Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment To Revise OPRA's Fee Schedule and its “Policies With Respect to Device-Based Fees”, 13317-13319 [E7-5087]
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 21, 2007 / Notices
situation, that payment of OPRA’s fees
by the Third Party Payor is eligible for
the safe harbor under Section 28(e) of
the Act.4 In particular, the revised form
states expressly that OPRA will waive a
Professional Subscriber’s obligation
under its PSA to pay OPRA’s fees in
consideration for the agreement of the
Third Party Payor to pay fees directly to
OPRA for the Professional Subscriber’s
receipt of OPRA Information.
II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan
Amendment
Pursuant to paragraphs (b)(3) of Rule
608 under the Act,5 OPRA designates
this amendment as concerned solely
with the administration of the OPRA
Plan and/or as involving solely
technical or ministerial matters, thereby
qualifying for effectiveness upon filing.
OPRA states that it will begin to use
the proposed revised form ‘‘Third Party
Billing Agreement’’ upon filing with the
Commission. However, OPRA states that
these revised documents would be used
only on a prospective basis. Existing
Professional Subscribers and Third
Party Payors that are parties to existing
payment arrangements would not be
required to execute the revised form.
However, upon the request from a
Professional Subscriber and Third Party
Payor, OPRA will execute the revised
form with respect to their existing
payment arrangement if the Third Party
Payor is current in its payments.
The Commission may summarily
abrogate the amendment within sixty
days of its filing and require refiling and
approval of the amendment by
Commission order pursuant to Rule
608(b)(2) under the Act 6 if it appears to
the Commission that such action is
necessary or appropriate in the public
interest, for the protection of investors
and the maintenance of fair and orderly
markets, to remove impediments to, and
perfect the mechanisms of, a national
market system, or otherwise in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
III. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed OPRA
Plan amendment is consistent with the
Act. Comments may be submitted by
any of the following methods:
• Send an e-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File
No. SR–OPRA–2007–01 on the subject
line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Nancy M. Morris, Secretary,
Securities and Exchange Commission,
100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC
20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–OPRA–2007–01. 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 (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent
amendments, all written statements
with respect to the proposed plan
amendment that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the
proposed plan amendment 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. Copies of such filing also will be
available for inspection and copying at
the principal office of OPRA. 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–OPRA–2007–01 and should
be submitted on or before April 11,
2007.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated
authority.7
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7–5086 Filed 3–20–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s Internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
4 15
U.S.C. 78bb.
CFR 242.608(b)(3).
6 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2).
5 17
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7 17
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–55455; File No. SR–OPRA–
2007–02]
Options Price Reporting Authority;
Notice of Filing and Immediate
Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment
To Revise OPRA’s Fee Schedule and
its ‘‘Policies With Respect to DeviceBased Fees’’
March 13, 2007.
Pursuant to Section 11A of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 608 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on February
23, 2007 the Options Price Reporting
Authority (‘‘OPRA’’) submitted to the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) an amendment to the
Plan for Reporting of Consolidated
Options Last Sale Reports and
Quotation Information (‘‘OPRA Plan’’).3
Specifically, OPRA proposes to revise
its Fee Schedule and its ‘‘Policies with
Respect to Device-Based Fees.’’
I. Description and Purpose of the
Amendment
A. Changes in the Fee Schedule
OPRA states that the purpose of the
proposed amendment to its Fee
Schedule is to eliminate language that
became obsolete on January 1, 2007, and
to provide a simplified and unified
presentation of its Fee Schedule. None
of the proposed revisions would change
the amount of any of OPRA’s fees.
Since January 1, 2007, OPRA has had
in place a single $20.00 ‘‘per device’’ fee
for its Basic Service (consisting of all
OPRA Information except Information
with respect to foreign currency
options) and a single $5.00 per device
fee for its FCO Service (consisting of
OPRA Information with respect to
foreign currency options).4 As a result,
1 15
U.S.C. 78k–1.
CFR 242.608.
3 The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan
approved by the Commission pursuant to Section
11A of the Act and Rule 608 thereunder (formerly
Rule 11Aa3–2). See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 17638 (March 18, 1981), 22 S.E.C.
Docket 484 (March 31, 1981). The full text of the
OPRA Plan is available at https://
www.opradata.com.
The OPRA Plan provides for the collection and
dissemination of last sale and quotation information
on options that are traded on the participant
exchanges. The six participants to the OPRA Plan
are the American Stock Exchange LLC, the Boston
Stock Exchange, Inc., the Chicago Board Options
Exchange, Incorporated, the International Securities
Exchange, Inc., the NYSE Arca, Inc., and the
Philadelphia Stock Exchange, Inc.
4 The device-based fees that became effective on
January 1, 2007 were first proposed in File No. SR–
OPRA–2004–01, which became effective upon filing
2 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(29).
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 21, 2007 / Notices
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
OPRA proposes to delete two tables in
its Fee Schedule and replace them with
a single entry setting forth these devicebased fees.
As shown in Exhibit I(B) to the
proposed rule change, OPRA’s Fee
Schedule had two parts. The first part
was called ‘‘Professional Subscriber Fee
Schedule,’’ and it contained two tables
listing device-based fees, one for
OPRA’s Basic Service and one for
OPRA’s FCO Service, and described
OPRA’s alternative Enterprise Rate fees
for access to the Basic Service. The
second part was called ‘‘Fee Schedule,’’
which set out OPRA’s other fees,
including fees applicable to Vendors as
well as fees that were applicable to
some Professional Subscribers.5 The
purpose of the two-part Fee Schedule
was to accommodate the tables of
device-based fees because they did not
fit within the format of the second part
of the Fee Schedule.
With the elimination of the devicebased fee tables and their replacement
with a single chart setting forth per
device fees for the Basic Service and the
FCO Service, the first part of the OPRA
Fee Schedule can be deleted in its
entirety, and the line in the second part
of the Fee Schedule that formerly crossreferenced the device-based fees in the
first part can be replaced with a line that
states the actual device-based fees
themselves.
A secondary purpose of the proposed
amendment is to correct the description
in the Fee Schedule of the ‘‘Direct
Access Fee’’ to state that it is applicable
to Professional Subscribers, as well as to
Vendors, that receive OPRA Data
directly from OPRA’s processor.6
The remaining changes to the Fee
Schedule are to accommodate the reorganization of the Fee Schedule and
other non-substantive purposes.
Specifically, the description of the terms
of the ‘‘30-day free trial’’ for the Basic
Service will be moved from the old first
part of the Fee Schedule and
on February 25, 2004. See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 49382 (March 9, 2004), 69 FR 12377
(March 16, 2004). In that filing, OPRA amended its
Fee Schedule to make incremental changes, over a
four year period from 2004 through 2007, to its
device-based fees to eliminate all distinctions in
these fees based on a subscriber’s status as a
member or nonmember of an exchange that is a
party to the OPRA Plan or on the subscriber’s total
number of OPRA-enabled devices.
5 These are the Subscriber Indirect Access Fee,
the Direct Access Fee and the Voice-Synthesized
Market Data Service Fee.
6 This fee is accurately described in OPRA’s
‘‘Direct Circuit Connection Rider,’’ which a
Professional Subscriber must sign in order to
receive OPRA Data directly from OPRA’s processor.
See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 53753
(May 2, 2006), 71 FR 27296 (May 10, 2006) (SR–
OPRA–2006–01).
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17:08 Mar 20, 2007
Jkt 211001
incorporated into a new footnote 3. The
description of the Enterprise Rate
alternative fee for the Basic Service will
be moved from the old first part of the
Fee Schedule and incorporated into a
new footnote 4.7 The footnote currently
shown as the first footnote 1 8 in the Fee
Schedule is being deleted because
OPRA believes that with the simplified
and unified presentation of the Fee
Schedule it is no longer necessary to
state specifically, with respect to devicebased fees, that other fees may also be
applicable for certain Professional
Subscribers.
The text of the footnote currently
shown as the second footnote 1 relates
to the Enterprise Rate fee and is being
incorporated in the new Enterprise Rate
footnote, footnote 4. New footnote 2 is
language that is also in the first
paragraph of the ‘‘Policies with Respect
to Device-Based Fees’’ and is intended
to emphasize that Professional
Subscribers may count ‘‘User IDs’’ as a
surrogate for ‘‘devices.’’ Footnote 6 is
being deleted because its language was
identical to that of footnote 4, which
will be renumbered as new footnote 6.
B. Changes in the Policies With Respect
to Device-Based Fees
The changes in the ‘‘Policies with
Respect to Device-Based Fees’’ are also
for housekeeping purposes. The purpose
of the change in the second paragraph
of the Policies is to conform a reference
to OPRA’s Fee Schedule to the
elimination of the first part of the Fee
Schedule itself. The purpose of the
changes in the subsection with the
revised subtitle ‘‘Contracting on behalf
of Affiliates’’ is to delete material that
no longer has any meaning after OPRA’s
change to a flat per-device fee schedule
as of January 1, 2007.
II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan
Amendment
Pursuant to paragraphs (b)(3) of Rule
608 under the Act,9 OPRA designates
this amendment as concerned solely
with the administration of the OPRA
Plan and/or as involving solely
technical or ministerial matters, thereby
qualifying for effectiveness upon filing.
The Commission may summarily
abrogate the amendment within sixty
days of its filing and require refiling and
7 OPRA also made incremental changes, over the
four year period from 2004 until 2007, to its
Enterprise Rate fees. See supra, note 4. Language
that described the Enterprise Rate fees that were in
effect before January 1, 2007 is now being
eliminated because it is obsolete.
8 OPRA’s Fee Schedule currently shows two
footnotes numbered ‘‘1.’’ The numbering of the
footnotes is being corrected in the revised Fee
Schedule.
9 17 CFR 242.608(b)(3).
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
approval of the amendment by
Commission order pursuant to Rule
608(b)(2) under the Act 10 if it appears
to the Commission that such action is
necessary or appropriate in the public
interest, for the protection of investors
and the maintenance of fair and orderly
markets, to remove impediments to, and
perfect the mechanisms of, a national
market system, or otherwise in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
III. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed OPRA
Plan 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 (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an e-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File
No. SR–OPRA–2007–02 on the subject
line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Nancy M. Morris, Secretary,
Securities and Exchange Commission,
100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC
20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–OPRA–2007–02. 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 (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent
amendments, all written statements
with respect to the proposed plan
amendment that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the
proposed plan amendment 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. Copies of such filing also will be
available for inspection and copying at
the principal office of OPRA. All
comments received will be posted
without change; the Commission does
not edit personal identifying
information from submissions. You
should submit only information that
10 17
E:\FR\FM\21MRN1.SGM
CFR 242.608(b)(2).
21MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 54 / Wednesday, March 21, 2007 / Notices
you wish to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File
Number SR–OPRA–2007–02 and should
be submitted on or before April 11,
2007.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated
authority.11
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7–5087 Filed 3–20–07; 8:45 am]
March 5, 2007, the Linkage Order Fee
for transactions routed to any other
market will be $0.0025 per share. The
Linkage Order Fee will not apply to
transactions where a broker on the
Exchange trading floor placed the
related order.
The text of the proposed rule change
is available on the NYSE’s Web site at
https://www.nyse.com, at NYSE and at
the Commission’s Public Reference
Room.
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–55462; File No. SR–NYSE–
2007–18]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; New
York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of
Proposed Rule Change to Amend the
Linkage Order Fee
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
22, 2007, the New York Stock Exchange
LLC (‘‘NYSE’’) 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 substantially by NYSE. NYSE
submitted the proposed rule change
under Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 3
and Rule 19b–4(f)(2) thereunder,4 which
renders the proposal effective upon
filing with the Commission.5 The
Commission is publishing this notice to
solicit comments on the proposed rule
change from interested persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to modify the
fee (the ‘‘Linkage Order Fee’’) it charges
its member organizations in connection
with orders in equities executed in
another market pursuant to the ‘‘Plan for
the Purpose of Creating and Operating
an Intermarket Communications
Linkage’’ (the ‘‘Linkage Plan’’).6 As of
11 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(29).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
3 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
5 NYSE stipulated the implementation date to be
March 5, 2007.
6 The Linkage Plan was filed with the
Commission pursuant to Rule 608 of Regulation
NMS under the Act. The purpose of the Linkage
Plan is to enable the Plan Participants to act jointly
in planning, developing, operating and regulating
the NMS Linkage System electronically linking the
jlentini on PROD1PC65 with NOTICES
1 15
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17:08 Mar 20, 2007
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II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
In its filing with the Commission,
NYSE 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. NYSE 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
The Exchange’s Linkage Order fee is
currently fixed at $0.000275 per share.
As of March 5, 2007, the Linkage Order
Fee for transactions routed to any other
market will be $0.0025 per share. The
Linkage Order Fee is the only
transaction fee the Exchange charges its
customers on transactions routed to
other markets. These transactions are
not subject to the Exchange’s regular
equity transaction fees. The Linkage
Order Fee will not apply to transactions
where a broker on the Exchange trading
floor placed the related order. Instead, if
routed to another market, such
transactions will be billed at the
Exchange’s regular equity transaction
fee rate. At the time of the Linkage
Order Fee’s adoption,7 the Exchange
stated that the Linkage Order Fee was
intended to permit the Exchange to
recover fees billed to Archipelago
Securities LLC (‘‘Archipelago
Securities’’), as the NYSE’s Sponsoring
Plan Participant Markets to one another, as
described in the Linkage Plan. Following approval
by the Commission, the Plan became operative on
October 1, 2006. The Plan terminates on June 30,
2007; however, participants that wish to extend the
term could agree to do so, subject to Commission
approval. See Securities Exchange Act Release No.
54551 (Sept. 29, 2006), 71 FR 59148 (Oct. 6, 2006)
(approving the Linkage Plan).
7 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 54727
(November 8, 2006); 71 FR 66820 (November 16,
2006) (SR–NYSE–2006–79).
PO 00000
Frm 00084
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13319
Member, by other markets for orders
executed pursuant to the Linkage Plan.
The current Linkage Order Fee is set at
the level of the NYSE’s own equity
transaction fee. However, as the
Exchange is charged much higher fees
than the current Linkage Order Fee in
connection with most transactions
routed to other markets, the current
Linkage Order Fee is enabling the
Exchange to recoup only a fraction of its
routing costs.8 The revised Linkage
Order Fee is more closely related to the
actual transaction fees charged to
Archipelago Securities by such other
markets and will enable the Exchange to
recoup most of the transaction fees for
which it is responsible in relation to
transactions it routes to other markets
through the Linkage.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change is consistent with
the provisions of Section 6(b) of the
Act,9 in general, and Section 6(b)(4) of
the Act,10 in particular, in that it is
designed to provide for the equitable
allocation of reasonable dues, fees and
other charges among the Exchange’s
members and other persons using its
facilities. The fee is intended to permit
the Exchange to recover fees billed to
Archipelago Securities, as a Sponsoring
Member, by other markets for orders
executed pursuant to the Linkage Plan.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
NYSE 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
NYSE has neither solicited nor
received comments on the proposed
rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The proposed rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section
19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act 11 and
8 Archipelago Securities is billed by the
destination markets for orders entered on the
Exchange by entering firms but routed to other
markets for execution. The Exchange assumed
responsibility for fees paid by Archipelago
Securities to Participant markets in its capacity as
the Exchange’s Sponsoring Member. See id.
9 15 U.S.C. 78f.
10 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
11 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(a)(ii).
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 54 (Wednesday, March 21, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13317-13319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-5087]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-55455; File No. SR-OPRA-2007-02]
Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate
Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment To Revise OPRA's Fee Schedule and
its ``Policies With Respect to Device-Based Fees''
March 13, 2007.
Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 608 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that
on February 23, 2007 the Options Price Reporting Authority (``OPRA'')
submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') an
amendment to the Plan for Reporting of Consolidated Options Last Sale
Reports and Quotation Information (``OPRA Plan'').\3\ Specifically,
OPRA proposes to revise its Fee Schedule and its ``Policies with
Respect to Device-Based Fees.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1.
\2\ 17 CFR 242.608.
\3\ The OPRA Plan is a national market system plan approved by
the Commission pursuant to Section 11A of the Act and Rule 608
thereunder (formerly Rule 11Aa3-2). See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 17638 (March 18, 1981), 22 S.E.C. Docket 484 (March 31,
1981). The full text of the OPRA Plan is available at https://
www.opradata.com.
The OPRA Plan provides for the collection and dissemination of
last sale and quotation information on options that are traded on
the participant exchanges. The six participants to the OPRA Plan are
the American Stock Exchange LLC, the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc.,
the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated, the International
Securities Exchange, Inc., the NYSE Arca, Inc., and the Philadelphia
Stock Exchange, Inc.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Description and Purpose of the Amendment
A. Changes in the Fee Schedule
OPRA states that the purpose of the proposed amendment to its Fee
Schedule is to eliminate language that became obsolete on January 1,
2007, and to provide a simplified and unified presentation of its Fee
Schedule. None of the proposed revisions would change the amount of any
of OPRA's fees.
Since January 1, 2007, OPRA has had in place a single $20.00 ``per
device'' fee for its Basic Service (consisting of all OPRA Information
except Information with respect to foreign currency options) and a
single $5.00 per device fee for its FCO Service (consisting of OPRA
Information with respect to foreign currency options).\4\ As a result,
[[Page 13318]]
OPRA proposes to delete two tables in its Fee Schedule and replace them
with a single entry setting forth these device-based fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The device-based fees that became effective on January 1,
2007 were first proposed in File No. SR-OPRA-2004-01, which became
effective upon filing on February 25, 2004. See Securities Exchange
Act Release No. 49382 (March 9, 2004), 69 FR 12377 (March 16, 2004).
In that filing, OPRA amended its Fee Schedule to make incremental
changes, over a four year period from 2004 through 2007, to its
device-based fees to eliminate all distinctions in these fees based
on a subscriber's status as a member or nonmember of an exchange
that is a party to the OPRA Plan or on the subscriber's total number
of OPRA-enabled devices.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
As shown in Exhibit I(B) to the proposed rule change, OPRA's Fee
Schedule had two parts. The first part was called ``Professional
Subscriber Fee Schedule,'' and it contained two tables listing device-
based fees, one for OPRA's Basic Service and one for OPRA's FCO
Service, and described OPRA's alternative Enterprise Rate fees for
access to the Basic Service. The second part was called ``Fee
Schedule,'' which set out OPRA's other fees, including fees applicable
to Vendors as well as fees that were applicable to some Professional
Subscribers.\5\ The purpose of the two-part Fee Schedule was to
accommodate the tables of device-based fees because they did not fit
within the format of the second part of the Fee Schedule.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ These are the Subscriber Indirect Access Fee, the Direct
Access Fee and the Voice-Synthesized Market Data Service Fee.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
With the elimination of the device-based fee tables and their
replacement with a single chart setting forth per device fees for the
Basic Service and the FCO Service, the first part of the OPRA Fee
Schedule can be deleted in its entirety, and the line in the second
part of the Fee Schedule that formerly cross-referenced the device-
based fees in the first part can be replaced with a line that states
the actual device-based fees themselves.
A secondary purpose of the proposed amendment is to correct the
description in the Fee Schedule of the ``Direct Access Fee'' to state
that it is applicable to Professional Subscribers, as well as to
Vendors, that receive OPRA Data directly from OPRA's processor.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ This fee is accurately described in OPRA's ``Direct Circuit
Connection Rider,'' which a Professional Subscriber must sign in
order to receive OPRA Data directly from OPRA's processor. See
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 53753 (May 2, 2006), 71 FR 27296
(May 10, 2006) (SR-OPRA-2006-01).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The remaining changes to the Fee Schedule are to accommodate the
re-organization of the Fee Schedule and other non-substantive purposes.
Specifically, the description of the terms of the ``30-day free trial''
for the Basic Service will be moved from the old first part of the Fee
Schedule and incorporated into a new footnote 3. The description of the
Enterprise Rate alternative fee for the Basic Service will be moved
from the old first part of the Fee Schedule and incorporated into a new
footnote 4.\7\ The footnote currently shown as the first footnote 1 \8\
in the Fee Schedule is being deleted because OPRA believes that with
the simplified and unified presentation of the Fee Schedule it is no
longer necessary to state specifically, with respect to device-based
fees, that other fees may also be applicable for certain Professional
Subscribers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\7\ OPRA also made incremental changes, over the four year
period from 2004 until 2007, to its Enterprise Rate fees. See supra,
note 4. Language that described the Enterprise Rate fees that were
in effect before January 1, 2007 is now being eliminated because it
is obsolete.
\8\ OPRA's Fee Schedule currently shows two footnotes numbered
``1.'' The numbering of the footnotes is being corrected in the
revised Fee Schedule.
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The text of the footnote currently shown as the second footnote 1
relates to the Enterprise Rate fee and is being incorporated in the new
Enterprise Rate footnote, footnote 4. New footnote 2 is language that
is also in the first paragraph of the ``Policies with Respect to
Device-Based Fees'' and is intended to emphasize that Professional
Subscribers may count ``User IDs'' as a surrogate for ``devices.''
Footnote 6 is being deleted because its language was identical to that
of footnote 4, which will be renumbered as new footnote 6.
B. Changes in the Policies With Respect to Device-Based Fees
The changes in the ``Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees''
are also for housekeeping purposes. The purpose of the change in the
second paragraph of the Policies is to conform a reference to OPRA's
Fee Schedule to the elimination of the first part of the Fee Schedule
itself. The purpose of the changes in the subsection with the revised
subtitle ``Contracting on behalf of Affiliates'' is to delete material
that no longer has any meaning after OPRA's change to a flat per-device
fee schedule as of January 1, 2007.
II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan Amendment
Pursuant to paragraphs (b)(3) of Rule 608 under the Act,\9\ OPRA
designates this amendment as concerned solely with the administration
of the OPRA Plan and/or as involving solely technical or ministerial
matters, thereby qualifying for effectiveness upon filing.
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\9\ 17 CFR 242.608(b)(3).
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The Commission may summarily abrogate the amendment within sixty
days of its filing and require refiling and approval of the amendment
by Commission order pursuant to Rule 608(b)(2) under the Act \10\ if it
appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate
in the public interest, for the protection of investors and the
maintenance of fair and orderly markets, to remove impediments to, and
perfect the mechanisms of, a national market system, or otherwise in
furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
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\10\ 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2).
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III. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed OPRA
Plan 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 (https://
www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include
File No. SR-OPRA-2007-02 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Nancy M. Morris,
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-OPRA-2007-02. 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 (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments,
all written statements with respect to the proposed plan amendment that
are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating
to the proposed plan amendment 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. Copies of such
filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the
principal office of OPRA. All comments received will be posted without
change; the Commission does not edit personal identifying information
from submissions. You should submit only information that
[[Page 13319]]
you wish to make available publicly. All submissions should refer to
File Number SR-OPRA-2007-02 and should be submitted on or before April
11, 2007.
For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation,
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
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\11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(29).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-5087 Filed 3-20-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P
