Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS Y-Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Amend and Restate the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of BATS Global Markets, Inc., 56833-56837 [2011-23480]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 178 / Wednesday, September 14, 2011 / Notices respect to, and facilitating transactions in securities, to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system, and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest. In adopting Regulation NMS, the Commission granted self-regulatory organizations and broker-dealers increased authority and flexibility to offer new and unique market data to the public. It was believed that this authority would expand the amount of data available to consumers, and also spur innovation and competition for the provision of market data. ISE believes that this proposal is in keeping with those principles by promoting increased transparency through the dissemination of more useful proprietary data and also by clarifying its availability to market participants. Additionally, ISE is making a voluntary decision to make this data available. ISE is not required by the Act in the first instance to make the data available, unlike the best bid and offer which must be made available under the Act. ISE chooses to make the data available as proposed in order to improve market quality, to attract order flow, and to increase transparency. B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Burden on Competition ISE 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. The Exchange believes that the ISE Feed will help attract new users and new order flow to the Exchange, thereby improving the Exchange’s ability to compete in the market for options order flow and executions. mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change Received From Members, Participants or Others The Exchange has not solicited, and does not intend to solicit, comments on this proposed rule change. The Exchange has not received any unsolicited written comments from members or other interested parties. III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for Commission Action The Exchange has filed the proposed rule change pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act 5 and Rule 19b–4(f)(6) thereunder.6 Because the foregoing proposed rule change does not 5 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(iii). 6 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:00 Sep 13, 2011 Jkt 223001 significantly affect the protection of investors or the public interest, does not impose any significant burden on competition, and, by its terms, does not become operative for 30 days from the date on which it was filed, or such shorter time as the Commission may designate, it has become effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act 7 and Rule 19b–4(f)(6) 8 thereunder.9 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. IV. Solicitation of Comments 56833 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 ISE. 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–ISE–2011–55 and should be submitted by October 5, 2011. 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: For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.10 Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary. Electronic Comments [FR Doc. 2011–23440 Filed 9–13–11; 8:45 am] • Use the Commission’s Internet comment form https://www.sec.gov/ rules/sro.shtml); or • Send an E-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File No. SR–ISE–2011–55 on the subject line. BILLING CODE 8011–01–P Paper Comments Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS Y–Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Amend and Restate the Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of BATS Global Markets, Inc. • 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–ISE–2011–55. 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 Commissions 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 7 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A). 8 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). 9 The Commission notes that Rule 19b–4(f)(6) requires a self-regulatory organization to give the Commission written notice of its intent to file the proposed rule change at least five business days prior to the date of filing of the proposed rule change, or such shorter time as designated by the Commission. The Exchange has satisfied this requirement. PO 00000 Frm 00104 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–65299; File No. SR–BYX– 2011–021] September 8, 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 August 29, 2011, BATS Y–Exchange, Inc. (the ‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BYX’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘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 is filing with the Commission a proposal to amend the 10 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 2 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 1 15 E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM 14SEN1 56834 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 178 / Wednesday, September 14, 2011 / Notices Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of BATS Global Markets, Inc. (the ‘‘Corporation’’) in connection with the anticipated initial public offering of shares of its Class A common stock. The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange’s Web site at https://www.batstrading.com, at the principal office of the Exchange, and at the Commission’s Public Reference Room. II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in Sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant parts of such statements. A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 1. Purpose On May 13, 2011, the Corporation, the sole stockholder of the Exchange, filed a registration statement on Form S–1 with the Commission seeking to register shares of Class A common stock and to conduct an initial public offering of those shares, which will be listed for trading on the Exchange (the ‘‘IPO’’). In connection with its IPO, the Corporation intends to amend and restate its certificate of incorporation and adopt a Third Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation (the ‘‘New Certificate of Incorporation’’). The amendments include, among other things, (i) Increasing the total number of authorized shares of stock of the Corporation, (ii) reclassifying the existing common stock of the Corporation into two classes of shares, Class A and Class B, (iii) setting forth the respective voting rights and of Class A and Class B common stock, (iv) setting forth certain limitations on transfer, (v) defining the newly reclassified shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock as a single class of capital stock of the Corporation for purposes of Article 5 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, entitled ‘‘Limitations on Ownership, Transfer & Voting’’, and (vi) certain requirements for future amendments to VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:00 Sep 13, 2011 Jkt 223001 the certificate of incorporation and bylaws. The purpose of this rule filing is to permit the Corporation, the sole stockholder of the Exchange, to adopt the New Certificate of Incorporation. The changes described herein relate to the certificate of incorporation of the Corporation only, not to the governance of the Exchange. The Exchange will continue to be governed by its existing certificate of incorporation and by-laws. The stock in, and voting power of, the Exchange will continue to be directly and solely held solely [sic] by the Corporation. The governance of the Exchange will continue under its existing structure, which provides for a ten member board of directors reflecting diverse representation of industry, nonindustry and exchange members, currently including (i) The chief executive officer of the Exchange, (ii) two industry directors, (iii) two Exchange member directors, and (iv) five non-industry directors. Background The Corporation was originally formed as BATS Holdings, Inc. on June 29, 2007 and subsequently changed its name to BATS Global Markets, Inc. On May 4, 2011, the Corporation amended and restated its certificate of incorporation (the ‘‘Current Certificate of Incorporation’’) to (i) Increase the number of authorized shares of common stock, and (ii) designate certain shares as either ‘‘Voting Common Stock’’ or ‘‘Non-Voting Common Stock.’’ Pursuant to the Current Certificate of Incorporation, shares of Non-Voting Common Stock possess the same rights, preferences, powers, privileges, restrictions, qualifications and limitations as the Voting Common Stock, except that Non-Voting Common Stock is generally non-voting. NonVoting Common Stock is convertible into Voting Common Stock on a one-toone basis, either (i) Automatically upon transfer from the holder thereof to an unrelated person, or (ii) at any time and from time to time at the option of the holder. The Non-Voting Common Stock was created in anticipation of future issuances to stockholders who may wish to increase their economic ownership, but avoid accruing voting power, in the Corporation. Authorized Shares and Reclassification The New Certificate of Incorporation will revise the capital structure of the Corporation to increase the number of authorized shares and create two separate classes of shares, Class A and Class B. In particular, changes proposed to Section 4.01 of the New Certificate of PO 00000 Frm 00105 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Incorporation would increase the number of shares authorized for issuance to an amount that accommodates the reclassification discussed below, and provides additional shares for future issuances. Pursuant to Section 4.02 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, the Corporation is proposing to designate Class A common stock as either ‘‘Class A Common Stock’’ or ‘‘Non-Voting Class A Common Stock,’’ and Class B common stock will be further designated as either ‘‘Class B Common Stock’’ or ‘‘Non-Voting Class B Common Stock.’’ Further pursuant to Section 4.02, on the date that the New Certificate of Incorporation becomes effective (the ‘‘Effective Time’’),3 the Corporation is proposing that each authorized, issued and outstanding share of Voting Common Stock will be automatically reclassified into (i) Seven shares of Class A Common Stock and (ii) three shares of Class B Common Stock, and each authorized, issued and outstanding share of Non-Voting Common Stock will be automatically reclassified into (i) Seven shares of Non-Voting Class A Common Stock and (ii) three shares of Non-Voting Class B Common Stock. Except for voting rights and certain conversion features, as described below, Class A Common Stock, Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock, and Non-Voting Class B Common Stock will generally have identical rights, privileges and will rank equally. Pursuant to changes proposed to Section 4.04(a) of the New Certificate of Incorporation, all voting power will be vested in the Class A Common Stock and the Class B Common Stock (except with regard to certain matters involving only preferred shares as noted in proposed changes to Section 4.03 of the New Certificate of Incorporation), which will vote together as one class on all matters submitted to a vote or for the consent of the Corporation’s stockholders, except that holders of Class A Common Stock will be entitled to one vote per Class A share, while holders of Class B Common Stock will be entitled to two and one-half votes per Class B share. Shares of Non-Voting Class A Common Stock and Shares of Non-Voting Class B Common Stock are non-voting, except with regard to certain matters that would adversely affect their respective rights as described in the proposed changes to Section 4.02(a)(ii) of the New Certificate 3 It is anticipated that the Effective Time will coincide with the date of the closing of the IPO and will occur immediately prior thereto. E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM 14SEN1 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 178 / Wednesday, September 14, 2011 / Notices of Incorporation. Only Class A Common Stock is proposed to be sold in the IPO; Class B Common Stock and Class B Non-Voting Common Stock will not be sold in the IPO and will continue to be held by existing investors. Pursuant to changes proposed to Section 4.04(b) of the New Certificate of Incorporation, shares of common stock not sold in the IPO will be subject to restrictions on transfer following the Effective Time. In particular, under Section 4.04(b)(i), except for certain permitted transfers as defined in Section 4.04(b)(iii), a holder of shares of Class A Common Stock or Non-Voting Class A Common Stock (including shares subject to an option, warrant or similar right) on the Effective Time may not transfer any of such shares until 180 days following the Effective Time, and then may only transfer up to fifty percent of their total holdings of common stock, but only in the form of Class A Common Stock or Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, until one year following the Effective Time less any shares that were sold in the IPO. In addition, pursuant to Section 4.04(b)(ii), subject to similar permitted transfers as defined in Section 4.04(b)(iii), a holder of Class B Common Stock or Non-Voting Class B Common Stock on the Effective Time may not transfer any of such shares until three years from the Effective Time. Pursuant to Section 4.04(c), the New Certificate of Incorporation will generally replicate the existing conversion features of Non-Voting Common Stock (described above) and apply these features to Non-Voting Class A Common Stock. As such, Non-Voting Class A Common Stock will be convertible into Class A Common Stock, on a one-to-one basis, either (i) Automatically upon transfer from the holder thereof to an unrelated person, or (ii) at any time and from time to time at the option of the holder. Non-Voting Class B Common Stock will be convertible into Class B Common Stock, on a one-to-one basis, at any time and from time to time at the option of the holder. Subject to certain exceptions (such as transfers among affiliates, or between existing holders), shares of Class B Common Stock and Non-Voting Class B Common Stock will automatically convert into Class A Common Stock, on a one-to-one basis, upon any transfer of such shares. Class A Common Stock will not be convertible into any other class of stock. Finally, pursuant to changes proposed to Section 4.02(b) and Section 4.04(c)(v)(B) of the New Certificate of Incorporation, upon reclassification and anytime thereafter, a stockholder that, VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:00 Sep 13, 2011 Jkt 223001 together with its affiliates, owns less than 4,960,491 shares of outstanding common stock (the ‘‘Class B Threshold’’), will have its Class B Common Stock automatically convert into Class A Common Stock and its Non-Voting Class B Common Stock automatically convert into Non-Voting Class A Common Stock. The purpose for the reclassification of the Corporation’s common stock into Class A common stock and Class B common stock is to encourage the Corporation’s existing strategic investors to remain strategic investors of the Corporation after the IPO. The proposed changes discussed above achieve this goal in several ways. First, the reclassification of each share of the Corporation’s existing common stock into seven shares of Class A Common Stock with one vote each, and three shares of Class B Common Stock with two and one-half votes each, in conjunction with the application of the Class B Threshold and other factors, ensures that in the aggregate the Class B common stock controls a meaningful, but less than majority, percentage of the vote on matters coming before the stockholders, while simultaneously retaining a significant economic investment (within approximately twenty percentage points of the voting control represented by the Class B common stock) in the Corporation. By allowing the transfer restrictions on the Class A common stock to expire in two tranches at 180 days and one year, while retaining transfer restrictions on the Class B common stock for three years, the proposal balances the ability of existing strategic investors to orderly sell shares in the open market, while at the same time retaining the strategic benefit to the Corporation of their significant ownership for at least three years through their holdings of Class B common stock. Further, the requirement that the Class B common stock of any holder of less than the Class B Threshold automatically converts to Class A common stock ensures that only investors with a significant economic investment (approximately two percent) in the Corporation own Class B common stock. As such, existing investors that do not have an economic stake in the Corporation above the Class B Threshold will not own Class B common stock after the proposed reclassification, and existing investors who will own Class B common stock after the proposed reclassification will cease to own Class B common stock once their economic stake in the Corporation falls below the Class B Threshold, further ensuring an PO 00000 Frm 00106 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 56835 appropriate balance between an investor’s voting control and economic stake in the Corporation. Limitations on Ownership and Voting Power Section 5.01(b)(i) of the New Certificate of Incorporation defines the Class A Common Stock, the Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, the Class B Common Stock, the Non-Voting Class B Common Stock and any series of Preferred Stock of the Corporation as a single class of capital stock of the Corporation for purposes of Section 5.01(a)(i) and Section 5.01(a)(ii) of the New Certificate of Incorporation. As such, for purposes of determining compliance with the ownership limitations set forth in Section 5.01(a)(i) and Section 5.01(a)(ii) of the New Certificate of Incorporation, the Class A and Class B shares, including both voting and non-voting shares, and, if applicable, any Preferred Shares, will be aggregated. As proposed, the New Certificate of Incorporation will not include a provision present in the Current Certificate of Incorporation that excludes non-voting stock from the ownership and voting limitations applicable to non-Member shareholders.4 Retaining this provision would have caused an internal inconsistency with respect to aggregation of stock, and the Exchange does not believe that excluding nonvoting stock from such limitations is necessary or consistent with the intent of the limitations. The New Certificate of Incorporation will thus maintain and enhance the limitations on aggregate ownership and total voting power that currently exist under the Current Certificate of Incorporation. References to an Investor Rights Agreement are also removed, as the relevant provisions of that agreement are expected to terminate upon the IPO. Bylaws and Future Amendments to the Certificate of Incorporation Article 9 and Article 15 of the New Certificate of Incorporation relate to the adoption of, and amendments to, the Corporation’s bylaws, and future amendments to the Corporation’s certificate of incorporation, respectively. Pursuant to Section 9.01, the New Certificate of Incorporation preserves the existing right of the Corporation’s Board of Directors to adopt, amend or repeal the Corporation’s bylaws. Pursuant to proposed Section 9.02(a) of 4 The Exchange notes that there is no currently issued and outstanding non-voting stock of the Corporation, nor has the Corporation previously issued non-voting stock. E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM 14SEN1 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 56836 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 178 / Wednesday, September 14, 2011 / Notices the New Certificate of Incorporation, prior to a Change in Ownership, which is defined in Section 6.01(b) of the New Certificate of Incorporation as ‘‘a transaction or series of transactions which results in the beneficial owners of the Class B [common stock] owning in the aggregate less than a majority of the total voting power of [the Corporation’s outstanding securities] * * *’’, the stockholders may adopt, amend or repeal the bylaws upon the affirmative vote of the majority of the total voting power of the Corporation’s outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. Pursuant to proposed Section 9.02(b), upon a Change in Ownership, the stockholders may adopt, amend, or repeal the bylaws upon the affirmative vote of not less than seventy percent of the total voting power of the Corporation’s outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. Similarly, pursuant to proposed Section 15.01 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, prior to any Change in Ownership, and subject to Section 15.03, which requires any proposed amendment to be reviewed by the Board of Directors of the Exchange and filed with the Commission if required under Section 19 of the Act, the certificate of incorporation can be amended in any manner permitted by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended (‘‘Delaware Law’’), which today generally allows for the amendment of a certificate of incorporation by the affirmative vote of the majority of the outstanding stock entitled to vote thereon. Pursuant to proposed Section 15.02 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, upon a Change in Ownership, and again subject to Section 15.03, certain provisions of the certificate of incorporation can only be amended upon the affirmative vote of not less than seventy percent of the total voting power of the Corporation’s outstanding securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single class. These provisions include Sections 4.04(b) and 4.04(c), relating to transfer restrictions and conversion rights, and Article 5 through Article 15, relating to limitations on ownership, transfer, and voting, defined terms, board of directors, duration of the Corporation, bylaws, indemnification, meetings and actions of stockholders, forum selection, compromise or other arrangement, Section 203 opt-out, and amendments, respectively. VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:00 Sep 13, 2011 Jkt 223001 The purpose for the distinction in the stockholders’ ability to adopt, amend, or repeal the bylaws, or amend the certificate of incorporation, prior to versus upon a Change in Ownership is to maintain the existing ability of the Corporation’s strategic investors to take such actions so long as they continue to control, through their aggregate ownership of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, a majority of the voting power of the Corporation’s outstanding securities, and to adopt common public company supermajority requirements upon a Change in Ownership to deter actions being taken that the Corporation believes may be detrimental to the Corporation, including any actions which could detrimentally effect the Corporation’s ability to comply with its unique responsibilities under the Act as the sole owner of two registered national securities exchanges in the United States. The purpose for limiting the application of the supermajority voting requirements to certain specified provisions of the certificate of incorporation is to focus such requirements on the most critical provisions of the certificate of incorporation. Other Amendments The New Certificate of Incorporation will amend and restate various other provisions of the Current Certificate of Incorporation in a manner that the Exchange believes are intended to reflect provisions that are more customary for publicly-owned companies (such as those relating to the indemnification of directors and business combinations, among others). In particular, pursuant to changes proposed to Section 4.01 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, the Corporation will have the authority to issue 40 million shares of Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share (the ‘‘Preferred Stock’’), which the Corporation’s Board of Directors may, by resolution from time to time, issue in one or more classes or series by filing a certificate pursuant to Delaware Law fixing the terms and conditions of such class or series of Preferred Stock. The Preferred Stock may be used by the Corporation to raise capital or to act as a safety mechanism for unwanted takeovers. Pursuant to Section 4.04(c)(vii) of the New Certificate of Incorporation, the Corporation will be required to reserve and keep available out of its authorized but unissued capital stock shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock solely for the purpose of effecting the conversion of such shares PO 00000 Frm 00107 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 of capital stock. In addition, pursuant to Section 4.04(c)(viii), the Corporation may establish certain policies and procedures relating to the conversion of capital stock and the general administration of the Corporation’s multi-class common stock structure. Also, Article 6 of the New Certificate of Incorporation includes certain defined terms that are used in the New Certificate of Incorporation, such as ‘‘Change in Ownership’’, ‘‘Change of Control’’, and ‘‘Related Persons’’, among others. Pursuant to Section 7.04 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, cumulative voting in the election of directors will be prohibited. If the Corporation were to permit cumulative voting, stockholders would be entitled to as many votes as are equal to the number of votes which such stockholder would be entitled to cast for the election of directors with respect to such stockholder’s shares of stock, multiplied by the number of directors to be elected by such holder, and such stockholder may cast all of such votes for a single director or may distribute them among the number to be voted for, as such stockholder may see fit. In contrast, in ‘‘regular’’ or ‘‘statutory’’ voting (i.e., when cumulative voting is prohibited), stockholders may not give more than one vote per share to any single director nominee. Pursuant to the changes proposed to Section 11.03 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, prior to a Change in Ownership, any action may be taken by the stockholders without a meeting, by written consent to the extent permitted under Delaware Law. Following a Change in Control, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the stockholders may be taken only upon the vote of stockholders at a meeting of the stockholders in accordance with Delaware Law and the New Certificate of Incorporation, and may not be taken by written consent without a meeting, except under certain circumstances. Pursuant to Article 14 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, prior to any Change in Ownership, the Corporation will not be governed by Section 203 of Delaware Law; however, following a Change in Ownership, the Corporation will be governed by Section 203 of Delaware Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly-held Delaware corporation from engaging in a business combination with anyone who owns at least fifteen percent of its common stock. This prohibition lasts for a period of three years after that person has acquired the fifteen percent ownership. The corporation may, however, engage E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM 14SEN1 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 178 / Wednesday, September 14, 2011 / Notices mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES in a business combination if it is approved by its board of directors before the person acquires the fifteen percent ownership or later by its board of directors and two-thirds of the stockholders of the public corporation. The restrictions contained in Section 203 do not apply if, among other things, the corporation’s certificate of incorporation contains a provision expressly electing not to be governed by Section 203. The New Certificate of Incorporation also makes various non-substantive, stylistic changes throughout. 2. Statutory Basis The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with the requirements of the Act and rules and regulations thereunder that are applicable to a national securities exchange, and, in particular, with the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act.5 In particular, the proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)(1) of the Act, because it retains and enhances existing limitations on ownership and total voting power that currently exist and that are designed to prevent any stockholder from exercising undue control over the operation of the Exchange and to assure that the Exchange is able to carry out its regulatory obligations under the Act. Under the proposal, the Corporation is reclassifying its existing voting common stock into shares of Class A Common Stock and shares of Class B Common Stock, and is authorizing the potential future issuance of Preferred Stock. Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock have identical economic rights, and the only distinction between the Class A Common Stock and the Class B Common Stock, other than the transfer restrictions and conversion provisions applicable to such shares, is the number of votes attributable to each share. The consideration of Class A Common Stock, Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock, NonVoting Class B Common Stock and any series of Preferred Stock as a single class of capital stock of the Corporation under the proposal for purposes of Section 5.01(a)(i) and Section 5.01(a)(ii) is consistent with and enhances the limitations on ownership in place under the Current Certificate of Incorporation. In other words, aggregation of all the capital stock of the Corporation for purposes of the ownership and voting limitations is consistent with the policy concerns sought to be addressed by these provisions of the Current Certificate of Incorporation and the 5 15 U.S.C. 78f(b). VerDate Mar<15>2010 19:00 Sep 13, 2011 Jkt 223001 proposed New Certificate of Incorporation. Specifically, these ownership and voting limitations ensure that no single Exchange Member or other person can exercise undue influence over the Exchange through ownership of a combination of different classes of stock issued by the Corporation. Moreover, the voting limitations contained in Section 5.01(a)(iii) of the New Certificate of Incorporation are unaffected by the reclassification of the Corporation’s common stock into Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock or the potential issuance of Preferred Stock in the future. To determine any stockholder’s compliance with such voting limitations all Class A Common Stock, Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock, Non-Voting Class B Common Stock and Preferred Stock, would be aggregated under the Current Certificate of Incorporation as well as the proposed New Certificate of Incorporation. (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 The Exchange has neither solicited nor received written comments on 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 Exchange consents, the Commission will: (a) By order approve or disapprove such proposed rule change, or (b) institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved. IV. Solicitation of Comments Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposal is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods: PO 00000 Frm 00108 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 9990 56837 Electronic Comments • Use the Commission’s Internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/ rules/sro.shtml); or • Send an e-mail to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File No. SR–BYX–2011–021 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. All submissions should refer to File No. SR–BYX–2011–021. 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 changes between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for 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 will also 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 No. SR–BYX–2011– 021 and should be submitted on or before October 5, 2011. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.6 Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary. [FR Doc. 2011–23480 Filed 9–13–11; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 6 17 E:\FR\FM\14SEN1.SGM CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). 14SEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 178 (Wednesday, September 14, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 56833-56837]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-23480]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-65299; File No. SR-BYX-2011-021]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS Y-Exchange, Inc.; Notice of 
Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Amend and Restate the Second Amended 
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of BATS Global Markets, Inc.

September 8, 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 August 29, 2011, BATS Y-Exchange, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or 
``BYX'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``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.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange is filing with the Commission a proposal to amend the

[[Page 56834]]

Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of BATS Global 
Markets, Inc. (the ``Corporation'') in connection with the anticipated 
initial public offering of shares of its Class A common stock.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange's 
Web site at https://www.batstrading.com, at the principal office of the 
Exchange, and at the Commission's Public Reference Room.

II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

    In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements 
concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and 
discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The 
text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in 
Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in 
Sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant parts of such 
statements.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and 
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    On May 13, 2011, the Corporation, the sole stockholder of the 
Exchange, filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the 
Commission seeking to register shares of Class A common stock and to 
conduct an initial public offering of those shares, which will be 
listed for trading on the Exchange (the ``IPO''). In connection with 
its IPO, the Corporation intends to amend and restate its certificate 
of incorporation and adopt a Third Amended and Restated Certificate of 
Incorporation (the ``New Certificate of Incorporation''). The 
amendments include, among other things, (i) Increasing the total number 
of authorized shares of stock of the Corporation, (ii) reclassifying 
the existing common stock of the Corporation into two classes of 
shares, Class A and Class B, (iii) setting forth the respective voting 
rights and of Class A and Class B common stock, (iv) setting forth 
certain limitations on transfer, (v) defining the newly reclassified 
shares of Class A common stock and Class B common stock as a single 
class of capital stock of the Corporation for purposes of Article 5 of 
the New Certificate of Incorporation, entitled ``Limitations on 
Ownership, Transfer & Voting'', and (vi) certain requirements for 
future amendments to the certificate of incorporation and bylaws.
    The purpose of this rule filing is to permit the Corporation, the 
sole stockholder of the Exchange, to adopt the New Certificate of 
Incorporation. The changes described herein relate to the certificate 
of incorporation of the Corporation only, not to the governance of the 
Exchange. The Exchange will continue to be governed by its existing 
certificate of incorporation and by-laws. The stock in, and voting 
power of, the Exchange will continue to be directly and solely held 
solely [sic] by the Corporation. The governance of the Exchange will 
continue under its existing structure, which provides for a ten member 
board of directors reflecting diverse representation of industry, non-
industry and exchange members, currently including (i) The chief 
executive officer of the Exchange, (ii) two industry directors, (iii) 
two Exchange member directors, and (iv) five non-industry directors.
Background
    The Corporation was originally formed as BATS Holdings, Inc. on 
June 29, 2007 and subsequently changed its name to BATS Global Markets, 
Inc. On May 4, 2011, the Corporation amended and restated its 
certificate of incorporation (the ``Current Certificate of 
Incorporation'') to (i) Increase the number of authorized shares of 
common stock, and (ii) designate certain shares as either ``Voting 
Common Stock'' or ``Non-Voting Common Stock.'' Pursuant to the Current 
Certificate of Incorporation, shares of Non-Voting Common Stock possess 
the same rights, preferences, powers, privileges, restrictions, 
qualifications and limitations as the Voting Common Stock, except that 
Non-Voting Common Stock is generally non-voting. Non-Voting Common 
Stock is convertible into Voting Common Stock on a one-to-one basis, 
either (i) Automatically upon transfer from the holder thereof to an 
unrelated person, or (ii) at any time and from time to time at the 
option of the holder. The Non-Voting Common Stock was created in 
anticipation of future issuances to stockholders who may wish to 
increase their economic ownership, but avoid accruing voting power, in 
the Corporation.
Authorized Shares and Reclassification
    The New Certificate of Incorporation will revise the capital 
structure of the Corporation to increase the number of authorized 
shares and create two separate classes of shares, Class A and Class B. 
In particular, changes proposed to Section 4.01 of the New Certificate 
of Incorporation would increase the number of shares authorized for 
issuance to an amount that accommodates the reclassification discussed 
below, and provides additional shares for future issuances. Pursuant to 
Section 4.02 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, the Corporation 
is proposing to designate Class A common stock as either ``Class A 
Common Stock'' or ``Non-Voting Class A Common Stock,'' and Class B 
common stock will be further designated as either ``Class B Common 
Stock'' or ``Non-Voting Class B Common Stock.''
    Further pursuant to Section 4.02, on the date that the New 
Certificate of Incorporation becomes effective (the ``Effective 
Time''),\3\ the Corporation is proposing that each authorized, issued 
and outstanding share of Voting Common Stock will be automatically 
reclassified into (i) Seven shares of Class A Common Stock and (ii) 
three shares of Class B Common Stock, and each authorized, issued and 
outstanding share of Non-Voting Common Stock will be automatically 
reclassified into (i) Seven shares of Non-Voting Class A Common Stock 
and (ii) three shares of Non-Voting Class B Common Stock. Except for 
voting rights and certain conversion features, as described below, 
Class A Common Stock, Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, Class B Common 
Stock, and Non-Voting Class B Common Stock will generally have 
identical rights, privileges and will rank equally.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ It is anticipated that the Effective Time will coincide with 
the date of the closing of the IPO and will occur immediately prior 
thereto.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Pursuant to changes proposed to Section 4.04(a) of the New 
Certificate of Incorporation, all voting power will be vested in the 
Class A Common Stock and the Class B Common Stock (except with regard 
to certain matters involving only preferred shares as noted in proposed 
changes to Section 4.03 of the New Certificate of Incorporation), which 
will vote together as one class on all matters submitted to a vote or 
for the consent of the Corporation's stockholders, except that holders 
of Class A Common Stock will be entitled to one vote per Class A share, 
while holders of Class B Common Stock will be entitled to two and one-
half votes per Class B share. Shares of Non-Voting Class A Common Stock 
and Shares of Non-Voting Class B Common Stock are non-voting, except 
with regard to certain matters that would adversely affect their 
respective rights as described in the proposed changes to Section 
4.02(a)(ii) of the New Certificate

[[Page 56835]]

of Incorporation. Only Class A Common Stock is proposed to be sold in 
the IPO; Class B Common Stock and Class B Non-Voting Common Stock will 
not be sold in the IPO and will continue to be held by existing 
investors.
    Pursuant to changes proposed to Section 4.04(b) of the New 
Certificate of Incorporation, shares of common stock not sold in the 
IPO will be subject to restrictions on transfer following the Effective 
Time. In particular, under Section 4.04(b)(i), except for certain 
permitted transfers as defined in Section 4.04(b)(iii), a holder of 
shares of Class A Common Stock or Non-Voting Class A Common Stock 
(including shares subject to an option, warrant or similar right) on 
the Effective Time may not transfer any of such shares until 180 days 
following the Effective Time, and then may only transfer up to fifty 
percent of their total holdings of common stock, but only in the form 
of Class A Common Stock or Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, until one 
year following the Effective Time less any shares that were sold in the 
IPO. In addition, pursuant to Section 4.04(b)(ii), subject to similar 
permitted transfers as defined in Section 4.04(b)(iii), a holder of 
Class B Common Stock or Non-Voting Class B Common Stock on the 
Effective Time may not transfer any of such shares until three years 
from the Effective Time.
    Pursuant to Section 4.04(c), the New Certificate of Incorporation 
will generally replicate the existing conversion features of Non-Voting 
Common Stock (described above) and apply these features to Non-Voting 
Class A Common Stock. As such, Non-Voting Class A Common Stock will be 
convertible into Class A Common Stock, on a one-to-one basis, either 
(i) Automatically upon transfer from the holder thereof to an unrelated 
person, or (ii) at any time and from time to time at the option of the 
holder. Non-Voting Class B Common Stock will be convertible into Class 
B Common Stock, on a one-to-one basis, at any time and from time to 
time at the option of the holder. Subject to certain exceptions (such 
as transfers among affiliates, or between existing holders), shares of 
Class B Common Stock and Non-Voting Class B Common Stock will 
automatically convert into Class A Common Stock, on a one-to-one basis, 
upon any transfer of such shares. Class A Common Stock will not be 
convertible into any other class of stock.
    Finally, pursuant to changes proposed to Section 4.02(b) and 
Section 4.04(c)(v)(B) of the New Certificate of Incorporation, upon 
reclassification and anytime thereafter, a stockholder that, together 
with its affiliates, owns less than 4,960,491 shares of outstanding 
common stock (the ``Class B Threshold''), will have its Class B Common 
Stock automatically convert into Class A Common Stock and its Non-
Voting Class B Common Stock automatically convert into Non-Voting Class 
A Common Stock.
    The purpose for the reclassification of the Corporation's common 
stock into Class A common stock and Class B common stock is to 
encourage the Corporation's existing strategic investors to remain 
strategic investors of the Corporation after the IPO. The proposed 
changes discussed above achieve this goal in several ways. First, the 
reclassification of each share of the Corporation's existing common 
stock into seven shares of Class A Common Stock with one vote each, and 
three shares of Class B Common Stock with two and one-half votes each, 
in conjunction with the application of the Class B Threshold and other 
factors, ensures that in the aggregate the Class B common stock 
controls a meaningful, but less than majority, percentage of the vote 
on matters coming before the stockholders, while simultaneously 
retaining a significant economic investment (within approximately 
twenty percentage points of the voting control represented by the Class 
B common stock) in the Corporation. By allowing the transfer 
restrictions on the Class A common stock to expire in two tranches at 
180 days and one year, while retaining transfer restrictions on the 
Class B common stock for three years, the proposal balances the ability 
of existing strategic investors to orderly sell shares in the open 
market, while at the same time retaining the strategic benefit to the 
Corporation of their significant ownership for at least three years 
through their holdings of Class B common stock.
    Further, the requirement that the Class B common stock of any 
holder of less than the Class B Threshold automatically converts to 
Class A common stock ensures that only investors with a significant 
economic investment (approximately two percent) in the Corporation own 
Class B common stock. As such, existing investors that do not have an 
economic stake in the Corporation above the Class B Threshold will not 
own Class B common stock after the proposed reclassification, and 
existing investors who will own Class B common stock after the proposed 
reclassification will cease to own Class B common stock once their 
economic stake in the Corporation falls below the Class B Threshold, 
further ensuring an appropriate balance between an investor's voting 
control and economic stake in the Corporation.
Limitations on Ownership and Voting Power
    Section 5.01(b)(i) of the New Certificate of Incorporation defines 
the Class A Common Stock, the Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, the 
Class B Common Stock, the Non-Voting Class B Common Stock and any 
series of Preferred Stock of the Corporation as a single class of 
capital stock of the Corporation for purposes of Section 5.01(a)(i) and 
Section 5.01(a)(ii) of the New Certificate of Incorporation. As such, 
for purposes of determining compliance with the ownership limitations 
set forth in Section 5.01(a)(i) and Section 5.01(a)(ii) of the New 
Certificate of Incorporation, the Class A and Class B shares, including 
both voting and non-voting shares, and, if applicable, any Preferred 
Shares, will be aggregated. As proposed, the New Certificate of 
Incorporation will not include a provision present in the Current 
Certificate of Incorporation that excludes non-voting stock from the 
ownership and voting limitations applicable to non-Member 
shareholders.\4\ Retaining this provision would have caused an internal 
inconsistency with respect to aggregation of stock, and the Exchange 
does not believe that excluding non-voting stock from such limitations 
is necessary or consistent with the intent of the limitations. The New 
Certificate of Incorporation will thus maintain and enhance the 
limitations on aggregate ownership and total voting power that 
currently exist under the Current Certificate of Incorporation. 
References to an Investor Rights Agreement are also removed, as the 
relevant provisions of that agreement are expected to terminate upon 
the IPO.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ The Exchange notes that there is no currently issued and 
outstanding non-voting stock of the Corporation, nor has the 
Corporation previously issued non-voting stock.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bylaws and Future Amendments to the Certificate of Incorporation
    Article 9 and Article 15 of the New Certificate of Incorporation 
relate to the adoption of, and amendments to, the Corporation's bylaws, 
and future amendments to the Corporation's certificate of 
incorporation, respectively. Pursuant to Section 9.01, the New 
Certificate of Incorporation preserves the existing right of the 
Corporation's Board of Directors to adopt, amend or repeal the 
Corporation's bylaws. Pursuant to proposed Section 9.02(a) of

[[Page 56836]]

the New Certificate of Incorporation, prior to a Change in Ownership, 
which is defined in Section 6.01(b) of the New Certificate of 
Incorporation as ``a transaction or series of transactions which 
results in the beneficial owners of the Class B [common stock] owning 
in the aggregate less than a majority of the total voting power of [the 
Corporation's outstanding securities] * * *'', the stockholders may 
adopt, amend or repeal the bylaws upon the affirmative vote of the 
majority of the total voting power of the Corporation's outstanding 
securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, 
voting together as a single class. Pursuant to proposed Section 
9.02(b), upon a Change in Ownership, the stockholders may adopt, amend, 
or repeal the bylaws upon the affirmative vote of not less than seventy 
percent of the total voting power of the Corporation's outstanding 
securities entitled to vote generally in the election of directors, 
voting together as a single class.
    Similarly, pursuant to proposed Section 15.01 of the New 
Certificate of Incorporation, prior to any Change in Ownership, and 
subject to Section 15.03, which requires any proposed amendment to be 
reviewed by the Board of Directors of the Exchange and filed with the 
Commission if required under Section 19 of the Act, the certificate of 
incorporation can be amended in any manner permitted by the General 
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, as amended (``Delaware 
Law''), which today generally allows for the amendment of a certificate 
of incorporation by the affirmative vote of the majority of the 
outstanding stock entitled to vote thereon. Pursuant to proposed 
Section 15.02 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, upon a Change in 
Ownership, and again subject to Section 15.03, certain provisions of 
the certificate of incorporation can only be amended upon the 
affirmative vote of not less than seventy percent of the total voting 
power of the Corporation's outstanding securities entitled to vote 
generally in the election of directors, voting together as a single 
class. These provisions include Sections 4.04(b) and 4.04(c), relating 
to transfer restrictions and conversion rights, and Article 5 through 
Article 15, relating to limitations on ownership, transfer, and voting, 
defined terms, board of directors, duration of the Corporation, bylaws, 
indemnification, meetings and actions of stockholders, forum selection, 
compromise or other arrangement, Section 203 opt-out, and amendments, 
respectively.
    The purpose for the distinction in the stockholders' ability to 
adopt, amend, or repeal the bylaws, or amend the certificate of 
incorporation, prior to versus upon a Change in Ownership is to 
maintain the existing ability of the Corporation's strategic investors 
to take such actions so long as they continue to control, through their 
aggregate ownership of Class A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, a 
majority of the voting power of the Corporation's outstanding 
securities, and to adopt common public company supermajority 
requirements upon a Change in Ownership to deter actions being taken 
that the Corporation believes may be detrimental to the Corporation, 
including any actions which could detrimentally effect the 
Corporation's ability to comply with its unique responsibilities under 
the Act as the sole owner of two registered national securities 
exchanges in the United States. The purpose for limiting the 
application of the supermajority voting requirements to certain 
specified provisions of the certificate of incorporation is to focus 
such requirements on the most critical provisions of the certificate of 
incorporation.
Other Amendments
    The New Certificate of Incorporation will amend and restate various 
other provisions of the Current Certificate of Incorporation in a 
manner that the Exchange believes are intended to reflect provisions 
that are more customary for publicly-owned companies (such as those 
relating to the indemnification of directors and business combinations, 
among others).
    In particular, pursuant to changes proposed to Section 4.01 of the 
New Certificate of Incorporation, the Corporation will have the 
authority to issue 40 million shares of Preferred Stock, par value 
$0.01 per share (the ``Preferred Stock''), which the Corporation's 
Board of Directors may, by resolution from time to time, issue in one 
or more classes or series by filing a certificate pursuant to Delaware 
Law fixing the terms and conditions of such class or series of 
Preferred Stock. The Preferred Stock may be used by the Corporation to 
raise capital or to act as a safety mechanism for unwanted takeovers.
    Pursuant to Section 4.04(c)(vii) of the New Certificate of 
Incorporation, the Corporation will be required to reserve and keep 
available out of its authorized but unissued capital stock shares of 
Class A common stock and Class B common stock solely for the purpose of 
effecting the conversion of such shares of capital stock. In addition, 
pursuant to Section 4.04(c)(viii), the Corporation may establish 
certain policies and procedures relating to the conversion of capital 
stock and the general administration of the Corporation's multi-class 
common stock structure.
    Also, Article 6 of the New Certificate of Incorporation includes 
certain defined terms that are used in the New Certificate of 
Incorporation, such as ``Change in Ownership'', ``Change of Control'', 
and ``Related Persons'', among others.
    Pursuant to Section 7.04 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, 
cumulative voting in the election of directors will be prohibited. If 
the Corporation were to permit cumulative voting, stockholders would be 
entitled to as many votes as are equal to the number of votes which 
such stockholder would be entitled to cast for the election of 
directors with respect to such stockholder's shares of stock, 
multiplied by the number of directors to be elected by such holder, and 
such stockholder may cast all of such votes for a single director or 
may distribute them among the number to be voted for, as such 
stockholder may see fit. In contrast, in ``regular'' or ``statutory'' 
voting (i.e., when cumulative voting is prohibited), stockholders may 
not give more than one vote per share to any single director nominee.
    Pursuant to the changes proposed to Section 11.03 of the New 
Certificate of Incorporation, prior to a Change in Ownership, any 
action may be taken by the stockholders without a meeting, by written 
consent to the extent permitted under Delaware Law. Following a Change 
in Control, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting 
of the stockholders may be taken only upon the vote of stockholders at 
a meeting of the stockholders in accordance with Delaware Law and the 
New Certificate of Incorporation, and may not be taken by written 
consent without a meeting, except under certain circumstances.
    Pursuant to Article 14 of the New Certificate of Incorporation, 
prior to any Change in Ownership, the Corporation will not be governed 
by Section 203 of Delaware Law; however, following a Change in 
Ownership, the Corporation will be governed by Section 203 of Delaware 
Law. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly-held Delaware 
corporation from engaging in a business combination with anyone who 
owns at least fifteen percent of its common stock. This prohibition 
lasts for a period of three years after that person has acquired the 
fifteen percent ownership. The corporation may, however, engage

[[Page 56837]]

in a business combination if it is approved by its board of directors 
before the person acquires the fifteen percent ownership or later by 
its board of directors and two-thirds of the stockholders of the public 
corporation. The restrictions contained in Section 203 do not apply if, 
among other things, the corporation's certificate of incorporation 
contains a provision expressly electing not to be governed by Section 
203.
    The New Certificate of Incorporation also makes various non-
substantive, stylistic changes throughout.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with the 
requirements of the Act and rules and regulations thereunder that are 
applicable to a national securities exchange, and, in particular, with 
the requirements of Section 6(b) of the Act.\5\ In particular, the 
proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)(1) of the Act, because it 
retains and enhances existing limitations on ownership and total voting 
power that currently exist and that are designed to prevent any 
stockholder from exercising undue control over the operation of the 
Exchange and to assure that the Exchange is able to carry out its 
regulatory obligations under the Act. Under the proposal, the 
Corporation is reclassifying its existing voting common stock into 
shares of Class A Common Stock and shares of Class B Common Stock, and 
is authorizing the potential future issuance of Preferred Stock. Class 
A Common Stock and Class B Common Stock have identical economic rights, 
and the only distinction between the Class A Common Stock and the Class 
B Common Stock, other than the transfer restrictions and conversion 
provisions applicable to such shares, is the number of votes 
attributable to each share. The consideration of Class A Common Stock, 
Non-Voting Class A Common Stock, Class B Common Stock, Non-Voting Class 
B Common Stock and any series of Preferred Stock as a single class of 
capital stock of the Corporation under the proposal for purposes of 
Section 5.01(a)(i) and Section 5.01(a)(ii) is consistent with and 
enhances the limitations on ownership in place under the Current 
Certificate of Incorporation. In other words, aggregation of all the 
capital stock of the Corporation for purposes of the ownership and 
voting limitations is consistent with the policy concerns sought to be 
addressed by these provisions of the Current Certificate of 
Incorporation and the proposed New Certificate of Incorporation. 
Specifically, these ownership and voting limitations ensure that no 
single Exchange Member or other person can exercise undue influence 
over the Exchange through ownership of a combination of different 
classes of stock issued by the Corporation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Moreover, the voting limitations contained in Section 5.01(a)(iii) 
of the New Certificate of Incorporation are unaffected by the 
reclassification of the Corporation's common stock into Class A Common 
Stock and Class B Common Stock or the potential issuance of Preferred 
Stock in the future. To determine any stockholder's compliance with 
such voting limitations all Class A Common Stock, Non-Voting Class A 
Common Stock, Class B Common Stock, Non-Voting Class B Common Stock and 
Preferred Stock, would be aggregated under the Current Certificate of 
Incorporation as well as the proposed New Certificate of Incorporation.

(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

    The Exchange has neither solicited nor received written comments on 
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 Exchange consents, the Commission will: (a) By order approve 
or disapprove such proposed rule change, or (b) institute proceedings 
to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and 
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposal is 
consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the 
following methods:

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File No. SR-BYX-2011-021 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.

All submissions should refer to File No. SR-BYX-2011-021. 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 changes between the Commission and any person, other 
than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the 
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for 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 will also 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 No. SR-BYX-2011-021 and should be 
submitted on or before October 5, 2011.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\6\
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    \6\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-23480 Filed 9-13-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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