Document ID: SEC-2021-0419-0001
Agency: sec
Document Type: Notice
Title: Self-Regulatory Organizations; Proposed Rule Changes: ICE Clear Europe, Ltd.
Posted Date: 2021-03-25T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 56 (Thursday, March 25, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15983-15986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-06119]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-91376; File No. SR-ICEEU-2021-002]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; ICE Clear Europe Limited; Order 
Approving Proposed Rule Change Relating to Amendments to the ICE Clear 
Europe Price Submission Disciplinary Framework

March 19, 2021.

I. Introduction

    On February 2, 2021, ICE Clear Europe Limited (``ICE Clear 
Europe'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``Commission''), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ a 
proposed rule change to modify certain provisions of its Price 
Submission Disciplinary Framework and to rename it as the ``Price 
Submission Disciplinary Procedure'' (hereinafter referred to as the 
``Procedure'').\3\ The proposed rule change was published for comment 
in the Federal Register on February 18, 2021.\4\ The Commission did not 
receive comments regarding the proposed rule change. For the reasons 
discussed below, the Commission is approving the proposed rule change.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ Self-Regulatory Organizations; ICE Clear Europe Limited; 
Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Relating to Amendments to 
the ICE Clear Europe Price Submission Disciplinary Framework, 
Exchange Act Release No. 91114 (February 11, 2021), 86 FR 10152 
(February 18, 2021) (SR-ICEEU-2021-002) (``Notice'').
    \4\ See Notice, supra note 3, 86 FR 10152.
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II. Description of the Proposed Rule Change

    ICE Clear Europe proposes to make specific amendments to the 
current Procedure for investigating and disciplining Clearing Members 
for missed price submissions when a Clearing Member holds cleared open 
interest in a single-name or index credit default swap (``CDS'') 
product.\5\ The proposed amendments are summarized below.\6\
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    \5\ Capitalized terms used not defined herein have the meanings 
specified in the Procedure or the ICE Clear Europe Clearing Rules 
(the ``Rules''), as applicable.
    \6\ The following description is substantially excerpted from 
the Notice.
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Cash Assessments for Missed Submissions and Waivers

    The proposed amendments in renumbered Section 2.2.3 (Fixed Cash 
Assessments for Missed Submissions) would state that a Clearing Member 
in receipt of a Notice of Investigation issued in respect of an alleged 
Missed Submission will have five days to submit written comments. The 
proposed amendments would also provide an additional five days for ICE 
Clear Europe to review the relevant Clearing Member's comments before 
sending a Letter of Mindedness to the Clearing Member under Rule 
1002(f) at the conclusion of the investigation. ICE Clear Europe 
represents that these proposed amendments would improve the current 
process by affording the Clearing Member an opportunity to respond to 
the initial notice and giving ICE Clear Europe time to assess the 
Clearing Member's response before determining whether to take further 
action under the Rules.\7\
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    \7\ See Notice, 86 FR at 10152.
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    The proposed rule change would also clarify when ICE Clear Europe 
would issue a cash assessment notice to a Clearing Member, regardless 
of whether ICE Clear Europe receives written comments from the Clearing 
Member during the ten-day period from the date of a Letter of 
Mindedness. Specifically, the proposed rule change would provide that 
ICE Clear Europe will issue a cash assessment notice following the 
expiry of such ten-day period where it determines that an assessment 
amount is required to be collected. The proposed rule change would make 
a drafting clarification to specify that the cash assessment notice 
would be calculated according to the cash assessment calculation 
details outlined in the Procedure.
    In addition, the proposed rule change would remove the current 
investigation procedures for one or more Missed Submissions in a month 
for the type of instrument (index or single-name) involved. Instead, 
the proposed amendments would update and clarify the procedures by 
which a Clearing Member may assert that one or more Missed Submissions 
were due to extraordinary circumstances outside of its control. In such 
circumstances, the proposed rule change would designate the Head of 
Regulation and Compliance to determine whether such circumstances 
apply, rather than the currently designated Head of Clearing 
Compliance.
    ICE Clear Europe also proposes changes in renumbered Section 2.2.3 
(Fixed Cash Assessments for Missed Submissions) to the process for 
granting waivers of the applicable cash assessment amount for Missed 
Submissions based on the CDS product type. The proposed rule change 
would clarify that if a waiver is granted, no cash assessment amount 
would be due for the Missed Submission. Further, the proposed rule 
change would change the current eligibility provisions for such 
waivers. ICE Clear Europe represents that, under the current waiver 
process, a Clearing Member receives only one waiver over the course of 
its clearing membership for a Missed Submission.\8\ The proposed rule 
change would change that process by providing that a Clearing Member is 
eligible for one waiver per calendar year for Missed Submissions for 
single-name products and one waiver per calendar year for Missed 
Submissions for index products.
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    \8\ Id.
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    The proposed rule change would also expressly limit such waivers to 
Missed Submissions caused by technical failures. In addition, the 
proposed rule change would require that Clearing Members must provide 
an adequate written explanation of the technical failure and a summary 
of planned remedial actions. The proposed rule change would also 
specify that only the first instance of a Missed Submission in any 
calendar year for both single-name and index products will be eligible 
for a waiver. ICE Clear Europe represents that it believes the proposed 
approach to waivers strikes a better balance than the current approach 
between the need for robust submissions under the Policy and the goal 
of not unnecessarily penalizing Clearing Members for technical 
failures.\9\
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    \9\ See Notice, 86 FR at 10153.
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Changes Regarding Missed Submissions

    In the definition of the term ``Missed Submissions'' in Section 
2.1.2, ICE Clear Europe would change the type of submissions that count 
as Missed Submissions. Specifically, ICE Clear Europe would remove the 
statement that spread submissions will be counted as

[[Page 15984]]

Missed Submissions, and replace it with a statement that submissions 
not adhering to the format described in Section 2.2.3 of the Policy 
will be counted as Missed Submissions. ICE Clear Europe represents that 
such format requires index submissions to follow market convention in 
terms of providing prices as spreads, and be either midpoint or bid-
offer.\10\
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    \10\ See Notice, 86 FR at 10152.
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    ICE Clear Europe also would make certain non-substantive drafting 
clarifications to the provisions in this section on Obvious Error 
submissions where the bid is higher than the high threshold, or the 
offer is lower than the low threshold. Specifically, ICE Clear Europe 
would clarify that references to ``Missed Submissions'' shall be deemed 
to include Obvious Errors on CDX Indices submissions, as applicable.

Document Governance and Exception Handling

    The proposed amendments would add new provisions with respect to 
the governance of the Procedure document and the handling of exception 
approvals to this document. Specifically, the proposed amendments would 
state that the document owner is responsible for ensuring that the 
Procedure remains up-to-date and is reviewed in accordance with ICE 
Clear Europe's governance processes. The proposed amendments would 
further provide that the document owner will report material breaches 
or unapproved deviations from the Procedure to the document owner's 
Head of Department, the Chief Risk Officer and the Head of Compliance 
(or their delegates) who together will determine if further escalation 
is required. Lastly, the proposed amendments would state that 
exceptions to the Procedure can be approved in accordance with ICE 
Clear Europe's governance process for the Procedure. ICE Clear Europe 
represents that the proposed approach to governance and exception 
handling is consistent with that of other ICE Clear Europe 
procedures.\11\
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    \11\ Id.
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General Drafting Clarifications and Improvements

    ICE Clear Europe would amend the current document title from 
``Price Submission Disciplinary Framework'' to ``Price Submission 
Disciplinary Procedure,'' and make a conforming word change in Section 
2.1.1 (Purpose) from ``framework'' to ``procedure.'' ICE Clear Europe 
would remove Section 2.2 (End of Day Price Discovery Process) and the 
related Appendix A: End of Day Price Discovery Process, because these 
matters are covered in the existing CDS End of Day Price Discovery 
Policy (the ``Policy''). As a result of this proposed amendment and 
deletion of this section, ICE Clear Europe would renumber current 
Section 2.3 (Price Submission Incentives) as 2.2, add a cross-reference 
to the Policy in Section 1.1 (Overview), and remove a parenthetical 
cross-reference to such section in the renumbered Price Submission 
Incentives section.
    To aid with readability, ICE Clear Europe would shorten the term 
``CDS Clearing Member'' to ``CM'' throughout the Procedure, and also 
shorten or rephrase certain sentences without changing their 
substantive meanings. ICE Clear Europe would also replace references to 
CDX products with references to CDX Indices as a more precise term. In 
Section 1.1, ICE Clear Europe would update a reference to Markit Group 
Limited to its current name, IHS Markit.
    In Section 2.1.1 (Purpose), ICE Clear Europe proposes to simplify 
and clarify the stated purpose of the Procedure to provide that the 
document outlines the procedure to be used internally by ICE Clear 
Europe when taking disciplinary action in relation to price 
submissions. In Section 2.1.3 (Legal Basis), ICE Clear Europe would 
also include a cross-reference to Rule 503(g), rather than restate the 
relevant text of Rule 503(g).

III. Discussion and Commission Findings

    Section 19(b)(2)(C) of the Act directs the Commission to approve a 
proposed rule change of a self-regulatory organization if it finds that 
such proposed rule change is consistent with the requirements of the 
Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to such 
organization.\12\ For the reasons given below, the Commission finds 
that the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 17A(b)(3)(F) 
of the Act, Section 17A(b)(3)(G) of the Act, Section 17A(b)(3)(H) of 
the Act,\13\ Rule 17Ad-22(e)(2), and Rule 17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv) 
thereunder.\14\
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    \12\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(C).
    \13\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F), 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(G), and 15 
U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(H).
    \14\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(2) and 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv).
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A. Consistency With Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act

    Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act requires, among other things, that 
the rules of ICE Clear Europe be designed to promote the prompt and 
accurate clearance and settlement of securities transactions and, to 
the extent applicable, derivative agreements, contracts, and 
transactions, as well as to assure the safeguarding of securities and 
funds which are in the custody or control of ICE Clear Europe or for 
which it is responsible.\15\ As discussed above, the proposed rule 
change would make a number of updates and enhancements to the 
Procedure.
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    \15\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
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    First, the proposed rule change would amend the current processes 
for investigating Missed Submissions for disciplinary action in the 
form of cash assessment amounts, including by specifying the time 
periods applicable to different aspects of the process, and for 
granting waivers of cash assessment amounts for Missed Submissions. 
During an investigation, the proposed rule change would update and 
clarify the procedures by which a Clearing Member may assert that a 
Missed Submission was caused by extraordinary circumstances outside of 
its control, as determined by ICE Clear Europe's Head of Regulation and 
Compliance. At the conclusion of an investigation, the proposed rule 
change would clarify that ICE Clear Europe will issue a cash assessment 
notice following the expiry of the ten-day period from the date of a 
Letter of Mindedness issued to a Clearing Member under Rule 1002(f), 
regardless of whether ICE Clear Europe receives written comments from 
the Clearing Member during such period, where it determines that a cash 
assessment is required to be collected. The proposed rule change would 
also make a drafting clarification to specify how the cash assessment 
amount will be calculated.
    With respect to the waiver process, the proposed rule change would 
introduce new requirements that limit waivers to Missed Submissions 
caused by technical failures, and would require the Clearing Member to 
provide an adequate written explanation of the technical failure and a 
remedial plan to ICE Clear Europe. The proposed rule change would also 
specify that only the first instance of a Missed Submission in any 
calendar year for both single-name and index products will be eligible 
for a waiver.
    The Commission believes such proposed amendments to the current 
processes for investigating Missed Submissions for disciplinary action 
in the form of cash assessment amounts and for granting waivers of cash 
assessment amounts for Missed Submissions should further incentivize 
Clearing Members to avoid repeated Missed Submissions. These improved

[[Page 15985]]

processes should, in turn, enhance ICE Clear Europe's overall end-of-
day price submission process by helping to ensure that Clearing Members 
perform their daily price submission obligations that, in turn, inform 
the calculation and collection of margin requirements for CDS products 
as part of ICE Clear Europe's overall risk-based margin system and risk 
management processes. Consequently, the Commission believes that the 
proposed changes would enhance ICE Clear Europe's ability to manage the 
risks associated with clearing both single-name and index CDS products, 
including the calculation of Mark-to-Market Prices under Rule 503(g), 
and should help to ensure that ICE Clear Europe is able to promptly and 
accurately clear and settle CDS transactions.
    Second, the proposed rule change would update and clarify which 
submissions will count as Missed Submissions. Specifically, the 
proposed rule change would remove spread submissions as Missed 
Submissions and instead, would count submissions that do not adhere to 
the designated format in the Policy as Missed Submissions. The proposed 
rule change would also clarify that Obvious Errors on CDX Indices 
submissions count as Missed Submissions. The Commission finds that 
these proposed changes would update and clarify the scope of Missed 
Submissions for Clearing Members and avoid any possible disputes or 
discrepancies over which submissions will count as Missed Submissions, 
which could hinder ICE Clear Europe's ability to conduct its end-of-day 
price discovery process and, in turn, to promptly and accurately 
calculate and collect margin requirements for CDS products and, in 
turn, to promptly and accurately clear and settle CDS transactions. 
Consequently, the Commission believes that these proposed changes 
should also help promote the prompt and accurate clearance and 
settlement of CDS transactions by ICE Clear Europe.
    Third, the proposed rule change would assign clear and direct 
responsibilities to the document owner at ICE Clear Europe to review 
and update the Procedure in accordance with ICE Clear Europe's 
governance processes, report material breaches to designated officers 
at ICE Clear Europe, and obtain approvals of any exceptions to the 
Procedure by following ICE Clear Europe's governance process. The 
Commission believes that the proposed governance and exception handling 
changes should help ensure clarity regarding the persons at ICE Clear 
Europe involved in the governance processes for the Procedure document. 
The Commission believes that a lack of clarity could lead to potential 
confusion regarding the proper persons to take action on behalf of ICE 
Clear Europe, thereby potentially hindering ICE Clear Europe's ability 
to efficiently administer and manage the Procedure and its end-of-day 
price discovery process, and, in turn, to promptly and accurately clear 
and settle CDS transactions.
    Fourth, the proposed rule change would remove redundant provisions 
in the Procedure that are contained in the Policy or in the Rules, and 
replace them with clear cross-references. The proposed rule change 
would also shorten or rephrase certain sentences and defined terms, and 
update certain terms and references. The Commission finds that these 
proposed drafting clarifications and improvements would enhance the 
clarity, transparency, and readability of the Procedure for ICE Clear 
Europe management, employees, and Clearing Members that, in turn, 
should help them understand their respective authorities, rights, and 
obligations regarding ICE Clear Europe's clearance and settlement of 
CDS transactions.
    The Commission further believes that the proposed amendments, taken 
as a whole, would enhance ICE Clear Europe's ability to obtain complete 
and reliable end-of-day prices that inform its calculation and 
collection of margin requirements for such CDS products, and help to 
manage its operational risks. Moreover, the Commission believes these 
risks, if mismanaged, could threaten ICE Clear Europe's ability to 
operate and therefore its ability to clear and settle transactions and 
safeguard funds. As a result, the Commission believes that the proposed 
changes should promote ICE Clear Europe's ability to assure the 
safeguarding of securities and funds which are in the custody or 
control of ICE Clear Europe or for which it is responsible.
    Therefore, the Commission believes that the proposed rule change is 
consistent with Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act.\16\
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    \16\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
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B. Consistency With Section 17A(b)(3)(G) of the Act

    Section 17A(b)(3)(G) of the Act requires, among other things, that 
ICE Clear Europe's rules provide that Clearing Members shall be 
appropriately disciplined for violation of any provision of ICE Clear 
Europe's rules by fine or other fitting sanction.\17\ As noted above, 
the proposed rule change would amend the current Procedure for 
investigating Missed Submissions for disciplinary action in the form of 
cash assessment amounts, including by specifying the time periods 
applicable to different aspects of the investigation process. The 
proposed rule change would also clarify that ICE Clear Europe will 
issue a cash assessment notice following the expiry of the ten-day 
period from the date of a Letter of Mindedness issued to a Clearing 
Member under Rule 1002(f), regardless of whether ICE Clear Europe 
receives written comments from the Clearing Member during such period, 
where it determines that a cash assessment is required to be collected. 
In addition, the proposed rule change would update and clarify the 
procedures by which a Clearing Member may assert that a Missed 
Submission was caused by extraordinary circumstances outside of its 
control. The proposed rule change would also make a drafting 
clarification to specify how the cash assessment amount will be 
calculated and would update and clarify which submissions will count as 
Missed Submissions. The Commission believes these proposed improvements 
and drafting clarifications, taken together, would help ICE Clear 
Europe conduct more informed investigations of the facts and 
circumstances surrounding an alleged Missed Submission before deciding 
to impose cash assessments as appropriate and fitting sanctions for 
violations of the Policy.
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    \17\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(G).
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    The proposed changes would also add waiver eligibility requirements 
for Missed Submissions. Specifically, the proposed rule change would 
limit waivers to Missed Submissions caused by technical failures, and 
would require the Clearing Member to provide an adequate written 
explanation of the technical failure and a remedial plan to ICE Clear 
Europe. The Commission believes that these aspects of the proposed rule 
change should help ICE Clear Europe decide whether to grant waivers 
where individual circumstances warrant, or impose cash assessment 
amounts as an appropriate and fitting sanction against Clearing Members 
that violate the Policy by committing Missed Submissions for any reason 
other than technical failures that meet the waiver eligibility 
requirements.
    Therefore, the Commission believes that the proposed rule change is 
consistent with Section 17A(b)(3)(G) of the Act.\18\
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    \18\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(G).

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[[Page 15986]]

C. Consistency With Section 17A(b)(3)(H) of the Act

    Section 17A(b)(3)(H) of the Act \19\ requires, among other things, 
that ICE Clear Europe's rules, in general, provide a fair procedure 
with respect to the disciplining of participants. As discussed above, 
the proposed rule change would amend the current process for 
investigating alleged Missed Submissions for disciplinary action in the 
form of cash assessment amounts, including by specifying the time 
periods applicable to different aspects of the process. The proposed 
amendments would also update and clarify the investigative process for 
Clearing Members to assert that one or more Missed Submissions were due 
to extraordinary circumstances outside of its control and how ICE Clear 
Europe's Head of Regulation & Compliance would assess and weigh such 
circumstances in reaching a determination. The Commission believes 
these proposed investigative process changes would promote the overall 
fairness of the Procedure by formalizing the general time frames and 
procedural steps that precede ICE Clear Europe's final determination of 
whether to impose a disciplinary cash assessment amount.
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    \19\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(H).
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    The Commission believes that the proposed addition of waiver 
eligibility requirements would also enhance the fairness of the 
Procedure for either granting waivers or imposing cash assessment 
amounts, depending on the particular facts and circumstances of the 
Missed Submission. The Commission believes that these aspects of the 
proposed rule change would formalize the process of granting waivers 
for Missed Submissions caused by technical failures, and facilitate ICE 
Clear Europe's ability to administer a fair procedure for disciplining 
Clearing Members for any Missed Submission resulting from a non-
technical reason that would warrant a cash assessment amount as 
calculated under the Procedure.
    As noted above, the proposed rule change would also make a number 
of general drafting improvements to shorten and clarify certain 
sentences and defined terms and to update references. In particular, 
the proposed rule change would update and clarify the types of 
submissions that count as Missed Submissions, including submissions 
that do not adhere to the designated format in the Policy as Missed 
Submissions and Obvious Errors on CDX Indices submissions, which the 
Commission believes would further enhance the fairness of the Procedure 
by increasing its clarity and readability for Clearing Members.
    For these reasons, the Commission believes that the proposed rule 
change is consistent with Section 17A(b)(3)(H) of the Act.\20\
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    \20\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(H).
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D. Consistency With Rule 17Ad-22(e)(2) Under the Act

    Rule 17Ad-22(e)(2) \21\ requires each covered clearing agency to 
establish, implement, maintain and enforce written policies and 
procedures reasonably designed to, among other things, provide for 
governance arrangements that are clear and transparent and specify 
clear and direct lines of responsibility. As noted above, the proposed 
amendments to renumbered Section 2.2.3 (Fixed Cash Assessments for 
Missed Submissions) would assign clear and direct responsibility to ICE 
Clear Europe's Head of Regulation & Compliance during investigations of 
Missed Submissions to determine whether a Clearing Member's 
circumstances are extraordinary and outside of the Clearing Member's 
control. In addition, the proposed provisions on document governance 
and exception handling would assign clear and direct responsibility to 
the document owner at ICE Clear Europe to ensure that the Procedure 
remains up-to-date and is reviewed in accordance with ICE Clear 
Europe's governance processes. The proposed amendments would also 
clarify the document owner's responsibility to report material breaches 
or unapproved deviations from the Procedure to the document owner's 
Head of Department, the Chief Risk Officer and the Head of Compliance 
(or their delegates) who together will determine if such matters 
require further escalation to ICE Clear Europe's senior executives. 
Further, the proposed amendments would clarify how to handle approvals 
of any exceptions to the Procedure by following ICE Clear Europe's 
governance process for the Procedure document.
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    \21\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(2).
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    The Commission believes these aspects of the proposed rule change 
would improve the clarity and transparency of the Procedure document 
and its governance processes by specifying relevant roles and lines of 
responsibility within ICE Clear Europe. The Commission believes that 
the proposed rule change is therefore consistent with Rule 17Ad-
22(e)(2).\22\
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    \22\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(2).
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E. Consistency With Rule 17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv) Under the Act

    Rule 17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv) \23\ requires each covered clearing agency 
to establish, implement, maintain and enforce written policies and 
procedures reasonably designed to cover its credit exposures to its 
participants by establishing a risk-based margin system that, at a 
minimum, uses reliable sources of timely price data and uses procedures 
and sound valuation models for addressing circumstances in which 
pricing data are not readily available or reliable. The Commission 
believes the proposed rule change is reasonably designed to deter the 
occurrence of Missed Submissions for CDS instruments that would 
undermine ICE Clear Europe's ability to maintain the integrity and 
effectiveness of its end-of-day price discovery process for the 
provision of reliable prices, which could, in turn, be used to enhance 
ICE Clear Europe's ability to establish and maintain risk-based margin 
requirements which rely, in part, on the end-of-day price submissions 
of Clearing Members.
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    \23\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv).
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    For these reasons, the Commission believes that the proposed rule 
change is consistent with Rule 17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv).\24\
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    \24\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv).
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IV. Conclusion

    On the basis of the foregoing, the Commission finds that the 
proposed rule change is consistent with the requirements of the Act, 
and in particular, with the requirements of Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the 
Act, Section 17A(b)(3)(G) of the Act, Section 17A(b)(3)(H) of the Act 
\25\ and Rules 17Ad-22(e)(2) and 17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv) thereunder.\26\
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    \25\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F), 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(G) and 15 
U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(H).
    \26\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(2) and 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(6)(iv).
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    It is therefore ordered pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act 
\27\ that the proposed rule change (SR-ICEEU-2021-002), be, and hereby 
is, approved.\28\
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    \27\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
    \28\ In approving the proposed rule change, the Commission 
considered the proposal's impact on efficiency, competition, and 
capital formation. 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\29\
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    \29\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Eduardo A. Aleman,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2021-06119 Filed 3-24-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P