Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 96 / Thursday, May 16, 1996 / Notices 24849

10The NYSE circular will be submitted to the

Commission for its review and should include,

among other things, a discussion of those risks

which may cause commodities to experience

volatile price movements in addition to details on

the pricing methodology to be used for that

particular issuance.

11As discussed above, members of the policy

committee are expressly prohibited from trading

Securities and from communicating any knowledge

concerning changes in the value of the underlying

commodities. The NYSE has advised that it has

surveillance procedures in place to periodically

review activity in the Securities, including the

ability to monitor any activity in the Securities by

members of the JPMCI. Telephone conversation

between Vincent Patten, NYSE, and Stephen M.

Youhn, SEC, on May 7, 1996.

12Paragraph 703.19(1) of the Manual states that

if the issuer is a NYSE-listed company, the issuer

must be a company in good standing (i.e., above

Continued Listing Criteria): if an affiliate of an

NYSE-listed company, the NYSE-listed company

must be a company in good standing; if not listed,

the issuer must meet NYSE specific original listing

standards. These standards, among other things, set

forth minimum requirements for net tangible assets,

net income, and aggregate market value of publicly

held shares.

13The Commission notes that a Rule 19b–4 filing

might be required in order to list any other

derivative product based upon a commodity

interest that differs from the proposed Securities.

14 15U.S.C. 78s(b)(2) (1988).

15 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

contracts. The Commission notes that

this provision will effectively terminate

a Securities investor’s exposure to

commodity market risk at the security’s

maturity and limit an investor’s loss to

the amount of his initial investment.

Finally, the Exchange plans to distribute

a circular to its membership calling

attention to the specific risks associated

with Securities.10 This will assist

members in determining the customers

eligible to trade Securities, formulating

recommendations in Securities, and in

monitoring customer and firm

transactions in Securities.

The Commission also believes that

several factors significantly minimize

the potential for manipulation of

Securities. First, each of the futures

contracts overlying the commodities is

relatively actively traded, and has

considerable open interest. Second, the

majority of futures contracts overlying

the component commodities trade on

exchanges that impose position limits

on speculative trading activity, which

are designed, and serve, to minimize

potential manipulation and other

market impact concerns. Third, as

discussed below, the NYSE has entered

into certain surveillance sharing

agreements with each of the futures

exchanges upon which the underlying

designated futures contracts trade.

These agreements should help to ensure

the availability of information necessary

to detect and deter potential

manipulations and other trading abuses,

thereby making Securities less readily

susceptible to manipulation. Fourth, the

price of Securities (with respect to those

commodities traded in the U.S.) will be

calculated every 60 seconds and

disseminated to vendors of electronic

financial information. Fifth, adequate

procedures are in place to prevent the

misuse of information by members of

the policy committee responsible for

replacements with respect to the

underlying contract.11 Accordingly, for

the reasons discussed above, the

Commission believes that Securities are

not readily susceptible to manipulation

and that in any event, the surveillance

procedures in place are sufficient to

detect and deter potential manipulation.

The Commission notes that Securities,

unlike standardized options, do not

contain a clearinghouse guarantee but

are instead dependent upon the

individual credit of the issuer. This

heightens the possibility that a

purchaser of Securities may not be able

to receive any cash payment due upon

maturity. To some extent this credit risk

is minimized by the Exchange’s listing

guidelines requiring Securities issuers

to comply with the listing requirements

of Para. 703.19(1).12 In addition,

financial information regarding the

issuer will be disclosed or incorporated

in the prospectus accompanying the

offering of Securities.

Based on the above, the Commission

finds that the proposal to trade the

Securities is consistent with the Act,

and, in particular, the requirements of

Section 6(b)(5).13

The Commission finds good cause for

approving the proposed rule change

prior to the thirtieth day after the date

of publication of notice thereof in the

Federal Register in order to allow NYSE

to list the Securities without delay. The

proposal will provide the Exchange

with increased flexibility in the listing

of commodity linked products without

compromising investor protection

concerns. In addition, the NYSE

proposal is nearly identical to the Amex

ComPS proposal, with the securities

being based on the same commodities

underlying the futures contracts, and

subject to the same valuation methods

used for ComPS. The Amex proposal

was subject to the full notice and

comment period and the Commission

notes that no comment letters were

received. Accordingly, the Commission

does not believe the NYSE proposal

raises any new or unique regulatory

issues. For these reasons, the

Commission believes there is good

cause, consistent with Sections 6(b)(5)

and 19(b)(2) of the Act, to approve the

proposed rule change on an accelerated

basis.

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, 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, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. Copies of such filing

will also be available for inspection and

copying at the principal office of the

above-mentioned self-regulatory

organization. All submissions should

refer to the file number in the caption

above and should be submitted by June

6, 1996.

It therefore is ordered, pursuant to

Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,14 that the

proposed rule change (SR–NYSE–96–

08) is approved.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.15

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–12235 Filed 5–15–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Request for Comments

The U.S. Small Business

Administration’s (SBA) Office of

Government Contracting requests

comments on a possible Agency

initiative to develop a concept for the

provision of Value Added Services

(VAS) to small businesses seeking

Federal procurement opportunities

through electronic commerce and

electronic data interchange (EC/EDI). It

is envisioned that these services would

be priced using a fee schedule

determined through negotiations with

the SBA. It is important to note that the

Agency does not intend to compete with

existing value-added-network (VAN)

service providers. Rather, the SBA seeks

to increase substantially the exposure of
24850 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 96 / Thursday, May 16, 1996 / Notices

small businesses to the various

processes associated with participating

in EC/EDI. The SBA is exploring the

possibility of soliciting proposals from

interested offerors at a later date.

However, at this time, no decision has

been made on proceeding with a

procurement action.

Background

The mission of the SBA’s Office of

Government Contracting is to advocate,

facilitate and create an environment

conducive to the maximum practicable

participation by small, small

disadvantaged, and women-owned

businesses in Federal procurement. This

includes awards made by the U.S.

Government and subcontracts awarded

by its large prime contractors. The

direction of Federal procurement policy

was substantially altered by a 1993

memorandum from the President

directing the heads of departments and

agencies to re-engineer the procurement

process by developing and

implementing a system for Federal EC/

EDI. The Federal Acquisition

Streamlining Act (FASA) of 1994

dubbed the resulting systems

architecture as FACNET, and

established the initial statutory

framework necessary to transition

Federal purchasing activities to EC/EDI.

Consistent with the provisions of the

President’s memorandum, electronic

purchasing initially focused on the

millions of requirements filled using

simplified acquisition procedures, the

ceiling for which was raised by FASA

to a maximum of $100K for FACNETcertified purchasing activities.

Simplified acquisitions, which are

reserved primarily for small businesses,

have been conducted increasingly via

FACNET.

A major component of the current

FACNET systems architecture is its

Centralized Contractor Registration

(CCR) data base. The purposes of the

FACNET CCR include: (1) Eliminating

redundancy by standardizing the

contractor registration procedure across

the Government; and (2) providing a

common data base for compiling and

sharing trading partner information. The

concept for which the SBA is seeking

comments is rooted in the critical need

for increased contractor participation in

EC/EDI. The concept is centered around

the identification, pricing and delivery

of value added services (VAS) to small

businesses by a single provider.

Purpose

The purpose of this request for

comments is to solicit information,

observations and suggestions on the

feasibility and nature of establishing

and supporting a VAS provider with a

vehicle that would:

1. Offer lower introductory VAS

prices to small businesses for a period

not to exceed one year so that small

businesses would be encouraged to

participate in EC/EDI, and, based on

that exposure, make informed decisions

about continued participation.

2. Provide those SBA offices who are

actively involved in EC/EDI outreach

and counseling, with an established

source of affordable VAS to which small

businesses could be directed.

3. Dramatically increase the

population of firms centrally registered

for FACNET.

General Specifications: Any Value

Added Network (VAN) services

provided by the established source

would be provided through a VAN

certified by the Defense Information

Services Agency Contracting Office

(DITCO), and such VAN services would

be provided in accordance with the

VAN licensing agreement signed by the

VAN and DITCO. Additionally, the

established VAS provider would ensure

that each small business recruited

pursuant to any agreement is

successfully registered on the CCR and

certified for FACNET transactions.

SBA’s Role in Outreach: SBA would

distribute information on the services

and pricing of the established VAS to

the Agency’s Regional and District

Offices, Business Information Centers

(BICs), Government Contracting Area

Directors, Procurement Center

Representatives, Women’s

Demonstration Project Sites, Small

Business Development Centers,

Management and Technical Assistance

Providers, One-Stop Capital Shops,

Small Business Utilization Staffs, and

other entities involved in promoting or

assisting in small business

development.

The following individual is

designated as the point of contact for

responses which must be submitted in

writing before the close of business on

June 21, 1996. Submission of comments

by mail, FAX or INTERNET E-mail is

acceptable: Oliver H. Snyder III, 409 3rd

Street SW, Office Code-6254,

Washington, D.C. 20416. Phone

Number: 202–205–7650.FAX Number:

202–205–7324. Internet Address:

ohs@pa.sba.gov.

Judith A. Roussel

Associate Administrator, for Government

Contracting.

[FR Doc. 96–12331 Filed 5–15–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF STATE

[Public Notice No. 2385]

Advisory Committee on International

Law; Notice of Meeting

A meeting of the Advisory Committee

on International Law will take place on

Tuesday, June 11, 1996, from 2:00 to

approximately 5:00 p.m., as necessary in

Room 1406 of the U.S. Department of

State, 2201 C Street, NW., Washington,

DC. The meeting will be chaired by the

Legal Adviser of the Department of

State, Conrad K. Harper, and will be

open to the public up to the capacity of

the meeting room. The meeting will

focus on a review of current

International Court of Justice litigation,

International Court of Justice and

International Law Commission elections

during 1996, and other current

developments.

Entry to the building is controlled and

will be facilitated by advance

arrangements. Members of the public

desiring access to the session should, by

Friday, June 7, 1996 notify the Office of

the Assistant Legal Adviser for United

Nations Affairs (telephone (202) 647–

2767) of their name, Social Security

number, date of birth, professional

affiliation, address and telephone

number in order to arrange admittance.

The above includes government and

non-government attendees. All

attendees must use the ‘‘C’’ Street

entrance. One of the following valid IDs

will be required for admittance: Any

U.S. driver’s license with photo, a

passport, or a U.S. Government agency

ID.

Dated: May 6, 1996.

John R. Crook,

Assistant Legal Adviser for United Nations

Affairs; Executive Director, Advisory

Committee on International Law.

[FR Doc. 96–12248 Filed 5–15–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4710–08–M

[Public Notice No. 2387]

Shipping Coordinating Committee;

Subcommittee for the Prevention of

Marine Pollution; Notice of Meeting

The Subcommittee for the Prevention

of Marine Pollution (SPMP), a

subcommittee of the Shipping

Coordinating Committee, will conduct

an open meeting on Tuesday, June 25,

1996, at 9:30 am in Room 2415 of the

U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters, 2100

Second Street, SW., Washington, DC.

The purpose of this meeting will be to

review the agenda items to be

considered at the thirty-eighth session

of the Marine Environment Protection