Document ID: SEC-2020-0137-0001
Agency: sec
Document Type: Notice
Title: Self-Regulatory Organizations; Proposed Rule Changes: The Depository Trust Co.
Posted Date: 2020-01-31T05:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 21 (Friday, January 31, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5747-5751]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-01785]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-88049; File No. SR-DTC-2020-001]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Depository Trust Company; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change 
To Amend the DTC Fee Guide

January 27, 2020.
    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 January 21, 2020, The Depository Trust Company (``DTC'') 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 clearing agency. DTC filed the proposed rule 
change pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \3\ and Rules 19b-
4(f)(2) and (f)(4) thereunder.\4\ The Commission is publishing this 
notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested 
persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2) and (f)(4).
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I. Clearing Agency's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the 
Proposed Rule Change

    The proposed rule change \5\ of DTC would amend the Guide to the 
DTC Fee Schedule \6\ (``Fee Guide'') to (i) eliminate certain fees 
within the Corporate Actions section \7\ and the Securities Processing 
section \8\ of the Fee Guide and (ii) modify the names and descriptions 
of certain fees in the Settlement Services section \9\ of the Fee 
Guide, as described below.
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    \5\ Each capitalized term not otherwise defined herein has its 
respective meaning as set forth the Rules, By-Laws and Organization 
Certificate of DTC (the ``Rules''), available at http://www.dtcc.com/legal/rules-and-procedures.aspx.
    \6\ Available at http://www.dtcc.com/~/media/Files/Downloads/
legal/fee-guides/dtcfeeguide.pdf.
    \7\ See id. at 6-8.
    \8\ See id. at 4-6.
    \9\ See id. at 19-21.
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II. Clearing Agency's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis 
for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, the clearing agency 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 clearing agency has prepared summaries, 
set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant 
aspects of such statements.

(A) Clearing Agency's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis 
for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The proposed rule change would amend the Guide to the Fee Schedule 
to (i) eliminate certain fees within the Corporate Actions section \10\ 
and the Securities Processing section \11\ of the Fee Guide, including 
the addition and deletion of fees and (ii) modify the descriptions of 
certain fees in the Settlement Services section \12\ of the Fee Guide, 
as described below.
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    \10\ See id. at 6-8.
    \11\ See id. at 4-6.
    \12\ See id. at 19-21.
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Corporate Actions Fee Eliminations
    To streamline the Corporate Actions fee schedule, DTC proposes to 
eliminate certain corporate actions fees relating to services relating 
to physical securities processing, specifically, bearer bonds and the 
Coupon Collection service (``CCS''),\13\ as described below. The 
related products have seen a substantial decrease in volume over the 
years due to increased dematerialization leading to limited use of the 
services.\14\
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    \13\ See DTC Custody Service Guide (``Custody Guide''), 
available at http://www.dtcc.com/~/media/Files/Downloads/legal/
service-guides/Custody.pdf, at 8, 11 and 14. CCS is referred to in 
the Custody Guide alternatively as the Coupon Collection service and 
the Coupon Clipping service. Id.
    \14\ Michael Scholl, The Incredible Shrinking Vaults, available 
at http://www.dtcc.com/news/2010/march/01/the-incredible-shrinking-vaults (March 1, 2010).
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    A bearer bond is a corporate or municipal debt Security for which 
whoever physically holds the Security certificate is the presumptive 
owner of the instrument. Bearer bond coupons for interest payments are 
physically attached to the Security and must be submitted to an 
authorized agent, in order to receive payment. Due to changes in the 
marketplace, including the increasing move towards dematerialization of 
Securities, the issuance of bearer bonds has significantly curtailed 
over the years, and as a result, the inventory of bearer bonds held by 
DTC on behalf of Participants has significantly diminished. In 1990, 
DTC had 24 million bearer bonds in its vault, the bulk of which have 
matured.\15\ In 2010 the amount of bearer bonds held by DTC was just 
over 132,800 bearer bonds.\16\ As of November 2019, DTC holds 
approximately 46 issues of bearer bonds in its vault and, based on the 
historical trend, the number of bearer bonds in DTC's vault is expected 
to continue to rapidly diminish, with the final bond on deposit 
scheduled to mature by 2030.
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    \15\ Edward C. Kelleher, Certificates in DTC Vaults Drop Below 1 
Million, available at http://www.dtcc.com/news/2011/march/01/certificates-in-dtc-vaults-drop-below-1-million (March 1, 2011).
    \16\ Id.
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    DTC charges a Participant a fee of $4.00 per interest and principal 
payment on bearer bonds. Due to the steep drop in the amount of bearer 
bonds on deposit at DTC, DTC's need to allocate staff and systems 
resources to the processing of such payments has diminished to an 
insignificant level and DTC believes it would be appropriate to 
eliminate this fee.
    Under CCS, DTC provides Participants with a method for collecting 
interest payable on coupons

[[Page 5748]]

from bearer bonds.\17\ The Participants using CCS are required to 
deposit coupons in a standard sealed envelope or ``shell.'' \18\ DTC 
submits the contents of the shells to the appropriate issuer or paying 
agent and then credits the interest to the Participant's account. DTC 
charges a Participant a fee of $75.00 per shell to process coupons and 
payments through CCS.\19\ Due to the steep decline in the amount of 
bearer bonds on deposit at DTC, as described above, DTC's need to 
allocate staff and systems resources to the processing of coupon 
payments has diminished to an insignificant level and DTC believes it 
would be appropriate to eliminate this fee.
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    \17\ See Custody Guide, supra note 13, at 14.
    \18\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 39955 (May 4, 
1998), 63 FR 26236 (May 12, 1998) (SR-DTC-97-17).
    \19\ See Fee Guide, supra note 6, at 8.
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Elimination of Audit and CD Confirmation Fees
    DTC offers confirmations of audit information relating to 
Securities held at DTC to issuers and their agents upon request.\20\ 
DTC also offers confirmations (``CD Confirmations'') relating to 
certificates of deposit held at DTC.\21\ The fees charged by DTC to an 
issuer or agent to process an audit confirmation (``Audit Confirmation 
Fee'') or CD Confirmation (``CD Confirmation Fee''), which are set 
forth in the Securities Processing section \22\ of the Fee Guide, are 
$22 for the first 5 CUSIPS included in the confirmation request and $5 
for each additional CUSIP.\23\ DTC's billing process for audit and CD 
Confirmations to issuers and agents is different from that for 
Participant fees. Participant fees are billed monthly based on activity 
volumes that are generally automatically fed into the billing system 
and Participants are debited for their monthly charges in their monthly 
settlement statement. Issuers and agents that are not Participants do 
not maintain settlement accounts at DTC and the process of billing for 
items such as audit and CD Confirmations is manually intensive. In 
fact, as DTC's physical inventory has decreased, DTC has received fewer 
confirmation requests, resulting in diminishing revenue over time, to 
the point that the cost to DTC to bill for the processing of 
confirmations is greater than the amount of revenue collected by DTC in 
this regard. Therefore, to eliminate the associated billing costs to 
DTC that exceed related revenue collected by DTC for audit 
confirmations and CD Confirmations, DTC proposes to amend the Fee 
Schedule to eliminate the Audit Confirmation Fee and CD Confirmation 
Fee. Recognizing a need for issuers and agents to obtain audit 
confirmations and CD Confirmations for their own regulatory and 
compliance purposes, DTC would continue to process such requests for 
issuers and agents free of charge.
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    \20\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 53471 (March 13, 2006), 
71 FR 13872 (March 17, 2006) (SR-DTC-2005-21).
    \21\ Id.
    \22\ See id. at 4-6.
    \23\ See Fee Guide, supra note 6, at 5.
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Settlement Fee Name and Description Changes
    The proposed rule change would amend the Settlement Services 
section \24\ of the Fee Guide to change certain fee names and 
descriptions of fee amounts, as described below. The proposed changes 
to this section would not result in any change in the actual amounts 
charged for the relevant fees.
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    \24\ See id. at 19-21.
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Revise Fee Name for Fees for Stock Loan Transactions
    Pursuant to the proposed rule change, the fee named ``Stock loans 
and returns'' would be renamed as ``Repos, Stock loans and returns.'' 
The amount of this fee is 18 cents per receive or delivery and would 
not change. This fee applies to deliver orders \25\ (``DO'') of 
Securities effected through DTC's settlement system that Participants 
using a reason code designated for tracking though DTC's income 
tracking systems, specifically, the stock loan income tracking system 
\26\ or the repurchase agreement (``Repo'') tracking system.\27\ The 
word ``Repos'' would be added to the fee name for clarity in this 
regard.
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    \25\ A deliver order is book-entry movement of shares of a 
Security between two Participants. See Settlement Service Guide 
(``Settlement Guide''), available at http://www.dtcc.com/~/media/
Files/Downloads/legal/service-guides/Settlement.pdf, at 5.
    \26\ In a stock loan agreement, the lender of a Security is 
entitled to recover from the borrower any income distributions paid 
on the loaned Security. The stock loan income tracking system allows 
DTC to track the lender's (deliverer's) position on these 
Securities. The stock loan income tracking system tracks cash 
dividend and interest payments relating to DOs submitted using 
certain reason codes for stock loan transactions, as described in 
the DTC Corporate Actions Distributions Service Guide 
(``Distributions Guide''). See Distributions Guide, available at 
http://www.dtcc.com/~/media/Files/Downloads/legal/service-guides/
Service%20Guide%20Distributions.pdf, at 36-37, for additional 
information relating to stock loan transactions and the related 
reason codes.
    \27\ A Repo is an agreement between two parties that allows the 
seller of Securities to later repurchase them at an agreed-upon 
price. The seller usually retains the right to periodic income 
distributions. However, since the Securities will not reside in the 
seller's account on record date, the seller would not be credited 
the periodic principal and income distributions paid on the 
Securities. To recover these entitlements, the seller must claim the 
Repo buyer. DTC's Repo Tracking System automates claims of these 
entitlements by tracking the Repo transactions (deliveries) relating 
to DOs submitted with using certain reason codes designated for Repo 
transactions and adjusting the entitlement payments accordingly on 
payable date. See Distributions Guide, supra note 26, at 37-38, for 
additional information relating to Repo transactions and related 
reason codes.
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Revise Fee Name for Institutional Transactions
    Pursuant to the proposed rule change, the fee named ``Institutional 
receive or delivery (ID)'' would be renamed as ``Matched Institutional 
Transactions.'' This fee relates to the receive for delivery of 
Securities associated with the processing of an institutional 
transaction submitted to DTC by a Matching Utility on behalf of the 
Participants to the transaction.\28\ The amount of this fee is charged 
to a Participant at a rate of 4 cents per receive or delivery related 
to a transaction submitted on its behalf by a Matching Utility and 
would not change. The fee name would be changed to eliminate the 
redundancy between the fee name and description of the amount, which 
both reference that the fee applies to a receive or delivery.
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    \28\ See Settlement Guide, supra note 25, at 36, for additional 
information on the role of a Matching Utility in the submission of 
an institutional transaction on behalf of Participants to the 
transactions.
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Revise Fee Name for Fees for ACATS Transactions and Related Description 
of Fee Amount
    Pursuant to the proposed rule change, the description of the fee 
amount named ``Book Entry NSCC ACATS Long Allocations and Short 
Covers'' would be renamed ``Delivery to/from CNS ACATS.'' In addition, 
the description of the fee which is ``$0.06 Per Message'' would be 
revised to ``$0.12 per receive or delivery.'' The proposed rule change 
would not change the actual amount charged to a Participant per 
transaction. In this regard, a delivering Participant is charged for 
each message (or delivery instruction): (1) For the delivery of 
Securities from the account of the Participant to the National 
Securities Clearing Corporation's (``NSCC'') ACATS \29\ system and (2) 
for the associated receive of the Securities by the NSCC account. 
Likewise, the

[[Page 5749]]

receiving Participant is charged an equal amount per transaction, 
respectively, for the receive of the Securities to its account and for 
DTC to deliver the Securities from the NSCC account to the Participant.
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    \29\ NSCC's Rules & Procedures, available at, http://
www.dtcc.com/~/media/Files/Downloads/legal/rules/nscc_rules.pdf, 
establish the NSCC ACATS Settlement Accounting Operation which 
interfaces with DTC's system to move customer Securities from the 
account of one Participant to another. See Settlement Guide, supra 
note 25, at 18. NSCC maintains an account at DTC with respect to the 
associated securities movements. Id.
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    For example, for a Participant delivering Securities to the NSCC 
ACATS system, the Participant incurs a charge of 12 cents, which is the 
sum of the 6-cent cost to the Participant for DTC to deliver the 
Securities to NSCC's account as well as for the 6-cent cost to the 
Participant for the receive by the NSCC account for the Securities. 
Likewise, the receiving Participant, in connection with the same 
instruction, is charged 12 cents, which is the sum of the cost of 6 
cents for the delivery of the Securities from NSCC to the receiving 
Participant and the receive by the Participant for those Securities.
    Also, proposal would revise the fee name to eliminate the reference 
to long allocations and short covers, because ACATS transactions have 
no funds settlement obligations associated with them.\30\ The change 
would eliminate potential confusion that could be created in this 
regard, because the Settlement Guide refers to short covers and long 
allocations as transactions that have an associated Collateral 
Value.\31\
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    \30\ See Settlement Guide, supra note 25, at 17.
    \31\ Id.
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Description of Fee for Deliveries to and From CNS
    Like the billing of ACATS transactions, a delivering Participant is 
charged for the delivery of a Security to the NSCC CNS account at DTC 
(``CNS Account'') on the Participant's behalf and for the receive of 
the Security by the CNS Account. Likewise, the receiving Participant to 
the transaction is charged for the delivery of the Securities from the 
CNS Account to its account, and for the receive of the Securities by 
its account. The charge for each side of the transaction is 8 cents per 
item. For example, the delivering Participant is charged a total of 16 
cents, representing 8 cents for the side representing its delivery of 
the Security to the CNS Account and is charged 8 cents for the side 
representing the receive of the Security from the Participant to the 
CNS Account. Likewise, the receiving Participant is charged 16 cents 
for the transaction, representing 8 cents for the delivery of the 
Securities from the CNS Account to the Participant's account and 8 
cents for the receive of the Securities from the CNS Account by the 
Participant. In this regard, DTC believes that clarifying the related 
item in the Fee Guide to clarify the total amount a Participant is 
charged for a transaction as a whole, rather than by delivering and 
receiving sides for the transfer of Securities between the 
Participant's account and the CNS Account, would provide clarity to 
Participant's on the total fees incurred with respect to the processing 
of a movement of Securities at DTC for a CNS transaction. Therefore, 
DTC proposes to revise the Fee Guide to change the description of the 
fee amount for the related item in the Fee Guide from ``$0.08 Per item 
delivered, charged to both sides'' to ``$0.16 per delivery or 
receive.''
Fee Name for Payments or Withdrawal of Payments
    Pursuant to the Settlement Guide, a Participant may make settlement 
progress payments (``SPP'') to DTC to increase their Collateral balance 
at DTC and/or reduce its Net Debit Balance and the Participant also has 
the ability to withdraw SPP amounts if such withdrawal would not cause 
the Participant to violate DTC's risk controls, including the 
Collateral Monitor and Net Debit Cap.\32\ A Participant may also 
receive principal & interest payments on Securities deposited in its 
account and withdraw payments it has received intraday so long as such 
withdrawal does not place the Participant in a debit balance.\33\
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    \32\ See id. at 63.
    \33\ See id. at 62.
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    A Participant is charged a fee of 70 cents per payment or 
withdrawal of payment for both the making of a SPP to DTC and the 
withdrawal of SPP amounts from DTC. This fee is also charged for the 
intraday withdrawal of P&I by the Participant. Pursuant to the Fee 
Guide, the related fee item is named ``Payment or withdrawal of 
payment.'' The Participant is not charged this 70-cent fee for the 
intraday payment of P&I because DTC charges a separate ``Cash 
Dividend'' fee \34\ for the allocation of principal and interest. To 
provide enhanced clarity on how this fee is applied, DTC proposes to 
revise this fee name to ``Progress payment or withdrawal of SPP/P&I.''
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    \34\ See Fee Guide, supra note 6, at 6.
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Proposed Rule Change
    Pursuant to the proposed rule change, the following entries in the 
Fee Guide would be deleted from the Corporate Actions section: \35\
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    \35\ See id.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Fee Name               Amount ($)           Conditions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bearer Bond \36\...............            4.00  Per interest and
                                                  principal payment on
                                                  bearer bonds.
Coupon Collection Service \37\.           75.00  Per shell for CUSIP
                                                  numbers and Customer-
                                                  assigned identifiers
                                                  on a shell.
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    Pursuant to the proposed rule change, the following entries in the 
Fee Guide would be deleted from the Securities Processing section: \38\
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    \36\ See id. at 7.
    \37\ See id. at 8.
    \38\ See id. at 4-6.
    \39\ See id. at 5.
    \40\ Id.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
            Fee Name               Amount ($)           Conditions
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Audit confirmation: \39\
    First five CUSIPs..........           22.00  Per CUSIP.
    Each additional CUSIP......            5.00  Per CUSIP
CD confirmation: \40\
    First five CUSIPS..........           22.00  Per CUSIP.
    Each additional CUSIP......            5.00  Per CUSIP.
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[[Page 5750]]

    Pursuant to the proposed rule change, DTC would modify descriptions 
for certain fees set forth in the Settlement section as set forth 
below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                          Old amount          New Amount
        Current fee name           Proposed fee name      description         Description           Change
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stock loans and returns.........  Repos, stock loans  $0.18 per receive   $0.18 per receive   Added Repo to fee
                                   and returns.        or delivery.        or delivery.        name.
Institutional receive or          Matched             $0.04 per receive   $0.04 per receive   Changed
 delivery (ID).                    Institutional       or delivery.        or delivery.        description.
                                   Transactions.
Book Entry NSCC ACATS Long        Delivery to/from    $0.06 Per Message.  $0.12 Per receive   Changed
 Allocations and Short Covers.     CNS ACATS.                              or delivery.        description, no
                                                                                               longer per
                                                                                               message.
Delivery to/from CNS............  Delivery to/from    $0.08 Per item      $0.16 per delivery  No longer per
                                   CNS.                delivered;          or receive.         side.
                                                       charged to both
                                                       sides.
Payment or withdrawal of payment  Progress payment    $0.70 Per payment   $0.70 Per payment   Added P&I.
                                   or withdrawal of    or withdrawal of    or withdrawal of
                                   SPP/P&I.            payment.            payment.
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Implementation Timeframe
    The proposed rule change would become effective upon filing with 
the Commission such that the text of the Fee Guide would be revised as 
discussed above.
2. Statutory Basis
    DTC believes that this proposal is consistent with the requirements 
of the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a 
registered clearing agency. Specifically, DTC believes that this 
proposal is consistent with Sections 17A(b)(3)(D) \41\ and 17A(b)(3)(F) 
\42\ of the Act and Rule 17Ad-22(e)(23)(ii),\43\ as promulgated under 
the Act, for the reasons described below.
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    \41\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(D).
    \42\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
    \43\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(23)(ii).
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    (i) Section 17A(b)(3)(D) of the Act requires, inter alia, that the 
Rules provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, 
and other charges among participants.\44\ For the reasons set forth 
below, DTC believes that each of the proposed rule changes described 
above that would eliminate certain fees would provide for the equitable 
allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among 
participants, as discussed below.
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    \44\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(D).
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Fee Eliminations
    DTC believes the proposed rule change to eliminate fees set forth 
in the Corporate Actions section and Securities Processing sections of 
the Fee Guide would provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable 
fees. DTC believes the proposed elimination of the fees relating to 
these fees would provide for the equitable allocation of fees because 
the respective fees are rarely charged due to the low volume of 
activity in the related processes, as described above, and if ever 
charged, given the amount of each fee, any charge would be in a 
negligible amount. DTC believes the elimination of these fees is 
reasonable because of the lack of activity and therefore it is unlikely 
that DTC would need to charge these fees. Also, DTC also believes that 
the proposed rule change for the elimination of the fee relating to 
audit and CD confirmations is reasonable, because it costs DTC more to 
administer the charges than it collects from the agents for this fee. 
Given the low volume of activity and fees collected in this regard, DTC 
does not believe it would be reasonable to raise these fees simply to 
cover the cost of billing for them.
    (ii) Section 17A(b)(3)(F) \45\ of the Act requires, inter alia, 
that the Rules provide for the prompt and accurate clearance and 
settlement of securities transactions by DTC.
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    \45\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
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Changes of Fee Names and Descriptions of Fee Amounts
    DTC believes that each of the proposed rule changes with respect to 
the revision of fee names and fee amount descriptions for certain fees 
set forth in the Settlement Services section of the Fee Guide, as 
described above, is designed to promote the prompt and accurate 
clearance and settlement of securities transactions in accordance with 
this section. Each of these changes would amend certain fee names and 
fee descriptions to improve the accuracy and clarity of the Fee Guide. 
Improving the accuracy and clarity of the Rules and Procedures, 
including the Fee Guide, would help Participants to better understand 
their rights and obligations regarding DTC services. When Participants 
better understand their rights and obligations regarding DTC services, 
they can act in accordance with the Rules and Procedures, which DTC 
believes would promote the prompt and accurate clearance and settlement 
of securities transactions by DTC. As such, DTC believes the proposed 
rule changes to clarify the Fee Guide for certain items set for in the 
Settlement Services section, as described above, are consistent with 
Section 17A(b)(3)(F) \46\ of the Act.
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    \46\ Id.
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    (iii) Rule 17Ad-22(e)(23)(ii) under the Act requires DTC to 
establish, implement, maintain and enforce written policies and 
procedures reasonably designed to provide sufficient information to 
enable participants to identify and evaluate the risks, fees, and other 
material costs they incur by participating in DTC.\47\ DTC believes 
that the proposed rule changes with respect to (1) deleting fees with 
little or no volume and (2) amending fee names and descriptions of 
amounts, would help ensure that the pricing structure of the Fee Guide 
is well-defined and clear to Participants. Having a well-defined and 
clear Fee Guide would help Participants to better understand the fees 
and help provide Participants with increased predictability and 
certainty regarding the fees they incur in participating in DTC. In 
this way, DTC believes the proposed rule changes to the Fee Guide, as 
described above, are consistent with Rule 17Ad-22(e)(23)(ii) under the 
Act, cited above.
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    \47\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(23)(ii).
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(B) Clearing Agency's Statement on Burden on Competition

Fee Eliminations
    Impact on Competition. DTC believes that each of the proposed rule 
changes with respect to the deletion of fees with little or no volume, 
as described above, may impact competition by potentially reducing 
Participants' operating costs. Therefore, DTC believes that the 
proposed rule changes with respect to the deletion of fees with little 
or no volume, as described above, would not

[[Page 5751]]

impose a burden on competition, but may promote competition.
Changes of Fee Names and Descriptions of Fee Amounts
    No Impact on Competition. DTC believes that each of the proposed 
clarifications to the Settlement Services section of the Fee Guide, as 
described, would not have an impact on competition.\48\ Each of these 
changes would amend certain fee names and or fee amount descriptions to 
improve the accuracy and clarity of the Fee Guide. Having an accurate 
and clear Fee Guide would facilitate Participants' understanding of the 
Fee Guide and their obligations thereunder, and so would not affect the 
rights and obligations of any Participant or other interested party. 
Therefore, DTC believes that each of the proposed clarifications to the 
Settlement Services section of the Fee Guide, as described above, would 
not have an impact on competition.
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    \48\ Id.
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(C) Clearing Agency's Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change 
Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    Written comments relating to this proposed rule change have not 
been solicited or received. DTC will notify the Commission of any 
written comments received by DTC.

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) of the Act \49\ and paragraph (f) of Rule 19b-4 
thereunder.\50\ 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.
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    \49\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \50\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f).
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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-DTC-2020-001 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities 
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-DTC-2020-001. 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 website (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 website 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 DTC and on DTCC's website 
(http://dtcc.com/legal/sec-rule-filings.aspx). All comments received 
will be posted without change. Persons submitting comments are 
cautioned that we do not redact or edit personal identifying 
information from comment submissions. You should submit only 
information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions 
should refer to File Number SR-DTC-2020-001 and should be submitted on 
or before February 21, 2020.
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    \51\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\51\
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-01785 Filed 1-30-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P