Document ID: SEC-2013-1296-0001
Agency: sec
Document Type: Notice
Title: Self-Regulatory Organizations; Proposed Rule Changes: Fixed Income Clearing Corp.
Posted Date: 2013-07-17T04:00Z

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 137 (Wednesday, July 17, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42809-42811]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-17096]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-69972; File No. SR-FICC-2013-05]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Fixed Income Clearing Corporation; 
Order Approving Proposed Rule Change To Include trueEX LLC as a 
Designated Locked-In Trade Source Pursuant to the Rulebook of the 
Government Securities Division

July 11, 2013.
    On May 15, 2013, the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (``FICC'') 
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') 
proposed rule change SR-FICC-2013-05 pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of 
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 
thereunder.\2\ The proposed rule change was published for comment in 
the Federal Register on June 4, 2013.\3\ The Commission received one 
comment on the proposed rule change that did not address the content of 
the proposal.\4\ 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\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 69653 (May 29, 2013), 78 
FR 33456 (June 4, 2013) (SR-FICC-2013-05).
    \4\ Email submission by Laura Skinner (June 10, 2013), available 
at http://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-ficc-2013-05/ficc201305-1.htm.
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I. Description of the Proposed Rule Change

    FICC's proposed rule change would amend the rulebook of the 
Government Securities Division (``GSD'') to include trueEX LLC 
(``trueEX'') as one of the GSD's designated locked-in trade sources. 
The GSD's rules currently provide for the submission of locked-in 
trades \5\ by certain locked-in trade sources \6\ on behalf of GSD 
members. Currently, the GSD's designated locked-in trade sources are 
the following entities: (i) Federal Reserve Banks (as fiscal agents of 
the United States); (ii) the Federal Home Loan Mortgage

[[Page 42810]]

Corporation (``Freddie Mac''); (iii) GCF-Authorized Inter-Dealer 
Brokers; \7\ (iv) the U.S. Department of the Treasury; and (v) New York 
Portfolio Clearing, LLC.
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    \5\ The GSD's rulebook defines the term ``Locked-In Trade'' as 
``a trade, involving Eligible Securities, that is deemed a Compared 
Trade once the data on such trade is received from a single, 
designated source and meets the requirements for submission of data 
on a Locked-In Trade pursuant to [the GSD's] Rules, without the 
necessity of matching the data regarding the trade with data 
provided by each Member that is or is acting on behalf of an 
original counterparty to the trade.'' GSD Rulebook, Rule 1, p.33.
    \6\ The GSD Rulebook defines the term ``Locked-in Trade Source'' 
as ``a source of data on Locked-In Trades that the Corporation has 
so designated, subject to such terms and conditions as to which the 
Locked-In Trade Source and the [GSD] may agree.'' GSD Rulebook, Rule 
1, p.33.
    \7\ The GSD Rulebook defines the term ``GCF-Authorized Inter-
Dealer Broker'' as ``an Inter-Dealer Broker Netting Member that the 
[GSD] has designated as eligible to submit to the [GSD] data on GCF 
Repo Transactions on a Locked-In Basis.'' GSD Rulebook, Rule 1, 
p.27.
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    trueEX is an electronic exchange for interest rate swaps, and has 
been designated a contract market by the Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission.\8\ The swap transactions executed by trueEX are cleared by 
a clearinghouse other than the GSD, but in the event one of these swap 
transactions results in the physical delivery of the underlying 
instrument,\9\ the GSD will clear and settle the exchange of that 
instrument in certain instances.\10\ Accordingly, for the delivery-
versus-payment (``DVP'') \11\ leg of these physical delivery 
transactions, trueEX will offer members who are also members of GSD the 
ability to have such transactions submitted to the GSD by trueEX as 
netting-eligible transactions (e.g., as Treasury DVP transactions). In 
its capacity as a designated locked-in trade source, trueEX will 
transmit transactions to the GSD throughout the day by submitting 
single tickets in a batch format. Once trueEX transmits a locked-in 
trade to the GSD, the GSD will process the trade normally, along with 
the respective GSD member's other DVP trades. Because the ticket 
submitted by trueEX lists trueEX as the submitter on behalf of two GSD 
counterparties, the single-ticket format ensures that trueEX will not 
have a resulting settlement obligation, even though it is a party to 
the trade.\12\ If trueEX is approved as a locked-in trade source by the 
GSD during the onboarding phase,\13\ it will be the first designated 
contract market \14\ to act as a locked-in trade source for the GSD.
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    \8\ See In the Matter of the Request of trueEX LLC for 
Designation as a Contract Market (September 25, 2012) (approving 
trueEX's application for designation as a contract market), 
available at http://www.cftc.gov/ucm/groups/public/@otherif/documents/ifdocs/trueexapplicationorder.pdf.
    \9\ Generally, fewer than 3% of interest rate swaps result in a 
physical delivery when they are unwound.
    \10\ The GSD would clear only those transactions involving the 
physical delivery of U.S. Treasury bills, notes, bonds, Treasury 
inflation-protected securities (TIPS) and separate trading of 
registered interest and principal securities (STRIPS), as well as 
federal agency notes, bonds and zero-coupon securities that are 
book-entry, Fedwire eligible and non-mortgage backed.
    \11\ Delivery-versus-payment is a settlement procedure in which 
the buyer's cash payment for the securities it has purchased is due 
at the time the securities are delivered.
    \12\ In its capacity as a locked-in trade source, trueEX will 
initially not be subject to any fees pursuant to the existing GSD 
Rules. The GSD may, however, consider imposing a fee on certain 
locked-in trade sources in the future based on volumes and 
processing costs.
    \13\ During the onboarding phase, trueEX will be subject to the 
GSD's existing due diligence process, including testing trueEX's 
trade input and receipt of output capabilities prior to the go-live 
date.
    \14\ Designated contract markets are exchanges that may list for 
trading both futures and option contracts based on all types of 
commodities, and that may allow access to their facilities by all 
types of traders, including retail customers. See http://www.cftc.gov/IndustryOversight/TradingOrganizations/DCMs/index.htm.
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    As is the case with other locked-in trade submissions accepted by 
the GSD, GSD members will be required to execute appropriate 
documentation evidencing to the GSD their authorization of trueEX to 
submit trades on their behalf. The GSD will notify members of the 
availability of this documentation via Important Notice.

II. Discussion

    Section 19(b)(2)(C) of the Act \15\ 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. Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act \16\ 
requires, among other things, that the rules of a clearing agency be 
designed to achieve several goals, including (i) Promoting the prompt 
and accurate clearance and settlement of securities transactions and, 
to the extent applicable, derivative agreements, contracts, and 
transactions, (ii) assuring the safeguarding of securities and funds 
that are in the custody or control of the clearing agency or for which 
it is responsible, and (iii) protecting investors and the public 
interest.
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    \15\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(C).
    \16\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
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    The Commission concludes that the proposed rule change is 
consistent with the requirements of the Act and the rules and 
regulations thereunder. The Commission believes that adding trueEX as a 
source of locked-in trades for the GSD will promote the prompt and 
accurate clearance and settlement of securities transactions by 
expediting the GSD's receipt of accurate trade data. In the absence of 
a locked-in trade source, trades must be compared bilaterally, which 
requires that both parties to the transaction independently transmit 
trade information to the GSD.\17\ This confirmation process can 
occasion delays when the parties fail to submit trade information in a 
timely fashion, or when they submit inaccurate or incomplete 
information that the GSD must then verify. The Commission believes that 
allowing the GSD to accept trade information from trueEX on a locked-in 
basis will help the GSD process transactions more rapidly, and will 
enhance the accuracy of the trade information the GSD uses in 
performing its clearing services.
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    \17\ The bilateral comparison process requires that both 
counterparties to the trade submit trade details to the GSD, and 
that the details submitted by the parties either match or fall 
within predefined parameters. See GSD Rulebook, Rule 6A (providing 
that, for the GSD to process a trade for bilateral comparison, it 
``must receive data from the long and short sides of the trade'' and 
that, with certain limited exceptions, ``there must be an exact 
match of all Required Match Data submitted on the trade . . . .'').
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    In addition, the Commission believes that allowing trueEX to serve 
as a locked-in trade source is generally consistent with the 
safeguarding of the securities and funds in the GSD's control, or for 
which it is responsible.\18\ Trades originating on the trueEX exchange 
will remain subject to all of the GSD's normal risk management 
procedures, which include marking member portfolios to the market on an 
intraday basis and charging variation margins accordingly.\19\ These 
risk management procedures should help ensure the safety of the 
securities and funds handled by the GSD in connection with transactions 
effected on the trueEX exchange.
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    \18\ See 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F) (requiring that the rules of a 
clearing agency be designed to ``assure the safeguarding of 
securities and funds which are in the custody or control of the 
clearing agency or for which it is responsible.'').
    \19\ See GSD Rulebook, Rule 4, Section 2a, p.89.
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    Finally, the Commission believes that trueEX satisfies the general 
criteria for serving as a locked-in trade source to the GSD, provided 
the GSD determines that trueEX meets all of the GSD's applicable 
onboarding protocols. The Commission has previously determined that the 
GSD may utilize locked-in comparison for trades executed on a ``pure 
electronic trading system that is [computer] terminal-driven'' and 
which permits ``no discretion over trade details . . . once the trade 
is submitted.'' \20\ trueEX meets all of these requirements. The trueEX 
exchange is exclusively an electronic trading platform, and 
counterparties executing trades there may not unilaterally modify or 
cancel trades once trueEX has matched them.\21\
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    \20\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 44946 (October 17, 
2001), 66 FR 53816, 53817 (October 24, 2001) (SR-GSCC-2001-01) 
(internal quotation marks omitted).
    \21\ As with bilateral trades, counterparties to a locked-in 
trade may submit a ``DK Notice'' for any trades they believe to be 
``invalid or incorrect.'' See GSD Rulebook Rule 6C, Section 6. But, 
unlike with bilateral trades, the GSD considers a DK Notice in the 
context of a locked-in trade to be ``a request for cancellation'' to 
the locked-in trade source. See id.; see also GSD Rulebook, Rule 1, 
p.19. Thus, only trueEX may modify or cancel a trade in response to 
a DK Notice. See GSD Rulebook Rule 6C, Section 10.

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[[Page 42811]]

III. Conclusion

    On the basis of the foregoing, the Commission finds that the 
proposed rule change is consistent with the requirements of the Act, 
particularly those set forth in Section 17A,\22\ and the rules and 
regulations thereunder.
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    \22\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1.
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    It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the 
Act,\23\ that the proposed rule change (File No. SR-FICC-2013-05) be, 
and hereby is, approved.\24\
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    \23\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
    \24\ In approving the proposed rule change, the Commission 
considered the proposal's impact on efficiency, competition, and 
capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\25\
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    \25\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-17096 Filed 7-16-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P