Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To List and Trade Shares of the Teucrium Wheat Fund, the Teucrium Soybean Fund and the Teucrium Sugar Fund Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.200, Commentary .02, 45885-45895 [2011-19329]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 147 / Monday, August 1, 2011 / Notices
before the scheduled appointment date.
FINRA further believes that the amount
of the fee is reasonable because it will
dissuade individuals from cancelling or
rescheduling an appointment three to
ten business days before the scheduled
appointment date.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
FINRA does not believe that the
proposed rule change will result in 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 were neither
solicited nor received.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)
of the Act 11 and paragraph (f)(2) of Rule
19b–4 thereunder.12 At any time within
60 days of the filing of the proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may
temporarily suspend 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. If the
Commission takes such action, the
Commission shall institute proceedings
to determine whether the proposed rule
should be approved or 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:
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD 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
Number SR–FINRA–2011–026 on the
subject line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary,
Securities and Exchange Commission,
100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC
20549–1090.
11 15
12 17
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–FINRA–2011–026. 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 Web site viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549, on official
business days between the hours of 10
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such filing
also will be available for inspection and
copying at the principal office of
FINRA. 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 publicly available. All
submissions should refer to File
Number SR–FINRA–2011–026 and
should be submitted on or before
August 22, 2011.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.13
Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011–19324 Filed 7–29–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–64967; File No. SR–
NYSEArca–2011–48]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed
Rule Change To List and Trade Shares
of the Teucrium Wheat Fund, the
Teucrium Soybean Fund and the
Teucrium Sugar Fund Under NYSE
Arca Equities Rule 8.200, Commentary
.02
July 26, 2011.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
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CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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45885
‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that, on July 11,
2011, NYSE Arca, Inc. (‘‘NYSE Arca’’ 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
by the Exchange. 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 list and
trade shares of the Teucrium Wheat
Fund, the Teucrium Soybean Fund and
the Teucrium Sugar Fund under NYSE
Arca Equities Rule 8.200. The text of the
proposed rule change is available on the
Exchange’s Web site at https://
www.nyse.com, at the Exchange’s
principal office 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
self-regulatory organization 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 those 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 the most significant parts of such
statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.200,
Commentary .02 permits the trading of
Trust Issued Receipts (‘‘TIRs’’) either by
listing or pursuant to unlisted trading
privileges (‘‘UTP’’).3 The Exchange
proposes to list and trade shares
(‘‘Shares’’) of the Teucrium Wheat
Fund, the Teucrium Soybean Fund and
the Teucrium Sugar Fund (each a
1 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 Commentary .02 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.200 applies to TIRs that invest in ‘‘Financial
Instruments.’’ The term ‘‘Financial Instruments,’’ as
defined in Commentary .02(b)(4) to NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.200, means any combination of
investments, including cash; securities; options on
securities and indices; futures contracts; options on
futures contracts; forward contracts; equity caps,
collars and floors; and swap agreements.
2 17
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srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
‘‘Fund’’ and, collectively, the ‘‘Funds’’)
pursuant to NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.200.
The Exchange notes that the
Commission has previously approved
the listing and trading of other issues of
TIRs on the American Stock Exchange
LLC,4 trading on NYSE Arca pursuant to
UTP,5 and listing on NYSE Arca.6
Among these is the Teucrium Corn
Fund, a series of the Teucrium
Commodity Trust (‘‘Trust’’).7 In
addition, the Commission has approved
the listing and trading of other
exchange-traded fund-like products
linked to the performance of underlying
commodities.8
The Shares represent beneficial
ownership interests in the Funds, as
described in the Registration Statements
for the Funds.9 The Funds are
commodity pools that are series of the
Trust, a Delaware statutory trust. The
Funds are managed and controlled by
Teucrium Trading, LLC (‘‘Sponsor’’).
The Sponsor is a Delaware limited
liability company that is registered as a
commodity pool operator (‘‘CPO’’) with
the Commodity Futures Trading
Commission (‘‘CFTC’’) and is a member
of the National Futures Association.
4 See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No.
58161 (July 15, 2008), 73 FR 42380 (July 21, 2008)
(SR–Amex–2008–39).
5 See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No.
58163 (July 15, 2008), 73 FR 42391 (July 21, 2008)
(SR–NYSEArca–2008–73).
6 See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No.
58457 (September 3, 2008), 73 FR 52711 (September
10, 2008) (SR–NYSEArca–2008–91).
7 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62213
(June 3, 2010), 75 FR 32828 (June 9, 2010) (SR–
NYSEArca–2010–22) (order approving listing on the
Exchange of Teucrium Corn Fund).
8 See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release Nos.
57456 (March 7, 2008), 73 FR 13599 (March 13,
2008) (SR–NYSEArca–2007–91) (order granting
accelerated approval for NYSE Arca listing the
iShares GS Commodity Trusts); 59781 (April 17,
2009), 74 FR 18771 (April 24, 2009) (SR–
NYSEArca–2009–28) (order granting accelerated
approval for NYSE Arca listing the ETFS Silver
Trust); 59895 (May 8, 2009), 74 FR 22993 (May 15,
2009) (SR–NYSEArca–2009–40) (order granting
accelerated approval for NYSE Arca listing the
ETFS Gold Trust); 61219 (December 22, 2009), 74
FR 68886 (December 29, 2009) (SR–NYSEArca–
2009–95) (order approving listing on NYSE Arca of
the ETFS Platinum Trust).
9 See Amendment No. 3 to Form S–1 for
Teucrium Commodity Trust, dated June 3, 2011
(File No. 333–167591) relating to the Teucrium
Wheat Fund; Amendment No. 3 to Form S–1 for
Teucrium Commodity Trust, dated June 3, 2011
(File No. 333–167590) relating to the Teucrium
Soybean Fund; and Amendment No. 3 to Form S–
1 for Teucrium Commodity Trust, dated June 3,
2011 (File No. 333–167585) relating to the
Teucrium Sugar Fund (each, a ‘‘Registration
Statement,’’ and, collectively, the ‘‘Registration
Statements’’). The discussion herein relating to the
Trust and the Shares is based, in part, on the
Registration Statements.
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Teucrium Wheat Fund
According to the Registration
Statement, the investment objective of
the Fund is to have the daily changes in
percentage terms of the Shares’ net asset
value (‘‘NAV’’) reflect the daily changes
in percentage terms of a weighted
average of the closing settlement prices
for three futures contracts for wheat
(wheat futures contracts generally
referred to herein as ‘‘Wheat Futures
Contracts’’) that are traded on the
Chicago Board of Trade (‘‘CBOT’’),
specifically: (1) The second-to-expire
CBOT Wheat Futures Contract,
weighted 35%, (2) the third-to-expire
CBOT Wheat Futures Contract,
weighted 30%, and (3) the CBOT Wheat
Futures Contract expiring in the
December following the expiration
month of the third-to-expire contract,
weighted 35%. (This weighted average
of the three referenced Wheat Futures
Contracts is referred to herein as the
‘‘Wheat Benchmark,’’ and the three
Wheat Futures Contracts that at any
given time make up the Wheat
Benchmark are referred to herein as the
‘‘Wheat Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts’’).10
The Fund seeks to achieve its
investment objective by investing under
normal market conditions 11 in Wheat
Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts or, in certain circumstances,
in other Wheat Futures Contracts traded
on the CBOT, the Kansas City Board of
Trade (‘‘KCBT’’), or the Minneapolis
Grain Exchange (‘‘MGEX’’), or Wheat
Futures Contracts traded on foreign
exchanges. In addition, and to a limited
extent, the Fund also may invest in
exchange-traded options on Wheat
Futures Contracts, and in wheat-based
swap agreements that are cleared
through the CBOT or its affiliated
provider of clearing services (‘‘Cleared
10 Wheat futures volume on CBOT for 2010 and
2011 (through April 29, 2011) was 23,058,783
contracts and 8,860,135 contracts, respectively. As
of April 29, 2011, open interest for wheat futures
was 456,851 contracts. The contract price was
$40,062.50 (801.25 cents per bushel and 5,000
bushels per contract). The approximate value of all
outstanding contracts was $18.3 billion. The
position limits for all months is 6,500 contracts and
the total value of contracts if position limits were
reached would be approximately $260.4 million
(based on the $40,062.50 contract price).
11 The term ‘‘under normal market conditions’’
includes, but is not limited to, the absence of
extreme volatility or trading halts in the fixed
income markets or the financial markets generally;
operational issues causing dissemination of
inaccurate market information; or force majeure
type events such as systems failure, natural or manmade disaster, act of God, armed conflict, act of
terrorism, riot or labor disruption or any similar
intervening circumstance.
PO 00000
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Sfmt 4703
Wheat Swaps’’) in furtherance of the
Fund’s investment objective.12
Specifically, once position limits in
CBOT Wheat Futures Contracts are
reached, the Fund’s intention is to
invest first in Cleared Wheat Swaps to
the extent permitted under the position
limits applicable to Cleared Wheat
Swaps and appropriate in light of the
liquidity in the Cleared Wheat Swaps
market, and then, using its
commercially reasonable judgment, in
other Wheat Futures Contracts (i.e.,
Wheat Futures Contracts traded on
KCBT, MGEX or traded on foreign
exchanges) or instruments such as cashsettled options on Wheat Futures
Contracts and forward contracts, swaps
other than Cleared Wheat Swaps, and
other over-the-counter transactions that
are based on the price of wheat and
Wheat Futures Contracts (collectively,
‘‘Other Wheat Interests,’’ and together
with Wheat Futures Contracts and
Cleared Wheat Swaps, ‘‘Wheat
Interests’’). By utilizing certain or all of
these investments, the Sponsor will
endeavor to cause the Fund’s
performance to closely track that of the
Wheat Benchmark. The circumstances
under which such investments in Other
Wheat Interests may be utilized (e.g.,
imposition of position limits) are
discussed below.
Wheat Futures Contracts traded on
the CBOT expire on a specified day in
five different months: March, May, July,
September and December. For example,
in terms of the Wheat Benchmark, in
June of a given year the next-to-expire
or ‘‘spot month’’ Wheat Futures
Contract will expire in July of that year,
and the Wheat Benchmark Component
Futures Contracts will be the contracts
expiring in September of that year (the
second-to-expire contract), December of
that year (the third-to-expire contract),
and December of the following year. As
another example, in November of a
given year, the Wheat Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts will be
the contracts expiring in March, May
and December of the following year.
According to the Registration
Statement, the Fund seeks to achieve its
investment objective primarily by
investing in Wheat Interests such that
daily changes in the Fund’s NAV will be
12 According to the Registration Statement, a
swap agreement is a bilateral contract to exchange
a periodic stream of payments determined by
reference to a notional amount, with payment
typically made between the parties on a net basis.
For example, in the case of a wheat swap, the Fund
may be obligated to pay a fixed price per bushel of
wheat and be entitled to receive an amount per
bushel equal to the current value of an index of
wheat prices, the price of a specified Wheat Futures
Contract, or the average price of a group of Wheat
Futures Contracts such as the Wheat Benchmark.
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srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
expected to closely track the changes in
the Wheat Benchmark. The Fund’s
positions in Wheat Interests will be
changed or ‘‘rolled’’ on a regular basis
in order to track the changing nature of
the Wheat Benchmark. For example,
five times a year (on the date on which
a Wheat Futures Contract expires), the
second-to-expire Wheat Futures
Contract will become the next-to-expire
Wheat Futures Contract and will no
longer be a Wheat Benchmark
Component Futures Contract, and the
Fund’s investments will have to be
changed accordingly.13
Consistent with achieving the Fund’s
investment objective of closely tracking
the Wheat Benchmark, the Sponsor may
for certain reasons cause the Fund to
enter into or hold Cleared Wheat Swaps
and/or Other Wheat Interests. For
example, certain Cleared Wheat Swaps
have standardized terms similar to, and
are priced by reference to, a
corresponding Wheat Benchmark
Component Futures Contract.
Additionally, Other Wheat Interests that
do not have standardized terms and are
not exchange-traded (‘‘over-the-counter’’
Wheat Interests), can generally be
structured as the parties desire.
Therefore, the Fund might enter into
multiple Cleared Wheat Swaps and/or
over-the-counter Wheat Interests
intended to exactly replicate the
performance of each of the three Wheat
Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts, or a single over-the-counter
Wheat Interest designed to replicate the
performance of the Wheat Benchmark as
a whole. According to the Registration
Statement, assuming that there is no
default by a counterparty to an over-thecounter Wheat Interest, the performance
of the over-the-counter Wheat Interest
will necessarily correlate exactly with
the performance of the Wheat
Benchmark or the applicable Wheat
Benchmark Component Futures
Contract.14 The Fund might also enter
13 For each of the Funds, in order that the Fund’s
trading does not cause unwanted market
movements and to make it more difficult for third
parties to profit by trading based on such expected
market movements, the Fund’s investments
typically will not be rolled entirely on that day, but
rather will typically be rolled over a period of
several days.
14 According to the Registration Statements, the
Funds face the risk of non-performance by the
counterparties to over-the-counter contracts. Unlike
in futures contracts, the counterparty to these
contracts is generally a single bank or other
financial institution, rather than a clearing
organization backed by a group of financial
institutions. As a result, there will be greater
counterparty credit risk in these transactions. The
creditworthiness of each potential counterparty will
be assessed by the Sponsor. The Sponsor will assess
or review, as appropriate, the creditworthiness of
each potential or existing counterparty to an overthe-counter contract pursuant to guidelines
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Jkt 223001
into or hold over-the-counter Wheat
Interests to facilitate effective trading,
consistent with the discussion of the
Fund’s ‘‘roll’’ strategy in the preceding
paragraph. In addition, the Fund might
enter into or hold over-the-counter
Wheat Interests that would be expected
to alleviate overall deviation between
the Fund’s performance and that of the
Wheat Benchmark that may result from
certain market and trading inefficiencies
or other reasons.
The Fund will invest in Wheat
Interests to the fullest extent possible
without being leveraged or unable to
satisfy its expected current or potential
margin or collateral obligations with
respect to its investments in Wheat
Interests.15 After fulfilling such margin
and collateral requirements, the Fund
will invest the remainder of its proceeds
from the sale of baskets in obligations of
the United States government
(‘‘Treasury Securities’’) or cash
equivalents, and/or hold such assets in
cash (generally in interest-bearing
accounts). Therefore, the focus of the
Sponsor in managing the Fund is
investing in Wheat Interests and in
Treasury Securities, cash and/or cash
equivalents. Each of the Funds will earn
interest income from the Treasury
Securities and/or cash equivalents that
it purchases and on the cash it holds
through each Fund’s custodian, the
Bank of New York Mellon (the
‘‘Custodian’’ and the ‘‘Administrator’’).
The Sponsor endeavors to place the
Fund’s trades in Wheat Interests and
otherwise manage the Fund’s
investments so that the Fund’s average
daily tracking error against the Wheat
Benchmark will be less than 10 percent
over any period of 30 trading days. More
specifically, the Sponsor will endeavor
to manage the Fund so that A will be
within plus/minus 10 percent of B,
where A is the average daily change in
the Fund’s NAV for any period of 30
successive valuation days, i.e., any
trading day as of which the Fund
calculates its NAV, and B is the average
daily change in the Wheat Benchmark
over the same period.16
approved by the Sponsor. The creditworthiness of
existing counterparties will be reviewed
periodically by the Sponsor.
15 The Sponsor represents that the Fund will
invest in Wheat Interests in a manner consistent
with the Fund’s investment objective and not to
achieve additional leverage.
16 For each of the Funds, the Sponsor believes
that market arbitrage opportunities will cause each
Fund’s respective Share price on the NYSE Arca to
closely track the Fund’s NAV per Share. The
Sponsor believes that the net effect of this expected
relationship and the expected relationship
described above between the Fund’s respective
NAV and the respective benchmark will be that the
changes in the price of the Fund’s Shares on the
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45887
According to the Registration
Statement, the Sponsor employs a
‘‘neutral’’ investment strategy intended
to track the changes in the Wheat
Benchmark regardless of whether the
Wheat Benchmark goes up or goes
down. The Fund’s ‘‘neutral’’ investment
strategy is designed to permit investors
generally to purchase and sell the
Fund’s Shares for the purpose of
investing indirectly in the wheat market
in a cost-effective manner. Such
investors may include participants in
the wheat industry and other industries
seeking to hedge the risk of losses in
their wheat-related transactions, as well
as investors seeking exposure to the
wheat market. The Sponsor does not
intend to operate the Fund in a fashion
such that its per Share NAV will equal,
in dollar terms, the spot price of a
bushel or other unit of wheat or the
price of any particular Wheat Futures
Contract.
According to the Registration
Statement, the CFTC and U.S.
designated contract markets such as the
CBOT may establish position limits on
the maximum net long or net short
futures contracts in commodity interests
that any person or group of persons
under common trading control (other
than as a hedge) may hold, own or
control.17 For example, the current
position limit for investments at any one
time in CBOT Wheat Futures Contracts
are 600 spot month contracts, 5,000
contracts expiring in any other single
month, and 6,500 contracts total for all
months. Cleared Wheat Swaps are
subject to position limits that are
substantially identical to, but measured
separately from, the limits on Wheat
Futures Contracts. Position limits are
fixed ceilings that the Fund would not
be able to exceed without specific
exchange authorization. Under current
law, all Wheat Futures Contracts traded
on a particular exchange that are held
under the control of the Sponsor,
including those held by any future
series of the Trust, are aggregated in
determining the application of
applicable position limits.
In addition to position limits, the
exchanges may establish daily price
fluctuation limits on futures contracts.
The daily price fluctuation limit
establishes the maximum amount that
NYSE Arca will closely track, in percentage terms,
changes in such benchmark, less expenses.
17 According to the Registration Statement,
position limits generally impose a fixed ceiling on
aggregate holdings in futures contracts relating to a
particular commodity, and may also impose
separate ceilings on contracts expiring in any one
month, contracts expiring in the spot month, and/
or contracts in certain specified final days of
trading.
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the price of futures contracts may vary
either up or down from the previous
day’s settlement price. Once the daily
price fluctuation limit has been reached
in a particular futures contract, no
trades may be made at a price beyond
that limit.18 Position limits,
accountability levels, and daily price
fluctuation limits set by the exchanges
have the potential to cause tracking
error, which could cause the price of
Shares to substantially vary from the
Wheat Benchmark and prevent an
investor from being able to effectively
use the Fund as a way to hedge against
wheat-related losses or as a way to
indirectly invest in wheat.
The Fund does not intend to limit the
size of the offering and will attempt to
expose substantially all of its proceeds
to the wheat market utilizing Wheat
Interests. If the Fund encounters
position limits, accountability levels, or
price fluctuation limits for Wheat
Futures Contracts and/or Cleared Wheat
Swaps on the CBOT, it may then, if
permitted under applicable regulatory
requirements, purchase Other Wheat
Interests and/or Wheat Futures
Contracts listed on other domestic or
foreign exchanges. However, the Wheat
Futures Contracts available on such
foreign exchanges may have different
underlying sizes, deliveries, and prices.
In addition, the Wheat Futures
Contracts available on these exchanges
may be subject to their own position
limits and accountability levels. In any
case, notwithstanding the potential
availability of these instruments in
certain circumstances, position limits
could force the Fund to limit the
number of Creation Baskets (as defined
below) that it sells.19
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Teucrium Soybean Fund
According to the Registration
Statement, the investment objective of
the Fund is to have the daily changes in
percentage terms of the Shares’ NAV
reflect the daily changes in percentage
terms of a weighted average of the
closing settlement prices for three
18 For example, the CBOT imposes a $3,000 per
contract price fluctuation limit for Wheat Futures
Contracts. This limit is initially based off of the
previous trading day’s settlement price. If two or
more Wheat Futures Contract months within the
first five listed non-spot contracts close at the limit,
the daily price limit increases to $4,500 per contract
for the next business day and to $6,750 for the next
business day.
19 With respect to each of the Funds, there will
be no specified limit on the maximum amount of
Creation Baskets that can be sold. At some point,
however, applicable position limits may practically
limit the number of Creation Baskets that will be
sold if the Sponsor determines that the other
investment alternatives available to a Fund at that
time will not enable it to meet its stated investment
objective.
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futures contracts for soybeans (soybean
futures contracts generally referred to
herein as ‘‘Soybean Futures Contracts’’)
that are traded on the CBOT. Except as
described in the following paragraph,
the three Soybean Futures Contracts
will be: (1) Second-to-expire CBOT
Soybean Futures Contract, weighted
35%, (2) the third-to-expire CBOT
Soybean Futures Contract, weighted
30%, and (3) the CBOT Soybean Futures
Contract expiring in the November
following the expiration month of the
third-to-expire contract, weighted 35%.
The weighted average of the three
Soybean Futures Contracts is referred to
herein as the ‘‘Soybean Benchmark,’’
and the three Soybean Futures Contracts
that at any given time make up the
Soybean Benchmark are referred to
herein as the ‘‘Soybean Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts.’’ The
circumstances under which such
investments in Other Soybean Interests
may be utilized (e.g., imposition of
position limits) are discussed below.20
Soybean Futures Contracts traded on
the CBOT expire on a specified day in
seven different months: January, March,
May, July, August, September and
November. However, there is generally
a less liquid market for the Soybean
Futures Contracts expiring in August
(the ‘‘August Contract’’) and September
(the ‘‘September Contract’’ and, together
with the August Contract, the
‘‘Excluded Contracts’’), and the Sponsor
has determined not to incorporate the
Excluded Contracts into the Soybean
Benchmark calculation. Accordingly,
during the period when the Excluded
Contracts are the second-to-expire and
third-to-expire Soybean Futures
Contract, the fourth-to-expire and fifthto-expire Soybean Futures Contracts
will take the place of the second-toexpire and third-to-expire Soybean
Futures Contracts, respectively, as
Soybean Benchmark Component
Futures Contracts. Similarly, when the
August Contract is the third-to-expire
Soybean Futures Contract, the fifth-toexpire Soybean Futures Contract will
take the place of the August Contract as
a Soybean Benchmark Component
Futures Contract, and when the
September Contract is the second-toexpire Soybean Futures Contract, the
20 Soybean futures volume on CBOT for 2010 and
2011 (through April 29, 2011) was 36,962,868
contracts and 16,197,385 contracts, respectively. As
of April 29, 2011, open interest for soybean futures
was 572,959 contracts. The contract price was
$69,700.00 (1394 cents per bushel and 5,000
bushels per contract). The approximate value of all
outstanding contracts was $39.9 billion. The
position limits for all months is 6,500 contracts and
the total value of contracts if position limits were
reached would be approximately $453 million
(based on the $69,700.00 contract price).
PO 00000
Frm 00132
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
third-to-expire and fourth-to-expire
Soybean Futures Contracts will be
Soybean Benchmark Component
Futures Contracts.21
According to the Registration
Statement, the Fund seeks to achieve its
investment objective by investing under
normal market conditions in Soybean
Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts or, in certain circumstances,
in other Soybean Futures Contracts
traded on CBOT or Soybean Futures
Contracts traded on foreign exchanges.
In addition, and to a limited extent, the
Fund also may invest in exchangetraded options on Soybean Futures
Contracts and in soybean-based swap
agreements that are cleared through the
CBOT or its affiliated provider of
clearing services (‘‘Cleared Soybean
Swaps’’) in furtherance of the Fund’s
investment objective.
Specifically, once CBOT position
limits in Soybean Futures Contracts are
reached, the Fund’s intention is to
invest first in Cleared Soybean Swaps to
the extent permitted under the CBOT
position limits applicable to Cleared
Soybean Swaps and appropriate in light
of the liquidity in the Cleared Soybean
Swaps market, and then, using its
commercially reasonable judgment, in
other Soybean Futures Contracts (i.e.,
Soybean Futures Contracts traded on
foreign exchanges) and instruments
such as cash-settled options on Soybean
Futures Contracts and forward
contracts, swaps other than Cleared
Soybean Swaps, and other over-thecounter transactions that are based on
the price of soybeans and Soybean
Futures Contracts (collectively, ‘‘Other
Soybean Interests,’’ and together with
Soybean Futures Contracts and Cleared
Soybean Swaps, ‘‘Soybean Interests’’).
The Fund seeks to achieve its
investment objective primarily by
investing in Soybean Interests such that
daily changes in the Fund’s NAV will be
expected to closely track the changes in
the Soybean Benchmark. The Fund’s
positions in Soybean Interests will be
changed or ‘‘rolled’’ on a regular basis
in order to track the changing nature of
the Soybean Benchmark. For example,
five times a year (on the date on which
certain Soybean Futures Contracts
expire), a particular Soybean Futures
Contract will no longer be a Soybean
Benchmark Component Futures
Contract, and the Fund’s investments
will have to be changed accordingly.
21 See the Registration Statement for additional
information regarding specific Soybean Futures
Contracts that will be used in the calculation of the
Soybean Benchmark at any point in a given year,
based on the same 35%/30%/35% weighting
methodology described above.
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According to the Registration
Statement, consistent with achieving the
Fund’s investment objective of closely
tracking the Soybean Benchmark, the
Sponsor may for certain reasons cause
the Fund to enter into or hold Cleared
Soybean Swaps and/or Other Soybean
Interests. For example, certain Cleared
Soybean Swaps have standardized terms
similar to, and are priced by reference
to, a corresponding Soybean Benchmark
Component Futures Contract.
Additionally, Other Soybean Interests
that do not have standardized terms and
are not exchange-traded (‘‘over-thecounter’’ Soybean Interests) can
generally be structured as the parties
desire. Therefore, the Fund might enter
into multiple Cleared Soybean Swaps
and/or over-the-counter Soybean
Interests intended to exactly replicate
the performance of each of the three
Soybean Benchmark Component
Futures Contracts, or a single over-thecounter Soybean Interest designed to
replicate the performance of the
Soybean Benchmark as a whole.
According to the Registration Statement,
assuming that there is no default by a
counterparty to an over-the-counter
Soybean Interest, the performance of the
over-the-counter Soybean Interest will
necessarily correlate exactly with the
performance of the Soybean Benchmark
or the applicable Soybean Benchmark
Component Futures Contract. The Fund
might also enter into or hold over-thecounter Soybean Interests to facilitate
effective trading, consistent with the
discussion of the Fund’s ‘‘roll’’ strategy
in the preceding paragraph. In addition,
the Fund might enter into or hold overthe-counter Soybean Interests that
would be expected to alleviate overall
deviation between the Fund’s
performance and that of the Soybean
Benchmark that may result from certain
market and trading inefficiencies or
other reasons.
The Fund will invest in Soybean
Interests to the fullest extent possible
without being leveraged or unable to
satisfy its expected current or potential
margin or collateral obligations with
respect to its investments in Soybean
Interests.22 After fulfilling such margin
and collateral requirements, the Fund
will invest the remainder of its proceeds
from the sale of baskets in Treasury
Securities or cash equivalents, and/or
hold such assets in cash (generally in
interest-bearing accounts). Therefore,
the focus of the Sponsor in managing
the Fund is investing in Soybean
22 The Sponsor represents that the Fund will
invest in Soybean Interests in a manner consistent
with the Fund’s investment objective and not to
achieve additional leverage.
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17:45 Jul 29, 2011
Jkt 223001
Interests and in Treasury Securities,
cash and/or cash equivalents.
The Sponsor endeavors to place the
Fund’s trades in Soybean Interests and
otherwise manage the Fund’s
investments so that the Fund’s average
daily tracking error against the Soybean
Benchmark will be less than 10 percent
over any period of 30 trading days. More
specifically, the Sponsor will endeavor
to manage the Fund so that A will be
within plus/minus 10 percent of B,
where A is the average daily change in
the Fund’s NAV for any period of 30
successive valuation days, i.e., any
trading day as of which the Fund
calculates its NAV, and B is the average
daily change in the Soybean Benchmark
over the same period.
The Sponsor employs a ‘‘neutral’’
investment strategy intended to track
the changes in the Soybean Benchmark
regardless of whether the Soybean
Benchmark goes up or goes down. The
Fund’s ‘‘neutral’’ investment strategy is
designed to permit investors generally
to purchase and sell the Fund’s Shares
for the purpose of investing indirectly in
the soybean market in a cost-effective
manner. Such investors may include
participants in the soybean industry and
other industries seeking to hedge the
risk of losses in their soybean-related
transactions, as well as investors
seeking exposure to the soybean market.
The Sponsor does not intend to operate
the Fund in a fashion such that its per
Share NAV will equal, in dollar terms,
the spot price of a bushel or other unit
of soybean or the price of any particular
Soybean Futures Contract.
The CFTC’s position limits for
Soybean Futures Contracts (including
related options) are 600 spot month
contracts, 6,500 contracts expiring in
any other single month, and 10,000
contracts for all months. Position limits
could in certain circumstances
effectively limit the number of Creation
Baskets that the Fund can sell but,
because the Fund is new, it is not
expected to reach asset levels that
would cause these position limits to be
implicated in the near future. Cleared
Soybean Swaps are subject to position
limits that are substantially identical to,
but measured separately from, the
positions limits applicable to Soybean
Futures Contracts. Under current law,
all Soybean Futures Contracts that are
held under the control of the Sponsor,
including those held by any future
series of the Trust, are aggregated in
determining the application of
applicable position limits.
According to the Registration
Statement, in contrast to position limits,
accountability levels are not fixed
ceilings, but rather thresholds above
PO 00000
Frm 00133
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
45889
which an exchange may exercise greater
scrutiny and control over an investor,
including by imposing position limits
on the investor. In light of the position
limits discussed above, the CBOT has
not set any accountability levels for
Soybean Futures Contracts.
According to the Registration
Statement, the CBOT imposes a $0.70
per bushel ($3,500 per contract) daily
price fluctuation limit for Soybean
Futures Contracts. Once the daily price
fluctuation limit has been reached in a
particular Soybean Futures Contract, no
trades may be made at a price beyond
that limit. If two or more Soybean
Futures Contract months within the first
seven listed non-spot contracts close at
the limit, the daily price limit increases
to $1.05 per bushel ($5,250 per contract)
the next business day and to $1.60 per
bushel ($8,000 per contract) the next
business day. These limits are based off
the previous trading day’s settlement
price. Position limits and daily price
fluctuation limits set by the CFTC and
the exchanges have the potential to
cause tracking error, which could cause
the price of Shares to substantially vary
from the Soybean Benchmark and
prevent an investor from being able to
effectively use the Fund as a way to
hedge against soybean-related losses or
as a way to indirectly invest in
soybeans.
The Fund does not intend to limit the
size of the offering and will attempt to
expose substantially all of its proceeds
to the soybean market utilizing Soybean
Interests. If the Fund encounters
position limits or price fluctuation
limits for Soybean Futures Contracts
and/or Cleared Soybean Swaps on the
CBOT, it may then, if permitted under
applicable regulatory requirements,
purchase Other Soybean Interests and/
or Soybean Futures Contracts listed on
foreign exchanges. However, the
Soybean Futures Contracts available on
such foreign exchanges may have
different underlying sizes, deliveries,
and prices. In addition, the Soybean
Futures Contracts available on these
exchanges may be subject to their own
position limits or similar restrictions. In
any case, notwithstanding the potential
availability of these instruments in
certain circumstances, position limits
could force the Fund to limit the
number of Creation Baskets (as defined
below) that it sells.23
Teucrium Sugar Fund
According to the Registration
Statement, the investment objective of
the Fund is to have the daily changes in
percentage terms of the Shares’ NAV
23 See
E:\FR\FM\01AUN1.SGM
note 19, supra.
01AUN1
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srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
reflect the daily changes in percentage
terms of a weighted average of the
closing settlement prices for three
futures contracts for sugar (sugar futures
contracts generally referred to herein as
‘‘Sugar Futures Contracts’’) that are
traded on ICE Futures US (‘‘ICE
Futures’’), specifically: (1) The secondto-expire Sugar No. 11 Futures Contract
(a ‘‘Sugar No. 11 Futures Contract’’),
weighted 35%, (2) the third-to-expire
Sugar No. 11 Futures Contract, weighted
30%, and (3) the Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contract expiring in the March
following the expiration month of the
third-to-expire contract, weighted 35%.
The weighted average of the three Sugar
No. 11 Futures Contracts is referred to
herein as the ‘‘Sugar Benchmark,’’ and
the three Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts
that at any given time make up the
Sugar Benchmark are referred to herein
as the ‘‘Sugar Benchmark Component
Futures Contracts.’’ 24
The Fund seeks to achieve its
investment objective by investing under
normal market conditions in Sugar
Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts or, in certain circumstances,
in other Sugar Futures Contracts traded
on ICE Futures or the New York
Mercantile Exchange (‘‘NYMEX’’), or
Sugar Futures Contracts traded on
foreign exchanges. In addition, and to a
limited extent, the Fund also may invest
in exchange-traded options on Sugar
Futures Contracts and in sugar-based
swap agreements that are cleared
through ICE Futures or its affiliated
provider of clearing services (‘‘Cleared
Sugar Swaps’’) in furtherance of the
Fund’s investment objective.
Specifically, once accountability
levels in Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts
traded on ICE Futures are reached, the
Fund’s intention is to invest first in
Cleared Sugar Swaps to the extent
permitted under the accountability
levels applicable to Cleared Sugar
Swaps and appropriate in light of the
liquidity in the Cleared Sugar Swaps
market, and then, using its
commercially reasonable judgment, in
other Sugar Futures Contracts (i.e.,
Sugar Futures Contracts traded on the
NYMEX or foreign exchanges) and
instruments such as cash-settled options
on Sugar Futures Contracts and forward
24 Sugar futures volume on ICE Futures for 2010
and 2011 (through April 29, 2011) was 27,848,391
contracts and 9,045,069 contracts, respectively. As
of April 29, 2011, open interest for sugar futures
was 570,948 contracts. The contract price was
$24,920.00 (22.25 cents per pound and 112,000
pounds per contract). The approximate value of all
outstanding contracts was $14.2 billion. The
position limits for all months is 15,000 contracts
and the total value of contracts if position limits
were reached would be approximately $373.8
million (based on the $24,920.00 contract price).
VerDate Mar<15>2010
17:45 Jul 29, 2011
Jkt 223001
contracts, swaps other than Cleared
Sugar Swaps, and other over-thecounter transactions that are based on
the price of sugar and Sugar Futures
Contracts (collectively, ‘‘Other Sugar
Interests,’’ and together with Sugar
Futures Contracts and Cleared Sugar
Swaps, ‘‘Sugar Interests’’).
Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts traded
on the ICE Futures expire on a specified
day in four different months: March,
May, July, and October. For example, in
terms of the Sugar Benchmark, in June
of a given year (‘‘year 1’’) the next-toexpire or ‘‘spot month’’ Sugar No. 11
Futures Contract will expire in July of
year 1, and the Sugar Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts will be
the contracts expiring in October of year
1 (the second-to-expire contract), March
of year 2 (the third-to-expire contract),
and March of year 3. As another
example, in November of year 1 the
Sugar Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts will be the contracts expiring
in May of year 2, July of year 2, and
March of year 3.
The Fund seeks to achieve its
investment objective primarily by
investing in Sugar Interests such that
daily changes in the Fund’s NAV will be
expected to closely track the changes in
the Sugar Benchmark. The Fund’s
positions in Sugar Interests will be
changed or ‘‘rolled’’ on a regular basis
in order to track the changing nature of
the Sugar Benchmark. For example, four
times a year (on the date on which a
Sugar No. 11 Futures Contract expires),
a particular Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contract will no longer be a Sugar
Benchmark Component Futures
Contract, and the Fund’s investments
will have to be changed accordingly.
Consistent with achieving the Fund’s
investment objective of closely tracking
the Sugar Benchmark, the Sponsor may
for certain reasons cause the Fund to
enter into or hold Cleared Sugar Swaps
and/or Other Sugar Interests. For
example, certain Cleared Sugar Swaps
have standardized terms similar to, and
are priced by reference to, a
corresponding Sugar Benchmark
Component Futures Contract.
Additionally, Other Sugar Interests that
do not have standardized terms and are
not exchange-traded, referred to as
‘‘over-the-counter’’ Sugar Interests, can
generally be structured as the parties
desire. Therefore, the Fund might enter
into multiple Cleared Sugar Swaps and/
or over-the-counter Sugar Interests
intended to exactly replicate the
performance of each of the three Sugar
Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts, or a single over-the-counter
Sugar Interest designed to replicate the
performance of the Sugar Benchmark as
PO 00000
Frm 00134
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
a whole. According to the Registration
Statement, assuming that there is no
default by a counterparty to an over-thecounter Sugar Interest, the performance
of the over-the-counter Sugar Interest
will necessarily correlate exactly with
the performance of the Sugar
Benchmark or the applicable Sugar
Benchmark Component Futures
Contract. The Fund might also enter
into or hold over-the-counter Sugar
Interests other than Sugar Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts to
facilitate effective trading, consistent
with the discussion of the Fund’s ‘‘roll’’
strategy in the preceding paragraph. In
addition, the Fund might enter into or
hold over-the-counter Sugar Interests
that would be expected to alleviate
overall deviation between the Fund’s
performance and that of the Sugar
Benchmark that may result from certain
market and trading inefficiencies or
other reasons.
The Fund will invest in Sugar
Interests to the fullest extent possible
without being leveraged or unable to
satisfy its expected current or potential
margin or collateral obligations with
respect to its investments in Sugar
Interests.25 After fulfilling such margin
and collateral requirements, the Fund
will invest the remainder of its proceeds
from the sale of baskets in Treasury
Securities or cash equivalents, and/or
hold such assets in cash (generally in
interest-bearing accounts). Therefore,
the focus of the Sponsor in managing
the Fund is investing in Sugar Interests
and in Treasury Securities, cash and/or
cash equivalents.
The Sponsor endeavors to place the
Fund’s trades in Sugar Interests and
otherwise manage the Fund’s
investments so that the Fund’s average
daily tracking error against the Sugar
Benchmark will be less than 10 percent
over any period of 30 trading days. More
specifically, the Sponsor will endeavor
to manage the Fund so that A will be
within plus/minus 10 percent of B,
where A is the average daily change in
the Fund’s NAV for any period of 30
successive valuation days, i.e., any
trading day as of which the Fund
calculates its NAV, and B is the average
daily change in the Sugar Benchmark
over the same period.
The Sponsor employs a ‘‘neutral’’
investment strategy intended to track
the changes in the Sugar Benchmark
regardless of whether the Sugar
Benchmark goes up or goes down. The
Fund’s ‘‘neutral’’ investment strategy is
25 The Sponsor represents that the Fund will
invest in Sugar Interests in a manner consistent
with the Fund’s investment objective and not to
achieve additional leverage.
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designed to permit investors generally
to purchase and sell the Fund’s Shares
for the purpose of investing indirectly in
the sugar market in a cost-effective
manner. Such investors may include
participants in the sugar industry and
other industries seeking to hedge the
risk of losses in their sugar-related
transactions, as well as investors
seeking exposure to the sugar market.
The Sponsor does not intend to operate
the Fund in a fashion such that its per
Share NAV will equal, in dollar terms,
the spot price of a pound or other unit
of sugar or the price of any particular
Sugar Futures Contract.
U.S. designated contract markets such
as the ICE Futures and the NYMEX have
established accountability levels on the
maximum net long or net short Sugar
Futures Contracts that any person or
group of persons under common trading
control may hold, own or control. For
example, the current ICE Futuresestablished accountability level for
investments in Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contracts for any one month is 10,000,
and the accountability level for all
combined months is 15,000. While
accountability levels are not fixed
ceilings, they are thresholds above
which the exchange may exercise
greater scrutiny and control over an
investor, including limiting an investor
to holding no more Sugar No. 11
Futures Contracts than the amount
established by the accountability level.
Cleared Sugar Swaps are subject to an
ICE Futures accountability level of
10,000 swap positions for all months
combined. This limit is measured
separately from the accountability levels
on Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts.
Under current law, all Sugar Futures
Contracts traded on a particular
exchange that are held under the control
of the Sponsor, including those held by
any future series of the Trust, are
aggregated in determining the
application of applicable accountability
levels. The Fund does not intend to
invest in Sugar Futures Contracts or
Cleared Sugar Swaps in excess of any
applicable accountability levels.
According to the Registration
Statement, the CFTC has not currently
set position limits for Sugar Futures
Contracts, and ICE Futures and NYMEX
have established such position limits
only on spot month Sugar No. 11
Futures Contracts. Cleared Sugar Swaps
are subject to ICE Futures position
limits that are substantially identical to,
but measured separately from, the limits
on Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts.
However, because the Fund does not
expect to hold spot month contracts at
any time when these position limits
would be applicable, it is unlikely that
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17:45 Jul 29, 2011
Jkt 223001
these limits will come into play.
Currently, the ICE Futures and the
NYMEX have not imposed maximum
daily price fluctuation limits on Sugar
Futures Contracts. Accountability
levels, position limits and daily price
fluctuation limits set by the CFTC and
the exchanges have the potential to
cause tracking error, which could cause
the price of Shares to substantially vary
from the Sugar Benchmark and prevent
an investor from being able to
effectively use the Fund as a way to
hedge against sugar-related losses or as
a way to indirectly invest in sugar.
The Fund does not intend to limit the
size of the offering and will attempt to
expose substantially all of its proceeds
to the sugar market utilizing Sugar
Interests. If the Fund encounters
accountability levels, position limits, or
price fluctuation limits for Sugar
Futures Contracts and/or Cleared Sugar
Swaps on ICE Futures, it may then, if
permitted under applicable regulatory
requirements, purchase Other Sugar
Interests and/or Sugar Futures Contracts
listed on the NYMEX or foreign
exchanges. However, the Sugar Futures
Contracts available on such foreign
exchanges may have different
underlying sizes, deliveries, and prices.
In addition, the Sugar Futures Contracts
available on these exchanges may be
subject to their own position limits and
accountability levels. In any case,
notwithstanding the potential
availability of these instruments in
certain circumstances, position limits
could force the Fund to limit the
number of Creation Baskets that it
sells.26
Creation and Redemption of Shares
The Funds create and redeem Shares
only in blocks called ‘‘Creation Baskets’’
and ‘‘Redemption Baskets,’’
respectively, each consisting of 50,000
Shares. Only Authorized Purchasers
may purchase or redeem Creation
Baskets or Redemption Baskets. An
Authorized Purchaser is under no
obligation to create or redeem baskets,
and an Authorized Purchaser is under
no obligation to offer to the public
Shares of any baskets it does create.
Baskets are generally created when there
is a demand for Shares, including, but
not limited to, when the market price
per Share is at (or perceived to be at) a
premium to the NAV per Share.
Similarly, baskets are generally
redeemed when the market price per
Share is at (or perceived to be at) a
discount to the NAV per Share. Retail
investors seeking to purchase or sell
Shares on any day are expected to effect
PO 00000
such transactions in the secondary
market, on the NYSE Arca, at the market
price per Share, rather than in
connection with the creation or
redemption of baskets.
The total deposit required to create
each basket (‘‘Creation Basket Deposit’’)
is the amount of Treasury Securities
and/or cash that is in the same
proportion to the total assets of each
Fund (net of estimated accrued but
unpaid fees, expenses and other
liabilities) on the purchase order date as
the number of Shares to be created
under the purchase order is in
proportion to the total number of Shares
outstanding on the purchase order date.
The redemption distribution from each
Fund will consist of a transfer to the
redeeming Authorized Purchaser of an
amount of Treasury Securities and/or
cash that is in the same proportion to
the total assets of such Fund (net of
estimated accrued but unpaid fees,
expenses and other liabilities) on the
date the order to redeem is properly
received as the number of Shares to be
redeemed under the redemption order is
in proportion to the total number of
Shares outstanding on the date the order
is received.
The Funds will meet the initial and
continued listing requirements
applicable to TIRs in NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.200 and Commentary
.02 thereto. With respect to application
of Rule 10A–3 27 under the Act, the
Trust relies on the exception contained
in Rule 10A–3(c)(7).28 A minimum of
100,000 Shares for each Fund will be
outstanding as of the start of trading on
the Exchange.
A more detailed description of Wheat
Interests, Soybean Interests and Sugar
Interests and other aspects of the
applicable commodities markets, as well
as investment risks, are set forth in the
Registration Statements. All terms
relating to the Funds that are referred to,
but not defined in, this proposed rule
change are defined in the Registration
Statements.
Availability of Information Regarding
the Shares
The Web site for the Funds (https://
www.teucriumwheatfund.com, https://
www.teucriumsoybeanfund.com and
https://www.teucriumsugarfund.com,
respectively) and/or the Exchange,
which are publicly accessible at no
charge, will contain the following
information: (a) The current NAV per
Share daily and the prior business day’s
NAV and the reported closing price; (b)
the midpoint of the bid-ask price in
27 17
26 See
note 19, supra.
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28 17
Sfmt 4703
45891
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CFR 240.10A–3.
CFR 240.10A–3(c)(7).
01AUN1
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relation to the NAV as of the time the
NAV is calculated (the ‘‘Bid-Ask
Price’’); (c) calculation of the premium
or discount of such price against such
NAV; (d) the bid-ask price of Shares
determined using the highest bid and
lowest offer as of the time of calculation
of the NAV; (e) data in chart form
displaying the frequency distribution of
discounts and premiums of the Bid-Ask
Price against the NAV, within
appropriate ranges for each of the four
(4) previous calendar quarters; (f) the
prospectus; and (g) other applicable
quantitative information. The Funds
will also disseminate the Funds’
holdings on a daily basis on the Funds’
respective Web sites.
The NAV for the Funds will be
calculated by the Administrator once a
day and will be disseminated daily to
all market participants at the same
time.29 The Exchange also will
disseminate on a daily basis via the
Consolidated Tape Association (‘‘CTA’’)
information with respect to recent NAV,
and Shares outstanding. The Exchange
will also make available on its Web site
daily trading volume of each of the
Shares, closing prices of such Shares,
and the corresponding NAV. The
closing price and settlement prices of
the Wheat Futures Contracts and
Soybean Futures Contracts are also
readily available from the CBOT, and of
the Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts from
ICE Futures. In addition, such prices are
available from automated quotation
systems, published or other public
sources, or on-line information services
such as Bloomberg or Reuters. Each
benchmark will be disseminated by one
or more major market data vendors
every 15 seconds during the NYSE Arca
Core Trading Session of 9:30 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. E.T. Quotation and last-sale
information regarding the Shares will be
disseminated through the facilities of
the CTA. In addition, the Exchange will
provide a hyperlink on its Web site at
https://www.nyx.com to the Funds’ Web
sites, which will display all intraday
and closing benchmark levels, the
intraday Indicative Trust Value (see
below), and NAV.
The daily settlement prices for the
Wheat Futures Contracts and Soybeans
Futures Contracts are publicly available
on the Web site of the CBOT (https://
www.cmegroup.com) and, for the Sugar
No. 11 Futures Contracts, on the Web
29 For each Fund, the NAV will be calculated by
taking the current market value of the Fund’s total
assets and subtracting any liabilities. Under the
Funds’ current operational procedures, the
Administrator will generally calculate the NAV of
the Funds’ Shares as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time
(‘‘E.T.’’). The NAV for a particular trading day will
be released after 4:15 p.m. E.T.
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Jkt 223001
site of ICE Futures (https://
www.theice.com). In addition, various
data vendors and news publications
publish futures prices and data. The
Exchange represents that quotation and
last sale information for the Wheat
Futures Contracts, Soybean Futures
Contracts and Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contracts are widely disseminated
through a variety of major market data
vendors worldwide, including
Bloomberg and Reuters. In addition, the
Exchange further represents that
complete real-time data for such
contracts is available by subscription
from Reuters and Bloomberg. The CBOT
and ICE Futures also provide delayed
futures information on current and past
trading sessions and market news free of
charge on their Web sites. The specific
contract specifications for such
contracts are also available at the CBOT
and ICE Futures Web sites, as well as
other financial informational sources.
The spot price of wheat, soybeans and
sugar also is available on a 24-hour basis
from major market data vendors.
Each Fund will provide Web site
disclosure of portfolio holdings daily
and will include, as applicable, the
names, quantity, price and market value
of Wheat, Soybean and Sugar
Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts, as applicable, and other
financial instruments, if any, and the
characteristics of such instruments and
cash equivalents, and amount of cash
held in the portfolios of the Funds. This
Web site disclosure of the portfolio
composition of the Funds will occur at
the same time as the disclosure by the
Sponsor of the portfolio composition to
Authorized Purchasers so that all
market participants are provided
portfolio composition information at the
same time. Therefore, the same portfolio
information will be provided on the
public Web sites as well as in electronic
files provided to Authorized Purchasers.
Accordingly, each investor will have
access to the current portfolio
composition of the Funds through the
Funds’ Web sites.
Dissemination of Indicative Trust Value
In addition, in order to provide
updated information relating to the
Funds for use by investors and market
professionals, an updated Indicative
Trust Value (‘‘ITV’’) will be calculated.
The ITV is calculated by using the prior
day’s closing NAV per Share of each
Fund as a base and updating that value
throughout the trading day to reflect
changes in the value of the Wheat,
Soybean and Sugar Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts, as
applicable, and other financial
instruments, if any. As stated in the
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Sfmt 4703
Registration Statements, changes in the
value of Treasury Securities and cash
equivalents will not be included in the
calculation of the ITV. The ITV
disseminated during NYSE Arca trading
hours should not be viewed as an actual
real time update of the NAV, which is
calculated only once a day.
The ITV will be disseminated on a per
Share basis by one or more major market
data vendors every 15 seconds during
the NYSE Arca Core Trading Session.
The normal trading hours for Wheat
Futures Contracts on the CBOT are
10:30 a.m. E.T. to 2:15 p.m. E.T. The
normal trading hours for Soybean
Futures Contracts on the CBOT are
10:30 a.m. E.T. to 2:15 p.m. E.T. Thus,
there is a gap in time at the end of each
day during which the Funds’ Shares are
traded on the NYSE Arca, but real-time
CBOT trading prices for Wheat Futures
Contracts and Soybean Futures
Contracts traded on CBOT are not
available. As a result, during those gaps
there will be no update to the ITV.
Therefore, a static ITV will be
disseminated, between the close of
trading on CBOT of Wheat Futures
Contracts and Soybean Futures
Contracts and the close of the NYSE
Arca Core Trading Session.
The normal trading hours for Sugar
No. 11 Futures Contracts on ICE Futures
are 3:30 a.m. E.T. to 2:00 p.m. E.T. Thus,
there is a gap in time at the end of each
day during which the Teucrium Sugar
Fund’s Shares are traded on NYSE Arca,
but real-time ICE Futures trading prices
for Sugar Futures Contracts traded on
ICE Futures are not available. As a
result, during those gaps there will be
no update to the ITV. Therefore, a static
ITV will be disseminated, between the
close of trading on ICE Futures of Sugar
No. 11 Futures Contracts and the close
of the NYSE Arca Core Trading Session.
The value of Shares of each Fund may
be influenced by non-concurrent trading
hours between NYSE Arca and the
CBOT and ICE Futures, as applicable,
when such Shares are traded on NYSE
Arca after normal trading hours of the
applicable futures contracts on CBOT or
ICE Futures.
The Exchange believes that
dissemination of the ITV provides
additional information regarding each
Fund that is not otherwise available to
the public and is useful to professionals
and investors in connection with the
related Shares trading on the Exchange
or the creation or redemption of such
Shares.
Trading Rules
The Exchange deems the Shares to be
equity securities, thus rendering trading
in the Shares subject to the Exchange’s
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existing rules governing the trading of
equity securities. Shares will trade on
the NYSE Arca Marketplace from 4:00
a.m. to 8:00 p.m. E.T. The Exchange has
appropriate rules to facilitate
transactions in the Shares during all
trading sessions. As provided in NYSE
Arca Equities Rule 7.6, Commentary .03,
the minimum price variation (‘‘MPV’’)
for quoting and entry of orders in equity
securities traded on the NYSE Arca
Marketplace is $0.01, with the exception
of securities that are priced less than
$1.00 for which the MPV for order entry
is $0.0001.
The trading of the Shares will be
subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.200, Commentary .02(e), which sets
forth certain restrictions on ETP Holders
acting as registered Market Makers in
TIRs to facilitate surveillance. See
‘‘Surveillance’’ below for more
information.
With respect to trading halts, the
Exchange may consider all relevant
factors in exercising its discretion to
halt or suspend trading in the Shares.
Trading may be halted because of
market conditions or for reasons that, in
the view of the Exchange, make trading
in the Shares inadvisable. These may
include: (1) The extent to which trading
is not occurring in the underlying
futures contracts, or (2) whether other
unusual conditions or circumstances
detrimental to the maintenance of a fair
and orderly market are present. In
addition, trading in Shares will be
subject to trading halts caused by
extraordinary market volatility pursuant
to the Exchange’s ‘‘circuit breaker’’
rule 30 or by the halt or suspension of
trading of the underlying futures
contracts.
The Exchange represents that the
Exchange may halt trading during the
day in which an interruption to the
dissemination of the ITV or the value of
the underlying futures contracts or the
applicable benchmark occurs. If the
interruption to the dissemination of the
ITV, the value of the underlying futures
contracts or the applicable benchmark
persists past the trading day in which it
occurred, the Exchange will halt trading
no later than the beginning of the
trading day following the interruption.
In addition, if the Exchange becomes
aware that the NAV with respect to the
Shares is not disseminated to all market
participants at the same time, it will halt
trading in the Shares until such time as
the NAV is available to all market
participants.
30 See
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12.
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Surveillance
The Exchange intends to utilize its
existing surveillance procedures
applicable to derivative products,
including TIRs, to monitor trading in
the Shares. The Exchange represents
that these procedures are adequate to
properly monitor Exchange trading of
the Shares in all trading sessions and to
deter and detect violations of Exchange
rules and applicable federal securities
laws.
The Exchange’s current trading
surveillances focus on detecting
securities trading outside their normal
patterns. When such situations are
detected, surveillance analysis follows
and investigations are opened, where
appropriate, to review the behavior of
all relevant parties for all relevant
trading violations. The Exchange is able
to obtain information regarding trading
in the Shares, the physical commodities
included in, or options, futures or
options on futures on, Shares through
ETP Holders, in connection with such
ETP Holders’ proprietary or customer
trades through ETP Holders which they
effect on any relevant market. The
Exchange can obtain market
surveillance information, including
customer identity information, with
respect to transactions occurring on
exchanges that are members of the
Intermarket Surveillance Group (‘‘ISG’’)
or with which the Exchange has in place
a comprehensive surveillance sharing
agreement. With respect to the
Teucrium Wheat Fund, the Exchange
can obtain market surveillance
information from CBOT, KCBT and
MGEX in that CBOT is a member of ISG
and the Exchange has in place a
comprehensive surveillance sharing
agreement with KCBT and MGEX.
Likewise, with respect to the Teucrium
Soybean Fund, the Exchange can obtain
market surveillance information from
CBOT as a member of ISG. With respect
to the Teucrium Sugar Fund, the
Exchange can obtain market
surveillance information from NYMEX
and ICE Futures in that both such
exchanges are ISG members. A list of
ISG members is available at https://
www.isgportal.org.31
In addition, with respect to the Funds’
futures contracts traded on exchanges,
not more than 10% of the weight of
such futures contracts in the aggregate
shall consist of components whose
principal trading market is not a
member of ISG or is a market with
31 The Exchange notes that not all Wheat
Interests, Soybean Interests and Sugar Interests may
trade on markets that are members of ISG or with
which the Exchange has in place a comprehensive
surveillance sharing agreement.
PO 00000
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45893
which the Exchange does not have a
comprehensive surveillance sharing
agreement.
The Exchange also has a general
policy prohibiting the distribution of
material, non-public information by its
employees.
Information Bulletin
Prior to the commencement of
trading, the Exchange will inform its
ETP Holders in an Information Bulletin
of the special characteristics and risks
associated with trading the Shares.
Specifically, the Information Bulletin
will discuss the following: (1) The risks
involved in trading the Shares during
the Opening and Late Trading Sessions
when an updated ITV will not be
calculated or publicly disseminated; (2)
the procedures for purchases and
redemptions of Shares in Creation
Baskets and Redemption Baskets (and
that Shares are not individually
redeemable); (3) NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 9.2(a), which imposes a duty of
due diligence on its ETP Holders to
learn the essential facts relating to every
customer prior to trading the Shares; (4)
how information regarding the ITV is
disseminated; (5) that a static ITV will
be disseminated, between the close of
trading on the applicable futures
exchange and the close of the NYSE
Arca Core Trading Session; (6) the
requirement that ETP Holders deliver a
prospectus to investors purchasing
newly issued Shares prior to or
concurrently with the confirmation of a
transaction; and (7) trading information.
In addition, the Information Bulletin
will advise ETP Holders, prior to the
commencement of trading, of the
prospectus delivery requirements
applicable to the Funds. The Exchange
notes that investors purchasing Shares
directly from each Fund will receive a
prospectus. ETP Holders purchasing
Shares from each Fund for resale to
investors will deliver a prospectus to
such investors. The Information Bulletin
will also discuss any exemptive, noaction and interpretive relief granted by
the Commission from any rules under
the Act.
In addition, the Information Bulletin
will reference that the Funds are subject
to various fees and expenses described
in the Registration Statements. The
Information Bulletin will also reference
that the CFTC has regulatory
jurisdiction over the trading of wheat,
soybean and sugar futures contracts
traded on U.S. markets.
The Information Bulletin will also
disclose the trading hours of the Shares
of each Fund and that the NAV for the
Shares is calculated after 4:00 p.m. E.T.
each trading day. The Bulletin will
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srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
disclose that information about the
Shares of each Fund is publicly
available on the Funds’ Web sites.
2. Statutory Basis
The basis under the Act for this
proposed rule change is the requirement
under Section 6(b)(5) 32 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 rule change is designed to
prevent fraudulent and manipulative
acts and practices in that the Shares will
be listed and traded on the Exchange
pursuant to the initial and continued
listing criteria in NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.200 and Commentary .02 thereto.
The Exchange has in place surveillance
procedures that are adequate to properly
monitor trading in the Shares in all
trading sessions and to deter and detect
violations of Exchange rules and
applicable federal securities laws. The
Wheat, Soybean and Sugar Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts are traded
on futures exchanges that are members
of ISG or with which the Exchange has
in place a comprehensive surveillance
sharing agreement. With respect to the
Funds’ futures contracts traded on
exchanges, not more than 10% of the
weight of such futures contracts in the
aggregate shall consist of components
whose principal trading market is not a
member of ISG or is a market with
which the Exchange does not have a
comprehensive surveillance sharing
agreement. The closing price and
settlement prices of the Wheat Futures
Contracts and Soybean Futures
Contracts are readily available from the
CBOT, and of the Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contracts from ICE Futures. In addition,
such prices are available from
automated quotation systems, published
or other public sources, or on-line
information services. Each benchmark
will be disseminated by one or more
major market data vendors every 15
seconds during the NYSE Arca Core
Trading Session of 9:30 a.m. to 4:00
p.m. E.T. Quotation and last-sale
information regarding the Shares will be
disseminated through the facilities of
the CTA. The ITV will be disseminated
on a per Share basis by one or more
major market data vendors every 15
seconds during the NYSE Arca Core
Trading Session. The Exchange may halt
trading during the day in which the
32 15
U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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17:45 Jul 29, 2011
Jkt 223001
interruption to the dissemination of the
ITV or the value of the underlying
futures contracts or applicable
benchmark occurs. If the interruption to
the dissemination of the ITV, the value
of the underlying futures contracts or
the applicable benchmark persists past
the trading day in which it occurred, the
Exchange will halt trading no later than
the beginning of the trading day
following the interruption. In addition,
if the Exchange becomes aware that the
NAV with respect to the Shares is not
disseminated to all market participants
at the same time, it will halt trading in
the Shares until such time as the NAV
is available to all market participants.
The proposed rule change is designed
to promote just and equitable principles
of trade and to protect investors and the
public interest in that a large amount of
information is publicly available
regarding the Funds and the Shares,
thereby promoting market transparency.
Quotation and last sale information for
the Wheat Futures Contracts, Soybean
Futures Contracts and Sugar No. 11
Futures Contracts are widely
disseminated through a variety of major
market data vendors worldwide.
Complete real-time data for such
contracts is available by subscription
from Reuters and Bloomberg. The CBOT
and ICE Futures also provide delayed
futures information on current and past
trading sessions and market news free of
charge on their Web sites. Each
benchmark will be disseminated by one
or more major market data vendors
every 15 seconds during the NYSE Arca
Core Trading Session of 9:30 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. E.T. The spot price of wheat,
soybeans and sugar also is available on
a 24-hour basis from major market data
vendors. Each Fund will provide Web
site disclosure of portfolio holdings
daily and will include, as applicable,
the names, quantity, price and market
value of Wheat, Soybean and Sugar
Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts, as applicable, and other
financial instruments, if any, and the
characteristics of such instruments and
cash equivalents, and amount of cash
held in the portfolios of the Funds. The
NAV per Share will be calculated daily
and made available to all market
participants at the same time. One or
more major market data vendors will
disseminate for the Funds on a daily
basis information with respect to the
recent NAV per Share and Shares
outstanding. NYSE Arca will calculate
and disseminate every 15 seconds
throughout the NYSE Arca Core Trading
Session an updated ITV.
The proposed rule change is designed
to perfect the mechanism of a free and
open market and, in general, to protect
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
investors and the public interest in that
it will facilitate the listing and trading
of additional types of exchange-traded
products that will enhance competition
among market participants, to the
benefit of investors and the marketplace.
As noted above, the Exchange has in
place surveillance procedures relating to
trading in the Shares and may obtain
information via ISG from other
exchanges that are members of ISG or
with which the Exchange has entered
into a comprehensive surveillance
sharing agreement. In addition, as noted
above, investors will have ready access
to information regarding the Funds’
holdings, ITV, and quotation and last
sale information for the Shares.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange 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
No written comments were solicited
or received with respect to the proposed
rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
Within 45 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 or disapprove
the 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 rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File
E:\FR\FM\01AUN1.SGM
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 147 / Monday, August 1, 2011 / Notices
Number SR–NYSEArca–2011–48 on the
subject line.
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Paper Comments
[Release No. 34–64963; File No. SR–EDGX–
2011–21]
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary,
Securities and Exchange Commission,
100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC
20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSEArca–2011–48. 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 Web site viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549, on official
business days between the hours of 10
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such 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–
NYSEArca–2011–48 and should be
submitted on or August 22, 2011.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.33
Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011–19329 Filed 7–29–11; 8:45 am]
srobinson on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
Self-Regulatory Organizations; EDGX
Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
Rule Change Relating to Amendments
to the EDGX Exchange, Inc. Fee
Schedule
July 26, 2011.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on July 21,
2011, the EDGX Exchange, Inc. (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or the ‘‘EDGX’’) 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 selfregulatory organization. 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 amend its
fee schedule applicable to Members 3
and non-members of the Exchange
pursuant to EDGX Rule 15.1(a) and (c).
Pursuant to the proposed rule change,
the Exchange will commence charging
fees for Members and non-members for
certain logical ports used to receive
market data. The Exchange intends to
implement this rule proposal effective
August 1, 2011. The text of the proposed
rule change is available on the
Exchange’s Internet website at https://
www.directedge.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
self-regulatory organization 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 self-regulatory organization has
prepared summaries, set forth in
sections A, B and C below, of the most
significant aspects of such statements.
1 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 A Member is any registered broker or dealer, or
any person associated with a registered broker or
dealer, that has been admitted to membership in the
Exchange.
2 17
33 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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45895
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange is proposing to charge
a monthly fee for logical ports used to
receive market data. Currently, ports
used to receive or re-transmit market
data are provided free of charge. The
Exchange currently charges for logical
ports (also commonly referred to as
TCP/IP ports) established by the
Exchange within the Exchange’s system
that grant Members or non-members the
ability to operate a specific application,
such as FIX or High Performance API for
order entry. The current monthly fee for
these logical ports is $500 per month,
where members and non-members
receive the first ten (10) sessions free of
charge for direct (‘‘Direct’’) Sessions
only. The Exchange is proposing to
include logical ports used to receive
market data among those logical ports
currently charged at $500 per month.4
Under the proposed change, the
quantity of logical ports used to receive
market data will be included among
those ports used for order entry (FIX,
HP–API) or for drop copies (DROP).
Exchange customers will continue to
receive the first ten (10) sessions free of
charge, regardless of the type of logical
port used for Direct Sessions (FIX, HP–
API, DROP, or data), and thereafter be
charged a $500 fee per month per logical
port. The charge will apply to Members
and non-members. The Exchange notes
that the proposed port fees are
consistent with similar logical port fees
charged by other exchanges.5
The Exchange believes that the
imposition of port fees for logical ports
used to receive market data will
promote efficient use of the ports by
market participants, helping the
Exchange to continue to maintain and
improve its infrastructure, while also
encouraging Exchange customers to
request and enable only the ports that
4 The Exchange notes that ports used to request
a re-transmission of market data from the Exchange
will continue to be provided free of charge.
5 See, e.g., Rule 7015(g) of The NASDAQ Stock
Market LLC (‘‘NASDAQ’’) (setting forth, among
other fees for access services, port fees charged to
members and non-members used for market data
delivery over the internet); Securities Exchange Act
Release No. 63197 (October 27, 2010), 75 FR 67791
(November 3, 2010) (SR–NASDAQ–2010–136)
(adopting Access Services fees, including fees for
ports used to receive market data) 72 FR 13328
(March 21, 2007) (SR–NASDAQ–2006–064)
(increasing Internet port fee from $200 to $600 per
Internet port that is used to deliver market data);
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 60586 (August
28, 2009), 74 FR 46256 (September 8, 2009) (SR–
BATS–2009–026) (establishing fees for ports used
by members and non-members to enter orders and
receive market data).
E:\FR\FM\01AUN1.SGM
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Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 147 (Monday, August 1, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 45885-45895]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-19329]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-64967; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2011-48]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing
of Proposed Rule Change To List and Trade Shares of the Teucrium Wheat
Fund, the Teucrium Soybean Fund and the Teucrium Sugar Fund Under NYSE
Arca Equities Rule 8.200, Commentary .02
July 26, 2011.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(the ``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given
that, on July 11, 2011, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``NYSE Arca'' 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 by the Exchange. The Commission
is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule
change 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 list and trade shares of the Teucrium
Wheat Fund, the Teucrium Soybean Fund and the Teucrium Sugar Fund under
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.200. The text of the proposed rule change is
available on the Exchange's Web site at https://www.nyse.com, at the
Exchange's principal office 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 self-regulatory organization
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 those 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 the most
significant parts of such statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and the
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.200, Commentary .02 permits the trading
of Trust Issued Receipts (``TIRs'') either by listing or pursuant to
unlisted trading privileges (``UTP'').\3\ The Exchange proposes to list
and trade shares (``Shares'') of the Teucrium Wheat Fund, the Teucrium
Soybean Fund and the Teucrium Sugar Fund (each a
[[Page 45886]]
``Fund'' and, collectively, the ``Funds'') pursuant to NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.200.
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\3\ Commentary .02 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.200 applies to
TIRs that invest in ``Financial Instruments.'' The term ``Financial
Instruments,'' as defined in Commentary .02(b)(4) to NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.200, means any combination of investments, including
cash; securities; options on securities and indices; futures
contracts; options on futures contracts; forward contracts; equity
caps, collars and floors; and swap agreements.
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The Exchange notes that the Commission has previously approved the
listing and trading of other issues of TIRs on the American Stock
Exchange LLC,\4\ trading on NYSE Arca pursuant to UTP,\5\ and listing
on NYSE Arca.\6\ Among these is the Teucrium Corn Fund, a series of the
Teucrium Commodity Trust (``Trust'').\7\ In addition, the Commission
has approved the listing and trading of other exchange-traded fund-like
products linked to the performance of underlying commodities.\8\
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\4\ See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58161 (July
15, 2008), 73 FR 42380 (July 21, 2008) (SR-Amex-2008-39).
\5\ See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58163 (July
15, 2008), 73 FR 42391 (July 21, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2008-73).
\6\ See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 58457
(September 3, 2008), 73 FR 52711 (September 10, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-
2008-91).
\7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 62213 (June 3,
2010), 75 FR 32828 (June 9, 2010) (SR-NYSEArca-2010-22) (order
approving listing on the Exchange of Teucrium Corn Fund).
\8\ See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 57456 (March
7, 2008), 73 FR 13599 (March 13, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2007-91) (order
granting accelerated approval for NYSE Arca listing the iShares GS
Commodity Trusts); 59781 (April 17, 2009), 74 FR 18771 (April 24,
2009) (SR-NYSEArca-2009-28) (order granting accelerated approval for
NYSE Arca listing the ETFS Silver Trust); 59895 (May 8, 2009), 74 FR
22993 (May 15, 2009) (SR-NYSEArca-2009-40) (order granting
accelerated approval for NYSE Arca listing the ETFS Gold Trust);
61219 (December 22, 2009), 74 FR 68886 (December 29, 2009) (SR-
NYSEArca-2009-95) (order approving listing on NYSE Arca of the ETFS
Platinum Trust).
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The Shares represent beneficial ownership interests in the Funds,
as described in the Registration Statements for the Funds.\9\ The Funds
are commodity pools that are series of the Trust, a Delaware statutory
trust. The Funds are managed and controlled by Teucrium Trading, LLC
(``Sponsor''). The Sponsor is a Delaware limited liability company that
is registered as a commodity pool operator (``CPO'') with the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission (``CFTC'') and is a member of the National
Futures Association.
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\9\ See Amendment No. 3 to Form S-1 for Teucrium Commodity
Trust, dated June 3, 2011 (File No. 333-167591) relating to the
Teucrium Wheat Fund; Amendment No. 3 to Form S-1 for Teucrium
Commodity Trust, dated June 3, 2011 (File No. 333-167590) relating
to the Teucrium Soybean Fund; and Amendment No. 3 to Form S-1 for
Teucrium Commodity Trust, dated June 3, 2011 (File No. 333-167585)
relating to the Teucrium Sugar Fund (each, a ``Registration
Statement,'' and, collectively, the ``Registration Statements'').
The discussion herein relating to the Trust and the Shares is based,
in part, on the Registration Statements.
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Teucrium Wheat Fund
According to the Registration Statement, the investment objective
of the Fund is to have the daily changes in percentage terms of the
Shares' net asset value (``NAV'') reflect the daily changes in
percentage terms of a weighted average of the closing settlement prices
for three futures contracts for wheat (wheat futures contracts
generally referred to herein as ``Wheat Futures Contracts'') that are
traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (``CBOT''), specifically: (1) The
second-to-expire CBOT Wheat Futures Contract, weighted 35%, (2) the
third-to-expire CBOT Wheat Futures Contract, weighted 30%, and (3) the
CBOT Wheat Futures Contract expiring in the December following the
expiration month of the third-to-expire contract, weighted 35%. (This
weighted average of the three referenced Wheat Futures Contracts is
referred to herein as the ``Wheat Benchmark,'' and the three Wheat
Futures Contracts that at any given time make up the Wheat Benchmark
are referred to herein as the ``Wheat Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts'').\10\
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\10\ Wheat futures volume on CBOT for 2010 and 2011 (through
April 29, 2011) was 23,058,783 contracts and 8,860,135 contracts,
respectively. As of April 29, 2011, open interest for wheat futures
was 456,851 contracts. The contract price was $40,062.50 (801.25
cents per bushel and 5,000 bushels per contract). The approximate
value of all outstanding contracts was $18.3 billion. The position
limits for all months is 6,500 contracts and the total value of
contracts if position limits were reached would be approximately
$260.4 million (based on the $40,062.50 contract price).
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The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing
under normal market conditions \11\ in Wheat Benchmark Component
Futures Contracts or, in certain circumstances, in other Wheat Futures
Contracts traded on the CBOT, the Kansas City Board of Trade
(``KCBT''), or the Minneapolis Grain Exchange (``MGEX''), or Wheat
Futures Contracts traded on foreign exchanges. In addition, and to a
limited extent, the Fund also may invest in exchange-traded options on
Wheat Futures Contracts, and in wheat-based swap agreements that are
cleared through the CBOT or its affiliated provider of clearing
services (``Cleared Wheat Swaps'') in furtherance of the Fund's
investment objective.\12\
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\11\ The term ``under normal market conditions'' includes, but
is not limited to, the absence of extreme volatility or trading
halts in the fixed income markets or the financial markets
generally; operational issues causing dissemination of inaccurate
market information; or force majeure type events such as systems
failure, natural or man-made disaster, act of God, armed conflict,
act of terrorism, riot or labor disruption or any similar
intervening circumstance.
\12\ According to the Registration Statement, a swap agreement
is a bilateral contract to exchange a periodic stream of payments
determined by reference to a notional amount, with payment typically
made between the parties on a net basis. For example, in the case of
a wheat swap, the Fund may be obligated to pay a fixed price per
bushel of wheat and be entitled to receive an amount per bushel
equal to the current value of an index of wheat prices, the price of
a specified Wheat Futures Contract, or the average price of a group
of Wheat Futures Contracts such as the Wheat Benchmark.
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Specifically, once position limits in CBOT Wheat Futures Contracts
are reached, the Fund's intention is to invest first in Cleared Wheat
Swaps to the extent permitted under the position limits applicable to
Cleared Wheat Swaps and appropriate in light of the liquidity in the
Cleared Wheat Swaps market, and then, using its commercially reasonable
judgment, in other Wheat Futures Contracts (i.e., Wheat Futures
Contracts traded on KCBT, MGEX or traded on foreign exchanges) or
instruments such as cash-settled options on Wheat Futures Contracts and
forward contracts, swaps other than Cleared Wheat Swaps, and other
over-the-counter transactions that are based on the price of wheat and
Wheat Futures Contracts (collectively, ``Other Wheat Interests,'' and
together with Wheat Futures Contracts and Cleared Wheat Swaps, ``Wheat
Interests''). By utilizing certain or all of these investments, the
Sponsor will endeavor to cause the Fund's performance to closely track
that of the Wheat Benchmark. The circumstances under which such
investments in Other Wheat Interests may be utilized (e.g., imposition
of position limits) are discussed below.
Wheat Futures Contracts traded on the CBOT expire on a specified
day in five different months: March, May, July, September and December.
For example, in terms of the Wheat Benchmark, in June of a given year
the next-to-expire or ``spot month'' Wheat Futures Contract will expire
in July of that year, and the Wheat Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts will be the contracts expiring in September of that year (the
second-to-expire contract), December of that year (the third-to-expire
contract), and December of the following year. As another example, in
November of a given year, the Wheat Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts will be the contracts expiring in March, May and December of
the following year.
According to the Registration Statement, the Fund seeks to achieve
its investment objective primarily by investing in Wheat Interests such
that daily changes in the Fund's NAV will be
[[Page 45887]]
expected to closely track the changes in the Wheat Benchmark. The
Fund's positions in Wheat Interests will be changed or ``rolled'' on a
regular basis in order to track the changing nature of the Wheat
Benchmark. For example, five times a year (on the date on which a Wheat
Futures Contract expires), the second-to-expire Wheat Futures Contract
will become the next-to-expire Wheat Futures Contract and will no
longer be a Wheat Benchmark Component Futures Contract, and the Fund's
investments will have to be changed accordingly.\13\
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\13\ For each of the Funds, in order that the Fund's trading
does not cause unwanted market movements and to make it more
difficult for third parties to profit by trading based on such
expected market movements, the Fund's investments typically will not
be rolled entirely on that day, but rather will typically be rolled
over a period of several days.
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Consistent with achieving the Fund's investment objective of
closely tracking the Wheat Benchmark, the Sponsor may for certain
reasons cause the Fund to enter into or hold Cleared Wheat Swaps and/or
Other Wheat Interests. For example, certain Cleared Wheat Swaps have
standardized terms similar to, and are priced by reference to, a
corresponding Wheat Benchmark Component Futures Contract. Additionally,
Other Wheat Interests that do not have standardized terms and are not
exchange-traded (``over-the-counter'' Wheat Interests), can generally
be structured as the parties desire. Therefore, the Fund might enter
into multiple Cleared Wheat Swaps and/or over-the-counter Wheat
Interests intended to exactly replicate the performance of each of the
three Wheat Benchmark Component Futures Contracts, or a single over-
the-counter Wheat Interest designed to replicate the performance of the
Wheat Benchmark as a whole. According to the Registration Statement,
assuming that there is no default by a counterparty to an over-the-
counter Wheat Interest, the performance of the over-the-counter Wheat
Interest will necessarily correlate exactly with the performance of the
Wheat Benchmark or the applicable Wheat Benchmark Component Futures
Contract.\14\ The Fund might also enter into or hold over-the-counter
Wheat Interests to facilitate effective trading, consistent with the
discussion of the Fund's ``roll'' strategy in the preceding paragraph.
In addition, the Fund might enter into or hold over-the-counter Wheat
Interests that would be expected to alleviate overall deviation between
the Fund's performance and that of the Wheat Benchmark that may result
from certain market and trading inefficiencies or other reasons.
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\14\ According to the Registration Statements, the Funds face
the risk of non-performance by the counterparties to over-the-
counter contracts. Unlike in futures contracts, the counterparty to
these contracts is generally a single bank or other financial
institution, rather than a clearing organization backed by a group
of financial institutions. As a result, there will be greater
counterparty credit risk in these transactions. The creditworthiness
of each potential counterparty will be assessed by the Sponsor. The
Sponsor will assess or review, as appropriate, the creditworthiness
of each potential or existing counterparty to an over-the-counter
contract pursuant to guidelines approved by the Sponsor. The
creditworthiness of existing counterparties will be reviewed
periodically by the Sponsor.
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The Fund will invest in Wheat Interests to the fullest extent
possible without being leveraged or unable to satisfy its expected
current or potential margin or collateral obligations with respect to
its investments in Wheat Interests.\15\ After fulfilling such margin
and collateral requirements, the Fund will invest the remainder of its
proceeds from the sale of baskets in obligations of the United States
government (``Treasury Securities'') or cash equivalents, and/or hold
such assets in cash (generally in interest-bearing accounts).
Therefore, the focus of the Sponsor in managing the Fund is investing
in Wheat Interests and in Treasury Securities, cash and/or cash
equivalents. Each of the Funds will earn interest income from the
Treasury Securities and/or cash equivalents that it purchases and on
the cash it holds through each Fund's custodian, the Bank of New York
Mellon (the ``Custodian'' and the ``Administrator'').
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\15\ The Sponsor represents that the Fund will invest in Wheat
Interests in a manner consistent with the Fund's investment
objective and not to achieve additional leverage.
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The Sponsor endeavors to place the Fund's trades in Wheat Interests
and otherwise manage the Fund's investments so that the Fund's average
daily tracking error against the Wheat Benchmark will be less than 10
percent over any period of 30 trading days. More specifically, the
Sponsor will endeavor to manage the Fund so that A will be within plus/
minus 10 percent of B, where A is the average daily change in the
Fund's NAV for any period of 30 successive valuation days, i.e., any
trading day as of which the Fund calculates its NAV, and B is the
average daily change in the Wheat Benchmark over the same period.\16\
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\16\ For each of the Funds, the Sponsor believes that market
arbitrage opportunities will cause each Fund's respective Share
price on the NYSE Arca to closely track the Fund's NAV per Share.
The Sponsor believes that the net effect of this expected
relationship and the expected relationship described above between
the Fund's respective NAV and the respective benchmark will be that
the changes in the price of the Fund's Shares on the NYSE Arca will
closely track, in percentage terms, changes in such benchmark, less
expenses.
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According to the Registration Statement, the Sponsor employs a
``neutral'' investment strategy intended to track the changes in the
Wheat Benchmark regardless of whether the Wheat Benchmark goes up or
goes down. The Fund's ``neutral'' investment strategy is designed to
permit investors generally to purchase and sell the Fund's Shares for
the purpose of investing indirectly in the wheat market in a cost-
effective manner. Such investors may include participants in the wheat
industry and other industries seeking to hedge the risk of losses in
their wheat-related transactions, as well as investors seeking exposure
to the wheat market. The Sponsor does not intend to operate the Fund in
a fashion such that its per Share NAV will equal, in dollar terms, the
spot price of a bushel or other unit of wheat or the price of any
particular Wheat Futures Contract.
According to the Registration Statement, the CFTC and U.S.
designated contract markets such as the CBOT may establish position
limits on the maximum net long or net short futures contracts in
commodity interests that any person or group of persons under common
trading control (other than as a hedge) may hold, own or control.\17\
For example, the current position limit for investments at any one time
in CBOT Wheat Futures Contracts are 600 spot month contracts, 5,000
contracts expiring in any other single month, and 6,500 contracts total
for all months. Cleared Wheat Swaps are subject to position limits that
are substantially identical to, but measured separately from, the
limits on Wheat Futures Contracts. Position limits are fixed ceilings
that the Fund would not be able to exceed without specific exchange
authorization. Under current law, all Wheat Futures Contracts traded on
a particular exchange that are held under the control of the Sponsor,
including those held by any future series of the Trust, are aggregated
in determining the application of applicable position limits.
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\17\ According to the Registration Statement, position limits
generally impose a fixed ceiling on aggregate holdings in futures
contracts relating to a particular commodity, and may also impose
separate ceilings on contracts expiring in any one month, contracts
expiring in the spot month, and/or contracts in certain specified
final days of trading.
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In addition to position limits, the exchanges may establish daily
price fluctuation limits on futures contracts. The daily price
fluctuation limit establishes the maximum amount that
[[Page 45888]]
the price of futures contracts may vary either up or down from the
previous day's settlement price. Once the daily price fluctuation limit
has been reached in a particular futures contract, no trades may be
made at a price beyond that limit.\18\ Position limits, accountability
levels, and daily price fluctuation limits set by the exchanges have
the potential to cause tracking error, which could cause the price of
Shares to substantially vary from the Wheat Benchmark and prevent an
investor from being able to effectively use the Fund as a way to hedge
against wheat-related losses or as a way to indirectly invest in wheat.
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\18\ For example, the CBOT imposes a $3,000 per contract price
fluctuation limit for Wheat Futures Contracts. This limit is
initially based off of the previous trading day's settlement price.
If two or more Wheat Futures Contract months within the first five
listed non-spot contracts close at the limit, the daily price limit
increases to $4,500 per contract for the next business day and to
$6,750 for the next business day.
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The Fund does not intend to limit the size of the offering and will
attempt to expose substantially all of its proceeds to the wheat market
utilizing Wheat Interests. If the Fund encounters position limits,
accountability levels, or price fluctuation limits for Wheat Futures
Contracts and/or Cleared Wheat Swaps on the CBOT, it may then, if
permitted under applicable regulatory requirements, purchase Other
Wheat Interests and/or Wheat Futures Contracts listed on other domestic
or foreign exchanges. However, the Wheat Futures Contracts available on
such foreign exchanges may have different underlying sizes, deliveries,
and prices. In addition, the Wheat Futures Contracts available on these
exchanges may be subject to their own position limits and
accountability levels. In any case, notwithstanding the potential
availability of these instruments in certain circumstances, position
limits could force the Fund to limit the number of Creation Baskets (as
defined below) that it sells.\19\
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\19\ With respect to each of the Funds, there will be no
specified limit on the maximum amount of Creation Baskets that can
be sold. At some point, however, applicable position limits may
practically limit the number of Creation Baskets that will be sold
if the Sponsor determines that the other investment alternatives
available to a Fund at that time will not enable it to meet its
stated investment objective.
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Teucrium Soybean Fund
According to the Registration Statement, the investment objective
of the Fund is to have the daily changes in percentage terms of the
Shares' NAV reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of a weighted
average of the closing settlement prices for three futures contracts
for soybeans (soybean futures contracts generally referred to herein as
``Soybean Futures Contracts'') that are traded on the CBOT. Except as
described in the following paragraph, the three Soybean Futures
Contracts will be: (1) Second-to-expire CBOT Soybean Futures Contract,
weighted 35%, (2) the third-to-expire CBOT Soybean Futures Contract,
weighted 30%, and (3) the CBOT Soybean Futures Contract expiring in the
November following the expiration month of the third-to-expire
contract, weighted 35%. The weighted average of the three Soybean
Futures Contracts is referred to herein as the ``Soybean Benchmark,''
and the three Soybean Futures Contracts that at any given time make up
the Soybean Benchmark are referred to herein as the ``Soybean Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts.'' The circumstances under which such
investments in Other Soybean Interests may be utilized (e.g.,
imposition of position limits) are discussed below.\20\
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\20\ Soybean futures volume on CBOT for 2010 and 2011 (through
April 29, 2011) was 36,962,868 contracts and 16,197,385 contracts,
respectively. As of April 29, 2011, open interest for soybean
futures was 572,959 contracts. The contract price was $69,700.00
(1394 cents per bushel and 5,000 bushels per contract). The
approximate value of all outstanding contracts was $39.9 billion.
The position limits for all months is 6,500 contracts and the total
value of contracts if position limits were reached would be
approximately $453 million (based on the $69,700.00 contract price).
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Soybean Futures Contracts traded on the CBOT expire on a specified
day in seven different months: January, March, May, July, August,
September and November. However, there is generally a less liquid
market for the Soybean Futures Contracts expiring in August (the
``August Contract'') and September (the ``September Contract'' and,
together with the August Contract, the ``Excluded Contracts''), and the
Sponsor has determined not to incorporate the Excluded Contracts into
the Soybean Benchmark calculation. Accordingly, during the period when
the Excluded Contracts are the second-to-expire and third-to-expire
Soybean Futures Contract, the fourth-to-expire and fifth-to-expire
Soybean Futures Contracts will take the place of the second-to-expire
and third-to-expire Soybean Futures Contracts, respectively, as Soybean
Benchmark Component Futures Contracts. Similarly, when the August
Contract is the third-to-expire Soybean Futures Contract, the fifth-to-
expire Soybean Futures Contract will take the place of the August
Contract as a Soybean Benchmark Component Futures Contract, and when
the September Contract is the second-to-expire Soybean Futures
Contract, the third-to-expire and fourth-to-expire Soybean Futures
Contracts will be Soybean Benchmark Component Futures Contracts.\21\
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\21\ See the Registration Statement for additional information
regarding specific Soybean Futures Contracts that will be used in
the calculation of the Soybean Benchmark at any point in a given
year, based on the same 35%/30%/35% weighting methodology described
above.
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According to the Registration Statement, the Fund seeks to achieve
its investment objective by investing under normal market conditions in
Soybean Benchmark Component Futures Contracts or, in certain
circumstances, in other Soybean Futures Contracts traded on CBOT or
Soybean Futures Contracts traded on foreign exchanges. In addition, and
to a limited extent, the Fund also may invest in exchange-traded
options on Soybean Futures Contracts and in soybean-based swap
agreements that are cleared through the CBOT or its affiliated provider
of clearing services (``Cleared Soybean Swaps'') in furtherance of the
Fund's investment objective.
Specifically, once CBOT position limits in Soybean Futures
Contracts are reached, the Fund's intention is to invest first in
Cleared Soybean Swaps to the extent permitted under the CBOT position
limits applicable to Cleared Soybean Swaps and appropriate in light of
the liquidity in the Cleared Soybean Swaps market, and then, using its
commercially reasonable judgment, in other Soybean Futures Contracts
(i.e., Soybean Futures Contracts traded on foreign exchanges) and
instruments such as cash-settled options on Soybean Futures Contracts
and forward contracts, swaps other than Cleared Soybean Swaps, and
other over-the-counter transactions that are based on the price of
soybeans and Soybean Futures Contracts (collectively, ``Other Soybean
Interests,'' and together with Soybean Futures Contracts and Cleared
Soybean Swaps, ``Soybean Interests'').
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily by
investing in Soybean Interests such that daily changes in the Fund's
NAV will be expected to closely track the changes in the Soybean
Benchmark. The Fund's positions in Soybean Interests will be changed or
``rolled'' on a regular basis in order to track the changing nature of
the Soybean Benchmark. For example, five times a year (on the date on
which certain Soybean Futures Contracts expire), a particular Soybean
Futures Contract will no longer be a Soybean Benchmark Component
Futures Contract, and the Fund's investments will have to be changed
accordingly.
[[Page 45889]]
According to the Registration Statement, consistent with achieving
the Fund's investment objective of closely tracking the Soybean
Benchmark, the Sponsor may for certain reasons cause the Fund to enter
into or hold Cleared Soybean Swaps and/or Other Soybean Interests. For
example, certain Cleared Soybean Swaps have standardized terms similar
to, and are priced by reference to, a corresponding Soybean Benchmark
Component Futures Contract. Additionally, Other Soybean Interests that
do not have standardized terms and are not exchange-traded (``over-the-
counter'' Soybean Interests) can generally be structured as the parties
desire. Therefore, the Fund might enter into multiple Cleared Soybean
Swaps and/or over-the-counter Soybean Interests intended to exactly
replicate the performance of each of the three Soybean Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts, or a single over-the-counter Soybean
Interest designed to replicate the performance of the Soybean Benchmark
as a whole. According to the Registration Statement, assuming that
there is no default by a counterparty to an over-the-counter Soybean
Interest, the performance of the over-the-counter Soybean Interest will
necessarily correlate exactly with the performance of the Soybean
Benchmark or the applicable Soybean Benchmark Component Futures
Contract. The Fund might also enter into or hold over-the-counter
Soybean Interests to facilitate effective trading, consistent with the
discussion of the Fund's ``roll'' strategy in the preceding paragraph.
In addition, the Fund might enter into or hold over-the-counter Soybean
Interests that would be expected to alleviate overall deviation between
the Fund's performance and that of the Soybean Benchmark that may
result from certain market and trading inefficiencies or other reasons.
The Fund will invest in Soybean Interests to the fullest extent
possible without being leveraged or unable to satisfy its expected
current or potential margin or collateral obligations with respect to
its investments in Soybean Interests.\22\ After fulfilling such margin
and collateral requirements, the Fund will invest the remainder of its
proceeds from the sale of baskets in Treasury Securities or cash
equivalents, and/or hold such assets in cash (generally in interest-
bearing accounts). Therefore, the focus of the Sponsor in managing the
Fund is investing in Soybean Interests and in Treasury Securities, cash
and/or cash equivalents.
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\22\ The Sponsor represents that the Fund will invest in Soybean
Interests in a manner consistent with the Fund's investment
objective and not to achieve additional leverage.
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The Sponsor endeavors to place the Fund's trades in Soybean
Interests and otherwise manage the Fund's investments so that the
Fund's average daily tracking error against the Soybean Benchmark will
be less than 10 percent over any period of 30 trading days. More
specifically, the Sponsor will endeavor to manage the Fund so that A
will be within plus/minus 10 percent of B, where A is the average daily
change in the Fund's NAV for any period of 30 successive valuation
days, i.e., any trading day as of which the Fund calculates its NAV,
and B is the average daily change in the Soybean Benchmark over the
same period.
The Sponsor employs a ``neutral'' investment strategy intended to
track the changes in the Soybean Benchmark regardless of whether the
Soybean Benchmark goes up or goes down. The Fund's ``neutral''
investment strategy is designed to permit investors generally to
purchase and sell the Fund's Shares for the purpose of investing
indirectly in the soybean market in a cost-effective manner. Such
investors may include participants in the soybean industry and other
industries seeking to hedge the risk of losses in their soybean-related
transactions, as well as investors seeking exposure to the soybean
market. The Sponsor does not intend to operate the Fund in a fashion
such that its per Share NAV will equal, in dollar terms, the spot price
of a bushel or other unit of soybean or the price of any particular
Soybean Futures Contract.
The CFTC's position limits for Soybean Futures Contracts (including
related options) are 600 spot month contracts, 6,500 contracts expiring
in any other single month, and 10,000 contracts for all months.
Position limits could in certain circumstances effectively limit the
number of Creation Baskets that the Fund can sell but, because the Fund
is new, it is not expected to reach asset levels that would cause these
position limits to be implicated in the near future. Cleared Soybean
Swaps are subject to position limits that are substantially identical
to, but measured separately from, the positions limits applicable to
Soybean Futures Contracts. Under current law, all Soybean Futures
Contracts that are held under the control of the Sponsor, including
those held by any future series of the Trust, are aggregated in
determining the application of applicable position limits.
According to the Registration Statement, in contrast to position
limits, accountability levels are not fixed ceilings, but rather
thresholds above which an exchange may exercise greater scrutiny and
control over an investor, including by imposing position limits on the
investor. In light of the position limits discussed above, the CBOT has
not set any accountability levels for Soybean Futures Contracts.
According to the Registration Statement, the CBOT imposes a $0.70
per bushel ($3,500 per contract) daily price fluctuation limit for
Soybean Futures Contracts. Once the daily price fluctuation limit has
been reached in a particular Soybean Futures Contract, no trades may be
made at a price beyond that limit. If two or more Soybean Futures
Contract months within the first seven listed non-spot contracts close
at the limit, the daily price limit increases to $1.05 per bushel
($5,250 per contract) the next business day and to $1.60 per bushel
($8,000 per contract) the next business day. These limits are based off
the previous trading day's settlement price. Position limits and daily
price fluctuation limits set by the CFTC and the exchanges have the
potential to cause tracking error, which could cause the price of
Shares to substantially vary from the Soybean Benchmark and prevent an
investor from being able to effectively use the Fund as a way to hedge
against soybean-related losses or as a way to indirectly invest in
soybeans.
The Fund does not intend to limit the size of the offering and will
attempt to expose substantially all of its proceeds to the soybean
market utilizing Soybean Interests. If the Fund encounters position
limits or price fluctuation limits for Soybean Futures Contracts and/or
Cleared Soybean Swaps on the CBOT, it may then, if permitted under
applicable regulatory requirements, purchase Other Soybean Interests
and/or Soybean Futures Contracts listed on foreign exchanges. However,
the Soybean Futures Contracts available on such foreign exchanges may
have different underlying sizes, deliveries, and prices. In addition,
the Soybean Futures Contracts available on these exchanges may be
subject to their own position limits or similar restrictions. In any
case, notwithstanding the potential availability of these instruments
in certain circumstances, position limits could force the Fund to limit
the number of Creation Baskets (as defined below) that it sells.\23\
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\23\ See note 19, supra.
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Teucrium Sugar Fund
According to the Registration Statement, the investment objective
of the Fund is to have the daily changes in percentage terms of the
Shares' NAV
[[Page 45890]]
reflect the daily changes in percentage terms of a weighted average of
the closing settlement prices for three futures contracts for sugar
(sugar futures contracts generally referred to herein as ``Sugar
Futures Contracts'') that are traded on ICE Futures US (``ICE
Futures''), specifically: (1) The second-to-expire Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contract (a ``Sugar No. 11 Futures Contract''), weighted 35%, (2) the
third-to-expire Sugar No. 11 Futures Contract, weighted 30%, and (3)
the Sugar No. 11 Futures Contract expiring in the March following the
expiration month of the third-to-expire contract, weighted 35%. The
weighted average of the three Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts is
referred to herein as the ``Sugar Benchmark,'' and the three Sugar No.
11 Futures Contracts that at any given time make up the Sugar Benchmark
are referred to herein as the ``Sugar Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts.'' \24\
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\24\ Sugar futures volume on ICE Futures for 2010 and 2011
(through April 29, 2011) was 27,848,391 contracts and 9,045,069
contracts, respectively. As of April 29, 2011, open interest for
sugar futures was 570,948 contracts. The contract price was
$24,920.00 (22.25 cents per pound and 112,000 pounds per contract).
The approximate value of all outstanding contracts was $14.2
billion. The position limits for all months is 15,000 contracts and
the total value of contracts if position limits were reached would
be approximately $373.8 million (based on the $24,920.00 contract
price).
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The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective by investing
under normal market conditions in Sugar Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts or, in certain circumstances, in other Sugar Futures
Contracts traded on ICE Futures or the New York Mercantile Exchange
(``NYMEX''), or Sugar Futures Contracts traded on foreign exchanges. In
addition, and to a limited extent, the Fund also may invest in
exchange-traded options on Sugar Futures Contracts and in sugar-based
swap agreements that are cleared through ICE Futures or its affiliated
provider of clearing services (``Cleared Sugar Swaps'') in furtherance
of the Fund's investment objective.
Specifically, once accountability levels in Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contracts traded on ICE Futures are reached, the Fund's intention is to
invest first in Cleared Sugar Swaps to the extent permitted under the
accountability levels applicable to Cleared Sugar Swaps and appropriate
in light of the liquidity in the Cleared Sugar Swaps market, and then,
using its commercially reasonable judgment, in other Sugar Futures
Contracts (i.e., Sugar Futures Contracts traded on the NYMEX or foreign
exchanges) and instruments such as cash-settled options on Sugar
Futures Contracts and forward contracts, swaps other than Cleared Sugar
Swaps, and other over-the-counter transactions that are based on the
price of sugar and Sugar Futures Contracts (collectively, ``Other Sugar
Interests,'' and together with Sugar Futures Contracts and Cleared
Sugar Swaps, ``Sugar Interests'').
Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts traded on the ICE Futures expire on
a specified day in four different months: March, May, July, and
October. For example, in terms of the Sugar Benchmark, in June of a
given year (``year 1'') the next-to-expire or ``spot month'' Sugar No.
11 Futures Contract will expire in July of year 1, and the Sugar
Benchmark Component Futures Contracts will be the contracts expiring in
October of year 1 (the second-to-expire contract), March of year 2 (the
third-to-expire contract), and March of year 3. As another example, in
November of year 1 the Sugar Benchmark Component Futures Contracts will
be the contracts expiring in May of year 2, July of year 2, and March
of year 3.
The Fund seeks to achieve its investment objective primarily by
investing in Sugar Interests such that daily changes in the Fund's NAV
will be expected to closely track the changes in the Sugar Benchmark.
The Fund's positions in Sugar Interests will be changed or ``rolled''
on a regular basis in order to track the changing nature of the Sugar
Benchmark. For example, four times a year (on the date on which a Sugar
No. 11 Futures Contract expires), a particular Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contract will no longer be a Sugar Benchmark Component Futures
Contract, and the Fund's investments will have to be changed
accordingly.
Consistent with achieving the Fund's investment objective of
closely tracking the Sugar Benchmark, the Sponsor may for certain
reasons cause the Fund to enter into or hold Cleared Sugar Swaps and/or
Other Sugar Interests. For example, certain Cleared Sugar Swaps have
standardized terms similar to, and are priced by reference to, a
corresponding Sugar Benchmark Component Futures Contract. Additionally,
Other Sugar Interests that do not have standardized terms and are not
exchange-traded, referred to as ``over-the-counter'' Sugar Interests,
can generally be structured as the parties desire. Therefore, the Fund
might enter into multiple Cleared Sugar Swaps and/or over-the-counter
Sugar Interests intended to exactly replicate the performance of each
of the three Sugar Benchmark Component Futures Contracts, or a single
over-the-counter Sugar Interest designed to replicate the performance
of the Sugar Benchmark as a whole. According to the Registration
Statement, assuming that there is no default by a counterparty to an
over-the-counter Sugar Interest, the performance of the over-the-
counter Sugar Interest will necessarily correlate exactly with the
performance of the Sugar Benchmark or the applicable Sugar Benchmark
Component Futures Contract. The Fund might also enter into or hold
over-the-counter Sugar Interests other than Sugar Benchmark Component
Futures Contracts to facilitate effective trading, consistent with the
discussion of the Fund's ``roll'' strategy in the preceding paragraph.
In addition, the Fund might enter into or hold over-the-counter Sugar
Interests that would be expected to alleviate overall deviation between
the Fund's performance and that of the Sugar Benchmark that may result
from certain market and trading inefficiencies or other reasons.
The Fund will invest in Sugar Interests to the fullest extent
possible without being leveraged or unable to satisfy its expected
current or potential margin or collateral obligations with respect to
its investments in Sugar Interests.\25\ After fulfilling such margin
and collateral requirements, the Fund will invest the remainder of its
proceeds from the sale of baskets in Treasury Securities or cash
equivalents, and/or hold such assets in cash (generally in interest-
bearing accounts). Therefore, the focus of the Sponsor in managing the
Fund is investing in Sugar Interests and in Treasury Securities, cash
and/or cash equivalents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ The Sponsor represents that the Fund will invest in Sugar
Interests in a manner consistent with the Fund's investment
objective and not to achieve additional leverage.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Sponsor endeavors to place the Fund's trades in Sugar Interests
and otherwise manage the Fund's investments so that the Fund's average
daily tracking error against the Sugar Benchmark will be less than 10
percent over any period of 30 trading days. More specifically, the
Sponsor will endeavor to manage the Fund so that A will be within plus/
minus 10 percent of B, where A is the average daily change in the
Fund's NAV for any period of 30 successive valuation days, i.e., any
trading day as of which the Fund calculates its NAV, and B is the
average daily change in the Sugar Benchmark over the same period.
The Sponsor employs a ``neutral'' investment strategy intended to
track the changes in the Sugar Benchmark regardless of whether the
Sugar Benchmark goes up or goes down. The Fund's ``neutral'' investment
strategy is
[[Page 45891]]
designed to permit investors generally to purchase and sell the Fund's
Shares for the purpose of investing indirectly in the sugar market in a
cost-effective manner. Such investors may include participants in the
sugar industry and other industries seeking to hedge the risk of losses
in their sugar-related transactions, as well as investors seeking
exposure to the sugar market. The Sponsor does not intend to operate
the Fund in a fashion such that its per Share NAV will equal, in dollar
terms, the spot price of a pound or other unit of sugar or the price of
any particular Sugar Futures Contract.
U.S. designated contract markets such as the ICE Futures and the
NYMEX have established accountability levels on the maximum net long or
net short Sugar Futures Contracts that any person or group of persons
under common trading control may hold, own or control. For example, the
current ICE Futures-established accountability level for investments in
Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts for any one month is 10,000, and the
accountability level for all combined months is 15,000. While
accountability levels are not fixed ceilings, they are thresholds above
which the exchange may exercise greater scrutiny and control over an
investor, including limiting an investor to holding no more Sugar No.
11 Futures Contracts than the amount established by the accountability
level. Cleared Sugar Swaps are subject to an ICE Futures accountability
level of 10,000 swap positions for all months combined. This limit is
measured separately from the accountability levels on Sugar No. 11
Futures Contracts. Under current law, all Sugar Futures Contracts
traded on a particular exchange that are held under the control of the
Sponsor, including those held by any future series of the Trust, are
aggregated in determining the application of applicable accountability
levels. The Fund does not intend to invest in Sugar Futures Contracts
or Cleared Sugar Swaps in excess of any applicable accountability
levels.
According to the Registration Statement, the CFTC has not currently
set position limits for Sugar Futures Contracts, and ICE Futures and
NYMEX have established such position limits only on spot month Sugar
No. 11 Futures Contracts. Cleared Sugar Swaps are subject to ICE
Futures position limits that are substantially identical to, but
measured separately from, the limits on Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts.
However, because the Fund does not expect to hold spot month contracts
at any time when these position limits would be applicable, it is
unlikely that these limits will come into play. Currently, the ICE
Futures and the NYMEX have not imposed maximum daily price fluctuation
limits on Sugar Futures Contracts. Accountability levels, position
limits and daily price fluctuation limits set by the CFTC and the
exchanges have the potential to cause tracking error, which could cause
the price of Shares to substantially vary from the Sugar Benchmark and
prevent an investor from being able to effectively use the Fund as a
way to hedge against sugar-related losses or as a way to indirectly
invest in sugar.
The Fund does not intend to limit the size of the offering and will
attempt to expose substantially all of its proceeds to the sugar market
utilizing Sugar Interests. If the Fund encounters accountability
levels, position limits, or price fluctuation limits for Sugar Futures
Contracts and/or Cleared Sugar Swaps on ICE Futures, it may then, if
permitted under applicable regulatory requirements, purchase Other
Sugar Interests and/or Sugar Futures Contracts listed on the NYMEX or
foreign exchanges. However, the Sugar Futures Contracts available on
such foreign exchanges may have different underlying sizes, deliveries,
and prices. In addition, the Sugar Futures Contracts available on these
exchanges may be subject to their own position limits and
accountability levels. In any case, notwithstanding the potential
availability of these instruments in certain circumstances, position
limits could force the Fund to limit the number of Creation Baskets
that it sells.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\26\ See note 19, supra.
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Creation and Redemption of Shares
The Funds create and redeem Shares only in blocks called ``Creation
Baskets'' and ``Redemption Baskets,'' respectively, each consisting of
50,000 Shares. Only Authorized Purchasers may purchase or redeem
Creation Baskets or Redemption Baskets. An Authorized Purchaser is
under no obligation to create or redeem baskets, and an Authorized
Purchaser is under no obligation to offer to the public Shares of any
baskets it does create. Baskets are generally created when there is a
demand for Shares, including, but not limited to, when the market price
per Share is at (or perceived to be at) a premium to the NAV per Share.
Similarly, baskets are generally redeemed when the market price per
Share is at (or perceived to be at) a discount to the NAV per Share.
Retail investors seeking to purchase or sell Shares on any day are
expected to effect such transactions in the secondary market, on the
NYSE Arca, at the market price per Share, rather than in connection
with the creation or redemption of baskets.
The total deposit required to create each basket (``Creation Basket
Deposit'') is the amount of Treasury Securities and/or cash that is in
the same proportion to the total assets of each Fund (net of estimated
accrued but unpaid fees, expenses and other liabilities) on the
purchase order date as the number of Shares to be created under the
purchase order is in proportion to the total number of Shares
outstanding on the purchase order date. The redemption distribution
from each Fund will consist of a transfer to the redeeming Authorized
Purchaser of an amount of Treasury Securities and/or cash that is in
the same proportion to the total assets of such Fund (net of estimated
accrued but unpaid fees, expenses and other liabilities) on the date
the order to redeem is properly received as the number of Shares to be
redeemed under the redemption order is in proportion to the total
number of Shares outstanding on the date the order is received.
The Funds will meet the initial and continued listing requirements
applicable to TIRs in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.200 and Commentary .02
thereto. With respect to application of Rule 10A-3 \27\ under the Act,
the Trust relies on the exception contained in Rule 10A-3(c)(7).\28\ A
minimum of 100,000 Shares for each Fund will be outstanding as of the
start of trading on the Exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\27\ 17 CFR 240.10A-3.
\28\ 17 CFR 240.10A-3(c)(7).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A more detailed description of Wheat Interests, Soybean Interests
and Sugar Interests and other aspects of the applicable commodities
markets, as well as investment risks, are set forth in the Registration
Statements. All terms relating to the Funds that are referred to, but
not defined in, this proposed rule change are defined in the
Registration Statements.
Availability of Information Regarding the Shares
The Web site for the Funds (https://www.teucriumwheatfund.com,
https://www.teucriumsoybeanfund.com and https://www.teucriumsugarfund.com, respectively) and/or the Exchange, which are
publicly accessible at no charge, will contain the following
information: (a) The current NAV per Share daily and the prior business
day's NAV and the reported closing price; (b) the midpoint of the bid-
ask price in
[[Page 45892]]
relation to the NAV as of the time the NAV is calculated (the ``Bid-Ask
Price''); (c) calculation of the premium or discount of such price
against such NAV; (d) the bid-ask price of Shares determined using the
highest bid and lowest offer as of the time of calculation of the NAV;
(e) data in chart form displaying the frequency distribution of
discounts and premiums of the Bid-Ask Price against the NAV, within
appropriate ranges for each of the four (4) previous calendar quarters;
(f) the prospectus; and (g) other applicable quantitative information.
The Funds will also disseminate the Funds' holdings on a daily basis on
the Funds' respective Web sites.
The NAV for the Funds will be calculated by the Administrator once
a day and will be disseminated daily to all market participants at the
same time.\29\ The Exchange also will disseminate on a daily basis via
the Consolidated Tape Association (``CTA'') information with respect to
recent NAV, and Shares outstanding. The Exchange will also make
available on its Web site daily trading volume of each of the Shares,
closing prices of such Shares, and the corresponding NAV. The closing
price and settlement prices of the Wheat Futures Contracts and Soybean
Futures Contracts are also readily available from the CBOT, and of the
Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts from ICE Futures. In addition, such
prices are available from automated quotation systems, published or
other public sources, or on-line information services such as Bloomberg
or Reuters. Each benchmark will be disseminated by one or more major
market data vendors every 15 seconds during the NYSE Arca Core Trading
Session of 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. E.T. Quotation and last-sale
information regarding the Shares will be disseminated through the
facilities of the CTA. In addition, the Exchange will provide a
hyperlink on its Web site at https://www.nyx.com to the Funds' Web
sites, which will display all intraday and closing benchmark levels,
the intraday Indicative Trust Value (see below), and NAV.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\29\ For each Fund, the NAV will be calculated by taking the
current market value of the Fund's total assets and subtracting any
liabilities. Under the Funds' current operational procedures, the
Administrator will generally calculate the NAV of the Funds' Shares
as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time (``E.T.''). The NAV for a particular
trading day will be released after 4:15 p.m. E.T.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The daily settlement prices for the Wheat Futures Contracts and
Soybeans Futures Contracts are publicly available on the Web site of
the CBOT (https://www.cmegroup.com) and, for the Sugar No. 11 Futures
Contracts, on the Web site of ICE Futures (https://www.theice.com). In
addition, various data vendors and news publications publish futures
prices and data. The Exchange represents that quotation and last sale
information for the Wheat Futures Contracts, Soybean Futures Contracts
and Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts are widely disseminated through a
variety of major market data vendors worldwide, including Bloomberg and
Reuters. In addition, the Exchange further represents that complete
real-time data for such contracts is available by subscription from
Reuters and Bloomberg. The CBOT and ICE Futures also provide delayed
futures information on current and past trading sessions and market
news free of charge on their Web sites. The specific contract
specifications for such contracts are also available at the CBOT and
ICE Futures Web sites, as well as other financial informational
sources. The spot price of wheat, soybeans and sugar also is available
on a 24-hour basis from major market data vendors.
Each Fund will provide Web site disclosure of portfolio holdings
daily and will include, as applicable, the names, quantity, price and
market value of Wheat, Soybean and Sugar Benchmark Component Futures
Contracts, as applicable, and other financial instruments, if any, and
the characteristics of such instruments and cash equivalents, and
amount of cash held in the portfolios of the Funds. This Web site
disclosure of the portfolio composition of the Funds will occur at the
same time as the disclosure by the Sponsor of the portfolio composition
to Authorized Purchasers so that all market participants are provided
portfolio composition information at the same time. Therefore, the same
portfolio information will be provided on the public Web sites as well
as in electronic files provided to Authorized Purchasers. Accordingly,
each investor will have access to the current portfolio composition of
the Funds through the Funds' Web sites.
Dissemination of Indicative Trust Value
In addition, in order to provide updated information relating to
the Funds for use by investors and market professionals, an updated
Indicative Trust Value (``ITV'') will be calculated. The ITV is
calculated by using the prior day's closing NAV per Share of each Fund
as a base and updating that value throughout the trading day to reflect
changes in the value of the Wheat, Soybean and Sugar Benchmark
Component Futures Contracts, as applicable, and other financial
instruments, if any. As stated in the Registration Statements, changes
in the value of Treasury Securities and cash equivalents will not be
included in the calculation of the ITV. The ITV disseminated during
NYSE Arca trading hours should not be viewed as an actual real time
update of the NAV, which is calculated only once a day.
The ITV will be disseminated on a per Share basis by one or more
major market data vendors every 15 seconds during the NYSE Arca Core
Trading Session. The normal trading hours for Wheat Futures Contracts
on the CBOT are 10:30 a.m. E.T. to 2:15 p.m. E.T. The normal trading
hours for Soybean Futures Contracts on the CBOT are 10:30 a.m. E.T. to
2:15 p.m. E.T. Thus, there is a gap in time at the end of each day
during which the Funds' Shares are traded on the NYSE Arca, but real-
time CBOT trading prices for Wheat Futures Contracts and Soybean
Futures Contracts traded on CBOT are not available. As a result, during
those gaps there will be no update to the ITV. Therefore, a static ITV
will be disseminated, between the close of trading on CBOT of Wheat
Futures Contracts and Soybean Futures Contracts and the close of the
NYSE Arca Core Trading Session.
The normal trading hours for Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts on ICE
Futures are 3:30 a.m. E.T. to 2:00 p.m. E.T. Thus, there is a gap in
time at the end of each day during which the Teucrium Sugar Fund's
Shares are traded on NYSE Arca, but real-time ICE Futures trading
prices for Sugar Futures Contracts traded on ICE Futures are not
available. As a result, during those gaps there will be no update to
the ITV. Therefore, a static ITV will be disseminated, between the
close of trading on ICE Futures of Sugar No. 11 Futures Contracts and
the close of the NYSE Arca Core Trading Session. The value of Shares of
each Fund may be influenced by non-concurrent trading hours between
NYSE Arca and the CBOT and ICE Futures, as applicable, when such Shares
are traded on NYSE Arca after normal trading hours of the applicable
futures contracts on CBOT or ICE Futures.
The Exchange believes that dissemination of the ITV provides
additional information regarding each Fund that is not otherwise
available to the public and is useful to professionals and investors in
connection with the related Shares trading on the Exchange or the
creation or redemption of such Shares.
Trading Rules
The Exchange deems the Shares to be equity securities, thus
rendering trading in the Shares subject to the Exchange's
[[Page 45893]]
existing rules governing the trading of equity securities. Shares will
trade on the NYSE Arca Marketplace from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. E.T. The
Exchange has appropriate rules to facilitate transactions in the Shares
during all trading sessions. As provided in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
7.6, Commentary .03, the minimum price variation (``MPV'') for quoting
and entry of orders in equity securities traded on the NYSE Arca
Marketplace is $0.01, with the exception of securities that are priced
less than $1.00 for which the MPV for order entry is $0.0001.
The trading of the Shares will be subject to NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.200, Commentary .02(e), which sets forth certain restrictions on
ETP Holders acting as registered Market Makers in TIRs to facilitate
surveillance. See ``Surveillance'' below for more information.
With respect to trading halts, the Exchange may consider all
relevant factors in exercising its discretion to halt or suspend
trading in the Shares. Trading may be halted because of market
conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make
trading in the Shares inadvisable. These may include: (1) The extent to
which trading is not occurring in the underlying futures contracts, or
(2) whether other unusual conditions or circumstances detrimental to
the maintenance of a fair and orderly market are present. In addition,
trading in Shares will be subject to trading halts caused by
extraordinary market volatility pursuant to the Exchange's ``circuit
breaker'' rule \30\ or by the halt or suspension of trading of the
underlying futures contracts.
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\30\ See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange represents that the Exchange may halt trading during
the day in which an interruption to the dissemination of the ITV or the
value of the underlying futures contracts or the applicable benchmark
occurs. If the interruption to the dissemination of the ITV, the value
of the underlying futures contracts or the applicable benchmark
persists past the trading day in which it occurred, the Exchange will
halt trading no later than the beginning of the trading day following
the interruption. In addition, if the Exchange becomes aware that the
NAV with respect to the Shares is not disseminated to all market
participants at the same time, it will halt trading in the Shares until
such time as the NAV is available to all market participants.
Surveillance
The Exchange intends to utilize its existing surveillance