Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 122 / Monday, June 24, 1996 / Notices 32471

7Because the Exchange filed Amendment No. 1

subsequent to the original filing date, the 30-day

period commences on the filing date of Amendment

No. 1.

8 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12) (1994).

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

2Letter from James C. Yong, First Vice President

and General Counsel, OCC, to Jerry W. Carpenter,

Assistant Director, Division of Market Regulation,

Commission (March 19, 1996).

3Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36988

(March 20, 1996), 61 FR 13558.

4The exchanges include the American Stock

Exchange, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, the

New York Stock Exchange, the Pacific Stock

Exchange, and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.

5Section 11 of Article VI sets forth the procedures

by which adjustments are made to options when

there is a distribution, stock split, rights offering,

reorganization or similar event with respect to the

underlying security.

6For a complete description of FX Index Options,

refer to Securities Exchange Act Release No. 35149

(January 3, 1995), 60 FR 158 [File No. SR-OCC-94-

08] (order approving proposed rule change).

7 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F) (1988).

become effective pursuant to Section

19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and Rule 19b–

4(e)(6) thereunder. In particular, the

Commission believes the proposal

would qualify as a ‘‘noncontroversial

filing’’ in that the proposed standards

do not significantly affect the protection

of investors or the public interest and do

not impose any significant burden on

competition. At any time within 60 days

of the filing of the 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

Section, 450 Fifth Street, N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20549. Copies of such

filing will also be available for

inspection and copying at the principal

office of the CBOE. All submissions

should refer to SR–CBOE–96–30 and

should be submitted by July 15, 1996.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.8

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–16029 Filed 6–21–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34-37315; File No. SR-OCC95-18]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The

Options Clearing Corporation; Order

Approving a Proposed Rule Change

Clarifying Rules Regarding the

Unavailability of Current Index Values

June 17, 1996.

On November 24, 1995, The Options

Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) filed with

the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) a

proposed rule change (File No. SR-OCC95-18) pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of

the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’).1 On March 19, 1996, OCC

amended the proposed rule change.2

Notice of the proposal was published in

the Federal Register on March 27,

1996.3 No comment letters were

received. For the reasons discussed

below, the Commission is approving the

proposed rule change.

I. Description of the Proposal

OCC has determined that certain

technical changes should be made to its

rules to clarify the respective rights and

responsibilities of OCC and the options

exchanges (‘‘exchanges’’) 4 with respect

to the reporting of current index values

and the determination of settlement

values. Specifically, OCC is amending

Article XVII, Section 4 of its by-laws,

which empowers OCC to fix an exercise

settlement amount in the event that

OCC determines that the current index

value is unreported or otherwise

unavailable, to clarify that OCC has the

authority to fix an exercise settlement

amount whenever the primary market

for the securities representing a

substantial part of the value of an

underlying index is not open for trading

at the time when the current index

value i.e., the value used for exercise

settlement purposes) ordinarily would

be determined. OCC believes this

authority is implicit in the language of

the present by-law because in such

circumstances the current index value

would generally be ‘‘unreported or

otherwise unavailable;’’ however, OCC

believes the rule change will make

OCC’s authority explicit.

In addition, the rule change assigns

the responsibility for fixing exercise

settlement amounts in situations where

the current index value is unavailable or

inaccurate to a panel consisting of

OCC’s Chairman and two designated

representatives of each exchange on

which the affected series is open for

trading, one of whom shall be such

exchange’s representative on OCC’s

Securities Committee. This procedure to

assign the decision-making

responsibility to an exchange-controlled

panel conforms with the procedures

used in making determinations with

respect to adjustments made pursuant to

Article VI, Section 11.5 The rule change

authorizes the panel to fix the exercise

settlement amount based on its

judgment as to what is appropriate for

the protection of investors and the

public interest taking into account

factors such as fairness to holders and

writers and the maintenance of fair and

orderly markets. The panel may, but is

not restricted to, fixing the exercise

settlement amount on the basis of the

reported level of the underlying index at

the close of trading on the last preceding

trading day for which a closing index

level was reported.

Identical changes also are being made

to Article XXIII, Section 5, which

governs the fixing of exercise settlement

amounts for Flexibly Structured Index

Options Denominated in a Foreign

Currency (‘‘FX Index Options’’). Under

these proposed changes, the situation

contemplated by the last two sentences

of the definition of ‘‘expiration date’’ in

Article XXIII, Section 1.E.(3) (i.e., where

the primary markets for underlying

securities representing a substantial part

of the value of an index is closed on an

expiration date) will be explicitly

covered by Article XXIII, Section 5;

therefore, the last two sentences of

Article XXIII, Section 1.E. (3) will be

deleted.

The remainder of the changes to

OCC’s by-laws are technical changes

that are being made primarily for the

purpose of conforming OCC’s by-laws to

changes made in the Commission’s

approval of FX Index Options.6

II. Discussion

Section 17A(b)(3)(F) 7 requires that

the rules of a clearing agency be

designed to promote the prompt and

accurate clearance and settlement of
32472 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 122 / Monday, June 24, 1996 / Notices

8Securities Exchange Act Release No. 24024

(January 23, 1987), 52 FR 3184 [File No. SR–OCC–

86–11] (order granting approval of a proposed rule

change to amend OCC’s by-laws concerning

adjustments to the terms of outstanding stock

option contract).

9 17 CFR 200. 30–3(a)(12) (1995).

securities transactions. The Commission

believes that OCC’s proposed rule

change is consistent with OCC’s

obligations under Section 17A(b)(3)(F)

because the proposal will clarify OCC’s

exercise settlement procedures with

respect to the determination of index

values and exercise settlement values in

the event such values are unavailable or

unreported by the designated reporting

authorities. Furthermore, the

Commission believes that the rule

change should clarify the respective

rights and responsibilities of OCC and

the exchanges in such circumstances.

As described earlier, the

responsibility for fixing exercise

settlement amounts is now assigned to

a panel consisting of OCC’s Chairman

and two designated representatives of

each exchange on which the affected

series is open for trading. In the past,

the Commission has approved this

concept of utilizing an exchangecontrolled panel to make determinations

with respect to adjustments to options

contracts.8 The Commission believes

that assigning the responsibility for

fixing exercise settlement amounts in

certain situations to an exchangedcontrolled panel also is appropriate in

this situation. Furthermore, because the

proposal sets forth factors which can be

considered in making any such

adjustments, the proposal should add

certainty to the settlement of index

options. Therefore, as a whole the

proposal should facilitate the prompt

and accurate clearance and settlement of

securities transactions.

III. Conclusion

On the basis of the foregoing, the

Commission finds that the proposal is

consistent with the requirements of

Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act and the

rules and regulations thereunder.

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to

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

proposed rule change (File No. SR–

OCC–95–18) be, and hereby is,

approved.

For the Commission by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.9

Jonathan G. Katz,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–16028 Filed 6–21–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Aviation Proceedings; Agreements

Filed During the Week Ending June 14,

1996

The following Agreements were filed

with the Department of Transportation

under the provisions of 49 U.S.C 412

and 414. Answers may be filed within

21 days of date of filing.

Docket Number: OST–96–1444

Date filed: June 10, 1996

Parties: Members of the International

Air Transport Association

Subject:

TC31 Reso/P 1119 dated May 21, 1996

South Pacific Resos r1–24

Minutes—TC31 Meet/P 0243 dated

May 24, 1996

Tables—TC31 Fares 0183 dated June

4, 1996

Intended effective date: October 1,

1996

Docket Number: OST–96–1445

Date filed: June 10, 1996

Parties: Members of the International

Air Transport Association

Subject:

TC2 Reso/P 1942 dated May 10, 1996

r1–4

TC2 Reso/P 1945 dated May 10, 1996

r5–6

TC2 Reso/P 1946 dated May 10, 1996

r7–11

TC2 Reso/P 1950 dated May 10, 1006

r12

TC2 Reso/P 1951 dated May 10, 1996

r13–26

TC2 Reso/P 1952 dated May 10, 1996

r27–29

Minutes—TC2 Meet/P 0367 dated

June 4, 1996

TC2 Meet/P 0368 dated June 4, 1996

(Summary attached.)

Intended effective date: Sept. 1/Nov.

1/March 27, 1997

Docket Number: OST–96–1446

Date filed: June 10, 1996

Parties: Members of the International

Air Transport Association

Subject:

TC12 Reso/P 1747 dated April 30,

1996 r1–25

TC12 Reso/P 1748 dated April 30,

1996 r26–34

TC12 Reso/P 1746 dated April 30,

1996 r35

Correction—TC12 Reso/P 1753 dated

May 24, 1996

Minutes—TC12 Meet/P 0577 dated

May 31, 1996

Tables—TC12 Fares 0503 dated May

3, 1996

TC12 Fares 0504 dated May 7, 1996

TC12 Fares 0505 dated May 14, 1996

Europe-Mid Atlantic Resolutions

Intended effective date: October 1,

1996

Docket Number: OST–96–1455

Date filed: June 14, 1996

Parties: Members of the International

Air Transport Association

Subject:

TC2 Reso/C 0380 dated May 31, 1996

r1

TC3 Reso/C 0086 dated May 31, 1996

r2

TC23 Reso/C 0221 dated May 31,

1996 r3

TC31 Reso/C 0250 dated May 31,

1996 r4

COMP Reso/C 0666 dated May 31,

1996 r-5

Expedited Cargo Resolutions (NO US/

US Territories) (Summary attached.)

Intended effective date: July 1/August

1, 1996

Docket Number: OST–96–1456

Date filed: June 14, 1996

Parties: Members of the International

Air Transport Association

Subject:

COMP Reso/C 0663 dated May 31,

1996

Expedited Reso 003aa (US, US

Territories) (Summary attached.)

Intended effective date: July 1, 1996

Paulette V. Twine,

Chief, Documentary Services Division.

[FR Doc. 96–15998 Filed 6–21–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4910–62–P

Federal Aviation Administration

Air Traffic Procedures Advisory

Committee

AGENCY: Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of meeting.

SUMMARY: The FAA is issuing this notice

to advise the public that a meeting of

the Federal Aviation Administration Air

Traffic Procedures Advisory Committee

(ATPAC) will be held to review present

air traffic control procedures and

practices for standardization,

clarification, and upgrading of

terminology and procedures.

DATES: The meeting will be held from

July 15 through July 18, 1996, from 9

a.m. to 5 p.m. each day.

ADDRESSES: The meeting will be held at

the Danfords Inn, 25 East Broadway,

Port Jefferson, New York.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. W. Frank Price, Executive Director,

ATPAC, Air Traffic International Staff,

ATX–20,800 Independence Avenue,

SW., Washington, DC 20591, telephone

(202) 267–9313.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant

to Section 10(a)(2) of the Federal

Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–463;