[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 3 (Tuesday, January 6, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 486-488]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-31350]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-59170; File No. SR-NYSEALTR-2008-19]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice of Filing and Immediate 
Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change by NYSE Alternext US LLC To Amend 
Certain Regulatory Fees Applicable to Its Member Organizations

December 29, 2008.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the ``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that, on December 24, 2008, NYSE Alternext US LLC (the ``Exchange'' or 
``NYSE Alternext'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(the ``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

    NYSE Alternext proposes to (i) continue to waive registered 
representative fees for New York Stock Exchange (``NYSE'') member 
organizations that automatically became NYSE Alternext member 
organizations by operation of NYSE Alternext Equities Rule 2, and (ii) 
revise the examination fees payable by member organizations for which 
the Exchange is the Designated Examining Authority (``DEA''). The text 
of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's Web site 
(http://www.nyse.com), at the Exchange's Office of the Secretary, 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 self-regulatory organization 
included statements concerning the purpose of

[[Page 487]]

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. NYSE Alternext 
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
    In connection with the acquisition of the American Stock Exchange 
(renamed NYSE Alternext US at the time of the acquisition) by NYSE 
Euronext, all equities trading conducted on or through the American 
Stock Exchange legacy trading systems and facilities located at 86 
Trinity Place, New York, New York, was moved on December 1, 2008, to 
the NYSE trading facilities and systems located at 11 Wall Street, New 
York, New York (the ``NYSE Alternext Trading Systems''), which are 
operated by the NYSE on behalf of NYSE Alternext (the ``Equities 
Relocation''). At the time of the Equities Relocation, by operation of 
NYSE Alternext Equities Rule 2, all NYSE member organizations 
automatically became NYSE Alternext member organizations. By acquiring 
NYSE Alternext membership, the NYSE member organizations that were not 
previously NYSE Alternext members would become subject to the NYSE 
Alternext registration fees for all of their employees who serve as 
registered representatives. As these NYSE member organizations that had 
no NYSE Alternext business prior to the Equities Relocation became NYSE 
Alternext members without any action on their own part, NYSE Alternext 
waived the application of its registered representative fees to those 
firms for the month of December. At that time, NYSE Alternext stated 
that it expected to submit a filing to adopt a revised registered 
representative fee commencing January 1, 2009.\3\ NYSE Alternext has 
not yet determined how best to revise its registration fees in light of 
the accession to NYSE Alternext membership of these NYSE member 
organizations. As such, NYSE Alternext believes that it is appropriate 
to continue for the present its waiver of registered representative 
fees payable by member organizations which acquired their membership 
automatically in connection with the Equities Relocation. NYSE 
Alternext will submit a filing to the Commission at such time as it 
wishes to end this waiver. In any event, the current waiver will end by 
its terms on June 30, 2009, so NYSE Alternext must submit a filing on 
or prior to that date to either adopt a new fee approach or to further 
extend the term of the waiver.
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    \3\ See Exchange Act Release 59045 (December 3, 2008), 73 FR 
75151 (December 10, 2008) (SR-NYSEALTR-2008-09).
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    NYSE Alternext also proposes to revise its fees payable by member 
organizations for which the Exchange is the DEA. Currently, this fee is 
set at $0.00040 per dollar of gross revenue subject reported on FOCUS 
Report Form X-17A-5, subject to a minimum quarterly payment of (i) $250 
for member organizations not in engaged in public business and (ii) 
$750 for member organizations that are engaged in public business. 
Going forward, for purposes of establishing minimum DEA fees, the 
Exchange will no longer distinguish among member organizations on the 
basis of whether they are engaged in public business and will instead 
categorize them based on whether or not they are clearing firms. The 
minimum fee for non-clearing firms will be a monthly fee of $275 ($825 
per quarter) and the minimum fee for clearing firms will be a monthly 
fee of $1,000 ($3,000 per quarter). The Exchange is also eliminating 
the provision that member organizations operating additional entities 
subject to the minimum fees are subject to 50% of these minimum fees 
for each additional entity. As a consequence, these additional entities 
will be subject to the full minimum fee going forward. The Exchange is 
not making any change to the $0.00040 per dollar of gross revenue 
charge. The revisions proposed in this filing make the Exchange's DEA 
fees identical to those charged by the Chicago Board Options Exchange 
(``CBOE'') and more reflective of the costs the Exchange incurs in 
connection with its role as DEA.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the provisions of Section 6 \4\ of the Act in particular, in that 
it is designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable 
dues, fees and other charges among its members and other persons using 
its facilities. The Exchange believes that the proposal does not 
constitute an inequitable allocation of dues, fees and other charges as 
(i) the same DEA fees will be charged to all member organizations and 
(ii) the waiver of registered representative fees applies only to firms 
that became Alternext member organizations automatically without any 
action on their part and in spite of the fact that they did not conduct 
any Alternext business.
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    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f.
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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 written comments on 
the proposed rule change.

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

    The foregoing rule change is effective upon filing pursuant to 
Section 19(b)(3)(A) \5\ of the Act and Rule 19b-4(f)(2) \6\ thereunder.
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \6\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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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 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-NYSEALTR-2008-19 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities 
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090.

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEALTR-2008-19. This 
file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. 
To help the

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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, on official business days between 
the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be 
available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the 
Exchange. 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-
NYSEALTR-2008-19 and should be submitted on or before January 27, 2009.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\7\
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    \7\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-31350 Filed 1-5-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P