11074 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 21, 2001 / Notices

8 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

3See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 34089

(May 19, 1994), 59 FR 27301 (May 26, 1994) (SR–

Amex–92–41) (approval order).

Register or within such longer period (i)

as the Commission may designate up to

90 days of such date if it finds such

longer period to be appropriate and

publishes its reasons for so finding or

(ii) as to which the Exchange consents,

the Commission will:

A. by order approve such proposed

rule change, or

B. institute proceedings to determine

whether the proposed rule change

should be disapproved.

The Amex has requested accelerated

approval of the proposed rule change.

While the Commission will not grant

accelerated approval at this time, the

Commission will consider granting

accelerated approval of the proposal at

the close of an abbreviated comment

period of 15 days from the date of

publication of the proposal in the

Federal Register.

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.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549–0609. 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. Copies of such filing will also be

available for inspection and copying at

the principal office of the Exchange. All

submissions should refer to file number

SR–Amex–01–01 and should be

submitted by March 8, 2001.

For the Commission by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.8

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–4261 Filed 2–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–43950; File No. SR–Amex–

01–02]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice

of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by

the American Stock Exchange LLC to

Amend Amex Rule 126(g),

Commentary .02 Regarding Agency

Cross Transactions

February 12, 2001.

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 February

5, 2001, the American Stock Exchange

LLC (‘‘Amex’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with

the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the

proposed rule change as described in

Items I, II, and III below, which Items

have been prepared by the Exchange.

The Commission is publishing this

notice to solicit comments on the

proposed rule change from interested

persons.

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Terms of Substance of

the Proposed Rule Change

The Exchange proposes to amend

Amex Rule 126(g), Commentary .02, to

reduce the number of shares that may be

crossed on an agency basis under the

rule from 25,000 shares to 5,000 shares.

The text of the proposed rule change is

below. Proposed new language is in

italics. Proposed deletions are in

brackets.

Rule 126 Precedence of Bids and

Offers

Commentary .02

When a member has an order to buy

and an order to sell an equivalent

amount of the same security, and both

orders are of 5,000 [25,000] shares or

more and are for the accounts of persons

who are not members or member

organizations, the member may ‘‘cross’’

those orders at a price at or within the

prevailing quotation. The member’s bid

or offer shall be entitled to priority at

such cross price, irrespective of preexisting bids or offers at that price. The

member shall follow the crossing

procedures of Rule 151, and another

member may trade with either the bid

or offer side of the cross transaction

only to provide a price which is better

than the cross price as to all or part of

such bid or offer. A member who is

providing a better price to one side of

the cross transaction must trade with all

other market interest having priority at

that price before trading with any part

of the cross transaction. No member

may break up the proposed cross

transaction, in whole or in part, at the

cross price. A transaction effected at the

cross price in reliance on this

Commentary .02 shall be printed as

‘‘stopped stock’’.

* * * * *

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

In its filing with the Commission, the

Exchange included statements

concerning the purpose of and basis for

the proposed rule change and discussed

any comments it received on the

proposed rule change. The text of these

statements may be examined at the

places specified in Item IV below. The

Exchange has prepared summaries, set

forth in section 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

Amex Rule 126, ‘‘Precedence of Bids

and Offers,’’ sets out rules governing

priority and precedence of bids and

offers on the Exchange Floor, and

generally provides that bids and offers

are entitled to precedence based on

time, with members bidding at the

highest price (offering at the lowest

price) entitled to be on parity and divide

executions at their price after a previous

sale removes all bids and offers from the

Floor. Commentary .02 to Amex Rule

126(g) 3 applies only to agency crosses

(referred to herein as ‘‘clean crosses’’) to

buy and sell orders of 25,000 shares or

more (that is, both orders for accounts

of non-members). This commentary

provides that a member may cross those

orders at a price at or within the

prevailing quotation, with such orders

entitled to priority at the cross price

over previously entered bids and offers.

When crossing these orders, the member

must follow the crossing procedures of

Amex Rule 151 and another member

may trade with either the bid or offer

side of the cross to provide

improvement to all or part of the bid or

offer. In addition, the member must

trade with all other market interest

having time priority at that price before

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 35 / Wednesday, February 21, 2001 / Notices 11075

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

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

6 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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

2The Commission has modified the text of the

summaries prepared by EMCC.

trading with any part of the cross

transaction.

The Exchange implemented

Commentary .02 to facilitate execution

of block size crosses on the Amex. In

implementing this exception to the

Exchange’s rules of precedence, the

Exchange was responding competitively

to regional exchanges that were

attracting Amex orders because orders

to cross are not readily broken up by

other trading interest in those markets

which may lack a trading crowd or limit

orders on specialists’ books.

The Exchange expects that decimal

pricing in minimum increments of $.01

will result in increased numbers of cross

transactions being broken up because it

will be less expensive to provide price

improvement than under previous

increments. The Exchange believes this

will place the Exchange at an increased

competitive disadvantage to other

markets where crosses can be effected

with little or no risk of interference, will

deprive customer block size orders of

the benefits of primary market pricing,

and will detract from primary market

liquidity. The Exchange, therefore,

believes it is appropriate to reduce the

size of agency orders that can be crossed

under Rule 126(g), Commentary .02, to

5,000 shares.

Amex clean cross procedures will

continue to preserve auction market

principles by providing the possibility

of price improvement (because members

must follow Amex Rule 151 crossing

procedures), and by requiring that

members trade with other market

interest having time priority at that

price before trading with any part of the

cross transaction. In addition, the

Exchange believes the proposal will

enhance competition among markets in

the execution of agency crosses, and

will increase the possibility that pricing

of agency crosses will be executed more

efficiently and at better prices.

2. Statutory Basis

The Amex believes that the proposed

rule change is consistent with section

6(b) of the Act 4 in general and further

the objectives of section 6(b)(5) 5 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.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

The Exchange believes that the

proposed rule change will impose no

burden on competition.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received from

Members, Participants or Others

No written comments were solicited

or received with respect to the proposed

rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the

Proposed Rule Change and Timing For

Commission Action

Within 35 days of the date of

publication of this notice in the Federal

Register or within such longer period (i)

as the Commission may designate up to

90 days of such date if it finds such

longer period to be appropriate and

publishes its reasons for so finding or

(ii) as to which the Exchange consents,

the Commission will:

A. By order approve such proposed

rule change, or

B. Institute proceedings to determine

whether the proposed rule change

should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views and

arguments concerning the foregoing,

including whether the proposed rule

change is consistent with the Act.

Persons making written submissions

should file six copies thereof with the

Secretary, Securities and Exchange

Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW.,

Washington, DC 20549–0609. 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. Copies of such filing will also be

available for inspection and copying at

the principal office of the Amex. All

submissions should refer to file number

SR–Amex–01–02 and should be

submitted by March 14, 2001.

For the Commission by the Division

of Market Regulations, pursuant to

delegated authority.6

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–4263 Filed 2–20–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–43956; File No. SR–EMCC–

00–9]

Self-Regulatory Organizations;

Emerging Markets Clearing

Corporation; Notice of Filing and

Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed

Rule Change Relating to Fee

Schedules

February 13, 2001.

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

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

(‘‘Act’’)1, notice is hereby given that on

November 29, 2000, the Emerging

Markets Clearing Corporation (‘‘EMCC’’)

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 primarily by EMCC.

The Commission is publishing this

notice to solicit comments on the

proposed rule change from interested

parties.

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Terms of Substance of

the Proposed Rule Change

The proposed rule change will allow

EMCC to modify its current fee

schedule.

II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Purpose of, and

Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule

Change

In its filing with the Commission,

EMCC 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. EMCC has prepared

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

and (C) below, of the most significant

aspects of these statements.2