Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 190 / Monday, October 3, 2005 / Notices 57631 

necessary to evaluate the Chase Petition. 

Two of the questions posed in the NOI, 

pertaining to adequacy of notice, and to 

the use of the Bank One record for 

setting standards for negotiated service 

agreements predicated on pure volumebased discounts, may be of interest to 

interested persons who have not 

intervened in the Bank One case. The 

Commission invites both participants 

and interested persons who have not 

intervened in the Bank One case to 

comment on these or any other 

questions posed in the NOI. Comments 

may be submitted on or before October 

14, 2005. Reply comments may be 

submitted on or before October 24, 

2005. 

NOI questions 6 and 7 may be of 

interest to interested persons who have 

not intervened in the Bank One case, 

and are repeated below. 

NOI question 6: The Commission has 

noted, in PRC Order No. 1443, that 

adequacy of notice is an extremely 

important issue especially where a 

request has been filed under expedited 

rules for functionally equivalent 

agreements. The functionally equivalent 

rules are meant to send a clear signal 

that no new major issues are present in 

the request. Reopening the record opens 

the possibility for consideration of novel 

issues related to pure volume-based 

discount negotiated service agreements. 

Interested persons who have not 

intervened in this docket potentially 

may allege that inadequate notice has 

been provided to alert them to the 

existence of novel and precedent setting 

issues. How should the Commission 

view this potential problem, and what 

possible steps can the Commission take 

to alleviate this situation? 

NOI question 7: The Bank One 

negotiated service agreement is based on 

a declining block rate volume discount 

element and an address correction cost 

savings element. The Bank One 

negotiated service agreement request 

was filed as an agreement functionally 

equivalent to the Capital One negotiated 

service agreement, which also included 

volume discount and cost savings 

elements. The Bank One record was 

developed considering both elements. 

Reopening the Bank One record 

potentially will lead to the 

consideration of issues directly related 

to negotiated service agreements based 

solely on pure volume-based discounts. 

Given this potential, both participants 

and interested persons who have not 

intervened in this docket are invited to 

comment on the use of the Bank One 

docket to potentially decide issues 

related to negotiated service agreements 

based solely on pure volume-based 

discounts. 

IV. Revised Deadline for Comments on 

Chase Petition 

Presiding Officer’s Ruling Granting 

the Postal Service Motion for a Stay and 

Establishing a Date for Replies to the J.P. 

Morgan Chase Petition was issued on 

September 15, 2005 (P.O. Ruling No. 

MC2004–3/9). This ruling established a 

September 29, 2005 date for participants 

to provide responses to the Chase 

Petition. It also stayed previously 

scheduled dates for comments and reply 

comments in regard to the 

Commission’s reconsideration of the 

Bank One decision. In light of the 

Commission’s need to obtain more 

information before issuing a ruling on 

the Chase Petition, the date for 

responses to the Chase Petition shall be 

extended until October 31, 2005. 

The Secretary shall arrange for 

publication of this notice and order in 

the Federal Register. 

III. Ordering Paragraphs 

It is ordered: 

1. Comments in response to Notice of 

Inquiry No. 1 Regarding Status of 

Settlement Agreement, issued 

September 27, 2005, may be submitted 

on or before October 14, 2005. Reply 

comments may be submitted on or 

before October 24, 2005. Interested 

persons who have chosen not to 

intervene in the Bank One case also are 

invited to provide comments. 

2. The date for participants to reply to 

the Petition of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 

to Reopen Record previously 

established by P.O. Ruling No. MC2004–

3/9 shall be extended until October 31, 

2005. 

3. The Secretary shall arrange for 

publication of this notice and order in 

the Federal Register. 

By the Commission. 

Steven W. Williams, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 05–19707 Filed 9–30–05; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release Nos. 33–8619; 34–52522, File No. 

265–23] 

Advisory Committee on Smaller Public 

Companies; Meeting 

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of Meeting of SEC 

Advisory Committee on Smaller Public 

Companies. 

The Securities and Exchange 

Commission Advisory Committee on 

Smaller Public Companies is providing 

notice that it will hold a public meeting 

on Friday, October 14, 2005, at 

Columbia Law School, Jerome Green 

Hall, Room 103, 435 West 116th Street, 

New York, New York, at 1 p.m. The 

meeting will be audio webcast on the 

Commission’s Web site at http:// 

www.sec.gov. 

The agenda for the meeting includes 

hearing oral testimony, primarily from 

investors in small cap companies, and 

considering written statements that have 

been filed with the Advisory Committee 

in connection with the meeting. 

Due Date: Written statements should 

be received on or before October 7, 

2005. 

ADDRESSES: Written statements may be 

submitted by any of the following 

methods: 

Electronic Statements 

• Use the Commission’s Internet 

submission form (http://www.sec.gov/ 

info/smallbus/acspc.shtml); or 

• Send an e-mail message to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File 

Number 265–23 on the subject line; or 

Paper Statements 

• Send paper statements in triplicate 

to Jonathan G. Katz, Committee 

Management Officer, Securities and 

Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE, 

Washington, DC 20549–9303. 

All submissions should refer to File 

No. 265–23. This file number should be 

included on the subject line if e-mail is 

used. To help us process and review 

your statement more efficiently, please 

use only one method. The Commission 

staff will post all statements on the 

Advisory Committee’s Web site (http:// 

www.sec.gov./info/smallbus/ 

acspc.shtml). 

Statements also will be available for 

public inspection and copying in the 

Commission’s Public Reference Room, 

100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 

20549. All statements received will be 

posted without change; we do not edit 

personal identifying information from 

submissions. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. 

Persons wishing to provide oral 

testimony at the meeting should contact 

the SEC staff person listed below by 

October 7, 2005 and submit a written 

statement by the deadline for written 

statements. Sufficient time may not be 

available to accommodate all those 

wishing to provide oral testimony. The 

Co-Chairs of the Advisory Committee 

have reserved the right to select and 

limit the time of witnesses permitted to 

testify at the Advisory Committee 

meeting. 

57632 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 190 / Monday, October 3, 2005 / Notices 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3Amendment No. 1 clarified that the proposed 

rule change was being submitted under Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act and Rule 19b–4(f)(6) 

thereunder. 

4 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii). 

5 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

6See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 49747 

(May 20, 2004) 69 FR 30344 (May 27, 2004) (‘‘Initial 

Approval of ANTE System’’). 

7See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51965 

(July 1, 2005) 70 FR 40082 (July 12, 2005). 

8Amex Rule 900–ANTE(b)(45) defines ‘‘ANTE 

Participant’’ as either the specialist and/or 

registered options trader(s) assigned to trade a 

specific options class on the ANTE System. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Kevin M. O’Neill, Special Counsel, at 

(202) 551–3260, Office of Small 

Business Policy, Division of Corporation 

Finance, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20549–3628. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In 

accordance with Section 10(a) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5 

U.S.C.-App. 1, section 10(a), and the 

regulations thereunder, Gerald J. 

Laporte, Designated Federal Officer of 

the Committee, has ordered publication 

of this notice. 

Dated: September 28, 2005. 

Jonathan G. Katz, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 05–19802 Filed 9–29–05; 12:26 pm] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–52504; File No. SR–Amex–

2005–086] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

American Stock Exchange LLC; Notice 

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness 

of Proposed Rule Change and 

Amendment No. 1 Revising the 

Implementation Date for the ANTE 

System 

September 23, 2005. 

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 

September 1, 2005, the American Stock 

Exchange LLC (‘‘Amex’’ 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 Amex. On September 

20, 2005, the Exchange filed 

Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule 

change.3 Amex filed the proposal, as 

amended, as a ‘‘non-controversial’’

proposed rule change pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 4 and 

Rule 19b–4(f)(6) thereunder.5 The 

Commission is publishing this notice to 

solicit comments on the proposed rule 

change, as amended, from interested 

persons. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

Amex proposes to amend (1) Amex 

Rule 900–ANTE to provide a revised 

date for the completion of the 

implementation of the ANTE System (as 

defined herein) to all option classes; and 

(2) Amex Rule 935–ANTE, Commentary 

.01 to establish a revised date for 

increased floor broker functionality in 

the ANTE System. The text of the 

proposed rule change is available on 

Amex’s Web site (http:// 

www.amex.com), at Amex’s Office of the 

Secretary, 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, 

Amex included statements concerning 

the purpose of, and basis for, the 

proposed rule change, as amended, and 

discussed any comments it received on 

the proposal. 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 

Revised Implementation Date—Amex 

Rule 900–ANTE 

On May 20, 2004, the Commission 

approved Amex’s proposal to 

implement a new options trading 

platform known as the Amex New 

Trading Environment (‘‘ANTE’’) 

System.6 On May 25, 2004, Amex began 

rolling out the ANTE System on its 

trading floor on a specialist’s post-byspecialist’s post basis. At that time, it 

was anticipated the roll-out would be 

completed by the end of the second 

quarter of 2005. The implementation 

date for the full roll-out of the ANTE 

System was subsequently extended to 

August 31, 2005.7 Amex has now rolled 

out the ANTE System to all its option 

classes except two—the Nasdaq 100 

Index (‘‘NDX’’) and the Mini Nasdaq 

Index (‘‘MNX’’). Amex represents that 

there are specific reasons why these 

products have not been rolled out on the 

ANTE System. The specialist in these 

products is concerned that the 

theoretical price calculator provided by 

the ANTE System may not accurately 

price the options on these indexes. The 

specialist is currently waiting for his 

own theoretical index price calculator, 

which has been installed, to 

successfully calculate prices for these 

indexes and the options. Amex expects 

that the MNX/NDX specialist will have 

its proprietary calculator in place by 

October 31, 2005. 

Amex is now proposing to further 

revise its implementation schedule to 

provide that the remaining two option 

classes will be on the ANTE System by 

October 31, 2005. Maintaining two 

systems for the trading of options—the 

legacy system (XTOPS, AODB and 

Auto-Ex) and ANTE—is costly. As a 

result, the Exchange is working 

diligently to have all option classes on 

the ANTE System by October 31, 2005, 

so that it can retire its legacy systems. 

Increased Floor Broker Functionality—

Rule 935–ANTE 

Amex Rule 935–ANTE(b) provides for 

the post trade allocation of contracts 

executed as the result of the submission 

of orders to trade with orders in the 

ANTE Central Book. Under this rule, if 

more than one ANTE Participant 8 and/ 

or floor broker representing a customer 

order submits an order to trade with an 

order in the ANTE Central book within 

a period not to exceed five seconds after 

the initial ANTE Participant has 

submitted its order, all those ANTE 

Participants and/or floor brokers’

customers will be entitled to participate 

in the allocation of any executed 

contracts. Amex represents that the 

ANTE System is currently unable to 

provide the functionality necessary for 

floor brokers representing customer 

orders in the trading crowd the ability 

to directly participate in the post trade 

allocation of orders taken off the Central 

Book. Commentary .01 to Amex Rule 

935–ANTE provides a temporary 

methodology for the specialist to 

disengage the post trade allocation 

system in a specific series, which allows 

the floor broker to alert the specialist 

within the five second timeframe 

whenever his customer wants to 

participate in post trade allocation, and 

allows the specialist to provide for the 

customer’s participation in post trade 

allocation when appropriate. The 

Commission approved the procedures