Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Listing and Trading of the Russell Global Opportunity ETF; Russell Bond ETF; and Russell Real Return ETF Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600, 76205-76211 [2011-31263]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 6, 2011 / Notices
orders subjects NOS to the requirements
of Rule 15c3–5(c)(1)(i).
NASDAQ has provided notice to its
membership of its intent to discontinue
Exchange Direct Orders.7 Although
NOM did receive such orders, they do
not represent significant volume, such
that NASDAQ does not believe that it
will have a significant impact on its
participants to eliminate this order type.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that its
proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)
of the Act 8 in general, and furthers the
objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act 9
in particular, in that it is designed to
prevent fraudulent and manipulative
acts and practices, to promote just and
equitable principles of trade, to foster
cooperation and coordination with
persons engaged in facilitating
transactions in securities, and to remove
impediments to and perfect the
mechanisms of a free and open market
and a national market system, and, in
general, to protect investors and the
public interest, because the Exchange is
not required to make this order type
available and has made a decision to
eliminate it, as explained above.
Moreover, in order to comply with the
Market Access Rule, this order type is
being eliminated rather than
implementing the extensive necessary
changes. Furthermore, because this
order type was not widely used,
NASDAQ does not believe that market
quality will be impacted by its
elimination.
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 not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act.
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Comments on the
Proposed Rule Change Received From
Members, Participants, or Others
No written comments were either
solicited or received.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
Because the foregoing proposed rule
change does not: (i) Significantly affect
the protection of investors or the public
interest; (ii) impose any significant
burden on competition; and (iii) become
operative for 30 days after the date of
7 https://www.nasdaqtrader.com/TraderNews.
aspx?id=OTA2011-62.
8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
9 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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the filing, or such shorter time as the
Commission may designate, it has
become effective pursuant to 19(b)(3)(A)
of the Act 10 and Rule 19b–4(f)(6) 11
thereunder.
The Exchange has requested that the
Commission waive the 30-day operative
delay so that the proposed rule change
may become effective and operative
upon filing with the Commission. The
Commission believes the waiver of the
30-day operative delay is consistent
with the protection of investors and the
public interest because eliminating
Exchange Directed Orders will allow the
Exchange’s broker-dealer affiliate, NOS,
to be in timely compliance with SEC
Rule 15c3–5.12 In addition, the
Exchange represents that the order type
is not widely used and its elimination
should not have a significant impact on
market quality. Therefore, the
Commission designates the proposal to
be operative upon filing.13
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
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 email to rule-comments@
sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
NASDAQ–2011–159 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.
10 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
CFR 240.19b–4(f)(6). In addition, 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.
12 See supra, note 6.
13 For purposes only of waiving the 30-day
operative delay, the Commission has considered the
proposed rule’s impact on efficiency, competition,
and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
11 17
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76205
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NASDAQ–2011–159. This
file number should be included on the
subject line if email 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 the filing
also will be available for inspection and
copying at the principal office of the
Exchange. All comments received will
be posted without change; the
Commission does not edit personal
identifying information from
submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make
available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR–
NASDAQ–2011–159 and should be
submitted on or before December 27,
2011.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.14
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011–31230 Filed 12–5–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–65859; File No. SR–
NYSEArca-2011–84]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed
Rule Change Relating to the Listing
and Trading of the Russell Global
Opportunity ETF; Russell Bond ETF;
and Russell Real Return ETF Under
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600
December 1, 2011.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’
14 17
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CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 6, 2011 / Notices
or ‘‘Exchange Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4
thereunder,2 notice is hereby given that,
on November 16, 2011, NYSE Arca, Inc.
(‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE Arca’’) 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 proposes to list and
trade the following three series of the
Russell Exchange Traded Funds Trust
under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600
(‘‘Managed Fund Shares’’): Russell
Global Opportunity ETF; Russell Bond
ETF; and Russell Real Return ETF. The
text of the proposed rule change is
available at the Exchange, the
Commission’s Public Reference Room,
and www.nyse.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 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
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to list and
trade the following Managed Fund
Shares 3 (‘‘Shares’’) under NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.600: Russell Global
1 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 A Managed Fund Share is a security that
represents an interest in an investment company
registered under the Investment Company Act of
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a) (‘‘1940 Act’’) organized as an
open-end investment company or similar entity that
invests in a portfolio of securities selected by its
investment adviser consistent with its investment
objectives and policies. In contrast, an open-end
investment company that issues Investment
Company Units, listed and traded on the Exchange
under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3), seeks to
provide investment results that correspond
generally to the price and yield performance of a
specific foreign or domestic stock index, fixed
income securities index or combination thereof.
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
2 17
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Opportunity ETF; Russell Bond ETF;
and Russell Real Return ETF (each, a
‘‘Fund’’ and, collectively, ‘‘Funds’’). The
Funds are series of the Russell Exchange
Traded Funds Trust (‘‘Trust’’).4 Each of
the Funds is a ‘‘fund of funds,’’ which
means that each Fund seeks to achieve
its investment objective by investing
primarily in the retail shares of other
exchange-traded funds that are
registered under the 1940 Act
(‘‘Underlying ETFs’’).5 The Funds also
may invest in other types of U.S.
exchange-traded products, such as
Exchange Traded Notes (‘‘ETNs’’) and
exchange-traded pooled investment
vehicles (collectively, with Underlying
ETFs, ‘‘Underlying ETPs’’).6
Russell Investment Management
Company (‘‘Adviser’’) is the adviser for
the Funds.7 State Street Bank & Trust
4 The Commission has previously approved
listing and trading on the Exchange of actively
managed funds under Rule 8.600. See, e.g.,
Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 60460
(August 7, 2009), 74 FR 41468 (August 17, 2009)
(SR–NYSEArca-2009–55) (order approving
Exchange listing and trading of Dent Tactical ETF);
60717 (September 24, 2009), 74 FR 50853 (October
1, 2009) (SR–NYSEArca-2009–74) (order approving
Exchange listing and trading of four Grail Advisors
RP ETFs); 63802 (January 31, 2011), 76 FR 6503
(February 4, 2011) (SR–NYSEArca-2010–118) (order
approving Exchange listing and trading of SiM
Dynamic Allocation Diversified Income ETF and
SiM Dynamic Allocation Growth Income ETF);
64689 (June 16, 2011), 76 FR 36608 (June 22, 2011)
(SR–NYSEArca-2011–18) (order approving
Exchange listing and trading of Meidell Tactical
Advantage ETF).
5 The Trust is registered under the 1940 Act. On
May 9, 2011, the Trust filed with the Commission
Post-Effective Amendment No. 6 under the
Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a) and
Amendment No. 9 under the 1940 Act to the Trust’s
registration statement on Form N–1A relating to the
Funds (File Nos. 333–160877 and 811–22320)
(‘‘Registration Statement’’). The description of the
operation of the Trust and the Funds herein is
based, in part, on the Registration Statement. In
addition, the Commission has issued an order
granting certain exemptive relief to the Trust under
the 1940 Act. See Investment Company Act Release
No. 29164 (March 1, 2010) (File No. 812–13815 and
812–13658–01) (‘‘Exemptive Order’’).
6 ‘‘Underlying ETPs,’’ which will be listed on a
national securities exchange, include the following:
Investment Company Units (as described in NYSE
Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3)); Index-Linked
Securities (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
5.2(j)(6)); Portfolio Depositary Receipts (as
described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.100); Trust
Issued Receipts (as described in NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.200); Commodity-Based Trust
Shares (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.201); Currency Trust Shares (as described in
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.202); Commodity Index
Trust Shares (as described in NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.203); Trust Units (as described in NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.500); Managed Fund Shares (as
described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600); and
closed-end funds.
7 An investment adviser to an open-end fund is
required to be registered under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940 (‘‘Advisers Act’’). As a result,
the Adviser and its related personnel are subject to
the provisions of Rule 204A–1 under the Advisers
Act relating to codes of ethics. This Rule requires
investment advisers to adopt a code of ethics that
PO 00000
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Company serves as the custodian, [sic]
transfer agent and Russell Fund Services
Company as administrator for the
Funds.
Commentary .06 to Rule 8.600
provides that, if the investment adviser
to the investment company issuing
Managed Fund Shares is affiliated with
a broker-dealer, such investment adviser
shall erect a ‘‘fire wall’’ between the
investment adviser and the brokerdealer with respect to access to
information concerning the composition
and/or changes to such investment
company portfolio. In addition,
Commentary .06 further requires that
personnel who make decisions on the
open-end fund’s portfolio composition
must be subject to procedures designed
to prevent the use and dissemination of
material nonpublic information
regarding the open-end fund’s portfolio.
Commentary .06 to Rule 8.600 is similar
to Commentary .03(a)(i) and (iii) to
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3);
however, Commentary .06 in connection
with the establishment of a ‘‘fire wall’’
between the investment adviser and the
broker-dealer reflects the applicable
open-end fund’s portfolio, not an
underlying benchmark index, as is the
case with index-based funds. The
Adviser is affiliated with multiple
broker-dealers and has implemented a
‘‘fire wall’’ with respect to such brokerdealers regarding access to information
concerning the composition and/or
changes to the Funds’ portfolios. In the
event (a) The Adviser or any sub-adviser
becomes newly affiliated with a brokerdealer, or (b) any new adviser or subadviser becomes affiliated with a brokerdealer, it will implement a fire wall
with respect to such broker-dealer
regarding access to information
concerning the composition and/or
changes to a portfolio, and will be
subject to procedures designed to
prevent the use and dissemination of
reflects the fiduciary nature of the relationship to
clients as well as compliance with other applicable
securities laws. Accordingly, procedures designed
to prevent the communication and misuse of nonpublic information by an investment adviser must
be consistent with Rule 204A–1 under the Advisers
Act. In addition, Rule 206(4)–7 under the Advisers
Act makes it unlawful for an investment adviser to
provide investment advice to clients unless such
investment adviser has (i) Adopted and
implemented written policies and procedures
reasonably designed to prevent violation, by the
investment adviser and its supervised persons, of
the Advisers Act and the Commission rules adopted
thereunder; (ii) implemented, at a minimum, an
annual review regarding the adequacy of the
policies and procedures established pursuant to
subparagraph (i) above and the effectiveness of their
implementation; and (iii) designated an individual
(who is a supervised person) responsible for
administering the policies and procedures adopted
under subparagraph (i) above.
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material non-public information
regarding such portfolio.
With respect to each of the Funds, the
Adviser will employ an active
investment strategy, meaning that it
buys and holds Underlying ETPs for
either a long or short period of time
depending on the opportunity and
replacement opportunities.
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Russell Global Opportunity ETF
According to the Registration
Statement, the Fund’s investment
objective will be to seek to provide longterm capital growth. The Fund will be
a ‘‘fund of funds,’’ which means that the
Fund will seek to achieve its investment
objective by investing primarily in
shares of Underlying ETFs. In pursuing
the Fund’s investment objective, the
Adviser will normally invest the Fund’s
assets in Underlying ETFs that seek to
track various indices.8 These indices
include those that track the performance
of equity, fixed income, real estate,
commodities, infrastructure or currency
markets. There is no maximum limit on
the percentage of Fund assets that may
be invested in securities of non-U.S.
issuers through Underlying ETFs. A
minimum of 30% of Fund assets will be
invested in securities of non-U.S.
issuers through Underlying ETFs. The
Fund also may invest in other
Underlying ETPs.
The Adviser will employ an asset
allocation strategy that seeks to provide
exposure to multiple asset classes in a
variety of domestic and foreign markets.
The Adviser’s asset allocation strategy
will establish a target asset allocation for
the Fund and the Adviser then will
implement the strategy by selecting
Underlying ETPs that represent each of
the desired asset classes, sectors and
strategies. The Adviser’s strategy also
will involve periodic review of the
Fund’s holdings as markets rise and fall
to ensure that the portfolio adheres to
the strategic allocation and to add value
through tactical allocation that may over
or underweight Underlying ETPs
around the strategic allocation. The
Adviser may modify the strategic
allocation for the Fund from time to
time based on capital markets research.
The Adviser also may modify the
Fund’s allocation based on tactical
factors such as the Adviser’s outlook for
the economy, financial markets
8 The terms ‘‘normally’’ and ‘‘under normal
circumstances’’ as used herein includes, but is not
limited to, the absence of extreme volatility or
trading halts in the debt or equities 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.
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Jkt 226001
generally and/or relative market
valuation of the asset classes, sectors or
strategies represented by each
Underlying ETP.
The Adviser intends to invest in
Underlying ETPs that hold equity
securities of large, medium and small
capitalization companies across the
globe including developed countries
and emerging countries. Equity
securities may include common and
preferred stocks, warrants and rights to
subscribe to common stock and
convertible securities. The Adviser also
intends to invest in Underlying ETPs
that (1) Hold U.S. and non-U.S.
government issued debt, investment
grade corporate bonds, below
investment grade bonds (generally
referred to as high yield bonds or
‘‘junk’’), and mortgage and asset backed
securities, and (2) track performance of
commodities, real estate, infrastructure
and currency markets by investing in
energy, metals, agriculture, REITs,
utilities, roads and bridges or
construction/engineering companies.
The Adviser may also, on a limited
basis, sell short Underlying ETPs.
The Adviser will select Underlying
ETPs based on their potential to
represent the underlying asset class,
sector or strategy to which the Adviser
seeks exposure for the Fund. The Fund
will only invest in U.S.-listed
Underlying ETPs.
Russell Bond ETF
According to the Registration
Statement, the Fund will seek total
return. The Fund will be a ‘‘fund of
funds,’’ which means that the Fund will
seek to achieve its investment objective
by investing primarily in shares of
Underlying ETFs. In pursuing the
Fund’s investment objective, the
Adviser will normally invest the Fund’s
assets in Underlying ETFs that seek to
track various fixed income indices.9
These indicies include those that track
the performance of fixed income
securities issued by governments and
corporations in the United States,
Europe and Asia, as well as other
developed and emerging markets. There
is no limit on the percentage of Fund
assets that may be invested in securities
of non-U.S. issuers through Underlying
ETFs. The Fund also may invest in other
Underlying ETPs.
The Fund will invest, under normal
circumstances, such that at least 80% of
the value of its net assets are exposed
to bonds through Underlying ETPs. The
Fund considers bonds to include fixed
income equivalent instruments, which
may be represented by forwards or
9 See
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
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76207
derivatives such as options, futures
contracts, or swap agreements.
The Adviser will employ an asset
allocation strategy that provides
exposure to multiple fixed income asset
classes or sectors in a variety of U.S. and
non-U.S. markets. The Adviser’s
allocation strategy will establish a target
allocation for the Fund and the Adviser
then will implement the strategy by
selecting Underlying ETPs that
represent each of the desired exposures
including asset classes or sectors. The
Adviser’s strategy also will involve
periodic review of the Fund’s holdings
as markets rise and fall to ensure that
the portfolio adheres to the strategic
allocation and to add value through
tactical allocation that may over or
underweight Underlying ETPs around
the strategic allocation. The Adviser
may modify the strategic allocation for
the Fund from time to time based on
capital markets research. The Adviser
also may modify the Fund’s allocation
based on tactical factors such as the
Adviser’s outlook for the economy,
financial markets generally and/or
relative market valuation of the asset
classes or sectors represented by each
Underlying ETP.
The Adviser intends to invest in
Underlying ETPs that hold governmentissued debt, investment grade corporate
bonds, below investment grade bonds
(generally referred to as high yield
bonds or ‘‘junk’’) and mortgage and
asset backed securities. Issuers of debt
securities may be U.S. or non-U.S.
(including developed and emerging
markets countries) governments or
corporate issuers. The Adviser also
intends to select Underlying ETPs based
on their exposure to asset class or
sectors and the duration and credit
quality of their portfolios within broader
sectors of a fixed income market. The
Adviser may also, on a limited basis,
sell short Underlying ETPs.
The Adviser will select Underlying
ETPs based on their potential to
represent the underlying asset class or
sector to which the Adviser seeks
exposure for the Fund. The Fund will
only invest in U.S.-listed Underlying
ETPs.
Russell Real Return ETF
According to the Registration
Statement, the Fund will seek a total
return that exceeds the rate of inflation
over an economic cycle. The Fund will
be a ‘‘fund of funds,’’ which means that
the Fund will seek to achieve its
investment objective by investing
primarily in shares of Underlying ETFs.
In pursuing the Fund’s investment
objective, the Adviser will normally
invest the Fund’s assets in Underlying
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ETFs that seek to track various
indices.10 These indices include indices
that track the performance of equity,
fixed income (including Treasury
Inflation-Protected Securities or ‘‘TIPS’’)
and real assets such as real estate,
commodities and infrastructure assets.
The Fund will invest in Underlying
ETFs that invest in U.S. and non-U.S.
(including developed and emerging
markets) securities. There is no limit on
the percentage of Fund assets that may
be invested in securities of non-U.S.
issuers through Underlying ETFs. The
Fund also may invest in other
Underlying ETPs.
The Adviser will employ an asset
allocation strategy that provides
exposure to multiple asset classes in a
variety of domestic and foreign markets.
The Adviser’s allocation strategy will
establish a target asset allocation for the
Fund and the Adviser will then
implement the strategy by selecting
Underlying ETPs that represent each of
the desired asset classes, sectors or
strategies. The Adviser’s strategy also
will involve periodic review of the
Fund’s holdings as markets rise and fall
to ensure that the portfolio adheres to
the strategic allocation and to add value
through tactical allocation that may over
or underweight Underlying ETPs
around the strategic allocation. The
Adviser may modify the strategic
allocation for the Fund from time to
time based on capital markets research.
The Adviser also may modify the
Fund’s allocation based on tactical
factors such as the Adviser’s outlook for
the economy, inflation expectations,
financial markets generally and/or
relative market valuation of the asset
classes, sector or strategies represented
by each Underlying ETP.
The Adviser intends to invest in
Underlying ETPs that hold equity
securities of large, medium and small
capitalization companies and fixed
income securities, including
government issued debt, investment
grade corporate bonds, below
investment grade bonds and mortgage
and asset backed securities issued by
companies across the globe including
developed countries and emerging
countries. The Adviser also intends to
invest in Underlying ETPs that hold
U.S. inflation-indexed securities and
have exposure to commodities, real
estate, infrastructure markets and other
real assets. A real asset is a tangible or
physical asset that typically has
intrinsic value. The Adviser may also,
on a limited basis, sell short Underlying
ETPs.
10 See
note 8, supra.
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17:04 Dec 05, 2011
The Adviser will select Underlying
ETPs based on their potential to
represent the underlying asset class,
sector or strategy to which the Adviser
seeks exposure for the Fund. The Fund
will only invest in U.S.-listed
Underlying ETPs.
Other Investments of the Funds
The Funds will not invest in
derivatives. The Underlying ETPs in
which the Funds invest may, to a
limited extent, invest in derivatives;
however, the Funds will not invest in
Underlying ETPs that use derivatives as
a principal investment strategy unless
the Underlying ETP uses futures
contracts and related options for bona
fide hedging, attempting to gain
exposure to a particular market, index
or instrument, or other risk management
purposes. To the extent an Underlying
ETP uses futures and/or options on
futures, it will do so in accordance with
the Commodity Exchange Act11 and
applicable rules and regulations
promulgated by the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission and the National
Futures Association.
Underlying ETPs may enter into swap
agreements including interest rate,
index, and credit default swap
agreements. An Underlying ETP may
invest in commodity-linked derivative
instruments, such as structured notes,
swap agreements, commodity options,
futures and options on futures, to gain
exposure to commodities markets.
Financial futures contracts may be used
by an Underlying ETP during or in
anticipation of adverse market events
such as interest rate changes. An
Underlying ETP may purchase a put
and/or sell a call option on a stock
index futures contract instead of selling
a futures contract in anticipation of an
equity market decline.
Money market instruments, including
repurchase agreements, or funds that
invest exclusively in money market
instruments, including affiliated money
market funds (subject to applicable
limitations under the 1940 Act),
convertible securities, variable rate
demand notes, or commercial paper
may be used by a Fund in seeking to
meet its investment objective and in
managing cash flows.
The Funds expect to invest almost
entirely in Underlying ETPs but may
also invest in, among other investments,
common stocks; sponsored American
Depositary Receipts (‘‘ADRs’’),
American Depositary Shares (‘‘ADSs’’)
and European Depositary Receipts
(‘‘EDRs’’), Global Depositary Receipts
(‘‘GDRs’’); short-term instruments
11 7
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U.S.C. 1.
Frm 00089
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(including money market instruments);
U.S. Government Securities; TIPS;
commercial paper; and other debt
instruments described in the
Registration Statement. The Funds and
the Underlying ETPs may enter into
repurchase and reverse repurchase
agreements.
Investment Policies and Restrictions
Each Fund will seek to qualify for
treatment as a regulated investment
company (‘‘RIC’’) under Subchapter M
of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as
amended.12
Each Fund may invest up to an
aggregate amount of 15% of its net
assets in (a) Illiquid securities, and (b)
Rule 144A securities. This limitation is
applied at the time of purchase. The
Commission staff has interpreted the
term ‘‘illiquid’’ in this context to mean
a security that cannot be sold or
disposed of within seven days in the
ordinary course of business at
approximately the amount at which a
Fund has valued such security.13
12 26 U.S.C. 151. One of several requirements for
RIC qualification is that a Fund must receive at least
90% of the Fund’s gross income each year from
dividends, interest, [sic] payments with respect to
securities loans, gains from the sale or other
disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies,
or other income derived with respect to the Fund’s
investments in stock, securities, foreign currencies
and net income from an interest in a qualified
publicly traded partnership (‘‘90% Test’’). A second
requirement for qualification as a RIC is that a Fund
must diversify its holdings so that, at the end of
each fiscal quarter of the Fund’s taxable year: (a) At
least 50% of the market value of the Fund’s total
assets is represented by cash and cash items, U.S.
Government securities, securities of other RICs, and
other securities, with these other securities limited,
in respect to any one issuer, to an amount not
greater than 5% of the value of the Fund’s total
assets or 10% of the outstanding voting securities
of such issuer; and (b) not more than 25% of the
value of its total assets are invested in the securities
(other than U.S. Government securities or securities
of other RICs) of any one issuer or two or more
issuers which the Fund controls and which are
engaged in the same, similar, or related trades or
businesses, or the securities of one or more
qualified publicly traded partnership [sic] (‘‘Asset
Test’’).
13 The Commission has stated that long-standing
Commission guidelines have required open-end
funds to hold no more than 15% of their net assets
in illiquid securities and other illiquid assets. See
Investment Company Act Release No. 8901 (March
11, 2008), 73 FR 14617 (March 18, 2008), footnote
34. See also Investment Company Act Release No.
5847 (October 21, 1969), 35 FR 19989 (December
31, 1970) (Statement Regarding ‘‘Restricted
Securities’’); Investment Company Act Release No.
18612 (March 12, 1992), 57 FR 9828 (March 20,
1992) (Revisions of Guidelines to Form N–1A). A
fund’s portfolio security is illiquid if it cannot be
disposed of in the ordinary course of business
within seven days at approximately the value
ascribed to it by the ETF. See Investment Company
Act Release No. 14983 (March 12, 1986), 51 FR
9773 (March 21, 1986) (adopting amendments to
Rule 2a–7 under the 1940 Act); Investment
Company Act Release No. 17452 (April 23, 1990),
55 FR 17933 (April 30, 1990) (adopting Rule 144A
under the Securities Act of 1933).
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Each Fund may invest in securities of
other investment companies, including
ETFs, closed end funds and money
market funds, subject to applicable
limitations under Section 12(d)(1) of the
1940 Act or exemptions granted
thereunder.
A Fund may not:
1. (i) With respect to 75% of its total
assets, purchase securities of any issuer
(except securities issued or guaranteed
by the U.S. Government, its agencies or
instrumentalities or shares of
investment companies) if, as a result,
more than 5% of its total assets would
be invested in the securities of such
issuer; or (ii) acquire more than 10% of
the outstanding voting securities of any
one issuer.14
2. Invest 25% or more of its total
assets in the securities of one or more
issuers conducting their principal
business activities in a particular
industry or group of industries; except
that, to the extent the underlying index
selected for a particular passive
Underlying ETF is concentrated in a
particular industry or group of
industries, the Funds will necessarily be
concentrated in that industry or group
of industry [sic].15 This limitation does
not apply to investments in securities
issued or guaranteed by the U.S.
Government, its agencies or
instrumentalities, or shares of
investment companies, including the
Underlying ETPs.
Underlying ETPs will be listed and
traded in the U.S. on a national
securities exchange. While the
Underlying ETPs may hold non-U.S.
equity securities, the Funds will not
invest in non-U.S. listed equity
securities. Each Fund’s investments will
be consistent with its investment
objective and will not be used to
enhance leverage. The Funds will not
hold leveraged, inverse and inverse
leveraged Underlying ETPs. Consistent
with the Exemptive Order, the Funds
will not invest in options contracts,
futures contracts or swap agreements.
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Creations and Redemptions of Shares
The Funds will offer and issue Shares
at their net asset value (‘‘NAV’’) only in
aggregations of a specified number of
Shares (each, a ‘‘Creation Unit’’). The
Funds generally will offer and issue
Shares in exchange for shares of
specified Underlying ETPs (‘‘Deposit
14 The diversification standard is contained in
Section 5(b)(1) of the 1940 Act (15 U.S.C. 80e).
15 See Form N–1A, Item 9. The Commission has
taken the position that a fund is concentrated if it
invests more than 25% of the value of its total
assets in any one industry. See, e.g., Investment
Company Act Release No. 9011 (October 30, 1975),
40 FR 54241 (November 21, 1975).
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Jkt 226001
Securities’’) together with the deposit of
a specified cash payment (‘‘Cash
Component’’). The Trust will reserve the
right to permit or require the
substitution of a ‘‘cash in lieu’’ amount
to be added to the Cash Component to
replace any Deposit Security. The
Shares will be redeemable only in
Creation Unit aggregations, and
generally in exchange for portfolio
securities and a specified cash payment.
A Creation Unit of the Funds will
consist of 50,000 Shares.
The Shares will conform to the initial
and continued listing criteria under
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600. The
Exchange represents that, for initial
and/or continued listing, the Trust will
be in compliance with Rule 10A–3
under the Exchange Act,16 as provided
by NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.3. A
minimum of 100,000 Shares will be
outstanding at the commencement of
trading on the Exchange. The Exchange
will obtain a representation from the
issuer of the Shares that the NAV per
Share will be calculated daily and that
the NAV and the Disclosed Portfolio as
defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600(c)(2) will be made available to all
market participants at the same time.
Availability of Information
The Funds’ Web site
(www.russelletfs.com), which will be
publicly available prior to the public
offering of Shares, will include a form
of the prospectus for the Funds that may
be downloaded. The Funds’ Web site
will include additional quantitative
information updated on a daily basis,
including, for the Funds, (1) Daily
trading volume, the prior business day’s
reported closing price, NAV and midpoint of the bid/ask spread at the time
of calculation of such NAV (‘‘Bid/Ask
Price’’),17 and a calculation of the
premium and discount of the Bid/Ask
Price against the NAV, and (2) data in
chart format displaying the frequency
distribution of discounts and premiums
of the daily Bid/Ask Price against the
NAV, within appropriate ranges, for
each of the four previous calendar
quarters. On each business day, before
commencement of trading in Shares in
the Core Trading Session on the
Exchange, the Funds will disclose on
their Web site the Disclosed Portfolio
that will form the basis for the Funds’
calculation of NAV at the end of the
16 17
CFR 240.10A–3.
Bid/Ask Price of the Funds will be
determined using the midpoint of the highest bid
and the lowest offer on the Exchange as of the time
of calculation of the Funds’ NAV. The records
relating to Bid/Ask Prices will be retained by the
Funds and their service providers.
17 The
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76209
business day.18 The Web site
information will be publicly available at
no charge.
On a daily basis, the Adviser will
disclose for each portfolio security or
other financial instrument of the Funds
the following information: Ticker
symbol (if applicable), name of security
or financial instrument, number of
shares or dollar value of financial
instruments held in the portfolio, and
percentage weighting of the security or
financial instrument in the portfolio.
In addition, a basket composition file,
which includes the security names and
share quantities required to be delivered
in exchange for Fund Shares, together
with estimates and actual cash
components, will be publicly
disseminated daily prior to the opening
of the New York Stock Exchange
(‘‘NYSE’’) via the National Securities
Clearing Corporation. The basket will
represent one Creation Unit of each
Fund.
The NAV of each Fund will normally
be determined as of the close of the
regular trading session on the NYSE
(ordinarily 4 p.m. Eastern Time) on each
business day.
Investors can also obtain the Trust’s
Statement of Additional Information
(‘‘SAI’’), Shareholder Reports and Form
N–CSR. The Trust’s SAI and
Shareholder Reports are available free
upon request from the Trust, and those
documents and the Form N–CSR may be
viewed on-screen or downloaded from
the Commission’s Web site at
www.sec.gov. Information regarding
market price and trading volume of the
Shares will be continually available on
a real-time basis throughout the day on
brokers’ computer screens and other
electronic services. Information
regarding the previous day’s closing
price and trading volume information
for the Shares will be published daily in
the financial section of newspapers.
Quotation and last sale information for
the Shares will be available via the
Consolidated Tape Association (‘‘CTA’’)
high-speed line. The intra-day and
closing values of Underlying ETPs also
will be disseminated by the U.S.
exchange on which they are listed. In
addition, the Portfolio Indicative Value,
as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600(c)(3), will be widely disseminated
by one or more major market data
vendors at least every 15 seconds during
18 Under accounting procedures followed by the
Funds, trades made on the prior business day (‘‘T’’)
will be booked and reflected in NAV on the current
business day (‘‘T+1’’). Accordingly, the Funds will
be able to disclose at the beginning of the business
day the portfolio that will form the basis for the
NAV calculation at the end of the business day.
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Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 6, 2011 / Notices
the Core Trading Session.19 The
dissemination of the Portfolio Indicative
Value, together with the Disclosed
Portfolio, will allow investors to
determine the value of the underlying
portfolio of the Funds on a daily basis
and to provide a close estimate of that
value throughout the trading day.
Additional information regarding the
Trust and the Shares, including
investment strategies, risks, creation and
redemption procedures, fees, portfolio
holdings disclosure policies,
distributions and taxes is included in
the Registration Statement. All terms
relating to the Funds that are referred to,
but not defined in, this proposed rule
change are defined in the Registration
Statement.
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Trading Halts
With respect to trading halts, the
Exchange may consider all relevant
factors in exercising its discretion to
halt or suspend trading in the Shares of
the Funds.20 Trading in Shares of the
Funds will be halted if the circuit
breaker parameters in NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 7.12 have been reached.
Trading also 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 securities and/or
the financial instruments comprising
the Disclosed Portfolio of a Fund; or (2)
whether other unusual conditions or
circumstances detrimental to the
maintenance of a fair and orderly
market are present. Trading in the
Shares will be subject to NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D), which sets
forth circumstances under which Shares
of the Funds may be halted.
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.
Surveillance
The Exchange intends to utilize its
existing surveillance procedures
applicable to derivative products (which
include Managed Fund Shares) 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
surveillance focuses 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 may obtain information
via the Intermarket Surveillance Group
(‘‘ISG’’) from other exchanges that are
members of ISG or with which the
Exchange has in place a comprehensive
surveillance sharing agreement.21 The
Exchange, therefore, will be able to
obtain surveillance information from the
exchanges trading the Underlying ETPs.
In addition, the Exchange also has a
general policy prohibiting the
distribution of material, non-public
information by its employees.
Trading Rules
The Exchange deems the Shares to be
equity securities, thus rendering trading
in the Shares subject to the Exchange’s
existing rules governing the trading of
equity securities. Shares will trade on
the NYSE Arca Marketplace from 4 a.m.
to 8 p.m. Eastern Time in accordance
with NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34
(Opening, Core, and Late Trading
Sessions). 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
Information Bulletin
Prior to the commencement of
trading, the Exchange will inform its
Equity Trading Permit (‘‘ETP’’) Holders
in an Information Bulletin (‘‘Bulletin’’)
of the special characteristics and risks
associated with trading the Shares.
Specifically, the Bulletin will discuss
the following: (1) The procedures for
purchases and redemptions of Shares in
Creation Unit aggregations (and that
Shares are not individually redeemable);
(2) 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; (3) the risks involved
in trading the Shares during the
Opening and Late Trading Sessions
when an updated Portfolio Indicative
Value will not be calculated or publicly
disseminated; (4) how information
19 Currently, it is the Exchange’s understanding
that several major market data vendors display and/
or make widely available Portfolio Indicative
Values published on CTA or other data feeds.
20 See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12,
Commentary .04.
21 For a list of the current members of ISG, see
www.isgportal.org. The Exchange notes that not all
components of the Disclosed Portfolio for the Funds
may trade on markets that are members of ISG or
with which the Exchange has in place a
comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement.
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regarding the Portfolio Indicative Value
is disseminated; (5) 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 (6)
trading information.
In addition, the Bulletin will
reference that the Funds are subject to
various fees and expenses described in
the Registration Statement. The Bulletin
will discuss any exemptive, no-action,
and interpretive relief granted by the
Commission from any rules under the
Exchange Act. The Bulletin will also
disclose that the NAV for the Shares
will be calculated after 4 p.m. Eastern
Time each trading day.
2. Statutory Basis
The basis under the Exchange Act for
this proposed rule change is the
requirement under Section 6(b)(5) 22
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 8.600. 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 Exchange 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. Underlying ETPs
will be listed and traded in the U.S. on
a national securities exchange. While
the Underlying ETPs may hold non-U.S.
equity securities, the Funds will not
invest in non-U.S. registered equity
securities. Each Fund’s investments will
be consistent with its investment
objective and will not be used to
enhance leverage. The Funds will not
invest in derivatives, including options,
swaps or futures.
The proposed rule change is designed
to promote just and equitable principles
of trade and to protect investors and the
public interest in that the Adviser is
affiliated with multiple broker-dealers
and has implemented a ‘‘fire wall’’ with
22 15
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U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
06DEN1
jlentini on DSK4TPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 234 / Tuesday, December 6, 2011 / Notices
respect to such broker-dealers regarding
access to information concerning the
composition and/or changes to the
Funds’ portfolios. The Exchange will
obtain a representation from the issuer
of the Shares that the NAV per Share
will be calculated daily and that the
NAV and the Disclosed Portfolio will be
made available to all market
participants at the same time. In
addition, a large amount of information
is publicly available regarding the
Funds and the Shares, thereby
promoting market transparency. The
Funds’ portfolio holdings will be
disclosed on its Web site daily after the
close of trading on the Exchange and
prior to the opening of trading on the
Exchange the following day. Moreover,
the Portfolio Indicative Value will be
widely disseminated by one or more
major market data vendors at least every
15 seconds during the Exchange’s Core
Trading Session. On each business day,
before commencement of trading in
Shares in the Core Trading Session on
the Exchange, the Funds will disclose
on their Web site the Disclosed Portfolio
that will form the basis for the Funds’
calculation of NAV at the end of the
business day. Information regarding
market price and trading volume of the
Shares will be continually available on
a real-time basis throughout the day on
brokers’ computer screens and other
electronic services, and quotation and
last sale information will be available
via the CTA high-speed line. The Web
site for the Fund [sic] will include a
form of the prospectus for the Funds
and additional data relating to NAV and
other applicable quantitative
information. Moreover, 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. Trading in Shares of
the Funds will be halted if the circuit
breaker parameters in NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 7.12 have been reached or
because of market conditions or for
reasons that, in the view of the
Exchange, make trading in the Shares
inadvisable, and trading in the Shares
will be subject to NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D), which sets forth
circumstances under which Shares of
the Funds may be halted. In addition, as
noted above, investors will have ready
access to information regarding the
Funds’ holdings, the Portfolio Indicative
Value, the Disclosed Portfolio, and
quotation and last sale information for
the Shares.
The proposed rule change is designed
to perfect the mechanism of a free and
open market and, in general, to protect
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Jkt 226001
investors and the public interest in that
it will facilitate the listing and trading
of an additional type of activelymanaged exchange-traded product 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, the Portfolio Indicative Value,
the Disclosed Portfolio, 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
such proposed rule change, or
(B) Institute proceedings to determine
whether the proposed rule change
should be disapproved.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
• Send an email to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File
Number SR–NYSEArca–2011–84 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
Number SR–NYSEArca–2011–84. This
file number should be included on the
subject line if email 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 the filing also
will be available for inspection and
copying at the principal office of the
Exchange. All comments received will
be posted without change; the
Commission does not edit personal
identifying information from
submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make
available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR–
NYSEArca–2011–84 and should be
submitted on or before December 27,
2011.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.23
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011–31263 Filed 12–5–11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
Electronic Comments
• Use the Commission’s Internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
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23 17
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CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
06DEN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 234 (Tuesday, December 6, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 76205-76211]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-31263]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-65859; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2011-84]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing
of Proposed Rule Change Relating to the Listing and Trading of the
Russell Global Opportunity ETF; Russell Bond ETF; and Russell Real
Return ETF Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600
December 1, 2011.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Act''
[[Page 76206]]
or ``Exchange Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby
given that, on November 16, 2011, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``Exchange'' or
``NYSE Arca'') 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance
of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to list and trade the following three series
of the Russell Exchange Traded Funds Trust under NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.600 (``Managed Fund Shares''): Russell Global Opportunity ETF;
Russell Bond ETF; and Russell Real Return ETF. The text of the proposed
rule change is available at the Exchange, the Commission's Public
Reference Room, and www.nyse.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 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
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to list and trade the following Managed Fund
Shares \3\ (``Shares'') under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600: Russell
Global Opportunity ETF; Russell Bond ETF; and Russell Real Return ETF
(each, a ``Fund'' and, collectively, ``Funds''). The Funds are series
of the Russell Exchange Traded Funds Trust (``Trust'').\4\ Each of the
Funds is a ``fund of funds,'' which means that each Fund seeks to
achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in the retail
shares of other exchange-traded funds that are registered under the
1940 Act (``Underlying ETFs'').\5\ The Funds also may invest in other
types of U.S. exchange-traded products, such as Exchange Traded Notes
(``ETNs'') and exchange-traded pooled investment vehicles
(collectively, with Underlying ETFs, ``Underlying ETPs'').\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ A Managed Fund Share is a security that represents an
interest in an investment company registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a) (``1940 Act'') organized as an
open-end investment company or similar entity that invests in a
portfolio of securities selected by its investment adviser
consistent with its investment objectives and policies. In contrast,
an open-end investment company that issues Investment Company Units,
listed and traded on the Exchange under NYSE Arca Equities Rule
5.2(j)(3), seeks to provide investment results that correspond
generally to the price and yield performance of a specific foreign
or domestic stock index, fixed income securities index or
combination thereof.
\4\ The Commission has previously approved listing and trading
on the Exchange of actively managed funds under Rule 8.600. See,
e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 60460 (August 7, 2009),
74 FR 41468 (August 17, 2009) (SR-NYSEArca-2009-55) (order approving
Exchange listing and trading of Dent Tactical ETF); 60717 (September
24, 2009), 74 FR 50853 (October 1, 2009) (SR-NYSEArca-2009-74)
(order approving Exchange listing and trading of four Grail Advisors
RP ETFs); 63802 (January 31, 2011), 76 FR 6503 (February 4, 2011)
(SR-NYSEArca-2010-118) (order approving Exchange listing and trading
of SiM Dynamic Allocation Diversified Income ETF and SiM Dynamic
Allocation Growth Income ETF); 64689 (June 16, 2011), 76 FR 36608
(June 22, 2011) (SR-NYSEArca-2011-18) (order approving Exchange
listing and trading of Meidell Tactical Advantage ETF).
\5\ The Trust is registered under the 1940 Act. On May 9, 2011,
the Trust filed with the Commission Post-Effective Amendment No. 6
under the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a) and Amendment No. 9
under the 1940 Act to the Trust's registration statement on Form N-
1A relating to the Funds (File Nos. 333-160877 and 811-22320)
(``Registration Statement''). The description of the operation of
the Trust and the Funds herein is based, in part, on the
Registration Statement. In addition, the Commission has issued an
order granting certain exemptive relief to the Trust under the 1940
Act. See Investment Company Act Release No. 29164 (March 1, 2010)
(File No. 812-13815 and 812-13658-01) (``Exemptive Order'').
\6\ ``Underlying ETPs,'' which will be listed on a national
securities exchange, include the following: Investment Company Units
(as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3)); Index-Linked
Securities (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(6));
Portfolio Depositary Receipts (as described in NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.100); Trust Issued Receipts (as described in NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.200); Commodity-Based Trust Shares (as described in
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.201); Currency Trust Shares (as described
in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.202); Commodity Index Trust Shares (as
described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.203); Trust Units (as
described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.500); Managed Fund Shares (as
described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600); and closed-end funds.
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Russell Investment Management Company (``Adviser'') is the adviser
for the Funds.\7\ State Street Bank & Trust Company serves as the
custodian, [sic] transfer agent and Russell Fund Services Company as
administrator for the Funds.
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\7\ An investment adviser to an open-end fund is required to be
registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (``Advisers
Act''). As a result, the Adviser and its related personnel are
subject to the provisions of Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act
relating to codes of ethics. This Rule requires investment advisers
to adopt a code of ethics that reflects the fiduciary nature of the
relationship to clients as well as compliance with other applicable
securities laws. Accordingly, procedures designed to prevent the
communication and misuse of non-public information by an investment
adviser must be consistent with Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act.
In addition, Rule 206(4)-7 under the Advisers Act makes it unlawful
for an investment adviser to provide investment advice to clients
unless such investment adviser has (i) Adopted and implemented
written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent
violation, by the investment adviser and its supervised persons, of
the Advisers Act and the Commission rules adopted thereunder; (ii)
implemented, at a minimum, an annual review regarding the adequacy
of the policies and procedures established pursuant to subparagraph
(i) above and the effectiveness of their implementation; and (iii)
designated an individual (who is a supervised person) responsible
for administering the policies and procedures adopted under
subparagraph (i) above.
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Commentary .06 to Rule 8.600 provides that, if the investment
adviser to the investment company issuing Managed Fund Shares is
affiliated with a broker-dealer, such investment adviser shall erect a
``fire wall'' between the investment adviser and the broker-dealer with
respect to access to information concerning the composition and/or
changes to such investment company portfolio. In addition, Commentary
.06 further requires that personnel who make decisions on the open-end
fund's portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to
prevent the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information
regarding the open-end fund's portfolio. Commentary .06 to Rule 8.600
is similar to Commentary .03(a)(i) and (iii) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule
5.2(j)(3); however, Commentary .06 in connection with the establishment
of a ``fire wall'' between the investment adviser and the broker-dealer
reflects the applicable open-end fund's portfolio, not an underlying
benchmark index, as is the case with index-based funds. The Adviser is
affiliated with multiple broker-dealers and has implemented a ``fire
wall'' with respect to such broker-dealers regarding access to
information concerning the composition and/or changes to the Funds'
portfolios. In the event (a) The Adviser or any sub-adviser becomes
newly affiliated with a broker-dealer, or (b) any new adviser or sub-
adviser becomes affiliated with a broker-dealer, it will implement a
fire wall with respect to such broker-dealer regarding access to
information concerning the composition and/or changes to a portfolio,
and will be subject to procedures designed to prevent the use and
dissemination of
[[Page 76207]]
material non-public information regarding such portfolio.
With respect to each of the Funds, the Adviser will employ an
active investment strategy, meaning that it buys and holds Underlying
ETPs for either a long or short period of time depending on the
opportunity and replacement opportunities.
Russell Global Opportunity ETF
According to the Registration Statement, the Fund's investment
objective will be to seek to provide long-term capital growth. The Fund
will be a ``fund of funds,'' which means that the Fund will seek to
achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in shares of
Underlying ETFs. In pursuing the Fund's investment objective, the
Adviser will normally invest the Fund's assets in Underlying ETFs that
seek to track various indices.\8\ These indices include those that
track the performance of equity, fixed income, real estate,
commodities, infrastructure or currency markets. There is no maximum
limit on the percentage of Fund assets that may be invested in
securities of non-U.S. issuers through Underlying ETFs. A minimum of
30% of Fund assets will be invested in securities of non-U.S. issuers
through Underlying ETFs. The Fund also may invest in other Underlying
ETPs.
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\8\ The terms ``normally'' and ``under normal circumstances'' as
used herein includes, but is not limited to, the absence of extreme
volatility or trading halts in the debt or equities 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.
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The Adviser will employ an asset allocation strategy that seeks to
provide exposure to multiple asset classes in a variety of domestic and
foreign markets. The Adviser's asset allocation strategy will establish
a target asset allocation for the Fund and the Adviser then will
implement the strategy by selecting Underlying ETPs that represent each
of the desired asset classes, sectors and strategies. The Adviser's
strategy also will involve periodic review of the Fund's holdings as
markets rise and fall to ensure that the portfolio adheres to the
strategic allocation and to add value through tactical allocation that
may over or underweight Underlying ETPs around the strategic
allocation. The Adviser may modify the strategic allocation for the
Fund from time to time based on capital markets research. The Adviser
also may modify the Fund's allocation based on tactical factors such as
the Adviser's outlook for the economy, financial markets generally and/
or relative market valuation of the asset classes, sectors or
strategies represented by each Underlying ETP.
The Adviser intends to invest in Underlying ETPs that hold equity
securities of large, medium and small capitalization companies across
the globe including developed countries and emerging countries. Equity
securities may include common and preferred stocks, warrants and rights
to subscribe to common stock and convertible securities. The Adviser
also intends to invest in Underlying ETPs that (1) Hold U.S. and non-
U.S. government issued debt, investment grade corporate bonds, below
investment grade bonds (generally referred to as high yield bonds or
``junk''), and mortgage and asset backed securities, and (2) track
performance of commodities, real estate, infrastructure and currency
markets by investing in energy, metals, agriculture, REITs, utilities,
roads and bridges or construction/engineering companies. The Adviser
may also, on a limited basis, sell short Underlying ETPs.
The Adviser will select Underlying ETPs based on their potential to
represent the underlying asset class, sector or strategy to which the
Adviser seeks exposure for the Fund. The Fund will only invest in U.S.-
listed Underlying ETPs.
Russell Bond ETF
According to the Registration Statement, the Fund will seek total
return. The Fund will be a ``fund of funds,'' which means that the Fund
will seek to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in
shares of Underlying ETFs. In pursuing the Fund's investment objective,
the Adviser will normally invest the Fund's assets in Underlying ETFs
that seek to track various fixed income indices.\9\ These indicies
include those that track the performance of fixed income securities
issued by governments and corporations in the United States, Europe and
Asia, as well as other developed and emerging markets. There is no
limit on the percentage of Fund assets that may be invested in
securities of non-U.S. issuers through Underlying ETFs. The Fund also
may invest in other Underlying ETPs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ See note 8, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, such that at
least 80% of the value of its net assets are exposed to bonds through
Underlying ETPs. The Fund considers bonds to include fixed income
equivalent instruments, which may be represented by forwards or
derivatives such as options, futures contracts, or swap agreements.
The Adviser will employ an asset allocation strategy that provides
exposure to multiple fixed income asset classes or sectors in a variety
of U.S. and non-U.S. markets. The Adviser's allocation strategy will
establish a target allocation for the Fund and the Adviser then will
implement the strategy by selecting Underlying ETPs that represent each
of the desired exposures including asset classes or sectors. The
Adviser's strategy also will involve periodic review of the Fund's
holdings as markets rise and fall to ensure that the portfolio adheres
to the strategic allocation and to add value through tactical
allocation that may over or underweight Underlying ETPs around the
strategic allocation. The Adviser may modify the strategic allocation
for the Fund from time to time based on capital markets research. The
Adviser also may modify the Fund's allocation based on tactical factors
such as the Adviser's outlook for the economy, financial markets
generally and/or relative market valuation of the asset classes or
sectors represented by each Underlying ETP.
The Adviser intends to invest in Underlying ETPs that hold
government-issued debt, investment grade corporate bonds, below
investment grade bonds (generally referred to as high yield bonds or
``junk'') and mortgage and asset backed securities. Issuers of debt
securities may be U.S. or non-U.S. (including developed and emerging
markets countries) governments or corporate issuers. The Adviser also
intends to select Underlying ETPs based on their exposure to asset
class or sectors and the duration and credit quality of their
portfolios within broader sectors of a fixed income market. The Adviser
may also, on a limited basis, sell short Underlying ETPs.
The Adviser will select Underlying ETPs based on their potential to
represent the underlying asset class or sector to which the Adviser
seeks exposure for the Fund. The Fund will only invest in U.S.-listed
Underlying ETPs.
Russell Real Return ETF
According to the Registration Statement, the Fund will seek a total
return that exceeds the rate of inflation over an economic cycle. The
Fund will be a ``fund of funds,'' which means that the Fund will seek
to achieve its investment objective by investing primarily in shares of
Underlying ETFs. In pursuing the Fund's investment objective, the
Adviser will normally invest the Fund's assets in Underlying
[[Page 76208]]
ETFs that seek to track various indices.\10\ These indices include
indices that track the performance of equity, fixed income (including
Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities or ``TIPS'') and real assets
such as real estate, commodities and infrastructure assets. The Fund
will invest in Underlying ETFs that invest in U.S. and non-U.S.
(including developed and emerging markets) securities. There is no
limit on the percentage of Fund assets that may be invested in
securities of non-U.S. issuers through Underlying ETFs. The Fund also
may invest in other Underlying ETPs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\10\ See note 8, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Adviser will employ an asset allocation strategy that provides
exposure to multiple asset classes in a variety of domestic and foreign
markets. The Adviser's allocation strategy will establish a target
asset allocation for the Fund and the Adviser will then implement the
strategy by selecting Underlying ETPs that represent each of the
desired asset classes, sectors or strategies. The Adviser's strategy
also will involve periodic review of the Fund's holdings as markets
rise and fall to ensure that the portfolio adheres to the strategic
allocation and to add value through tactical allocation that may over
or underweight Underlying ETPs around the strategic allocation. The
Adviser may modify the strategic allocation for the Fund from time to
time based on capital markets research. The Adviser also may modify the
Fund's allocation based on tactical factors such as the Adviser's
outlook for the economy, inflation expectations, financial markets
generally and/or relative market valuation of the asset classes, sector
or strategies represented by each Underlying ETP.
The Adviser intends to invest in Underlying ETPs that hold equity
securities of large, medium and small capitalization companies and
fixed income securities, including government issued debt, investment
grade corporate bonds, below investment grade bonds and mortgage and
asset backed securities issued by companies across the globe including
developed countries and emerging countries. The Adviser also intends to
invest in Underlying ETPs that hold U.S. inflation-indexed securities
and have exposure to commodities, real estate, infrastructure markets
and other real assets. A real asset is a tangible or physical asset
that typically has intrinsic value. The Adviser may also, on a limited
basis, sell short Underlying ETPs.
The Adviser will select Underlying ETPs based on their potential to
represent the underlying asset class, sector or strategy to which the
Adviser seeks exposure for the Fund. The Fund will only invest in U.S.-
listed Underlying ETPs.
Other Investments of the Funds
The Funds will not invest in derivatives. The Underlying ETPs in
which the Funds invest may, to a limited extent, invest in derivatives;
however, the Funds will not invest in Underlying ETPs that use
derivatives as a principal investment strategy unless the Underlying
ETP uses futures contracts and related options for bona fide hedging,
attempting to gain exposure to a particular market, index or
instrument, or other risk management purposes. To the extent an
Underlying ETP uses futures and/or options on futures, it will do so in
accordance with the Commodity Exchange Act\11\ and applicable rules and
regulations promulgated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and
the National Futures Association.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\11\ 7 U.S.C. 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Underlying ETPs may enter into swap agreements including interest
rate, index, and credit default swap agreements. An Underlying ETP may
invest in commodity-linked derivative instruments, such as structured
notes, swap agreements, commodity options, futures and options on
futures, to gain exposure to commodities markets. Financial futures
contracts may be used by an Underlying ETP during or in anticipation of
adverse market events such as interest rate changes. An Underlying ETP
may purchase a put and/or sell a call option on a stock index futures
contract instead of selling a futures contract in anticipation of an
equity market decline.
Money market instruments, including repurchase agreements, or funds
that invest exclusively in money market instruments, including
affiliated money market funds (subject to applicable limitations under
the 1940 Act), convertible securities, variable rate demand notes, or
commercial paper may be used by a Fund in seeking to meet its
investment objective and in managing cash flows.
The Funds expect to invest almost entirely in Underlying ETPs but
may also invest in, among other investments, common stocks; sponsored
American Depositary Receipts (``ADRs''), American Depositary Shares
(``ADSs'') and European Depositary Receipts (``EDRs''), Global
Depositary Receipts (``GDRs''); short-term instruments (including money
market instruments); U.S. Government Securities; TIPS; commercial
paper; and other debt instruments described in the Registration
Statement. The Funds and the Underlying ETPs may enter into repurchase
and reverse repurchase agreements.
Investment Policies and Restrictions
Each Fund will seek to qualify for treatment as a regulated
investment company (``RIC'') under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as amended.\12\
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\12\ 26 U.S.C. 151. One of several requirements for RIC
qualification is that a Fund must receive at least 90% of the Fund's
gross income each year from dividends, interest, [sic] payments with
respect to securities loans, gains from the sale or other
disposition of stock, securities or foreign currencies, or other
income derived with respect to the Fund's investments in stock,
securities, foreign currencies and net income from an interest in a
qualified publicly traded partnership (``90% Test''). A second
requirement for qualification as a RIC is that a Fund must diversify
its holdings so that, at the end of each fiscal quarter of the
Fund's taxable year: (a) At least 50% of the market value of the
Fund's total assets is represented by cash and cash items, U.S.
Government securities, securities of other RICs, and other
securities, with these other securities limited, in respect to any
one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the
Fund's total assets or 10% of the outstanding voting securities of
such issuer; and (b) not more than 25% of the value of its total
assets are invested in the securities (other than U.S. Government
securities or securities of other RICs) of any one issuer or two or
more issuers which the Fund controls and which are engaged in the
same, similar, or related trades or businesses, or the securities of
one or more qualified publicly traded partnership [sic] (``Asset
Test'').
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Each Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net
assets in (a) Illiquid securities, and (b) Rule 144A securities. This
limitation is applied at the time of purchase. The Commission staff has
interpreted the term ``illiquid'' in this context to mean a security
that cannot be sold or disposed of within seven days in the ordinary
course of business at approximately the amount at which a Fund has
valued such security.\13\
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\13\ The Commission has stated that long-standing Commission
guidelines have required open-end funds to hold no more than 15% of
their net assets in illiquid securities and other illiquid assets.
See Investment Company Act Release No. 8901 (March 11, 2008), 73 FR
14617 (March 18, 2008), footnote 34. See also Investment Company Act
Release No. 5847 (October 21, 1969), 35 FR 19989 (December 31, 1970)
(Statement Regarding ``Restricted Securities''); Investment Company
Act Release No. 18612 (March 12, 1992), 57 FR 9828 (March 20, 1992)
(Revisions of Guidelines to Form N-1A). A fund's portfolio security
is illiquid if it cannot be disposed of in the ordinary course of
business within seven days at approximately the value ascribed to it
by the ETF. See Investment Company Act Release No. 14983 (March 12,
1986), 51 FR 9773 (March 21, 1986) (adopting amendments to Rule 2a-7
under the 1940 Act); Investment Company Act Release No. 17452 (April
23, 1990), 55 FR 17933 (April 30, 1990) (adopting Rule 144A under
the Securities Act of 1933).
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[[Page 76209]]
Each Fund may invest in securities of other investment companies,
including ETFs, closed end funds and money market funds, subject to
applicable limitations under Section 12(d)(1) of the 1940 Act or
exemptions granted thereunder.
A Fund may not:
1. (i) With respect to 75% of its total assets, purchase securities
of any issuer (except securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S.
Government, its agencies or instrumentalities or shares of investment
companies) if, as a result, more than 5% of its total assets would be
invested in the securities of such issuer; or (ii) acquire more than
10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer.\14\
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\14\ The diversification standard is contained in Section
5(b)(1) of the 1940 Act (15 U.S.C. 80e).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Invest 25% or more of its total assets in the securities of one
or more issuers conducting their principal business activities in a
particular industry or group of industries; except that, to the extent
the underlying index selected for a particular passive Underlying ETF
is concentrated in a particular industry or group of industries, the
Funds will necessarily be concentrated in that industry or group of
industry [sic].\15\ This limitation does not apply to investments in
securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, its agencies or
instrumentalities, or shares of investment companies, including the
Underlying ETPs.
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\15\ See Form N-1A, Item 9. The Commission has taken the
position that a fund is concentrated if it invests more than 25% of
the value of its total assets in any one industry. See, e.g.,
Investment Company Act Release No. 9011 (October 30, 1975), 40 FR
54241 (November 21, 1975).
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Underlying ETPs will be listed and traded in the U.S. on a national
securities exchange. While the Underlying ETPs may hold non-U.S. equity
securities, the Funds will not invest in non-U.S. listed equity
securities. Each Fund's investments will be consistent with its
investment objective and will not be used to enhance leverage. The
Funds will not hold leveraged, inverse and inverse leveraged Underlying
ETPs. Consistent with the Exemptive Order, the Funds will not invest in
options contracts, futures contracts or swap agreements.
Creations and Redemptions of Shares
The Funds will offer and issue Shares at their net asset value
(``NAV'') only in aggregations of a specified number of Shares (each, a
``Creation Unit''). The Funds generally will offer and issue Shares in
exchange for shares of specified Underlying ETPs (``Deposit
Securities'') together with the deposit of a specified cash payment
(``Cash Component''). The Trust will reserve the right to permit or
require the substitution of a ``cash in lieu'' amount to be added to
the Cash Component to replace any Deposit Security. The Shares will be
redeemable only in Creation Unit aggregations, and generally in
exchange for portfolio securities and a specified cash payment. A
Creation Unit of the Funds will consist of 50,000 Shares.
The Shares will conform to the initial and continued listing
criteria under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600. The Exchange represents
that, for initial and/or continued listing, the Trust will be in
compliance with Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act,\16\ as provided by
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.3. A minimum of 100,000 Shares will be
outstanding at the commencement of trading on the Exchange. The
Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer of the Shares
that the NAV per Share will be calculated daily and that the NAV and
the Disclosed Portfolio as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600(c)(2) will be made available to all market participants at the
same time.
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\16\ 17 CFR 240.10A-3.
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Availability of Information
The Funds' Web site (www.russelletfs.com), which will be publicly
available prior to the public offering of Shares, will include a form
of the prospectus for the Funds that may be downloaded. The Funds' Web
site will include additional quantitative information updated on a
daily basis, including, for the Funds, (1) Daily trading volume, the
prior business day's reported closing price, NAV and mid-point of the
bid/ask spread at the time of calculation of such NAV (``Bid/Ask
Price''),\17\ and a calculation of the premium and discount of the Bid/
Ask Price against the NAV, and (2) data in chart format displaying the
frequency distribution of discounts and premiums of the daily Bid/Ask
Price against the NAV, within appropriate ranges, for each of the four
previous calendar quarters. On each business day, before commencement
of trading in Shares in the Core Trading Session on the Exchange, the
Funds will disclose on their Web site the Disclosed Portfolio that will
form the basis for the Funds' calculation of NAV at the end of the
business day.\18\ The Web site information will be publicly available
at no charge.
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\17\ The Bid/Ask Price of the Funds will be determined using the
midpoint of the highest bid and the lowest offer on the Exchange as
of the time of calculation of the Funds' NAV. The records relating
to Bid/Ask Prices will be retained by the Funds and their service
providers.
\18\ Under accounting procedures followed by the Funds, trades
made on the prior business day (``T'') will be booked and reflected
in NAV on the current business day (``T+1''). Accordingly, the Funds
will be able to disclose at the beginning of the business day the
portfolio that will form the basis for the NAV calculation at the
end of the business day.
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On a daily basis, the Adviser will disclose for each portfolio
security or other financial instrument of the Funds the following
information: Ticker symbol (if applicable), name of security or
financial instrument, number of shares or dollar value of financial
instruments held in the portfolio, and percentage weighting of the
security or financial instrument in the portfolio.
In addition, a basket composition file, which includes the security
names and share quantities required to be delivered in exchange for
Fund Shares, together with estimates and actual cash components, will
be publicly disseminated daily prior to the opening of the New York
Stock Exchange (``NYSE'') via the National Securities Clearing
Corporation. The basket will represent one Creation Unit of each Fund.
The NAV of each Fund will normally be determined as of the close of
the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4 p.m. Eastern
Time) on each business day.
Investors can also obtain the Trust's Statement of Additional
Information (``SAI''), Shareholder Reports and Form N-CSR. The Trust's
SAI and Shareholder Reports are available free upon request from the
Trust, and those documents and the Form N-CSR may be viewed on-screen
or downloaded from the Commission's Web site at www.sec.gov.
Information regarding market price and trading volume of the Shares
will be continually available on a real-time basis throughout the day
on brokers' computer screens and other electronic services. Information
regarding the previous day's closing price and trading volume
information for the Shares will be published daily in the financial
section of newspapers. Quotation and last sale information for the
Shares will be available via the Consolidated Tape Association
(``CTA'') high-speed line. The intra-day and closing values of
Underlying ETPs also will be disseminated by the U.S. exchange on which
they are listed. In addition, the Portfolio Indicative Value, as
defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(c)(3), will be widely
disseminated by one or more major market data vendors at least every 15
seconds during
[[Page 76210]]
the Core Trading Session.\19\ The dissemination of the Portfolio
Indicative Value, together with the Disclosed Portfolio, will allow
investors to determine the value of the underlying portfolio of the
Funds on a daily basis and to provide a close estimate of that value
throughout the trading day.
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\19\ Currently, it is the Exchange's understanding that several
major market data vendors display and/or make widely available
Portfolio Indicative Values published on CTA or other data feeds.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Additional information regarding the Trust and the Shares,
including investment strategies, risks, creation and redemption
procedures, fees, portfolio holdings disclosure policies, distributions
and taxes is included in the Registration Statement. All terms relating
to the Funds that are referred to, but not defined in, this proposed
rule change are defined in the Registration Statement.
Trading Halts
With respect to trading halts, the Exchange may consider all
relevant factors in exercising its discretion to halt or suspend
trading in the Shares of the Funds.\20\ Trading in Shares of the Funds
will be halted if the circuit breaker parameters in NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 7.12 have been reached. Trading also 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 securities and/or the
financial instruments comprising the Disclosed Portfolio of a Fund; or
(2) whether other unusual conditions or circumstances detrimental to
the maintenance of a fair and orderly market are present. Trading in
the Shares will be subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D),
which sets forth circumstances under which Shares of the Funds may be
halted.
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\20\ See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12, Commentary .04.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trading Rules
The Exchange deems the Shares to be equity securities, thus
rendering trading in the Shares subject to the Exchange's existing
rules governing the trading of equity securities. Shares will trade on
the NYSE Arca Marketplace from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time in
accordance with NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34 (Opening, Core, and Late
Trading Sessions). 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.
Surveillance
The Exchange intends to utilize its existing surveillance
procedures applicable to derivative products (which include Managed
Fund Shares) 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 surveillance focuses 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 may obtain information via the Intermarket
Surveillance Group (``ISG'') from other exchanges that are members of
ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a comprehensive
surveillance sharing agreement.\21\ The Exchange, therefore, will be
able to obtain surveillance information from the exchanges trading the
Underlying ETPs.
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\21\ For a list of the current members of ISG, see
www.isgportal.org. The Exchange notes that not all components of the
Disclosed Portfolio for the Funds may trade on markets that are
members of ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a
comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement.
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In addition, 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
Equity Trading Permit (``ETP'') Holders in an Information Bulletin
(``Bulletin'') of the special characteristics and risks associated with
trading the Shares. Specifically, the Bulletin will discuss the
following: (1) The procedures for purchases and redemptions of Shares
in Creation Unit aggregations (and that Shares are not individually
redeemable); (2) 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; (3) the risks
involved in trading the Shares during the Opening and Late Trading
Sessions when an updated Portfolio Indicative Value will not be
calculated or publicly disseminated; (4) how information regarding the
Portfolio Indicative Value is disseminated; (5) 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 (6) trading information.
In addition, the Bulletin will reference that the Funds are subject
to various fees and expenses described in the Registration Statement.
The Bulletin will discuss any exemptive, no-action, and interpretive
relief granted by the Commission from any rules under the Exchange Act.
The Bulletin will also disclose that the NAV for the Shares will be
calculated after 4 p.m. Eastern Time each trading day.
2. Statutory Basis
The basis under the Exchange Act for this proposed rule change is
the requirement under Section 6(b)(5) \22\ 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.
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\22\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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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
8.600. 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 Exchange 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. Underlying ETPs will be listed and traded in the U.S. on a
national securities exchange. While the Underlying ETPs may hold non-
U.S. equity securities, the Funds will not invest in non-U.S.
registered equity securities. Each Fund's investments will be
consistent with its investment objective and will not be used to
enhance leverage. The Funds will not invest in derivatives, including
options, swaps or futures.
The proposed rule change is designed to promote just and equitable
principles of trade and to protect investors and the public interest in
that the Adviser is affiliated with multiple broker-dealers and has
implemented a ``fire wall'' with
[[Page 76211]]
respect to such broker-dealers regarding access to information
concerning the composition and/or changes to the Funds' portfolios. The
Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer of the Shares
that the NAV per Share will be calculated daily and that the NAV and
the Disclosed Portfolio will be made available to all market
participants at the same time. In addition, a large amount of
information is publicly available regarding the Funds and the Shares,
thereby promoting market transparency. The Funds' portfolio holdings
will be disclosed on its Web site daily after the close of trading on
the Exchange and prior to the opening of trading on the Exchange the
following day. Moreover, the Portfolio Indicative Value will be widely
disseminated by one or more major market data vendors at least every 15
seconds during the Exchange's Core Trading Session. On each business
day, before commencement of trading in Shares in the Core Trading
Session on the Exchange, the Funds will disclose on their Web site the
Disclosed Portfolio that will form the basis for the Funds' calculation
of NAV at the end of the business day. Information regarding market
price and trading volume of the Shares will be continually available on
a real-time basis throughout the day on brokers' computer screens and
other electronic services, and quotation and last sale information will
be available via the CTA high-speed line. The Web site for the Fund
[sic] will include a form of the prospectus for the Funds and
additional data relating to NAV and other applicable quantitative
information. Moreover, 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.
Trading in Shares of the Funds will be halted if the circuit breaker
parameters in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12 have been reached or because
of market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange,
make trading in the Shares inadvisable, and trading in the Shares will
be subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D), which sets forth
circumstances under which Shares of the Funds may be halted. In
addition, as noted above, investors will have ready access to
information regarding the Funds' holdings, the Portfolio Indicative
Value, the Disclosed Portfolio, and quotation and last sale information
for the Shares.
The proposed rule change is designed to perfect the mechanism of a
free and open market and, in general, to protect investors and the
public interest in that it will facilitate the listing and trading of
an additional type of actively-managed exchange-traded product 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,
the Portfolio Indicative Value, the Disclosed Portfolio, 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 such proposed rule change, or
(B) Institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule
change should be disapproved.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Electronic Comments
Use the Commission's Internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
Send an email to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include
File Number SR-NYSEArca-2011-84 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 Number SR-NYSEArca-2011-84. This
file number should be included on the subject line if email 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 the filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All
comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does
not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEArca-2011-84 and should
be submitted on or before December 27, 2011.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\23\
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\23\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-31263 Filed 12-5-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P