Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 32367-32368 [E8-12628]
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Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 110 / Friday, June 6, 2008 / Notices
Forwarding Service (PFS), which is
currently classified as a market
dominant product and part of the
Special Services class, to the
competitive products list.1 The Request
is made pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 3642 and
39 CFR 3020.30 et. seq. and includes
two attachments.2 Rule 3020.30 allows
the Postal Service to request the transfer
of a product from the market dominant
products list to the competitive
products list. The Postal Service must
provide detailed support and
justification for such a request. 39 CFR
3020.31 and 3020.32. The Commission
reviews the Request and the comments
of interested parties under § 3020.34.
PFS provides residential postal
customers with a forwarding service for
their mail when they are away from
their primary residences. Most mail
from a customer’s permanent address is
forwarded once a week via Priority Mail
to the customer’s temporary address.3
The customer is charged a $10
enrollment fee and a weekly fee of
$11.95.4 PFS is used by postal
customers with multiple residences, or
those on extended travel for business, or
personal reasons, and recreational
vehicle owners.
The Postal Service supports its
Request with a Statement of Supporting
Justification from Maura Robinson,
Pricing Systems and Analysis Manager,
at the Postal Service. The Postal Service
explains that no Governors’ Decision
was required in this case since no
change in classification or price is
proposed, but merely a transfer of a
product from one product list to
another. Request at 1. The Postal Service
also asserts that PFS will ‘‘meet the
statutory cost coverage requirements’’
applicable to competitive products
under 39 U.S.C. 3633. Attachment B at
PWALKER on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
1 Request
of United States Postal Service, May 30,
2008 (Request).
2 Attachment A illustrates the proposed changes
to the Mail Classification Schedule. Attachment B
is a Statement of Supporting Justification by Maura
Robinson, Manager, Pricing Systems and Analysis
for the Postal Service.
3 Mail that will be rerouted separately includes
mail requiring a scan, signature, or additional
postage at delivery. Express Mail articles are
rerouted immediately. Priority Mail articles are
rerouted separately unless shipping them in the
PFS package would not delay their delivery. FirstClass Mail packages that do not fit in the weekly
PFS shipment will be rerouted separately. Standard
Mail pieces will only be included in the PFS
package if they can be accommodated in the PFS
package after letters, flats or large envelopes, and
magazines have been included. Otherwise,
Standard Mail pieces will be shipped postage due.
Parcel Post, Bound Printed Matter, Media Mail, and
Library Mail pieces will not be included in the PFS
package, but will be shipped postage due.
4 PFS is available for a minimum of two weeks
and maximum of 52 weeks. Payment for the entire
period of service is due with the application.
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1–2. The Postal Service further asserts
that because private alternative options
to PFS are available in the form of
commercial mail forwarding services or
informal agreements with friends that
PFS properly belongs in the competitive
product category. Id. at 3–4. The Postal
Service also contends with regard to
PFS that it does not have the ‘‘ability to
set prices substantially above costs,
raise prices significantly, decrease
quality, or decrease output, without
losing a significant level of business.’’
Id. at 3. The Postal Service asserts the
position that the ‘‘[t]ransfer of PFS to
the competitive product list will ensure
that its revenues are appropriately
classified, since * * * PFS is provided
within a competitive market.’’ Id. at 5.
Pursuant to § 3020.33, the
Commission provides interested persons
an opportunity to express views and
offer comments on whether the planned
transfer is consistent with the policies of
39 U.S.C. 3633 and 3642. Comments are
due no later than June 16, 2008.
Pursuant to 39 U.S.C. 505, Kenneth E.
Richardson is appointed to serve as
officer of the Commission (Public
Representative) to represent the
interests of the general public in the
above-captioned docket.
It is Ordered:
1. Docket No. MC2008–4 is
established to consider the Postal
Service Request referred to in the body
of this order.
2. Comments are due no later than
June 16, 2008.
3. The Commission appoints Kenneth
E. Richardson as Public Representative
to represent the interests of the general
public in this proceeding.
4. The Secretary shall arrange for
publication of this order in the Federal
Register.
By the Commission.
Steven W. Williams,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8–12763 Filed 6–5–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7710–FW–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
Upon written request, copies available
from: U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of Investor
Education and Advocacy,
Washington, DC 20549–0213.
Extension: Rule 15c2–11; OMB Control No.
3235–0202; SEC File No. 270–196.
Notice is hereby given that pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
PO 00000
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32367
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities
and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget a
request for approval of extension of the
existing collection of information
provided for in the following rule: Rule
15c2–11 (17 CFR 240.15c2–11).
On September 13, 1971, effective
December 13, 1971 (see 36 FR 18641,
September 18, 1971), the Commission
adopted Rule 15c2–11 (‘‘Rule 15c2–11’’
or ‘‘Rule’’) under the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et
seq.) to regulate the initiation or
resumption of quotations in a quotation
medium by a broker-dealer for over-thecounter (‘‘OTC’’) securities. The Rule
was designed primarily to prevent
certain manipulative and fraudulent
trading schemes that had arisen in
connection with the distribution and
trading of unregistered securities issued
by shell companies or other companies
having outstanding but infrequently
traded securities. Subject to certain
exceptions, the Rule prohibits brokersdealers from publishing a quotation for
a security, or submitting a quotation for
publication, in a quotation medium
unless they have reviewed specified
information concerning the security and
the issuer.
Based on information provided by
Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc. (‘‘FINRA’’), in the 2006
calendar year, FINRA received
approximately 970 applications from
broker-dealers to initiate or resume
publication of covered OTC securities in
the OTC Bulletin Board and/or the Pink
Sheets or other quotation mediums. We
estimate that (i) 80% of the covered
OTC securities were issued by reporting
issuers, while the other 20% were
issued by non-reporting issuers, and (ii)
it will take a broker-dealer about 4 hours
to review, record and retain the
information pertaining to a reporting
issuer, and about 8 hours to review,
record and retain the information
pertaining to a non-reporting issuer.
We therefore estimate that brokerdealers who initiate or resume
publication of quotations for covered
OTC securities of reporting issuers will
require 3,104 hours (970 × 80% × 4) to
review, record and retain the
information required by the Rule. We
estimate that broker-dealers who initiate
or resume publication of quotations for
covered OTC securities of non-reporting
issuers will require 1,552 hours (970 ×
20% × 8) to review, record and retain
the information required by the Rule.
Thus, we estimate the total annual
burden hours for broker-dealers to
initiate or resume publication of
quotations of covered OTC securities to
E:\FR\FM\06JNN1.SGM
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32368
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 110 / Friday, June 6, 2008 / Notices
be 4,656 hours (3,104 + 1,552). The
Commission believes that these 4,656
hours would be borne by staff working
at a rate of $40 per hour.1
Subject to certain exceptions, the Rule
prohibits brokers-dealers from
publishing a quotation for a security, or
submitting a quotation for publication,
in a quotation medium unless they have
reviewed specified information
concerning the security and the issuer.
The broker-dealer must also make the
information reasonably available upon
request to any person expressing an
interest in a proposed transaction in the
security with such broker or dealer. The
collection of information that is
submitted to FINRA for review and
approval is currently not available to the
public from FINRA.
An agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid
control number.
Comments should be directed to (i)
Desk Officer for the Securities and
Exchange Commission, Office of
Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget,
Room 10102, New Executive Office
Building, Washington, DC 20503 or by
sending an e-mail to:
Alexander_T._Hunt@omb.eop.gov; and
(ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and
Exchange Commission, c/o Shirley
Martinson, 6432 General Green Way,
Alexandria, VA 22312 or send an e-mail
to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments
must be submitted within 30 days of
this notice.
Dated: May 28, 2008.
Florence E. Harmon,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8–12628 Filed 6–5–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
(‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on May 29,
2008, the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc.
(‘‘BSE’’ or the ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the
proposed rule change as described in
Items I and II below, which Items have
been prepared substantially by the
Exchange. The Commission is
publishing this notice to solicit
comments on the proposed rule change
from interested persons, and
simultaneously granting accelerated
approval of the proposed rule change.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange is proposing to amend
the Liquidity Make or Take Pricing
Structure (‘‘Make or Take Pricing’’)—
Intermarket Linkage Transaction fees
(‘‘Linkage Fees’’) portion of the Fee
Schedule 3 of the Boston Options
Exchange (‘‘BOX’’) to modify the
Linkage Fees associated with the Make
or Take Pricing.4 The text of the
proposed rule change is available at the
Exchange, the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, and https://
www.bostonoptions.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
Exchange 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 III below. The
Exchange has prepared summaries, set
forth in Sections A, B, and C below, of
the most significant aspects of such
statements.
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Boston
Stock Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing
and Order Granting Accelerated
Approval of Proposed Rule Change
Relating to the Liquidity Make or Take
Pricing Structure Linkage Fees Portion
of the Fee Schedule for Exchange
Services
PWALKER on PROD1PC71 with NOTICES
[Release No. 34–57900; File No. SR–BSE–
2008–32]
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
The purpose of this filing is to amend
Section 7(c) of the BOX Fee Schedule in
order to revise the Liquidity Make or
Take Pricing—Linkage Fees portion of
the BOX Fee Schedule, so as to conform
with fee changes the Exchange recently
proposed for Liquidity Make or Take
June 2, 2008.
1 15
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
1 See Appendix C, SIFMA Office Salaries Data—
Sept. 2007 for General Clerk national hourly rate.
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16:09 Jun 05, 2008
Jkt 214001
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 The BOX Fee Schedule can be found on the
BOX Web site at https://www.bostonoptions.com.
4 Capitalized terms not otherwise defined herein
shall have the meanings set forth in the BOX Rules.
2 17
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Pricing within certain liquid Penny
Pilot Program classes.5
Executions on BOX resulting from
orders sent via the Intermarket Linkage
System (‘‘Linkage Orders’’) are subject
to the same billing treatment as other
broker-dealer orders. On September 6,
2007, the Exchange introduced the
Liquidity Make or Take Pricing for all
classes contained in the Penny Pilot
Program.6 Since Linkage Orders that are
sent to and executed on BOX take
liquidity, such orders are assessed a
$0.45 per contract fee for executed
transactions in issues participating in
the Penny Pilot Program.7
On May 28, 2008, the Exchange filed
a rule proposal with the Commission
that reduces the fees and credits that it
charges and applies to transactions in
the iShares Russell 2000 Index Fund
(‘‘IWM’’), Powershares QQQ Trust
Series 1 (‘‘QQQQ’’) and the Standard &
Poor’s Depositary Receipts (‘‘SPY’’)
(‘‘Tier 2 Classes’’) by fifteen cents
($0.15).8 In conjunction with the
reduction of these fees and credits for
Tier 2 Classes, the Exchange is now
proposing to make the applicable fee for
Linkage Orders the same as those for
classes included in the Liquidity Make
or Take Pricing. Specifically, the
Exchange proposes to change the fee
schedule to state that: ‘‘[t]he charge for
inbound Linkage Orders in instruments
which are contained in the Liquidity
Make or Take pricing structure will be
the applicable ‘take’ fee for classes
included in the Liquidity Make or Take
pricing structure.’’ Consequently, the
Exchange is proposing to reduce the fees
that it charges for Linkage Orders in Tier
2 Classes by fifteen cents ($0.15) to
thirty cents ($0.30). The Linkage Fee of
forty-five cents ($0.45) will remain the
same for Tier 1 classes.9 The Exchange
5 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 57887
(May 30, 2008) (SR–BSE–2008–31) (proposing
reduced fees and credits for certain liquid Penny
Pilot Program classes).
6 Securities Exchange Act Release No. 56371
(September 7, 2007), 72 FR 52401 (September 13,
2007) (SR–BSE–2007–43). The Exchange may trade
options contracts in one-cent increments in certain
approved issues as part of the Penny Pilot Program
through March 27, 2009. See Securities Exchange
Act Release No. 56566 (September 27, 2007), 72 FR
56400 (October 3, 2007) (SR–BSE–2007–40).
7 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 56371
(September 7, 2007), 72 FR 52401 (September 13,
2007) (SR–BSE–2007–43). ‘‘Linkage Orders that are
not executed upon receipt are rejected back to the
sender and are never posted in the BOX Book.
Therefore, a Linkage Order would never be eligible
to receive a credit of the Transaction Fee.’’ Id.
8 See note 5, supra. Fee changes made pursuant
to the proposal, which was effective upon filing, are
reflected in the Fee Schedule attached to SR–BSE–
2008–31 as Exhibit 5.
9 Tier 1 pricing applies to all classes that
currently participate in the Penny Pilot, other than
the Tier 2 Classes.
E:\FR\FM\06JNN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 110 (Friday, June 6, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32367-32368]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-12628]
=======================================================================
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Upon written request, copies available from: U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy,
Washington, DC 20549-0213.
Extension: Rule 15c2-11; OMB Control No. 3235-0202; SEC File No.
270-196.
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities and Exchange
Commission (``Commission'') has submitted to the Office of Management
and Budget a request for approval of extension of the existing
collection of information provided for in the following rule: Rule
15c2-11 (17 CFR 240.15c2-11).
On September 13, 1971, effective December 13, 1971 (see 36 FR
18641, September 18, 1971), the Commission adopted Rule 15c2-11 (``Rule
15c2-11'' or ``Rule'') under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15
U.S.C. 78a et seq.) to regulate the initiation or resumption of
quotations in a quotation medium by a broker-dealer for over-the-
counter (``OTC'') securities. The Rule was designed primarily to
prevent certain manipulative and fraudulent trading schemes that had
arisen in connection with the distribution and trading of unregistered
securities issued by shell companies or other companies having
outstanding but infrequently traded securities. Subject to certain
exceptions, the Rule prohibits brokers-dealers from publishing a
quotation for a security, or submitting a quotation for publication, in
a quotation medium unless they have reviewed specified information
concerning the security and the issuer.
Based on information provided by Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority, Inc. (``FINRA''), in the 2006 calendar year, FINRA received
approximately 970 applications from broker-dealers to initiate or
resume publication of covered OTC securities in the OTC Bulletin Board
and/or the Pink Sheets or other quotation mediums. We estimate that (i)
80% of the covered OTC securities were issued by reporting issuers,
while the other 20% were issued by non-reporting issuers, and (ii) it
will take a broker-dealer about 4 hours to review, record and retain
the information pertaining to a reporting issuer, and about 8 hours to
review, record and retain the information pertaining to a non-reporting
issuer.
We therefore estimate that broker-dealers who initiate or resume
publication of quotations for covered OTC securities of reporting
issuers will require 3,104 hours (970 x 80% x 4) to review, record and
retain the information required by the Rule. We estimate that broker-
dealers who initiate or resume publication of quotations for covered
OTC securities of non-reporting issuers will require 1,552 hours (970 x
20% x 8) to review, record and retain the information required by the
Rule. Thus, we estimate the total annual burden hours for broker-
dealers to initiate or resume publication of quotations of covered OTC
securities to
[[Page 32368]]
be 4,656 hours (3,104 + 1,552). The Commission believes that these
4,656 hours would be borne by staff working at a rate of $40 per
hour.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ See Appendix C, SIFMA Office Salaries Data--Sept. 2007 for
General Clerk national hourly rate.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject to certain exceptions, the Rule prohibits brokers-dealers
from publishing a quotation for a security, or submitting a quotation
for publication, in a quotation medium unless they have reviewed
specified information concerning the security and the issuer. The
broker-dealer must also make the information reasonably available upon
request to any person expressing an interest in a proposed transaction
in the security with such broker or dealer. The collection of
information that is submitted to FINRA for review and approval is
currently not available to the public from FINRA.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required
to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a
currently valid control number.
Comments should be directed to (i) Desk Officer for the Securities
and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs,
Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office
Building, Washington, DC 20503 or by sending an e-mail to: Alexander--
T._Hunt@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Shirley
Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312 or send an e-
mail to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must be submitted within 30
days of this notice.
Dated: May 28, 2008.
Florence E. Harmon,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-12628 Filed 6-5-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P