[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 208 (Friday, October 27, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63056-63057]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E6-17995]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-54629; File No. SR-Amex-2006-88]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; American Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Relating to Amendments to the 
Exchange's Generic Listing Standards for Index-Linked Securities

October 19, 2006.
    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 September 20, 2006, 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 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 to Section 107D(b) of the Amex 
Company Guide to extend the maximum duration of index-linked securities 
(``Index-Linked Securities'') from ten (10) years to thirty (30) years. 
The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Amex's Web 
site at http://www.amex.com, the Office of the Secretary of the Amex 
and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

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 Amex 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 Amex 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
    Pursuant to Section 107A of the Amex Company Guide, the Exchange 
may approve for listing and trading securities that cannot be readily 
categorized under the listing criteria for common and preferred 
securities, bonds, debentures, or warrants.\3\ In February 2005, the 
Commission approved the Exchange's proposal to add Section 107D to the 
Amex Company Guide for the purpose of adopting generic listing 
standards pursuant to Rule 19b-4(e) \4\ in connection with Index-Linked 
Securities.\5\
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 27753 (March 1, 
1990), 55 FR 8626 (March 8, 1990) (SR-Amex-89-29).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(e).
    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 51258 (February 25, 
2005), 70 FR 10700 (March 4, 2005) (SR-Amex-2005-001).
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    The Exchange states that Section 107D of the Amex Company Guide 
currently sets forth eleven (11) criteria that the issue and the issuer 
must meet in order to list and trade Index-Linked Securities at the 
Exchange.\6\ One of the criteria the Exchange considers for the listing 
and trading of Index-Linked Securities pursuant to 107D is that the 
term of the issue must be a minimum term of one (1) year but not 
greater than (10) years. The Exchange currently proposes to amend 
Section 107D(b) to extend the duration of the term of the issue from 
ten (10) years to thirty (30) years. The Exchange believes this 
amendment to Section 107D is appropriate due to increased demand from 
issuers to list and trade Index-Linked Securities that are greater than 
ten (10) years in duration. In addition, the Exchange notes that 
corporate bonds

[[Page 63057]]

and other fixed-income products have historically been issued with 
terms of up to, or greater than, thirty (30) years.
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    \6\ The Exchange may submit a rule filing pursuant to section 
19(b)(2) of the Act to permit the listing and trading of index 
linked securities that do not otherwise meet the generic listing 
criteria set forth in Section 107D.
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    The Exchange believes expanding the duration for Index-Linked 
Securities subject to generic listing standards in Section 107D of the 
Company Guide will help to foster quote competition and promote 
enhanced efficiency in the marketplace. Incorporating these guidelines 
into the Exchange's generic listing standards for Index-Linked 
Securities will allow Index-Linked Securities that satisfy the listing 
standards to begin trading pursuant to Rule 19b-4(e), without 
constituting a proposed rule change within the meaning of section 19(b) 
of the Act and Rule 19b-4, for which notice and comment and Commission 
approval is necessary.\7\ The Exchange's ability to rely on Rule 19b-
4(e) to list such Index-Linked Securities potentially reduces the time 
frame for bringing these securities to the market, thereby promoting 
competition and making such products available to investors more 
quickly. The Exchange also notes that the Commission has approved 
amendments to the generic listing standards for equity-linked notes 
that removed the maximum term limits for those securities.\8\
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    \7\ Telephone Conference on October 12, 2006 among Richard A. 
Mikaliunas, Senior Vice President, Amex and Nyieri Nazarian, 
Assistant General Counsel, Amex and Rebekah Liu, Special Counsel, 
Division of Market Regulation (``Division''), Commission and Mitra 
Mehr, Special Counsel, Division, Commission (Telephone Conference).
    \8\ Telephone Conference. See Securities Exchange Act Release 
No. 42110 (November 5, 1999), 64 FR 61677 (November 12, 1999) (SR-
Amex-99-33); 41992 (October 7, 1999), 64 FR 56007 (October 15, 1999) 
(SR-NYSE-99-22); 42313 (January 4, 2000), 65 FR 2205 (January 13, 
2000) (SR-CHX-99-19).
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with section 6 of the Act \9\ in general and furthers the objectives of 
section 6(b)(5) \10\ in particular in that it is designed to prevent 
fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and 
equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and coordination 
with persons engaged in facilitating transactions in securities, and to 
remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open 
market and a national market system.
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \10\ 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 does not impose 
any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

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

    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-Amex-2006-88 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Nancy M. Morris, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20549-1090.
    All submissions should refer to File Number SR-Amex-2006-88. 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-2006-88 and should be submitted on or before 
November 17, 2006.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
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    \11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Nancy M. Morris,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6-17995 Filed 10-26-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P