208 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 1996 / Notices

1 15 U.S.C. § 78s(b)(1) (1998).

2Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36405

(October 20, 1995), 60 FR 55629 [File No. SR–PTC–

95–07] (notice of filing and order granting

accelerated approval of proposed rule change).

3The Commission has modified the text of the

summaries prepared by PTC.

4For further information on SPEED Release 5.6

and changes to PTC’s processing system, refer to

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36377 (October

The NASD believes that the proposed

rule change is consistent with the

provisions of Section 15A(b)(6) of the

Act in that requiring participation in a

program that permits account transfer

instructions and customer accounts to

be transferred entirely by electronic

communications will promote the

protection of investors and the public

interest and enhance the clearance and

settlement system by reducing the

delays associated with the physical

transmission of TIFs and increasing

investor confidence in the

responsiveness of the securities

industry.

(B) Self-Regulatory organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The NASD does not believe that the

proposed rule change will result in any

burden on competition that is not

necessary or appropriate in furtherance

of the purposes of the Act, as amended.

(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

Within 35 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

90 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 the self-regulatory

organization 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, 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 in

the Commission’s Public Reference

Room. Copies of such filing will also be

available for inspection and copying at

the principal office of the NASD. All

submissions should refer to SR–NASD–

95–59 and should be submitted by

January 24, 1996.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority, 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

Johathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–00039 Filed 1–2–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–36624; File No. SR–PTC–

95–08]

Self-Regulatory Organizations;

Participants Trust Company; Notice of

Filing of Proposed Rule Change

Modifying the Opening of Processing

Activity for Security Transactions on a

Permanent Basis

December 21, 1995.

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

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

December 19, 1995, the Participants

Trust Company (‘‘PTC’’) filed with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule

change (File No. SR–PTC–95–08) as

described in Items I, II, and III below,

which Items have been prepared

primarily by PTC. 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 proposed rule change modifies

and makes permanent a ninety day pilot

program that commenced on October

23, 1995, that established the opening of

security processing activity at 8:30 a.m.

instead of the previous time of 7:00 a.m.

For purposes of participant log-ons,

intraparticipant movements of

securities, and the return of securities

collateral to participant positions using

PTC’s Collateral Loan Facility (‘‘CLF’’)

mechanism, PTC will retain the 7:00

a.m. opening time.2

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

In its filing with the Commission, PTC

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. PTC has prepared

summaries, set forth in sections A, B,

and C below, of the most significant

aspects of such statements.3

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and the

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

The purpose of the proposed rule

change is to modify and make

permanent the ninety day pilot program

that commenced on October 23, 1995,

that established the opening of security

processing activity at 8:30 a.m. instead

of the previous time of 7:00 a.m. The

current end-of-day cut-off times will

remain unchanged. Consistent with the

pilot program, PTC’s processing system

will retain the 7:00 a.m. opening time

for purposes of participant log-ons and

intraparticipant movements of securities

into or out of segregated accounts. In

addition, the pilot program will be

modified to permit the return of

securities collateral to participant

positions using the CLF mechanism

beginning at 7:00 a.m.

The proposed rule change will

conform the opening of processing

activity at PTC to the opening time of

the Federal Reserve System’s fedwire.

This will eliminate the hour and a half

window during which time transactions

failing PTC’s credit checks cannot be

processed because participants are

unable to move funds to PTC

(‘‘prefunding’’) until the 8:30 fedwire

opening. The incidence of transactions

that may require prefunding in order to

pass credit checks during this period is

expected to increase after the

implementation of PTC/SPEED

processing Release 5.6, which will

eliminate the posting of securities to a

participant’s abeyance account while

awaiting match by the receiving

participant. Under SPEED Release 5.6,

the abeyance account will be

eliminated, and transactions will be

immediately posted to the deliverer’s

and receiver’s account.4
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 2 / Wednesday, January 3, 1996 / Notices 209

16, 1995), 60 FR 54741 [File No. SR–PTC–95–06]

(notice of filing of proposed rule change.

5 15 U.S.C. § 78q–1(b)(3)(F) (1988).

6 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12) (1994).

1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1) (1988).

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4 (1994).

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36473

(November 9, 1995), 60 FR 58124.

4An American-style option can be exercised on

any business day prior to its expiration date and on

its expiration date.

5A European-style option can only be exercised

during a specified period before it expires.

Based on its experience during the

pilot program, PTC anticipates that the

later opening of processing activity will

have no impact on the settlement

process. PTC will continue to monitor

any effects of the change.

PTC believes that the proposed rule

change is consistent with Section

17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act 5 and the rules

and regulations thereunder because it

facilitates the prompt and accurate

clearance and settlement of securities

transactions and provides for the

safeguarding of securities and funds in

PTC’s custody or control or for which

PTC is responsible.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

PTC does not believe that the

proposed rule change will impose any

burden on competition.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received from

Members, Participants, or Others

PTC has not received written

comments on the proposed rule change.

The pilot program and the proposed

permanent opening of security

processing activity at 8:30 a.m. was

discussed on December 7, 1995, at a

meeting of the PTC Operations

Committee, which consists of

participant representatives. It was the

consensus of the Committee members

that the 8:30 a.m. opening time should

be made permanent and that in addition

to the intraparticipant activities that

retained the 7:00 a.m. opening time

under the pilot program the return of

collateral using the CLF mechanism

should also open at 7:00 a.m.

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 the self-regulatory

organization 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, 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 in

the Commission’s Public Reference

Section, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549. Copies of such

filing will also be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of PTC. All submissions should

refer to file number SR–PTC–95–08 and

should be submitted by January 24,

1996.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.6

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–00019 Filed 1–2–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–36636; International Series

Release No. 910; File No. SR–PHLX–95–62]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Order

Approving Proposed Rule Change by

the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc.,

Relating to the Selective Quoting

Facility for Foreign Currency Options

December 26, 1995.

I. Introduction

On September 18, 1995, the

Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc.

(‘‘PHLX’’ 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 amend the

Selective Quoting Facility (‘‘SQF’’) for

foreign currency options (‘‘FCOs’’) to

reduce the number of FCO strike prices

which the Exchange must make

available for continuous dissemination

to the public throughout the trading

day.

Notice of the proposed rule change

was published for comment and

appeared in the Federal Register on

November 24, 1995.3 No comments

were received on the proposal.

II. Description of the Proposal

The SQF, contained in Commentary

.04 to PHLX Rule 1012, ‘‘Series of

Options Open for Trading,’’ and Floor

Procedure Advice (‘‘Advice’’) F–18,

‘‘FCO Expiration Months and Strike

Prices,’’ is a feature of the Exchange’s

Auto-Quote system which establishes

criteria to determine whether the bid/

ask quotation for each FCO series is

eligible for processing through the

Options Price Reporting Authority

(‘‘OPRA’’) for off-floor dissemination to

vendors. The SQF categorizes each FCO

series as either an ‘‘update strike’’ or a

‘‘non-update strike.’’ ‘‘Non-update’’ or

‘‘inactive’’ strikes are disseminated with

the OPRA indicator ‘‘I’’ and zeroes (e.g.,

000–000) in lieu of a market. When a

series is added to the inactive category,

those bids and offers are no longer

updated in the Exchange’s Auto-Quote

system for dissemination. Because

inactive series are not continuously

updated and disseminated, quotation

processing times are shortened so that

quotes of interest are updated and

disseminated to customers more

quickly. According to the PHLX,

approximately 40% of the Exchange’s

10,000 FCO strike prices are currently

inactive.

Update strikes, for which PHLX

quotes must be made available for

continuous dissemination to the public

throughout the trading day currently

include, at the minimum: (1) the four

strike prices below and the four strike

prices above the underlying price for

American-style options 4 with

expiration dates of the three nearest

mid-month expirations and the three

nearest month-end expirations; and (2)

any other European-style 5 or Americanstyle series where there is open interest

as of the commencement of that date. In

addition, update series may be activated

intra-day at the initiative of the PHLX or

in response to a request from either the

respective specialist or from an FCO

floor official.

The PHLX proposes to amend

Exchange Rule 1012, Commentary .04

and Advice F–18 to (1) categorize series