13364 Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 43 / Monday, March 5, 2001 / Notices

5 15 U.S.C. 78o(b)(6).

6 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

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

2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.

3Letter from Darla C. Stuckey, Assistant

Secretary, NYSE, to Nancy J. Sanow, Assistant

Director, Division of Market Regulation, SEC, dated

February 12, 2001 (‘‘Amendment No. 1’’). In

Amendment No. 1, the Exchange corrected an error

in the purpose section of the Form 19b–4 filing.

4See Securities Act Release No. 7912 (October 27,

2000), 65 FR 65736 (November 2, 2000)

(‘‘Householding Release’’).

5 Id.

6 17 CFR 240.14b–1.

after the claim has arisen. The proposed

rule change is similar to Rule 10301(d)

of the Code of Arbitration Procedure,

which provides that class actions are

ineligible for arbitration in the NASD

forum. It is also similar in principle to

New York Stock Exchange (‘‘NYSE’’)

Rule 600(f), which makes employment

discrimination claims ineligible for

arbitration in the NYSE forum unless

the parties agree to arbitrate after the

claim has arisen.

2. Statutory Basis

NASD Dispute Resolution believes

that the proposed rule change is

consistent with the provisions of

Section 15A(b)(6) of the Act,5 which

requires, among other things, that the

Association’s rules must be designed to

prevent fraudulent and manipulative

acts and practices, to promote just and

equitable principles of trade, and, in

general, to protect investors and the

public interest. Because terminated,

suspended, barred or otherwise defunct

firms have a significantly higher

incidence of non-payment of arbitration

awards than do active firms, NASD

Dispute Resolution believes that the

proposed rule change will protect

investors and the general public by

giving customers greater flexibility to

seek remedies against such firms.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Burden on Competition

NASD Dispute Resolution does not

believe that the proposed rule change

will result in any burden on

competition that is not necessary or

appropriate in furtherance of the

purposes of the Act, as amended.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement on Comments on the

Proposed Rule Change Received From

Members, Participants, or Others

Written comments were neither

solicited nor received.

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 self-regulatory

organization 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 it 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 NASD. All

submissions should refer to the file

number in the caption above and should

be submitted by March 26, 2001.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.6

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–5250 Filed 3–2–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE

COMMISSION

[Release No. 34–43993; File No. SR–NYSE–

01–03]

Self-Regulatory Organizations: Notice

of Filing and Order Granting

Accelerated Approval of Proposed

Rule Change by the New York Stock

Exchange, Inc. To Amend

Supplementary Material to Rules 451

and 465 Concerning Householding

February 22, 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

7, 2001, the New York Stock Exchange,

Inc. (‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE’’) filed with

the Securities and Exchange

Commission (‘‘SEC’’ or ‘‘Commission’’)

the proposed rule change as described

in Items I and II below, which Items

have been prepared by the Exchange.

On February 14, 2001, the NYSE

submitted Amendment No. 1 to the

proposed rule change.3 The Commission

is publishing this notice to solicit

comments on the proposed rule change,

as amended, from interested persons.

I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s

Statement of the Terms of Substance of

the Proposed Rule Change

Many listed company proxy

statements and annual reports are

mailed to beneficial holders of the

company’s stock by brokerage firms.

The practice of sending only one proxy

statement or annual report to multiple

beneficial holders with a single address

is known as ‘‘householding.’’ A newly

effective Commission rule now permits

householding by implied consent with

certain appropriate safeguards.4 The

Exchange proposes to amend its own

rules to align them with the

Commission’s recent amendments.5 The

NYSE’s proposal would permit

members to household annual reports,

interim reports, proxy statements and

other material so long as they comply

with applicable Commission rules,

including Rule 14b–1 and under the

Act.6

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 III below. The

Exchange 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

Rules of the Commission and the

Exchange require member organizations

Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 43 / Monday, March 5, 2001 / Notices 13365

7See note 4 supra.

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

9 In approving this proposal, the Commission has

considered its impact on efficiency, competition,

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

10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).

11 17 CFR 240.14b–1.

12See Securities Act Release No. 7767 (November

4, 1999), 64 FR 62548 (November 16, 1999)

(proposing release).

13See Householding Release.

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

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

16 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).

17 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).

to mail to all beneficial holders the

issuer’s annual report and the issuer’s

proxy statement prior to a stockholders’

meeting. Currently, Exchange rules

permit member organizations to mail

one copy of such material to multiple

beneficial owners that have the same

address so long as each beneficial owner

consents thereto in writing. The practice

of sending only one set of materials to

multiple beneficial holders with a single

address is known as ‘‘householding.’’

The Commission recently adopted

amendments to its rules to permit

companies and intermediaries to satisfy

their delivery requirements for proxy

statements, information statements and

annual reports with respect to two or

more beneficial owners sharing the

same address by delivering a single

copy of the documents to those

beneficial owners so long as certain

conditions are met including consent.7

Accordingly, the Exchange proposes to

amend its own rules to conform to the

recently amended Commission rules.

Therefore, Supplementary Material to

NYSE Rules 451 and 465 is proposed to

be amended to specify that member

organizations may household proxy

statements, annual reports, interim

reports and other material provided they

do so in compliance with the applicable

Commission rules.

2. Statutory Basis

The Exchange believes that the

proposed rule change is consistent with

section 6(b)(5) 8 the Act, which requires,

among other things, that the rules of an

exchange be designed to prevent

fraudulent and manipulative acts and

practices, to promote just and equitable

principles of trade, to foster cooperation

and coordination with persons engaged

in facilitating transactions in securities,

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 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

The Exchange has neither solicited

nor received written comments on the

proposed rule change.

III. Solicitation of Comments

Interested persons are invited to

submit written data, views and

arguments concerning the foregoing,

including whether the proposed rule

change, as amended, 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 NYSE. All

submissions should refer to File No.

SR–NYSE–01–03 and should be

submitted by March 26, 2001.

IV. Commission’s Findings and Order

Granting Accelerated Approval of

Proposed Rule Change

The Commission finds that the

proposed rule change, as amended, is

consistent with the Act and the rules

and regulations thereunder applicable to

a national securities exchange,9 and in

particular the requirements of section

6(b)(5) of the Act.10 Specifically, the

Commission finds that the Exchange’s

proposal to permit householding of

annual reports, proxy statements,

interim reports and other materials

consistent with Commission rules

promotes just and equitable of trade by

eliminating conflicting regulatory

obligations for NYSE members. The

Commission notes that while the

current NYSE rule permits

householding, the NYSE requires its

members to get consent in writing from

beneficial owners. The Commission’s

recent amendments to Rule 14b–1 11

under the Act permits householding on

an implied consent basis if certain

conditions are met. Thus, as a result of

this proposal, NYSE rules will conform

to the Commission’s requirements and

NYSE members will be able to receive

the benefits provided by householding

to an even greater extent by utilizing

implied consent. These benefits include

reducing the amount of duplicative

information that beneficial owners

receive and lowering the printing and

mailing costs for companies.

The Commission finds good cause to

approve the proposal prior to the

thirtieth day after the date of

publication of notice of the filing in the

Federal Register. By accelerating

effectiveness of the Exchange’s rule

proposal, NYSE members will be able to

utilize the new householding rule for

the current proxy season. In addition,

the Commission notes that it recently

solicited comment from interested

persons on its rule amendments 12 and

considered the comments received

when adopting the final rules.13

Accordingly, the Commission believes

that good cause exists, consistent with

sections 6(b)(5) 14 and 19(b)(2) 15 of the

Act to approve the proposed rule change

on an accelerated basis.

V. Conclusion

It Is Therefore Ordered, pursuant to

section 19(b)(2) of the Act, 16 that the

amended proposed rule change (SR–

NYSE–01–03) is hereby approved.

For the Commission, by the Division of

Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated

authority.17

Margaret H. McFarland,

Deputy Secretary.

[FR Doc. 01–5247 Filed 3–2–01; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8010–01–M

SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

Reporting and Recordkeeping

Requirements Under OMB Review

AGENCY: Small Business Administration.

ACTION: Notice of reporting requirements

submitted for OMB review.

SUMMARY: Under the provisions of the

Paperwork Reduction Act (44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35), agencies are required to

submit proposed reporting and