Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 178 / Friday, September 12, 2008 / Notices 53057 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Exchange Act Release No. 42029 (Oct. 19, 

1999), 64 FR 57674 (Oct. 26, 1999). 

notify the RRB that a student has ceased 

full-time school attendance. Completion 

is voluntary. 

The RRB proposes no changes to the 

forms. One response is completed by 

each respondent. 

Previous Requests for Comments: The 

RRB has already published the initial 

60-day notice (73 FR 22183 on April 24, 

2008) required by 44 U.S.C. 3506(c)(2). 

That request elicited no comments. 

Information Collection Request (ICR) 

Title: Student Beneficiary Monitoring. 

OMB Control Number: OMB 3220– 

0123. 

Form(s) submitted: G–315, G–315a, 

G–315a.1. 

Type of request: Extension of a 

currently approved collection of 

information. 

Affected public: Individuals or 

households, Business or other for-profit, 

Non-profit institutions. 

Abstract: Under the Railroad 

Retirement Act (RRA), a student benefit 

is not payable if the student ceases fulltime school attendance, marries, works 

in the railroad industry, has excessive 

earnings or attains the upper age limit 

under the RRA. The report obtains 

information to be used in determining if 

benefits should cease or be reduced. 

Changes Proposed: The RRB proposes 

no changes to the forms in the 

collection. 

The burden estimate for the ICR is as 

follows: 

Estimated Completion Time for 

Form(s): Form G–315 is estimated at 15 

minutes per response; Form G–315a is 

estimated at 3 minutes per response and 

Form G–315a.1 is estimated at 2 

minutes per response. 

Estimated annual number of 

respondents: 900. 

Total annual responses: 900. 

Total annual reporting hours: 217. 

Additional Information or Comments: 

Copies of the form and supporting 

documents can be obtained from 

Charles Mierzwa, the agency clearance 

officer at (312–751–3363) or 

Charles.Mierzwa@rrb.gov. 

Comments regarding the information 

collection should be addressed to 

Ronald J. Hodapp, Railroad Retirement 

Board, 844 North Rush Street, Chicago, 

Illinois 60611–2092 or 

Ronald.Hodapp@rrb.gov and to the 

OMB Desk Officer for the RRB, at the 

Office of Management and Budget, 

Room 10230, New Executive Office 

Building, Washington, DC 20503. 

Charles Mierzwa, 

Clearance Officer. 

[FR Doc. E8–21297 Filed 9–11–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 7905–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–58466; File No. SR–AMEX– 

2008–53] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

American Stock Exchange LLC; Notice 

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change 

Related to Amendments to Rule 925 

(Confirmations) and Rule 921 (Opening 

of Accounts) 

September 5, 2008. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Exchange Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 

thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that 

on June 26, 2008, the American Stock 

Exchange LLC (the ‘‘Amex’’ or the 

‘‘Exchange’’) 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 amend 

Amex Rule 925 to clarify that written 

confirmations relating to options 

transactions are not required to specify 

the options exchange or exchanges on 

which such options contracts were 

executed. The Exchange further 

proposes to amend Amex Rule 921 to 

permit a General Securities Sales 

Supervisor to approve the opening of an 

options account. The text of the 

proposed rule change is available at the 

Exchange, the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room and http:// 

www.amex.com. 

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 the 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

a. Options Confirmation Rule (Rule 925) 

Amex Rule 925 requires that every 

member and member organization 

promptly furnish to each customer a 

written confirmation of each options 

transaction for such customer’s account. 

This confirmation is required to disclose 

the type of option, the underlying 

security, the expiration month, the 

exercise price, the number of option 

contracts, the premium, commissions, 

the transaction and settlement dates, 

whether the transaction was a purchase 

or a sale (writing) transaction, whether 

the transaction was an opening or a 

closing transaction, and whether the 

transaction was effected on a principal 

or agency basis. In addition, Rule 925 

requires that each confirmation, by 

appropriate symbols, must distinguish 

between Exchange option transactions 

and other transactions in option 

contracts and between such transactions 

and transactions in other options. Rule 

925 has been interpreted over the years 

by market participants to require that 

written confirmations relating to options 

transactions specify the options 

exchange or exchanges on which such 

options contracts were executed. This 

proposal seeks to clarify that Rule 925 

does not require the name of the options 

exchange or exchanges on which an 

options contract is executed. 

Prior to August 1999, an options class 

was typically listed on only one options 

exchange. In August 1999, the options 

exchanges began to multiply-list options 

classes that were previously listed on 

only one exchange. In October 1999, the 

Commission stated that it believed a 

linkage among options markets would 

benefit investors by increasing 

competition among markets (and market 

participants) to provide the best 

execution of customer orders.3

Subsequently, the Commission directed 

the options exchanges to act jointly in 

discussing, developing, and submitting 

for Commission approval an intermarket 

linkage plan for multiply-traded 

options. On July 28, 2000, the 

Commission approved the Plan for the 

Purpose of Creating and Operating an 

Intermarket Options Market Linkage 

(the ‘‘Options Linkage Plan’’ or 

‘‘Linkage Plan’’) submitted by the Amex, 

the Chicago Board Options Exchange, 

Inc. and the International Securities 


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53058 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 178 / Friday, September 12, 2008 / Notices 

4See Exchange Act Release No. 43086 (Jul. 28, 

2000), 65 FR 48023 (Aug. 4, 2000). 5See Exchange Act Release Nos. 43573 (Nov. 16, 

2000), 65 FR 70850 (Nov. 28, 2000) and 43574 (Nov. 

16, 2000), 65 FR 70851 (Nov. 28, 2000) (approval 

order). 

6Modifications to this paragraph discussed in 

telephone conference between Jeffrey P. Burns, 

Vice-President & Associate General Counsel, 

American Stock Exchange LLC, and Max Welsh, 

Special Counsel, Division of Trading and Markets, 

Securities and Exchange Commission, on August 7, 

2008. 

7The ORSC consists of the options exchanges and 

the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. 

(‘‘FINRA’’). 

8The Commission recently approved the 

elimination of the Senior Registered Options 

Principal (‘‘SROP’’) and Compliance Registered 

Options Principal (‘‘CROP’’) supervisory categories, 

permitting member firms to supervise their options 

activities through their overall supervisory and 

compliance programs that monitor all other 

securities products. See Exchange Act Release No. 

57738 (April 29, 2008), 73 FR 25805 (May 7, 2008) 

(approval order). 

9 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). 

10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

Exchange, Inc.4 The Philadelphia Stock 

Exchange, Inc., and the Pacific Stock 

Exchange agreed to participate in the 

Options Linkage Plan in November 

2000.5 As a result of the introduction of 

multiple trading of options and the 

implementation of the Linkage Plan, the 

contracts in a customer options order 

could be executed on more than one 

options exchange and the significance of 

the options exchange or exchanges that 

execute a particular options transaction 

has diminished significantly.6

Under the duty of best execution, 

Amex members are required to exercise 

diligence to obtain the best price when 

routing customer options trades for 

execution. The Exchange, as well as the 

other members of the Options Self 

Regulatory Council (the ‘‘OSRC’’),7

believes that in light of the existing best 

execution and disclosure requirements, 

the usefulness of including on an 

options confirmation the name of the 

options exchange or exchanges on 

which an options transaction was 

effected does not outweigh the 

operational difficulties of capturing the 

information given the multiple trading 

of options and the application of the 

Options Linkage Plan industry-wide. 

Consequently, the proposal would 

amend Amex Rule 925 to make clear 

that written confirmations relating to 

options transactions are not required to 

specify the options exchange or 

exchanges on which such options 

contracts were executed. 

The Exchange has worked with the 

other members of the OSRC in 

developing these proposed rule changes. 

Each member of the OSRC is expected 

to similarly file rule proposals to either 

delete the requirement that the written 

options confirmation disclose the name 

of the options exchange or exchanges on 

which the options transaction was 

executed, or clarify that no such 

requirement exists. 

b. Options Account Opening Rule 

(Rule 921) 

Amex Rule 921 governs the opening 

of options accounts by members and 

member organizations. Specifically, 

Rule 921(c), relating to ‘‘Diligence in 

Opening Account,’’ provides that in 

approving a customer’s account for 

options transactions, a member or 

member organization shall exercise due 

diligence to learn the essential facts as 

to the customer and his investment 

objectives and financial situation, and 

shall make a record of such information 

(which shall be retained in accordance 

with Amex Rule 922). Based on such 

information, the branch manager or 

other registered options principal 

(‘‘ROP’’) is required to approve in 

writing the customer’s account for 

options transactions. If the branch 

manager is not a ROP, the branch 

manager’s approval of the account must 

be confirmed within a reasonable time 

by a ROP. The Exchange and the other 

members of the ORSC believe that an 

amendment to the current options 

account opening procedures is 

warranted so that a general securities 

sales supervisor, in addition to a ROP, 

is able to open an options account 

without the approval of a ROP. The 

other members of the ORSC are also 

expected to file similar amendments to 

their options account opening rules. 

The Exchange believes that permitting 

a general securities sales supervisor to 

approve the opening of an options 

account would be appropriate and 

would properly reflect the maturity of 

the options market and the manner in 

which the uses of options are more 

integrated with other securities in the 

implementation of investment 

strategies.8 In particular, the Exchange 

believes that the proposed amendment 

to Rule 921 would further permit 

member firms to integrate their options 

activities into their overall supervisory 

and compliance structures that monitor 

all securities products. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

Section 6 of the Exchange Act,9 in 

general, and furthers the objectives of 

Section 6(b)(5),10 in particular, in that it 

is designed to prevent fraudulent and 

manipulative acts and practices, to 

promote just and equitable principles of 

trade, to foster cooperation and 

coordination with persons engaged in 

facilitating transactions in securities, to 

remove impediments to and perfect the 

mechanisms of a free and open market 

and a national market system, and, in 

general, to protect investors and the 

public interest, by clarifying options 

confirmation and account opening 

procedure rules to better reflect the 

realities of the modern options market 

and the compliance and regulatory 

structures adopted by firms. The 

Exchange believes that the proposal is 

consistent with Section 6(b)(5) 

Exchange Act because the proposed 

amendments to Amex Rules 925 and 

921 better reflect the manner in which 

standardized options are listed and 

traded on the options exchanges and 

integrated into firms’ general securities 

supervision and compliance programs. 

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 

Exchange Act. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed 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 

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 Exchange 

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 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 178 / Friday, September 12, 2008 / Notices 53059 

11 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 56458 

(September 18, 2007), 72 FR 54309 (September 24, 

2007) (SR–CBOE–2007–107) for a description of the 

Temporary Membership status under Rule 3.19.02. 

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58178 

(July 17, 2008), 73 FR 42634 (July 22, 2008) (SR– 

CBOE–2008–40) for a description of the Interim 

Trading Permits under Rule 3.27. 

5Rule 3.27(b) defines the clearing firm floating 

monthly rate as the floating monthly rate that a 

Clearing Member designates, in connection with 

transferable membership leases that the Clearing 

Member assisted in facilitating, for leases that 

utilize that monthly rate. 

6The concepts of an indicative lease rate and of 

a clearing firm floating month rate were previously 

utilized in the CBOE rule filings that set and 

adjusted the Temporary Member access fee. Both 

concepts were also recently codified in Rule 3.27(b) 

in relation to ITPs. 

Number SR–AMEX–2008–53 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–AMEX–2008–53. 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 

Section, 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 the Amex. 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–AMEX–2008–53 and 

should be submitted on or before 

October 3, 2008. 

For the Commission by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.11

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–21165 Filed 9–11–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–58456; File No. SR–CBOE– 

2008–93] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

Chicago Board Options Exchange, 

Incorporated; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change Relating to Temporary 

Membership Status and Interim 

Trading Permit Access Fees 

September 3, 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 August 

29, 2008, the Chicago Board Options 

Exchange, Incorporated (‘‘CBOE’’ or 

‘‘Exchange’’) 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 CBOE. 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 

CBOE proposes to adjust (1) the 

monthly access fee for persons granted 

temporary CBOE membership status 

(‘‘Temporary Members’’) pursuant to 

Interpretation and Policy .02 under 

CBOE Rule 3.19 (‘‘Rule 3.19.02’’) and (2) 

the monthly access fee for Interim 

Trading Permit (‘‘ITP’’) holders under 

CBOE Rule 3.27. The text of the 

proposed rule change is available on the 

Exchange’s Web site (http:// 

www.cboe.org/Legal/), at the Exchange’s 

Office of the Secretary, 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, 

CBOE 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 CBOE 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 current access fee for Temporary 

Members under Rule 3.19.02 3 and the 

current access fee for ITP holders under 

Rule 3.27 4 are both $10,653 per month. 

Both access fees are currently set at the 

indicative lease rate (as defined below) 

for August 2008. The Exchange 

proposes to adjust both access fees 

effective at the beginning of September 

2008 to be equal to the indicative lease 

rate for September 2008 (which is 

$10,800). Specifically, the Exchange 

proposes to revise both the Temporary 

Member access fee and the ITP access 

fee to be $10,800 per month 

commencing on September 1, 2008. 

The indicative lease rate is defined 

under Rule 3.27(b) as the highest 

clearing firm floating monthly rate 5 of 

the CBOE Clearing Members that assist 

in facilitating at least 10% of the CBOE 

transferable membership leases.6 The 

Exchange determined the indicative 

lease rate for September 2008 by polling 

each of these Clearing Members and 

obtaining the clearing firm floating 

monthly rate designated by each of 

these Clearing Members for that month. 

The Exchange used the same process 

to set the proposed Temporary Member 

and ITP access fees that it used to set 

the current Temporary Member and ITP 

access fees. The only difference is that 

the Exchange used clearing firm floating 

monthly rate information for the month 

of September 2008 to set the proposed 

access fees (instead of clearing firm 

floating monthly rate information for the 

month of August 2008 as was used to set 

the current access fees) in order to take 

into account changes in clearing firm 

floating monthly rates for the month of 

September 2008. 

The Exchange believes that the 

process used to set the proposed 


ebenthall on PROD1PC60 with NOTICES