenders and 

other civil society activists, trade 

unionists, and journalists, and judicial 

authorities are prosecuting those 

responsible for such attacks; 

(iii) the Government of Colombia is 

taking effective steps to protect AfroColombian and indigenous communities 

and is respecting their rights and 

territory; 

(iv) senior military officers 

responsible for ordering, committing, 

and covering up cases of false positives 

are being held accountable, including 

removal from active duty if found guilty 

through criminal or disciplinary 

proceedings; and 

(v) the Government of Colombia has 

investigated and is taking steps to hold 

accountable Government officials 

credibly alleged to have directed, 

authorized, or conducted illegal 

surveillance of political opponents, 

government officials, journalists, and 

human rights defenders, including 

through the use of assets provided by 

the United States for combating 

counterterrorism and counternarcotics 

for such purposes. 

This Certification shall be published 

in the Federal Register and shall be 

transmitted, along with the 

accompanying Memorandum of 

Justification, to Congress. 

Dated: July 29, 2021. 

Antony J. Blinken, 

Secretary of State. 

[FR Doc. 2021–17755 Filed 8–18–21; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4710–29–P 


lotter on DSK11XQN23PROD with NOTICES1