[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 38 (Friday, February 27, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9013-9014]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-4153]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-59427; File No. SR-CBOE-2009-008]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Chicago Board Options Exchange, 
Incorporated; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed 
Rule Change Relating to the Options Regulatory Fee

February 20, 2009.
    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 18, 2009, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated 
(``CBOE'' or the ``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 CBOE. 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

    Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (``CBOE'' or 
``Exchange'') proposes to amend its Fees Schedule relating to the 
Options Regulatory Fee. The text of the proposed rule change is 
available on the Exchange's Web site (http://www.cboe.org/legal), 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, CBOE 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. CBOE 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

(a) Purpose
    In October 2008, the Exchange filed a proposed rule change to 
eliminate Registered Representative Fees and establish a transaction-
based ``Options Regulatory Fee'' (``ORF'').\3\ The ORF was to be 
effective January 1, 2009. In December 2008 and January 2009, the 
Exchange filed proposed rule changes waiving the ORF for January and 
February, to allow additional time for the Exchange, the Options 
Clearing Corporation (``OCC'') and firms to put in place appropriate 
procedures to implement the fee.\4\
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58817 (October 20, 
2008), 73 FR 63744 (October 27, 2008). The ORF is $.0045 per 
contract and is assessed to each member for all options transactions 
executed by the member that are cleared by The Options Clearing 
Corporation (``OCC'') in the customer range (i.e., that clear in a 
customer account at OCC), excluding Options Intermarket Linkage Plan 
(``Linkage'') orders. The ORF is imposed upon all such transactions 
executed by a member, even if such transactions do not take place on 
the Exchange. The ORF is collected indirectly from members through 
their clearing firms by OCC on behalf of the Exchange.
    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59182 (December 30, 
2008), 74 FR 730 (January 7, 2009), and Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 59355 (February 3, 2009), 74 FR 6677 (February 10, 
2009).
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    The Exchange has reevaluated the current amount of the ORF in light 
of the waiver of the ORF for the first two months of 2009 and recent 
volume levels. The Exchange has determined that it would experience a 
regulatory revenue shortfall for 2009 if the ORF remained at $.0045 per 
contract. To avoid a regulatory revenue shortfall for 2009, the 
Exchange proposes to change the ORF from $.0045 per contract to $.006 
per contract. The amount of the ORF will be one-cent in the case of a 
one-contract trade, i.e., there is a minimum one-cent charge per trade. 
The Exchange represents that the proposed new ORF rate would generate 
approximately the same amount of revenue for calendar year 2009 that 
would have been generated by the current ORF if the ORF had not been 
waived for two months.
    As stated in its rule filing establishing the ORF, the Exchange 
will monitor the amount of revenue collected from the ORF to ensure 
that it, in combination with its other regulatory fees and fines, does 
not exceed regulatory costs. The Exchange expects to monitor regulatory 
costs and revenues at a minimum on an annual basis. If the Exchange 
determines regulatory revenues exceed regulatory costs, the Exchange 
would adjust the ORF by submitting a fee change filing to the 
Commission. The Exchange will notify members of adjustments to the ORF 
via regulatory circular.
    The Exchange also proposes to delete references to Registered 
Representative fees from Section 12 of the Fees Schedule. All of the 
proposed rule changes will become operative on March 1, 2009.
(b) Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with 
Section 6(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') \5\, in 
general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) \6\ 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 
the revised ORF is reasonable because it relates to the recovery of the 
costs of supervising and regulating members and it is expected to 
generate approximately the same amount of revenue for calendar year 
2009 that would have been generated by the current ORF if the ORF had 
not been waived for the first two months of 2009.
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).

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[[Page 9014]]

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    CBOE does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any 
burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in 
furtherance of 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

    The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section 
19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \7\ and subparagraph (f)(2) of Rule 19b-4 \8\ 
thereunder. 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.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \8\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(2).
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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-CBOE-2009-008 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-CBOE-2009-008. 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, 100 F Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10 
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such 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 publicly available. All 
submissions should refer to File Number SR-CBOE-2009-008 and should be 
submitted on or before March 20, 2009.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\9\
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    \9\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-4153 Filed 2-26-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P