Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 249 / Tuesday, December 30, 2014 / Notices 78541 

6The rule would not require disclosure if a 

company withdraws its listing application before 

receiving a written determination from Nasdaq. 

Companies withdraw listing applications for many 

reasons, including instances where the company is 

acquired, determines not to list on an exchange, or 

lists on another venue. In addition, Nasdaq does not 

believe it can enforce a disclosure requirement after 

a company has withdrawn from its process. 

Nonetheless, Nasdaq believes that such disclosure 

may be appropriate and encourages companies to 

make such disclosure. 

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

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

9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

which the decision was based.6 Just as 

is the case with a delisting 

determination, the proposed rule would 

require that the disclosure be made 

within four business days of receipt of 

Nasdaq’s determination. In cases where 

the company fails to make the required 

disclosure, Nasdaq would make the 

disclosure and a Listing Qualifications 

Hearings Panel would consider the 

company’s failure to make the required 

disclosure when it considers any 

subsequent appeal of the denial. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that its 

proposal is consistent with Section 6(b) 

of the Act7 in general, and furthers the 

objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act8

in particular, in that it is 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 will impose a 

disclosure requirement on companies 

that are denied initial listing on Nasdaq, 

which will help protect investors and 

the public interest by providing 

transparency to investors about the 

status of a company’s application. The 

proposed rule change will not affect a 

company’s ability to withdraw its listing 

application at any time and will add a 

statement about that ability to Nasdaq’s 

rules, which will promote just and 

equitable principles of trade by 

enhancing transparency and allowing 

companies to maintain control over the 

consideration of their applications. 

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 not 

necessary or appropriate in furtherance 

of the purposes of the Act. The 

proposed rule change will impose an 

additional disclosure requirement on a 

small universe of companies and is not 

expected to affect the number of 

companies applying to list on Nasdaq or 

any other exchange, or any company’s 

ability to list. 

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants or Others 

No written comments were either 

solicited or received. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

Within 45 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 shall: (a) By order 

approve or disapprove 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 email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– 

NASDAQ–2014–102 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Securities 

and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street 

NE., Washington, DC 20549. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–NASDAQ–2014–102. This 

file number should be included on the 

subject line if email 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 Web site viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE., 

Washington, DC 20549, on official 

business days between the hours of 

10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of such 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the Exchange. 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– 

NASDAQ–2014–102 and should be 

submitted on or before January 20, 2015. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.9

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30438 Filed 12–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–73906; File No. SR–CHX– 

2014–20] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; 

Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc.; Notice 

of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness 

of a Proposed Rule Change to Amend 

the Trading Permit Application Fee 

December 22, 2014. 

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934 

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

notice is hereby given that on December 

15, 2014, the Chicago Stock Exchange, 

Inc. (‘‘CHX’’ 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 selfregulatory 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 

CHX proposes to amend the Trading 

Permit application fee. The text of this 

proposed rule change is available on the 

Exchange’s Web site at (www.chx.com) 

and in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room. 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

78542 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 249 / Tuesday, December 30, 2014 / Notices 

3CHX Article 1, Rule 1(aa) defines ‘‘Trading 

Permit’’ as ‘‘a permit issued by the Exchange, 

granting the holder a revocable license to execute 

approved securities transactions through the 

Exchange’s Trading Facilities, or to have those 

transactions executed on its behalf.’’ 

4CHX Article 3, Rule 2(e) provides that ‘‘all 

Trading Permits must be held by active Participant 

Firms’’ and ‘‘no Participant Firm shall hold more 

than one Trading Permit.’’ 

5See NASDAQ and NASDAQ BX fee schedules, 

both of which assess a $2,000 fee per new member 

application. 

6 15 U.S. C. 78f. 

7 15 U.S. C. 78f(b)(4). 

8See supra note 5. 

9 Id. 

10 15 U.S. C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii). 

11 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(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, the 

CHX included statements concerning 

the purpose of and basis for the 

proposed rule changes 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 

CHX 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 Exchange proposes to amend 

Section A of the Fee Schedule to 

increase the Trading Permit application 

fee from $200 to $2,000 per 

application.3 The Trading Permit 

application fee is essentially a new 

Participant application fee, as every 

active Participant must hold a Trading 

Permit and no Participant may hold 

more than one Trading Permit.4 The 

Exchange submits that the current fee is 

no longer commensurate with the actual 

cost associated with the Exchange’s 

comprehensive review of Trading 

Permit applications. Thus, the Exchange 

believes it is appropriate to increase the 

Trading Permit application fee to be 

identical to similar fees of other national 

securities exchanges, like NASDAQ and 

NASDAQ BX.5

The Exchange also proposes to 

replace the term ‘‘Trading Permit’’ after 

‘‘$2000/’’ with the more accurate term 

‘‘application,’’ as the fee is currently 

assessed per application. For example, a 

separate Trading Permit application fee 

is, and will continue to be, assessed for 

each Trading Permit application 

submitted after (1) a withdrawal of an 

application by a prospective Participant 

or (2) rejection of an application by the 

Exchange. The Exchange believes that 

this amendment will clarify that if a 

prospective Participant submits more 

than one Trading Permit application, 

regardless of the reason, the prospective 

Participant will be assessed the 

proposed Trading Permit application fee 

for each application. Incidentally, the 

Exchange also proposes to adopt 

language indicating that the fee is nonrefundable. 

The Exchange also proposes to 

eliminate the new Participant Firm 

registration fee of $200 under Section C. 

In light of the proposed increase to the 

Trading Permit application fee, the 

Exchange believes that the new 

Participant Firm registration fee is 

unnecessary. 

Aside from increasing the Trading 

Permit application fee to $2,000 per 

application and the elimination of the 

new Participant Firm registration fee of 

$200, the Exchange does not propose to 

substantively modify any other fees, 

assessments, credits or rebates. 

Operative Date 

The Exchange proposes to make this 

proposed rule change operative January 

2, 2015. 

2. Statutory Basis 

The Exchange believes that the 

proposed rule change is consistent with 

Section 6(b) of the Act 6 in general, and 

furthers the objectives of Sections 

6(b)(4) of the Act 7 in particular, as the 

proposed rule provides for the equitable 

allocation of reasonable dues, fees and 

other charges among members and other 

persons using its facilities. The 

Exchange believes that the proposed 

increase of the Trading Permit 

application fee from $200 to $2,000 per 

application equitably allocates fees 

among prospective Participants in a 

non-discriminatory manner as it will be 

assessed to all prospective Participants. 

Similarly, the proposed elimination of 

the new Participant Firm registration fee 

equitably allocates fees among 

prospective Participants in a nondiscriminatory manner as it will no 

longer be assessed to any prospective 

Participants. Moreover, the proposed 

Trading Permit application fee is 

reasonable in light of the fact that it is 

identical to similar fees of other national 

securities exchanges, like NASDAQ and 

NASDAQ BX.8

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. To the 

contrary, the proposed Trading Permit 

application fee will enhance 

competition as it would be identical to 

similar fees of other national securities 

exchanges, such as NASDAQ and 

NASDAQ BX.9

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s 

Statement on Comments on the 

Proposed Rule Change Received From 

Members, Participants, or Others 

No written comments were either 

solicited or received. 

III. Date of Effectiveness of the 

Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 

Commission Action 

The foregoing rule change is effective 

upon filing pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act 10 and 

subparagraph(f)(2) of Rule 19b–4 

thereunder 11 because it establishes or 

changes a due, fee or other charge 

imposed by the Exchange. 

At any time within 60 days of the 

filing of the proposed rule change, the 

Commission summarily may 

temporarily suspend such rule change if 

it appears to the Commission that such 

action is necessary or appropriate in the 

public interest, for the protection of 

investors, or otherwise in furtherance of 

the purposes of the Act. If the 

Commission takes such action, the 

Commission shall institute proceedings 

to determine whether the proposed rule 

should be approved or disapproved. 

IV. Solicitation of Comments 

Interested persons are invited to 

submit written data, views and 

arguments concerning the foregoing, 

including whether the proposal 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 email to rule-comments@

sec.gov. Please include File No. SR– 

CHX–2014–20 on the subject line. 

Paper Comments 

• Send paper comments in triplicate 

to Brent J. Fields, Secretary, Securities 

and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street 

NE., Washington, DC 20549. 

All submissions should refer to File No. 

SR–CHX–2014–20. This file number 

should be included on the subject line 

if email is used. To help the 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES

Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 249 / Tuesday, December 30, 2014 / Notices 78543 

12 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

3ELX Futures LP (‘‘ELX’’) previously submitted 

overnight trading activity to OCC, but currently 

does not submit trades from overnight trading 

sessions to OCC. OCC will re-evaluate ELX’s risk 

controls in the event ELX re-institutes its overnight 

trading sessions. 

4See CFE–2014–010 at http://cfe.cboe.com/

publish/CFErulefilings/SR-CFE-2014-010.pdf. 

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 changes 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 Web site viewing and 

printing in the Commission’s Public 

Reference Room, 100 F Street NE., 

Washington, DC 20549 on official 

business days between the hours of 

10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the 

filing also will be available for 

inspection and copying at the principal 

office of the CHX. 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 No. SR–CHX–2014– 

20 and should be submitted on or before 

January 20, 2015. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.12

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2014–30442 Filed 12–29–14; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–73907; File No. SR–OCC– 

2014–24] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

Options Clearing Corporation; Notice 

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change 

Concerning Extended and Overnight 

Trading Sessions 

December 22, 2014. 

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 December 

12, 2014, The Options Clearing 

Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) 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 OCC. The Commission is publishing 

this notice to solicit comments on the 

proposed rule change from interested 

persons. 

I. Clearing Agency’s Statement of the 

Terms of Substance of the Proposed 

Rule Change 

This proposed rule change is filed by 

OCC in connection with a proposed 

change to its operations concerning the 

clearance of confirmed trades executes 

in extended and overnight trading 

sessions (hereinafter, ‘‘overnight trading 

sessions’’) offered by exchanges for 

which OCC provides clearance and 

settlement services. 

II. Clearing Agency’s Statement of the 

Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the 

Proposed Rule Change 

In its filing with the Commission, 

OCC 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. OCC has prepared 

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

and (C) below, of the most significant 

aspects of these statements. 

(A) Clearing Agency’s Statement of the 

Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the 

Proposed Rule Change 

1. Purpose 

This proposed rule change is being 

filed in connection with a proposed 

change to OCC’s operations concerning 

the clearance of confirmed trades 

executed in overnight trading sessions 

offered by exchanges for which OCC 

provides clearance and settlement 

services. OCC currently clears overnight 

trading activity for CBOE Futures 

Exchange, LLC (‘‘CFE’’).3 The total 

number of trades submitted to OCC from 

overnight trading sessions is nominal, 

typically less than 3,000 contracts per 

session. However, OCC has recently 

observed an industry trend whereby 

exchanges are offering overnight trading 

sessions beyond traditional hours. 

Exchanges offering overnight trading 

sessions have indicated that such 

sessions benefit market participants by 

providing additional price transparency 

and hedging opportunities for products 

traded in such sessions, which, in turn, 

promotes market stability.4 In light of 

this trend, OCC proposes to implement 

a framework for clearing trades executed 

in such sessions that includes: (1) 

Qualification criteria used to approve 

clearing members for overnight trading 

sessions, (2) systemic controls to 

identify trades executed during 

overnight trading sessions by clearing 

members not approved for such 

sessions, (3) enhancements to OCC’s 

overnight monitoring of trades 

submitted by exchanges during 

overnight trading sessions, (4) 

enhancements to OCC’s credit controls 

with respect to monitoring clearing 

members’ credit risk during overnight 

trading sessions, including procedures 

for contacting an exchange offering 

overnight trading sessions in order to 

invoke use of the exchange’s kill switch, 

and (5) taking appropriate disciplinary 

action against clearing members who 

attempt to clear during overnight 

trading session without first obtaining 

requisite approvals. These changes 

(described in greater detail below) are 

designed to reduce and mitigate the 

risks associated with clearing trades 

executed in overnight trading sessions. 

In addition, the only products that will 

be eligible for overnight trading sessions 

are index options and index futures 

products. 

OCC’s standards for determining 

whether to provide clearing services for 

overnight trading sessions offered by an 

exchange and the implementation of a 

framework are designed to work in 

conjunction with the risk controls of the 

exchanges that offer overnight trading 

sessions. OCC would confirm an 

exchange’s risk controls as well as its 

staffing levels as they relate to overnight 

trading sessions to determine if OCC 

may reasonably rely on such risk 

controls to reduce risk presented to OCC 

by the exchange’s overnight trading 

sessions. Such exchange risk controls 

will consist of: (1) Price reasonability 

checks, (2) controls to prevent orders 

from being executed beyond a certain 

percentage (determined by the 

exchange) from the initial execution 

price, (3) activity based protections 

which focus on risk beyond price, such 

as a high number of trades occurring in 

a set period of time, and (4) kill switch 

capabilities, which may be initiated by 

the exchange and can cancel all open 

quotes or all orders of a particular 

participant. OCC believes that 

confirming the existence of applicable 

pre-trade risk controls as well as 

overnight staffing at the relevant 

exchanges is essential to mitigating risks 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES