Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 33 / Friday, February 17, 1995 / Notices 9415

1 15 U.S.C. § 78s(b)(1) (1988).

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4 (1994).

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release Nos. 33–7135; 34–35368 File No.

265–20]

Advisory Committee on the Capital

Formation and Regulatory Processes

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange

Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The Chairman of the

Commission, with the concurrence of

the other members of the Commission

intends to establish the Securities and

Exchange Commission Advisory

Committee on the Capital Formation

and Regulatory Processes

(‘‘Committee’’), which will advise the

Commission regarding the informational

needs of investors and the regulatory

costs imposed on the U.S. securities

markets.

The first meeting of the Committee

will be held on March 6, 1995 in room

1C30 at the Commission’s main offices,

450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

beginning at 10:00 a.m. The meeting

will be open to the public, and the

public is invited to submit written

comments to the Committee.

ADDRESSES: Written comments should

be submitted in triplicate and should

refer to File No. 265–20. Comments

should be submitted to Jonathan G.

Katz, Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20549.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Meridith Mitchell, Special Counsel,

Office of the General Counsel, at 202–

942–0890; Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20549.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: In

accordance with the requirements of the

Federal Advisory Committee Act, 5

U.S.C. App., the Securities and

Exchange Commission has directed

publication of this notice that Chairman

Arthur Levitt, with the concurrence of

the other members of the Commission,

intends to establish the ‘‘Securities and

Exchange Commission Advisory

Committee on the Capital Formation

and Regulatory Processes.’’ Chairman

Levitt certifies that he has determined

that the creation of the Committee is

necessary and in the public interest.

The Committee’s charter directs the

Committee to assist the Commission in

evaluating the efficiency and

effectiveness of the regulatory process

and the disclosure requirements relating

to public offerings of securities,

secondary market trading and corporate

reporting, and in identifying and

developing means to minimize costs

imposed by current regulatory

programs, from the perspective of

investors, issuers, the various market

participants, and other interested

persons and regulatory authorities.

To achieve the Committee’s goals,

members will be appointed that can

represent effectively the varied interests

affected by the range of issues to be

considered. The Committee’s

membership may include, among

others, persons who can represent

investors, issuers, market participants,

independent public accountants,

regulators and the public at large. The

Commission expects that the

Committee’s members will represent a

variety of viewpoints and have varying

experience, and that the Committee will

be fairly balanced in terms of points of

view, backgrounds and tasks. The

Chairman of the Committee will be

Commissioner Steven M.H. Wallman.

The Committee will conduct its

operations in accordance with the

provisions of the Federal Advisory

Committee Act. The duties of the

Committee will be solely advisory.

Determinations of action to be taken and

policy to be expressed with respect to

matters upon which the Advisory

Committee provides advice or

recommendations shall be made solely

by the Commission.

The Committee will meet at such

intervals as are necessary to carry out its

functions. It is expected that meetings of

the full Committee generally will occur

no more frequently than nine times;

meetings of subgroups of the full

Advisory Committee will likely occur

more frequently. The Securities and

Exchange Commission will provide

necessary support services to the

Committee.

The Committee will terminate at the

end of one year from the date of its

establishment unless, prior to such time,

its charter is renewed in accordance

with the Federal Advisory Committee

Act, or unless the Chairman, with the

concurrence of the other members of the

Commission, determines that

continuance of the Committee is no

longer in the public interest.

Fifteen days after publication of this

notice in the Federal Register, a copy of

the charter of the Committee will be

filed with the Chairman of the

Commission, the Senate Committee on

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

and the House Committee on

Commerce. A copy of the charter will

also be furnished to the Library of

Congress and placed in the

Commisssion’s Public Reference Room

for public inspection.

Furthermore, upon establishment of

the Committee, and in accordance with

section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory

Committee Act, 5 U.S.C. App. 10a,

notice is hereby given that the first

meeting of the Committee will be held

on March 6, 1995 in room 1C30 at the

Commission’s main offices, 450 Fifth

Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.,

beginning at 10:00 a.m. The meeting

will be open to the public. The purpose

of this meeting will be to discuss

general organizational matters, to plan

the progression of the Committee’s

work, and to begin discussion of the

effects of the current regulatory scheme

on capital formation in the United

States.

Dated: February 13, 1995.

By the Commission.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–4058 Filed 2–16–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–35360; File No. SR–Amex–

94–50]

Self-Regulatory Organizations;

American Stock Exchange, Inc.; Order

Granting Approval to Proposed Rule

Change Relating to Proposed

Commentary .02 to Rule 60

February 13, 1995.

Introduction

On November 14, 1994, the American

Stock Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Amex’’ or

‘‘Exchange’’) submitted to the Securities

and Exchange Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or

‘‘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

codify the Amex’s agreement with the

New York Stock Exchange (‘‘NYSE’’)

whereby the NYSE will not be held

liable for damages sustained by an

Amex member’s or member

organization’s use of any NYSE system,

service, or facility.

The proposed rule change was

published for comment in Securities

Exchange Act Release No. 35146

(December 23, 1994), 60 FR 516 (January

4, 1995). No comments were received on

the proposal.

II. Background and Discussion

The proposed rule change emanates

from several licensing agreements

between the NYSE and Amex. For

example, in 1993 the Amex licensed the

NYSE electronic display book for
9416 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 33 / Friday, February 17, 1995 / Notices

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 32140

(April 14, 1993), 58 FR 21327 (April 20, 1993).

4The NYSE acknowledges that under New York

State Common Law, a liability disclaimer such as

the instant one does not insulate the NYSE from

loss due to the gross negligence or willful

misconduct. Conversation between Steve Abrams

and Michael Simon, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley &

McCloy, Counsel to NYSE, and Amy Bilbija,

Attorney, Commission, dated December 2, 1994.

5For example, the Commission has approved

limited disclaimers of liability for licensors of the

indexes underlying index options. See, e.g.,

Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 31382

(October 30, 1992), 57 FR 52802 (November 5, 1992)

(regarding options on Russell 2000 Index); and

19908 (June 24, 1983), 48 FR 30815 (July 5, 1983)

(regarding options on Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock

Price Index).

6 15 U.S.C. § 78f(b) (1988).

7 15 U.S.C. 78q–1 (1988).

8 15 U.S.C. § 78s(b)(2) (1988).

9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12) 1994.

equities. As part of that licensing

agreement, the NYSE required that it be

protected from liability for damages

sustained by Amex members and

member organizations using the display

book on the Amex floor. Consequently,

the Amex adopted a policy statement

disclaiming NYSE liability for such

damages.3

Most recently, the Amex entered into

an agreement with the NYSE to integrate

the Amex’s Equity Intra-Day

Comparison System (‘‘IDC’’) into the

NYSE’s On-Line Comparison System

(‘‘OCS’’), so that Amex equity and bond

transactions can be compared through

OCS. This will enable members to

utilize the same computer terminal for

the comparison of both Amex and NYSE

securities and thus lessen the cost to the

member firm community. The

integration is being accomplished in

two steps. Amex listed corporate bonds

began to be compared through OCS on

October 21, 1994, and equities are

expected to be phased in by the end of

the first quarter of 1995.

As the Amex may enter into

additional agreements with the NYSE in

the future relating to the use of other

NYSE systems, services, or facilities by

Amex member firms, this proposal

would codify a liability disclaimer

provision to cover not only the current

situation involving the use of OCS, but

also all future situations where Amex

member firms are using other NYSE

facilities in accordance with similar

agreements with the NYSE.4 The Amex

plans to disseminate proposed

Commentary .02 to its Rule 60 to the

membership, upon SEC approval.

The Commission notes that the Amex

Constitution (Article IV, Section 2(e))

currently provides that the Exchange

shall not be liable for any damages

incurred by a member firm growing out

of its use of the facilities afforded by the

Exchange for the conduct of its business

(which includes the use of the

Exchange’s trading systems), except as

the Exchange may otherwise provide.

Further, the NYSE Constitution has a

similar provision regarding use of its

facilities by its members. Finally, the

Commission notes that the terms of the

proposed Commentary are merely a

codification of the contractual

agreements between the Amex and the

NYSE wherein the Amex has agreed to

disclaim NYSE’s liability under the

specified circumstances referred to

herein.

The Commission believes that it is

reasonable for the NYSE to be released

from liability for injuries sustained by

Amex members and member

organizations using the NYSE’s OCS. As

noted above, the proposed rule change

is similar to existing Amex and NSE

rules that limit exchange liability. In

addition, under similar circumstances,

the Commission has allowed licensee

exchanges to release licensors from

certain liability for damages resulting

from use of their product.5 Finally, the

Commission wishes to emphasize that

this disclaimer only affects NYSE

liability for losses sustained by Amex

members and member organizations

using OCS and does not extend to

customer-related losses.

III. Conclusion

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, and, in particular, with the

requirements of Section 6(b).6 In

particular, the Commission believes the

proposal is consistent with the Section

6(b)(5) requirements that the rules of an

exchange be designed to promote just

and equitable principles of trade, and to

foster cooperation and coordination

with persons engaged in regulating,

clearing, settling, processing

information with respect to, and

facilitating transactions in securities.

The Commission also finds that the

proposal is consistent with Section

17A 7 in that it furthers the use of new

data processing and communications

techniques that should result in more

accurate clearance and settlement of

securities transactions.

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to

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

proposed rule change (SR–Amex–94–

50) is approved.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.9

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 95–4043 Filed 2–16–95; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–35363; International Series

Release No. 785 File No. SR–Amex–95–04]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change By

the American Stock Exchange, Inc.

Relating to the Listing of Warrants

Based on the Value of the U.S. Dollar

in Relation to the Mexican Peso

February 13, 1995.

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 February 8, 1995,

the American Stock Exchange, Inc.

(‘‘Amex’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) 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 Amex. 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 Exchange proposes to approve for

listing and trading under section 106 of

the Amex Company Guide (‘‘Guide’’)

warrants based on the value of the U.S.

dollar in relation to the Mexican peso

(‘‘Mexican Peso Warrants’’). The text of

the proposed rule change is available at

the Office of the Secretary, the Amex,

and at the Commission.

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

Exchange included statements

concerning the purpose of and basis for

the proposed rule change and discuss

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

Amex 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 the

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

Under section 106 (Currency and

Index Warrants) of the Guide, the

Exchange may approve for listing

warrants based on the relation of the