[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 59 (Wednesday, March 28, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14636-14637]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5638]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-55513; File No. SR-Phlx-2007-28]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc.; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change 
Relating to the Dissemination of Currency Spot Values

March 22, 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 March 22, 2007, the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc. (``Phlx'' or 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I and 
II below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Exchange 
filed the proposed rule change as a ``non-controversial'' proposed rule 
change pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) \3\ of the Act and Rule 19b-
4(f)(6) 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)(6).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Phlx proposes to disseminate a modified spot rate for its U.S. 
dollar-settled foreign currency options (``FCOs''). The text of the 
proposed rule change is available on the Phlx's Web site (http://www.phlx.com), at the principal office of Phlx, 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 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 the proposed rule change is to permit the Exchange 
to disseminate over the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association 
a modified spot rate for U.S. dollar-settled FCOs on the British pound 
and the euro, which the Exchange has listed since January 8, 2007.\5\
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    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 54989 (December 21, 
2006), 71 FR 78506 (December 29, 2006) (approving File No. SR-Phlx-
2006-34).
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    The modified spot rate will be calculated by the Exchange, based on 
spot prices (bids and asks) it receives from Thomson Financial LLC 
(``Thomson'').\6\ For each currency, the Exchange will determine the 
midpoint between the bid and the ask and will modify that rate by 
multiplying it by 100. For example, if 1.3200 U.S. dollars buys 1 euro, 
a modifier of 100 would be used so that the modified spot rate would 
become 132.00. If 1.3358 U.S. dollars buys 1 euro, the modified spot 
rate, using the same 100 modifier, would become 133.58. This proposed 
rule change is merely for purposes of dissemination of the modified 
spot rate over the facilities of the Consolidated Tape Association and 
does not amend or affect the Exchange's existing rules governing U.S. 
dollar-settled FCOs.
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    \6\ Currently, the Thomson spot prices are based on the bid/ask 
prices supplied to its agent Tenfore System Ltd. (``Tenfore'') by 
contributors reporting to Tenfore. Tenfore contributors comprise 19 
different banks, brokers and FX real time dealing portals. 
Contributors provide bid/ask prices to Tenfore which, in turn, 
forwards them to Thomson upon receipt. Thomson forwards those bid/
ask prices to Phlx upon receipt from Tenfore. At any given time the 
Thomson spot rate consists of the most current bid/ask prices 
provided by any contributor to Tenfore and forwarded by Tenfore to 
Thomson.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section 
6(b) of the Act \7\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 
6(b)(5) of the Act \8\ 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, in general, to protect investors and the public interest, 
by providing investors in U.S. dollar-settled FCOs the ability to more 
easily track the value of the underlying currencies in the spot market 
and therefore make informed trading decisions.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \8\ 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

    No written comments were either solicited or received.

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

    Because the proposed rule change does not: (i) Significantly affect 
the protection of investors or the public interest; (ii) impose any 
significant burden on competition; and (iii) become operative for 30 
days after the date of filing (or such shorter time as the Commission 
may designate if consistent with the protection of investors and the 
public interest), the proposed rule change has become effective 
pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \9\ and subparagraph (f)(6) 
of Rule 19b-4 thereunder.\10\
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \10\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
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    A proposed rule change filed under Rule 19b-4(f)(6) normally may 
not become operative prior to 30 days after the date of filing.\11\ 
However, Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii) \12\ permits the Commission to designate 
a shorter time if such action is consistent with the protection of

[[Page 14637]]

investors and the public interest. Phlx has requested that the 
Commission waive the 30-day operative delay. The Commission believes 
that waiving the 30-day operative delay is consistent with the 
protection of investors and the public interest because such waiver 
would permit the Exchange to immediately begin disseminating a modified 
spot rate, which would give investors another means to track the value 
of the currencies underlying the FCOs. For these reasons, the 
Commission designates the proposal to be operative upon filing with the 
Commission.\13\
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    \11\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii). In addition, Rule 19b-
4(f)(6)(iii) requires that a self-regulatory organization submit to 
the Commission written notice of its intent to file the proposed 
rule change, along with a brief description and text of the proposed 
rule change, at least five business days prior to the date of filing 
of the proposed rule change, or such shorter time as designated by 
the Commission. Phlx has satisfied the five-day pre-filing 
requirement.
    \12\ Id.
    \13\ For purposes only of waiving the operative delay for this 
proposal, the Commission has considered the proposed rule's impact 
on efficiency, competition, and capital formation. 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
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    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 the furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

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-Phlx-2007-28 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-Phlx-2007-28. 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 Phlx. 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-Phlx-2007-28 and should be submitted on or before April 18, 2007.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\14\
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    \14\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-5638 Filed 3-27-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P