[Federal Register: December 26, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 246)]
[Notices]
[Page 73052-73053]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26de07-109]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-56977; File No. SR-CBOE-2007-148]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange,
Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a
Proposed Rule Change To Amend its Equity Options Obvious Error Rule
December 18, 2007.
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 December 14, 2007, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated
(``CBOE'' or ``Exchange'') 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 substantially
prepared by the Exchange. CBOE has designated this proposal as one
concerned solely with the administration of the Exchange under section
19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \3\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(3) thereunder,\4\
which renders the proposal effective upon filing with the Commission.
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)(iii).
\4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to amend CBOE Rule 6.25, which is the
Exchange's rule applicable to the nullification and adjustment of
equity options transactions. The text of the proposed rule change is
available at the Exchange, the Commission's Public Reference Room, and
http://www.cboe.com.
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 IV below. CBOE has substantially 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
Under CBOE's equity obvious error rule, an Obvious Error Panel may
be formed to review decisions made by Trading Officials under the rule.
The Obvious Error Panel is currently comprised of at least one Trading
Floor Liaison (``TFL'') staff member and four Exchange members. The
purpose of the proposed rule change is to replace the reference to the
``TFL'' staff with a reference to the ``Exchange's staff designated to
perform Obvious Error Panel functions.'' The Exchange is proposing to
make this change because it recently determined to reassign the Obvious
Error Panel function from the CBOE TFL group to a group of designated
Exchange personnel within CBOE's market control center. In trying to
accommodate the reassignment of these particular TFL functions, the
Exchange believes a better approach than specifically referencing a
particular Exchange staff group is to reference the ``Exchange's staff
designated to perform'' the particular function. In this way, the
Exchange will have the flexibility to delegate the authorities under
the obvious error rules to the appropriate Exchange staff and will not
have to make a rule change merely, for instance, to accommodate a
future change in the title of a staff group or to accommodate the
reassignment of the authority to another staff group. The Exchange
believes that because the authority exercised by Exchange staff is
delegated pursuant to Exchange rules, the title of the particular group
exercising their authority should not be relevant.\5\
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\5\ The Exchange recently made a similar change when it deleted
specific references to TFLs in its obvious error rules in order to
accommodate the reassignment of Trading Official functions under the
rules from the TFL group to a group of designated Exchange personnel
within CBOE's market control center. See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 56494 (September 21, 2007), 72 FR 55264 (September 28,
2007) (SR-CBOE-2007-110). Under the revised rules, ``Trading
Officials'' now means two Exchange members designated as Floor
Officials and one member of the Exchange's staff designated to
perform Trading Official functions. See CBOE Rules 6.25, Commentary
02 and 24.16, Commentary 02.
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[[Page 73053]]
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent
with section 6(b) of the Act \6\ in general, and furthers the
objectives of section 6(b)(5) of the Act \7\ in particular, in that it
is designed to promote just and equitable principles of trade, foster
cooperation among persons engaged in facilitating securities
transactions, and protect investors and the public interest. The
Exchange believes that this proposal complies with the Act because the
Exchange is amending its rules to update and/or generalize references
to certain Exchange staff in order to facilitate compliance.
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\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
\7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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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 neither solicited nor received comments with respect
to the proposed rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing proposed rule change has been designated as concerned
solely with the administration of the Exchange pursuant to section
19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \8\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(3) \9\ thereunder.
Accordingly, the proposal will take effect upon filing with the
Commission. At any time within 60 days of the filing of such proposed
rule change, the Commission may summarily abrogate such proposed 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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\8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
\9\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(3).
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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 e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include
File Number SR-CBOE-2007-148 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Nancy M. Morris,
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-CBOE-2007-148. This file
number should be included on the subject line if e-mail 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 Web site (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 inspection and
copying in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All
comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does
not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File Number SR-CBOE-2007-148 and should be
submitted on or before January 16, 2008.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\10\
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\10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-24890 Filed 12-21-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P