[Federal Register: December 11, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 237)]
[Notices]
[Page 71597-71598]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr11de06-77]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-54870; File No. SR-OPRA-2006-02]
Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing of Proposed
Amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated Options Last Sale
Reports and Quotation Information To Provide That Classes of Foreign
Currency Options Newly Introduced for Trading by Any of the Parties to
the Plan Be Treated Under the Provision ``Special Temporary Provision
for Newly Traded FCO Securities'' During a Temporary Period Ending on
December 31, 2007
December 5, 2006.
Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 608 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that
on November 17, 2006, the Options Price Reporting Authority (``OPRA'')
submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') an
amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated Options Last Sale
Reports and Quotation Information (``OPRA Plan'').\3\ The proposed OPRA
Plan amendment would provide that classes of Foreign Currency Options
(``FCO Securities'' or ``FCOs''), newly introduced for trading in the
securities markets maintained by any of the parties to the OPRA Plan,
will be treated by OPRA under the provision ``Special Temporary
Provision for Newly Traded FCO Securities'' during a temporary period
ending on December 31, 2007. The Commission is publishing this notice
to solicit comments from interested persons on the proposed OPRA Plan
amendment.
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
\2\ 17 CFR 242.608.
\3\ The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan approved by
the Commission pursuant to Section 11A of the Act and Rule 608
thereunder (formerly Rule 11Aa3-2). See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 17638 (March 18, 1981), 22 S.E.C. Docket 484 (March 31,
1981). The full text of the OPRA Plan is available at http://www.opradata.com
.
The OPRA Plan provides for the collection and dissemination of
last sale and quotation information on options that are traded on
the participant exchanges. The six participants to the OPRA Plan are
the American Stock Exchange LLC, the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc.,
the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc., the International
Securities Exchange, Inc. (``ISE''), the NYSE Arca, Inc., and the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. (``Phlx'').
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I. Description and Purpose of the Amendment
Under the terms of the OPRA Plan, subject to the exception
described in Section VIII(c)(iii), FCOs traded on any of the exchanges
that are parties to the Plan are ordinarily assigned to a separate
``FCO service'' rather than OPRA's ``basic service'' to which equity
and index options are assigned. As a result, subject to the exception
described below, separate fees and charges are imposed for access to
the FCO service, and all revenues and expenses pertaining to the FCO
service are allocated to a separate ``FCO Accounting Center''
established under Section VIII(c) of the OPRA Plan.
To date, FCOs have been traded only on the Phlx. In late 2005, at
the request of the Phlx and with the Commission's approval, OPRA
amended Section VIII(c) of the ORPA Plan by adding a new subparagraph
(iii) thereto, which provides that during a temporary period ending on
December 31, 2007, new classes of FCO Securities introduced for trading
on Phlx (such classes are defined as ``New FCO Securities'') will be
included in OPRA's basic service and not in its FCO service.\4\ The
effect of the amendment is to treat New FCO
[[Page 71598]]
Securities as if they were equity options and not FCO Securities, with
the result that during the period when subparagraph (c)(iii) of Section
VIII is in effect, access to market information pertaining to New FCO
Securities is not subject to the separate fees and charges that apply
to OPRA's FCO service, and revenues and expenses pertaining to market
information pertaining to New FCO Securities are not allocated to
OPRA's FCO accounting center, but instead are allocated to its basic
accounting center.
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\4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 52901 (December 6,
2005), 70 FR 74061 (December 14, 2005).
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The ISE recently advised OPRA that it intends to commence trading
in certain classes of FCOs, and it represented that none of the FCOs it
intends to trade will be fungible with classes of FCOs traded on the
Phlx. Since by its terms Section VIII(c)(iii) of the OPRA Plan
currently applies only to new classes of FCOs that are listed on the
Phlx, in response to the ISE's request, OPRA now proposes to amend that
Section to make it apply to all classes of FCOs newly listed by any
exchange that is a party to the OPRA Plan while that Section remains in
effect. This will assure that all classes of newly listed FCOs will be
treated the same by being included in OPRA's basic service, rather than
in its FCO service regardless of the exchange on which those classes
are traded.
The text of the proposed amendment to the OPRA Plan is set forth
below. Text additions are in italics; deletions are bracketed.
* * * * *
VIII. Financial Matters
(a)-(b) No Change.
(c) FCO Accounting Center Costs and Revenues
(i)-(ii) No Change.
(iii) Special Temporary Provision for Newly Traded FCO Securities.
This paragraph (c)(iii) applies only to FCO Securities that are
introduced for trading in the securities markets maintained by any of
the parties to the Plan [on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange (``PHLX'')]
during the period while this paragraph is in effect. FCO Securities
introduced for trading by any of the parties [PHLX] during this period
are referred to as ``New FCO Securities.''
Notwithstanding anything in the Plan to the contrary, effective
during a temporary period ending on December 31, 2007, or on such
earlier date as may be established by the party or parties trading New
FCO Securities, written notice of which shall be given to the other
parties (``period of effectiveness''), access to information and
facilities pertaining to New FCO Securities shall not be subject to the
separate fees and charges that would otherwise apply to such access
pertaining to FCO Securities, but instead shall be subject to those
fees and charges that apply to Eligible Securities other than FCO
Options and Index Options. During the period of effectiveness, revenues
derived from New FCO Securities shall be allocated to OPRA's basic
accounting center and shall be further allocated among the parties as
described in section VIII(a)(iv), and trades in New FCO Securities
shall be treated as trades in Eligible Securities other than FCO
Options and Index Options and not as trades in FCO Securities. At the
close of business on the last day of the period of effectiveness, this
section VIII(c)(iii) shall automatically terminate and cease to be of
any further effect.
* * * * *
II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan Amendment
The proposed amendment will be effective upon its approval by the
Commission pursuant to Section 11A of the Act \5\ and Rule 608
thereunder.\6\
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\5\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
\6\ 17 CFR 242.608.
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III. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed OPRA
Plan amendment 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 No. SR-OPRA-2006-02 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-OPRA-2006-02. 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 plan amendment that are
filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to
the proposed plan amendment 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. Copies of such
filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the
principal office of OPRA. 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-OPRA-2006-02 and should be submitted on or before January 2, 2007.
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\7\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(29).
For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation,
pursuant to delegated authority.\7\
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6-20964 Filed 12-8-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P