Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 26, 1996 / Notices 33155

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

15 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12) (1995).

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 NW.,

Washington, DC. 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

[insert date 21 days after the date of this

publication].

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to

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

portion of the proposed rule change

(SR–Amex–95–35) relating to Amex

Rule 900(a), as amended, is approved.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.15

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–16230 Filed 6–25–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–37342; File No. SR–CBOE–

96–34]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness

of Proposed Rule Change by the

Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc.

Relating to Pager Fees

June 20, 1996.

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 June 3, 1996, the

Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc.

(‘‘CBOE’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the

Securities and Exchange Commission

(‘‘Commission’’ or ‘‘SEC’’) the proposed

rule change as described in Items I, II,

and III below, which Items have been

prepared by the self-regulatory

organization. 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 CBOE hereby gives notice that it

is proposing to amend and/or establish

certain Exchange fees relating to a

replacement pager system.

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

self-regulatory organization 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.

The self-regulatory organization 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

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

1. Purpose

The purpose of this proposed rule

change is to amend and/or establish

various pager fees in light of the

Exchange’s replacement of an existing,

Exchange-owned and -operated pager

system (‘‘existing system’’) with a new

pager system (‘‘new system’’). The

Exchange will also own and operate the

new system equipment. The new system

will require members who desire pagers

to own and use new pager units.

Members may either trade in existing

units and receive new units for a tradein fee of $75.00, which is less than the

cost of new pagers, or buy new pagers

outright at the Exchange’s then-current

cost (the Exchange’s cost currently is

$275.00). There will not be a leasing

option under the new system as there

was under the existing system. The fee

changes are being implemented by the

Exchange pursuant to CBOE Rule 2.22

and will take effect at or about the time

the new system becomes operational,

expected to be later in 1996.

The Exchange will assess an annual

maintenance fee under the new system,

as it did under the old system. The

maintenance fee of $80.00 per year will

cover maintenance of the memberowned pagers as well as new system

maintenance expenses to ensure that the

new system’s head-end equipment

properly delivers signals to the

members’ pagers.

Upon receipt from the Federal

Communications Commission of a

license to use the new system’s desired

frequency, the Exchange will implement

the new system fees by issuing a

regulatory circular to the membership.

2. Statutory Basis

The proposed rule change is

consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act,

in general, and furthers the objectives of

Section 6(b)(4) of the Act in particular,

in that it is designed to provided for the

equitable allocation of reasonable dues,

fees and other charges among CBOE

members.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

CBOE does not believe that the

proposed rule change will impose any

burden on competition.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Purposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants or Others

No written comments were solicited

or received with respect to the proposed

rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for

Commission Action

The foregoing rule change establishes

or changes a due, fee, or other charge

imposed by the Exchange and therefore

has become effective pursuant to

Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act and

subparagraph (e) of Rule 19b–4

thereunder. At any time within 60 days

of the filing of such 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 File No. SR–CBOE–96–

34 and should be submitted by July 17,

1996.
33156 Federal Register / Vol. 61, No. 124 / Wednesday, June 26, 1996 / Notices

1See, letter from Suzanne E. Rothwell, Associate

General Counsel, NASD, to Mark P. Barracca,

Branch Chief, Division of Market Regulation, SEC,

dated November 22, 1995.

2See, letter from Suzanne E. Rothwell, Associate

General Counsel, NASD, to Elizabeth MacGregor,

Branch Chief, Division of Market Regulation, SEC,

dated June 12, 1996.

3 Infra note 16.

4 In connection with the recent reorganization of

the NASD Manual, The PORTAL Market Rules that

were set forth in Schedule I to the NASD By-Laws

are now set forth in the Rule 5300 series of the

Market Rules. When adopted, the rule change

proposed herein will be modified to comply with

the new Manual form. See, NASD Notice to

Members 96–24 (April 1996).

5NASD Manual, Schedules to the By-Laws,

Schedule I, Part II, Sec. 2 (CCH ¶ 1953 (outlining

the requirements for the designation of securities in

the PORTAL Market).

6NASD Manual, Schedules to the By-Laws,

Schedule I, Part III, Secs. 8 and 9 (CCH) ¶¶ 1962–

1963 (setting forth the requirements for registration

of an NASD member as a PORTAL dealer and

PORTAL broker).

7 ‘‘Investor status information’’ includes

information on whether the contra-party was a QIB

under Rule 144A, a non-QIB institution, or an

individual or, alternatively, whether the transaction

is to an offshore market or is into the U.S. public

market.

8NASD Manual, Schedules to the By-Laws,

Schedule I, Part III, Secs. 4(a) and 6(b) (CCH)

¶¶ 1958, 1960 (describing certain information

required to be included in the weekly transaction

report and the monthly Surveillance Report

submitted to the NASD by PORTAL dealers and

PORTAL brokers).

9Because the PORTAL Non-Participant Report

includes both primary and secondary market data,

this data will not be used to develop statistics

regarding secondary market trading in PORTAL

securities.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 96–16292 Filed 6–25–96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

[Release No. 34–37317; File No. SR–NASD–

95–40]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc. Relating to PORTAL

Market Pilot of Member’s Reporting

Obligations

June 17, 1996.

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 October 4, 1995 the

National Association of Securities

Dealers, Inc. (‘‘NASD’’ or ‘‘Association’’)

filed with the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)

the proposed rule change as described

in Items I, II, and III below, which Items

have been prepared by the NASD. On

November 22, 1995, the NASD filed

Amendment No. 1 to advise the

Commission that the NASD’s Board of

Governors approved this rule filing to

adopt a pilot of the PORTAL reporting

requirements.1 On June 12, 1996, the

NASD filed Amendment No. 2 to revise

a footnote to the proposed rule change.2

Initially, this footnote stated that the

investor status information requirement

concerning 144A transactions in the

U.S. private market would be satisfied if

the member provided the requisite

information with respect to the

member’s direct customer. The revision

clarifies the circumstances in which the

contra-party would be required to

provide investor status information and

affirms industry reliance on these

representations in determining whether

the buyer is a qualified institutional

buyer (‘‘QIB’’).3 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 NASD is proposing to amend

Schedule I to the NASD By-Laws

(‘‘PORTAL Rules’’) 4 that regulates The

PORTAL Market to establish a pilot for

one year for the reporting of the initial

placement (‘‘primary transactions’’) and

secondary transactions in securities

designated in the PORTAL Market as

PORTAL securities.5 The pilot will

apply to members of the NASD that are

designated in the PORTAL Market as

PORTAL dealers and PORTAL brokers 6

and to other members of the NASD that

transact business in PORTAL securities.

PORTAL dealers and PORTAL

brokers will be required to provide a

weekly transaction report to the

PORTAL system of secondary market

transactions in securities designated in

the PORTAL Market. The weekly

PORTAL transaction report by PORTAL

dealers and PORTAL brokers of such

secondary market transactions will

include all trade report information and

surveillance information as to the status

of the investor 7 and will be required to

be submitted no later than the Friday of

the following week with respect to the

prior calendar week’s transactions.

PORTAL dealers and PORTAL brokers

will also be required to submit a

monthly PORTAL Surveillance Report

to the PORTAL system that includes

trade report and investor status

information, but only with respect to

primary market transactions in PORTAL

securities.8 The monthly report will be

required to be submitted by the tenth

business day of the month with respect

to the primary offerings that occurred in

the prior calendar month.

The NASD is not proposing to modify

the current reporting requirements with

respect to other NASD members who are

not designated as PORTAL dealers and

PORTAL brokers. Such members are

required to submit by the fifth business

day of each month a PORTAL NonParticipant Report that includes trade

and investor status information with

respect to primary and secondary

market transactions that occurred in the

prior month in which no PORTAL

dealer or broker participated. It is

anticipated that the PORTAL NonParticipant Report will be submitted in

paper form.

The NASD will provide a report to the

SEC analyzing the information

generated from weekly transaction

reports submitted by PORTAL dealers

and PORTAL brokers during the first six

months of the pilot to determine

whether there is an identifiable group of

securities that have sufficient liquidity

and volume in the secondary market to

permit some form of last sale or other

display of transactions in order to

enhance price discovery.9 With respect

to the reporting of primary transactions

submitted in the monthly PORTAL

Surveillance Report, the NASD will

review such reports to determine

whether they provide sufficient support

to the NASD’s surveillance function to

justify their continued submission. The

pilot will also provide necessary

surveillance of transactions in PORTAL

securities.

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

NASD 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. The NASD has

prepared summaries, set forth in

Sections (A), (B), and (C) below, of the

most significant aspects of such

statements.