[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 36 (Thursday, February 22, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6872-6876]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-3919]



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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
(Release No. 34-36848; File No. SR-Amex-95-58)


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Order Granting Accelerated 
Approval To Proposed Rule Change and Notice of Filing and Order 
Granting Accelerated Approval to Amendment Nos. 1 and 2 to Proposed 
Rule Change by the American Stock Exchange, Inc., Relating to Listing 
and Trading of Warrants Based on the Vantage Point Index.

February 14, 1996.

I. Introduction

    On January 2, 1996, the American Stock Exchange, Inc. (``Amex'' or 
``Exchange'') submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``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 list and trade warrants based on the 
``undervalued market basket'' index.\3\

    \1\ 15 U.S.C. Sec. 78s(b)(1) (1988).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4 (1994).
    \3\ The Amex has clarified that the name of the index will be 
the Vantage Point Index (``Index''). Telephone Conversation between 
Michael T. Bickford, Vice President, Capital Markets Development, 
Amex, and Michael Walinskas, Branch Chief, Derivatives Regulation, 
Office of Self-Regulatory Oversight, Division of Market Regulation 
(``Division''), Commission, on February 8, 1996.
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    The proposed rule change appeared in the Federal Register on 
January 23, 1996.\4\ No comments were received on the proposed rule 
change. The Exchange subsequently filed Amendment No. 1 to the proposed 
rule change on February 5, 1996 \5\ and Amendment No. 2 to the proposed 
rule change on February 13, 1996.\6\ This order approves the Amex's 
proposal, as amended.

    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36721 (January 16, 
1996), 61 FR 1799 (January 23, 1996).
    \5\ In Amendment No. 1, the Amex amended its rule filing to 
provide that: (1) the Exchange will advise the Commission whenever 
less than 75% of the component securities in the Index are eligible 
for standard options trading; (2) if the number of component 
securities in the basket drops below 25, the Exchange will apply the 
minimum margin requirements for stock index industry group warrants; 
and (3) the Amex is presently only seeking the authority to list and 
trade a single issuance of warrants on the Index and that if the 
Exchange proposes to list and trade other products based on the 
Index, including other index warrants, the Exchange will notify the 
Commission to determine whether a rule filing pursuant to Section 
19(b) of the Act will be required. See letter from Claire P. 
McGrath, Managing Director and Special Counsel, Derivative 
Securities, Amex, to Michael Walinskas, Branch Chief, Derivatives 
Regulation, Office of Self-Regulatory Oversight, Division, 
Commission, dated February 5, 1996 (``Amendment No. 1'').
    \6\ In Amendment No. 2, the Amex clarified its role in the 
calculation and maintenance of the Index. See letter from Claire P. 
McGrath, Managing Director and Special Counsel, Derivative 
Securities, Amex, to Michael Walinskas, Branch Chief, Derivatives 
Regulation, Office of Self-Regulatory Oversight, Division, 
Commission, dated February 13, 1996 (``Amendment No. 2'').
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II. Description

    The purpose of the proposed rule change is to permit the Exchange 
to list and trade cash-settled index warrants based on the Vantage 
Point Index (``Index Warrants''). On August 29, 1995, the Commission 
approved an Exchange proposal that established uniform listing and 
trading guidelines for stock index, currency, and currency index 
warrants (``Generic Warrant Listing Standards Approval Order'').\7\ The 
Exchange states that the listing and trading of warrants based on the 
Index 

[[Page 6873]]
will comply in all respects with the rules that were amended and 
enacted through the Generic Warrant Listing Standards Approval Order, 
including Section 106 of the Amex Company Guide, Amex Rules 1100 
through 1110, and Amex Rule 462 (collectively, the ``Amex warrant 
listing standards'').

    \7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36168 (August 29, 
1995), 60 FR 46637 (September 7, 1995) (order approving File No. SR-
Amex-94-38).
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A. Design of the Index

    The Exchange represents that the Index is a broad-based index 
comprised of the common stocks of 43 diverse corporations operating in 
several industry groups, including, computers, aerospace, retail, 
banking, cellular telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, medical 
supplies, petroleum products, hotel/motel, toys, and retail 
stationary.\8\ The Index is equal-dollar weighted and is therefore 
designed to ensure that each of the component securities is represented 
in an approximately ``equal'' dollar amount. Accordingly, each of the 
43 companies included in the Index will represent approximately 2.32 
percent of the weight of the Index at the time of issuance of the 
warrant. The Index multipliers will be determined to yield the 
benchmark value of 100.00 on the date the warrant is priced for initial 
offering to the public.

    \8\ The component securities of the Index are as follows: 
Aluminum Company of America; Biomet, Inc.; The Boeing Company; 
Cardinal Health, Inc.; Citicorp; Compaq Computer Corporation; CUC 
International, Inc.; Donnkenny, Inc.; Electronic Arts Inc.; Enserch 
Exploration, Inc.; Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation; First 
USA, Inc.; Green Tree Financial Corporation; Hershey Foods 
Corporation; H.F. Ahmanson & Company; Intel Corporation; Kerr-McGee 
Corporation; Kimberly-Clark Corporation; Ligand Pharmaceuticals 
Incorporated; Luxottica Group S.p.A.; Manville Corporation; Mattel, 
Inc.; Maxxim Medical, Inc.; MCI Communications Corporation; MFS 
Communications Corporation; Mirage Resorts, Inc.; Mobile 
Telecommunications Technology Corp.; Monsanto Company; News 
Corporation Ltd.; Nine West Group, Inc.; Nordstrom, Inc.; OfficeMax, 
Inc.; Oracle Corporation; Parker Hannifin Corporation; Patriot 
American Hospitality, Inc.; Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc.; Seagate 
Technology, Inc.; Seitel, Inc.; USF&G Corporation; Viacom Inc.; 
Wells Fargo & Company; Wendy's International, Inc.; and WMX 
Technologies, Inc.
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    On December 22, 1995, the 43 stocks in the Index ranged in market 
capitalization from a high of approximately $48.5 billion to a low of 
approximately $126 million.\9\ The total capitalization of the Index on 
December 22, 1995 was approximately $345 billion. In addition, during 
the six-month period from June 1995 through November 1995, the average 
monthly trading volume of the stocks in the Index ranged from 500,000 
shares to 188.5 million shares.\10\ The Exchange also represents that 
at least 90% of the total capitalization of the Index is currently 
represented by component securities that meet the Exchange's criteria 
for standardized options trading.\11\

    \9\ In addition, the median market capitalization of the 
companies in the Index on December 22, 1995 was approximately $3.2 
billion, and the average market capitalization of these companies on 
that date was approximately $8 billion.
    \10\ Two of the component securities, Patriot American 
Hospitality, Inc. and Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc., have been trading 
for less than six months. Patriot American Hospitality began trading 
on September 27, 1995 as an initial public offering and has had an 
average monthly trading volume for the months of October and 
November of 2.7 million shares. Pharmacia & Upjohn was the result of 
a merger between Pharmacia Aktiebolag and The Upjohn Company and 
began trading on November 3, 1995. Pharmacia & Upjohn traded 47.5 
million shares during the month of November.
    \11\ See Amex Rule 915.
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B. Maintenance of the Index

    The Exchange represents that it will monitor the component 
securities in the Index on a monthly basis. In this regard, the 
Exchange will notify the Commission if less than 75% of the component 
securities in the Index are eligible for standardized options trading. 
In addition, if the number of component securities in the Index drops 
below 25, the Exchange will apply the minimum margin requirements for 
stock index industry group warrants.\12\

    \12\ See Amex Rule 462, which the Exchange proposes to amend in 
File No. SR-Amex-95-39. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 
36448 (November 1, 1995), 60 FR 56180 (November 7, 1995).
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    Shares of a component stock will only be replaced (or supplemented) 
under certain limited circumstances, such as the conversion of a 
component stock into another class of security, the termination of a 
depositary receipt program, or the spin-off of a subsidiary. 
Accordingly, all replacement or supplemental Index component securities 
will be related to the original component stock. The Exchange 
represents that decisions regarding such changes will be made by the 
Determination Agent, Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. (``Bear Stearns''), with 
the consent of the Amex. Moreover, if a change in the composition of 
the Index is contemplated for reasons other than those set forth above, 
the Exchange will notify the Commission to determine whether a rule 
filing pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act will be required.
    If the stock remains in the Index, the multiplier of that security 
may be adjusted to maintain the component's relative weight in the 
Index at the level immediately prior to the corporate action. In the 
event that a security in the Index is removed due to a corporate 
consolidation and the holders of such security receive cash, the cash 
value of such security will be included in the Index and will accrue 
interest at LIBOR to term, compounded daily.

C. Trading of the Index Warrants

    Index Warrants will be direct obligations of their issuer, subject 
to cash-settlement in U.S. dollars and either exercisable throughout 
their life (i.e., American-style) or exercisable only immediately prior 
to their expiration date (i.e., European-style). Upon exercise (or at 
the warrant expiration date in the case of warrants with European-style 
exercise), the holder of an Index Warrant structured as a ``put'' will 
receive payment in U.S. dollars to the extent that the value of the 
Index has declined below a pre-stated cash settlement value. 
Conversely, upon exercise (or at the warrant expiration date in the 
case of warrants with European-style exercise), the holder of an Index 
Warrant structured as a ``call'' will receive payment in U.S. dollars 
to the extent that the value of the Index has increased above the pre-
stated cash settlement value. Index Warrants that are ``out-of-the-
money'' at the time of expiration will expire worthless.

D. Calculation and Dissemination of the Value of the Index

    The Index value will be continuously calculated by the Amex using 
the most recently reported prices, and will be publicly disseminated 
every fifteen seconds over the Consolidated Tape Association's Network 
B.
    In addition, the multiplier of each component stock in the Index 
remains fixed except in the event of certain types of corporate actions 
such as the payment of a dividend other than an ordinary cash dividend, 
stock distribution, stock split, reverse stock split, rights offering, 
distribution, reorganization, recapitalization, or similar event. The 
multiplier of each component stock may also be adjusted, if necessary, 
in the event of a merger, consolidation, dissolution, or liquidation of 
an issuer or in certain other events such as the distribution of 
property by an issuer to shareholders, the expropriation or 
nationalization of a foreign issuer, or the imposition of certain 
foreign taxes on shareholders of a foreign issuer.

E. Classification of the Index as Broad-Based

    The Amex has designed the Index to meet certain objective criteria 
which it believes are appropriate to classify the Index as broad-based 
for warrant trading. To ensure that the Index remains representative of 
a broad spectrum of industries and is comprised 

[[Page 6874]]
of relatively actively-traded stocks, the Exchange represents that the 
Index currently meets and exceeds the following criteria: (1) each 
underlying security has had an average daily trading volume of at least 
40,000 shares during the preceding six months (to remain in the Index, 
each underlying security will have to maintain an average daily trading 
volume of at least 20,000 shares); (2) no more than 20% of the total 
weight to the Index is represented by underlying securities that have 
had an average daily trading volume of less than 75,000 shares in the 
preceding six months; (3) no underlying security represents more than 
10% of the total weight of the Index; (4) the five most heavily 
weighted securities do not represent more than 30% of the total weight 
of the Index; (5) the Index is comprised of at least ten industry 
sectors represented by no less than 43 underlying securities; and (6) 
at least 75% of the total capitalization of the Index is represented by 
underlying securities that meet the Exchange's criteria for 
standardized options trading.\13\ The Exchange also notes that the 
Index meets and exceeds the Designation Criteria for Futures Contracts 
Involving Non-Diversified Stock Indexes.\14\

    \13\ See Amex Rule 915.
    \14\ See Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity 
Futures Trading Commission Joint Statement of Policy, Release No. 
20578 (January 18, 1984), 49 FR 2884.
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F. Listing Standards and Customer Safeguards

    As stated above, the listing and trading of warrants based on the 
Vantage Point Index will comply in all respects with the Amex warrant 
listing standards. These standards will govern all aspects of the 
listing and trading of the Index Warrants, including, issuer 
eligibility,\15\ position and exercise limits,\16\ reportable 
positions,\17\ automatic exercise,\18\ settlement,\19\ margin,\20\ and 
trading halts and suspensions.\21\

    \15\ See Section 106 of the Amex Company Guide. Issuers are 
required to have a minimum tangible net worth in excess of $250 
million or, in the alternative, to have a minimum tangible net worth 
in excess of $150 million, provided that the issuer does not have 
(including as a result of the proposed issuance) issued and 
outstanding warrants where the aggregate original issue price of all 
such warrant offerings (combined with offerings by its affiliates) 
listed on a national securities exchange or that are National Market 
securities traded through Nasdaq exceeds 25% of the issuer's net 
worth.
    In addition, Sections 106(b)-(d) of the Amex Company Guide 
require that warrant issues: (i) have a term of one to five years; 
(ii) have a minimum public distribution of one million warrants 
together with a minimum of 400 public holders, and an aggregate 
market value of $4 million; and (iii) be cash-settled in U.S. 
dollars.
    \16\ See Amex Rules 1107 and 1108. Under Amex Rule 1107, no 
member can hold or control an aggregate position in a stock index 
warrant issue, or in all warrants issued on the same stock index, 
(whether long or short) on the same side of the market, in excess of 
15 million warrants (7.5 million warrants with respect to warrants 
on the Standard & Poor's MidCap 400 Index) with an original issue 
price of ten dollars or less. Stock index warrants with an original 
issue price greater than ten dollars will be weighted more heavily 
in calculating position limits.
    Amex Rule 1108 establishes exercise limits on stock index 
warrants analogous to those found on stock index options. 
Accordingly, no member, acting alone or in concert with others, 
directly or indirectly, may exercise a long position in warrants 
within five consecutive business days in excess of the permissible 
position limit. In addition, such limits are separate and distinct 
from any exercise limits that may be imposed by the issuers of stock 
index warrants.
    \17\ See Amex Rule 1110. Under Amex Rule 1110, members are 
required to file a report with the Exchange whenever any account in 
which the member has an interest has extablished an aggregate 
position (whether long or short) of 100,000 warrants overlying the 
same index, currency, or currency index.
    \18\ See Section 106(f) of the Amex Company Guide. Under Section 
106(f) of the Amex Company Guide, all unexercised warrants that are 
in-the-money will be automatically exercised on their expiration 
date or on or promptly following the date on which the warrants are 
delisted by the Exchange (provided that such warrant issue has not 
been listed on another organized securities market in the U.S.).
    \19\ See Section 106(e) of the Amex Company Guide. Under Section 
106(e) of the Amex Company Guide, domestic index warrants (i.e., 
warrants based on indexes for which 25% or more of the index value 
is represented by securities traded primarily in the U.S.) are 
required to utilize a.m. settlement for valuing expiring warrants as 
well as during the last two business days prior to the valuation 
date.
    \20\ See Amex Rule 462. In general, the margin requirements for 
long and short positions in stock index warrants are the same as the 
margin requirements for long and short positions in stock index 
options. Accordingly, the purchase of a stock index warrant will 
require payment in full, and the short sale of a stock index warrant 
will require margin of 100% of the current value of the warrant plus 
15% of the current value of the underlying index less the amount by 
which the warrant is out-of-the-money (but not less than ten percent 
of the index value).
    \21\ See Amex Rule 1109 and 918C(b).
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    Additionally, these warrants will be sold only to accounts approved 
for the trading of standardized options \22\ and, the Exchange's 
options suitability standards will apply to recommendations regarding 
Index Warrants.\23\ The Exchange's rules regarding discretionary orders 
will also apply to transactions in Index Warrants.\24\ Finally, prior 
to the commencement of trading, the Amex will distribute a circular to 
its membership calling attention to specific risks associated with 
warrants on the Index.

    \22\ See Amex Rules 1101 and 921.
    \23\ See Amex Rules 1102 and 923.
    \24\ See Amex Rules 1103 and 924.
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III. Discussion

    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, with the requirements of Section 6(b).\25\ Specifically, 
the Commission finds that the trading of warrants based on the Vantage 
Point Index will serve to protect the public interest, and will help to 
remove impediments to a free and open market by providing investors 
holding positions in some or all of the securities underlying the Index 
with a means to hedge exposure to the market risk associated with their 
portfolios.\26\

    \25\ 15 U.S.C. Sec. 78f(b) (1988).
    \26\ Pursuant to Section 6(b)(5) of the Act, the Commission must 
predicate approval of any new securities product upon a finding that 
the introduction of such product is in public interest. Such a 
finding would be difficult with respect to a warrant 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.
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    Nevertheless, the trading of warrants on the Index raises several 
concerns related to the design and maintenance of the Index, customer 
protection, surveillance, and market impact. The Commission believes, 
however, for the reasons discussed below, that the Amex has adequately 
addressed these concerns.\27\

    \27\ The Commission also notes that the Amex is presently only 
seeking the authority to list and trade a single issuance of 
warrants on the Index and that if the Exchange proposes to list and 
trade other products based on the Index, including other index 
warrants, the Exchange will advise the Commission in order to 
determine whether a rule filing pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act 
will be necessary or appropriate. This limitation is important since 
the Index's limited maintenance criteria might present additional 
issues if the Index was proposed to be used for index options 
trading.
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A. Design and Maintenance of the Index

    The Commission finds that it is appropriate and consistent with the 
Act for the Amex to designate the Index as broad-based for warrant 
trading. First, the Index is comprised of a diverse basket of common 
stocks, representing such industry sectors as banking, computers, and 
retail. Second, the Index consists of 43 actively-traded stocks,\28\ of 
which 32 trade on the New York 

[[Page 6875]]
Stock Exchange, Inc. (``NYSE''), 1 trades on the Amex, and 10 trade on 
Nasdaq. Third, the market capitalization of the stocks comprising the 
Index are very large. Specifically, the total capitalization of the 
Index, as of December 22, 1995, was approximately $345 billion, with 
the market capitalization of the individual stocks in the Index ranging 
from a high of approximately $48.5 billion to a low of approximately 
$126 million. Fourth, no one particular stock or group of stocks 
dominates the Index. Specifically, no single stock accounts for more 
than approximately 2.32% of the Index's value, and the percentage 
weighting of the five largest issues in the Index account for 
approximately 11.6% of the Index's value. Accordingly, the Commission 
believes that it is appropriate to classify the Index as broad-based so 
that the Exchange may list warrants for trading pursuant to the Amex 
warrant listing standards.

    \28\ The Commission notes that if the Amex determines to 
maintain the Index with some number of component securities other 
than 43, the Exchange should immediately notify the Commission to 
determine whether a rule filing pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act 
will be required.
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    The Commission notes that with respect to the maintenance of the 
Index, shares of a component stock will only be replaced (or 
supplemented) under certain limited circumstances, such as the 
conversion of a component stock into another class of security, the 
termination of a depositary receipt program, or the spin-off of a 
subsidiary. Accordingly, all replacement or supplemental Index 
component securities will be related to the original component stock. 
In addition, although the Index will be maintained by Bear Stearns, 
changes to the composition of the Index can only be made with the 
consent of the Amex. Moreover, if a change in the composition of the 
Index is contemplated for reasons other than those set forth above, the 
Exchange will notify the Commission to determine whether a rule filing 
pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act will be required.\29\

    \29\ In this regard, the Commission notes that appropriate 
procedures must be maintained by those responsible for maintaining 
the Index in order to help to prevent and to deter the misuse of any 
informational advantages with respect to changes in the composition 
of the Index. Such procedures should include, for example, 
appropriate informational barriers.
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    The Amex has also implemented several safeguards in connection with 
the listing and trading of the Index Warrants that will serve to ensure 
that the Index maintains its intended character as a highly 
capitalized, diversified, and actively-traded index. In this regard, 
the Exchange will notify the Commission if less than 75% of the 
component securities in the Index are eligible for standardized options 
trading, or if any underlying security fails to maintain an average 
daily trading volume of at least 20,000 shares.

B. Customer Protection

    The Commission notes that the rules and procedures of the Exchange 
adequately address the special concerns attendant to the trading of 
index warrants. Specifically, the applicable suitability, account 
approval, disclosure, and compliance requirements of the Amex warrant 
listing standards, satisfactorily address potential public customer 
concerns. Moreover, the Amex plans to distribute a circular to its 
membership calling attention to specific risks associated with warrants 
on the Index. Finally, pursuant to the Exchange's listing guidelines, 
only companies capable of meeting the Amex's index warrant issuer 
standards will be eligible to issue Index Warrants.

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 the surveillance of the 
derivative and underlying securities markets. Such agreements ensure 
the availability of the information necessary to detect and deter 
potential manipulations and other trading abuses, thereby making the 
security index product less readily susceptible to manipulation. In 
this regard, the Amex, the NYSE, and the National Association of 
Securities Dealers, Inc. (``NASD'') are all members of the Intermarket 
Surveillance Group (``ISG''), which provides for the exchange of all 
necessary surveillance information.\30\

    \30\ The 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. 
The members of the ISG are: the Amex; the Boston Stock Exchange, 
Inc.; the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc.; the Chicago Stock 
Exchange, Inc.; the NASD; the NYSE; the Pacific Stock Exchange, 
Inc.; and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. Due to the potential 
opportunities for trading abuses involving stock index futures, 
stock options, and the underlying stock, as well as for 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) have also joined the ISG as affiliate members.
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    In addition, the Exchange has developed enhanced surveillance 
procedures to apply to domestic stock index warrants which the 
Commission believes are adequate to surveil for manipulation and other 
abuses involving the warrant market and component securities.\31\ Among 
these enhanced surveillance procedures, the Commission notes that the 
issuers are required to report to the Exchange on settlement date the 
number and value of domestic index warrants subject to early exercise 
the previous day. The Commission believes that this information will 
aid the Amex in its surveillance capacity and help it to detect and 
deter market manipulation and other trading abuses.

    \31\ In addition, the Commission notes that issuers are required 
to report to the Exchange all trades to unwind a warrant hedge that 
are effected as a result of the early exercise of domestic index 
warrants. This will enable the Exchange to monitor the unwinding 
activity to determine if it was effected in a manner that violates 
Exchange or Commission rules.
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D. Market Impact

    The Commission believes that the listing and trading of warrants on 
the Index will not adversely impact the underlying securities. First, 
the Amex's existing index warrants surveillance procedures will apply 
to warrants on the Index. Second, the Index is broad-based, 
diversified, and includes highly capitalized securities that are 
actively-traded. Lastly, the Amex has established reasonable position 
and exercise limits for stock index warrants, which will serve to 
minimize potential manipulation and other stock market concerns.
    The Commission finds good cause to approve the proposed rule 
filing, including Amendment Nos. 1 and 2, prior to the thirtieth day 
after the date of publication of notice of filing thereof in the 
Federal Register. The Commission notes that no comments were received 
on the proposal, which was subject to the full 21-day notice and 
comment period.\32\ Moreover, Amendment Nos. 1 and 2 to the Amex's 
proposal describe details of certain Index maintenance procedures. In 
this regard, the Commission believes that the Exchange's monthly review 
of the Index's component securities for options eligibility and 
applicable margin treatment, as described above, will help to ensure 
that the Index maintains its intended market character as well as 
remains an appropriate trading vehicle for public customers. 
Accordingly, the Commission believes that it is consistent with Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act to approve the proposed rule change, including 
Amendment Nos. 1 and 2, on an accelerated basis.

    \32\ See supra note 4.
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    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the rule proposal, 

[[Page 6876]]
as amended. 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 20549. Copies 
of such filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the 
principal office of the Amex. All submissions should refer to File No. 
SR-Amex-95-58 and should be submitted by March 14, 1996.

IV. Conclusion

    For the foregoing reasons, the Commission finds that the Amex's 
proposal to list and trade warrants based on the Vantage Point Index is 
consistent with the requirements of the Act and the rules and 
regulations thereunder.
    It Is Therefore Ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the 
Act,\33\ that the proposed rule change (SR-Amex-95-58), as amended, is 
approved on an accelerated basis.

    \33\ 15 U.S.C. Sec. 78s(b)(2) (1988)

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\34\

    \34\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12) (1994).
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Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-3919 Filed 2-21-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-M