Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment to the Options Price Reporting Authority's Policies With Respect to Device-Based Fees, 72100-72101 [E8-28090]

Download as PDF 72100 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 229 / Wednesday, November 26, 2008 / Notices approval will permit OCC and NSCC to implement the proposed rule changes prior to the November options expiration on November 22, 2008. IV. Solicitation of Comments Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule changes are consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods: mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES 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 Numbers SR–OCC–2008–18 and SR– NSCC–2008–09 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 Numbers SR–OCC–2008–18 and SR– NSCC–2008–09. These file numbers 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 changes that are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed rule changes 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 such filings also will be available for inspection and copying at the principal offices of OCC and NSCC and on OCC’s and NSCC’s Web sites at https://www.theocc.com/publications/ rules/proposed_changes/ sr_occ_08_18.pdf and https:// www.dtcc.com/downloads/legal/ rule_filings/2008/nscc/2008–09.pdf, respectively. All comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit only VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:30 Nov 25, 2008 Jkt 217001 information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions should refer to File Numbers SR–OCC– 2008–18 and SR–NSCC–2008–09 and should be submitted on or before December 17, 2008. The proposed amendment would revise OPRA’s ‘‘Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees.’’ 4 The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments from interested persons on the proposed OPRA Plan amendment. IV. Conclusion I. Description and Purpose of the Plan Amendment On the basis of the foregoing, the Commission finds that the proposed rule changes are consistent with the requirements of the Act and in particular Section 17A of the Act and the rules and regulations thereunder.9 It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, that the proposed rule changes (File No. SR– OCC–2008–18 and SR–NSCC–2008–09) be and hereby are approved on an accelerated basis. For the Commission by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.10 Florence E. Harmon, Acting Secretary. [FR Doc. E8–28095 Filed 11–25–08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–58973; File No. SR–OPRA– 2008–04] Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment to the Options Price Reporting Authority’s Policies With Respect to Device-Based Fees November 18, 2008. Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 608 thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that on November 12, 2008, 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 9 In approving the proposed rule changes, the Commission considered the proposals’ impact on efficiency, competition and capital formation. 15 U.S.C. 78c(f). 10 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 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 PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 The primary purpose of this filing is to amend the language of the current version of OPRA’s Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees to confirm their application to third party payment arrangements. A secondary purpose of this filing is to make a few additional changes in the Policies. Background OPRA uses the term ‘‘device-based fees’’ to refer to fees that are determined by counting ‘‘devices’’ or ‘‘User IDs’’ that are enabled to receive OPRA data. If a person signs a Professional Subscriber Agreement with OPRA, OPRA collects device-based fees with respect to the receipt of the data by the Professional Subscriber.5 OPRA’s Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees, as their title suggests, describe various policies with respect to OPRA’s device-based fees. OPRA invoices most Professional Subscribers that pay device-based fees directly, and the Professional Subscribers pay the device-based fees directly to OPRA. Some Professional Subscribers establish arrangements with third parties pursuant to which the third parties (each, a ‘‘third party payor’’) agree to pay OPRA’s fees for the Professional Subscribers’ use of OPRA data. This kind of payment arrangement is usually memorialized using an OPRA form agreement entitled ‘‘Third Party Billing Agreement.’’ 6 on options that are traded on the participant exchanges. The seven participants to the OPRA Plan are the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc., the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated, the International Securities Exchange, LLC, NASDAQ OMX PHLX, Inc., NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, NYSE Alternext US LLC, and NYSE Arca, Inc. 4 OPRA most recently amended its Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees in File No. SR– OPRA–2007–02, Release No. 34–55455. 5 A person may also become an OPRA Professional Subscriber by entering into a ‘‘Subscriber Agreement’’ with a ‘‘Vendor’’—an entity that has entered into a Vendor Agreement with OPRA that authorizes the entity to redistribute OPRA Data to third persons. If a person becomes a Professional Subscriber by signing a Subscriber Agreement with a Vendor, the Vendor pays ‘‘usagebased fees’’ to OPRA. The Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees are not relevant to usage-based fees. 6 OPRA filed its current form of Third Party Billing Agreement in File No. SR–OPRA–2007–01, Release No. 34–55454. E:\FR\FM\26NON1.SGM 26NON1 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 229 / Wednesday, November 26, 2008 / Notices Primary Purpose of Filing The sections of the Policies entitled ‘‘Counting Devices and User IDs’’ and ‘‘Professional Subscriber’s Responsibility to Verify Invoices’’ are applicable to device-based fees that a third party payor has agreed to pay, and OPRA is proposing to add an express statement to this effect to the Policies. The section of the Policies entitled ‘‘Counting Devices and User IDs’’ states a longstanding OPRA policy that OPRA does not require a Professional Subscriber that pays device-based fees directly to OPRA to pay more than one fee with respect to any device or User ID that is enabled to receive OPRA information, even if the device or User ID is enabled to receive OPRA information from more than one source or ‘‘service.’’ OPRA proposes to amend this section to state more explicitly that OPRA applies this policy on a ‘‘payor by payor’’ basis. For example, if a particular device is receiving data from one service that is being paid for by the Professional Subscriber and a second service that is being paid for by a third party payor, OPRA requires that the Professional Subscriber pay a devicebased fee for the device and that the third party payor also pay a devicebased fee for the device. mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with NOTICES Secondary Purpose of Filing OPRA is also proposing to amend a paragraph in the Policies that describes how a Professional Subscriber may count its devices and User IDs to state explicitly that the paragraph is relevant only to those Professional Subscribers that have been authorized to enable their own devices and User IDs to receive OPRA information. OPRA authorizes Professional Subscribers to enable their own devices and User IDs pursuant to OPRA’s form ‘‘Indirect (Vendor Pass-Through) Circuit Connection Rider’’ or form ‘‘Direct Circuit Connection Rider.’’ The ‘‘enablement’’ process is controlled, for all other Professional Subscribers, by the Vendors providing service to these Subscribers, and for these Subscribers, the Vendors report this information to OPRA and this paragraph in the Policies is not relevant. OPRA is also proposing to make a few additional selfexplanatory changes in the language of the Policies. The text of the proposed amendment to the OPRA Plan is available at OPRA, the Commission’s Public Reference Room, and https://opradata.com. VerDate Aug<31>2005 17:30 Nov 25, 2008 Jkt 217001 II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan Amendment Pursuant to paragraph to (b)(3)(iii) of Rule 608 under the Act,7 OPRA designated this amendment as one involving solely technical or ministerial matters thereby qualifying the amendment for effectiveness upon filing. OPRA states that it will implement the revised form of the Policies upon filing with the Commission. 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 8 if it appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or 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–2008–04 on the subject line. 72101 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, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such 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–2008–04 and should be submitted on or before December 17, 2008. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.9 Florence E. Harmon, Acting Secretary. [FR Doc. E8–28090 Filed 11–25–08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration #11540] California Disaster #CA–00131 Declaration of Economic Injury U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: SUMMARY: This is a notice of an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Paper Comments declaration for the State of California, dated 11/18/2008. • Send paper comments in triplicate Incident: California Dry Lightning to Secretary, Securities and Exchange Wildfires. Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Incident Period: 06/08/2008 through Washington, DC 20549–1090. 08/20/2008. All submissions should refer to File Effective Date: 11/18/2008. Number SR–OPRA–2008–04. This file EIDL Loan Application Deadline Date: number should be included on the 08/18/2009. subject line if e-mail is used. To help the ADDRESSES: Submit completed loan Commission process and review your applications to: U.S. Small Business comments more efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will Administration, Processing and post all comments on the Commission’s Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. Internet Web site (https://www.sec.gov/ FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, submission, all subsequent U.S. Small Business Administration, amendments, all written statements 409 3rd Street, SW., Suite 6050, with respect to the proposed plan Washington, DC 20416. amendment that are filed with the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is Commission, and all written hereby given that as a result of the communications relating to the Administrator’s EIDL declaration, 7 17 8 17 PO 00000 CFR 242.608(b)(3)(iii). CFR 242.608(b)(2). Frm 00079 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 9 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(29). E:\FR\FM\26NON1.SGM 26NON1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 229 (Wednesday, November 26, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 72100-72101]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-28090]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-58973; File No. SR-OPRA-2008-04]


Options Price Reporting Authority; Notice of Filing and Immediate 
Effectiveness of Proposed Amendment to the Options Price Reporting 
Authority's Policies With Respect to Device-Based Fees

November 18, 2008.
    Pursuant to Section 11A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 608 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on November 12, 2008, 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\ The proposed 
amendment would revise OPRA's ``Policies with Respect to Device-Based 
Fees.'' \4\ The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit 
comments from interested persons on the proposed OPRA Plan amendment.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \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 seven participants to the OPRA Plan 
are the Boston Stock Exchange, Inc., the Chicago Board Options 
Exchange, Incorporated, the International Securities Exchange, LLC, 
NASDAQ OMX PHLX, Inc., NASDAQ Stock Market LLC, NYSE Alternext US 
LLC, and NYSE Arca, Inc.
    \4\ OPRA most recently amended its Policies with Respect to 
Device-Based Fees in File No. SR-OPRA-2007-02, Release No. 34-55455.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Description and Purpose of the Plan Amendment

    The primary purpose of this filing is to amend the language of the 
current version of OPRA's Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees to 
confirm their application to third party payment arrangements. A 
secondary purpose of this filing is to make a few additional changes in 
the Policies.

Background

    OPRA uses the term ``device-based fees'' to refer to fees that are 
determined by counting ``devices'' or ``User IDs'' that are enabled to 
receive OPRA data. If a person signs a Professional Subscriber 
Agreement with OPRA, OPRA collects device-based fees with respect to 
the receipt of the data by the Professional Subscriber.\5\ OPRA's 
Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees, as their title suggests, 
describe various policies with respect to OPRA's device-based fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ A person may also become an OPRA Professional Subscriber by 
entering into a ``Subscriber Agreement'' with a ``Vendor''--an 
entity that has entered into a Vendor Agreement with OPRA that 
authorizes the entity to redistribute OPRA Data to third persons. If 
a person becomes a Professional Subscriber by signing a Subscriber 
Agreement with a Vendor, the Vendor pays ``usage-based fees'' to 
OPRA. The Policies with Respect to Device-Based Fees are not 
relevant to usage-based fees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    OPRA invoices most Professional Subscribers that pay device-based 
fees directly, and the Professional Subscribers pay the device-based 
fees directly to OPRA. Some Professional Subscribers establish 
arrangements with third parties pursuant to which the third parties 
(each, a ``third party payor'') agree to pay OPRA's fees for the 
Professional Subscribers' use of OPRA data. This kind of payment 
arrangement is usually memorialized using an OPRA form agreement 
entitled ``Third Party Billing Agreement.'' \6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ OPRA filed its current form of Third Party Billing Agreement 
in File No. SR-OPRA-2007-01, Release No. 34-55454.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 72101]]

Primary Purpose of Filing

    The sections of the Policies entitled ``Counting Devices and User 
IDs'' and ``Professional Subscriber's Responsibility to Verify 
Invoices'' are applicable to device-based fees that a third party payor 
has agreed to pay, and OPRA is proposing to add an express statement to 
this effect to the Policies.
    The section of the Policies entitled ``Counting Devices and User 
IDs'' states a longstanding OPRA policy that OPRA does not require a 
Professional Subscriber that pays device-based fees directly to OPRA to 
pay more than one fee with respect to any device or User ID that is 
enabled to receive OPRA information, even if the device or User ID is 
enabled to receive OPRA information from more than one source or 
``service.'' OPRA proposes to amend this section to state more 
explicitly that OPRA applies this policy on a ``payor by payor'' basis. 
For example, if a particular device is receiving data from one service 
that is being paid for by the Professional Subscriber and a second 
service that is being paid for by a third party payor, OPRA requires 
that the Professional Subscriber pay a device-based fee for the device 
and that the third party payor also pay a device-based fee for the 
device.

Secondary Purpose of Filing

    OPRA is also proposing to amend a paragraph in the Policies that 
describes how a Professional Subscriber may count its devices and User 
IDs to state explicitly that the paragraph is relevant only to those 
Professional Subscribers that have been authorized to enable their own 
devices and User IDs to receive OPRA information. OPRA authorizes 
Professional Subscribers to enable their own devices and User IDs 
pursuant to OPRA's form ``Indirect (Vendor Pass-Through) Circuit 
Connection Rider'' or form ``Direct Circuit Connection Rider.'' The 
``enablement'' process is controlled, for all other Professional 
Subscribers, by the Vendors providing service to these Subscribers, and 
for these Subscribers, the Vendors report this information to OPRA and 
this paragraph in the Policies is not relevant. OPRA is also proposing 
to make a few additional self-explanatory changes in the language of 
the Policies.
    The text of the proposed amendment to the OPRA Plan is available at 
OPRA, the Commission's Public Reference Room, and https://opradata.com.

II. Implementation of the OPRA Plan Amendment

    Pursuant to paragraph to (b)(3)(iii) of Rule 608 under the Act,\7\ 
OPRA designated this amendment as one involving solely technical or 
ministerial matters thereby qualifying the amendment for effectiveness 
upon filing. OPRA states that it will implement the revised form of the 
Policies upon filing with the Commission.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ 17 CFR 242.608(b)(3)(iii).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 \8\ if it 
appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate 
in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ 17 CFR 242.608(b)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

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-2008-04 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-OPRA-2008-04. 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, 100 F Street, 
NE., Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours 
of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such 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-2008-04 and should be 
submitted on or before December 17, 2008.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \9\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(29).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Florence E. Harmon,
Acting Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-28090 Filed 11-25-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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