[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 34 (Tuesday, February 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8648-8649]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-692]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-51206; File No. SR-FICC-2004-23]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Fixed Income Clearing Corporation; 
Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change to Change the Notice Period 
Required for the Closing of Participant Accounts or Withdrawing From 
Membership in Its Mortgage-Backed Securities Division

February 15, 2005.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ notice is hereby given that on November 22, 2004, the 
Fixed Income Clearing Corporation (``FICC'') filed with the Securities 
and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') the proposed rule change 
described in Items I, II, and III below, which items have been prepared 
primarily by FICC. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit 
comments on the proposed rule change from interested parties.
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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 this proposed rule change is to amend the notice 
period required for the closing of participant accounts or withdrawing 
from membership in the Mortgage-Backed Securities Division (``MBSD'') 
of FICC.

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

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

    The purpose of the proposed rules changes is to amend the timeframe 
in which a participant, limited purpose participant, or EPN user can 
cease to maintain an account or can voluntarily withdraw as a 
participant from the Mortgage-Backed Securities Division (``MBSD'') of 
FICC.
    Currently, the MBSD's Rules expressly state that in order to cease 
to maintain an account or to voluntarily withdraw as a participant, a 
participant must notify FICC of its intent to do so in writing, and 
thereafter FICC management and the participant must wait ten days for 
the cessation or withdrawal to become effective. Upon review, FICC has 
determined that imposing this mandatory time period is unnecessary. 
FICC believes it should have the flexibility, and thereby provide 
greater flexibility to participants, to close an account or permit 
withdrawal within a shorter period. The proposed changes would provide 
this flexibility by providing that (1) a participant must provide ten 
days' written notice of account cessation or withdrawal from membership 
but the MBSD can accept termination within a shorter period; (2) the 
requested account cessation or withdrawal would not be effective until 
accepted by the MBSD, and (3) the MBSD's acceptance will be evidenced 
by a notice to all members announcing the account cessation or 
withdrawal effective date.
    FICC believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with the 
requirements of Section 17A of the Act \3\ and the rules and 
regulations thereunder applicable to FICC because the proposed rule 
change will provide the FICC with greater flexibility with respect to 
closing accounts of participants and to permitting the voluntary 
withdrawal of participants thereby better enabling it to safeguard the 
securities and funds in its custody and control.
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    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1.
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(B) Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    FICC does not believe that 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. FICC will notify the Commission of any 
written comments received by FICC.

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

    Within thirty-five days of the date of publication of this notice 
in the Federal

[[Page 8649]]

Register or within such longer period (i) as the Commission may 
designate up to ninety 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 self-regulatory organization 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. 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-FICC-2004-23 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-FICC-2004-23. 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 FICC 
and on FICC's Web site at http://www.ficc.com. 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-FICC-2004-23 and should be submitted on 
or before March 15, 2005.

    For the Commission by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.
Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-692 Filed 2-18-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P