3630 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2001 / Notices

7 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).

8 15 U.S.C. 78o-3.

9See supra note 4.

10 17 U.S.C. 78o-3.

11 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).

12 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

3Securities Exchange Act Release No. 43769

(December 22, 2000), 66 FR 826 (January 4, 2001).

4Securities Exchange Act Release No. 43768

(December 22, 2000), 66 FR 824 (January 4, 2001).

Street, NW., Washington, DC. 20549–

0609. 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 provision

of the 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for

inspection and copying in the

Commission’s Public Reference Room.

Copies of such filing will also be

available for inspection and copying at

the principal office of the NASD. All

submissions should refer to File No.

SR–NASA–00–75 and should be

submitted by February 6, 2001.

IV. Commission Findings and Order

Granting Accelerated Approval of

Proposed Rule Change

NASD Dispute Resolution has

requested that the Commission find

good cause pursuant to Section

19(b)(2) 7 for approving the proposed

rule change and Amendment No. 1 prior

to the 30th day after publication in the

Federal Register. The Commission finds

that the proposed rule change and

Amendment No. 1 are consistent with

the requirements of the Act and the

rules and regulations thereunder

applicable to the NASD and, in

particular, the requirements of Section

15A of the Act and the rules and

regulations thereunder.8 Rule 10335 is

intended to provide a pilot system

within the NASD arbitration forum to

process requests for temporary

injunctive relief. Rule 10335 is intended

principally to facilitate the disposition

of employment disputes, and related

disputes, concerning members who file

for injunctive relief, to prevent

registered representatives from

transferring their client accounts to their

new firms.

The Commission finds good cause for

approving the proposed rule change and

Amendment No. 1 prior to the 30th day

after the date of publication of notice of

filing thereof in that accelerated

approval will permit members to have

the benefit of injunctive relief in

arbitration pending Commission action

on the rule filing proposing to amend

Rule 10335 and make it a permanent

part of the Code.9 Amendment No. 1

makes several technical changes to the

proposal and adds the statutory basis to

the rule filing. The Commission

believes, therefore, that granting

accelerated approval of the proposed

rule change, as amended, is consistent

with Section 15A of the Act.10

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,11 that the

proposed rule change (SR–NASD–00–

75), as amended, is approved on an

accelerated basis through January 4,

2002.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.12

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–1155 Filed 1–12–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–43814; File No. SR–NASD–

00–79]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

the National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc. Relating to EWN II Fees

for NASD Members

January 8, 2001.

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 December

21, 2000, the National Association of

Securities Dealers, Inc. (‘‘NASD’’ or

‘‘Association’’), through its whollyowned subsidiary, the Nasdaq Stock

Market, Inc. (‘‘Nasdaq’’), filed with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

(‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘SEC’’, the proposed

rule change as described in Items I, II,

and III below, which Items have been

prepared by Nasdaq. 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

Nasdaq is filing this proposed rule to

pass on costs associated with increasing

the bandwidth of the Enterprise Wide

Network II (‘‘EWN II’’) to NASD

members for the period December 1–12,

2000. Nasdaq previously filed under

Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) a proposed rule

change to increase the fees beginning

December 13, 2000, which was

immediately effective upon filing.3

Nasdaq also filed a parallel rule filing to

effect amendments to the EWN II fee

structure to apply to non-NASD

members.4 Below is the text of the

proposed rule change. Proposed new

language is in italics; proposed

deletions are in brackets.

7010. System Services

(a)–(e) No Change

(f) Nasdaq Workstation Service

(1) No Change

(2) The following charges shall apply

to the receipt of Level 2 or Level 3

Nasdaq Service via equipment and

communications linkages prescribed for

the Nasdaq Workstation II Service:

Service Charge $1.875/month per service

delivery platform

(‘‘SDP’’) from December

[13] 1, 2000 through

February 28, 2001

$2,035/month per SDP beginning March 1, 2001

Display Charge $525/month per presentation device (‘‘PD’’)

Additional Circuit/SDP

Charge

$3,075/month from December [13] 1, 2000

through February 28,

2001, and 3,225/month

beginning March 1,

2001*

A subscriber that accesses Nasdaq

Workstation II Service via an

application programming interface

(‘‘API’’) shall be assessed the Service

Charge for each of the subscriber’s SDPs

and shall be assessed the Display Charge

for each of the subscriber’s API linkages,

including an NWII substitute or quoteupdate facility. API subscribers also

shall be subject to the Additional

Circuit/SDP Charge.

* No change to footnotes

* * * * *

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

In its filing with the Commission,

Nasdaq 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. Nasdaq has prepared

summaries, set forth in sections A, B,

and C below, of the most significant

aspects of such statements.

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 10 / Tuesday, January 16, 2001 / Notices 3631

5Subscriber Bulletins are mailed to Nasdaq

Workstation II subscribers and also may be found

at www.nasdaqtrader.com/trader/news/

subscriberbulletins.

6Securities Exchange Act Release No. 43769

(December 22, 2000).

7 Id.

8 15 U.S.C. 78o–3(b)(5).

9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

3The Exchange filed its proposed rule change on

November 16, 2000. On December 15, 2000,

however, the Exchange filed Amendment No. 1,

which clarified that the proposed fee is comparable

to the fee charged by the Philadelphia Stock

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Phlx’’). See Letter from Hassan

Abedi, Attorney, Regulatory Policy, PCX, to Susie

Cho, Attorney, Division of Market Regulation

(‘‘Division’’), Commission (December 15, 2000).

4The term ‘‘Broker-Dealer’’ as used in this rule

filing will include transactions in which a market

maker is trading for a customer account, any trade

for a joint back officer (‘‘JBO’’) account, all trades

for a firms account, except trades in which the firm

is trading with its own customer on contra side.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

1. Purpose

In the September/October 2000 issue

of Nasdaq’s Subscriber Bulletin,5

Nasdaq announced that it had increased

the bandwidth of its Enterprise Wide

Network II from 128 kilobits (‘‘kb’’) to

192 kb. This increased bandwidth

provides Nasdaq with the ability to

support increased share volume and net

products and trading applications that

will be introduced. A description of the

history of EWN II and the recent

bandwidth increase may be found in

SR–NASD–00–73.6 Subscriber Bulletin

also announced that the increased cost

of the expanded bandwidth ($375 per

month per circuit) would be passed on

to Nasdaq subscribers beginning

December 1, 2000. Nasdaq absorbed all

of the increased costs for the month of

November 2000.

On December 13, 2000, the

Commission received Nasdaq’s

proposed rule change to amend the

subscriber fees for NASD members as

described above.7 Because the filing was

made under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii),

which makes the rule change

immediately effective upon filing with

the Commission, the fee increase

became effective as of December 13,

2000. In this filing, Nasdaq seeks to

recover the costs associated with the

expanded bandwidth for the period of

December 1–12, 2000, as announced in

the Subscriber Bulletin.

2. Statutory Basis

Nasdaq believes that the proposed

rule change is consistent with the

provisions of Section 15A(b)(5) of the

Act 8 which requires that the rules of the

NASD provide for the equitable

allocation of reasonable dues, fees and

other charges among members and

issuers and other persons using any

facility or system which the NASD

operate or controls. Nasdaq provided its

subscribers with ample advance notice

of the fee increase, and has limited the

fee increase to the additional cost that

it is incurring as a result of the

expanded bandwidth. Nasdaq did not

pass on the costs of the expanded

bandwidth to subscribers that Nasdaq

incurred in November 2000. As such,

Nasdaq believes that it is equitably

allocating charges among members for

the use of EWN II during the period of

December 1–12, 2000.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

Nasdaq does not believe that the

proposed rule change will impose any

burden on competition that it 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

Nasdaq has not solicited or received

written comments on the proposed rule

change.

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 NASD 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.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW,

Washington, DC 20549–0609. 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 maybe 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. Copies of such filing will also be

available for inspection and copying at

the principal office of the NASD. All

submissions should refer to file number

SR–NASD–00–79 and should be

submitted by February 6, 2001.

For the Commission by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.9

Margarety H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–1195 Filed 1–12–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–43811; File No. SR–00–38]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness

of Proposed Rule Change by the

Pacific Exchange, Inc. Modifying its

Options Trade-Related Transaction

Charges and Changing its Firm

Transaction Fee

January 5, 2001

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 November

16, 2000, the Pacific Exchange, Inc.

(‘‘PCX’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

(‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed

rule change as described in Items I, II,

and III below, which Items have been

prepared by the Exchange.3 The

Commission is publishing this notice to

solicit comments on the proposed rule

change, as amended.

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Terms of Substance of

the Proposed Rule Change

The Exchange proposes to amend its

Schedule of Rates and Charges to create

a new fee category in the transactions

portion of the ‘‘PCX Options: TradeRelated Charges.’’ The new fee category

will be entitled ‘‘Broker-Dealer.’’ 4 The

PCX also seeks to change the fees

charged for firm transactions.