2412 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 5 / Monday, January 9, 1995 / Notices

8 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12) (1994).

1See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 34955

(November 9, 1994), 59 FR 59810.

2The Pilot Program is the first phase of a system

in which the Board ultimately intends to make

available transaction information which is both

comprehensive and contemporaneous. In other

phases, information for institutional and retail

customer transactions will be added to the system.

In a recent letter to the Commission, the Board

outlined the four-phase plan, of which the present

fee filing applies to phase one. See letter from

Robert Drysdale, Chairman, MSRB, to Arthur Levitt,

Chairman, SEC, dated November 3, 1994. The Board

will submit to the Commission a proposed rule

change prior to the implementation of each planned

phase.

promote competition among depository

users.

(C) Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on that

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants, or Others

DTC has not sought or received

comments on the proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

Within thirty-five 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 ninety 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 DTC 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.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street NW.,

Washington, DC 20549. 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 inspection and copying in

the Commission’s Public Reference

Room, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549. Copies of such

filing will also be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of DTC. All submissions should

refer to the file number SR–DTC–94–16

and should be submitted by January 30,

1995.

For the Commission by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.8

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–381 Filed 1–6–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–35181; File No. SR–MSRB–

94–18]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness

of Proposed Rule Change by the

Municipal Securities Rulemaking

Board Relating to Fees for

Subscription to the Transaction

Reporting Pilot Program

December 30, 1994.

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’), 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1), notice is

hereby given that on December 16, 1994,

the Municipal Securities Rulemaking

Board, Inc. (‘‘MSRB’’ or ‘‘Board’’) filed

with the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the

proposed rule change as described in

Items I, II and III below, which Items

have been prepared by the selfregulatory 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 MSRB is filing herewith a

proposed rule change to establish a fee

for an annual subscription to a Service

(the ‘‘Service’’) which will provide daily

reports of transaction data from the

Board’s Transaction Reporting Pilot

Program (‘‘the Pilot Program’’). The

Board will charge a fee for the Service

equal to a yearly rate of $15,000. The

proposed fee is structured to defray the

Board’s cost of disseminating the

transaction data and to defray, in part,

the cost of collecting and compiling

inter-dealer transaction data that will be

used in the Pilot Program both for the

Service and for a comprehensive

surveillance database. The Board does

not expect or intend to make a profit

from the Service, and will review the fee

annually to determine whether

adjustments are necessary.

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 these statements may be examined at

the places specified in Item IV below.

The self-regulatory organization 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

Background and Description of the

Pilot Program. On November 9, 1994,

the Commission approved the Board’s

plan for the Pilot Program for collecting

inter-dealer transaction data and the

production and sale of daily transaction

reports containing certain summarized

data about the inter-dealer transactions.1

Operation of the Pilot Program is

planned to commence with reporting of

inter-dealer trades on or after January 2,

1995.2 As part of the Pilot Program, the

Board also will make information on all

inter-dealer trades in municipal

securities available to the Commission

and other regulatory agencies in a

‘‘surveillance database’’ to assist in

inspection and enforcement of Board

rules. This data on specific transactions,

which will include the identity of

dealers, will not be publicly available

and will not be included in the Service.

The Pilot Program will collect interdealer transaction data by using data

submitted to the automated comparison

system for inter-dealer municipal

securities transactions. The transaction

reports will provide aggregate data

about market volume on the previous

business day and will provide summary

price and volume data about those

issues that were traded at or above a

threshold number of times on that day.

For each of these issues, the report will

provide high, low and average prices of

the transactions in the issue, along with

the total par value traded and the

number of trades in the issue. The

average prices (but not the high and low

prices) will be calculated based upon

those trades in a ‘‘band’’ of $100,000 to

$1 million par value. The prices and par

values of individual transactions will

not be included in the transaction

reports, but will be available to the

enforcement agencies in the

surveillance database.

As part of the Service, the Board will

provide the transaction reports to the
Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 5 / Monday, January 9, 1995 / Notices 2413

3A paper copy of each transaction report will be

made available in the Board’s Public Access

Facility, located at 1640 King Street, Suite 300,

Alexandria, Virginia. There will be no charge for

viewing the report. Documents in the Public Access

Facility can be copied at a cost of 20 cents per page

plus sales tax.

4 15 U.S.C. 78O–4(b)(2)(C) (1988).

5 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A) (1988).

6 15 CFR 240.19b-4(e) (1994). 1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1) (1988).

subscribers for public use by

approximately 6:00 a.m. on the first

business day after the trade. The reports

will be electronically disseminated to

subscribers by computer modem.3

The Service will be made available to

all interested persons on equal terms. In

particular, the Board will ensure that

interested persons are provided access

to the reports on a non-discriminatory

basis and in a manner that would not

confer special or unfair economic

benefit to any person. The Board also

will encourage and facilitate the redissemination of the reports by private

information vendors so that the widest

possible spectrum of market

participants can be reached.

Cost and Fees. Total system

development costs, hardware and

software acquisition, and other start-up

expenses for the Pilot Program are

estimated to be $500,000 to $600,000.

These costs include the common

computer system that will be used for

generating and managing the daily

transaction reports as well as operation

of the surveillance database. Yearly

operating costs, including the costs of

producing and disseminating the

transaction reports and the costs of

operating the surveillance database are

expected to approximate $500,000 to

$600,000. The Board estimates that it

may have 20 subscribers to the Service,

which would generate $300,000 a year

in revenue at the annual subscription

rate of $15,000. These revenues are

expected to be sufficient to pay the

entire marginal costs of operating the

Service, including the cost of producing

the transaction reports, and should also

cover a portion of the basic data

processing costs for the Pilot Program,

i.e., the common computer hardware

and software that is needed to operate

both the Service and the surveillance

database. The Board believes that this

Plan will produce a fair allocation of

Pilot Program costs.

2. Statutory Basis

The Board believes the proposed rule

change is consistent with Section

15B(b)(2)(C) of the Act, which requires,

in pertinent part, that the Board’s rules

shall:

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 regulating, clearing,

settling, processing information with respect

to, and facilitating transactions in municipal

securities, to remove impediments to and

perfect the mechanism of a free and open

market in municipal securities, and, in

general, to protect investors and the public

interest. * * *4

The Pilot Program is designed to

increase the integrity and efficiency of

the municipal securities market by,

among other things, helping to ensure

that the price charged for an issue in the

secondary market reflects all available

price information about that issue.

Moreover, the availability of aggregate

data about market activity and certain

volume and price information about

municipal securities will promote

investor confidence in the market and

its pricing mechanisms. The Board

believes that the fee for the Service is

fair and reasonable in light of costs

associated with compiling and

disseminating the information, and that

the Service is available on reasonable

and non-discriminatory terms to any

interested person.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The Board does not believe that the

proposed rule change will impose any

burden on competition not necessary or

appropriate in furtherance of the

purposes of the Act, since the Service

will be made available to all interested

persons on an equal basis and the fee

will be applied equally to all persons

who wish to subscribe to the Service.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants or Others

Written comments were neither

solicited nor received.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

The foregoing rule change establishes

or changes a due, fee, or other charge

imposed by the MSRB and therefore has

become effective pursuant to Section

19(b)(3)(A) of the Act,5 and

subparagraph (e) of Rule 19b–4

thereunder.6 At any time within 60 days

of the filing of such proposed rule

change, the Commission may summarily

abrogate 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.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views and

arguments concerning the foregoing.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20549. 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 inspection and copying at

the Commission’s Public Reference

Room. Copies of such filing will also be

available for inspection and copying at

the principal office of the MSRB. All

submissions should refer to File No.

SR–MSRB–94–18 and should be

submitted by January 30, 1995.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority, 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–426 Filed 1–6–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–35180; File No. SR–NASD–

94–54]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Proposed Rule Change by the

National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc. Relating to Position and

Exercise Limits for Equity Options

Overlying Securities Not Subject to

Standardized Options Trading

December 30, 1994.

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’),1 notice is hereby given that on

October 12, 1994, the National

Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.

(‘‘NASD’’ or ‘‘Association’’) 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 the NASD. The

Commission is publishing this notice to

solicit comments on the proposed rule

change from interested persons.