Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 1, 2008 / Notices 57167 

1 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

2 17 CFR 242.608. 

3On July 6, 2001, the Commission approved the 

OLPP, which was originally proposed by the Amex, 

CBOE, ISE, OCC, Phlx, and Pacific Exchange, Inc. 

(k/n/a NYSE Arca). See Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 44521, 66 FR 36809 (July 13, 2001). On 

February 5, 2004, BSE was added as a sponsor to 

the OLPP. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

49199, 69 FR 7030 (February 12, 2004). On March 

21, 2008, Nasdaq was added as a sponsor to the 

OLPP. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

57546 (March 21, 2008), 73 FR 16393 (March 27, 

2008). 

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58385 

(August 19, 2008), 73 FR 50375 (August 26, 2008) 

(‘‘Temporary Approval Order’’). 

5The Plan Sponsors represented that, in 2007, if 

this proposal had been in effect, the industry would 

not have added a new expiration year in 550 

underlying securities, which would have reduced 

the overall number of listed series (LEAP and nonLEAP series) by 8%. These LEAP series generated 

only .43% of industry trading volume in a typical 

(non-expiration) sample week. 

6 In approving this proposed OPRA Plan 

Amendment, the Commission has considered its 

impact on efficiency, competition, and capital 

formation. 15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 

7 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

8 17 CFR 242.608. 

9 15 U.S.C. 78k–1. 

10 17 CFR 242.608. 11 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(29). 

(‘‘NYSE Arca’’), the Philadelphia Stock 

Exchange, Inc. (‘‘Phlx’’), and the 

Options Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) 

respectively, filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to section 

11A of the Securities Exchange Act 1 of 

1934 (‘‘Act’’) and Rule 608 thereunder,2

Amendment No. 2 to the Plan for the 

Purpose of Developing and 

Implementing Procedures Designed to 

Facilitate the Listing and Trading of 

Standardized Options (‘‘the Options 

Listing Procedures Plan’’ or ‘‘OLPP’’).3

Amendment No. 2 would provide a 

uniform minimum volume threshold 

per underlying class to qualify for the 

introduction of a new expiration year of 

Long-term Equity AnticiPation 

securities (‘‘LEAP’’ or ‘‘LEAPS’’) 

options. 

On August 19, 2008, the Commission 

issued notice of and approved 

Amendment No. 2 on a temporary basis 

not to exceed 120 days, and solicited 

comment on the proposal.4 The 

Commission received no comment 

letters in response to the Temporary 

Approval Order. This order approves 

Amendment No. 2 on a permanent 

basis. 

II. Description of the Proposal 

Currently, Plan Sponsors may list a 

new LEAP expiration year at the 

appropriate time without any 

consideration as to the activity level of 

the class of options. Amendment No. 2 

proposes to apply a uniform minimum 

volume threshold per underlying class 

to qualify for the introduction of a new 

expiration year of LEAP options. 

By agreeing to a minimum volume 

threshold per underlying class to qualify 

for an additional year of LEAP series, 

the Plan Sponsors intend to mitigate the 

number of option series available for 

trading. It is intended that this will in 

turn mitigate quote traffic, because 

Participants will not be submitting 

quotes in the not-listed series. The Plan 

Sponsors have agreed on a minimum 

volume threshold of 1,000 contracts 

national average daily volume in the 

preceding three calendar months 

(excluding volume in LEAP and FLEX 

series) to qualify for the introduction of 

a new LEAP expiration year.5

The Amendment does not restrict the 

introduction of a new LEAP expiration 

year in Index options, or in classes that 

have had options products trading at 

any exchange for less than six months. 

In addition, it also does not restrict, for 

a particular options class, the 

introduction of new LEAP series with 

an expiration year that has already been 

introduced by at least one Exchange. 

III. Discussion 

After careful review, the Commission 

finds that Amendment No. 2 is 

consistent with the requirements of the 

Act and the rules and regulations 

thereunder.6 Specifically, the 

Commission finds that Amendment No. 

2 to the OLPP is consistent with section 

11A of the Act 7 and Rule 608 

thereunder 8 in that it is in the public 

interest and appropriate for the 

protection of investors and the 

maintenance of fair and orderly markets. 

Specifically, the Commission believes 

that by adopting a uniform minimum 

volume threshold per underlying class 

to qualify for the introduction of a new 

expiration year for LEAP series, the 

options exchanges should reduce the 

number of option series available for 

trading, and thus may reduce increases 

in the options quote rate because market 

participants would not be submitting 

quotes in the not-yet-available LEAP 

series. Accordingly, the Commission 

believes that it is necessary or 

appropriate in the public interest, for 

the protection of investors and the 

maintenance of fair and orderly markets, 

to remove impediments to, and perfect 

mechanisms of, a national market 

system to approve Amendment No. 2 to 

the OLPP on a permanent basis. 

IV. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

section 11A of the Act,9 and Rule 608 

thereunder,10 that proposed 

Amendment No. 2 to the OLPP be, and 

it hereby is, approved on a permanent 

basis. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.11

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–22965 Filed 9–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8010–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release Nos. 33–8962; 34–58657; File No. 

4–567] 

Roundtable on Modernizing the SEC’s 

Disclosure System 

AGENCY: Securities and Exchange 

Commission. 

ACTION: Notice of roundtable discussion; 

request for comment. 

SUMMARY: On October 8, 2008 from 9 

a.m. to 1 p.m., the Securities and 

Exchange Commission will hold a 

roundtable to discuss ways in which its 

current disclosure system can be 

modernized to provide investors more 

useful and timely information to help 

them make investment choices. The 

roundtable will be organized as two 

panels. The panels will be moderated by 

Commission staff and will include 

investor representatives, company 

officials, information intermediaries, 

practitioners, and academics. The 

roundtable is part of the Commission’s 

21st Century Disclosure Initiative. 

The roundtable will be held in the 

auditorium of SEC headquarters at 100 

F Street, NE., Washington, DC, from 9 

a.m. until approximately 1 p.m. The 

roundtable will be open to the public 

with seating on a first-come, first-served 

basis. The roundtable discussions will 

be Webcast on the Commission’s Web 

site at http://www.sec.gov. The 

roundtable agenda and other related 

materials, including a list of participants 

and moderators, will be accessible at 

http://www.sec.gov/disclosureinitiative. 

The Commission welcomes comments 

regarding any of the topics to be 

addressed at the roundtable and is 

particularly interested in comments 

responding to the questions that are set 

forth below. 

DATES: We must receive comments on or 

before October 22, 2008. 

ADDRESSES: You may submit your 

comments by any of the following 

methods: 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
57168 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 1, 2008 / Notices 

Electronic Comments 

• Use the Commission’s Internet 

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

rules/other.shtml); or 

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

Number 4–567 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. 

Your submission must refer to File No. 

4–567. You should include this file 

number on the subject line if you send 

your comment by e-mail. Please use 

only one method of submission. The 

Commission will post all comments on 

its Web site at http://www.sec.gov/rules/ 

other.shtml. Comments will also be 

available for public 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. All comments received 

will be posted without change. Because 

we do not edit personal identifying 

information from submissions, you 

should submit only information that 

you wish to make available publicly. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Matthew Reed at (202) 551–4144, 21st 

Century Disclosure Initiative, Securities 

and Exchange Commission, 100 F 

Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549– 

3561. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Federal securities acts require certain 

operating and investment companies, 

and certain investors, to submit 

transactional, financial, governancerelated, and other information to the 

Commission. Much of this information 

is made available to the public and 

investors. The Commission’s existing 

disclosure system depends primarily on 

forms that collect, organize, and convey 

the required information. Companies 

and other filers prepare the forms and 

file them with the Commission, which 

stores them and makes them available to 

the public using its EDGAR database. 

The Commission recently announced 

that it is developing a new platform, 

known as IDEA (Interactive Data, 

Electronic Applications), to succeed 

EDGAR. IDEA’s architecture will allow 

disclosure information to be submitted, 

stored, accessed, and disseminated more 

efficiently. 

In June 2008, Chairman Christopher 

Cox launched the 21st Century 

Disclosure Initiative and called for a 

fundamental rethinking of our current 

disclosure system, which could result in 

transitioning away from a forms-based 

approach. The principal objective of the 

Initiative is to enhance the usefulness of 

disclosure to investors. Improved 

efficiency for preparers of disclosure 

also will be important. The Initiative 

will include a careful review of existing 

disclosure, the objectives of disclosure, 

and whether and how disclosure may be 

improved through the application of 

modern technology and practices. Based 

on its internal efforts and other 

information, including the views 

expressed at the October 8, 2008, 

roundtable and comments received 

regarding the roundtable, Initiative staff 

will prepare a report that describes a 

modernized disclosure system and 

recommends future action for a 

transition to the new system. The 

proposed new system will use modern 

information technology to collect, 

manage, and provide structured data or 

information that is accessible, and easier 

to use, while providing the Commission 

with tools to better fulfill its mission of 

protecting investors, maintaining 

orderly markets, and facilitating the 

formation of capital. 

This system could take the form of a 

‘‘company file system’’ that would 

collect core information about a 

company or fund in a centrally and 

logically organized structured data file. 

Companies would supplement that 

information with the current, periodic, 

and transactional information that is 

currently required by the Commission’s 

disclosure regulations. Structured data, 

including data tagging, and IDEA’s 

versatile architecture should make 

disclosure information dynamic, 

accessible, and easier to use. Initiative 

staff will analyze whether a company 

file system would provide investors 

with improved presentation and access 

to information; reduce redundancy and 

complexity for filers, harness the ability 

of technology to drive down costs and 

reduce errors; and aid the Commission’s 

development of more powerful 

electronic regulatory and enforcement 

tools. A company file system would also 

allow for the Commission to consider 

ways to further integrate disclosure. 

The Roundtable on Modernizing the 

Securities and Exchange Commission’s 

Disclosure System will be organized 

into two panels. The first panel will 

explore the data, technology, and 

processes that companies and other 

filers use in satisfying their Commission 

disclosure obligations. It will also 

consider the data and technology that 

investors use in making their 

investment decisions. The second panel 

will consider how the Commission 

could better organize and operate its 

disclosure system so that companies 

enjoy efficiencies and investors have 

better access to high-quality 

information. 

The Commission welcomes feedback 

regarding any of the topics to be 

addressed at the roundtable and would 

be particularly interested in comments 

on the specific questions set forth 

below. 

I. General Issues 

a. Should the Commission make 

changes to its current forms-based 

disclosure system? Please explain why 

or why not. 

b. What are the key issues to be 

considered in the review of the 

Commission’s disclosure system? Are 

particular aspects of the system and 

process especially useful and well 

executed, and are particular aspects 

especially in need of improvement? 

c. What are the purposes of issuer 

disclosure from the perspective of 

investors, filers, and regulators? 

II. Specific Issues 

a. The Market’s Use of Disclosure 

Information 

i. How do operating and investment 

companies collect, summarize, analyze, 

file, and disseminate the information 

that is submitted to the Commission? 

ii. How do operating and investment 

companies submit disclosure and 

reporting information to the 

Commission? How have these methods 

changed during the last 15 years, 

particularly after filing via EDGAR was 

fully implemented? How could the 

Commission’s system be changed to 

reduce burdens and create efficiencies, 

consistent with investor protection? 

iii. How do investors retrieve and use 

the disclosure information that 

companies submit to the Commission? 

How could this information be better 

presented, and more easily retrieved 

and used through technological 

improvements? 

iv. What disclosure information that 

companies submit to the Commission is 

used by investors to make investment 

decisions? Is any information that 

companies submit to the Commission 

not used? What information that is not 

required to be filed or furnished with 

the Commission do investors and others 

use to make investment decisions or 

give investment advice? 

b. The Commission’s Current Disclosure 

System 

Does the Commission’s current 

disclosure system present difficulties? 

What difficulties can be attributed to 

technological problems? Which can be 

attributed to regulatory or statutory 

problems? 


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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 191 / Wednesday, October 1, 2008 / Notices 57169 

c. Modernizing the Commission’s 

Disclosure System 

i. How should the Commission’s 

disclosure system be modernized? One 

possibility is a company file system. 

What alternative systems should be 

considered? What different or additional 

benefits might these alternatives 

provide? 

ii. How should a modern disclosure 

system, such as a company file system, 

be organized, and how could it improve 

the way disclosure information is 

submitted and used? 

iii. What features should any 

modernized disclosure system provide 

in order to serve the needs of filers, 

investors, regulators, and other users of 

information? Why? 

iv. Data tagging using XBRL, or 

eXtensible Business Reporting 

Language, is one way, but we 

understand there are other ways to 

structure data. What alternative ways 

could be used by companies to submit 

structured data to the Commission? 

v. What are the costs and benefits to 

investors and other market participants 

of structuring non-financial disclosures, 

including, for example, data tagging? 

vi. What time frame would be 

appropriate for implementing a 

company file system? 

vii. What benefits and costs to 

preparers and users of information 

would accompany the implementation 

of modernized disclosure system, such 

as a company file system, that requires 

all, or virtually all, data to be filed in a 

structured format? Would such a system 

be more useful to some investors, such 

as small or less sophisticated investors? 

Would some investors be harmed by 

such a system? Would larger companies 

benefit more than smaller companies? 

Would costs fall disproportionately on 

one group of companies? 

viii. Are any changes to the 

Commission’s disclosure regulations 

required for a transition to a company 

file system? How could these changes be 

identified? 

Dated: September 26, 2008. 

By the Commission. 

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–23105 Filed 9–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

Notice is hereby given, pursuant to 

the provisions of the Government in the 

Sunshine Act, Public Law 94–409, that 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission will hold a Closed Meeting 

on Thursday, October 2, 2008 at 2 p.m. 

Commissioners, Counsel to the 

Commissioners, the Secretary to the 

Commission, and recording secretaries 

will attend the Closed Meeting. Certain 

staff members who have an interest in 

the matters also may be present. 

The General Counsel of the 

Commission, or his designee, has 

certified that, in his opinion, one or 

more of the exemptions set forth in 5 

U.S.C. 552b(c)(3), (5), (6), (7), 9(B) and 

(10) and 17 CFR 200.402(a)(3), (5), (6), 

(7), 9(ii) and (10), permit consideration 

of the scheduled matters at the Closed 

Meeting. 

Commissioner Casey, as duty officer, 

voted to consider the items listed for the 

Closed Meeting in closed session. 

The subject matter of the Closed 

Meeting scheduled for Thursday, 

October 2, 2008 will be: 

Formal orders of investigation; 

Institution and settlement of injunctive 

actions; 

Institution and settlement of 

administrative proceedings of an 

enforcement nature; 

A collection matter; 

Amicus consideration; 

An adjudicatory matter; and 

Other matters relating to enforcement 

proceedings. 

At times, changes in Commission 

priorities require alterations in the 

scheduling of meeting items. 

For further information and to 

ascertain what, if any, matters have been 

added, deleted or postponed, please 

contact: 

The Office of the Secretary at (202) 

551–5400. 

Dated: September 26, 2008. 

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–23048 Filed 9–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

Sunshine Act Meeting 

FEDERAL REGISTER CITATION OF PREVIOUS

ANNOUNCEMENT: [to be published]. 

STATUS: Open meeting. 

PLACE: 100 F Street, NE., Washington, 

DC. 

DATE AND TIME OF PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED

MEETING: Wednesday, October 1, 2008 at 

10 a.m. 

CHANGE IN THE MEETING: Cancellation of 

Meeting. 

The Open Meeting scheduled for 

Wednesday, October 1, 2008 has been 

cancelled. 

For further information please contact 

the Office of the Secretary at (202) 551– 

5400. 

Dated: September 26, 2008. 

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–23074 Filed 9–30–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[File No. 500–1] 

Wendt-Bristol Health Services Corp.; 

Order of Suspension of Trading 

September 26, 2008. 

It appears to the Securities and 

Exchange Commission that there is a 

lack of current and accurate information 

concerning the securities of WendtBristol Health Services Corp. (‘‘WendtBristol’’) because it has not filed any 

periodic reports since the period ended 

March 31, 2000. Wendt-Bristol is quoted 

on the Pink Sheets operated by Pink 

OTC Markets, Inc. under the ticker 

symbol WMDB. 

The Commission is of the opinion that 

the public interest and the protection of 

investors require a suspension of trading 

in the securities of the above-listed 

company. 

Therefore, it is ordered, pursuant to 

Section 12(k) of the Securities Exchange 

Act of 1934, that trading in the 

securities of the above-listed company is 

suspended for the period from 9:30 a.m. 

EDT on September 26, 2008, through 

11:59 p.m. EDT on October 9, 2008. 

By the Commission. 

J. Lynn Taylor, 

Assistant Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–23086 Filed 9–26–08; 4:15 pm] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–58623; File No. SR–BATS– 

2008–004] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS 

Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change Consolidating Into a 

Single Rule Certain Requirements for 

Products Traded on the Exchange 

Pursuant to Unlisted Trading 

Privileges 

September 23, 2008. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES