[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 148 (Wednesday, August 3, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Page 44702]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-4125]



[[Page 44702]]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-52146; File No. SR-OPRA-2005-02]


Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate 
Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment to the Plan for Reporting of 
Consolidated Options Last Sale Reports and Quotation Information To 
Revise the Manner in which OPRA's Professional Subscribers Fee at the 
Enterprise Rate Is Determined

July 28, 2005.
    Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 11Aa3-2 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that on July 11, 2005, the Options Price Reporting Authority (``OPRA'') 
submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') an 
amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated Options Last Sale 
Reports and Quotation Information (``OPRA Plan'').\3\ The proposed OPRA 
Plan amendment would revise the manner in which OPRA's Professional 
Subscribers Fee at the Enterprise Rate would be determined by amending 
the Enterprise Rate Amendment to the OPRA Professional Subscriber 
Agreement and the OPRA Professional Subscriber Fee Schedule. The 
Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments from 
interested persons on the proposed OPRA Plan amendment.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.11Aa3-2.
    \3\ The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan approved by 
the Commission pursuant to Section 11A of the Act and Rule 11Aa3-2 
thereunder. http://www.opradata.com.
    The OPRA Plan provides for the collection and dissemination of 
last sale and quotation information on options that are traded on 
the participant exchanges. The six participants to the OPRA Plan are 
the American Stock Exchange LLC, the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc., 
the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Inc., the International 
Securities Exchange, Inc., the Pacific Exchange, Inc., and the 
Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc.
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I. Description and Purpose of the Amendment

    OPRA states that the purpose of the proposed amendment is to 
slightly revise the manner in which OPRA's Professional Subscriber Fee 
at the Enterprise Rate is determined. The Enterprise Rate is an 
alternative to OPRA's device-based professional subscriber fee, and it 
is based on the total number of a professional subscriber's registered 
representatives in the United States, its territories, and possessions 
as determined on the last day of each calendar year or as determined at 
other times in accordance with the terms of the Enterprise Amendment to 
the Professional Subscriber Agreement.
    The proposed amendment provides that, in reporting the number of 
its registered representatives, a professional subscriber need not 
include persons who may previously have been registered 
representatives, but who are, at the time of the report, legally 
prohibited from acting as registered representatives (because, for 
example, their registration has been suspended or withdrawn) and who do 
not so act. To the extent such persons could have been taken into 
account in the calculation of the Professional Subscriber Fee at the 
Enterprise Rate, the effect of the proposed amendment would be to 
reduce the amount of the Fee. In addition, the proposed amendment to 
the Professional Subscriber Fee Schedule reflects the elimination of 
outdated language referring to fees that are no longer in effect. The 
text of the proposed rule change is available at the principal office 
of OPRA and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan Amendment

    Pursuant to paragraph (c)(3)(i) of Rule 11Aa3-2 under the Act,\4\ 
OPRA designates this amendment as establishing or changing a fee or 
other charge collected on behalf of all of the OPRA participants in 
connection with access to, or use of, OPRA facilities, thereby 
qualifying for effectiveness upon filing. The Commission may summarily 
abrogate the amendment within sixty days of its filing and require 
refiling and approval of the amendment by Commission order pursuant to 
Rule 11Aa3-2(c)(2) under the Act,\5\ if it appears to the Commission 
that such action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest; 
for the protection of investors and the maintenance of fair and orderly 
markets; to remove impediments to, and perfect the mechanisms of, a 
national market system; or otherwise in furtherance of the purposes of 
the Act.
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    \4\ 17 CFR 240.11Aa3-2(c)(3)(i).
    \5\ 17 CFR 240.11Aa3-2(c)(2).
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III. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed OPRA 
Plan amendment 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 No. SR-OPRA-2005-02 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Jonathan G. Katz, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20549-9303.
    All submissions should refer to File Number SR-OPRA-2005-02. 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 plan amendment that 
are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating 
to the proposed plan amendment 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, 100 F Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20549. Copies of such filing also will be available 
for inspection and copying at the principal office of OPRA. 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-OPRA-2005-02 and should be 
submitted on or before August 24, 2005.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\6\
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    \6\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(29).
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Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-4125 Filed 8-2-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P