Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 3, 2008 / Notices 51545 

1 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

2 17 CFR 242.608. 

3The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan 

approved by the Commission pursuant to Section 

11A of the Act and Rule 608 thereunder (formerly 

Rule 11Aa3–2). See Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 17638 (March 18, 1981), 22 S.E.C. 

Docket 484 (March 31, 1981). The full text of the 

OPRA Plan is available at http:// 

www.opradata.com. 

The OPRA Plan provides for the collection and 

dissemination of last sale and quotation information 

on options that are traded on the participant 

exchanges. The seven participants to the OPRA 

Plan are the American Stock Exchange LLC, the 

Boston Stock Exchange, Inc., the Chicago Board 

Options Exchange, Incorporated, the International 

Securities Exchange, LLC, the NASDAQ Stock 

Market LLC, the NYSE Arca, Inc., and the 

Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. 

4OPRA has not previously filed the Policy 

pursuant to Rule 608 of Regulation NMS under the 

Act, and OPRA is proposing to formalize the Policy 

as part of its national market system plan by so 

filing it. 

5 17 CFR 242.608(b)(3)(i). 

6 17 CFR 242.608(b)(3)(iii). 

7 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2). 

19. In addition, Section 17 Applicants 

submit that the proposed in-kind 

portfolio security transactions are 

consistent with the general purposes of 

the 1940 Act as stated in the Findings 

and Declaration of Policy in Section 1 

of the 1940 Act. The proposed 

transactions do not present any of the 

conditions or abuses that the 1940 Act 

was designed to prevent. Further, 

Section 17 Applicants note that 

securities to be paid out as redemption 

proceeds and subsequently contributed 

to the Replacement Funds to effect the 

contemplated in-kind purchases of 

shares will be valued based on the 

normal valuation procedures of the 

redeeming Replaced Funds and 

purchasing Replacement Funds. 

Therefore, there will be no change in 

value to any contractowner as a result 

of the Substitutions. 

Conclusion 

Applicants assert that for the reasons 

summarized above that the proposed 

Substitutions and related transactions 

meet the standards of Section 26(c) of 

the Act and are consistent with the 

standards of Section 17(b) of the Act 

and that the requested orders should be 

granted. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Investment Management pursuant to 

delegated authority. 

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–20398 Filed 9–2–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–58424; File No. SR–OPRA– 

2008–03] 

Options Price Reporting Authority; 

Notice of Filing and Immediate 

Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment 

to the Options Price Reporting 

Authority’s Academic Waiver Policy 

August 26, 2008. 

Pursuant to Section 11A of the 

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 608 thereunder,2

notice is hereby given that on August 

11, 2008, the Options Price Reporting 

Authority (‘‘OPRA’’) submitted to the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) an amendment to the 

Plan for Reporting of Consolidated 

Options Last Sale Reports and 

Quotation Information (‘‘OPRA Plan’’).3

The proposed amendment would revise 

OPRA’s ‘‘Academic Waiver Policy.’’ 4

The Commission is publishing this 

notice to solicit comments from 

interested persons on the proposed 

OPRA Plan amendment. 

I. Description and Purpose of the Plan 

Amendment 

Pursuant to its Academic Waiver 

Policy, OPRA waives its fees for 

universities that wish to use its data for 

research and educational instruction 

purposes. An OPRA academic waiver is 

only for OPRA’s own data fees, and only 

for devices or User IDs used by students 

and faculty for research purposes and in 

classroom environments. As is stated in 

the Policy, even if a university receives 

an academic waiver, the university must 

execute an OPRA Professional 

Subscriber Agreement and, if the 

university will control entitlement of its 

devices or User IDs, the university must 

also execute an Indirect Circuit 

Connection Rider, describe its use of 

OPRA data and its entitlement control 

process on ‘‘Exhibit A’’ to the Rider, and 

make reports to OPRA in accordance 

with the Rider of its devices or User IDs 

that are entitled to receive OPRA data. 

The purpose of the revisions of 

OPRA’s Academic Waiver Policy is, in 

general, to update the language of the 

Policy and emphasize certain aspects of 

the Policy. The proposed revisions do 

not change the Policy in any 

fundamental respect. 

Among the changes that OPRA is 

proposing in order to update the 

language of the Policy are changes to 

eliminate a reference to ‘‘annual 

administration fees’’ (since OPRA’s fees 

do not include an annual administration 

fee) and to incorporate references to 

‘‘User IDs’’ in addition to ‘‘devices’’ 

(since OPRA permits its Vendors, and 

its Professional Subscribers that pay 

‘‘device-based fees’’ and control their 

own enablement processes, to make 

reports to OPRA with respect to the 

‘‘User IDs’’ that they enable for access to 

OPRA data as an alternative to the 

‘‘devices’’ that they enable). 

Among the aspects of the Policy that 

are emphasized in the revised Policy are 

that academic institutions that control 

their own enablement processes must 

make reports to OPRA with respect to 

the devices or User IDs that they have 

enabled for OPRA data, just as other 

OPRA Subscribers that control their 

own enablement process must. 

The text of the proposed amendment 

to the OPRA Plan is available at OPRA, 

the Commission’s Public Reference 

Room, and http://opradata.com. 

II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan 

Amendment 

Pursuant to paragraph (b)(3)(i) of Rule 

608 under the Act,5 OPRA designated 

this amendment as establishing or 

changing a fee or other charge collected 

on behalf of all of the OPRA participants 

in connection with access to, or use of, 

OPRA facilities, and pursuant to 

(b)(3)(iii) of Rule 608 under the Act,6

OPRA designated this amendment as 

one involving solely technical or 

ministerial matters thereby qualifying 

the amendment for effectiveness upon 

filing. OPRA states that it will 

implement the revised form of the 

Academic Waiver Policy upon filing 

with the Commission. 

The Commission may summarily 

abrogate the amendment within sixty 

days of its filing and require refiling and 

approval of the amendment by 

Commission order pursuant to Rule 

608(b)(2) under the Act 7 if it appears to 

the Commission that such action is 

necessary or appropriate in the public 

interest, for the protection of investors, 

or the maintenance of fair and orderly 

markets, to remove impediments to, and 

perfect the mechanisms of, a national 

market system, or otherwise in 

furtherance of the purposes of the Act. 

III. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views, and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposed OPRA 

Plan amendment 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 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES
51546 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 171 / Wednesday, September 3, 2008 / Notices 

8 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(29). 

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

2Changes to the rule text can be found at 

http://www.nyse.com. 

3The Commission has modified the text of the 

summaries prepared by NYSE. 4 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

No. SR–OPRA–2008–03 on the subject 

line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Secretary, Securities and Exchange 

Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 

Washington, DC 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–OPRA–2008–03. 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 plan 

amendment that are filed with the 

Commission, and all written 

communications relating to the 

proposed plan amendment 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, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, 

DC 20549, 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 OPRA. 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–OPRA–2008–03 and should 

be submitted on or before September 24, 

2008. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.8

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–20316 Filed 9–2–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–58398; File No. SR–NYSE– 

2008–069] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; New 

York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of 

Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of 

Proposed Rule Change Relating to 

Waiving Compliance With DRS 

Participation Rules for Foreign Private 

Issuers 

August 20, 2008. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’),1 notice is hereby given that on 

July 30, 2008, the New York Stock 

Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’) filed with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change described in Items I, II, and III 

below, which items have been prepared 

primarily by NYSE. The Commission is 

publishing this notice to solicit 

comments on the proposed rule change 

from interested parties. 

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Terms of Substance of 

the Proposed Rule Change 

NYSE proposes to amend Section 

501.00 of its Listed Company Manual to 

waive application of this section to any 

listed company that is a foreign private 

issuer and that submits a letter from an 

independent home country counsel 

certifying that a home country law or 

regulation prohibits compliance.2

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

In its filing with the Commission, 

NYSE 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. NYSE has prepared 

summaries, set forth in sections (A), (B), 

and (C) below, of the most significant 

aspects of these statements.3

(A) Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

Currently, Section 501.00 of NYSE’s 

Listed Company Manual (‘‘Manual’’) 

requires that all listed equity securities 

must be eligible for participation in a 

direct registration system operated by a 

securities depository. As the laws of 

certain countries may prohibit 

compliance with this rule, NYSE 

believes it is appropriate to waive its 

application to foreign private issuers 

upon provision of a letter from 

independent counsel confirming that 

such a prohibition exists. 

Accordingly, NYSE proposes to 

amend Section 501.00(A) of its Manual 

to waive application of that section to 

any listed company that is a foreign 

private issuer and that submits to NYSE 

a letter from an independent home 

country counsel certifying that a home 

country law or regulation prohibits such 

compliance. All other foreign private 

issuers will be required to comply with 

Section 501.00. 

NYSE also proposes to further modify 

Section 501.00(A) and to eliminate 

Section 501.00(B) to remove text 

relating to transition periods that have 

since expired. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The basis under the Exchange Act for 

this proposed rule change is the 

requirement under Section 6(b)(5) 4 that 

an exchange have rules that are 

designed to prevent fraudulent and 

manipulative practices, to promote just 

and equitable principles of trade, 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. NYSE believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act 

because it requires foreign private 

issuers to comply with the same 

requirement as U.S. companies that 

listed equity securities must be eligible 

for participation in a direct registration 

system unless the foreign private issuer 

is prohibited from doing so under its 

home country laws. 

(B) Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

NYSE does not believe that the 

proposed rule change will 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 

No written comments relating to the 

proposed rule change have been 

solicited or received. NYSE will notify 


sroberts on PROD1PC70 with NOTICES