Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, To List and Trade Shares of the ETSpreads HY Long Credit Fund, the ETSpreads HY Short Credit Fund, the ETSpreads IG Long Credit Fund, and the ETSpreads IG Short Credit Fund Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600, 21981-21986 [2014-08791]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2014 / Notices
Exchange also believes that its pricing
for removing liquidity is appropriately
`
competitive vis-a-vis the Exchange’s
competitors, with at least one such
competitor, NASDAQ BX, offering a
similar pricing model. In a competitive
environment, the Exchange must
continually adjust its fees to remain
competitive with other exchanges and
alternative liquidity sources. Because
competitors are free to modify their own
fees in response, and because market
participants may readily adjust their
order routing practices, the Exchange
believes that the degree to which fee
changes in this market may impose any
burden on competition is extremely
limited. Further, the modifications
described herein are a direct response to
competition, which should be viewed as
a positive signal that a competitive
market exists. If the changes are
unattractive to market participants, it is
likely that the Exchange will lose
market share as a result. Accordingly,
the Exchange does not believe that the
proposed changes will impair the ability
of Members or competing order
execution venues to maintain their
competitive standing in the financial
markets. The Exchange believes that
continuing to incentivize the entry of
aggressively priced, displayed liquidity
fosters intra-market competition to the
benefit of all market participants that
enter orders to the Exchange. Finally,
the Exchange does not believe that any
of the changes represent a significant
departure from previous pricing offered
by the Exchange or pricing offered by
the Exchange’s competitors.
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.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
The foregoing rule change has become
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)
of the Act 11 and paragraph (f) of Rule
19b–4 thereunder.12 At any time within
60 days of the filing of the proposed rule
change, the Commission summarily may
temporarily suspend such rule change if
it appears to the Commission that such
action is necessary or appropriate in the
public interest, for the protection of
investors, or otherwise in furtherance of
the purposes of the Act.
11 15
12 17
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–
BYX–2014–004 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–BYX–2014–004. 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
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of such
filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal
office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change;
the Commission does not edit personal
identifying information from
submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make
available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR–BYX–
2014–004 and should be submitted on
or before May 9, 2014.
U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
CFR 240.19b–4(f).
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:54 Apr 17, 2014
Jkt 232001
PO 00000
Frm 00091
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
21981
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.13
Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014–08825 Filed 4–17–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–71938; File No. SR–
NYSEArca–2013–144]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of
Amendment No. 1 and Order Granting
Accelerated Approval of a Proposed
Rule Change, as Modified by
Amendment No. 1, To List and Trade
Shares of the ETSpreads HY Long
Credit Fund, the ETSpreads HY Short
Credit Fund, the ETSpreads IG Long
Credit Fund, and the ETSpreads IG
Short Credit Fund Under NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.600
April 14, 2014.
I. Introduction
On December 27, 2013, NYSE Arca,
Inc. (‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE Arca’’) filed
with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant
to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’ or
‘‘Exchange Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4
thereunder,2 a proposed rule change to
list and trade shares (‘‘Shares’’) of the
ETSpreads HY Long Credit Fund, the
ETSpreads HY Short Credit Fund, the
ETSpreads IG Long Credit Fund, and the
ETSpreads IG Short Credit Fund (each
a ‘‘Fund’’ and, collectively, ‘‘Funds’’)
under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600.
The proposed rule change was
published for comment in the Federal
Register on January 15, 2014.3 On
February 26, 2014, the Commission
issued a notice of designation of a
longer period for Commission action on
the proposed rule change.4 On April 11,
2014, the Exchange filed Amendment
13 17
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
3 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 71266
(January 9, 2014), 79 FR 2705 (‘‘Notice’’).
4 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 71618,
79 FR 12254 (March 4, 2014). Pursuant to Section
19(b)(2) of the Act, the Commission determined that
it was appropriate to designate a longer period
within which to take action on the proposed rule
change. Accordingly, the Commission designated
April 15, 2014, as the date by which the
Commission should either approve or disapprove or
institute proceedings to determine whether to
disapprove the proposed rule change.
1 15
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
18APN1
21982
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2014 / Notices
No. 1 to the proposed rule change.5 The
Commission received no comments on
the proposal. The Commission is
publishing this notice to solicit
comments on Amendment No. 1 from
interested persons, and is approving the
proposed rule change, as modified by
Amendment No. 1 thereto, on an
accelerated basis.
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
II. Description of the Proposal
The Exchange proposes to list and
trade the Shares of each Fund under
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600, which
governs the listing and trading of
Managed Fund Shares. The Shares will
be offered by Exchange Traded Spreads
Trust (‘‘Trust’’), a statutory trust
organized under the laws of the State of
Delaware and registered with the
Commission as an open-end
management investment company.6
ETSpreads, LLC (‘‘Adviser’’) is the
investment adviser for each Fund and is
a registered investment adviser under
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
(‘‘Advisers Act’’). ALPS Distributors,
Inc. will serve as the principal
underwriter and distributor for each
Fund. The Exchange represents that the
Adviser is not registered as a brokerdealer, but is affiliated with a brokerdealer and has implemented a ‘‘fire
wall’’ with respect to such broker-dealer
regarding access to information
concerning the composition or changes
to the Funds’ portfolios.7
5 In Amendment No. 1, the Exchange expands the
information that would be included in the Funds’
Disclosed Portfolios. Specifically, the investment
adviser to the Funds would include the following
information (as applicable) in the Disclosed
Portfolios, which would be updated daily on the
Funds’ Web site: ticker symbol, CUSIP number or
other identifier, if any; a description of the holding
(including the type of holding, such as the type of
swap); the identity of the security, commodity,
index, Reference Entity(ies) or other asset or
instrument underlying the holding, if any; for
options, the option strike price; quantity held (as
measured by, for example, par value, notional value
or number of shares, contracts or units); maturity
date, if any; coupon rate, if any; effective date, if
any; market value of the holding; and the
percentage weighting of the holding in a Fund’s
portfolio.
6 The Trust is registered under the Investment
Company Act of 1940 (‘‘1940 Act’’). According to
the Exchange, on April 9, 2013, the Trust filed with
the Commission an amendment to the registration
statement for the Funds on Form N–1A under the
Securities Act of 1933 and under the 1940 Act
relating to the Funds (File Nos. 333–148886 and
811–22177) (‘‘Registration Statement’’). The
Exchange also states that the Trust has obtained
certain exemptive relief from the Commission
under the 1940 Act. See Investment Company Act
Release No. 30378 (February 5, 2013) (‘‘Exemptive
Order’’). The Exchange represents that the
investments made by the Funds will comply with
the conditions set forth in the Exemptive Order.
7 See Commentary .06 to NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.600. The Exchange further represents that in
the event (a) the Adviser becomes newly affiliated
with a broker-dealer, or (b) any new adviser or sub-
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:54 Apr 17, 2014
Jkt 232001
The Exchange has made the following
representations and statements in
describing the Funds and their
respective investment strategies,
including other portfolio holdings and
investment restrictions.8
Description of the Funds
Each Fund will seek to provide
exposure to a long or short position with
respect to a specific segment of the
North American corporate credit
markets.9 The strategy of each of the
Funds involves buying and selling
credit default swaps (‘‘CDS’’) to
outperform, before fees and expenses,
either a long or short position tied to its
benchmark index. Currently, each Fund
will use either the Markit CDX North
American Investment Grade 5-year Total
Return Index or the Markit CDX North
American High Yield 5-year Total
Return Index (each an ‘‘Index’’ or ‘‘CDX
Index,’’ and collectively, ‘‘Indices’’) as
its benchmark.10 None of the Funds will
use leverage, and each Fund will
maintain sufficient assets at all times so
that it can meet its payment, margin, or
other obligations without borrowing.11
adviser, if any, is a registered broker-dealer or
becomes affiliated with a broker-dealer, it will
implement a fire wall with respect to its relevant
personnel or its broker-dealer affiliate regarding
access to information concerning the composition
or changes to a portfolio, and will be subject to
procedures designed to prevent the use and
dissemination of material, non-public information
regarding such portfolio.
8 The Commission notes that additional
information regarding the Trust, the Funds, and the
Shares, including information on swaps, in general,
and credit default swaps (‘‘CDS’’), in particular,
methodology and construction of the Indices (as
defined below), investment strategies, risks, net
asset value (‘‘NAV’’) calculation, creation and
redemption procedures, fees, portfolio holdings,
disclosure policies, distributions, and taxes, among
other information, is included in the Notice and the
Registration Statement, as applicable. See Notice
and Registration Statement, supra notes 3 and 6,
respectively.
9 With respect to a particular credit market, a
‘‘long position’’ means that an investor expects that
the issuers of debt securities in a particular debt
market will be able to meet their obligations in
accordance with the terms of such debt securities
in full and on-time. With respect to a particular
credit market, a ‘‘short position’’ means that an
investor expects there will be an increased
likelihood that the issuers of debt securities in a
particular debt market will not be able to meet their
obligations in accordance with the terms of such
debt securities in full or on-time.
10 The Markit CDX North American Investment
Grade 5-year Total Return Index is designed to track
the credit quality of 125 investment grade North
American debt issuers or the unsubordinated debt
obligations of such debt issuers. The Markit CDX
North American High Yield 5-year Total Return
Index is designed to track the credit quality of 100
high yield North American debt issuers or the
unsubordinated debt obligations of such debt
issuers.
11 In general, no leverage means that, for each
$100 million of assets under management, the
relevant Fund will be a net buyer or seller
PO 00000
Frm 00092
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
While actual percentages will vary, it is
generally expected that less than 20% of
a Fund’s assets will be in CDS and nonprincipal investments (as described
below), and the balance of a Fund’s
assets will be U.S. Treasury securities,
money market instruments, and cash.
A. Principal Investments
To meet its respective investment
objective, under normal market
conditions,12 each Fund intends to
invest substantially all of its assets in:
(1) CDS that are cleared by a clearing
organization 13 and which are either (a)
CDS index swaps, including swaps
based on the CDX Index (‘‘CDX Index
swaps’’), based on multiple CDS relating
to the debt issued by different Reference
Entities,14 or (b) ‘‘Single Name CDS,’’
which are CDS that relate only to the
debt issued by a single Reference
Entity; 15 (2) futures contracts based on
CDS or other similar futures contracts;
and (3) obligations of, or those
guaranteed by, the United States
government with a maturity of less than
six years (‘‘U.S. Treasury securities’’),
money market instruments, and cash.
Each of the Funds’ investments,
including derivatives, will be consistent
with its investment objective.
1. ETSpreads IG Long Credit Fund
The investment objective of the Fund
is to provide long exposure to the credit
of a diversified portfolio of North
(consistent with its investment objective) of
protection on $100 million.
12 The term ‘‘under normal market conditions’’
includes, but is not limited to, the absence of
extreme volatility or trading halts in the fixed
income markets or the financial markets generally;
events or circumstances causing a disruption in
market liquidity or orderly markets; 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.
13 The Funds intend to use ICE Clear Credit LLC
and CME Clearing as the clearing organizations for
their cleared CDS. ICE Clear Credit LLC is a
subsidiary of the IntercontinentalExchange, Inc. ICE
Clear Credit LLC is registered with the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission (‘‘CFTC’’) as a clearing
house for credit default swaps, including CDX
Index swaps. CME Clearing is a division of Chicago
Mercantile Exchange Inc. (‘‘CME’’), which is a
subsidiary of the CME Group Inc. CME is registered
with the CFTC as a clearing house for CDS,
including CDX Index swaps.
14 The Exchange states that a ‘‘Reference Entity’’
is the entity whose debt underlies a Single Name
CDS. A Reference Entity can be a corporation,
government, or other legal entity that issues debt of
any kind. The Exchange also states that CDX Index
swaps are based on a particular index that includes
Single Name CDS of several Reference Entities.
15 Fund transactions in CDS cleared through a
clearing organization that have been designated by
the CFTC or the Commission as ‘‘made available to
trade’’ will be executed on exchanges or on a swap
execution facility subject to CFTC or Commission
oversight or regulation.
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
18APN1
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2014 / Notices
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
American investment grade debt issuers.
With respect to a particular credit
market, a ‘‘long position’’ means that an
investor expects that the issuers of debt
securities in a particular debt market
will be able to meet their obligations in
accordance with the terms of such debt
securities in full and on-time. The Fund
will invest, under normal market
conditions, substantially all of its assets
in (i) CDS cleared by a clearing
organization which are either (a) CDS
index swaps based on multiple CDS
relating to the debt issued by different
Reference Entities, or (b) Single Name
CDS based on CDS relating to the debt
issued by a single Reference Entity; (ii)
futures contracts based on CDS or other
similar futures contracts; and (iii) U.S.
Treasury securities, money market
instruments, and cash. In order to gain
exposure to the investment grade credit
market, the Fund will normally be a net
protection seller under its CDS, and will
be required to make payments to the
protection buyer when a specified
adverse credit event occurs relating to a
Reference Entity.
If the Fund is successful in meeting
its objective, its NAV should generally
increase when the North American
investment grade credit market is
improving. Conversely, its NAV should
generally decrease when the North
American investment grade credit
market is deteriorating.
2. ETSpreads IG Short Credit Fund
The investment objective of the Fund
is to provide short exposure to the credit
of a diversified portfolio of North
American investment grade debt issuers.
The Fund will invest, under normal
market conditions, substantially all of
its assets in (i) CDS cleared by a clearing
organization which are either (a) CDS
index swaps based on multiple CDS
relating to the debt issued by different
Reference Entities, or (b) Single Name
CDS based on CDS relating to the debt
issued by a single Reference Entity; (ii)
futures contracts based on CDS or other
similar futures contracts; and (iii) U.S.
Treasury securities, money market
instruments, and cash. To gain short
exposure to the investment grade credit
market, the Fund will normally be a net
protection buyer under its CDS, and
therefore will be required to make the
ongoing payments specified under such
contracts that represent the cost of
purchasing protection from adverse
credit events relating to a Reference
Entity.
If the Fund is successful in meeting
its objective, its NAV should generally
decrease as the North American
investment grade credit market is
improving. Conversely, its NAV should
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:54 Apr 17, 2014
Jkt 232001
generally increase as the North
American investment grade credit
market is deteriorating.
3. ETSpreads HY Long Credit Fund
The investment objective of the Fund
is to provide long exposure to the credit
of a diversified portfolio of North
American high yield debt issuers. The
Fund will invest, under normal market
conditions, substantially all of its assets
in (i) CDS cleared by a clearing
organization which are either (a) CDS
index swaps based on multiple CDS
relating to the debt issued by different
Reference Entities, or (b) Single Name
CDS based on CDS relating to the debt
issued by a single Reference Entity; (ii)
futures contracts based on CDS or other
similar futures contracts; and (iii) U.S.
Treasury securities, money market
instruments, and cash. To gain exposure
to the high yield credit market, the Fund
will normally be a net protection seller
under its CDS, i.e., it will be required to
make payments to the protection buyer
when a specified adverse credit event
occurs relating to a Reference Entity.
If the Fund is successful in meeting
its objective, its NAV should generally
increase when the North American high
yield credit market is rallying, which
means that credit quality is improving
and differences or ‘‘spreads’’ between
the returns on high yield debt securities
generally and the returns on debt
securities with comparable maturities
that are essentially free of credit risk
(such as U.S. Treasury securities) are
decreasing or ‘‘tightening.’’ Conversely,
its NAV should generally decrease when
the North American high yield credit
market is falling (going down), credit
quality is deteriorating, and spreads are
increasing or ‘‘widening.’’
4. ETSpreads HY Short Credit Fund
The investment objective of the Fund
is to provide short exposure to the credit
of a diversified portfolio of North
American high yield debt issuers. The
Fund will invest substantially all of its
assets in (i) CDS cleared by a clearing
organization which are either (a) CDS
index swaps based on multiple CDS
relating to the debt issued by different
Reference Entities, or (b) Single Name
CDS based on CDS relating to the debt
issued by a single Reference Entity; (ii)
futures contracts based on CDS or other
similar futures contracts; and (iii) U.S.
Treasury securities, money market
instruments, and cash. To gain short
exposure to the high yield credit market,
the Fund will normally be a net
protection buyer under its CDS, i.e., it
will be required to make the ongoing
payments specified under such
contracts that represent the cost of
PO 00000
Frm 00093
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
21983
purchasing protection from adverse
credit events relating to a Reference
Entity.
If the Fund is successful in meeting
its objective, its NAV should generally
decrease when the North American high
yield credit market is improving.
Conversely, its NAV should generally
increase as the North American high
yield credit market is deteriorating.
B. Non-Principal Investments of the
Funds
While each Fund will invest, under
normal market conditions, substantially
all of its assets as described above under
each Fund’s principal investment
strategies, each Fund may invest in, to
the extent that CDS cleared by a clearing
organization are not available, fully
collateralized non-cleared CDS
transactions,16 and (1) to the extent
available, options that are cleared
through a clearing organization
regulated or subject to the oversight of
the CFTC or the Commission 17 and (2)
if options cleared through a clearing
organization are not available, fully
collateralized non-cleared OTC options,
in each case, relating to the following:
options on CDS, options on CDS futures,
options on CDS indexes and options on
U.S. Treasury securities.18
16 To reduce the credit risk that arises in
connection with investments in non-cleared swaps,
each of the Funds generally will enter into an
agreement with each counterparty based on a
Master Agreement published by the International
Swaps and Derivatives Association, Inc. that
provides for the netting of its overall exposure to
its counterparty. The Adviser will assess or review,
as appropriate, the creditworthiness of each
potential or existing counterparty to an over-thecounter (‘‘OTC’’) contract pursuant to guidelines
approved by the Adviser. Furthermore, the Adviser
on behalf of the Funds will only enter into OTC
contracts with counterparties who are, or are
affiliates of, (a) banks regulated by a United States
federal bank regulator, (b) swap dealers or securities
based swap dealers regulated by the CFTC and/or
the Commission, (c) broker-dealers regulated by the
Commission, or (d) insurance companies domiciled
in the United States. Existing counterparties will be
reviewed periodically by the Adviser. The Funds
also may require that the counterparty be highly
rated or provide collateral or other credit support.
17 Fund transactions in options cleared through a
clearing organization that have been designated by
the CFTC or the Commission as ‘‘made available to
trade’’ will be executed by the Funds on an
exchange or on a swap execution facility subject to
CFTC or Commission oversight or regulation.
18 The Exchange states that each of the Funds’
CDS transactions, whether cleared or uncleared,
and the options described above will be subject to
CFTC or Commission reporting, including the
reporting of detailed transaction data to swap data
repositories subject to CFTC or the Commission
oversight or regulation. According to the Exchange,
all swap transaction data, including data on
options, will be available to the CFTC and the
Commission and certain bank or other regulators. In
addition, with certain exceptions (e.g., delays for
large block trades), a portion of each CDS
transaction’s data will be available to major market
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
Continued
18APN1
21984
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2014 / Notices
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Each Fund also may utilize other
types of swap agreements, including but
not limited to: total return swaps on
debt, equity or CDS or indexes relating
to the foregoing; bond or corporate
credit index swaps; and interest rate
swaps. A Fund may utilize these swap
agreements in an attempt to gain
exposure to the investments used to
meet its investment objective in a
market without actually purchasing
those investments, or to hedge a
position.
Each Fund may invest in the
securities of other investment
companies, consistent with the
requirements of Section 12(d)(1) of the
1940 Act, or any rule, regulation or
order of the Commission or
interpretation thereof.
Each Fund may enter into repurchase
agreements with financial institutions,
which may be deemed to be loans. Each
Fund follows certain procedures
designed to minimize the risks inherent
in such agreements. These procedures
include effecting repurchase
transactions only with large, wellcapitalized, and well-established
financial institutions whose condition
will be continually monitored by the
Adviser. In addition, the value of the
collateral underlying the repurchase
agreement will always be at least equal
to the repurchase price, including any
accrued interest earned on the
repurchase agreement.
C. The Funds’ Investment Restrictions
Each of the Funds may hold up to an
aggregate amount of 15% of its net
assets in illiquid investments
(calculated at the time of investment) in
accordance with Commission staff
guidance. The Funds will monitor their
portfolio liquidity on an ongoing basis
to determine whether, in light of current
circumstances, an adequate level of
liquidity is being maintained, and will
take appropriate steps in order to
maintain adequate liquidity if, through
a change in values, net assets, or other
circumstances, more than 15% of a
Fund’s net assets are held in illiquid
investments. Illiquid investments
include investments subject to
contractual or other restrictions on
resale and other instruments that lack
readily available markets as determined
in accordance with Commission staff
guidance.
The Funds will not invest in any
equity securities except for investment
company securities, and will be nondiversified, which means that a Fund
may invest its assets in a smaller
data vendors on a real time, though anonymous,
basis.
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:54 Apr 17, 2014
Jkt 232001
number of issuers than a diversified
fund. In addition, the Funds intend to
invest only in futures contracts traded
on exchanges that are subject to CFTC
or Commission oversight or regulation.
III. Discussion and Commission
Findings
After careful review, the Commission
finds that the Exchange’s proposal to list
and trade the Shares is consistent with
the Exchange Act and the rules and
regulations thereunder applicable to a
national securities exchange.19 In
particular, the Commission finds that
the proposed rule change, as modified
by Amendment No. 1 thereto, is
consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the
Exchange Act,20 which requires, among
other things, that the Exchange’s rules
be designed to promote just and
equitable principles of trade, to remove
impediments to and perfect the
mechanism of a free and open market
and a national market system, and, in
general, to protect investors and the
public interest. The Commission notes
that the Funds and the Shares must
comply with the requirements of NYSE
Arca Equities Rule 8.600 for the Shares
to be listed and traded on the Exchange.
The Commission finds that the
proposal to list and trade the Shares on
the Exchange is consistent with Section
11A(a)(1)(C)(iii) of the Exchange Act,21
which sets forth Congress’ finding that
it is in the public interest and
appropriate for the protection of
investors and the maintenance of fair
and orderly markets to assure the
availability to brokers, dealers, and
investors of information with respect to
quotations for and transactions in
securities. Quotation and last-sale
information for the Shares and
exchange-traded investment company
securities will be available via the
Consolidated Tape Association (‘‘CTA’’)
high-speed line. 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.
The Commission also believes that the
proposal to list and trade the Shares is
reasonably designed to promote fair
disclosure of information that may be
necessary to price the Shares
19 In
approving this proposed rule change, the
Commission has considered the proposed rule’s
impact on efficiency, competition, and capital
formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
20 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
21 15 U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(1)(C)(iii).
PO 00000
Frm 00094
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
appropriately and to prevent trading
when a reasonable degree of
transparency cannot be assured. On
each business day, before
commencement of trading in Shares in
the Core Trading Session (9:30 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on the
Exchange, the Funds will disclose on
their Web site the Disclosed Portfolio, as
defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600(c)(2), that will form the basis for
the Funds’ calculation of NAV at the
end of the business day.22 The Web site
information will be publicly available at
no charge. The NAV per Share of each
Fund will be calculated by The Bank of
New York Mellon and determined as of
the close of regular trading on the
Exchange (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. Eastern
Time) on each day that the Exchange is
open. 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.
According to the Exchange, market
participants, particularly large
institutional investors, regularly receive
executable and indicative quotations on
CDS from dealers. In addition, intra-day
and end-of-day prices for all Single
Name CDS, CDS index swaps, or other
financial instruments held by a Fund
will be available through major market
data vendors or broker-dealers or on the
exchanges on which they are traded.
Major market vendors which provide
intra-day and end-of-day prices for both
Single Name CDS and CDS index swaps
include Markit, Credit Market Analysis
Ltd., and Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg
L.P., Thomson Reuters Corporation, and
similar data vendors provide intra-day
and end-of-day pricing data for U.S.
Treasury securities and money market
instruments. Exchanges which provide
intraday and end-of-day prices for
futures and options on futures include
ICE Futures and CME Group. Brokerdealers provide intraday and end-of-day
prices for non-cleared swaps and
options, including options on Single
Name CDS and options on CDS index
swaps.
The Exchange further states that ICE
Clear Credit LLC and CME Clearing
provide daily price and transaction
information for swaps that it or its
affiliate clears by subscription to its
members and other market participants.
22 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.
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
18APN1
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2014 / Notices
Additionally, pricing intraday regarding
various CDS index swaps is provided
free to the public, with a fifteen minute
delay, on the Markit Web site (https://
source.markit.com). Daily trading
volume of cleared swaps transacted via
the ICE Clear Credit LLC and CME
Clearing clearing organizations is also
available through their respective Web
sites.
According to the Exchange, another
source of intra-day information about
Single Name CDS prices is the market
for OTC corporate bonds on which the
CDS are based. Because CDS represent
the credit risk component of corporate
bonds, and the effect of interest rate
changes on the prices of corporate
bonds is readily calculable, market
professionals are able to obtain
substantial information about the intraday value of CDS based on data on the
intra-day value of the underlying
corporate bonds (short-term variations
between the bond and CDS markets do
arise, and may occur more frequently
when such markets are volatile). One
source of bond price information is the
Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority’s (‘‘FINRA’’) Trace Reporting
and Compliance System (‘‘TRACE’’).
TRACE reports executed prices on
corporate bonds, including high-yield
bond transactions. TRACE reported
prices are available without charge on
the FINRA Web site on a ‘‘real time’’
basis (subject to a fifteen minute delay)
and also are available by subscription
from various information providers. In
addition, authorized participants and
other market participants, particularly
those that regularly deal or trade in
corporate bonds, have access to intraday corporate bond prices from a variety
of sources other than TRACE, such as
Thomson Reuters, Interactive Data and
MarketAxess.
The Exchange states that the intraday,
closing, and settlement prices of U.S.
Treasury securities, money market
instruments, and repurchase agreements
will be readily available from published
or other public sources, or major market
data vendors such as Bloomberg and
Thomson Reuters. Price information
regarding exchange-traded options is
available from the exchanges on which
such instruments are traded and from
Market Data Express’s (an affiliate of
Chicago Board Options Exchange)
Customized Option Pricing Service.
Price information regarding OTC
options is available from major market
data vendors. Intra-day and closing
price information for shares of
exchange-listed investment company
securities are available from the
exchange on which such securities are
principally traded and from major
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:54 Apr 17, 2014
Jkt 232001
market data vendors. The NAV of any
investment company security
investment will be readily available on
the Web site of the relevant investment
company and from major market data
vendors. Major market data vendors also
provide intra-day and end-of-day prices
for total return swaps, bond, or
corporate credit index swaps, and
interest rate swaps.
The Exchange states that the Portfolio
Indicative Value of the Funds, 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
the Core Trading Session.23 In addition,
the Web site for the Funds will include
a form of the prospectus for the Funds
and additional data relating to NAV and
other applicable quantitative
information. The Exchange represents
that 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,24 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.
The Exchange states that it has a
general policy prohibiting the
distribution of material, non-public
information by its employees. The
Commission notes that, consistent with
NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600(d)(2)(B)(ii), the Reporting
Authority, must implement and
maintain, or be subject to, procedures
designed to prevent the use and
dissemination of material, non-public
information regarding the actual
components of each Fund’s portfolio.25
The Exchange states that the Adviser
has implemented a ‘‘fire wall’’ with
respect to its broker-dealer affiliate
regarding access to information
concerning the composition or changes
to the Funds’ portfolios.26 Prior to the
23 According to the Exchange, several major
market data vendors display or make widely
available Portfolio Indicative Values taken from the
CTA or other data feeds.
24 These reasons may include: (1) the extent to
which trading is not occurring in the securities 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. The Exchange represents that it may
consider all relevant factors in exercising its
discretion to halt or suspend trading in the Shares
of a Fund.
25 See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D).
26 See supra note 7 and accompanying text. The
Exchange states that an investment adviser to an
open-end fund is required to be registered under the
PO 00000
Frm 00095
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
21985
commencement of trading, the Exchange
will inform its Equity Trading Permit
Holders in an Information Bulletin of
the special characteristics and risks
associated with trading the Shares.
FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange,27
will communicate as needed regarding
trading in the Shares, futures, exchangelisted options, and exchange-listed
investment company securities with
other markets and other entities that are
members of the Intermarket
Surveillance Group (‘‘ISG’’).28 The
Exchange also states that FINRA, on
behalf of the Exchange, may obtain
trading information regarding trading in
the Shares, futures, exchange-listed
options, and exchange-listed investment
company securities from such markets
and other entities. In addition, the
Exchange may obtain information
regarding trading in the Shares, futures,
exchange-listed options, and exchangelisted investment company securities
from markets and other entities that are
members of ISG or with which the
Exchange has in place a comprehensive
surveillance sharing agreement. FINRA,
on behalf of the Exchange, also is able
to access, as needed, trade information
for certain fixed-income securities held
by the Funds reported to FINRA’s
TRACE.
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. In support of this
proposal, the Exchange has made
representations, including:
(1) The Exchange has appropriate
rules to facilitate transactions in the
Shares during all trading sessions
(Opening, Core, and Late Trading
Sessions).
(2) The Shares will conform to the
initial and continuing listing criteria
under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600.
(3) Trading in the Shares will be
subject to the existing trading
surveillances, administered by FINRA
on behalf of the Exchange, which are
designed to detect violations of
Exchange rules and applicable federal
securities laws, and that these
procedures are adequate to properly
monitor Exchange trading of the Shares
in all trading sessions and to detect and
help deter violations of Exchange rules
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.
27 The Exchange states that FINRA surveils
trading on the Exchange pursuant to a regulatory
services agreement. The Exchange is responsible for
FINRA’s performance under this regulatory services
agreement.
28 For a list of the current members of ISG, see
www.isgportal.org.
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
18APN1
21986
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 75 / Friday, April 18, 2014 / Notices
mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
and federal securities laws applicable to
trading on the Exchange.
(4) Prior to the commencement of
trading, the Exchange will inform its
Equity Trading Permit Holders in an
Information Bulletin of the special
characteristics and risks associated with
trading the Shares. Specifically, the
Information Bulletin will discuss the
following: (a) the procedures for
purchases and redemptions of Shares in
creation unit aggregations (and that
Shares are not individually redeemable);
(b) NYSE Arca Equities Rule 9.2(a),
which imposes a duty of due diligence
on its Equity Trading Permit Holders to
learn the essential facts relating to every
customer prior to trading the Shares; (c)
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; (d) how
information regarding the Portfolio
Indicative Value is disseminated; (e) the
requirement that Equity Trading Permit
Holders deliver a prospectus to
investors purchasing newly issued
Shares prior to or concurrently with the
confirmation of a transaction; and (f)
trading information.
(5) For initial and continued listing,
the Funds will be in compliance with
Rule 10A–3 under the Exchange Act,29
as provided by NYSE Arca Equities Rule
5.3.
(6) Each Fund’s investments,
including derivatives, will be consistent
with its respective investment objective.
(7) A Fund may hold up to an
aggregate amount of 15% of its net
assets in illiquid investments
(calculated at the time of investment).
(8) A minimum of 100,000 Shares for
each Fund will be outstanding at the
commencement of trading on the
Exchange.
This approval order is based on all of
the Exchange’s representations,
including those set forth above and in
the Notice, and the Exchange’s
description of the Funds.
For the foregoing reasons, the
Commission finds that the proposed
rule change, as modified by Amendment
No. 1 thereto, is consistent with Section
6(b)(5) of the Act 30 and the rules and
regulations thereunder applicable to a
national securities exchange.
IV. Solicitation of Comments on
Amendment No. 1
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
29 17
30 15
CFR 240.10A–3.
U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:54 Apr 17, 2014
Jkt 232001
including whether Amendment No. 1 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–2013–144 on the subject
line.
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, Station Place, 100 F Street
NE., Washington, DC 20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–NYSEArc–2013–144. 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
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 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–2013–144 and
should be submitted on or before May
9, 2014.
V. Accelerated Approval of Proposed
Rule Change As Modified by
Amendment No. 1
The Commission finds good cause to
approve the proposed rule change, as
modified by Amendment No. 1, prior to
the thirtieth day after the date of
publication of notice in the Federal
Register. The proposed Amendment
PO 00000
Frm 00096
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
supplements the proposed rule change
by expanding the amount of disclosure
regarding the Funds’ holdings. The
Commission believes that this
additional information will benefit
market participants. Accordingly, the
Commission finds good cause, pursuant
to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,31 to
approve the proposed rule change, as
modified by Amendment No. 1, on an
accelerated basis.
VI. Conclusion
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to
Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,32 that the
proposed rule change (SR–NYSEArca–
2013–144), as modified by Amendment
No. 1 thereto, be, and it hereby is,
approved on an accelerated basis.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.33
Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014–08791 Filed 4–17–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–71941; File No. SR–BATS–
2014–011]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; BATS
Exchange, Inc.; Notice of Filing and
Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed
Rule Change Related to Fees for Use
of BATS Exchange, Inc.
April 14, 2014.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the
‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on April 1,
2014, BATS Exchange, Inc. (the
‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘BATS’’) filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule
change as described in Items I, II, and
III below, which Items have been
prepared by the Exchange. The
Exchange has designated the proposed
rule change as one establishing or
changing a member due, fee, or other
charge imposed by the Exchange under
Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act 3 and
Rule 19b–4(f)(2) thereunder,4 which
renders the proposed rule change
effective upon filing with the
Commission. The Commission is
publishing this notice to solicit
31 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
33 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
2 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
3 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
32 15
E:\FR\FM\18APN1.SGM
18APN1
Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 75 (Friday, April 18, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21981-21986]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-08791]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-71938; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2013-144]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing
of Amendment No. 1 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of a
Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, To List and Trade
Shares of the ETSpreads HY Long Credit Fund, the ETSpreads HY Short
Credit Fund, the ETSpreads IG Long Credit Fund, and the ETSpreads IG
Short Credit Fund Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600
April 14, 2014.
I. Introduction
On December 27, 2013, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``Exchange'' or ``NYSE
Arca'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``Commission''), pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'' or ``Exchange Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4
thereunder,\2\ a proposed rule change to list and trade shares
(``Shares'') of the ETSpreads HY Long Credit Fund, the ETSpreads HY
Short Credit Fund, the ETSpreads IG Long Credit Fund, and the ETSpreads
IG Short Credit Fund (each a ``Fund'' and, collectively, ``Funds'')
under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600. The proposed rule change was
published for comment in the Federal Register on January 15, 2014.\3\
On February 26, 2014, the Commission issued a notice of designation of
a longer period for Commission action on the proposed rule change.\4\
On April 11, 2014, the Exchange filed Amendment
[[Page 21982]]
No. 1 to the proposed rule change.\5\ The Commission received no
comments on the proposal. The Commission is publishing this notice to
solicit comments on Amendment No. 1 from interested persons, and is
approving the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1
thereto, on an accelerated basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
\3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 71266 (January 9,
2014), 79 FR 2705 (``Notice'').
\4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 71618, 79 FR 12254
(March 4, 2014). Pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, the
Commission determined that it was appropriate to designate a longer
period within which to take action on the proposed rule change.
Accordingly, the Commission designated April 15, 2014, as the date
by which the Commission should either approve or disapprove or
institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove the
proposed rule change.
\5\ In Amendment No. 1, the Exchange expands the information
that would be included in the Funds' Disclosed Portfolios.
Specifically, the investment adviser to the Funds would include the
following information (as applicable) in the Disclosed Portfolios,
which would be updated daily on the Funds' Web site: ticker symbol,
CUSIP number or other identifier, if any; a description of the
holding (including the type of holding, such as the type of swap);
the identity of the security, commodity, index, Reference
Entity(ies) or other asset or instrument underlying the holding, if
any; for options, the option strike price; quantity held (as
measured by, for example, par value, notional value or number of
shares, contracts or units); maturity date, if any; coupon rate, if
any; effective date, if any; market value of the holding; and the
percentage weighting of the holding in a Fund's portfolio.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. Description of the Proposal
The Exchange proposes to list and trade the Shares of each Fund
under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600, which governs the listing and
trading of Managed Fund Shares. The Shares will be offered by Exchange
Traded Spreads Trust (``Trust''), a statutory trust organized under the
laws of the State of Delaware and registered with the Commission as an
open-end management investment company.\6\ ETSpreads, LLC (``Adviser'')
is the investment adviser for each Fund and is a registered investment
adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (``Advisers Act'').
ALPS Distributors, Inc. will serve as the principal underwriter and
distributor for each Fund. The Exchange represents that the Adviser is
not registered as a broker-dealer, but is affiliated with a broker-
dealer and has implemented a ``fire wall'' with respect to such broker-
dealer regarding access to information concerning the composition or
changes to the Funds' portfolios.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\6\ The Trust is registered under the Investment Company Act of
1940 (``1940 Act''). According to the Exchange, on April 9, 2013,
the Trust filed with the Commission an amendment to the registration
statement for the Funds on Form N-1A under the Securities Act of
1933 and under the 1940 Act relating to the Funds (File Nos. 333-
148886 and 811-22177) (``Registration Statement''). The Exchange
also states that the Trust has obtained certain exemptive relief
from the Commission under the 1940 Act. See Investment Company Act
Release No. 30378 (February 5, 2013) (``Exemptive Order''). The
Exchange represents that the investments made by the Funds will
comply with the conditions set forth in the Exemptive Order.
\7\ See Commentary .06 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600. The
Exchange further represents that in the event (a) the Adviser
becomes newly affiliated with a broker-dealer, or (b) any new
adviser or sub-adviser, if any, is a registered broker-dealer or
becomes affiliated with a broker-dealer, it will implement a fire
wall with respect to its relevant personnel or its broker-dealer
affiliate regarding access to information concerning the composition
or changes to a portfolio, and will be subject to procedures
designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material, non-
public information regarding such portfolio.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange has made the following representations and statements
in describing the Funds and their respective investment strategies,
including other portfolio holdings and investment restrictions.\8\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\8\ The Commission notes that additional information regarding
the Trust, the Funds, and the Shares, including information on
swaps, in general, and credit default swaps (``CDS''), in
particular, methodology and construction of the Indices (as defined
below), investment strategies, risks, net asset value (``NAV'')
calculation, creation and redemption procedures, fees, portfolio
holdings, disclosure policies, distributions, and taxes, among other
information, is included in the Notice and the Registration
Statement, as applicable. See Notice and Registration Statement,
supra notes 3 and 6, respectively.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Description of the Funds
Each Fund will seek to provide exposure to a long or short position
with respect to a specific segment of the North American corporate
credit markets.\9\ The strategy of each of the Funds involves buying
and selling credit default swaps (``CDS'') to outperform, before fees
and expenses, either a long or short position tied to its benchmark
index. Currently, each Fund will use either the Markit CDX North
American Investment Grade 5-year Total Return Index or the Markit CDX
North American High Yield 5-year Total Return Index (each an ``Index''
or ``CDX Index,'' and collectively, ``Indices'') as its benchmark.\10\
None of the Funds will use leverage, and each Fund will maintain
sufficient assets at all times so that it can meet its payment, margin,
or other obligations without borrowing.\11\ While actual percentages
will vary, it is generally expected that less than 20% of a Fund's
assets will be in CDS and non-principal investments (as described
below), and the balance of a Fund's assets will be U.S. Treasury
securities, money market instruments, and cash.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\9\ With respect to a particular credit market, a ``long
position'' means that an investor expects that the issuers of debt
securities in a particular debt market will be able to meet their
obligations in accordance with the terms of such debt securities in
full and on-time. With respect to a particular credit market, a
``short position'' means that an investor expects there will be an
increased likelihood that the issuers of debt securities in a
particular debt market will not be able to meet their obligations in
accordance with the terms of such debt securities in full or on-
time.
\10\ The Markit CDX North American Investment Grade 5-year Total
Return Index is designed to track the credit quality of 125
investment grade North American debt issuers or the unsubordinated
debt obligations of such debt issuers. The Markit CDX North American
High Yield 5-year Total Return Index is designed to track the credit
quality of 100 high yield North American debt issuers or the
unsubordinated debt obligations of such debt issuers.
\11\ In general, no leverage means that, for each $100 million
of assets under management, the relevant Fund will be a net buyer or
seller (consistent with its investment objective) of protection on
$100 million.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Principal Investments
To meet its respective investment objective, under normal market
conditions,\12\ each Fund intends to invest substantially all of its
assets in: (1) CDS that are cleared by a clearing organization \13\ and
which are either (a) CDS index swaps, including swaps based on the CDX
Index (``CDX Index swaps''), based on multiple CDS relating to the debt
issued by different Reference Entities,\14\ or (b) ``Single Name CDS,''
which are CDS that relate only to the debt issued by a single Reference
Entity; \15\ (2) futures contracts based on CDS or other similar
futures contracts; and (3) obligations of, or those guaranteed by, the
United States government with a maturity of less than six years (``U.S.
Treasury securities''), money market instruments, and cash. Each of the
Funds' investments, including derivatives, will be consistent with its
investment objective.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\12\ The term ``under normal market conditions'' includes, but
is not limited to, the absence of extreme volatility or trading
halts in the fixed income markets or the financial markets
generally; events or circumstances causing a disruption in market
liquidity or orderly markets; 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.
\13\ The Funds intend to use ICE Clear Credit LLC and CME
Clearing as the clearing organizations for their cleared CDS. ICE
Clear Credit LLC is a subsidiary of the IntercontinentalExchange,
Inc. ICE Clear Credit LLC is registered with the Commodity Futures
Trading Commission (``CFTC'') as a clearing house for credit default
swaps, including CDX Index swaps. CME Clearing is a division of
Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. (``CME''), which is a subsidiary of
the CME Group Inc. CME is registered with the CFTC as a clearing
house for CDS, including CDX Index swaps.
\14\ The Exchange states that a ``Reference Entity'' is the
entity whose debt underlies a Single Name CDS. A Reference Entity
can be a corporation, government, or other legal entity that issues
debt of any kind. The Exchange also states that CDX Index swaps are
based on a particular index that includes Single Name CDS of several
Reference Entities.
\15\ Fund transactions in CDS cleared through a clearing
organization that have been designated by the CFTC or the Commission
as ``made available to trade'' will be executed on exchanges or on a
swap execution facility subject to CFTC or Commission oversight or
regulation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. ETSpreads IG Long Credit Fund
The investment objective of the Fund is to provide long exposure to
the credit of a diversified portfolio of North
[[Page 21983]]
American investment grade debt issuers. With respect to a particular
credit market, a ``long position'' means that an investor expects that
the issuers of debt securities in a particular debt market will be able
to meet their obligations in accordance with the terms of such debt
securities in full and on-time. The Fund will invest, under normal
market conditions, substantially all of its assets in (i) CDS cleared
by a clearing organization which are either (a) CDS index swaps based
on multiple CDS relating to the debt issued by different Reference
Entities, or (b) Single Name CDS based on CDS relating to the debt
issued by a single Reference Entity; (ii) futures contracts based on
CDS or other similar futures contracts; and (iii) U.S. Treasury
securities, money market instruments, and cash. In order to gain
exposure to the investment grade credit market, the Fund will normally
be a net protection seller under its CDS, and will be required to make
payments to the protection buyer when a specified adverse credit event
occurs relating to a Reference Entity.
If the Fund is successful in meeting its objective, its NAV should
generally increase when the North American investment grade credit
market is improving. Conversely, its NAV should generally decrease when
the North American investment grade credit market is deteriorating.
2. ETSpreads IG Short Credit Fund
The investment objective of the Fund is to provide short exposure
to the credit of a diversified portfolio of North American investment
grade debt issuers. The Fund will invest, under normal market
conditions, substantially all of its assets in (i) CDS cleared by a
clearing organization which are either (a) CDS index swaps based on
multiple CDS relating to the debt issued by different Reference
Entities, or (b) Single Name CDS based on CDS relating to the debt
issued by a single Reference Entity; (ii) futures contracts based on
CDS or other similar futures contracts; and (iii) U.S. Treasury
securities, money market instruments, and cash. To gain short exposure
to the investment grade credit market, the Fund will normally be a net
protection buyer under its CDS, and therefore will be required to make
the ongoing payments specified under such contracts that represent the
cost of purchasing protection from adverse credit events relating to a
Reference Entity.
If the Fund is successful in meeting its objective, its NAV should
generally decrease as the North American investment grade credit market
is improving. Conversely, its NAV should generally increase as the
North American investment grade credit market is deteriorating.
3. ETSpreads HY Long Credit Fund
The investment objective of the Fund is to provide long exposure to
the credit of a diversified portfolio of North American high yield debt
issuers. The Fund will invest, under normal market conditions,
substantially all of its assets in (i) CDS cleared by a clearing
organization which are either (a) CDS index swaps based on multiple CDS
relating to the debt issued by different Reference Entities, or (b)
Single Name CDS based on CDS relating to the debt issued by a single
Reference Entity; (ii) futures contracts based on CDS or other similar
futures contracts; and (iii) U.S. Treasury securities, money market
instruments, and cash. To gain exposure to the high yield credit
market, the Fund will normally be a net protection seller under its
CDS, i.e., it will be required to make payments to the protection buyer
when a specified adverse credit event occurs relating to a Reference
Entity.
If the Fund is successful in meeting its objective, its NAV should
generally increase when the North American high yield credit market is
rallying, which means that credit quality is improving and differences
or ``spreads'' between the returns on high yield debt securities
generally and the returns on debt securities with comparable maturities
that are essentially free of credit risk (such as U.S. Treasury
securities) are decreasing or ``tightening.'' Conversely, its NAV
should generally decrease when the North American high yield credit
market is falling (going down), credit quality is deteriorating, and
spreads are increasing or ``widening.''
4. ETSpreads HY Short Credit Fund
The investment objective of the Fund is to provide short exposure
to the credit of a diversified portfolio of North American high yield
debt issuers. The Fund will invest substantially all of its assets in
(i) CDS cleared by a clearing organization which are either (a) CDS
index swaps based on multiple CDS relating to the debt issued by
different Reference Entities, or (b) Single Name CDS based on CDS
relating to the debt issued by a single Reference Entity; (ii) futures
contracts based on CDS or other similar futures contracts; and (iii)
U.S. Treasury securities, money market instruments, and cash. To gain
short exposure to the high yield credit market, the Fund will normally
be a net protection buyer under its CDS, i.e., it will be required to
make the ongoing payments specified under such contracts that represent
the cost of purchasing protection from adverse credit events relating
to a Reference Entity.
If the Fund is successful in meeting its objective, its NAV should
generally decrease when the North American high yield credit market is
improving. Conversely, its NAV should generally increase as the North
American high yield credit market is deteriorating.
B. Non-Principal Investments of the Funds
While each Fund will invest, under normal market conditions,
substantially all of its assets as described above under each Fund's
principal investment strategies, each Fund may invest in, to the extent
that CDS cleared by a clearing organization are not available, fully
collateralized non-cleared CDS transactions,\16\ and (1) to the extent
available, options that are cleared through a clearing organization
regulated or subject to the oversight of the CFTC or the Commission
\17\ and (2) if options cleared through a clearing organization are not
available, fully collateralized non-cleared OTC options, in each case,
relating to the following: options on CDS, options on CDS futures,
options on CDS indexes and options on U.S. Treasury securities.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\16\ To reduce the credit risk that arises in connection with
investments in non-cleared swaps, each of the Funds generally will
enter into an agreement with each counterparty based on a Master
Agreement published by the International Swaps and Derivatives
Association, Inc. that provides for the netting of its overall
exposure to its counterparty. The Adviser will assess or review, as
appropriate, the creditworthiness of each potential or existing
counterparty to an over-the-counter (``OTC'') contract pursuant to
guidelines approved by the Adviser. Furthermore, the Adviser on
behalf of the Funds will only enter into OTC contracts with
counterparties who are, or are affiliates of, (a) banks regulated by
a United States federal bank regulator, (b) swap dealers or
securities based swap dealers regulated by the CFTC and/or the
Commission, (c) broker-dealers regulated by the Commission, or (d)
insurance companies domiciled in the United States. Existing
counterparties will be reviewed periodically by the Adviser. The
Funds also may require that the counterparty be highly rated or
provide collateral or other credit support.
\17\ Fund transactions in options cleared through a clearing
organization that have been designated by the CFTC or the Commission
as ``made available to trade'' will be executed by the Funds on an
exchange or on a swap execution facility subject to CFTC or
Commission oversight or regulation.
\18\ The Exchange states that each of the Funds' CDS
transactions, whether cleared or uncleared, and the options
described above will be subject to CFTC or Commission reporting,
including the reporting of detailed transaction data to swap data
repositories subject to CFTC or the Commission oversight or
regulation. According to the Exchange, all swap transaction data,
including data on options, will be available to the CFTC and the
Commission and certain bank or other regulators. In addition, with
certain exceptions (e.g., delays for large block trades), a portion
of each CDS transaction's data will be available to major market
data vendors on a real time, though anonymous, basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[[Page 21984]]
Each Fund also may utilize other types of swap agreements,
including but not limited to: total return swaps on debt, equity or CDS
or indexes relating to the foregoing; bond or corporate credit index
swaps; and interest rate swaps. A Fund may utilize these swap
agreements in an attempt to gain exposure to the investments used to
meet its investment objective in a market without actually purchasing
those investments, or to hedge a position.
Each Fund may invest in the securities of other investment
companies, consistent with the requirements of Section 12(d)(1) of the
1940 Act, or any rule, regulation or order of the Commission or
interpretation thereof.
Each Fund may enter into repurchase agreements with financial
institutions, which may be deemed to be loans. Each Fund follows
certain procedures designed to minimize the risks inherent in such
agreements. These procedures include effecting repurchase transactions
only with large, well-capitalized, and well-established financial
institutions whose condition will be continually monitored by the
Adviser. In addition, the value of the collateral underlying the
repurchase agreement will always be at least equal to the repurchase
price, including any accrued interest earned on the repurchase
agreement.
C. The Funds' Investment Restrictions
Each of the Funds may hold up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its
net assets in illiquid investments (calculated at the time of
investment) in accordance with Commission staff guidance. The Funds
will monitor their portfolio liquidity on an ongoing basis to determine
whether, in light of current circumstances, an adequate level of
liquidity is being maintained, and will take appropriate steps in order
to maintain adequate liquidity if, through a change in values, net
assets, or other circumstances, more than 15% of a Fund's net assets
are held in illiquid investments. Illiquid investments include
investments subject to contractual or other restrictions on resale and
other instruments that lack readily available markets as determined in
accordance with Commission staff guidance.
The Funds will not invest in any equity securities except for
investment company securities, and will be non-diversified, which means
that a Fund may invest its assets in a smaller number of issuers than a
diversified fund. In addition, the Funds intend to invest only in
futures contracts traded on exchanges that are subject to CFTC or
Commission oversight or regulation.
III. Discussion and Commission Findings
After careful review, the Commission finds that the Exchange's
proposal to list and trade the Shares is consistent with the Exchange
Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a national
securities exchange.\19\ In particular, the Commission finds that the
proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1 thereto, is
consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act,\20\ which
requires, among other things, that the Exchange's rules be designed to
promote just and equitable principles of trade, to remove impediments
to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national
market system, and, in general, to protect investors and the public
interest. The Commission notes that the Funds and the Shares must
comply with the requirements of NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600 for the
Shares to be listed and traded on the Exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\19\ In approving this proposed rule change, the Commission has
considered the proposed rule's impact on efficiency, competition,
and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
\20\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Commission finds that the proposal to list and trade the Shares
on the Exchange is consistent with Section 11A(a)(1)(C)(iii) of the
Exchange Act,\21\ which sets forth Congress' finding that it is in the
public interest and appropriate for the protection of investors and the
maintenance of fair and orderly markets to assure the availability to
brokers, dealers, and investors of information with respect to
quotations for and transactions in securities. Quotation and last-sale
information for the Shares and exchange-traded investment company
securities will be available via the Consolidated Tape Association
(``CTA'') high-speed line. 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\21\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1(a)(1)(C)(iii).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Commission also believes that the proposal to list and trade
the Shares is reasonably designed to promote fair disclosure of
information that may be necessary to price the Shares appropriately and
to prevent trading when a reasonable degree of transparency cannot be
assured. On each business day, before commencement of trading in Shares
in the Core Trading Session (9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on
the Exchange, the Funds will disclose on their Web site the Disclosed
Portfolio, as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(c)(2), that will
form the basis for the Funds' calculation of NAV at the end of the
business day.\22\ The Web site information will be publicly available
at no charge. The NAV per Share of each Fund will be calculated by The
Bank of New York Mellon and determined as of the close of regular
trading on the Exchange (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time) on each day
that the Exchange is open. 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
According to the Exchange, market participants, particularly large
institutional investors, regularly receive executable and indicative
quotations on CDS from dealers. In addition, intra-day and end-of-day
prices for all Single Name CDS, CDS index swaps, or other financial
instruments held by a Fund will be available through major market data
vendors or broker-dealers or on the exchanges on which they are traded.
Major market vendors which provide intra-day and end-of-day prices for
both Single Name CDS and CDS index swaps include Markit, Credit Market
Analysis Ltd., and Bloomberg L.P. Bloomberg L.P., Thomson Reuters
Corporation, and similar data vendors provide intra-day and end-of-day
pricing data for U.S. Treasury securities and money market instruments.
Exchanges which provide intraday and end-of-day prices for futures and
options on futures include ICE Futures and CME Group. Broker-dealers
provide intraday and end-of-day prices for non-cleared swaps and
options, including options on Single Name CDS and options on CDS index
swaps.
The Exchange further states that ICE Clear Credit LLC and CME
Clearing provide daily price and transaction information for swaps that
it or its affiliate clears by subscription to its members and other
market participants.
[[Page 21985]]
Additionally, pricing intraday regarding various CDS index swaps is
provided free to the public, with a fifteen minute delay, on the Markit
Web site (https://source.markit.com). Daily trading volume of cleared
swaps transacted via the ICE Clear Credit LLC and CME Clearing clearing
organizations is also available through their respective Web sites.
According to the Exchange, another source of intra-day information
about Single Name CDS prices is the market for OTC corporate bonds on
which the CDS are based. Because CDS represent the credit risk
component of corporate bonds, and the effect of interest rate changes
on the prices of corporate bonds is readily calculable, market
professionals are able to obtain substantial information about the
intra-day value of CDS based on data on the intra-day value of the
underlying corporate bonds (short-term variations between the bond and
CDS markets do arise, and may occur more frequently when such markets
are volatile). One source of bond price information is the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority's (``FINRA'') Trace Reporting and
Compliance System (``TRACE''). TRACE reports executed prices on
corporate bonds, including high-yield bond transactions. TRACE reported
prices are available without charge on the FINRA Web site on a ``real
time'' basis (subject to a fifteen minute delay) and also are available
by subscription from various information providers. In addition,
authorized participants and other market participants, particularly
those that regularly deal or trade in corporate bonds, have access to
intra-day corporate bond prices from a variety of sources other than
TRACE, such as Thomson Reuters, Interactive Data and MarketAxess.
The Exchange states that the intraday, closing, and settlement
prices of U.S. Treasury securities, money market instruments, and
repurchase agreements will be readily available from published or other
public sources, or major market data vendors such as Bloomberg and
Thomson Reuters. Price information regarding exchange-traded options is
available from the exchanges on which such instruments are traded and
from Market Data Express's (an affiliate of Chicago Board Options
Exchange) Customized Option Pricing Service. Price information
regarding OTC options is available from major market data vendors.
Intra-day and closing price information for shares of exchange-listed
investment company securities are available from the exchange on which
such securities are principally traded and from major market data
vendors. The NAV of any investment company security investment will be
readily available on the Web site of the relevant investment company
and from major market data vendors. Major market data vendors also
provide intra-day and end-of-day prices for total return swaps, bond,
or corporate credit index swaps, and interest rate swaps.
The Exchange states that the Portfolio Indicative Value of the
Funds, 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 the Core Trading Session.\23\ In addition, the
Web site for the Funds will include a form of the prospectus for the
Funds and additional data relating to NAV and other applicable
quantitative information. The Exchange represents that 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,\24\ 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ According to the Exchange, several major market data
vendors display or make widely available Portfolio Indicative Values
taken from the CTA or other data feeds.
\24\ These reasons may include: (1) the extent to which trading
is not occurring in the securities 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. The Exchange represents
that it may consider all relevant factors in exercising its
discretion to halt or suspend trading in the Shares of a Fund.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Exchange states that it has a general policy prohibiting the
distribution of material, non-public information by its employees. The
Commission notes that, consistent with NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600(d)(2)(B)(ii), the Reporting Authority, must implement and
maintain, or be subject to, procedures designed to prevent the use and
dissemination of material, non-public information regarding the actual
components of each Fund's portfolio.\25\ The Exchange states that the
Adviser has implemented a ``fire wall'' with respect to its broker-
dealer affiliate regarding access to information concerning the
composition or changes to the Funds' portfolios.\26\ Prior to the
commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform its Equity Trading
Permit Holders in an Information Bulletin of the special
characteristics and risks associated with trading the Shares. FINRA, on
behalf of the Exchange,\27\ will communicate as needed regarding
trading in the Shares, futures, exchange-listed options, and exchange-
listed investment company securities with other markets and other
entities that are members of the Intermarket Surveillance Group
(``ISG'').\28\ The Exchange also states that FINRA, on behalf of the
Exchange, may obtain trading information regarding trading in the
Shares, futures, exchange-listed options, and exchange-listed
investment company securities from such markets and other entities. In
addition, the Exchange may obtain information regarding trading in the
Shares, futures, exchange-listed options, and exchange-listed
investment company securities from markets and other entities that are
members of ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a comprehensive
surveillance sharing agreement. FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, also
is able to access, as needed, trade information for certain fixed-
income securities held by the Funds reported to FINRA's TRACE.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D).
\26\ See supra note 7 and accompanying text. The Exchange states
that an investment adviser to an open-end fund is required to be
registered under the 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.
\27\ The Exchange states that FINRA surveils trading on the
Exchange pursuant to a regulatory services agreement. The Exchange
is responsible for FINRA's performance under this regulatory
services agreement.
\28\ For a list of the current members of ISG, see
www.isgportal.org.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. In support of this
proposal, the Exchange has made representations, including:
(1) The Exchange has appropriate rules to facilitate transactions
in the Shares during all trading sessions (Opening, Core, and Late
Trading Sessions).
(2) The Shares will conform to the initial and continuing listing
criteria under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600.
(3) Trading in the Shares will be subject to the existing trading
surveillances, administered by FINRA on behalf of the Exchange, which
are designed to detect violations of Exchange rules and applicable
federal securities laws, and that these procedures are adequate to
properly monitor Exchange trading of the Shares in all trading sessions
and to detect and help deter violations of Exchange rules
[[Page 21986]]
and federal securities laws applicable to trading on the Exchange.
(4) Prior to the commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform
its Equity Trading Permit Holders in an Information Bulletin of the
special characteristics and risks associated with trading the Shares.
Specifically, the Information Bulletin will discuss the following: (a)
the procedures for purchases and redemptions of Shares in creation unit
aggregations (and that Shares are not individually redeemable); (b)
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 9.2(a), which imposes a duty of due diligence
on its Equity Trading Permit Holders to learn the essential facts
relating to every customer prior to trading the Shares; (c) 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; (d) how information regarding the
Portfolio Indicative Value is disseminated; (e) the requirement that
Equity Trading Permit Holders deliver a prospectus to investors
purchasing newly issued Shares prior to or concurrently with the
confirmation of a transaction; and (f) trading information.
(5) For initial and continued listing, the Funds will be in
compliance with Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act,\29\ as provided by
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\29\ 17 CFR 240.10A-3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(6) Each Fund's investments, including derivatives, will be
consistent with its respective investment objective.
(7) A Fund may hold up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net
assets in illiquid investments (calculated at the time of investment).
(8) A minimum of 100,000 Shares for each Fund will be outstanding
at the commencement of trading on the Exchange.
This approval order is based on all of the Exchange's
representations, including those set forth above and in the Notice, and
the Exchange's description of the Funds.
For the foregoing reasons, the Commission finds that the proposed
rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1 thereto, is consistent with
Section 6(b)(5) of the Act \30\ and the rules and regulations
thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\30\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. Solicitation of Comments on Amendment No. 1
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether Amendment No. 1
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-2013-144 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities
and Exchange Commission, Station Place, 100 F Street NE., Washington,
DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEArc-2013-144. 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 10:00 a.m. and
3:00 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-2013-144
and should be submitted on or before May 9, 2014.
V. Accelerated Approval of Proposed Rule Change As Modified by
Amendment No. 1
The Commission finds good cause to approve the proposed rule
change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, prior to the thirtieth day
after the date of publication of notice in the Federal Register. The
proposed Amendment supplements the proposed rule change by expanding
the amount of disclosure regarding the Funds' holdings. The Commission
believes that this additional information will benefit market
participants. Accordingly, the Commission finds good cause, pursuant to
Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,\31\ to approve the proposed rule change,
as modified by Amendment No. 1, on an accelerated basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\31\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
VI. Conclusion
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the
Act,\32\ that the proposed rule change (SR-NYSEArca-2013-144), as
modified by Amendment No. 1 thereto, be, and it hereby is, approved on
an accelerated basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\32\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\33\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\33\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-08791 Filed 4-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P