[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 32 (Thursday, February 18, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8264-8265]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2016-03275]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-77123; File No. 4-533]


Joint Industry Plan; Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 3 to the 
National Market System Plan for the Selection and Reservation of 
Securities Symbols Submitted by Financial Industry Regulatory 
Authority, Inc., BATS Exchange, Inc., BOX Options Exchange, LLC, 
Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated, Chicago Stock Exchange, 
Inc., EDGA Exchange, Inc., EDGX Exchange, Inc., International 
Securities Exchange, LLC, NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc., NASDAQ OMX PHLX, Inc., 
The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC, National Stock Exchange, Inc., New York 
Stock Exchange, LLC, NYSE MKT, LLC, and NYSE Arca, Inc.

February 11, 2016.
    On August 24, 2015, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. 
(``FINRA''), on behalf of the following parties to the National Market 
System Plan for the Selection and Reservation of Securities Symbols 
(the ``Plan''): BATS Exchange, Inc. (``BATS''), BOX Options Exchange, 
LLC (``BOX''), Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (``CBOE''), 
Chicago Stock Exchange, Inc. (``CHX''), EDGA Exchange, Inc. (``EDGA''), 
EDGX Exchange, Inc. (``EDGX''), FINRA, International Securities 
Exchange, LLC (``ISE''), NASDAQ OMX BX, Inc. (``BX''), NASDAQ OMX PHLX, 
Inc. (``Phlx''), The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq''), National 
Stock Exchange, Inc. (``NSX''), New York Stock Exchange, LLC 
(``NYSE''), NYSE MKT, LLC (``NYSE MKT''), and NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE 
Arca'') (collectively with FINRA, the ``Parties''), filed with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission''), pursuant to 
Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') \1\ and 
Rule 608 thereunder,\2\ a proposal to amend the Plan.\3\ The proposal 
represents the third substantive amendment to the Plan (``Amendment'') 
and reflects changes unanimously approved by the Parties.\4\ The 
Amendment to the Plan proposes to revise Section IV(d) of the Plan 
(Reuse of a Symbol) to provide that, where a Party ceases to use a 
symbol, such party may elect to release the symbol and that such symbol 
may not be reused to identify a new security (other than the security 
that has been trading under such symbol) within 90 calendar days from 
the last day of its use to identify the old security, without the 
consent of the Party that released the symbol. In addition, a Party may 
not reuse (or consent to the reuse of) a symbol to identify a new 
security unless such Party reasonably determines that such use would 
not cause investor confusion. The Commission is publishing this notice 
to solicit comments from interested persons on the Amendment to the 
Plan.\5\
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
    \2\ 17 CFR 242.608.
    \3\ The Plan provides an orderly process for Parties to reserve 
available ticker symbols for equity securities. Specifically, each 
party to the Plan may reserve a set number of 1-, 2-, or 3-character 
symbols and a set number of 4- or 5-character symbols. In the case 
of 1-, 2-, or 3-character symbols, each party may reserve up to 20 
symbols perpetually (i.e., without a time limit on the reservation) 
as ``List A reservations,'' and 1,500 symbols for 24 months (i.e., 
with a 24-month expiration on the reservation) as ``List B 
reservations.'' Each party also may reserve the same number of 
symbols on a separate ``List A'' and a separate ``List B'' for 4- or 
5-character symbols.
    \4\ On November 6, 2008, the Commission approved the Symbology 
Plan that was originally proposed by the CHX, Nasdaq, FINRA, NSX, 
and Phlx, subject to certain changes. See Securities Exchange Act 
Release No. 58904, 73 FR 67218 (November 13, 2008) (File No. 4-533). 
On November 18, 2008, the ISE, and on December 22, 2008, NYSE, NYSE 
Arca, NYSE MKT (f/k/a ``NYSE Alternext US, LLC'') and CBOE, and on 
December 24, 2008, NASDAQ OMX BX, filed amendments to join the Plan, 
which amendments became immediately effective upon filing. See 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59024 (November 26, 2008), 73 FR 
74538 (December 8, 2008) (File No. 4-533) (ISE filing to join the 
Plan); Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59162 (December 24, 
2008), 74 FR 132 (January 2, 2009) (File No. 4-533) (NYSE, NYSE 
Arca, NYSE Alternext US LLC and CBOE filing to join the Plan); and 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59187 (December 30, 2008), 74 FR 
729 (January 7, 2009) (File No. 4-533) (NASDAQ OMX BX filing to join 
the Plan). On January 5, 2009 and March 6, 2009, the Parties amended 
the plan to modify certain effective dates in the Plan, which 
amendments became immediately effective upon filing. See Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 59225 (January 9, 2009), 73 FR 3117 
(January 16, 2009) (File No. 4-533) (Amendment No. 1); and 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59574 (March 13, 2009), 74 FR 
11981 (March 20, 2009) (File No. 4-533) (Amendment No. 2). On 
September 30, 2009, BATS, on July 7, 2010, EDGA and EDGX, and on May 
7, 2012, BOX, filed amendments to join the Plan, which amendments 
became immediately effective upon filing. See Securities Exchange 
Act Release No. 60856 (October 21, 2009), 74 FR 55276 (October 27, 
2009) (File No. 4-533) (BATS filing to join the Plan); Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 62573 (July 26, 2010), 75 FR 45682 (August 
3, 2010) (File No. 4-533) (EDGA and EDGX filing to join the Plan); 
and Securities Exchange Act Release No. 66957 (May 10, 2012), 77 FR 
28904 (May 16, 2012) (File No. 4-533) (BOX filing to join the Plan).
    \5\ 17 CFR 242.608(b)(1).
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I. Description and Purpose of the Amendment

    The Plan was created to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of 
the national market system and to provide for fair competition between 
the self-regulatory organizations (``SROs'') by establishing a uniform 
system for the selection and reservation of securities symbols. The 
Plan, among other things, sets forth the process for securing perpetual 
and limited-time reservations, the use of a waiting list, the right to 
reuse a symbol and the ability to request the release of a symbol.
    Under Section IV(d) of the current Plan, if a Party ceases to use a 
symbol, such Party automatically has that symbol reserved for a period 
of 24 months, notwithstanding any other limits on the number of 
reserved symbols specified in the Plan.\6\ However, in the event that 
the Party ceasing to use the symbol neither: (1) Places the symbol on 
its List A, or (2) uses the symbol within 24 months, the symbol is 
released for use pursuant to Section IV(b)(5) (Non-Use or Release of 
Symbols Within Time Period). In such cases, the symbol may be reused by 
a different Party to identify a new security in accordance with the 
procedures set forth in the Plan. Section IV(d) of the Plan provides 
that a symbol may not be reused by a Party to identify a new security 
unless the Party reasonably determines that such use would not cause 
investor confusion. Thus, even where a Party releases a symbol for 
reuse, such symbol may not be reused to identify a new security if such 
use would cause investor confusion in the judgment of the party seeking 
to reuse the symbol.
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    \6\ Except that, pursuant to paragraph (f) of Section IV 
(Portability of Symbols in Use), if a new SRO lists a security or 
product that previously was listed on another SRO, the new SRO has 
the right to that symbol unless, in its discretion, it consents to 
the symbol being retained by the former SRO.
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    The Parties are amending Section IV(d) of the Plan to clarify that, 
if a Party ceases use of a symbol, such Party may elect to release the 
symbol pursuant to paragraph (b)(5) of the Plan. If a Party does not 
release the symbol, such

[[Page 8265]]

symbol shall automatically be reserved for such Party for 24 months, as 
further described in the Plan. The proposed amendments further clarify 
that, if the Party does not place the symbol on List A or use the 
symbol within 24 months, the symbol shall be released for use pursuant 
to subparagraph (b)(5).
    The amendment also proposes a new requirement. Specifically, that 
where a symbol has become available for reuse by a new Party (e.g., 
where a Party releases a symbol), such symbol may not be reused to 
identify a new security (other than the security that has been trading 
under such symbol) within 90 calendar days from the last day of its use 
to identify the old security, without the consent of the Party that 
released the symbol pursuant to paragraph (b)(5) of Section IV. Thus, 
even where a symbol is not reserved for the Party most recently using 
the symbol, the amended Plan would continue to provide for a fair and 
orderly approach with regard to the reuse of the symbol.
    For example, the amendment would address situations where a Party 
had been using symbol WXYZ for a period of years to identify the 
security of a particular company and, following the dissolution of the 
company, symbol WXYZ is released by the Party that had been using it. 
Under the current Plan, the Party using WXYZ to identify the security 
of the dissolved company would have that symbol reserved for a period 
of 24 months, and, at any time within this 24-month period, pursuant to 
Section IV(b)(6) (Request for Release of a Symbol), any other Party may 
have requested the voluntary release of the symbol for reuse. The 
amendment to the Plan retains this same basic framework, but also 
explicitly addresses circumstances in which a Party does not reserve 
the symbol but elects to release the symbol pursuant to paragraph 
(b)(5), in which case the symbol becomes immediately available to be 
reused by another Party to identify a different security. Under the 
amendment to the Plan, at any time within 90 calendar days from the 
last day of its use to identify the old security, such symbol may not 
be reused to identify a new security unless the Party seeking to reuse 
the symbol obtains the consent of the Party that most recently released 
the symbol. The Party most recently releasing the symbol must 
reasonably determine that reuse would not cause investor confusion 
prior to providing its consent.
    As is the case today, at no time may a Party reuse a symbol unless 
the Party seeking the reuse also reasonably determines that such use 
would not cause investor confusion. In making a reasonable 
determination as to whether the reuse of a symbol would cause investor 
confusion, Parties would consider factors such as the level of recent 
activity in the old security, including trading frequency, volume and 
the number of market maker quotes.
    The Amendment also contains several technical and ministerial 
amendments. First, the Plan is being amended to update NSX's principal 
place of business from its former address of 440 South LaSalle Street, 
Suite 2600, Chicago, IL 60605 to its new address of 101 Hudson Street, 
Suite 1200, Jersey City, NJ 07302. This Amendment also reflects a name 
change by one of the Parties. Specifically, the ``NYSE Alternext US 
LLC'' is now called ``NYSE MKT LLC.'' Finally, the Parties also are 
amending the Plan to update the principal place of business for both 
EDGA and EDGX from its former address at 545 Washington Blvd., Jersey 
City, NJ 07310 to 8050 Marshall Drive, Lenexa, KS 66214.
    The Parties believe that the Amendment provides for a fair and 
orderly approach that would be applied consistently by all Parties to 
facilitate investor protection, does not disparately affect any single 
Party, and thus, does not impose any burden on competition that is not 
necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

II. Implementation of Plan Amendment

    The Parties will implement the Amendment upon Commission approval.

III. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the Amendment 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 email to [email protected]. Please include 
File Number 4-533 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number 4-533. This file number 
should be included on the subject line if email 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 Plan that are filed with the Commission, 
and all written communications relating to the Plan 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 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of 
such filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the 
Parties' principal offices. 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 4-533, and should be submitted on or before March 10, 2016.

    By the Commission.
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-03275 Filed 2-17-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P