[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 16, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9070-9071]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-3471]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-63886; File No. SR-DTC-2011-02]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Depository Trust Company; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change 
Relating to a New Standard To Communicate Corporate Action Events to 
Participants

February 10, 2011.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ notice is hereby given that on January 28, 2011, The 
Depository Trust Company (``DTC'') 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 
primarily by DTC. DTC filed the proposed rule change pursuant to 
Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \2\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(4) thereunder 
\3\ so that the proposal was 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\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii).
    \3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(4).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    Under the proposed rule change, a group of DTC Participants has 
volunteered to participate in a pilot test whereby on or about April 
25, 2011, DTC will publish corporate actions pursuant to the 
International Standard Organization (``ISO'') 20022 format.

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

    In its filing with the Commission, DTC 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. DTC 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

    DTC handles essential aspects of corporate action \4\ processing by 
routinely receiving and distributing information to its Participants 
using its proprietary computer to computer facility (``CCF'') files. In 
order to reduce risk and to improve transparency in the announcement 
and processing of corporate actions, DTC is updating its standards for 
announcing these events by publishing corporate action data pursuant to 
the International Standards Organization (``ISO'') 20022 format for the 
entire lifecycle of the event.
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    \4\ A corporate action is an event that produces a corporate 
restructuring. Some of the most common corporate actions include 
dividend payments, interest payments, voluntary tender offers, and 
redemption of municipal and corporate bonds.
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    A group of DTC Participants has volunteered to participate in a 
pilot test on or about April 25, 2011, whereby corporate actions will 
be published in the ISO 20022 format. The pilot data will be created in 
a test environment with the data systemically generated from the prior 
day's production and will include event types, payout types, and other 
key corporate action information. Participants have been advised that 
they should not rely on the data from this pilot to run their 
production processes.\5\

[[Page 9071]]

DTC expects to make ISO 20022 messages available to all Participants 
beginning on or about June 30, 2011. DTC will continue to support its 
legacy proprietary CCF files until 2015.\6\
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    \5\ The Participants participating in the pilot will continue to 
receive corporate action information by CCF files in order to run 
their production processes.
    \6\ DTC notified its participants of this initiative to 
communicate corporate actions messages based on ISO 20022 through 
several Important Notices. See, e.g., DTC Important Notice B7024-10 
(July 26, 2010), http://www.dtcc.com/downloads/legal/imp_notices/2010/dtc/ope/7024-10.pdf, and DTC Important Notice 6620-10 (Apr. 20, 
2010), http://www.dtcc.com/downloads/legal/imp_notices/2010/dtc/reo/6620-10.pdf.
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    DTC states that this rule filing is consistent with the 
requirements of Section 17A of the Act \7\ and the rules and 
regulations thereunder because it modifies a DTC service in order to 
make the process for notifying Participants of corporate action events 
more efficient.
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    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1.
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    DTC does not believe that the proposed rule change will have any 
impact or impose any burden on competition.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    DTC has not solicited or received written comments relating to the 
proposed rule change. DTC will notify the Commission of any written 
comments it receives.

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

    The foregoing rule change has become effective upon filing pursuant 
to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act \8\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(4) \9\ 
because the proposed rule change effects a change in an existing 
service of DTC that (i) does not adversely affect the safeguarding of 
securities or funds in DTC's custody or control or for which it is 
responsible and (ii) does not significantly affect the respective 
rights of DTC or persons using the service. At any time within 60 days 
of the filing of the proposed rule change, the Commission summarily may 
temporarily suspend 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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    \8\ Supra note 2.
    \9\ Supra note 3.
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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 No. SR-DTC-2011-02 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 No. SR-DTC-2011-02. 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, 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 filings also will be available for 
inspection and copying at DTC's principal office and DTC's Web site at 
http://www.dtc.org/impNtc/mor/index.html. 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 No. SR-DTC-2011-02 and should be submitted on or 
before March 9, 2011.

    For the Commission by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\10\
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    \10\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Cathy H. Ahn,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-3471 Filed 2-15-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P