[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 197 (Friday, October 10, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 58735-58737]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-25794]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-48583; File No. SR-OC-2003-07]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice of Filing and Immediate 
Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change by OneChicago, LLC To Amend Its 
Policy Regarding Block Trades, Pre-Execution Discussions and Cross 
Trades

October 1, 2003.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(7) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-7 under the Act,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that on September 12, 2003 OneChicago, LLC (``OneChicago'') filed with 
the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') the proposed 
rule changes described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have 
been prepared by OneChicago. The Commission is publishing this notice 
to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested 
persons. On September 11, 2003, OneChicago filed a written 
certification under Section 5c(c) of the Commodity Exchange Act 
(``CEA'') \3\ with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'').
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(7).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-7.
    \3\ 7 U.S.C. 7a-2(c).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Description of the Proposed Rule 
Change

    OneChicago is proposing to amend its policy regarding block trades, 
pre-execution discussions and cross trades. The text of the proposed 
rule change

[[Page 58736]]

appears below. New text is in italics; deleted text is in [brackets].
* * * * *
OneChicago Policies:
Block Trades, Pre-Execution Discussions and Cross Trades
Block Trades [Policy]
    Pursuant to OneChicago Rule 417[(a)(i)(B)], the Exchange permits 
eligible contract participants, See Rule 417(a), to execute block 
trades [to be executed] away from the public auction market in 
privately negotiated transactions for a minimum of 500 contracts per 
transaction.
    Each firm executing a side of a block trade must have at least one 
designated person pre-authorized to report block trades. Only 
OneChicago member firms with a clearing relationship at The Options 
Clearing Corporation or the Chicago Mercantile Exchange Clearing 
Division will be allowed to report a block trade.
    The seller is obligated to call OneChicago Operations Management 
(``OOM'') without delay after the trade is negotiated to notify the 
Exchange of the basic terms of the trade, including the contract, 
price, quantity and contra-party information. If the transaction is a 
spread or combination, such as when one party is rolling a position 
into the next contract month,\1\ the seller of the month closest to 
expiration is responsible for reporting the entire transaction. OOM 
will provide the caller a Trade Identification (``Trade ID'') for the 
block trade and report both sides of the trade to the OneChicago trade 
engine. The trade engine will then relay the block trade terms to the 
Chicago Board Options Exchange Financial Network (``CFN''), which 
serves as the OneChicago price distribution mechanism, and [to 
]OneChicago's matched trade database. After reporting the trade to OOM, 
the buyer and seller must each complete and transmit the prescribed 
Block Trade Reporting form via facsimile or e-mail to the OOM Help 
Desk. Both sides must include the Trade ID given by the OOM Help Desk 
to the seller at the time of his call. It is the responsibility of the 
buying and selling firms to effect any subsequent allocations or 
necessary updates to non-critical matching fields utilizing their 
chosen post-trade processing system.
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    \1\ For purposes of this policy, the total quantity of the legs 
of a spread or a combination must meet the 500 minimum contracts 
requirement.
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    To protect market integrity during the negotiation and reporting 
period, any party with knowledge of the pending block trade is 
prohibited from entering offsetting orders in the specific or any 
related OneChicago product for the benefit of the account or accounts 
related to a party to the block trade until the block trade has been 
reported to and disseminated by CFN. Additionally, no party with 
knowledge of the pending block trade report is allowed to exercise 
discretion by withholding (or placing) orders for any account that 
would have (or would not have) been placed given knowledge of the 
pending block trade until the block trade has been reported to and 
disseminated by the CFN price distribution mechanism. Parties subject 
to the jurisdiction of a member or an affiliate of the Intermarket 
Surveillance Group (``ISG'') are further prohibited from submitting 
related offsetting orders on OneChicago if they utilize block trade 
reporting facilities of any other ISG participant exchange until such 
trades have been disseminated to the marketplace via the standard 
public reporting mechanism for that exchange. OneChicago considers 
busting block trades to be a serious matter and may deny a bust request 
based on the factors surrounding the request, including but not limited 
to the market impact of the original report, the amount of variation 
between the block trade price and the market price at the time of the 
report and the length of time transpiring since the block trade was 
reported to the public. Fees will be levied for busting a block trade.
    Any attempt to circumvent this policy or misrepresent a transaction 
as a block trade will be forwarded to the appropriate party for 
investigation.

Pre-Execution Discussions

    In accordance with OneChicago Rule 614, the Exchange permits 
Members and Access Persons to engage in pre-execution discussions 
pursuant to which one party may agree in advance to take the opposite 
side of the other party's order for a transaction to be executed on the 
Exchange, on the following conditions:
    1. Customers of each such party must consent to allow pre-execution 
discussions with other market participants;
    2. Any Member or Access Person who is solicited to participate in a 
OneChicago transaction through pre-execution discussions shall not (i) 
disclose to any other party the details of such discussions or (ii) 
enter an order or quote through the Exchange to take advantage of 
information conveyed during such discussions unless such Member or 
Access Person has agreed during the pre-execution discussions to 
participate in the transaction in accordance with this policy and the 
order or quote is entered to implement that agreement; and
    3. Except for block trades conducted pursuant to Rule 417 and 
exchange of future for physical transactions conducted pursuant to Rule 
416, a period of four seconds shall elapse between entering the first 
order or quote and entering the second order for the opposite side. The 
order or quote initially entered may be filled or lifted by a third 
party during the four-second waiting period rather than consummating 
the transaction with the intended party as contemplated by the pre-
execution discussions.
Cross Trades
    [Pursuant to ]In accordance with OneChicago Rules 409 and 610, a 
Member [of the Exchange ]may cross orders, provided that the Member 
[exposes] enters one side of the trade [(buy or sell) to OneChicago's 
central order book for a minimum of ](which shall be the Customer's 
side in the event that the Member or its affiliate is taking the other 
side) into OneChicago's trading system at least four seconds before 
entering the order for the opposite side.
* * * * *

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

    OneChicago has prepared statements concerning the purpose of, and 
basis for, the proposed rule change, burdens on competition, and 
comments received from members, participants, and others. The text of 
these statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV 
below. These statements are set forth in Sections A, B, and C below.

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

1. Purpose
    OneChicago is proposing to amend its current policy regarding block 
trades and cross trades and to add a new provision that explicitly 
permits pre-execution discussions. The substantive changes in the 
proposed rule change are the following: To amend the reporting 
requirements for block trades to require the seller of the front month 
of a block spread or combination transaction to report the entire 
transaction; to explicitly permit OneChicago members and access persons 
to enter into pre-execution discussions with other market participants 
when certain conditions are

[[Page 58737]]

met; and to clarify that OneChicago members entering into cross trades 
in which the member or affiliate of the member is taking the opposite 
side of a customer order must expose the customer side of the trade on 
the OneChicago trading system for at least four seconds.
    OneChicago's block trade policy currently requires the seller of 
the block trade to call OneChicago Operations Management (``OOM'') to 
report the block transaction. Under the proposed rule change, if a 
block trade were a spread or a combination, the seller of the month 
closest to expiration would be required to report the entire 
transaction. For example, if the block were comprised of 250 Sep'03 
Microsoft contracts and 250 Dec'03 Microsoft contracts, then the seller 
of the Sep'03 Microsoft contracts would report the entire block 
transaction to OOM, both the Sep'03 Microsoft contracts and the Dec'03 
Microsoft contracts. In addition, the proposed rule change clarifies 
that the total quantity of the legs of a spread or combination must 
meet the 500 minimum contracts requirement.
    Furthermore, the proposed rule change would add a new provision 
regarding pre-execution discussions. This provision would explicitly 
permit OneChicago members and access persons \4\ to engage in pre-
execution discussions pursuant to which one party may agree in advance 
to take the opposite side of the other party's order if the following 
conditions are met:
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    \4\ Under OneChicago Rule 101, an access person means any 
person, other than a clearing member or Exchange member or related 
party of either, who has been given access to the OneChicago System 
through a OneChicago workstation by a clearing member.
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    1. Customers of each party must consent to allow pre-execution 
discussions with other market participants;
    2. Any OneChicago member or access person who is solicited to 
participate in a OneChicago transaction through pre-execution 
discussions shall not: (i) Disclose to any other party the details of 
such discussions or (ii) enter an order or quote through the Exchange 
to take advantage of information conveyed during such discussions, 
unless such member or access person has agreed during the pre-execution 
discussions to participate in the transaction in accordance with this 
policy, and the order or quote is entered to implement that agreement; 
and
    3. Except for block trades conducted pursuant to OneChicago Rule 
417 and exchange of future for physical transactions conducted pursuant 
to OneChicago Rule 416, a period of four seconds must elapse between 
entering the first order or quote and entering the second order for the 
opposite side. The order or quote initially entered may be filled or 
lifted by a third party during the four-second waiting period rather 
than consummating the transaction with the intended party as 
contemplated by the pre-execution discussion.
    The proposed rule change would also amend the provision relating to 
cross trades to clarify that if a member is taking the other side of 
its customer's order, the customer side of the order must be entered 
into the OneChicago trading system for at least four seconds before the 
member may take the opposite side.
2. Statutory Basis
    OneChicago believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b)(5) of the Act \5\ in that it is reasonably designed 
to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to 
promote just and equitable principles of trade. The proposed rule 
change is also designed to protect investors and the public interest by 
requiring certain conditions to be met in order for a member or access 
person to enter into pre-execution discussions with other market 
participants. The proposed cross trade amendments are also designed to 
protect investors and the public interest by requiring that the 
customer side of a cross trade be entered into OneChicago's trading 
system for at least four seconds before members may take the other side 
of the customer's order.
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    OneChicago does not believe that the proposed rule change will have 
a negative impact on competition.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    Comments on OneChicago's proposed rule change have not been 
solicited, and none have been received.

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

    The proposed rule change has become effective on September 12, 
2003. Within 60 days of the date of effectiveness of the proposed rule 
change, the Commission, after consultation with the CFTC, may summarily 
abrogate the proposed rule change and require that the proposed rule 
change be refiled in accordance with the provisions of Section 19(b)(1) 
of the Act.\6\
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
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IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule 
change, as amended, conflicts with the Act. Persons making written 
submissions should file nine copies of the submission with the 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20549-0609. Comments also may be submitted 
electronically to the following e-mail address: [email protected]. 
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 these filings also will 
be available for inspection and copying at the principal office of 
OneChicago. All submissions should refer to File No. SR-OC-2003-07 and 
should be submitted by October 31, 2003.

For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, pursuant 
to delegated authority.\7\

    \7\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(75).
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Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 03-25794 Filed 10-9-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P