1062 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 5 / Thursday, January 8, 2015 / Notices 

6 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii). 7 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 

1 12 U.S.C. 5465(e)(1). The Financial Stability 

Oversight Council designated OCC a systemically 

important financial market utility on July 18, 2012. 

See Financial Stability Oversight Council 2012 

Annual Report, Appendix A, http://

www.treasury.gov/initiatives/fsoc/Documents/

2012%20Annual%20Report.pdf. Therefore, OCC is 

required to comply with the Clearing Supervision 

Act and file advance notices with the Commission. 

See 12 U.S.C. 5465(e). 

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4(n)(1)(i). 

3Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73726 

(December 3, 2014), 79 FR 73116 (December 9, 

2014) (SR–OCC–2014–809). 

clearly evidences such competition. 

NASDAQ is offering a new pricing 

model in order to keep pace with 

changes in the industry and evolving 

customer needs. It is entirely optional 

and is geared towards attracting new 

customers, as well as retaining existing 

customers. 

The Exchange has witnessed 

competitors creating new products and 

innovative pricing in this space over the 

course of the past year. NASDAQ 

continues to see firms challenge its 

pricing on the basis of the Exchange’s 

explicit fees being higher than the zeropriced fees from other competitors such 

as BATS. In all cases, firms make 

decisions on how much and what types 

of data to consume on the basis of the 

total cost of interacting with NASDAQ 

or other exchanges. Of course, the 

explicit data fees are but one factor in 

a total platform analysis. Some 

competitors have lower transactions fees 

and higher data fees, and others are vice 

versa. The market for this depth 

information is highly competitive and 

continually evolves as products develop 

and change. 

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 has become 

effective pursuant to Section 

19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act.6

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: (i) necessary or appropriate in 

the public interest; (ii) for the protection 

of investors; or (iii) 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 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–2014–125 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 20549–1090. 

All submissions should refer to File 

Number SR–NASDAQ–2014–125. 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 the 

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–2014–125 and 

should be submitted on or before 

January 29, 2015. 

For the Commission, by the Division of 

Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated 

authority.7

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00051 Filed 1–7–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–73979; File No. SR–OCC– 

2014–809] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The 

Options Clearing Corporation; Notice 

of No Objection to Advance Notice 

Concerning the Implementation of a 

Committed Master Repurchase 

Agreement Program as Part of OCC’s 

Overall Liquidity Plan 

January 2, 2015. 

On November 6, 2014, The Options 

Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) filed with 

the Securities and Exchange 

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) advance 

notice SR–OCC–2014–809 (‘‘Advance 

Notice’’) pursuant to Section 806(e)(1) of 

the Payment, Clearing, and Settlement 

Supervision Act of 2010 (‘‘Clearing 

Supervision Act’’ or ‘‘Title VIII’’) 1 and 

Rule 19b–4(n)(1)(i) under the Securities 

Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Exchange 

Act’’).2 The Advance Notice was 

published for comment in the Federal 

Register on December 9, 2014.3 The 

Commission did not receive any 

comments on the Advance Notice 

publication. This publication serves as a 

notice of no objection to the Advance 

Notice. 

I. Description of the Advance Notice 

a. Background 

The purpose of the proposed change 

is to allow OCC to implement a 

committed master repurchase agreement 

program (‘‘MRA Program’’) in order to 

access an additional committed source 

of liquidity to meet its settlement 

obligations in a manner that does not 

increase the concentration of OCC’s 

counterparty exposure, given OCC’s 

existing affiliations between a number 

of commercial banking institutions and 

OCC’s clearing members. According to 

OCC, the MRA Program will take the 

form of OCC entering into a committed 

master repurchase agreement and 

related confirmations (together, the 

‘‘Master Repurchase Agreement’’) with 

one or more non-bank, non-clearing 


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Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 5 / Thursday, January 8, 2015 / Notices 1063 

4OCC states that it will conduct a due diligence 

review with respect to each counterparty before 

entering into a master repurchase arrangement with 

it. Because the appropriate due diligence activities 

and financial criteria will vary for each type of 

counterparty, OCC will determine on a case-by-case 

basis the specific due diligence criteria it would 

implement. However, as the principal purpose of 

due diligence will be to obtain assurance that each 

counterparty has the financial ability to satisfy its 

obligations under the program, the review will 

encompass an assessment of the counterparty’s 

financial statements (including external auditor 

reports thereon) and, as applicable, ratings and/or 

investment reports. Furthermore, OCC will identify 

key criteria relative to monitoring the financial 

stability of the counterparty on a going forward 

basis. 

5See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 

72752 (August 4, 2014), 79 FR 46490 (August 8, 

2014) (SR–OCC–2014–17), Securities Exchange Act 

Release No. 71549 (February 12, 2014), 79 FR 03574 

(February 19, 2014) (SR–OCC–2014–801) and 

Securities Exchange Act Release No. 73257 

(September 30, 2014), 79 FR 23698 (October 3, 

2014) (SR–OCC–2014–806). 

6The standard form master repurchase agreement 

is published by the Securities Industry and 

Financial Markets Association and is commonly 

used in the repurchase market by institutional 

investors. 

7OCC would use U.S. government securities that 

are included in clearing fund contributions by 

clearing members and margin deposits of any 

clearing member that has been suspended by OCC 

for the repurchase arrangements. Article VIII, 

Section 5(e) of OCC’s By-Laws and OCC Rule 

1104(b) authorize OCC to obtain funds from third 

parties through securities repurchases using these 

sources. The officers who may exercise this 

authority include the Executive Chairman and the 

President. 

8OCC expects that it would be required to 

maintain margin equal to 102% of the Repurchase 

Price which, according to OCC, is a standard rate 

for arrangements involving U.S. government 

securities. 

9OCC expects that it would use clearing fund 

securities and securities posted as margin by 

defaulting clearing members. 

10OCC expects that the Master Repurchase 

Agreement also will include other, more routine, 

provisions such as the method for giving notices 

and basic due authorization representations by the 

parties. 

member institutional investors.4 The 

program will be part of OCC’s overall 

liquidity plan that is meant to provide 

OCC with access to diverse sources of 

liquidity, which includes committed 

credit facilities, securities lending and 

securities repurchase arrangements, and 

clearing member funding requirements 

that, under certain conditions, allow 

OCC to obtain funds from clearing 

members.5

Although the Master Repurchase 

Agreement would be based on the 

standard form of master repurchase 

agreement 6 so that it will be more 

familiar to potential institutional 

investors, OCC would require the 

Master Repurchase Agreement to 

contain certain additional provisions 

tailored to ensure a reduction in 

concentration risk, certainty of funding, 

and operational effectiveness. 

b. The Proposed MRA Program 

i. Standard Repurchase Agreement 

Terms 

According to OCC, the Master 

Repurchase Agreement generally will be 

structured like a typical repurchase 

arrangement, in order to help OCC 

attract interest from potential 

institutional investors willing to be 

counterparties to OCC. Under the 

Master Repurchase Agreement, the 

buyer (i.e., the institutional investor) on 

occasion would purchase from OCC 

United States government securities 

(‘‘Eligible Securities’’).7 OCC, as the 

seller, will transfer Eligible Securities to 

the buyer in exchange for a payment by 

the buyer to OCC in immediately 

available funds (‘‘Purchase Price’’). The 

buyer will simultaneously agree to 

transfer the purchased securities back to 

OCC at a specified later date or on 

OCC’s demand (‘‘Repurchase Date’’) 

against the transfer of funds by OCC to 

the buyer in an amount equal to the 

outstanding Purchase Price plus the 

accrued and unpaid price differential 

(together, the ‘‘Repurchase Price’’), 

which is the interest component of the 

Repurchase Price. 

At all times while a transaction is 

outstanding, OCC will be required to 

maintain a specified amount of 

securities or cash margin with the 

buyer.8 The market value of the 

securities supporting each transaction 

will be determined daily, typically 

based on a price obtained from a 

generally recognized pricing source. If 

the market value of the purchased 

securities is determined to have fallen 

below OCC’s required margin, OCC will 

be required to transfer to the buyer 

sufficient cash or additional securities 

reasonably acceptable to the buyer so 

that OCC’s margin requirement is 

satisfied.9 If the market value of the 

purchased securities is determined to 

have risen to above OCC’s required 

margin, OCC will be permitted to 

require the return of excess purchased 

securities from the buyer. 

As in a typical master repurchase 

agreement, an event of default will 

occur with respect to the buyer if the 

buyer fails to purchase securities on a 

purchase date, fails to transfer 

purchased securities on any applicable 

Repurchase Date, or fails to transfer any 

interest, dividends or distributions on 

purchased securities to OCC within a 

specified period after receiving notice of 

such failure. An event of default will 

occur with respect to OCC if OCC fails 

to transfer purchased securities on a 

purchase date or fails to repurchase 

purchased securities on an applicable 

Repurchase Date. The Master 

Repurchase Agreement also will provide 

for standard events of default for either 

party, including a party’s failure to 

maintain required margin or an 

insolvency event with respect to one of 

the parties. 

Upon the occurrence of an event of 

default, the non-defaulting party, at its 

option, will have the right, among 

others, to accelerate the Repurchase 

Date of all outstanding transactions 

between the defaulting party and the 

non-defaulting party. For example, if 

OCC were the defaulting party with 

respect to a transaction and the buyer 

chose to terminate the transaction, OCC 

will be required to immediately transfer 

the Repurchase Price to the buyer. If the 

buyer were the defaulting party with 

respect to a transaction and OCC chose 

to terminate the transaction, the buyer 

will be required to deliver all purchased 

securities to OCC. If OCC or the buyer 

does not perform in a timely manner, 

the non-defaulting party will be 

permitted to buy or sell, or deem itself 

to have bought or sold, securities as 

needed to be made whole and the 

defaulting party will be required to pay 

the costs related to any covering 

transactions. Additionally, if OCC is 

required to obtain replacement 

securities as a result of an event of 

default, the buyer will be required to 

pay the excess of the price paid by OCC 

to obtain replacement securities over the 

Repurchase Price. 

ii. Customized Features 

As part of the Master Repurchase 

Agreement, OCC will enter into an 

individualized master confirmation 

with each buyer and its agent which 

will set forth certain terms and 

conditions applicable to all transactions 

entered into under the Master 

Repurchase Agreement by that buyer. 

According to OCC, these required terms 

and conditions will be designed to 

promote OCC’s goals of reduced 

concentration risk, certainty of funding 

and operational effectiveness. The terms 

of the master confirmations under each 

Master Repurchase Agreement may vary 

from one another, because a separate 

master confirmation will be negotiated 

for a given buyer at the time that buyer 

becomes a party to the Master 

Repurchase Agreement. OCC has 

identified the following as key 

standards that will need to be 

incorporated into each repurchase 

arrangement entered into under the 

program.10


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1064 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 5 / Thursday, January 8, 2015 / Notices 

11The $1 billion in commitments could be spread 

across multiple counterparties, but $1 billion 

represents the proposed aggregate size of the 

program. 

12According to OCC, this would include OCC’s 

regular daily settlement time and any extended 

settlement time implemented by OCC in an 

emergency situation under OCC Rule 505. 13According to OCC, a notice of termination by 

OCC would specify a new Repurchase Date prior to 

the originally agreed upon Repurchase Date. Upon 

the early termination of a transaction, the buyer 

would be required to return all purchased securities 

to OCC, and OCC would be required to pay the 

Repurchase Price. 

14 In addition to its substitution rights, OCC could 

cause the return of purchased securities by 

exercising its optional early termination rights 

under the Master Repurchase Agreement. If OCC 

were to terminate part or all of a transaction, the 

buyer would be required to return purchased 

securities to OCC against payment of the 

corresponding Repurchase Price. 

15According to OCC, a ‘‘material adverse change’’ 

is typically defined as a change that would have a 

materially adverse effect on the business or 

financial condition of a company. 

16For example, if the buyer fails to transfer 

purchased securities on the applicable Repurchase 

Date, rather than declaring an event of default, OCC 

may (1) if OCC has already paid the Repurchase 

Price, require the buyer to repay the Repurchase 

Price, (2) if there is a margin excess, require the 

buyer to pay cash or delivered purchased securities 

in an amount equal to the margin excess, or (3) 

declare that the applicable transaction, and only 

that transaction, will be immediately terminated, 

and apply default remedies under the Master 

Repurchase Agreement to only that transaction. 

Counterparties 

OCC only will enter into repurchase 

arrangements with non-bank 

institutional investors, such as pension 

funds or insurance companies that are 

not OCC clearing members or banks 

affiliated with any OCC clearing 

member. OCC believes this requirement 

will allow OCC to access stable, reliable 

sources of funding, without increasing 

the concentration of its exposure to 

counterparties that are affiliated banks, 

broker/dealers and futures commission 

merchants. OCC believes that this 

reduction in concentration risk is a key 

advantage of this proposed program. 

Commitment to Fund and Funding 

Accounts 

OCC will seek funding commitments 

from one or more potential 

counterparties that will equal $1 billion 

in the aggregate,11 with each 

commitment extending for 364 days or 

more. Each counterparty will be 

obligated to enter into transactions 

under the Master Repurchase 

Agreement up to its committed amount 

so long as no default had occurred and 

OCC transferred sufficient Eligible 

Securities. Each counterparty will be 

obligated to enter into transactions even 

if OCC had experienced a material 

adverse change, such as the failure of a 

clearing member. According to OCC, 

this commitment to provide funding 

will be a key departure from ordinary 

repurchase arrangements and a key 

requirement for OCC. Each commitment 

will be supported by an agreement by 

the counterparty to maintain cash and 

investments acceptable to OCC that 

must be readily converted into cash in 

a designated account into which OCC 

has visibility. OCC believes that the 

creation of a funding account is 

important because it will help OCC 

ensure that the committed funds will be 

available each day. OCC also believes 

that it will facilitate prompt funding by 

counterparties that are not commercial 

banks and therefore are not in the 

business of daily funding. 

Funding Mechanics 

According to OCC, funding mechanics 

will be targeted so that OCC will receive 

the Purchase Price in immediately 

available funds within 60 minutes of its 

request for funds and delivery of 

Eligible Securities and, if needed, prior 

to OCC’s regular daily settlement time.12

OCC believes that these targeted funding 

mechanics will allow OCC to receive 

needed liquidity in time to satisfy 

settlement obligations, even in the event 

of a default by a clearing member or a 

market disruption. The funding 

mechanism may be, for example, 

delivery versus payment/receive versus 

payment or another method acceptable 

to OCC that both satisfies the objectives 

of the MRA Program and presents 

limited operational risks. 

No Rehypothecation 

Under the terms of each master 

confirmation, the buyer would not be 

permitted to grant any third party an 

interest in purchased securities, the 

custody account at the custodian where 

purchased securities are held, or any 

cash held in OCC’s account. As a result, 

OCC states that the buyer would be 

prohibited from rehypothecating 

purchased securities, the purchased 

securities should never leave the 

account, and there should be no thirdparty claims against the purchased 

securities. OCC believes that the 

prohibition on rehypothecation also 

would reduce the risk that a third party 

could interfere with the buyer’s transfer 

of the purchased securities on the 

Repurchase Date. Further, according to 

OCC, the custodian would agree to 

provide OCC with daily information 

about each buyer’s account. OCC 

believes that this visibility would allow 

OCC to act quickly in the event a buyer 

violates any requirements. 

Early Termination Rights 

Under the Master Repurchase 

Agreement, OCC would have the ability 

to terminate any transaction upon 

written notice to the buyer, but a buyer 

only would be able to terminate a 

transaction upon the occurrence of an 

event of default with respect to OCC.13

OCC has stated that this optional early 

termination right is important because 

its liquidity needs may change 

unexpectedly over time and as a result 

OCC may not want to keep a transaction 

outstanding as long as originally 

planned. 

Substitution 

Under the Master Repurchase 

Agreement, OCC would have the ability 

to substitute any Eligible Securities for 

purchased securities in its discretion by 

a specified time, so long as the Eligible 

Securities satisfy any applicable criteria 

contained in the Master Repurchase 

Agreement and the transfer of the 

Eligible Securities would not create a 

margin deficit, as described above.14

OCC believes that this substitution right 

is important because it must be able to 

manage clearing member requests to 

return excess or substitute Eligible 

Securities in accordance with 

established operational procedures. 

Events of Default 

In addition to the standard events of 

default for a failure to purchase or 

transfer securities on the applicable 

Purchase Date or Repurchase Date, OCC 

would require that the Master 

Repurchase Agreement not contain any 

additional events of default that would 

restrict OCC’s access to funding and that 

it contain an additional default remedy. 

OCC would require that it would not be 

an event of default if OCC suffers a 

‘‘material adverse change.’’ 15 According 

to OCC, this provision provides it with 

certainty of funding, even in difficult 

market conditions. 

Upon the occurrence of an event of 

default, in addition to the nondefaulting party’s right to accelerate the 

Repurchase Date of all outstanding 

transactions or to buy or sell securities 

as needed to be made whole, the nondefaulting party may elect to take the 

actions specified in the ‘‘mini close-out’’ 

provision of the Master Repurchase 

Agreement, rather than declaring an 

event of default.16 Therefore, if the 

buyer fails to deliver purchased 

securities on any Repurchase Date, OCC 

believes that it would have remedies 

that allow it to mitigate risk with respect 

to a particular transaction, without 

declaring an event of default with 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 5 / Thursday, January 8, 2015 / Notices 1065 

17See 12 U.S.C. 5461(b). 

18 Id. 

19 12 U.S.C. 5464(a)(2). 

20 12 U.S.C. 5464(b). 

21 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22. 

22The Clearing Agency Standards are 

substantially similar to the risk management 

standards established by the Board of Governors of 

the Federal Reserve System governing the 

operations of designated FMUs that are not clearing 

entities and financial institutions engaged in 

designated activities for which the Commission or 

the Commodity Futures Trading Commission is the 

Supervisory Agency. See Financial Market Utilities, 

77 FR 45907 (August 2, 2012). 

23 12 U.S.C. 5464(b). 

24 12 U.S.C 5464(b). 

25 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(b)(3). 

26 12 U.S.C. 5465(e)(1)(I). 

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

2 15 U.S.C. 78a. 

3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 

respect to all transactions under the 

Master Repurchase Agreement. 

II. Discussion and Commission 

Findings 

Although Title VIII does not specify a 

standard of review for an advance 

notice, the Commission believes that the 

stated purpose of Title VIII is 

instructive.17 The stated purpose of 

Title VIII is to mitigate systemic risk in 

the financial system and promote 

financial stability by, among other 

things, promoting uniform risk 

management standards for systemicallyimportant financial market utilities 

(‘‘FMUs’’) and strengthening the 

liquidity of systemically important 

FMUs.18

Section 805(a)(2) of the Clearing 

Supervision Act 19 authorizes the 

Commission to prescribe risk 

management standards for the payment, 

clearing, and settlement activities of 

designated clearing entities and 

financial institutions engaged in 

designated activities for which it is the 

supervisory agency or the appropriate 

financial regulator. Section 805(b) of the 

Clearing Supervision Act 20 states that 

the objectives and principles for the risk 

management standards prescribed under 

Section 805(a) shall be to: 

• Promote robust risk management; 

• promote safety and soundness; 

• reduce systemic risks; and 

• support the stability of the broader 

financial system. 

The Commission has adopted risk 

management standards under Section 

805(a)(2) of the Clearing Supervision 

Act (‘‘Clearing Agency Standards’’).21

The Clearing Agency Standards became 

effective on January 2, 2013, and require 

registered clearing agencies that perform 

central counterparty (‘‘CCP’’) services to 

establish, implement, maintain, and 

enforce written policies and procedures 

that are reasonably designed to meet 

certain minimum requirements for their 

operations and risk management 

practices on an ongoing basis.22 As 

such, it is appropriate for the 

Commission to review advance notices 

against these Clearing Agency 

Standards, and the objectives and 

principles of these risk management 

standards as described in Section 805(b) 

of the Clearing Supervision Act.23

The Commission believes that the 

proposal in this Advance Notice is 

designed to further the objectives and 

principles of Section 805(b) of the 

Clearing Supervision Act.24 As a 

systemically-important FMU, it is 

imperative that OCC have adequate 

resources to be able to satisfy its 

counterparty settlement obligations. The 

MRA Program provides OCC with a 

committed liquidity resource that does 

not increase the concentration of OCC’s 

counterparty exposure because the 

counterparties will not include OCC’s 

clearing members nor affiliated 

commercial banking institutions. 

Accordingly, the Commission believes 

that the proposal should promote robust 

risk management, promote safety and 

soundness in the marketplace, reduce 

systemic risks, and support the stability 

of the broader financial system by giving 

OCC access to additional committed 

liquidity that will help OCC meet its 

settlement obligations in a timely 

manner, while also limiting the 

exposure that OCC has to its 

counterparties. 

Exchange Act Rule 17Ad–22(b)(3),25

adopted as part of the Clearing Agency 

Standards, requires that a non-securitybased swap registered clearing agency 

that performs CCP services establish, 

implement, maintain, and enforce 

written policies and procedures 

reasonably designed to withstand, at a 

minimum, a default by the participant 

family to which it has the largest 

exposure in extreme but plausible 

market conditions. As a part of OCC’s 

overall liquidity plan, the Commission 

believes that the MRA Program will 

contribute additional liquid financial 

resources that should enhance OCC’s 

ability to meet any potential settlement 

demands arising out of a default of a 

clearing member or clearing member 

family, including one to which it has 

the largest exposure. 

III. Conclusion 

It is therefore noticed, pursuant to 

Section 806(e)(1)(I) of the Clearing 

Supervision Act,26 that the Commission 

does not object to advance notice 

proposal (SR–OCC–2014–809) and that 

OCC is authorized to implement the 

proposal as of the date of this notice. 

By the Commission. 

Brent J. Fields, 

Secretary. 

[FR Doc. 2015–00052 Filed 1–7–15; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE 

COMMISSION 

[Release No. 34–73977; File No. SR– 

NYSEARCA–2014–152] 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE 

Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing and 

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 

Rule Change Extending Its Program 

That Allows Transactions To Take 

Place at a Price That Is Below $1 Per 

Option Contract Until January 5, 2016 

January 2, 2015. 

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 December 

30, 2014, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the 

‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE Arca’’) 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 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 its 

program that allows transactions to take 

place at a price that is below $1 per 

option contract until January 5, 2016. 

The text of the proposed rule change is 

available on the Exchange’s Web site at 

www.nyse.com, at the principal office of 

the Exchange, 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, 


tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES