Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 2016 / Notices 5809 

23See 17 CFR 240.17a–3, 17 CFR 240.17a–4 & 

Rule 440—Equities. 

24 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2). 

25 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 76690 

(December 18, 2015), 80 FR 80430 (‘‘Notice’’). 

4See letters from David LaValle, US Head of 

SPDR ETF Capital Markets, State Street Global 

Advisors, dated January 14, 2016 (‘‘SSGA Letter’’); 

Joanne Medero, US Head of Government Relations 

& Public Policy, Samara Cohen, US Head of iShares 

Capital Markets, Hubert De Jesus, Co-Head of 

Market Structure and Electronic Trading, 

BlackRock, Inc., dated January 14, 2016 

(‘‘BlackRock Letter’’); and Eric Swanson, General 

Counsel & Secretary, BATS Global Markets, Inc., 

dated January 22, 2016 (‘‘BATS Letter’’). 

5See Exchange Rule 7.35(f); see also Notice, 

supra note 3, at 80431. 

designed to prevent fraudulent and 

manipulative acts and practices, to 

promote just and equitable principles of 

trade, to foster cooperation and 

coordination with persons engaged in 

facilitating transactions in securities, to 

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 and that the rules are not 

designed to permit unfair 

discrimination between customers, 

issuers, brokers, or dealers. 

Based on the Exchange’s 

representations, the Commission 

believes that eliminating the Rule 410B 

reporting requirement will not reduce 

the amount of publicly available 

information about securities 

transactions and that it is not likely to 

hamper the ability of the Exchange to 

conduct regulatory oversight of its 

members. The Commission notes that 

Rule 410B does not currently provide 

for real-time, publicly disseminated 

reporting of transactions, but instead 

requires non-public, electronic reporting 

of trade data to the Exchange on a nextday basis for regulatory purposes only. 

The Commission further notes that the 

Exchange represents that its members 

would remain subject to federal and 

Exchange books-and-records 

requirements 23 and that Exchange 

members would still be required to 

provide such trade data to the Exchange 

upon the Exchange’s request. For these 

reasons, the Commission believes that 

the proposal should help to prevent 

fraudulent and manipulative acts and 

practices, 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, protect investors and the public 

interest. 

IV. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,24 that the 

proposed rule change (SR–NYSE–2015– 

48) be, and hereby is, approved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.25

Robert W. Errett, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2016–01924 Filed 2–2–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Submission for OMB Review; 

Comment Request 

Upon Written Request, Copies Available 

From: Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 

100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 

20549–2736. 

Extension: 

Form N–8F, OMB Control No. 3235–0157, 

SEC File No. 270–136. 

Notice is hereby given that, pursuant 

to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities 

and Exchange Commission (the 

‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the 

Office of Management and Budget a 

request for extension of the previously 

approved collection of information 

discussed below. 

Form N–8F (17 CFR 274.218) is the 

form prescribed for use by registered 

investment companies in certain 

circumstances to request orders of the 

Commission declaring that the 

registration of that investment company 

cease to be in effect. The form requests 

information about: (i) The investment 

company’s identity, (ii) the investment 

company’s distributions, (iii) the 

investment company’s assets and 

liabilities, (iv) the events leading to the 

request to deregister, and (v) the 

conclusion of the investment company’s 

business. The information is needed by 

the Commission to determine whether 

an order of deregistration is appropriate. 

The Form takes approximately 5.2 

hours on average to complete. It is 

estimated that approximately 150 

investment companies file Form N–8F 

annually, so the total annual burden for 

the form is estimated to be 

approximately 780 hours. The estimate 

of average burden hours is made solely 

for the purposes of the Paperwork 

Reduction Act and is not derived from 

a comprehensive or even a 

representative survey or study. 

The collection of information on Form 

N–8F is not mandatory. The information 

provided on Form N–8F is not kept 

confidential. An agency may not 

conduct or sponsor, and a person is not 

required to respond to, a collection of 

information unless it displays a 

currently-valid OMB control number. 

The public may view the background 

documentation for this information 

collection at the following Web site, 

www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be 

directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the 

Securities and Exchange Commission, 

Office of Information and Regulatory 

Affairs, Office of Management and 

Budget, Room 10102, New Executive 

Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, 

or by sending an email to: Shagufta_

Ahmed@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Pamela 

Dyson, Director/Chief Information 

Officer, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, c/o Remi Pavlik-Simon, 

100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549 

or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@

sec.gov. Comments must be submitted to 

OMB within 30 days of this notice. 

Dated: January 29, 2016. 

Robert W. Errett, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2016–01960 Filed 2–2–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–76994; File No. SR– 

NYSEArca–2015–121] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE 

Arca, Inc.; Order Approving Proposed 

Rule Change To Provide for Price 

Collar Thresholds for Trading Halt 

Auctions 

January 28, 2016. 

I. Introduction 

On December 7, 2015, NYSE Arca, 

Inc. (‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section 

19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act 

of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 

thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to 

amend Exchange Rule 1.1(s) to provide 

for price collar thresholds for Trading 

Halt Auctions. The proposed rule 

change was published for comment in 

the Federal Register on December 24, 

2015.3 The Commission received three 

comment letters on the proposed rule 

change.4 This order approves the 

proposed rule change. 

II. Description of the Proposed Rule 

Change 

The Exchange currently conducts 

Trading Halt Auctions under Exchange 

Rule 7.35(f).5 To respond to market 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

5810 Federal Register / Vol. 81, No. 22 / Wednesday, February 3, 2016 / Notices 

6See Notice, supra note 3, at 80431. Currently, 

the Exchange’s rules do not provide for price collar 

thresholds for Trading Halt Auctions. See Exchange 

Rules 1.1(s) and 7.35(f); see also Notice, supra note 

3, at 80430–31. 

7See Notice, supra note 3, at 80431. 

8See id. 

9See proposed Rule 1.1(s)(B). 

10See id. The Exchange states that these proposed 

percentages are based on the ‘‘numerical guideline’’ 

percentages set forth in the Exchange’s Clearly 

Erroneous Executions rule for the Core Trading 

Session. See Notice, supra note 3, at 80431 and 

Exchange Rule 7.10(c)(1). The Exchange further 

states that its proposal is similar in certain respects 

to how BATS Exchange, Inc. prices its Halt 

Auctions for ETPs. See Notice, supra note 3, at 

80431–32. 

11See proposed Rule 1.1(s)(B). 

12See Notice, supra note 3, at 80431. 

13See id. For a more detailed description of the 

proposed rule change, see Notice, supra note 3. 

14 In approving this proposed rule change, the 

Commission has considered the proposed rule’s 

impact on efficiency, competition, and capital 

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

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

16See supra note 4. 

17See SSGA Letter. 

18See id. 

19See BATS Letter, at 1. At the same time, this 

commenter notes that there are additional related 

measures that the Commission and all of the 

exchanges should implement to prevent the 

recurrence of the disruptions of August 24, 2015. 

See id., at 1–2. 

20See BlackRock Letter. This commenter also 

states that the events of August 24, 2015 have 

demonstrated that there is a need to enhance and 

revise the trading mechanisms that aim to protect 

the market from extraordinary volatility. See id. 

This commenter urges the Commission to accelerate 

the adoption of holistic measures to improve the 

resiliency of the U.S. equity market. See id. 

21As noted above, the proposed price collar 

thresholds would sunset six months after the 

operative date of this proposed rule change. See 

proposed Rule 1.1(s)(B). 

22See Notice, supra note 3, at 80431. 

23 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2) 

24 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

events on August 24, 2015, the 

Exchange proposes to adopt specified 

price collar thresholds for Trading Halt 

Auctions.6

According to the Exchange, on August 

24, 2015, it applied price collar 

thresholds to Trading Halt Auctions that 

were 5% for securities with a 

consolidated last sale price of $25.00 or 

less, 2% for securities with a 

consolidated last sale price greater than 

$25.00 but less than or equal to $50.00, 

and 1% for securities with a 

consolidated last sale price greater than 

$50.00.7 The Exchange states its belief 

that these thresholds were too narrow, 

but that it is appropriate to have 

protections in place for Trading Halt 

Auctions to ensure that a re-opening 

trade will not deviate significantly from 

prior prices, even taking into 

consideration natural price movements 

for a security.8

Proposed new Rule 1.1(s)(B) would 

provide that, when the Trading Halt 

Auction Price is established by Rule 

7.35(f)(4)(A), the Limit Orders eligible 

for determining the Indicative Match 

Price would be limited by specified 

price collar thresholds away from the 

last consolidated sale price before the 

Trading Halt Auction.9 As proposed, the 

specified percentage for the price collar 

thresholds for Trading Halt Auctions 

would be 10% for securities with a 

consolidated last sale price of $25.00 or 

less, 5% for securities with a 

consolidated last sale price greater than 

$25.00 but less than or equal to $50.00, 

and 3% for securities with a 

consolidated last sale price greater than 

$50.00.10 These proposed price collar 

thresholds would be in effect until six 

months after the operative date of the 

proposed rule change.11

In the proposal, the Exchange 

represents that it will be conducting an 

analysis to identify what changes, if 

any, would be appropriate to balance 

the need to allow for natural price 

movement in a Trading Halt Auction, 

while at the same time avoiding 

significant price deviations that would 

not be in line with the fair value of 

securities listed on the Exchange, which 

are all Exchange Traded Products.12 The 

Exchange states that, following this 

analysis, it will propose to make the 

price collar thresholds in this proposal 

permanent or propose other or 

additional changes to its re-opening 

auction process.13

III. Discussion and Commission 

Findings 

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.14 In particular, the 

Commission finds that the proposed 

rule change is consistent with Section 

6(b)(5) of the Act,15 which requires, 

among other things, that the rules of a 

national securities exchange be 

designed to prevent fraudulent and 

manipulative acts and practices, to 

promote just and equitable principles of 

trade, to foster cooperation and 

coordination with persons engaged in 

facilitating transactions in securities, to 

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. 

As noted above, the Commission 

received three comment letters on the 

proposed rule change.16 One commenter 

supports the proposed rule change and 

states its belief that price collars are an 

important investor protection, which 

will help avoid potentially clearly 

erroneous trades and strengthen market 

participants’ confidence.17 This 

commenter also states its belief that the 

proposed rule change will help rebuild 

investor confidence in the efficient 

functioning of the marketplace in the 

wake of the volatility experienced in 

August 2015.18 Another commenter also 

supports the proposed rule change and 

states its belief that the proposed change 

will mitigate the recurrence of some of 

the pricing disruption witnessed on 

August 24, 2015.19 One commenter is 

broadly supportive of the proposed rule 

change and its proactive response 

toward improving market resiliency, 

and states that this proposed rule 

change is a step in the right direction.20

The Commission believes that the 

proposed rule change, which would 

widen the Exchange’s price collar 

thresholds for Trading Halt Auctions, is 

appropriate as an interim measure to 

protect investors and the public 

interest.21 As noted above, the Exchange 

will conduct an analysis to determine 

whether to make the proposed price 

collar thresholds permanent or to 

propose other or additional changes to 

its re-opening process.22 In addition, the 

Commission believes that the proposed 

rule change will provide transparency 

with respect to the Exchange’s Trading 

Halt Auction process and enhance 

investors’ understanding of the 

operation of price collars during 

Trading Halt Auctions. For these 

reasons, the Commission believes that 

the proposed rule change is consistent 

with the Act. 

IV. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,23 that the 

proposed rule change (SR–NYSEArca– 

2015–121) be, and hereby is, approved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.24

Robert W. Errett, 

Deputy Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2016–01930 Filed 2–2–16; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES