[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 175 (Friday, September 8, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Page 54571]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-23074]



[[Page 54571]]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-43240; File No. 4-208]


Intermarket Trading System; Notice of Filing of Fifteenth 
Amendment to the ITS Plan Relating to Remote Specialists, the National 
Market System Test System, Trade Adjustment Procedures, and Technical 
Revisions

September 1, 2000.
    Pursuant to Rule 11Aa3-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ notice is hereby given that on June 6, 2000, the 
Intermarket Trading System (``ITS'') submitted to the Securities and 
Exchange Commission (``Commission'') an amendment (``Fifteenth 
Amendment'') to the restated ITS Plan.\2\ The ITS participants filed 
the amendment to: (1) Recognize the BSE's and PCX's implementation of 
Remote Specialists; (2) recognize the implementation of the National 
Market Test System; (3) codify procedures for trade adjustment; and, 
(4) make technical revisions. The Commission is publishing this notice 
to solicit comments on the amendment from interested persons.
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    \1\ 17 CFR 240.11Aa3-2.
    \2\ The ITS is a National Market System (``NMS'') plan approved 
by the Commission pursuant to Section 11A of the Act and Rule 11Aa3-
2. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 19456 (January 27, 1983), 
48 FR 4938. The ITS is a communications and order routing network 
linking eight national securities exchanges and the electronic over-
the-counter (``OTC'') market operated by the National Association of 
Securities Dealers, Inc. (``NASD''). The ITS was designed to 
facilitate intermarket trading in exchange-listed equity securities 
based on current quotation information emanating from the linked 
markets.
    Participants to the ITS Plan include the American Stock 
Exchange, Inc. (``Amex''), the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc. 
(``BSE''), the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc., the Chicago 
Stock Exchange, Inc., the Cincinnati Stock Exchange, Inc., the NASD, 
the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., the Pacific Exchange, Inc. 
(``PCX''), and the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc., (collectively, 
``Participants'').
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I. Description of the Amendment

    The purpose of the proposed amendment is to: (1) Recognize the 
BSE's and PCX's implementation of Remote Specialists; (2) recognize the 
implementation of the National Market Test System; (3) codify 
procedures for trade adjustment; and (4) make technical revisions.
    The BSE and PCX have filed rule proposals with the Commission to 
permit specialists to carry out their specialist operations off the 
floors of the BSE and PCX.\3\ Text in sections 6(a)(ii) (B) and (E), 
7(c) and 8(a) of the ITS Plan is revised to reflect the changed manner 
in which BSE and PCX will interact with ITS.
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    \3\ The Commission approved the BSE's proposal on August 8, 
2000. See Exchange Act Release No. 43127 (August 8, 2000), 65 FR 
49617 (August 14, 2000). The PCX's proposal was published in the 
Federal Register in 1999, but has not been approved by the 
Commission. See Exchange Act Release No. 40051 (February 12, 1999), 
64 FR 8426 (February 19, 1999).
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    The National Market Test System (``NMTS'') is a stand-alone system 
that supports testing of the Consolidated Tape System, Consolidated 
Quotation System, ITS, and Participant interfaces with these systems. 
The NMTS can be used during normal business hours and ITS will be 
responsible for one-third of the costs of the NMTS. The ITS Plan 
provisions for the NMTS equally divide the ITS costs among all ITS 
Participants.
    New Section 6(b)(iv) codifies the trade adjustment process whereby, 
and circumstances under which, supervisors monitoring Participant's 
Markets may request the ITS Control Center to enter agreed-upon 
adjustments to System trades (price, size, buy or sell side, cancel or 
insert trade ``as of'' a prior day).
    Under the technical revisions, provisions dealing with the ITS/CAES 
Linkage as adopted by the Commission are revised to eliminate the 
definition of the term ``ITS/CAES security (stock)'' and to make other 
conforming changes.\4\ The revision also reinserts text inadvertently 
omitted by the Commission. According to the Participants, the revisions 
are otherwise neutral as to their effect on the Commission's adopted 
amendment. The revisions also redesignate current sections 12, 13, and 
14 as sections 13, 14 and 15, and current section 15 as section 12 
(with other conforming changes), and reflect the change in the Amex's 
corporate name.
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    \4\ See Exchange Act Release No. 42212 (December 9, 1999), 64 FR 
70297 (December 16, 1999).
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II. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the proposed amendment, including whether the 
proposed Plan amendment is consistent with the Act. Persons making 
written submissions should file six copies thereof with the Secretary, 
Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, N.W., Washington, 
DC 20549-0609. Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all 
written statements with respect to the proposed Plan amendment change 
that are filed with the Commission, and all written communications 
relating to the proposed Plan amendment 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 Room. 
Copies of such Plan amendment will also be available for inspection and 
copying at the principal office of the ITS. All submissions should 
refer to File No. 4-208 and should be submitted by September 29, 2000.
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    \5\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(29).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\5\
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-23074 Filed 9-7-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-M