[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 129 (Wednesday, July 7, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39073-39074]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-16406]



[[Page 39073]]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-62412; File No. SR-NYSEAmex-2010-63]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule 
Change by NYSE Amex LLC Amending NYSE Amex Equities Rule 80C To Add 
Additional Securities to the Pilot Rule

June 30, 2010.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (the ``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby 
given that, on June 30, 2010, NYSE Amex LLC (the ``Exchange'' or ``NYSE 
Amex'') 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 self-regulatory 
organization. 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\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
    \3\ 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 NYSE Amex Equities Rule 80C to add 
additional securities to the pilot rule. The text of the proposed rule 
change is available at the Exchange, the Commission's Web site at 
http://www.sec.gov, the Commission's Public Reference Room, and http://www.nyse.com.

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, and basis for, the 
proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the 
proposed rule change. The text of those 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 parts of such statements.

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

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to amend NYSE Amex Equities Rule 80C to add 
securities included in the Russell 1000[supreg] Index to the pilot 
rule.
    Rule 80C was approved by the Commission on June 10, 2010 on a pilot 
basis to end on December 10, 2010.\4\ As the Exchange noted in its 
filing to adopt Rule 80C, during the pilot period, the Exchange would 
continue to assess whether additional securities need to be added and 
whether the parameters of the rule would need to be modified to 
accommodate trading characteristics of different securities.
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    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62252 (June 10, 
2010) (SR-NYSEAmex-2010-46).
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    Currently, the pilot list of securities is all securities included 
in the S&P 500[supreg] Index (``S&P 500''). As noted in comment letters 
to the original filing to adopt Rule 80C, concerns were raised that 
including only securities in the S&P 500 in the pilot rule was too 
narrow. In particular, commenters noted that additional equity 
securities that experienced volatility on May 6, 2010 should be 
included in the pilot. The Exchange agrees with the commenters that the 
pilot list of securities should be expanded.
    In consultation with other markets and staff of the Securities and 
Exchange Commission, the Exchange proposes to add the securities 
included in the Russell 1000 to the pilot beginning in July 2010, 
subject to Commission approval. The Exchange believes that adding these 
securities would begin to address concerns that the scope of the pilot 
may be too narrow, while at the same time recognizing that during the 
pilot period, the markets will continue to review whether and when to 
add additional securities to the pilot and whether the parameters of 
the rule should be adjusted for different securities.
    In particular, the Exchange proposes to add securities included in 
the Russell 1000 because the Exchange believes that the securities 
included in that index have similar trading characteristics to 
securities included in the S&P 500 (many of which are the same 
securities) and therefore the existing 10% price movement applicable 
before invoking a trading pause would be appropriate for the Russell 
1000 securities. Because the Exchange does not propose to modify the 
10% price movement at this time, the Exchange believes that expanding 
to the Russell 1000 is an appropriate next step. Based on our analysis, 
the number of times that the Trading Pause would be triggered for 
Russell 1000 securities would be similar to the instances for the S&P 
500 securities.
    As noted above, during the pilot, the Exchange will continue to re-
assess whether specific securities should be added or removed from the 
pilot list. The Exchange will also assess whether the parameters for 
invoking a trading pause continue to be the appropriate standard and 
whether the parameters should be modified.
    To effect this change, the Exchange proposes to amend supplementary 
material .10 to Rule 7.11 [sic] to provide that the pilot applies to 
all securities in the S&P 500, as well as securities in the Russell 
1000. Because specified Exchange Traded Products (``ETP''), including 
the Invesco PowerShares QQQ Exchange Trading Fund (symbol: QQQQ), will 
be part of the Trading Pause rule for markets that trade ETPs, and 
because the Exchange anticipates that it will be trading QQQQ on an 
unlisted trading privilege basis,\5\ the Exchange also proposes to add 
this security to the supplementary material.
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    \5\ See Securities Exchange Release Act No. 61890 (April 12, 
2010), 75 FR 20401 (April 19, 2010) (SR-NYSEAmex-2010-31).
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2. Statutory Basis
    The statutory basis for the proposed rule change is Section 6(b)(5) 
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ``Act''),\6\ which requires 
the rules of an exchange 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. The proposed rule change also is 
designed to support the principles of Section 11A(a)(1) \7\ of the Act 
in that it seeks to assure fair competition among brokers and dealers 
and among exchange markets. The Exchange believes that the proposed 
rule meets these requirements in that it promotes uniformity across 
markets concerning decisions to pause trading in a security when there 
are significant price movements.
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    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1(a)(1).
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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 solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

[[Page 39074]]

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.\8\
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    \8\ The Commission notes that the Exchange has requested 
accelerated approval of the filing.
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IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning all aspects of the foregoing, including whether 
the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act.
    For markets trading exchange-traded products,\9\ the Commission has 
solicited comment on the implications of including a trading pause 
pilot for exchange-traded funds for broad-based indices that also 
underlie options and futures products.
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    \9\ See, e.g., SR-NYSEArca-2010-61.
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    In addition, the Commission solicits comments regarding the 
operation of the trading pause pilot to date with respect to stocks in 
the S&P 500.
    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-NYSEAmex-2010-63 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEAmex-2010-63. 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 Web site 
viewing and printing in the Commission's Public Reference Room 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 offices 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-NYSEAmex-2010-63, and should be submitted on or before 
July 19, 2010.\10\
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    \10\ The Commission believes that a 10-day comment period is 
reasonable, given the urgency of the matter. It will provide 
adequate time for comment.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
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    \11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-16406 Filed 7-6-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P