[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 44 (Tuesday, March 8, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 11281-11282]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-968]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-51285; File No. SR-Amex-2005-005]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; American Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change 
Relating to Procedures for Handling ITS Commitments in the Auto-Ex 
System

March 1, 2005.
    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 February 18, 2005, the American Stock Exchange LLC (``Amex'' or 
``Exchange'') 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 the Amex. The Exchange 
filed the proposal pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act,\3\ and 
Rule 19b-4(f)(1) thereunder,\4\ which renders the proposal effective 
upon filing with the Commission. 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.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(1).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Amex proposes to add a commentary to Rule 128A to clarify its 
Auto-Ex procedures for Portfolio Depository Receipts, Index Fund 
Shares, Trust Issued Receipts and National Market System Securities. 
The text of the proposed rule change is set forth below. Proposed new 
language is in italics.
* * * * *
Rule 128A.

Automatic Execution

    (a) through (j) No change.
    * * * Commentary
    .01 An Intermarket Trading System (``ITS'') commitment shall be 
handled in the same manner as an order from the trading crowd in 
accordance with subsection (d)(i) of this Rule 128A, and, as a result, 
no contract for the execution of an ITS commitment shall be created, 
until the specialist begins to enter the acceptance of such ITS 
commitment into the order book.
* * * * *

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

    In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange 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. The Exchange 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
    The purpose of this rule change is to clarify the treatment of ITS 
commitments with respect to the Auto-Ex system. The new Commentary 
provides for consistent treatment of all orders that are not Auto-Ex 
Eligible Orders. On June 25, 2004, the Commission approved amendments 
to Amex Rule 128A,\5\ which provides in paragraph (d)(i) that an order 
received from the ``open outcry'' auction market will not be deemed 
accepted until the specialist begins to enter the member's acceptance 
into the order book. The purpose of paragraph (d)(i) is to provide a 
mechanism for avoiding double liability on the part of the specialist 
when the specialist has matched an order in the crowd against the Amex 
published quote (``APQ'') and an Auto-Ex Order executes against that 
quote before the specialist can begin to enter the previously accepted 
crowd order into the order book. Similarly, proposed Commentary .01 to 
Amex Rule 128A avoids double liability where an Auto-Ex Order takes an 
order on the book that establishes the APQ before the specialist begins 
to enter the acceptance of such ITS commitment into the order book. 
Pursuant to paragraph (j)(x) of Amex Rule 128A auto-execution will be 
unavailable during the period of time the specialist is in the process 
of executing the commitment.
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    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 49921 (June 25, 
2004), 69 FR 40690 (July 6, 2004) (SR-Amex-2004-04).
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    The result of the Commentary would be to treat ITS commitments in 
the same manner as other on-floor orders. The Commentary will not 
otherwise change the rules of priority, parity and precedence and on-
floor orders received after ITS commitments at the same price will 
yield priority to the ITS commitment.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b) of the Act \6\ in general and furthers the objectives 
of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act \7\ in particular in that it is designed 
to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to 
promote just and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation 
and coordination with persons engaged in regulating, clearing, 
settling, processing information with respect to and

[[Page 11282]]

facilitating transactions in securities, to remove impediments to and 
perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market 
system, and in general, to protect investors and the public interest; 
and is designed to prohibit unfair discrimination between customers, 
issuers, brokers and dealers.
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will 
impose any burden on competition.

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

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

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

    The proposed rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \8\ and subparagraph (f)(1) of Rule 19b-4 
thereunder \9\ because it constitutes a stated policy, practice, or 
interpretation with respect to the meaning, administration, or 
enforcement of an existing rule. At any time within 60 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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    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \9\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(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 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-Amex-2005-005 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-Amex-2005-005. 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 Room. Copies of such 
filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the 
principal office of the Amex. 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-Amex-2005-005 and should be submitted on or before March 
29, 2005.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\10\
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    \10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-968 Filed 3-7-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P