Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 27, 2008 / Notices 50663 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3A crossing transaction consists of an order the 

EAM represents as agent and a counter-side order. 

The counter-side order may represent interest for 

the EAM’s own account or interest the EAM may 

have solicited from one or more parties, or both. 

4See ISE Rule 716. 

5See CBOE Rule 6.74B. 

6When using the NOM crossing procedure to 

achieve an execution in penny increments, there is 

no requirement that there be any NOM market 

makers quoting the particular series or that they 

even be aware that the initiating NOM member is 

attempting to cross an order in an undisplayed 

penny increment. For example, a NOM member 

could enter an agency limit order to buy at $1.03 

that is rounded and displayed at $1.00, wait three 

seconds, then enter a principal or solicited order to 

sell at $1.03. Although the initiating member knows 

it has entered an agency order to buy at $1.03, other 

market participants would only see the size of the 

agency order displayed on the bid at $1.00. See 

NOM Chapter IV, Section 5, Chapter VI, Sections 

7(b) and 10, and Chapter VII, Sections 6 and 12. The 

Exchange understands that NOM’s method of 

crossing orders in non-standard increments differs 

from ISE’s PIM in so much as PIM will allocate the 

initiating Member a certain minimum participation 

entitlement if certain conditions are met (e.g., after 

public customer orders, 40% of the order is 

allocated to the initiating Member if its single-price 

submission equals the best price), whereas NOM 

does not have any such participation entitlement. 

However, the Exchange does not believe this 

distinction is dispositive to our proposal to 

eliminate the requirement that there be a minimum 

number of quoters for a PIM auction. In this regard, 

we note that participation entitlements already 

apply to the ISE Facilitation and Solicited Order 

Mechanisms and the CBOE Solicitation Auction 

Mechanism. See ISE Rule 716 and CBOE Rule 

6.74B. The Exchange also notes that an Agency 

Order displayed through ISE’s PIM process will 

receive the benefit of any price improvement 

received during the auction, whereas an agency 

order displayed on NOM generally will not get any 

price improvement beyond its limit price (using the 

example above, once displayed at the rounded price 

the agency order to buy will generally only execute 

at $1.03, not better). 

7 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

For the Commission by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.12

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–19822 Filed 8–26–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–58401; File No. SR–ISE–

2008–63] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

International Securities Exchange, 

LLC; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule 

Change Relating to the Price 

Improvement Mechanism 

August 21, 2008. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on July 31, 

2008, the International Securities 

Exchange, LLC (the ‘‘Exchange’’ or the 

‘‘ISE’’) filed with the Securities and 

Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) 

the proposed rule change as described 

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

have been prepared by the Exchange. 

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 Exchange proposes to modify its 

Price Improvement Mechanism (PIM) 

auction eligibility requirements to 

eliminate the requirement that there be 

at least three market makers quoting the 

relevant series. The text of the proposed 

rule change is available on the 

Exchange’s Web site (http:// 

www.ise.com), at the principal office of 

the Exchange, and at the Commission’s 

Public Reference Room. 

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 

Exchange 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 

Exchange 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 

In order to provide additional 

opportunities for price improvement, 

the Exchange proposes to expand the 

PIM auction process. The Exchange’s 

PIM permits Electronic Access Members 

(‘‘EAMs’’) to provide penny price 

improvement for agency orders.3 ISE’s 

current rules require, among other 

things, that an EAM enter an order into 

the PIM only when there are at least 

three market makers quoting in the 

options series. The Exchange is now 

proposing to eliminate this requirement. 

The Exchange does not believe that 

orders should be denied the benefits of 

the PIM auction simply because there 

may be less than three ISE market 

makers quoting in a particular series. 

The Exchange believes this is a 

reasonable modification designed to 

provide additional flexibility for 

members to obtain executions on behalf 

of their customers while continuing to 

provide a meaningful, competitive 

auction. 

In support of its proposal, the 

Exchange notes the ISE and other 

options exchanges already have 

provisions within their rules that permit 

price improvement in non-standard 

increments without a condition that 

there be a minimum number of market 

makers quoting in the particular series. 

For example, ISE has electronic auction 

mechanisms for crossing agency order 

with facilitation or solicited orders 

(referred to as the ‘‘Facilitation 

Mechanism’’ and ‘‘Solicited Order 

Mechanism’’) in ‘‘split price’’

increments (e.g., $1.025, $1.05 and 

$1.075 for series trading in $0.05 

increments. The Facilitation and 

Solicited Order Mechanisms do not 

require that there be any minimum 

number of ISE market makers quoting in 

the particular series.4 Further, the 

Chicago Board Options Exchange 

(‘‘CBOE’’) has an electronic auction 

mechanism for crossing agency orders 

for 500 contracts or more with solicited 

orders (referred to as the ‘‘Solicitation 

Auction Mechanism’’) in increments as 

small as $0.01. This CBOE Solicitation 

Auction Mechanism does not require 

that there be any minimum number of 

CBOE market makers quoting in the 

particular series.5 Finally, the NASDAQ 

Options Market (‘‘NOM’’) has a 

procedure that permits a member who 

enters an agency order in penny 

increments (which is then rounded and 

displayed at the standard increment 

price) to enter a contra-side order in 

penny increments after the agency order 

has been exposed at the rounded price 

for three seconds. This NOM crossing 

procedure does not require that there be 

any minimum number of NOM market 

makers quoting in the particular series.6

Because these other mechanisms are 

currently able to offer price 

improvement in a non-standard 

increment without a minimum quoter 

requirement, the Exchange believes it is 

essential for competitive reasons to be 

able to offer the same opportunities for 

price improvement on ISE through the 

PIM. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes the proposed 

rule change is consistent with Section 

6(b) of the Act 7 in general and furthers 

the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the 

Act 8 in particular in that it is designed 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
50664 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 167 / Wednesday, August 27, 2008 / Notices 

9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

to foster cooperation and coordination 

with persons engaged in regulating, 

clearing, settling, processing 

information with respect to, and 

facilitating transactions in securities, to 

remove impediments to and perfect the 

mechanism of a free and open market 

and a national market system, and, in 

general, to protect investors and the 

public interest. In particular, the 

proposed rule change will allow 

members to guarantee executions and 

provide additional price improvement 

opportunities to their customer’s orders. 

The Exchange believes this is a 

reasonable modification designed to 

provide additional flexibility for 

members to obtain executions on behalf 

of their customers while continuing to 

provide a meaningful, competitive 

auction. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The proposed rule change does not 

impose any burden on competition that 

is not necessary or appropriate in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants or Others 

The Exchange has not solicited, and 

does not intend to solicit, comments on 

this proposed rule change. The 

Exchange has not received any 

unsolicited written comments from 

members or other interested parties. 

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 Exchange 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, 

including whether the proposed rule 

change is consistent with the Act. 

Comments may be submitted by any of 

the following methods: 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s Internet 

comment form (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml); or 

• Send an e-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File 

Number SR–ISE–2008–63 on the subject 

line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, Station Place, 100 F Street, 

NE., Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–ISE–2008–63. This file 

number should be included on the 

subject line if e-mail is used. To help the 

Commission process and review your 

comments more efficiently, please use 

only one method. The Commission will 

post all comments on the Commission’s 

Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/ 

rules/sro.shtml). 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 on official business days between 

the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies 

of such filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the ISE. All comments received 

will be posted without change; the 

Commission does not edit personal 

identifying information from 

submissions. You should submit only 

information that you wish to make 

available publicly. All submissions 

should refer to File Number SR–ISE–

2008–63 and should be submitted on or 

before September 17, 2008. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.9

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–19821 Filed 8–26–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[Disaster Declaration #11264 and #11265] 

Iowa Disaster Number IA–00015 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Amendment 12. 

SUMMARY: This is an amendment of the 

Presidential declaration of a major 

disaster for the State of Iowa (FEMA–

1763–DR), dated 05/27/2008. 

Incident: Severe Storms, Tornadoes, 

and Flooding. 

Incident Period: 05/25/2008 and 

continuing through 08/13/2008. 

Effective Date: 08/13/2008. 

Physical Loan Application Deadline 

Date: 09/29/2008. 

EIDL Loan Application Deadline Date: 

02/27/2009. 

ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan 

applications to: U.S. Small Business 

Administration, Processing and 

Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport 

Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. 

Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, 

U.S. Small Business Administration, 

409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050, 

Washington, DC 20416. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The notice 

of the President’s major disaster 

declaration for the State of Iowa, dated 

05/27/2008 is hereby amended to 

establish the incident period for this 

disaster as beginning 05/25/2008 and 

continuing through 08/13/2008. 

All other information in the original 

declaration remains unchanged. 

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance 

Numbers 59002 and 59008) 

Herbert L. Mitchell, 

Associate Administrator for Disaster 

Assistance. 

[FR Doc. E8–19868 Filed 8–26–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8025–01–P 

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION 

[Disaster Declaration #11370] 

New Hampshire Disaster #NH–00006 

AGENCY: U.S. Small Business 

Administration. 

ACTION: Correction. 

SUMMARY: This is a notice of the 

Presidential declaration of a major 

disaster for Public Assistance Only for 

the State of New Hampshire (FEMA–

1782–DR), dated 08/11/2008. 

Incident: Severe Storms, Tornado, and 

Flooding. 

Incident Period: 07/24/2008. 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES