[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 84 (Tuesday, May 3, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-10473]


[[Page Unknown]]

[Federal Register: May 3, 1994]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-33962; File No. SR-CBOE-93-57]

 

Self-Regulatory Organizations; Order Approving and Notice of 
Filing and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of Amendment No. 1 to a 
Proposed Rule Change by the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc., 
Relating to the Listing of Options and Long-Term Options on the CBOE 
Global Telecommunications Index and Long-Term Options on a Reduced-
Value Global Telecommunications Index

April 25, 1994.

I. Introduction

    On December 14, 1993, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc. 
(``CBOE'' or ``Exchange'') submitted to the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (``SEC'' or ``Commission''), pursuant to section 19(b)(1) of 
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'')\1\ and Rule 19b-4 
thereunder,\2\ a proposed rule change to provide for the listing and 
trading of index options on the CBOE Global Telecommunications Index 
(``Global Telecommunications Index'' or ``Index''). Notice of the 
proposal appeared in the Federal Register on December 30, 1993.\3\ No 
comment letters were received on the proposed rule change. On March 16, 
1994, the Exchange submitted Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule 
change.\4\ This order approves the Exchange's proposal.
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    \1\15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1) (1988).
    \2\17 CFR 240.19b-4 (1992).
    \3\See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 33370 (December 22, 
1993), 58 FR 69417 (December 30, 1993).
    \4\Amendment No. 1 provides that the CBOE will maintain the 
Index such that at least 90% of the Index, by weight, will be 
composed of securities that are eligible for equity options trading 
under CBOE Rule 5.3. See Letter from Eileen Smith, Director, Product 
Development, Research Department, CBOE, to Brad Ritter, Attorney, 
Office of Derivatives and Equity Regulation, Division of Market 
Regulation, SEC, dated March 16, 1994 (``Amendment No. 1'').
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II. Description of Proposal

A. General

    The CBOE proposes to list and trade options on the CBOE Global 
Telecommunications Index, a new securities index developed by the CBOE 
and based on stocks and ADRs\5\ of international telecommunications 
companies that are traded on the American Stock Exchange (``Amex''), 
the New York Stock Exchange (``NYSE''), or are national market 
securities traded through the facilities of the National Association of 
Securities Dealers Automated Quotation system (``NASDAQ''). The CBOE 
also proposes to list either long-term options on the full-value Index 
or long-term options on a reduced-value Index that will be computed at 
one-tenth of the value of the Global Telecommunications Index (``Global 
Telecommunications LEAPS'' or ``Index LEAPS'').\6\ Global 
Telecommunications LEAPS will trade independent of and in addition to 
regular Global Telecommunications Index options traded on the 
Exchange,\7\ however, as discussed below, position and exercise limits 
of Index LEAPS and regular Index options will be aggregated.
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    \5\An ADR is a negotiable receipt which is issued by a 
depositary, generally a bank, representing shares of a foreign 
issuer that have been deposited and are held, on behalf of holders 
of the ADRs, at a custodian bank in the foreign issuer's home 
country. The securities underlying the ADRs included in the Index 
are securities issued by corporations formed under the laws of 
Chile, France, Hong Kong, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, 
Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom. See discussion of standards 
for ADR components, infra notes 9 and 29.
    \6\LEAPS is an acronym for Long-Term Equity Anticipation 
Securities. LEAPS are long-term index option series that expire from 
twelve to thirty-six months from their date of issuance. See CBOE 
Rule 24.9(b)(1).
    \7\According to the CBOE, the Global Telecommunications Index 
represents a segment of the U.S. equity market that is not currently 
represented in the derivative markets and, as such, the CBOE 
concludes, should offer investors a low-cost means of achieving 
diversification of their portfolios toward or away from the global 
telecommunications industry. The CBOE believes the Index will 
provide retail and institutional investors with a means of 
benefitting from their forecasts of that industry's market 
performance. Options on the Index also can be utilized by portfolio 
managers and investors to provide a performance measure and 
evaluation guide for passively or actively managed global 
telecommunications industry funds, as well as a means of hedging the 
risks of investing in the global telecommunications industry.
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B. Composition of the Index

    The Index is based on securities representing twenty U.S. and 
foreign companies that the Exchange believes are representative of the 
global telecommunications industry, all of which trade domestically as 
either stocks or ADRs. Fourteen of these securities currently trade on 
the NYSE, one trades on the Amex, and five trade through NASDQ. The 
Index is price-weighted and will be calculated on a real-time basis 
using last sale prices.
    As of the close of trading on February 11, 1994, the Index was 
valued at 149.63.\8\ As of November 30, 1993, the market 
capitalizations of the individual securities in the Index ranged from a 
high of $73.61 billion (AT&T) to a low of $144.21 million (Atlantic 
Tele-Network, Inc.), with the mean and median being $14.79 billion and 
$8.14 billion, respectively. The market capitalization of all the 
securities in the Index was $295.74 billion. The total number of shares 
outstanding for the stocks and ADRs in the Index ranged from a high of 
1.35 billion shares (AT&T) to a low of 12.27 million shares (Atlantic 
Tele-Network, Inc.). The average price per share of the securities in 
the Index, for the six-month period between June 1 and November 30, 
1993, ranged from a high of $78.19 (Compania De Telefonos De Chile) to 
a low of $12.79 (Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc.). In addition, the average 
daily trading volume of the stocks and ADRs in the Index, for the same 
six-month period, ranged from a high of 1.89 million shares per day 
(AT&T) to a low of 51,675 shares per day (Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc.), 
with the mean and median being 425,652 and 252,187 shares, 
respectively. Lastly, no one stock or ADR accounted for more than 9.08% 
of the Index's total value (Compania De Telefonos De Chile) and the 
percentage weighting of the five largest issues in the Index accounted 
for 37.07% of the Index's value. The percentage weighting of the lowest 
weighted component was 1.27% of the Index (Atlantic Tele-Network, Inc.) 
and the percentage weighting of the five smallest issues in the Index 
accounted for 11.66% of the Index's value.
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    \8\See Letter from Eileen Smith, Director, Product Development, 
Research Department, CBO, to Brad Ritter, Attorney, Office of 
Derivatives and Equity Regulation, Division of Market Regulation, 
SEC, dated February 14, 1994 (::February 14 Letter'').
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C. Maintenance

    The Index will be maintained by the CBOE. The CBOE may change the 
composition of the Index at any time, subject to compliance with the 
maintenance criteria discussed herein, to reflect the conditions in the 
global telecommunications industry. If it becomes necessary to replace 
a security in the Index, the Exchange represents that it will make 
every effort to add new stocks and/or ADRs that are representative of 
the global telecommunications industry and will take into account a 
security's capitalization, liquidity, volatility, and name recognition 
of the proposed replacement. Further, securities may be replaced in the 
event of certain corporate events, such as takeovers or mergers, that 
change the nature of the security. If, however, the Exchange determines 
to increase the number of Index component securities to greater than 
twenty-six or reduce the number of Index component securities to fewer 
than fourteen, the proposal provides that the CBOE will submit a rule 
filing with the Commission pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act. In 
addition, in choosing replacement securities for the Index, the CBOE 
will be required to ensure that at least 90% of the weight of the Index 
continues to be made up of stocks and ADRs that are eligible for 
standardized options trading.\9\ Finally, the CBOE will be required to 
ensure that each component of the Index is subject to last sale 
reporting requirements in the U.S.\10\
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    \9\See Amendment No. 1, supra note 4. The CBOE's options listing 
standards, which are uniform among the options exchanges, provide 
that a security underlying an option must, among other things, meet 
the following requirements: (1) the public float must be at least 
7,000,000; (2) there must be a minimum of 2,000 stockholders; (3) 
trading volume must have been at least 2.4 million over the 
preceding twelve months; and (4) the market price must have been at 
least $7.50 for a majority of the business days during the preceding 
three calendar months. See CBOE Rule 5.3. With respect to ADRs' in 
addition to the above standards: (1) the Exchange must have in place 
a comprehensive surveillance agreement with the primary exchange in 
the home country where the security underlying the ADR is traded: or 
(2) the trading volume in the U.S. markets where the ADR is traded 
represents (on a share-equivalent basis) at least 50% of the 
worldwide trading volume in the security underlying the ADR over the 
three month period preceding the date of selection of the ADR for 
options trading; or (3) the SEC must otherwise authorize the 
listing. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 33554 (January 31, 
1994), 59 FR 5622 (February 7, 1994).
    \10\See February 14 Letter, supra note 8.
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D. Applicability of CBOE Rules Regarding Index Options

    Except as modified by this order, the rules in Chapter XXIV of the 
CBOE Rules will be applicable to Global Telecommunications Index 
options and full-value and reduced-value Index LEAPS. Those rules 
address, among other things, the applicable position and exercise 
limits, policies regarding trading halts and suspensions, and margin 
treatment for narrow-based index options.

E. Calculation of the Index

    The CBOE Global Telecommunications Index is a price-weighted index 
and reflects changes in the prices of the Index component securities 
relative to the Index's base date of January 2, 1992. Specifically, the 
Index value is calculated by adding the prices of the component stocks 
and ADRs and then dividing this summation by a divisor that is equal to 
the number of the components of the Index to get the average price. To 
maintain the continuity of the Index, the divisor will be adjusted to 
reflect non-market changes in the prices of the component securities as 
well as changes in the composition of the Index. Changes that may 
result in divisor adjustments include, but are not limited to, stock 
splits and dividends, spin-offs, certain rights issuances, and mergers 
and acquisitions.
    The Index will be calculated continuously and will be disseminated 
to the Options Price Reporting Authority (``OPRA'') every fifteen 
seconds by the CBOE, based on the last-sale prices of the component 
stocks and ADRs.\11\ OPRA, in turn, will disseminate the Index value to 
other financial vendors such as Reuters, Telerate, and Quotron.
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    \11\For purposes of the daily dissemination of the Index value, 
if a stock included in the Index has not opened for trading, the 
CBOE will use the closing value of that stock on the prior trading 
day when calculating the value of the Index, until the stock opens 
for trading.
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    The Index value for purposes of settling outstanding regular Index 
options and Index LEAPS contracts upon expiration will be calculated 
based upon the regular way opening sale prices for each of the Index's 
component securities in their primary market on the last trading day 
prior to expiration. In the case of securities traded on and through 
NASDAQ, the first reported sale price will be used. Once all of the 
component stocks and ADRs have opened, the value of the Index will be 
determined and that value will be used as the final settlement value 
for expiring Index options contracts. If any of the component stocks or 
ADRs do not open for trading on the last trading day before expiration, 
then the prior trading day's (i.e., normally Thursday's) last sale 
price will be used in the Index calculation. In this regard, before 
deciding to use Thursday's closing value of a component security for 
purposes of determining the settlement value of the Index, the CBOE 
will wait until the end of the trading day on expiration Friday.

F. Contract Specifications

    The proposed options on the Index will be cash-settled, European-
style options.\12\ Standard options trading hours (8:30 a.m. to 3:10 
p.m. Central Standard time) will apply to the contracts. The Index 
multiplier will be 100. The strike price interval will be $5.00 for 
full-value Index options with a duration of one year or less to 
expiration.\13\ In addition, pursuant to CBOE Rule 24.9, there may be 
up to six expiration months outstanding at any given time. 
Specifically, there may be up to there expiration months from the 
March, June, September, and December cycle plus up to three additional 
near-term months so that the two nearest term months will always be 
available. As described in more detail below, the Exchange also intends 
to list several Index LEAPS series that expire from twelve to thirty-
six months from the date of issuance.
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    \12\A European-style option can be exercised only during a 
specified period before the option expires.
    \13\For a description of the strike price intervals for reduced-
value Index options and long-term Index options, See infra, Section 
II.G.
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    Lastly, the options on the Index will expire on the Saturday 
following the third Friday of the expiration month (``Expiration 
Friday''). Accordingly, since options on the Index will settle based 
upon opening prices of the component securities on the last trading day 
before expiration (normally a Friday), the last trading day for an 
expiring Index option series will normally be the second to the last 
business day before expiration (normally a Thursday).

G. Listing of Long-Term Options on the Full-Value or Reduced-Value 
Global Telecommunications Index

    The proposal provides that the Exchange may list long-term Index 
options that expire from 12 to 36 months from listing based on the 
full-value Global Telecommunications Index or a reduced value Global 
Telecommunications Index that will be computed at one-tenth the value 
of the full-value Index. Existing Exchange requirements applicable to 
full-value and reduced-value LEAPS will apply to full-value and 
reduced-value Index LEAPS.\14\ The current and closing Index value for 
reduced-value Global Telecommunications LEAPS will be computed by 
dividing the value of the full-value Index by 10 and rounding the 
resulting figure to the nearest one-hundredth. For example, an Index 
value of 149.76 would be 14.98 for the Index LEAPS and 149.73 would 
become 14.97. The reduced-value Index LEAPS will have a European-style 
exercise and will be subject to the same rules that govern the trading 
of all the Exchange's index options, including sales practice rules, 
margin requirements and floor trading procedures. Pursuant to CBOE Rule 
24.9, the strike price interval for the reduced-value Index LEAPS will 
be no less than $2.50 instead of $5.00.
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    \14\See CBOE Rule 24.9(b).
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H. Position and Exercise Limits, Margin Requirements, and Trading Halts

    Because the Index is classified as an ``industry index'' under CBOE 
rules,\15\ Exchange rules that are applicable to the trading of options 
on narrow-based indexes will apply to the trading of Global 
Telecommunications Index options and Global Telecommunications Index 
LEAPS. Specifically, Exchange rules governing margin requirements,\16\ 
position and exercise limits,\17\ and trading halt procedures\18\ that 
are applicable to the trading of narrow-based index options will apply 
to options traded on the Index. The proposal further provides that, for 
purposes of determining whether a given position in reduced-value Index 
LEAPS complies with applicable position and exercise limits, positions 
in reduced-value Index LEAPS will be aggregated with positions in the 
full-value Index options. For these purposes, ten reduced-value 
contract will equal one full-value contract.
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    \15\See CBOE Rule 24.1(i).
    \16\Pursuant to CBOE Rule 24.11, the margin requirements for the 
Index options will be: (1) for short options positions, 100% of the 
current market value of the options contract plus 20% of the 
underlying aggregate Index value, less any out-of-the-money amount, 
with a minimum requirement of the options premium plus 10% of the 
underlying Index value; and (2) for long term options positions, 
100% of the options premium paid.
    \17\Pursuant to CBOE Rules 24.4A and 24.5, respectively, the 
position and exercise limits for the Index options will be 10,500 
contracts, unless the Exchange determines, pursuant to Rules 24.4A 
and 24.5 that a lower limit is warranted. See February 14 Letter, 
supra note 8.
    \18\Pursuant to CBOE Rule 24.7, the trading on the CBOE of Index 
options may be halted or suspended whenever trading in underlying 
securities whose weighted value represents more than 20% of the 
Index value are halted or suspended.
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I. Surveillance

    Surveillence procedures currently used to monitor trading in each 
of the Exchange's other index options will also be used to monitor 
trading in regular Index options and in full-value and reduced-value 
Index LEAPS. These procedures include complete access to trading 
activity in the underlying securities. Further, the Intermarket 
Surviellance Group Agreement, dated July 14, 1983, as amended on 
January 29, 1990, will be applicable to the trading of options on the 
Index.\19\
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    \19\The Intermarket Surveillance Group (``ISG'') was formed on 
July 14, 1983 to, among other things, coordinate more effectively 
surveillance and investigative information sharing arrangements in 
the stock and options markets. See Intermarket Surveillance Group 
Agreement, July 14, 1983. The most recent amendment to the ISG 
Agreement, which incorporates the original agreement and all 
amendments made thereafter, was signed by ISG members on January 29, 
1990. See Second Amendment to the Intermarket Surveillance Group 
Agreement, January 29, 1990. The members of the ISG are: the Amex; 
the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc.; the CBOE; the Chicago Stock 
Exchange, Inc.; the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. 
(``NASD''); the NYSE; the Pacific Stock Exchange, Inc.; and the 
Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. Because of potential opportunities 
for trading abuses involving stock index futures, stock options, and 
the underlying stock and the need for greater sharing of 
surveillance information for these potential intermarket trading 
abuses, the major stock index futures exchanges (e.g., the Chicago 
Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade) joined the ISG 
as affiliated members in 1990.
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III. Findings and Conclusions

    The Commission finds that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations 
thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange, and, in 
particular, the requirements of Section 6(b)(5).\20\ Specifically, the 
Commission finds that the trading of Global telecommunications Index 
options, including full-value and reduced-value Index LEAPS, will serve 
to promote the public interest and help to remove impediments to a free 
and open securities market by providing investors with a means of 
hedging exposure to market risk associated with securities in the 
global telecommunications industry.\21\
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    \20\15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5) (1988).
    \21\Pursuant to Section 6(b)(5) of the Act, the Commission must 
predicate approval of any new option proposal upon a finding that 
the introduction of such new derivative instrument is in the public 
interest. Such a finding would be difficult for a derivative 
instrument that served no hedging or other economic function, 
because any benefits that might be derived by market participants 
likely would be outweighed by the potential for manipulation, 
diminished public confidence in the integrity of the markets, and 
other valid regulatory concerns. In this regard, the trading of 
listed index options and full-value index LEAPS on the Global 
Telecommunications Index will provide investors with a hedging 
vehicle that should reflect the overall movement of the stocks and 
ADRs comprising the global telecommunications industry in the U.S. 
securities markets. The Commission also believes that these Index 
options will provide investors with a means by which to make 
investment decisions in the global telecommunications industry 
sector of the U.S. securities markets, allowing them to establish 
positions or increase existing positions in such markets in a cost 
effective manner. Moreover, the Commission believes that the 
reduced-value Index LEAPS, which will be traded on an index computed 
at one-tenth the value of the Global Telecommunications Index, will 
serve the needs of retail investors by providing them with the 
opportunity to use a long-term option to hedge their portfolios from 
long-term market moves at a reduced cost.
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    The trading of options on the Global Telecommunications Index, 
including full-value and reduced-value LEAPS on the Index, however, 
raises several concerns, namely issues related to index design, 
customer protection, surveillance, and market impact. The Commission 
believes, for the reasons discussed below, that the CBOE adequately has 
addressed these concerns.

A. Index Design and Structure

    The Commission finds that the Global Telecommunications Index is a 
narrow-based index. The Global Telecommunications Index is composed of 
only twenty securities, all of which are within one industry--the 
global telecommunications industry.\22\ Accordingly, the Commission 
believes it is appropriate for the CBOE to apply its rules governing 
narrow-based index options to trading in the Index options.\23\
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    \22\The reduced-value Global Telecommunications Index, which is 
composed of the same component securities as the Index and 
calculated by dividing the Index value by ten, is identical to the 
Global Telecommunications Index.
    \23\See supra notes 15 through 18, and accompanying text.
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    The Commission also finds that the large capitalizations, liquid 
markets, and relative weightings of the Index's component securities 
significantly minimize the potential for manipulation of the Index. 
First, the overwhelming majority of the components that compose the 
Index are actively traded, with a mean and median average daily trading 
volume of 425,652 and 252,187 shares, respectively.\24\ Second, the 
market capitalizations of the securities in the Index are very large, 
ranging from a high of $73.61 billion to a low of $144.21 million as of 
November 30, 1993, with the mean and median being $14.79 billion and 
$8.14 billion, respectively. Third, although the Index is only 
comprised of twenty component securities, no one particular security or 
group of securities dominates the Index. Specifically, no one stock or 
ADR comprises more than 9.08% of the Index's total value and the 
percentage weighting of the five largest issues in the Index account 
for 37.07% of the Index's value.\25\ Fourth, at least 90% of the twenty 
securities in the Index by weight must be eligible for standardized 
options trading.\26\ The proposed CBOE maintenance requirement that 90% 
of the weighting of the Index be comprised of securities that are 
eligible for options trading will ensure that the Index is almost 
completely comprised of options eligible securities. Fifth, if the CBOE 
increases the number of component securities to more than twenty-six or 
decreases that number to less than fourteen, the CBOE will be required 
to seek Commission approval pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act 
before listing new strike price or expiration month series of Global 
Telecommunications Index options and Index LEAPS. This will help 
protect against material changes in the composition and design of the 
Index that might adversely affect the CBOE's obligations to protect 
investors and to maintain fair and orderly markets in Global 
Telecommunications Index options and Index LEAPS. Sixth, the CBOE will 
be required to ensure that each component of the Index is subject to 
last sale reporting requirements in the U.S.\27\ This will further 
reduce the potential for manipulation of the value of the Index. 
Finally, the Commission believes that the expense of attempting to 
manipulate the value of the Global Telecommunications Index in any 
significant way through trading in component stocks, ADRs, or 
securities underlying ADRs (or options on those securities) coupled 
with, as discussed below, existing mechanisms to monitor trading 
activity in those securities, will help deter such illegal activity.
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    \24\In addition, for the six-month period between June 1 and 
November 30, 1993, no component of the Index had an average daily 
trading volume of less than 51,000 shares per day.
    \25\For an index with a significantly greater number of 
securities than twenty issues, the Commission might come to a 
different conclusion if only a few securities accounted for a 
significant portion of the index's weighting. Further, if an index 
contained only a few stocks, the Commission might question whether 
it can be traded as an index product.
    \26\See supra note 9.
    \27\See February 14 Letter, supra note 8.
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B. Customer Protection

    The Commission believes that a regulatory system designed to 
protect public customers must be in place before the trading of 
sophisticated financial instruments, such as Global Telecommunications 
Index Options (including full-value and reduced-value Global 
Telecommunications (LEAPS), can commence on a national securities 
exchange. The Commission notes that the trading of standardized 
exchange-traded options occurs in an environment that is designed to 
ensure, among other things, that: (1) the special risks of options are 
disclosed to public customers; (2) only investors capable of evaluating 
and bearing the risks of options trading are engaged in such trading; 
and (3) special compliance procedures are applicable to options 
accounts. Accordingly, because the Index options and Index LEAPS will 
be subject to the same regulatory regime as the other standardized 
options currently traded on the CBOE, the Commission believes that 
adequate safeguards are in place to ensure the protection of investors 
in Global Telecommunications Index options and full-value and reduced-
value Global Telecommunications Index LEAPS.

C. Surveillance

    The Commission believes that a surveillance sharing agreement 
between an exchange proposing to list a security index derivative 
product and the exchange(s) trading the securities underlying the 
derivative product is an important measure for surveillance of the 
derivative and underlying securities markets. Such agreements ensure 
the availability of information necessary to detect and deter potential 
manipulations and other trading abuses, thereby making the security 
index product less readily susceptible to manipulation.\28\ In this 
regard, the CBOE, NYSE, Amex, and NASD are all members of the ISG, 
which provides for the exchange of all necessary surveillance 
information.\29\ Further, as to the foreign components of the Index, 
either the Exchange has comprehensive surveillance sharing agreements 
with the primary foreign markets for the securities underlying the ADRs 
or the U.S. is the relevant market for surveillance purposes.\30\
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    \28\Securities Exchange Act Release No. 31243 (September 28, 
1992), 57 FR 45849 (October 5, 1992).
    \29\See note 19, supra. If the prices of the ADR components, or 
the composition of the Index, should change so that greater than 20% 
of the weight of the Index would be represented by ADRs whose 
underlying securities were not the subject of a comprehensive 
surveillance sharing agreement with the CBOE, then it would be 
different for the Commission to reach the conclusions reached in 
this order and the Commission would have to determine whether it 
would be suitable for the Exchange to continue to trade options on 
this Index. The CBOE should, accordingly, notify the Commission 
immediately if more than 20% of the numerical value of the Index is 
represented by ADRs whose underlying securities are not subject to a 
comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement. Such a change in the 
current relative weights of the Index or in the composition of the 
Index may warrant the submission of a rule filing pursuant to 
Section 19 of the Act. In determining whether a particular ADR is 
subject to a comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement see, e.g., 
Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 31531 (November 27, 1992), 57 
FR 57250 (December 3, 1994); and 33554 (January 31, 1994), 59 FR 
5622 (February 7, 1994).
    \30\See Securities Exchange Act release Nos. 31531 (November 27, 
1992), 57 FR 57250 (December 3, 1992); and 33554 (January 31, 1994), 
59 FR 5622 (February 7, 1994).
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D. Market Impact

    The Commission believes that the listing and trading of Global 
Telecommunications Index options, including full-value and reduced-
value Index LEAPS, on the CBOE will not adversely impact the underlying 
securities markets.\31\ First, as described above, for the most part, 
no one security or group of securities dominates the Index. Second, 
because, at least 90% of the numerical value of the Index must be 
accounted for by securities that meet the Exchange's options listing 
standards,\32\ and because each of the component securities must be 
subject to last sale reporting requirements,\33\ the component 
securities generally will be actively-traded, highly-capitalized 
securities. Third, the 10,500 contract position and exercise limits 
applicable to Index options and Index LEAPS will serve to minimize 
potential manipulation and market impact concerns. Forth, the risk to 
investors of contra-party non-performance will be minimized because the 
Index options and Index LEAPS will be issued and guaranteed by the 
Options Clearing Corporation just like any other standardized option 
traded in the United States.
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    \31\In addition, the CBOE has represented that the CBOE and the 
OPRA have the necessary systems capacity to support those new series 
of index options that would result from the introduction of Index 
options and Index LEAPS. See Memorandum from Joe Corrigan, Executive 
Director, OPRA, to Eileen Smith, Director, Product Development, 
Research Department, CBOE, dated February 14, 1994.
    \32\See Amendment No. 1, supra note 4.
    \33\See February 14 Letter, supra note 8.
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    Lastly, the Commission believes that settling expiring Global 
Telecommunications Index options (including full-value and reduced-
value Index LEAPS) based on the opening prices of component securities 
is consistent with the Act. As noted in other contexts, valuing options 
for exercise settlement on expiration based on opening prices rather 
than closing prices may help reduce adverse effects on markets for 
securities underlying options on the Index.\34\
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    \34\See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 30944 (July 21, 
1994), 57 FR 33376 (July 28, 1992).
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    The Commission finds good cause for approving Amendment No. 1 prior 
to the thirtieth day after the date of publication of notice of filing 
thereof in the Federal Register. Specifically, Amendment No. 1 raises 
the maintenance standards originally proposed by the Exchange by 
requiring the CBOE to ensure that at least 90% of the Index, by weight, 
is composed of securities that are eligible for equity options trading 
pursuant to CBOE Rule 5.3. As stated above, the Commission believes 
that this requirement has the effect of ensuring that the Index is 
composed of highly-capitalized, actively-traded securities which serve 
to minimize the possibility that the Index can be easily manipulated. 
Additionally, the Commission notes that this is the same standard that 
the Commission recently approved for the listing and trading of index 
options and index LEAPS on the CBOE Telecommunications Index.\35\ As a 
result, the Commission believes that good cause exists for approving 
Amendment No. 1 on an accelerated basis.
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    \35\See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 33473 (January 13, 
1994), 59 FR 3383 (January 21, 1994).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and 
arguments concerning Amendment No. 1. Persons making written 
submissions should file six copies thereof with the Secretary, 
Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street NW., Washington, 
DC 20549. 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 at the Commission's Public Reference Section, 450 Fifth Street 
NW., Washington, DC. Copies of such filing will also be available for 
inspection and copying at the principal office of the above-mentioned 
self-regulatory organization. All submissions should refer to the File 
Number SR-CBOE-93-97 and should be submitted by May 24, 1994.
    It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the 
Act,\36\ that the proposed rule change (SR-CBOE-93-57), as amended, is 
approved.

    \36\15 U.S.C. 73s(b)(2) (1988).
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    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\37\
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    \37\CFR 200.30-3(a)(12) (1993).
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Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 94-10473 Filed 5-2-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-M