[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3911-3912]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-1702]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-47209; File No. SR-NASD-2003-03]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule 
Change by the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. To Waive 
Fees Assessed Under NASD Rule 7010(s) for New Subscribers to Nasdaq 
PostData

January 17, 2003.
    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 January 9, 2003, the National Association of Securities Dealers, 
Inc. (``NASD''), through its subsidiary, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. 
(``Nasdaq''), 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 prepared by Nasdaq. 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.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    Nasdaq proposes to waive for two months for each new subscriber to 
Nasdaq PostData the fees assessed under NASD rule 7010(s). The text of 
the proposed rule change is below. Proposed additions are in italics; 
proposed deletions are in brackets.
Rule 7010 System Services
    (a)-(r) No changes.
    (s) NasdaqTrader.com Volume and Issue Data Package Fee.
    The charge to be paid by the subscriber for each entitled user 
receiving the Nasdaq Volume and Issue Data Package via NasdaqTrader.com 
shall be $70 per month. The charge to be paid by market data vendors 
for this information shall be $35 per month for each end user receiving 
the information through the data vendor. The availability of this 
service through NasdaqTrader.com shall be limited to NASD members, 
Qualified Institutional Buyers (as defined in Rule 144A of the 
Securities Act of 1933) and data vendors. The Volume and Issue Data 
package includes:

(1) Daily Share Volume reports
(2) Daily Issue Data
(3) Monthly Volume Summaries
(4) Buy Volume Report
(5) Sell Volume Report
(6) Crossed Volume Report
(7) Consolidated Activity Volume Report

    All fees assessed under this subsection will be waived for a period 
of up to two months for all new subscribers and potential new 
subscribers. This fee waiver period would be applied on a rolling 
basis, determined by the date on which a new subscriber or potential 
subscriber contacts Nasdaq to receive access to PostData.
* * * * *

II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, Nasdaq 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. Nasdaq has 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
    On January 11, 2002, the Commission approved, as a 12-month pilot, 
the creation of Nasdaq PostData, a voluntary trading data distribution 
facility, accessible to NASD members, buy-side institutions and market 
data vendors through the NasdaqTrader.com web site.\3\ PostData was 
launched on March 18, 2002. Nasdaq hereby proposes to offer PostData to 
all new subscribers and potential subscribers without charge for up to 
two months for the duration of the PostData pilot.
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 45270 (January 11, 
2002), 67 FR 2712 (January 18, 2002)(SR-NASD-99-12).
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    Background. PostData originally consisted of three reports provided 
in a single package: (1) Daily Share Volume Report, which provides 
subscribers with T+1 daily share volume in each Nasdaq security, 
listing the volume by any

[[Page 3912]]

NASD member firm that voluntarily permits the dissemination of this 
information; (2) Daily Issue Data, which contains a summary of the 
previous day's activity for every Nasdaq issue; and (3) Monthly 
Summaries, which provide monthly trading volume statistics for the top 
50 market participants sorted by industry sector, security, or type of 
trading (e.g., block or total).
    On August 5, 2002, Nasdaq expanded the information made available 
to PostData subscribers to include four additional reports: Buy Volume 
Report, Sell Volume Report, Crossed Volume Report, and Consolidated 
Activity Volume Report.\4\ Each report offers information regarding 
total Nasdaq reported buy (or sell, or cross, or consolidated) volume 
in the security, as well as rankings of registered market maker based 
upon various aspects of their activity in Nasdaq. The reports also 
provide recipients with information about the number and character of 
each market maker's trades. Finally, the reports provide the 
information described above with respect to block volume, be it buy, 
sell, cross or consolidated interest.
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    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 46316 (August 8, 
2002), 67 FR 52505 (August 12, 2002)(SR-NASD-2002-90).
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    Proposed Fee Waiver. In order to increase the availability of 
PostData within the securities industry, Nasdaq proposes to waive all 
fees assessed upon new subscribers to PostData for a period of up to 
two months. Nasdaq has repeatedly been asked by potential subscribers 
to offer a free trial period in order to test PostData before 
committing to subscribe. Based upon these requests, Nasdaq believes 
that offering a free trial period will make this data more widely 
available and enable PostData to reach viability sooner.
    This fee waiver period would be applied on a rolling basis, 
determined by the date on which a new subscriber or potential 
subscriber contacts Nasdaq to receive access to PostData. Additionally, 
any vendor who provides PostData to its clients would have the 
opportunity to waive the fee to any new subscriber for a period of up 
to two months. Nasdaq believes that this waiver is fair and non-
discriminatory because it applies to all potential direct and indirect 
subscribers.
2. Statutory Basis
    Nasdaq believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with 
the provisions of section 15A(b)(5) \5\ and 15A(b)(6) \6\ of the Act. 
Section 15A(b)(5) requires the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, 
fees and other charges among members and other users of facilities 
operated or controlled by a national securities association. Section 
15A(b)(6) requires rules that foster cooperation and coordination with 
persons engaged in facilitating transactions in securities and that are 
not designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, 
issuers, brokers or dealers. Nasdaq believes that this program involves 
a reasonable fee assessed only to users and other persons utilizing the 
system and will provide useful information to all direct and indirect 
subscribers on a non-discriminatory basis.
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-3(b)(5).
    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78o-3(b)(6).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    Nasdaq does not believe that the proposed rule change will result 
in 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

    Nasdaq neither solicited nor received written comments with respect 
to the proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Within 35 days of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register or within such longer period (i) as the Commission may 
designate up to 90 days of such date if it finds such longer period to 
be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to 
which the NASD consents, the Commission will:
    A. By order approve such proposed rule change, or
    B. Institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule 
change should be disapproved.

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. Persons making written submissions 
should file six copies thereof with the Secretary, Securities and 
Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549-0609. 
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. Copies of such filing will also be 
available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the 
NASD. All submissions should refer to file number SR-NASD-2003-03 and 
should be submitted by February 18, 2003.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority. \7\
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    \7\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-1702 Filed 1-24-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P