FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                              2002-30
                         
                              
          Fee Rate Advisory #9 for Fiscal Year 2002
     
     
     Washington, DC, March 1, 2002 – As required by the
recently enacted “Investor and Capital Markets Fee Relief
Act,” the Commission must make a mid-year adjustment to the
Section 31 transaction fee rate. Effective April 1, 2002,
the revised Section 31 transaction fee rate will be $30.10
per million.
     
       The Commission consulted with both the Congressional
Budget Office (CBO) and the Office of Management and Budget
about the mid-year adjustment, as required by the Act. The
adjustment is a direct consequence of the dramatic decline
in dollar volume of securities transactions thus far in
fiscal year  2002 compared to CBO’s January 2001 projection
of dollar volume, on which the fee rate in the Act was
based. The adjusted fee rate will not provide any additional
funding for the Commission.
     
      A copy of the Commission’s order and calculation
methodology is available at
http://www.sec.gov/rules/other/34-45489.htm.
     
     Self-regulatory organizations collect Section 31 fees
pursuant to their rules.  Additional information on the
transition to the new Section 31 fee rate will be available
shortly on the Internet web sites of The New York Stock
Exchange and NASD Regulation at http://www.nyse.com and
http://www.nasdr.com.

     The Commission will announce the fiscal year 2003 rates
for fees paid under Section 6(b) of the Securities Act of
1933 and Sections 13(e), 14(g), and 31 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 no later than April 30, 2002.  If
current trends continue as projected, the Commission expects
to be able to announce a significantly reduced fee rate for
Section 31 transactions for fiscal year 2003.  This rate
will become effective on Oct. 1, 2002, or 30 days after the
date on which the Commission receives its fiscal 2003
regular appropriation, whichever date comes later.
     
     
     
     
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