[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 21, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13322-13324]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5115]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-55472; File No. SR-BSE-2007-08]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Boston Stock Exchange, Inc.; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change 
and Amendment No. 1 Thereto To Add an Automatic Quote Cancellation 
Procedure to the Boston Options Exchange Rules

 March 14, 2007.
    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 15, 2007, the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc. (``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 substantially prepared by the 
Exchange. On March 13, 2007, BSE submitted Amendment No. 1 to the 
proposed rule change. BSE has filed the proposal pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \3\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(5) 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, as amended, 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)(5).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    BSE proposes to add Section 15, Automatic Quote Cancellation 
Procedure, to Chapter VI in the Boston Options Exchange (``BOX'') 
Rules. This proposed addition to the BOX Rules will provide a BOX 
Market Maker the option of enabling automatic quote cancellation 
protection so its quotes will be automatically cancelled if it is 
technically disconnected from the BOX Trading Host. The text of the 
proposed rule change is below. Proposed new language is in italics.
Chapter VI. Market Makers
    Sec. 1 through Sec. 14--No Change.
    Sec. 15 Automatic Quote Cancellation Procedure:
    (a) The Automatic Quote Cancellation Procedure is enabled (or 
disabled) for all of a Market Maker's appointed options classes when a 
Market Maker sends an Automatic Quote Cancellation Procedure enabling 
(or disabling) message to the Trading Host. The Market Maker must 
provide in the enable message the duration of no technical connectivity 
after which the Trading Host should cancel his quotes (set for a 
duration of between one and nine seconds). Unless enabled, the 
Automatic Quote Cancellation Procedure is disabled for all options 
classes.
    (b) When the Automatic Quote Cancellation Procedure has been 
enabled, the Trading Host will automatically cancel all quotes posted 
by the Market Maker in all of the Market Maker's appointed options 
classes when

[[Page 13323]]

there has been no technical communication with the Trading Host for the 
time indicated by the Market Maker as described in section 15(a) above.
* * * * *

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

    In its filing with the Commission, 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. 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 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The proposed addition to the BOX Rules will provide a BOX Market 
Maker protection when it becomes disconnected from the BOX Trading 
Host. The proposed rule will allow a BOX Market Maker the option to 
turn on the automatic quote cancellation protection by sending an 
enabling message to the BOX Trading Host. The enabling message must 
provide the duration of no technical connectivity (between one and nine 
seconds) after which the BOX Trading Host will cancel all of the Market 
Maker's quotes. Once the Market Maker enables this protection, the BOX 
Trading Host will count the number of seconds since the last quote 
message or heartbeat (``Message'') received from the Market Maker. Each 
Market Maker Message received by the BOX Trading Host will restart the 
counter. A Market Maker's quotes will be automatically canceled if the 
BOX Trading Host counter reaches the Market Maker's specified 
timeframe. There is no outgoing message sent by the BOX Trading Host 
which will trigger the automatic quote cancellation procedure. The 
Exchange believes that this proposed rule change will benefit the 
marketplace, as it reduces the chance of erroneous or stale quotes if a 
BOX Market Maker loses technical connectivity.
    The following example illustrates how the Automatic Quote 
Cancellation Procedure will work:

START OF THE DAY

11:37:05:82--Market Maker sends a message enabling the automatic quote 
cancellation procedure, setting the BOX Trading Host counter for 5 
seconds of no activity
Counter starts
11:37:09:26--Market Maker sends a Bulk Quote on class 1
Counter re-starts
11:37:10:06--Market Maker sends a Panic Quote on class 1
Counter re-starts
11:37:12:06--Market Maker sends a Bulk Quote on class 2
Counter re-starts
11:37:13:06--Market Maker sends a Heartbeat
Counter re-starts
11:37:18:07--Nothing received from the Market Maker.
The Box Trading Host cancels all of the Market Maker's quotes.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposal is consistent with the 
provisions of Section 6(b) of the Act,\5\ in general, and with Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act,\6\ in particular, in that the proposal is designed 
to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, 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, in general, to protect investors and the public interest.
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \6\ 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 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

    The Exchange has neither solicited nor received comments on the 
proposed rule change.

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

    Because the proposed rule change does not: (1) Significantly affect 
the protection of investors or the public interest; (2) impose any 
significant burden on competition; and (3) have the effect of limiting 
the access to or availability of an existing order entry or trading 
system of the Exchange, the foregoing rule change has become effective 
immediately pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \7\ and 
Rule 19b-4(f)(5) thereunder.\8\ 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.\9\
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
    \8\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(5).
    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(C). For purposes of calculating the 60-
day period within which the Commission may summarily abrogate the 
proposal, the Commission considers the period to commence on March 
13, 2007, the date on which the Exchange submitted Amendment No. 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-BSE-2007-08 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-BSE-2007-08. 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 the 
filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the 
principal office of BSE. All comments received will be posted

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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-2007-08 and should be submitted on or before April 
11, 2007.

    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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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-5115 Filed 3-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P