[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 140 (Friday, July 22, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42396-42397]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-3913]



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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-52033; File No. SR-BSE-2005-20]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Boston Stock Exchange; Notice of 
Filing of Proposed Rule Change Relating to Trade Shredding

July 14, 2005.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934, as amended, (``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is 
hereby given that on June 23, 2005, the Boston Stock Exchange (``BSE'' 
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 Exchange. 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

    The Exchange proposes to amend its rules relating to trade 
shredding (``Units of Trading''). The text of the proposed rule change 
appears below. Additions are in italics.
* * * * *

Chapter II

Dealings on the Exchange

SEC. 4.

Units of Trading

    The unit of trading in bonds shall be $1000 in par value thereof.
    The unit of trading in stocks shall be 100 shares, except that the 
Exchange may fix a smaller number of shares in any particular instance.
    Bids or offers for less than the unit of trading shall specify the 
par value of the bonds or number of shares of stock covered by the bid 
or offer.
    A customer's order in the unit of trading, or multiples thereof, in 
any security traded on the Exchange, the primary market for which is on 
another Exchange, may not be split into odd-lots. A member may not 
split any order into multiple smaller orders for any purpose other than 
seeking the best execution of the entire order.
* * * * *

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 BSE 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 BSE 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 the 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The purpose of the proposed rule change is to amend a section of 
the Rules of the Board of Governors of the Boston Stock Exchange (``BSE 
Rules'') to prohibit trade shredding. The BSE is proposing to add 
language to its existing BSE Rules to prohibit BSE members from 
splitting large orders into multiple smaller orders for any purpose 
other than best execution.
2. Statutory Basis
    The proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the 
Act,\3\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of 
the Act,\4\ in particular, in that it is designed to promote just and 
equitable principles of trade, to remove impediments to and perfect the 
mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system, and 
is not designed to permit unfair discrimination between customers, 
brokers, or dealers, or to regulate by virtue of any authority matters 
not related to the administration of the Exchange.
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    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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B.Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change will impose no 
burden on competition.

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

    The Exchange has neither solicited nor received comments on this 
proposal.

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 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-BSE-2005-20 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Jonathan G. Katz, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, Station Place, 100 F 
Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-9303.
    All submissions should refer to File Number SR-BSE-2005-20. 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 offices of BSE. All

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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-BSE-2005-20 and should be 
submitted on or before August 12, 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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Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-3913 Filed 7-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P