53036 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 171 / Tuesday, September 6, 2005 / Notices 

4On July 28, 2000, the Commission approved a 

national market system plan for the purpose of 

creating and operating an intermarket options 

market linkage (‘‘Linkage’’) proposed by the 

American Stock Exchange, LLC, Chicago Board 

Options Exchange, Inc., and the ISE. See Securities 

Exchange Act Release No. 43086 (July 28, 2000), 65 

FR 48023 (August 4, 2000). Subsequently, the 

Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc., the Pacific 

Exchange, Inc. and the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc. 

joined the Linkage Plan. See Securities Exchange 

Act Release Nos. 43573 (November 16, 2000), 65 FR 

70851 (November 28, 2000); 43574 (November 16, 

2000), 65 FR 70850 (November 28, 2000); and 49198 

(February 5, 2004), 69 FR 7029 (February 12, 2004). 

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 52069 

(July 20, 2005), 70 FR 43203 (July 26, 2005). 

6 In approving this proposed rule change, the 

Commission has considered the proposed rule’s 

impact on efficiency, competition, and capital 

formation. 15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 

7 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5) 

8 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

imposed by the Plan for the Purpose of 

Creating and Operating an Intermarket 

Option Linkage (‘‘Linkage Plan’’) 4 and 

related rules. 

The proposed rule change was 

noticed for comment in the Federal 

Register on July 26, 2005.5 The 

Commission received no comments on 

the proposed rule change. This order 

approves the proposed rule change. 

II. Description 

The purpose of this proposed rule 

change is to implement proposed Joint 

Amendment No. 17 to the Linkage Plan. 

Joint Amendment No. 17, together with 

this proposed rule change, would 

establish a de minimis exception to the 

‘‘80/20 Test’’ set forth in Section 8(b)(iii) 

of the Linkage Plan and ISE Rule 1904. 

Section 8(b)(iii) of the Linkage Plan 

permits market makers to access away 

markets on a limited basis for their own 

principal trading. The Linkage Plan 

enforces this limitation via the 80/20 

Test, which generally requires at least 

80 percent of a market maker’s trading 

volume in an option class to be on its 

own exchange for the market maker to 

be able to use Linkage to send Principal 

Orders for its own account in that class. 

If a market maker ‘‘fails’’ the 80/20 Test 

in an option class during a calendar 

quarter, it cannot send Principal Orders 

through Linkage in that class during the 

next calendar quarter. 

The options exchanges have agreed to 

adopt a de minimis exception to the 80/ 

20 Test. As proposed by the Exchange, 

the 80/20 Test would not apply to any 

market maker that has total volume of 

less than 1,000 contracts in an option 

during a calendar quarter. At this low 

volume, even a small number of 

Principal Orders could result in the 

market maker being disqualified from 

Linkage in that class for a calendar 

quarter. The Exchange believes that this 

proposed exception would address such 

concerns. 

III. Discussion 

After careful review, the Commission 

finds that the proposed rule change is 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Act and the rules and regulations 

thereunder applicable to a national 

securities exchange.6 In particular, the 

Commission finds that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the 

requirements of Section 6(b)(5) of the 

Act 7 which requires, among other 

things, that the rules of an exchange be 

designed to promote just and equitable 

principles of trade, to remove 

impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market, 

and to protect investors and the public 

interest. The Commission believes that 

the proposed rule change will increase 

the availability of Linkage to members 

of the Participants by limiting the 

applicability of the 80/20 Test in 

situations where market makers have 

minimal trading volume in a particular 

options class. 

The Commission recognizes that the 

Exchange does not believe that it is 

necessary to bar market makers with 

limited volume from sending Principal 

Orders through the Linkage, as such 

trading does not raise concerns that a 

member is sending such orders as ‘‘a 

primary aspect of their business.’’ The 

Commission believes that the de 

minimis exemption from the 80/20 Test 

proposed by the Exchange for market 

makers that have a total contract volume 

of less than 1,000 contracts in an 

options class for a calendar quarter 

should ensure that members with 

relatively low volume in a particular 

options class can send a reasonable 

number of Principal Orders without 

being barred from using the Linkage by 

application of the 80/20 Test in the 

following calendar quarter. 

IV. Conclusion 

For the foregoing reasons, the 

Commission finds that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with the 

requirements of the Act and the rules 

and regulations thereunder. 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,8 that the 

proposed rule change (SR–ISE–2005–23) 

is approved. 

For the Commission by the Division of 

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated 

authority.9

Margaret H. McFarland, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E5–4830 Filed 9–2–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

Notice Seeking Exemption Under 

Section 312 of the Small Business 

Investment Act, Conflicts of Interest 

Notice is hereby given that Odyssey 

Venture Partners II, L.P. (‘‘Applicant’’), 

610 Newport Center Drive, Suite 1400, 

Newport Beach, CA 92660, an SBIC 

Applicant under the Small Business 

Investment Act of 1958, as amended 

(‘‘the Act’’), in connection with the 

financing of a small concern, has sought 

an exemption under section 312 of the 

Act and section 107.730, Financings 

which Constitute Conflicts of Interest, of 

the Small Business Administration 

(‘‘SBA’’) rules and regulations (13 CFR 

107.730 (2004)). Odyssey Venture 

Partners II, L.P. proposes to provide 

equity financing to Oryxe Energy 

International, Inc., 6 Thomas Avenue, 

Irvine, CA 92618. The financing is 

contemplated for working capital and 

research & development. 

A conflict of interest exemption is 

required because the Oryxe investment 

is considered financing of an Associate 

under 13 CFR 107.730(a). Oryxe is an 

Associate of the Applicant for two 

reasons: (1) Affiliates of Applicant, 

Odyssey Strategic Partners (OSP) and 

Odyssey Strategic Equity (OSE), had a 

greater than 10 percent fully diluted 

investment in Oryxe prior to 

Applicant’s initial investment; (2) 

Walter Schindler, one of Applicant’s 

principals, serves as chairman and CEO 

of Oryxe. 

Notice is hereby given that any 

interested person may submit written 

comments on the transaction to the 

Associate Administrator for Investment, 

U.S. Small Business Administration, 

409 Third Street, SW., Washington, DC 

20416. 

Jaime Guzma ́n-Fournier, 

Associate Administrator for Investment 

[FR Doc. 05–17581 Filed 9–2–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8625–01–M 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[Disaster Declaration # 10167 and # 10168] 

FLORIDA Disaster # FL–00007 

AGENCY: Small Business Administration. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: This is a notice of an 

Administrative declaration of a disaster 

for the State of Florida dated 08/25/ 

2005. 

Incident: Severe Storms and Flooding. 

Incident Period: 07/29/2005 through 

08/14/2005. 

DATES: Effective Date: 08/25/2005.