Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 111 / Friday, June 7, 1996 / Notices 29145

1Securities Exchange Act Release No. 28899

(February 20, 1991), 56 FR 8377 (‘‘Exemption

Order’’). AZX also operates pursuant to a no-action

letter regarding non-registration as a broker-dealer,

clearing agency, transfer agent, and securities

information processor. Letter regarding Wunsch

Auction Systems, Inc. (February 28, 1991) (‘‘Noaction Letter’’).

2Securities Exchange Release No. 35922 (June 30,

1995), 60 FR 35445 (July 7, 1995), soliciting

comment on Amendment to Application for

Exemption from Registration as a National

Securities Exchange. File No. 10–100 (May 31,

1995).

3AZX is more fully described in the Exemption

Order and in the No-action Letter.

4Where there is not sufficient eligible interest on

one side of a transaction to satisfy all eligible

interest on the other side of the transaction, eligible

orders entered earlier in time will be filled first

under AZX’s time priority rules.

5For example, a participant may specify that it is

willing to purchase ABC stock, and sell PQR stock,

but only if the proceeds received from the sale of

PQR exceed by a specified amount the money spent

on purchasing ABC.

Retirement Board for determining

entitlement to and amount of the

annuity applied for.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:

Copies of the form and supporting

documents can be obtained from Chuck

Mierzwa, the agency clearance officer

(312–751–3363). Comments regarding

the information collection should be

addressed to Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad

Retirement Board, 844 North Rush

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611–2092 and

the OMB reviewer, Laura Oliven (202–

395–7316), Office of Management and

Budget, Room 10230, New Executive

Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20503.

Chuck Mierzwa,

Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 96–14341 Filed 6–6–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905–01–M

Agency Forms Submitted for OMB

Review

SUMMARY: In accordance with the

Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44

U.S.C. Chapter 35), the Railroad

Retirement Board has submitted the

following proposal(s) for the collection

of information to the Office of

Management and Budget for review and

approval.

SUMMARY OF PROPOSAL(S):

(1) Collection title: Application for

Reimbursement for Hospital Services in

Canada.

(2) Form(s) submitted: AA–104.

(3) OMB Number: 3220–0086.

(4) Expiration date of current OMB

clearance: July 31, 1996.

(5) Type of request: Extension of a

currently approved collection.

(6) Respondents: Individuals or

households.

(7) Estimated annual number of

respondents: 45.

(8) Total annual responses: 45.

(9) Total annual reporting hours: 8.

(10) Collection description: The

Railroad Retirement Board administers

the Medicare program for persons

covered by the railroad retirement

system. The collection obtains the

information needed to determine

eligibility for and the amount due for

covered hospital services received in

Canada.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR COMMENTS:

Copies of the form and supporting

documents can be obtained from Chuck

Mierzwa, the agency clearance officer

(312–751–3363). Comments regarding

the information collection should be

addressed to Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad

Retirement Board, 844 North Rush

Street, Chicago, Illinois 60611–2092 and

the OMB reviewer, Laura Oliven (202–

395–7316), Office of Management and

Budget, Room 10230, New Executive

Office Building, Washington, D.C.

20503.

Chuck Mierzwa,

Clearance Officer.

[FR Doc. 96–14411 Filed 6–6–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 7905–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–37272; File No. 10–100]

Exempted Exchanges; AZX, Inc.; Order

Amending Exemption Order and

Granting Amendment to Application

for Exemption From Registration as an

Exchange Under Section 5 of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934; Final

Order

June 3, 1996.

I. Summary

AZX, Inc., formerly known as Wunsch

Auction Systems; Inc., has requested

that the Commission amend the

exemption order pursuant to which

AZX, Inc. operates the Arizona Stock

Exchange (‘‘AZX’’) without registration

as a national securities exchange.1 The

proposal was published for comment

and two comment letters were

received.2 After evaluating the proposal

and the comment letters, the

Commission concludes that AZX will

continue to meet the statutory standard

governing the granting of an exemption

from registration as a national securities

exchange under the Securities Exchange

Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’). Accordingly, the

Commission hereby amends AZX’s

Exemption Order to: (1) grant AZX Inc.’s

amended application for exemption

from registration as a national securities

exchange, to permit AZX to operate a

single auction during regular trading

hours; and (2) make technical

corrections to the Exemption Order to

conform to changes in the operation of

the system since the Exemption Order

was issued, and to clarify reporting

requirements applicable to AZX under

the Exemption Order.

II. Description of AZX

AZX is a single-price auction system

that facilitates secondary market trading

of registered equity securities by

permitting institutional and brokerdealer participants to enter buy and sell

orders for those securities and have

those orders executed at an

‘‘equilibrium’’ price determined by the

interaction of the orders.3 Bid orders

entered at prices equal to or above the

equilibrium price, and offer orders

entered at prices equal to or below the

equilibrium price, are eligible for

execution for the equilibrium price.

After the equilibrium price is

determined, Investment Technology

Group, Inc. (‘‘ITG’’), the crossing broker

for AZX, executes eligible orders on the

basis of time priority.4

AZX’s single-price auctions are

currently conducted outside the regular

trading hours of the New York Stock

Exchange (‘‘NYSE’’) and the Nasdaq

system, at 5:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. (ET)

each trading day. During the period

immediately proceding an auction, AZX

participants may enter orders into the

system by specifying the name of the

security and the price and size of their

order. Orders may be entered into any

of four separate AZX ‘‘books’’: the Open

Book, Reserve Book, Balanced Book,

and Match Book.

The Open Book contains orders

eligible for the auction and displays

those orders on an anonymous basis to

all AZX participants. The Reserve Book

conceals orders from other participants

until a contra side order is entered into

either the Open Book or the Reserve

Book. If such a contra side order is

entered, the order placed in the Reserve

Book will move into the Open Book,

where it will become eligible for the

auction. The Balanced Book conceals

orders from other AZX participants

until immediately prior to the auction,

at which time any orders that match

each other, and still meet parameters set

by the participants regarding net dollars

bought or sold,5 are matched in the

Open Book. The Match Book

accommodates orders that are not

eligible for the auction (because, for
29146 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 111 / Friday, June 7, 1996 / Notices

6The Match Book feature operates subject to

AZX’s: (1) Aggregating Match Book volume with

AZX auction volume in its monthly reports

pursuant to the Exemption Order, for purposes of

the limited volume exemption; (2) separately

reporting Match Book volume in its monthly

reports; (3) limiting Match Book trading to

securities registered pursuant to Sections 12(b) and

12(g) of the Act; and (4) limiting the service to

transactions in which both sides of the trade are

entered by the same participant.

7 Information regarding the prices and volumes of

orders in the Open Book and the equilibrium prices

and volumes of completed transactions in AZX

auctions are available through Bridge Information

Systems (‘‘Bridge’’) and through AZX’s ‘‘home

page’’ on the World Wide Web. Orders cannot be

entered into AZX through these two media.

8QuantEX, which is owned and operated by ITG,

allows ITG customers to transmit orders to: The

NYSE and American Stock Exchange, an automated

trading system operated by ITG called the Portfolio

System for Institutional Trading (‘‘POSIT’’), the

regional stock exchanges, over-the-counter market

makers, selected broker-dealers, the ITG trading

desk, and AZX.

9 ‘‘Regular trading hours’’ refers to the time period

in which the NYSE and the Nasdaq system permit

trading, i.e., 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. (ET) each trading

day.

10AZX will notify the Commission of the exact

time of the morning auction prior to commencing

operation.

11NNM securities are the top tier of securities

quoted on the Nasdaq system. They are subject to

a transaction reporting plan approved by the

Commission and to last sale reporting requirements.

12AZX is not required to seek separate

Commission approval in order to add additional

NNM securities to the list of securities eligible for

regular-hours trading.

13The purpose of the minimum 1⁄8 increment is

to encourage early entry of Open Book orders, by

protecting those orders from being out-bid or outoffered by small amounts, such as sixteenths, at the

end of the auction. The purpose of requiring the

minimum increments to fall on odd sixteenths is to

allow a participant to enter an order that may

potentially trade at a price that is within that spread

in the Nasdaq market.

14See Section 11A of the Act, 15 U.S.C. § 78K–

1; and Schedule D to the NASD’s By-Laws, NASD

Manual (CCH) § 1867, at 1637–1643.

15Letters from: Richard G. Ketchum, Executive

Vice President, NASD, dated August 11, 1995

(‘‘NASD Letter’’) and David P. Semak, Vice

President, PSE, dated September 1, 1995 (‘‘PSE

Letter’’), included in File No. 10–100.

16 In particular, the NASD notes that AZX should

not be able to trade more NNM securities than other

exchanges do through unlisted trading privileges,

i.e. 500 maximum.

17Exemption Order, 56 FR at 8380.

18Exemption Order, 56 FR at 8383.

19 17 CFR 240.6a–1.

example, the participant requires the

order to be matched at the closing price

for the security on the NYSE and not at

any other price, such as the price

discovered in the AZX auction). The

Match Book permits such orders to be

prematched prior to the auction and

routed for execution to ITG.6

AZX participants may gain access to

the system by establishing a

communications connection between

their computer terminals and the central

host computer, through direct line,

public data network, or dial-in via

modem.7 Alternatively, AZX

participants who are customers of ITG

may request that unfilled orders for

AZX-eligible securities be routed by the

QuantEX system to other trading

environments or the next AZX auction.8

III. The Proposed Morning Auction

In its amendment to its application for

exempting from exchange registration,

AZX Inc. proposes to operate AZX

during regular trading hours.9 Under the

proposal, AZX would conduct a daily

auction, at a fixed time between 9:45

and 10 a.m. (ET), in addition to its

current operation outside of regular

trading hours.10 Trading in the proposed

morning auction would be limited to

Nasdaq National Market (‘‘NNM’’)

securities.11 AZX initially plans to trade

only 15 of the approximately 4,023

Nasdaq National Market securities, but

will expand as demand warrants.12

AZX’s proposed morning auction is

identical to AZX’s current evening

auctions in terms of its: Participation

criteria; means of access to the system;

algorithm for discovering the

‘‘equilibrium’’ price; confirmation,

clearance and settlement of matched

transactions; and commission structure.

The proposed morning auction will

differ from AZX’s current evening

sessions in terms of:

• Eligible securities. Securities eligible to

be traded in the morning auction will be

limited to NNM securities. Both Nasdaq and

exchange-listed securities are eligible for

trading in the evening auctions.

• Time period for order entry. The time

period during which a participant may enter

a limit order for auction trading will be

limited to the period from 9:00 a.m. to

‘‘auction end’’ time—a minimum of 45

minutes and a maximum of one hour.

Participants in the evening auctions may

enter orders within a two-hour period (from

3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.) prior to the 5:00 p.m.

auction, and a one-half hour period prior to

the 5:30 p.m.

• Price increments for entered orders.

Orders must be entered in 1⁄8 point price

increments, and are limited to ‘‘odd’’

sixteenths (i.e., 1⁄16, 3⁄16, 5⁄16, etc.). By

contrast, participants in the evening auctions

enter orders in increments of 1⁄16 point.13

• Absemce of Match Book Service. The

Match Book, which is available for the

evening sessions, is not available for the

morning auction.

• Same-day transaction reporting. ITG, the

clearing and crossing broker for AZX, will

have same-day reporting obligations with

respect to securities traded during the

morning auction.14

IV. Comment Letters

The Commission received two

comments on the AZX proposal, from

the Pacific Stock Exchange (’’PSE’’) and

the National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc. (‘‘NASD’’).15 In their

comment letters, the NASD and PSE

stated that they did not oppose AZX’s

operation during regular trading hours.

Both commenters, however, expressed

concern that the new morning auction

would likely cause AZX’s volume to

increase so as to invalidate the limited

volume exemption. Furthermore, they

stated that the operation of the morning

auction should subject AZX to all the

rules and regulations to which

registered national securities exchanges

are subject. In particular, they argued

that AZX should be treated similarly to

the Chicago Match System operated by

the Chicago Stock Exchange (‘‘CHX’’)

and be regulated as a national securities

exchange.16 Finally, they raised issues

dealing with AZX’s compliance with the

Act and the NASD’s rules.

V. Discussion

A. Consistency of Morning Operation

With Exemption Order and No-action

Letter

The current Exemption Order and

NO-action Letter are premised on AZX’s

conducting auctions at discrete,

relatively infrequent points of time, the

absence of broker-dealer participants

who have market-maker type

obligations, and after-hours operation as

elements that justify an expectation that

AZX will have only limited volume as

required for an exemption under

Section 5 of the Act.17 The Commission

reserved the right to apply further

conditions or rescind the exemption if

circumstances changed or AZX did not

operate as originally represented.18 The

Commission did not preclude AZX from

conducting a morning trading session

during regular trading hours. Rather, the

Commission envisioned that AZX

would have to file such a proposed

change as an amendment to its original

application for exemption pursuant to

Rule 6a–1 under the Act,19 and that the

Commission would evaluate the

proposal to determine whether AZX

would continue to warrant an

exemption from exchange registration.

The Commission believes that the

mere existence of an early morning

trading session should not change

AZX’s status as an exempted exchange.

As previously, AZX will continue to

conduct a very limited number of

auctions at discrete, relatively

infrequent points of time and will not

have broker-dealer participants who

owe market-maker type obligations to

AZX. The limited volume exemption
Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 111 / Friday, June 7, 1996 / Notices 29147

20The Exemption Order states that the ‘‘volume

levels of fully regulated national securities

exchanges provide a useful benchmark,’’ and the

Commission would be concerned if the volume of

an exempted exchange ‘‘exceeded that of any of the

fully regulated national securities exchanges.’’

Exemption Order, 56 FR at 8380.

21The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (‘‘Phlx’’) is

currently the lowest volume national securities

exchange. For calendar year 1995, the average daily

volume of the Phlx was approximately 5,965,346

shares. In its comment letter the NASD argues that,

in determining whether AZX is no longer eligible

for the limited volume exemption, the Commission

is required to apply, as its benchmark for limited

volume, the average daily volume reported by the

Cincinnati Stock Exchange (‘‘CSD’’) as of the date

of the Exemption Order.

Contrary to the NAS’s argument, nothing in the

Exemption Order limits the Commission’s review to

the volume level of the CSE at the time of the

Exemption Order. Rather, the Commission’s

statement that it would be concerned over the

competitive implications of AZX volume exceeding

‘‘any of the fully regulated national securities

exchanges’’ focuses on current volume reported by

the national securities exchanges. Accordingly, at

the present time, a comparison of AZX’s volume

levels to the reported volume of the Phlx is an

appropriate benchmark.

22The Exemption Order states that ‘‘[s]hould the

Commission learn that any of the conditions set

forth in this Order or otherwise imposed upon the

granting of this exemption have been breached

* * * the Commission will commence a review to

determine whether to rescind the exemption.’’

Exemption Order, 56 FR 8383.

23The Chicago Match System recently ceased

operations.

24 In view of the potential impact that daylight

trading could have on trading in other markets, the

NASD suggested that AZX specify the exact time of

the daylight auction. AZX states in its amendment

to its exemptive application that it will establish a

set time for the auction, to be announced prior to

conducting the initial auction.

25Until last year, participant national securities

exchanges were limited to 100 NNM securities. In

August 1995, however, the Commission expanded

the number or NNM securities that a participant

national securities exchange could trade to 500

securities. See Securities Exchange Act Release No.

36102 (August 14, 1995), 60 FR 43626.

26NASD Manual (CCH), Rules of Fair Practice,

Art. III, Section 1, § 2151.07.

continues to be premised on AZX’s

average daily volume (including both

day and after-hours auctions) remaining

below the average daily volume of the

lowest volume national securities

exchange.20 The average daily volume

currently experienced by AZX is well

below that of the lowest volume

national securities exchange.21

Moreover, given the wide range of

alternative trading environments for

registered equity securities available to

investors during regular trading hours,

the mere operation of a single AZX

morning session does not seem likely to

cause AZX’s volume to exceed the

volume of any national securities

exchange. Should AZX’s volume to

exceed the volume of any national

securities exchange. Should AZX’s

volume exceed the limited volume

threshold, however, the Commission

may rescind the exemption and require

AZX to register as a national securities

exchange under Section 6 of the Act.22

B. Equal Regulation in the Securities

Markets

Both the NASD and PSE expressed a

concern that regulatory fairness was

jeopardized by allowing AZX to operate

without being bound by the rules

applicable to other exchanges. As an

example, they cited the operation of the

Chicago Match System which was

regulated according to the rules and

regulations governing national securities

exchanges.23

The Chicago Match System was a

facility of the Chicago Stock Exchange

(‘‘CHX’’), a national securities exchange;

as such, it was regulated as part of the

CHX. By comparison, the Commission

determined not to regulate AZX as a

national securities exchange due to low

volume. Consequently, the AZX auction

is not a facility of any national securities

exchange. Accordingly, the

requirements that apply to the facilities

of national securities exchanges do not

necessarily apply to AZX.

C. Surveillance

As a condition of the Exemption

Order, AZX undertook to conduct

surveillance with respect to after-hours

trading to detect, among other things,

potential insider trading and

manipulative abuses. In their comment

letters, the NASD and PSE expressed

concern regarding whether those

surveillance procedures remain

adequate with respect to the regularhours auction, because the regular-hours

auction will take place while other

markets for AZX-eligible securities are

operating.24 In response to these

concerns, AZX has agreed to implement

a number of additional surveillance

procedures to detect possible market

manipulation and insider trading. The

new surveillance procedures, among

other things, require AZX to compare

auction prices and bids and offers

entered into AZX with activity in the

primary trading market for the security,

and to monitor the effects of an order

cancellation or order revision on the

primary market.

D. Limitations on Unlisted Trading

Privileges

The NASD argued that AZX should be

subject to the restrictions on unlisted

trading privileges (‘‘UTP’’) to which

national securities exchanges are subject

under Temporary Commission Approval

of the Joint Industry Plan for Exchange

Trading of Nasdaq National Market

Securities (‘‘Temporary Approval’’), i.e.,

no participant national securities

exchange may trade more than 500

NNM securities on an unlisted basis.25

AZX proposes to trade only 15 NNM

securities at the outset, although this

number may increase. By virtue of its

limited volume exemption, AZX is not

subject to rules and regulations

governing national securities exchanges,

and thus would not be subject to the

limits in place under the Temporary

Approval. Moreover, premising AZX’s

operation on limited volume places a

restraint on AZX volume to which

national securities exchanges trading

NNM securities based on UTP are not

subject. It would be needless at this time

to further restrain AZX volume by

limiting the number of NNM securities

it may trade. However, the Commission

reserves the right to revisit this issued

should the number of NNM securities

traded in the morning auction approach

500.

E. Compliance with NASD Rules

1. Limit Order Protection. The NASD

expressed concern regarding whether

AZX’s procedures adequately facilitate

surveillance of possible violations of the

NASD’s Limit order Protection

Interpretation (‘‘Interpretation’’) by AZX

participants who are NASD members.26

The Interpretation generally prohibits a

member firm that accepts and holds an

unexecuted customer limit order from

its own customer or the customer of

another member from ‘‘trading ahead’’

of the customer limit order at a price

that would satisfy the customer limit

order, unless it also executes the limit

order.

Under its surveillance procedures,

AZX will maintain records of every

order entered into the system and will

provide the NASD, on request, with

access to the identities of participants

who have entered specific orders. In

addition, pursuant to the enhanced

surveillance procedures it has adopted,

AZX also will monitor instances in

which an order is entered at a price that

is outside the Nasdaq best bid and offer

for a particular security. These

procedures will facilitate detection of

possible instances of violation of the

NASD’s Interpretation.

2. Proposed NAqcess Rules. The

NASD also raised an issue regarding the

applicability of the proposed NAqcess

rules to AZX participants who are

NASD members. NAqcess is a proposed

Nasdaq system intended to provide

small customer orders with limit order
29148 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 111 / Friday, June 7, 1996 / Notices

27See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36548

(December 1, 1995), 60 FR 63092.

28Art. III, Section 48 of the Rules of Fair Practice,

NASD Manual (CCH) § 2200H, at 2216.

29Rule 17a–23 requires registered broker-dealer

sponsors of certain automated trading systems

(‘‘broker-dealer trading systems’’) to make and keep

current certain records, and file reports with the

Commission (and in certain circumstances, with the

appropriate self-regulatory organization) regarding

the operation of the system. ITG, the crossing broker

for AZX, is subject to Rule 17a–23 with respect to

the operation of AZX.

1The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A., Investment

Company Act Release Nos. 21673 (Jan. 16, 1996)

(notice) and 21751 (Feb. 13, 1996) (order).

protection and price improvement.27 In

general, the NAqcess rules as proposed

would apply to AZX participants who

are NASD members.

The enhanced surveillance

procedures adopted by AZX appear to

be consistent with the proposed

NAqcess rules. Because the NAqcess

rules are currently in the proposing

stage, however, it is premature to

consider the need for possible changes

to AZX’s surveillance procedures. The

Commission will address this issue

prior to the approval of any NAqcess

rules.

3. Short Sale Rule. The NASD notes

that its short sale rule would apply to

AZX participants who are NASD

members.28 AZX has taken measures to

promote compliance with the NASD

short sale rule by its members.

Specifically, orders that are entered into

AZX and that constitute short sales are

put in the Balanced Book and not the

Open Book. At the time of the auction,

if it appears that certain of these orders,

if executed, would breach the short sale

restriction, then they will not be

allowed to participate in the auction.

F. Terms and Conditions of the

Exemption

All of the original terms and

conditions of the Exemption Order

remain in effect. The Amended Order

notes, in this connection, that the

following reporting requirements of the

Order may be satisfied by compliance

with the recordkeeping and reporting

requirements contained in Rule 17a–23

under the Act: 29

• The number and identity of system

participants;

• The volume of business (expressed in

dollars, transactions, and shares) transacted

through the system;

• Instances when system participants

failed to deliver securities or make payment

(expressed in transactions, shares and

dollars); and

• A list of securities trading on the system.

The following information also must

continue to be reported pursuant to the

Exemption Order:

• The identity of applicants denied

participation and reasons for the denial;

• The number of auctions conducted; and

• The prices at which particular blocks of

securities were sold during the auctions.

VI. Conclusion

The Commission has reviewed AZX’s

amendment to its application for

exemption from registration as a

national securities exchange and has

determined that AZX continues to

qualify for the limited volume

exemption under the Act. As it found in

the Exemption Order, the Commission

finds that, by reason of the limited

volume of transactions effected on AZX,

it is not practicable and not necessary or

appropriate in the public interest or for

the protection of investors to require

AZX’s registration as a national

securities exchange, subject to the

conditions described herein.

It is therefore ordered that AZX’s

Exemption Order be amended to: (1)

Grant AZX Inc.’s amended application

for exemption from registration as a

national securities exchange; and (2)

reflect changes to the operation of the

system as set forth herein.

By the Commission.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–14399 Filed 6–6–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

Issuer Delisting; Notice of Application

to Withdraw From Listing and

Registration; (Bitwise Designs, Inc.,

Common Stock, $.001 Par Value) File

No. 1–13276

June 3, 1996.

Bitwise Designs, Inc. (‘‘Company’’)

has filed an application with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

(‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section

12(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of

1934 (‘‘Act’’) and Rule 12d2–2(d)

promulgated thereunder, to withdraw

the above specified security (‘‘Security’’)

from listing and registration on the

Boston Stock Exchange Incorporated

(‘‘BSE’’).

The reasons alleged in the application

for withdrawing the Security from

listing and registration include the

following:

According to the Company, the

Security is presently listed on the BSE,

PSE and the Nasdaq SmallCap Market.

The Company wishes to delist its

Security from the BSE. The decision to

delist from the BSE has been occasioned

by reason of the Company’s listing on

the PSE. PSE and Nasdaq quotations are

readily available to the public from

various media sources, and there

appears to be no continuing benefit

either to the Company or its

shareholders for continued listing on

the BSE. In addition, delisting from the

BSE will save the Company redundant

listing fees. The Company’s Security

will continue to be traded on the PSE

and the Nasdaq SmallCap Market.

Any interested person may, on or

before June 24, 1996, submit by letter to

the Secretary of the Securities and

Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street,

N.W., Washington, D.C. 20549, facts

bearing upon whether the application

has been made in accordance with the

rules of the exchanges and what terms,

if any, should be imposed by the

Commission for the protection of

investors. The Commission, based on

the information submitted to it, will

issue an order granting the application

after the date mentioned above, unless

the Commission determines to order a

hearing on the matter.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–14355 Filed 6–6–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Rel. No. IC—22000; International Series

Release No. 990; File No. 812–10136]

The Chase Manhattan Bank, N.A. and

Chemical Bank; Notice of Application

May 31, 1996.

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘SEC’’).

ACTION: Notice of application for

exemption under the Investment

Company Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Act’’).

APPLICANTS: The Chase Manhattan Bank,

N.A. (‘‘Chase’’) and Chemical Bank

(‘‘Chemical’’).

RELEVANT ACT SECTIONS: Order requested

under section 6(c) of the Act for an

exemption from section 26(a) (2)(D) of

the Act.

SUMMARY OF APPLICATION: Applicants

request an order that would amend a

prior order (the ‘‘Prior Order’’) 1 granted

to Chase which permits Chase, as

trustee for certain unit investment trusts

(‘‘UITs’’), to deposit trust assets in the

custody of the Euroclear System

(‘‘Euroclear’’) and Cedel Bank S.A.

(‘‘Cedel’’). The requested order would

substitute the entity surviving the

anticipated merger of Chase and

Chemical as the party to which relief is

granted. Chemical will survive the

merger and change its name to ‘‘The

Chase Manhattan Bank.’’

FILING DATE: The application was filed

on May 8, 1996.