[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 14 (Monday, January 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3409-3410]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-216]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-51034; File No. SR-DTC-2004-13]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Depository Trust Company; Notice 
of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change 
Relating to an Amendment of the Fee Schedule to Revise Fees for Certain 
Services Provided by DTC

January 13, 2005.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ notice is hereby given that on December 27, 2004, The 
Depository Trust Company (``DTC'') 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 
primarily by DTC. 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).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The purpose of the proposed rule change is to revise fees for 
certain services provided by DTC.

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

    In its filing with the Commission, DTC 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. DTC has prepared summaries, set forth in sections (A), 
(B), and (C) below, of the most significant aspects of such 
statements.\2\
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    \2\ The Commission has modified parts of these statements.
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(A) Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    The changes to DTC's fees for services include:
    1. Reductions to book-entry delivery fees for book-entry deliveries 
and dropped deliveries,
    2. Application of an existing surcharge for underwriting 
distributions of collateralized mortgage obligations to all asset-
backed issues to cover the additional costs involved in handling these 
complex instruments,

[[Page 3410]]

    3. Increases to delivery fees for money market instruments to 
recover the cost of recent modifications to the MMI system,
    4. Increases to fees relating to various deposit service types to 
raise revenues for these services closer to full cost recovery,
    5. Increases to voluntary offering instruction fees to increase 
cost recovery for this service in line with efforts to revise the 
overall fee structure for these types of corporate actions initiated 
last year, and
    6. Increases to certain global tax services in line with a 
multiyear plan to revise the fee structure for this service to provide 
higher cost recovery.
    In addition, DTC's Board approved certain disincentive fees to 
discourage behavior that keeps the industry from achieving peak 
efficiency in areas such as the use of physical securities 
certificates, manual adjustments, and hardcopy offering documents.
    The effective date for these fee adjustments is January 1, 2005. 
These proposed fee revisions are consistent with DTC's overall pricing 
philosophy to align service fees with underlying costs, discourage 
manual and exception processing, and encourage immobilization and 
dematerialization of securities.
    DTC believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the 
requirements of the Act, as amended, and the rules and regulations 
thereunder because it provides for a reasonable fee to cover costs. As 
such, it promotes the prompt and accurate clearance and settlement of 
securities transactions.

(B) Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    DTC does not believe the proposed rule change will have any impact 
or impose any burden on competition.

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

    Written comments relating to the proposed rule change have not yet 
been solicited or received. DTC will notify the Commission of any 
written comments received by DTC.

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

    Because the foregoing rule change changes fees imposed by NSCC, it 
has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act \3\ 
and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \4\ promulgated thereunder. At any time within 
sixty days of the filing of the proposed rule change, the Commission 
may summarily abrogate such rule change if it appears to the Commission 
that such action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, 
for the protection of investors, or otherwise in furtherance of the 
purposes of the Act.
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    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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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 is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of 
the following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml) or
     Send an e-mail to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number SR-DTC-2004-13 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Jonathan G. Katz, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., 
Washington, DC 20549-0609.
    All submissions should refer to File Number SR-DTC-2004-13. This 
file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. 
To help the Commission process and review your comments more 
efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all 
comments on the Commission's Internet Web site (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml). 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 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 DTC and 
on DTC's Web site at http://www.dtc.org. All comments received will be 
posted without change; the Commission does not edit personal 
identifying information from submissions. You should submit only 
information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions 
should refer to File Number SR-DTC-2004-13 and should be submitted on 
or before February 14, 2005.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\5\
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    \5\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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J. Lynn Taylor,
Assistant Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E5-216 Filed 1-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P