Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 59021 

12See NYSE Alternext Equities filing, supra 

note 6. 

13See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58705 

(October 1, 2008) (SR–Amex–2008–63). 

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

15 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

4 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii). 

5 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

6See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 55852 

(June 4, 2007), 72 FR 31868 (June 8, 2007) (NYSE– 

2007–47) (‘‘Original Request’’); 57184 (January 22, 

2008), 73 FR 5254 (January 29, 2008) (NYSE–2008– 

02); 57591 (April 1, 2008), 73 FR 18838 (April 7, 

2008) (NYSE–2008–21); and 58036 (June 26, 2008), 

73 FR 38267 (July 3, 2008) (NYSE–2008–51). 

7See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58363 

(August 14, 2008), 73 FR 49514 (August 21, 2008) 

(SR–NYSE–2008–52). 

competition that is not necessary or 

appropriate in furtherance of the 

purposes of the Act. 

NYSE Alternext intends to adopt 

membership rules that are nearly 

identical to those of NYSE.12 Thus, if a 

firm were to meet NYSE Alternext’s 

membership rules, then it also will have 

met NYSE’s rules. Moreover, the same 

staff that administer NYSE membership 

rules will also administer NYSE 

Alternext membership rules. Therefore, 

the Commission believes it is consistent 

with the Act for NYSE to waive in NYSE 

Alternext members that have been duly 

admitted to NYSE Alternext 

membership. Such action will eliminate 

regulatory duplication without 

undermining compliance with 

applicable membership requirements. 

Similarly, the Commission believes it is 

consistent with the Act for NYSE to 

waive the new member application fee 

for NYSE Alternext members that waive 

into NYSE. 

Certain NYSE Alternext members that 

will be waived in to NYSE do not 

currently meet all of NYSE’s 

membership requirements. In a separate 

order, the Commission has approved 

Amex’s proposal to give its existing 

members a six-month grace period to 

meet the new NYSE Alternext 

membership requirements.13 In this 

proposal, NYSE is offering such 

members a similar six-month grace 

period to meet the NYSE membership 

requirements. The Commission believes 

that this aspect of the proposal 

reasonably balances the desire to allow 

NYSE Alternext members to continue 

their businesses and participate in the 

Relocations with the need to ensure 

compliance with applicable 

membership requirements. 

IV. Conclusion 

It is therefore ordered, pursuant to 

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

proposed rule change (SR–NYSE–2008– 

70) be, and hereby is, approved. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.15

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–23767 Filed 10–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–58699; File No. SR–NYSE– 

2008–94] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice 

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness 

of Proposed Rule Change by New York 

Stock Exchange LLC To Extend the 

Moratorium on the Administration of 

the Specialist Performance Evaluation 

Questionnaire (‘‘SPEQ’’) Pursuant to 

Exchange Rule 103A and the Use of 

the SPEQ Pursuant to Rule 103B 

(‘‘Moratorium’’) to the Earlier of 

December 31, 2008 or the Approval of 

SR–NYSE–2008–52, To Continue To 

Suspend the Use of SuperDot 

Turnaround for Orders Received and 

Responses to Administrative 

Messages as Objective Measures in 

the Assessment of Specialist 

Performance During the Moratorium 

and That the SPEQ and Order Reports/ 

Administrative Responses Continue To 

Be Removed From the Criteria Used To 

Commence a Specialist Performance 

Improvement Action 

October 1, 2008. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the 

‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3

notice is hereby given that, on 

September 30, 2008, New York Stock 

Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’ or the 

‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission (the 

‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I and II 

below, which Items have been prepared 

by the self-regulatory organization. The 

Exchange has designated the proposed 

rule change as ‘‘non-controversial’’ 

under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) 4 of the 

Act and Rule 19b–4(f)(6) thereunder,5

which renders the proposal effective 

upon filing with the Commission. 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 extend the 

moratorium on the administration of the 

Specialist Performance Evaluation 

Questionnaire (‘‘SPEQ’’) pursuant to 

Exchange Rule 103A and the use of the 

SPEQ pursuant to Rule 103B 

(‘‘Moratorium’’), which was 

implemented on June 8, 2007 to the 

earlier of December 31, 2008 or the 

approval of SR–NYSE–2008–52. In 

addition, the Exchange proposes to 

continue to suspend the use of SuperDot 

turnaround for orders received and 

responses to administrative messages as 

objective measures in the assessment of 

specialist performance during the 

Moratorium. The Exchange further 

proposes that the SPEQ and Order 

Reports/Administrative Responses 

continue to be removed from the criteria 

used to commence a specialist 

performance improvement action during 

the Moratorium. 

The text of the proposed rule changes 

is available on the Exchange’s Web site 

(http://www.nyse.com), 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, 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 those 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 parts of such 

statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and the 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange proposes to extend the 

moratorium on the administration of the 

Specialist Performance Evaluation 

Questionnaire (‘‘SPEQ’’) pursuant to 

Exchange Rule 103A and the use of the 

SPEQ pursuant to Rule 103B 

(‘‘Moratorium’’), which was 

implemented on June 8, 2007,6 to the 

earlier of December 31, 2008 or the 

approval of SR–NYSE–2008–52.7

In addition, the Exchange proposes 

that the use of SuperDot turnaround for 

orders received and responses to 

administrative messages continue to be 

removed from the objective measures 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
59022 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 

8The Exchange believed that conscientious 

participation in the SPEQ process was a critical 

element in the Exchange’s program for evaluating 

the overall performance of its specialists. All 

eligible Floor brokers are required to participate in 

the process and evaluate from one to three 

specialist units each quarter. Floor brokers were 

selected to participate in the SPEQ process based 

on broker badge data submitted in accordance with 

audit trail requirements. Brokers who intentionally 

failed or refused to participate in the SPEQ process 

were potentially subject to disciplinary action, 

including the imposition of a summary fine 

pursuant to Exchange Rule 476A. 

9OPENBOOK Online Database is an Exchange 

online service that allows subscribers to view the 

contents of the specialist book for any stock at any 

given point in the day, or over a period of time. 

Results are returned in an Excel spreadsheet. 

OPENBOOK Online Database is a historical 

database with data stored online for a 12-month 

period. 

10Pursuant to Exchange Rule 103B, specialist 

dealer performance is measured in terms of 

participation (TTV); stabilization; capital 

utilization, which is the degree to which the 

specialist unit uses its own capital in relation to the 

total dollar value of trading in the unit’s stocks; and 

near neighbor analysis, which is a measure of 

specialist performance and market quality 

comparing performance in a stock to performance 

of stocks that have similar market characteristics. 

Additional objective measures pursuant to 

Exchange Rule 103B are those measures included 

in Exchange Rule 103A which are: (a) Timeliness 

of regular openings; (b) promptness in seeking Floor 

official approval of a non-regulatory delayed 

opening; (c) timeliness of DOT turnaround; and (d) 

response to administrative messages. 

11See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 54820 

(November 27, 2006), 71 FR 70824 (December 6, 

2006) (SR–NYSE–2006–65). 

12As used herein, the term ‘‘market order’’ refers 

to market orders that are not designated as ‘‘auction 

market orders.’’ 

used in the assessment of specialist 

performance pursuant to Exchange Rule 

103B or as criteria used to commence 

specialist performance improvement 

action pursuant to Exchange Rule 103A 

during the Moratorium. 

SPEQ 

Prior to June 2007, pursuant to 

Exchange Rule 103A, on a quarterly 

basis, the Exchange distributed a twenty 

question survey known as the SPEQ to 

eligible Floor brokers 8 to evaluate 

specialist performance during the 

quarter immediately prior to the 

distribution of the SPEQ. Initially, this 

subjective feedback provided critical 

information to assist the Exchange in 

maintaining the quality of the NYSE 

market. 

However, the Exchange believed that 

the SPEQ no longer adequately allowed 

a Floor broker to assess the electronic 

interaction between the specialist and 

the Floor broker. The Hybrid Market 

provided Floor brokers and specialists 

with electronic trading tools that have 

resulted in less personal and verbal 

contact between Floor brokers and 

specialists. Currently, the majority of 

transactions executed on the Exchange 

are done through electronic executions. 

In addition, the dramatic increase in 

transparency with respect to the Display 

Book through, among other things, 

Exchange initiatives like NYSE 

OPENBOOKTM 9 (‘‘OPENBOOK’’) has 

decreased the need for the Floor broker 

to obtain market information verbally 

from the specialist. This increased 

transparency gives all market 

participants, both on and off the Floor, 

a greater ability to see and react to 

market changes. 

The questions on the SPEQ did not 

take into account the operation of the 

electronic tools available in the Hybrid 

Market. The SPEQ did not provide Floor 

brokers with a means to evaluate 

specialist performance under the 

current market model. As a result of the 

more electronic interaction between 

Floor brokers and specialists, Floor 

brokers were unable to assess specialist 

performance using the SPEQ. 

The questions posed to the Floor 

brokers on the SPEQ required Floor 

brokers to opine on the specialists’ 

ability to offer single price executions 

and specialists’ ability to provide 

notification to Floor brokers of market 

changes in particular stocks. In the 

current more electronic market, 

specialists are unable to offer single 

price executions and the relative speed 

of executions makes it virtually 

impossible for specialists to notify 

brokers of changes in a particular 

security. 

Given the above, the SPEQ no longer 

served as a meaningful measure of 

specialist performance. 

Objective Measures 

The Exchange further requests that 

during the extension of the Moratorium, 

allocations of newly listed securities on 

the Exchange continue to be based on 

the objective measures identified in 

Exchange Rule 103B,10 with the 

exception of SuperDot turnaround for 

orders received and response to 

administrative messages. 

As explained in the Original Request 

and previously requested extensions, 

SuperDot turnaround for orders 

received and response to administrative 

messages no longer provide meaningful 

objective standards to evaluate 

specialist performance in today’s 

electronic market. Specifically, in the 

more electronic market, orders received 

by Exchange systems that are 

marketable upon entry are eligible to be 

immediately and automatically 

executed by Exchange systems. As such, 

SuperDot turnaround no longer 

provided a meaningful objective 

measure of a specialist’s performance. 

Furthermore, in the current more 

electronic market, the Exchange systems 

automatically respond to the majority of 

the administrative messages. Today, 

there are two administrative messages 

that require a manual response from 

specialists. These are messages that 

require the specialist to provide status 

information on market orders and stop 

orders. With regard to requests for the 

status of stop orders, the specialists are 

no longer capable of providing this 

information. In December 2006, 

following Commission approval,11 the 

Exchange changed its stop order 

handling process. Stop orders are no 

longer visible to the part of the NYSE 

Display Book that the specialist 

‘‘sees.’’ When a transaction on the 

Exchange results in the election of a 

stop order that had been received prior 

to such transaction, the elected stop 

order is sent as a market order 12 to the 

Display Book and the specialist’s system 

employing algorithms, where it is 

handled in the same way as any other 

market order. The specialist, therefore, 

is unable to provide any information 

regarding the status of stop orders. 

Market orders are eligible to receive 

immediate and automatic execution on 

the Exchange. The immediate and 

automatic execution of market orders 

eliminates the need for the specialists to 

respond to the administrative request 

for the status of market orders. In 

practice, a customer that submits a 

market order will likely receive a report 

of execution before the administrative 

message requesting the status of the 

market order has been printed and read 

by the specialist. 

This change has had a minimal 

impact on Exchange customers. In the 

past few years, the average number of 

administrative messages received on a 

daily basis has steadily declined. The 

Exchange believes that immediate and 

automatic execution of orders will 

virtually eliminate administrative 

messages that require a manual response 

from a specialist. As a result, a 

specialist’s ability to respond to 

administrative messages no longer 

provides a meaningful measure of 

specialists’ performance during the 

Moratorium. 

Given the above, the Exchange seeks 

to continue suspension of the use of 

both measures as criteria used to assess 

specialists’ performance during the 

extension of the Moratorium. 

Performance Improvement Actions 

Similarly, during the extension of the 

Moratorium, the Exchange seeks to 

continue suspending the use of the 

SPEQ and Order Reports/Administrative 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 59023 

13See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58363 

(August 14, 2008), 73 FR 49514 (August 21, 2008) 

(NYSE–2008–52). 

14 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 

15 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(1). 

16 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 

17 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 

18 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii). In addition, Rule 

19b–4(f)(6)(iii) requires a self-regulatory 

organization to give the Commission written notice 

of its intent to file the proposed rule change at least 

five business days prior to the date of filing of the 

proposed rule change, or such shorter time as 

designated by the Commission. NYSE has satisfied 

this requirement. 

19 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii). 

20 Id. 

21For purposes only of waiving the 30-day 

operative delay, the Commission has considered the 

impact of the proposed rule on efficiency, 

competition, and capital formation. 15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 

Reports as criteria for the 

implementation of a performance 

improvement action pursuant to 

Exchange Rule 103A. Exchange Rule 

103A(b) provides that: 

The Market Performance Committee shall 

initiate a Performance Improvement Action 

(except in highly unusual or extenuating 

circumstances, involving factors beyond the 

control of a particular specialist unit, as 

determined by formal vote of the Committee) 

in any case where a specialist unit’s 

performance falls below such standards as 

are specified in the Supplementary Material 

to this rule. The objective of a Performance 

Improvement Action shall be to improve a 

specialist unit’s performance where the unit 

has exhibited one or more significant 

weaknesses, or has exhibited an overall 

pattern of weak performance that indicates 

the need for general improvement. 

Prior to June 2007, the SPEQ and 

Order Reports/Administrative Reports 

were two criteria included in the 

standards specified in Exchange Rule 

103A Supplementary Material. Given 

that SPEQ and Order Reports/ 

Administrative Reports no longer 

provided significant objective measures 

of specialists’ performance in the 

Hybrid Market, the Exchange sought to 

suspend the use of both measures as 

criteria for the implementation of a 

performance improvement action during 

the Moratorium. Through this filing, the 

Exchange seeks to continue this 

suspension for the duration of the 

Moratorium. 

Creation of a New Process 

The Exchange has established a 

quantifiable measure in order to 

determine a specialist unit’s eligibility 

to participate in the new Allocation 

Process. The Exchange has formally 

submitted a proposal to the Commission 

to amend Exchange rules that govern the 

allocation of securities to specialist 

units and other related rules.13

The Exchange believes that the use of 

a single objective measure to determine 

specialist unit eligibility for allocation 

will create a more efficient process that 

is consistent with the Exchange’s 

current more electronic trading 

environment. 

Conclusion 

The Exchange therefore requests to 

extend the Moratorium on the 

administration of the Specialist 

Performance Evaluation Questionnaire 

(‘‘SPEQ’’) pursuant to Exchange Rule 

103A and the use of the SPEQ pursuant 

to Rule 103B until the earlier of 

December 31, 2008 or the approval of 

SR–NYSE–2008–52. In addition, the 

Exchange proposes to continue to 

suspend the use of SuperDot turnaround 

for orders received and responses to 

administrative messages continue to not 

be used as objective measures in the 

assessment of specialist performance 

during the Moratorium. The Exchange 

further proposes that the SPEQ and 

Order Reports/Administrative 

Responses continue to be removed from 

the criteria used to commence a 

specialist performance improvement 

action during the Moratorium. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the basis 

under the Act for this proposed rule 

change is the requirement under Section 

6(b)(5) 14 that an Exchange have rules 

that are designed 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. The proposed rule 

change also is designed to support the 

principles of Section 11A(a)(1) 15 in that 

it seeks to assure economically efficient 

execution of securities transactions, 

make it practicable for brokers to 

execute investors’ orders in the best 

market and provide an opportunity for 

investors’ orders to be executed without 

the participation of a dealer. Due to the 

Exchange’s transition to a more 

electronic market, the current SPEQ, 

SuperDot turnaround for orders 

received and response to administrative 

messages no longer provide meaningful 

objective standards to evaluate 

specialist performance. The Exchange 

requests this continued extension of the 

Moratorium to determine whether 

elimination of the SPEQ as well as 

SuperDot turnaround for orders 

received and response to administrative 

messages as objective measures would 

remove an impediment to a free and 

open electronic market which would 

result in the more economically efficient 

execution of securities transactions. 

Given the current trend to a more 

electronically-based market, the 

Exchange believes that the use of more 

objective and detailed measures will 

promote healthy competition between 

specialist units and ultimately result in 

better market-making for Exchange 

customers. 

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Burden on Competition 

The Exchange 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 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 

Because the proposed rule change 

does not: (i) Significantly affect the 

protection of investors or the public 

interest; (ii) impose any significant 

burden on competition; and (iii) become 

operative for 30 days after the date of 

filing, or such shorter time as the 

Commission may designate if consistent 

with the protection of investors and the 

public interest, the proposed rule 

change has become effective pursuant to 

Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 16 and 

subparagraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b–4 

thereunder.17

A proposed rule change filed under 

19b–4(f)(6) normally may not become 

operative prior to 30 days after the date 

of filing.18 However, Rule 19b– 

4(f)(6)(iii) 19 permits the Commission to 

designate a shorter time if such action 

is consistent with the protection of 

investors and the public interest. The 

Exchange has requested that the 

Commission waive the 30-day preoperative delay and designate the 

proposed rule change to become 

operative upon filing.20

The Commission believes that 

waiving the 30-day operative delay is 

consistent with the protection of 

investors and the public interest. The 

Commission designates the proposal to 

become effective and operative upon 

filing.21

At any time within 60 days of the 

filing of the proposed rule change, the 

Commission may summarily abrogate 

such rule change if it appears to the 

Commission that such action is 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
59024 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 196 / Wednesday, October 8, 2008 / Notices 

22 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

4See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 52648 

(October 21, 2005), 70 FR 62155 (October 28, 2005) 

(SR–NYSE–2005–63). 

5See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 53539 

(March 22, 2006), 71 FR 16353 (March 31, 2006) 

(SR–NYSE–2004–05) (establishing the NYSE 

HYBRID MARKETSM). 

6See Securities Exchange Act Release Numbers 

54140 (July 13, 2006), 71 FR 41491 (July 21, 2006) 

(SR–NYSE–2006–48); 54985 (December 21, 2006), 

72 FR 171 (January 3, 2007) (SR–NYSE–2006–113); 

55992 (June 29, 2007), 72 FR 37289 (July 9, 2007) 

(SR–NYSE–2007–57); 56556 (September 27, 2007), 

72 FR 56421 (October 3, 2007) (SR–NYSE–2007– 

86); 57072 (December 31, 2007), 73 FR 1252 

(January 7, 2008) (SR–NYSE–2007–125); 57601 

(April 2, 2008), 73 FR 19123 (April 8, 2008) (SR– 

NYSE–2008–22); 58033 (June 26, 2008), 73 FR 

38265 (July 3, 2008) (SR–NYSE–2008–49). 

7See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58184 

(July 17, 2008, 2006), 73 FR 42853 (July 23, 2008) 

(SR–NYSE–2008–46). 

necessary or appropriate in the public 

interest, for the protection of investors, 

or otherwise in the 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, 

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– 

NYSE–2008–94 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–NYSE–2008–94. 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, 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 NYSE. 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–NYSE–2008–94 and should 

be submitted on or before October 29, 

2008. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.22

Florence E. Harmon, 

Acting Secretary. 

[FR Doc. E8–23837 Filed 10–7–08; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–58713; File No. SR–NYSE– 

2008–96] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice 

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness 

of Proposed Rule Change by New York 

Stock Exchange LLC To Extend for 

Three Months the Moratorium Related 

to the Qualification and Registration of 

Registered Competitive Market Makers 

(‘‘RCMMs’’) Pursuant to NYSE Rule 

107A and Competitive Traders (‘‘CTs’’) 

Pursuant to NYSE Rule 110 

October 2, 2008. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

(‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3

notice is hereby given that, on 

September 30, 2008, New York Stock 

Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’ or the 

‘‘Exchange’’) filed with the Securities 

and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule 

change as described in Items I and II 

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 Exchange proposes to extend for 

three months the moratorium related to 

the qualification and registration of 

Registered Competitive Market Makers 

(‘‘RCMMs’’) pursuant to NYSE Rule 

107A and Competitive Traders (‘‘CTs’’) 

pursuant to NYSE Rule 110. The text of 

the proposed rule change is available at 

http://www.nyse.com, the NYSE, and 

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 

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 those 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 parts of such 

statements. 

A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement of the Purpose of, and 

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule 

Change 

1. Purpose 

The Exchange proposes to extend for 

three months the moratorium related to 

the qualification and registration of 

RCMMs pursuant to NYSE Rule 107A 

and CTs pursuant to NYSE Rule 110. 

On September 22, 2005, the Exchange 

filed SR–NYSE–2005–63 4 with the 

Securities and Exchange Commission 

(‘‘Commission’’) proposing to 

implement a moratorium on the 

qualification and registration of new 

RCMMS and CTs (‘‘Moratorium’’). The 

purpose of the Moratorium was to allow 

the Exchange an opportunity to review 

the viability of RCMMs and CTs in the 

NYSE HYBRID MARKETSM (‘‘Hybrid 

Market’’).5

During each phase of the Hybrid 

Market, new system functionality was 

included in the operation of Exchange 

systems and new data was generated. As 

a result, the Exchange was unable to 

make an informed decision as to the 

viability of RCMMs and CTs in the 

Hybrid Market. The phasing in 

implementation of the Hybrid Market 

required the Exchange to extend the 

Moratorium an additional seven times 

over the next twenty-seven (27) 

months.6

On June 12, 2008, the Exchange filed 

its proposal to create its new market 

model (‘‘New Model’’).7 Pursuant to its 

filing, the Exchange proposed to: (i) 


jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES