Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Clarify Amendments to “Other Securities” Initial Listing Standard, 69706-69708 [E8-27419]
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69706
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 19, 2008 / Notices
4(f)(6)(iii) permits the Commission to
designate a shorter time if such action
is consistent with the protection of
investors and the public interest. NYSE
requested that the Commission waive
the 30-day operative delay, as specified
in Rule 19b–4(f)(6)(iii),17 which would
make the rule change effective and
operative upon filing.
The Commission believes that
waiving the 30-day operative delay is
consistent with the protection of
investors and the public interest
because the Exchange systems are now
capable of recognizing protected
quotations with a sub-penny component
in its round-lot market and can
accommodate away market executions
in sub-pennies, in compliance with SEC
Rules 611 and 612. The Commission
finds that it is appropriate to waive the
30-day operative delay for this proposed
rule change because the ‘‘Sub-penny
trading’’ condition no longer serves any
purpose and waiving the delay should
allow the Exchange to immediately
come into full compliance with
Regulation NMS with respect to subpennies. For these reasons, the
Commission designates the proposed
rule change as operative upon filing.18
At any time within 60 days of the
filing of the proposed rule change, the
Commission may summarily abrogate
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.
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
cprice-sewell on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES
• 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
Number SR–NYSE–2008–117 on the
subject line.
change, at least five business days prior to the date
of filing of the proposed rule change, or such
shorter time as designated by the Commission.
NYSE has satisfied this requirement.
17 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6)(iii).
18 For purposes only of waiving the 30-day
operative delay, the Commission has also
considered the proposed rule’s effect on efficiency,
competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C.
78c(f).
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15:14 Nov 18, 2008
Jkt 217001
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSE–2008–117. 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 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 inspection and copying 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 the filing will also be available
for inspection and copying at the
principal office of the self-regulatory
organization. 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-NYSE–
2008–117 and should be submitted on
or before December 10, 2008.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.19
Florence E. Harmon,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8–27404 Filed 11–18–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–58928; File No. SR–NYSE–
2008–109]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; New
York Stock Exchange LLC; Notice of
Filing of Proposed Rule Change To
Clarify Amendments to ‘‘Other
Securities’’ Initial Listing Standard
November 10, 2008.
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 October
31, 2008, New York Stock Exchange
LLC (‘‘NYSE’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) 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 by the Exchange.
The Commission is publishing this
notice to solicit comments on the
proposal from interested persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to amend
Section 703.19 of the Exchange’s Listed
Company Manual (the ‘‘Manual’’), the
Exchange’s initial listing standards for
‘‘Other Securities.’’ The proposed
amendment would clarify that
companies that are not listed on the
Exchange that wish to list securities
under Section 703.19 must meet one of
the Exchange’s financial original listing
standards for equity listings, but need
not meet any of the other initial listing
requirements set forth in Section One of
the Manual.
The text of the proposed rule change
is available on the Exchange’s Web site
(https://www.nyse.com), at the
Exchange’s Office of the Secretary, and
at the Commission’s Public Reference
Room.
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 IV below. The
Exchange has prepared summaries, set
forth in Sections A, B, and C below, of
1 15
19 17
PO 00000
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
Frm 00108
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
2 17
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
E:\FR\FM\19NON1.SGM
19NON1
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 19, 2008 / Notices
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
cprice-sewell on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to amend
Section 703.19 of the Manual, the
Exchange’s initial listing standards for
‘‘Other Securities.’’ 3 The proposed
amendment would clarify that
companies that are not listed on the
Exchange that wish to list securities
under Section 703.19 must meet one of
the Exchange’s financial original listing
standards for equity listings, but need
not meet any of the other initial listing
requirements set forth in Section One of
the Manual.
The Exchange has long required that
unlisted companies wishing to list
securities under Section 703.19 must
meet its initial common stock listing
standards as set forth in Sections
102.01–102.03 and 103.01–05 of the
Manual. While these sections contain
common stock distribution
requirements (such as the requirement
of Section 102.01A that companies
listing in connection with an IPO must
have at least 400 round lot holders and
1.1 million publicly-held shares) and
public float requirements (such as the
requirement of 102.01B that IPOs must
have a minimum float of $60 million
and all other companies must have a
public float of $100 million at the time
of initial listing), the Exchange has not
imposed these standards with respect to
an issuer’s common stock when it is
only listing securities under Section
703.19. Rather, the Exchange has
interpreted the requirement of Section
703.19 as being simply that the
company must meet the financial
requirements of one of the Exchange’s
initial listing standards as set forth in
Section 102.01C (i.e., the Earnings Test,
the Valuation/Revenue Test, the Pure
Valuation/Revenue Test and the
Affiliated Company Test) or Section
103.01C [sic] (i.e., the Earnings Test, the
3 Section 703.19 was adopted to provide the
Exchange with the flexibility to list securities that
could not be readily categorized under the
Exchange’s traditional listing standards for common
and preferred stocks, debt securities and warrants.
Section 703.19 was intended to provide flexibility
to enable the Exchange to consider the listing of
new securities on a case-by-case basis, in light of
the suitability of the issue for auction market
trading. Section 703.19 is not intended to
accommodate the listing of securities that raise
significant new regulatory issues, which would
require a separate filing with the Commission. See
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 28217 (July 18,
1990) 55 FR 30056 (July 24, 1990) (SR–NYSE–90–
30).
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:14 Nov 18, 2008
Jkt 217001
69707
Valuation/Revenue Test, the Pure
Valuation/Revenue Test and the
Affiliated Company Test). While the
Exchange strongly believes that it needs
to ensure that any company that lists its
securities under Section 703.19 is of the
financial caliber that is required of an
NYSE company, it does not believe the
common stock distribution and public
float requirements are relevant to this
qualitative analysis as these
requirements are relevant solely with
respect to the quality of the trading
market in the common stock.
Recently, the Exchange amended its
common stock initial listing standards
in Section 102.01B and 103.01A to
require listing applicants at the time of
listing to have a closing price, or if
listing in connection with an IPO, an
IPO price of $4 at the time of initial
listing.4 The Exchange believes that the
same rationale articulated above with
respect to distribution and public float
requirements applies in the case of this
price requirement, i.e., it is relevant to
the quality of the trading market for the
common stock but not to the qualitative
analysis the Exchange performs with
respect to a company wishing to list
securities under Section 703.19.
To avoid any ambiguity in the
application of Section 703.19 to
companies that do not have their
common stock listed on the Exchange,
the Exchange proposes to replace the
requirement that companies must meet
the Exchange’s initial common stock
listing standards as set forth in Sections
102.01–102.03 and 103.01–05 of the
Manual with a more narrowly-tailored
requirement that such companies must
meet one of the financial standards in
Section 102.01C or, if applicable, in the
case of foreign companies, Section
103.01B. The Exchange also proposes to
remove the sub-heading (‘‘Earnings/Net
Tangible Assets’’) from the second
paragraph of Section 703.19, as it is a
remnant from a much earlier version of
the rule and is a source of confusion.
believes that the proposed amendment
is consistent with the protection of
investors and the public interest in that
the Exchange will continue to apply
stringent eligibility requirements to
securities listed under Section 703.19.
2. Statutory Basis
The basis under the Act for this
proposed rule change is the requirement
under Section 6(b)(5) 5 that an exchange
have rules that are designed to prevent
fraudulent and manipulative acts and
practices, to promote just and equitable
principles of trade, to remove
impediments to, and perfect the
mechanism of a free and open market
and, in general, to protect investors and
the public interest. The Exchange
• 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
Number SR–NYSE–2008–109 on the
subject line.
4 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 27597
[sic] (May 6, 2008), 73 FR 27597 (May 13, 2008)
(SR–NYSE–2008–17).
5 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
PO 00000
Frm 00109
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange does not believe that
this proposed rule change would
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
Written comments on the proposed
rule change were neither solicited nor
received.
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.
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
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSE–2008–109. This file
number should be included on the
subject line if e-mail is used. To help the
E:\FR\FM\19NON1.SGM
19NON1
69708
Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 224 / Wednesday, November 19, 2008 / Notices
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 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 inspection and copying 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 the filing also will be available
for inspection and copying at the
principal office 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–NYSE–2008–109 and
should be submitted on or before
December 10, 2008.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.6
Florence E. Harmon,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8–27419 Filed 11–18–08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–58934; File No. SR–NYSE–
2008–98]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; New
York Stock Exchange LLC; Order
Granting Approval of Proposed Rule
Change, as Modified by Amendment
No. 1, To Adopt an Additional Initial
Listing Standard for Operating
Companies
of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4
thereunder,2 a proposed rule change
amending Section 102.01C of the
Exchange’s Listed Company Manual
(‘‘Manual’’) to adopt an additional
initial listing standard under which
companies may qualify to list on the
Exchange. On October 10, 2008, the
proposed rule change was published for
comment in the Federal Register.3 On
November 10, 2008, NYSE filed
Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule
change.4 The Commission received no
comments on the proposed rule change.
This order approves the proposed rule
change, as modified by Amendment No.
1.
II. Description of the Proposal
The Exchange has proposed to amend
Section 102.01C of the Manual to adopt
an additional initial listing standard
under which companies may qualify to
list on the Exchange. The Exchange has
also proposed to apply the continued
listing standard applicable under
Section 802.01B to companies listed
under the Earnings Test to companies
listed under the proposed new initial
listing standard.
The proposed new standard (the
‘‘Assets and Equity Test’’) is an
additional alternative standard under
which companies may qualify to list,
and will not replace any of the existing
initial listing standards set forth in
Section 102.01C. Companies qualifying
to list under the proposed new standard
will have to meet the same holder,
publicly-held share and trading volume
requirements as set forth in Section
102.01A as companies that list under
the existing initial listing standards.
Further, like companies that list under
the existing initial listing standards in
Section 102.01C, companies that list
under the proposed standard must meet
the same market value of publicly-held
shares requirements 5 and $4 stock price
requirement in Section 102.01B. Under
the proposed standard, in addition to
these other requirements, a company at
the time of listing would be required to
have, at a minimum, (i) $75 million in
total assets, (ii) $50 million in
stockholders’ equity and (iii) $150
November 12, 2008.
1 15
cprice-sewell on PROD1PC64 with NOTICES
I. Introduction
On October 1, 2008, the New York
Stock Exchange LLC (‘‘NYSE’’ or
‘‘Exchange’’), filed with the Securities
and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’), pursuant to Section
19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act
6 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
VerDate Aug<31>2005
15:14 Nov 18, 2008
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58740
(October 6, 2008), 73 FR 60382 (‘‘Notice’’).
4 Amendment No. 1 shows how Section 802.01B
would be effected by changes proposed in SR–
NYSE–2008–97. Because Amendment No. 1 is
technical in nature, the Commission is not required
to publish the amendment for comment.
5 Section 102.01B requires either $60 million
market value in the case of IPOs or $100 million
market value for all other companies.
2 17
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PO 00000
Frm 00110
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
million of total market capitalization.6
The new standard also states that in
considering the listing under the Assets
and Equity Test of companies
transferring from other markets, the
Exchange will consider whether the
company’s business prospects and
operating results indicate that the
company’s market capitalization value
is likely to be sustained or increase over
time.
Under the proposed rule, while
companies that list under the Assets and
Equity Test will not be required to have
any minimum operating history prior to
listing, companies that would otherwise
have been considered for listing under
Section 102.06 of the Manual—the
Exchange’s Acquisition Company
standard (i.e., ‘‘SPACs’’)—will not
qualify for listing under the Assets and
Equity Test. SPACs will continue to be
listed only under Section 102.06. The
continued listing standards, in Section
802.01B of the Manual, which currently
apply to companies that qualify to list
under the Earnings Test is proposed to
be extended to companies that qualify to
list under the new Assets and Equity
Test. Such companies will be
considered to be below compliance
standards if their average global market
capitalization over a consecutive 30
trading-day period is less than $75
million and, at the same time, total
stockholders’ equity is less than $75
million. In addition, the holder,
publicly-held share and trading volume
requirements of Section 802.01A, the
$25 million global market capitalization
requirement in Section 802.01B, the
$1.00 minimum stock price requirement
in Section 802.01C, Section 802.01D
(‘‘Other Criteria’’), and Section 802.01E
(‘‘SEC Annual Report Timely Filing
Criteria’’) will also apply to companies
qualifying under the Assets and Equity
Test.
As discussed in more detail below,
similar to recently adopted provisions
under Section 102.01C, companies may
apply to list under the Assets and
Equity Test that have not previously had
their common equity securities
registered under the Act but which have
6 The total assets and stockholders equity that the
Exchange will use for qualification purposes will be
taken from the company’s most recent balance sheet
included in an SEC filing, in each case as adjusted
pursuant to Sections 102.01C(I)(3)(a) (adjusting for
the use of offering proceeds) and (b) (adjusting for
the effects of acquisitions and dispositions) as
applicable. In the case of companies listing in
connection with an IPO, the company’s underwriter
(or, in the case of a spin-off, the parent company’s
investment banker or other financial advisor) must
provide a written representation that demonstrates
the company’s ability to meet the $150 million
global market capitalization requirement based
upon the completion of the offering (or
distribution).
E:\FR\FM\19NON1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 224 (Wednesday, November 19, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69706-69708]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-27419]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-58928; File No. SR-NYSE-2008-109]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; New York Stock Exchange LLC;
Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Clarify Amendments to
``Other Securities'' Initial Listing Standard
November 10, 2008.
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 October 31, 2008, New York Stock Exchange LLC (``NYSE'' or
``Exchange'') 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 by the Exchange. The
Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the
proposal from interested persons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to amend Section 703.19 of the Exchange's
Listed Company Manual (the ``Manual''), the Exchange's initial listing
standards for ``Other Securities.'' The proposed amendment would
clarify that companies that are not listed on the Exchange that wish to
list securities under Section 703.19 must meet one of the Exchange's
financial original listing standards for equity listings, but need not
meet any of the other initial listing requirements set forth in Section
One of the Manual.
The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's
Web site (https://www.nyse.com), at the Exchange's Office of the
Secretary, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.
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 IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in
Sections A, B, and C below, of
[[Page 69707]]
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 proposes to amend Section 703.19 of the Manual, the
Exchange's initial listing standards for ``Other Securities.'' \3\ The
proposed amendment would clarify that companies that are not listed on
the Exchange that wish to list securities under Section 703.19 must
meet one of the Exchange's financial original listing standards for
equity listings, but need not meet any of the other initial listing
requirements set forth in Section One of the Manual.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ Section 703.19 was adopted to provide the Exchange with the
flexibility to list securities that could not be readily categorized
under the Exchange's traditional listing standards for common and
preferred stocks, debt securities and warrants. Section 703.19 was
intended to provide flexibility to enable the Exchange to consider
the listing of new securities on a case-by-case basis, in light of
the suitability of the issue for auction market trading. Section
703.19 is not intended to accommodate the listing of securities that
raise significant new regulatory issues, which would require a
separate filing with the Commission. See Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 28217 (July 18, 1990) 55 FR 30056 (July 24, 1990) (SR-
NYSE-90-30).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange has long required that unlisted companies wishing to
list securities under Section 703.19 must meet its initial common stock
listing standards as set forth in Sections 102.01-102.03 and 103.01-05
of the Manual. While these sections contain common stock distribution
requirements (such as the requirement of Section 102.01A that companies
listing in connection with an IPO must have at least 400 round lot
holders and 1.1 million publicly-held shares) and public float
requirements (such as the requirement of 102.01B that IPOs must have a
minimum float of $60 million and all other companies must have a public
float of $100 million at the time of initial listing), the Exchange has
not imposed these standards with respect to an issuer's common stock
when it is only listing securities under Section 703.19. Rather, the
Exchange has interpreted the requirement of Section 703.19 as being
simply that the company must meet the financial requirements of one of
the Exchange's initial listing standards as set forth in Section
102.01C (i.e., the Earnings Test, the Valuation/Revenue Test, the Pure
Valuation/Revenue Test and the Affiliated Company Test) or Section
103.01C [sic] (i.e., the Earnings Test, the Valuation/Revenue Test, the
Pure Valuation/Revenue Test and the Affiliated Company Test). While the
Exchange strongly believes that it needs to ensure that any company
that lists its securities under Section 703.19 is of the financial
caliber that is required of an NYSE company, it does not believe the
common stock distribution and public float requirements are relevant to
this qualitative analysis as these requirements are relevant solely
with respect to the quality of the trading market in the common stock.
Recently, the Exchange amended its common stock initial listing
standards in Section 102.01B and 103.01A to require listing applicants
at the time of listing to have a closing price, or if listing in
connection with an IPO, an IPO price of $4 at the time of initial
listing.\4\ The Exchange believes that the same rationale articulated
above with respect to distribution and public float requirements
applies in the case of this price requirement, i.e., it is relevant to
the quality of the trading market for the common stock but not to the
qualitative analysis the Exchange performs with respect to a company
wishing to list securities under Section 703.19.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 27597 [sic] (May 6,
2008), 73 FR 27597 (May 13, 2008) (SR-NYSE-2008-17).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
To avoid any ambiguity in the application of Section 703.19 to
companies that do not have their common stock listed on the Exchange,
the Exchange proposes to replace the requirement that companies must
meet the Exchange's initial common stock listing standards as set forth
in Sections 102.01-102.03 and 103.01-05 of the Manual with a more
narrowly-tailored requirement that such companies must meet one of the
financial standards in Section 102.01C or, if applicable, in the case
of foreign companies, Section 103.01B. The Exchange also proposes to
remove the sub-heading (``Earnings/Net Tangible Assets'') from the
second paragraph of Section 703.19, as it is a remnant from a much
earlier version of the rule and is a source of confusion.
2. Statutory Basis
The basis under the Act for this proposed rule change is the
requirement under Section 6(b)(5) \5\ that an exchange have rules that
are designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices,
to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to remove
impediments to, and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market
and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest. The
Exchange believes that the proposed amendment is consistent with the
protection of investors and the public interest in that the Exchange
will continue to apply stringent eligibility requirements to securities
listed under Section 703.19.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange does not believe that this proposed rule change would
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
Written comments on the proposed rule change were neither solicited
nor received.
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.
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 (https://
www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include
File Number SR-NYSE-2008-109 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSE-2008-109. This file
number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. To
help the
[[Page 69708]]
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 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 inspection and copying 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 the filing also will be available for inspection and
copying at the principal office 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-NYSE-2008-109 and should be submitted on
or before December 10, 2008.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\6\
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\6\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-27419 Filed 11-18-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P