Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Amendments No. 2 and No. 3 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendments No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 To List and Trade Shares of Fidelity® Corporate Bond ETF Managed Shares Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600, 36361-36365 [2014-14939]
Download as PDF
Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 123 / Thursday, June 26, 2014 / Notices
assess the related market risk and
impact on firms’ liquidity and funding
needs arising from inventory holdings.
5. Alternatives to Proposed SIS
One commenter offered an alternative
to the proposed SIS.36 The commenter
suggested that ‘‘FINRA should offer
firms the ability to report the dollar
amounts to which each haircut category
applies.’’ 37 The commenter believed
that ‘‘[t]he haircut category is so much
more relevant than the issuer type or
even whether the haircut is on a long or
short position.’’ 38 FINRA disagrees with
the commenter and believes that for
purposes of understanding market risk
associated with firms’ inventory
positions, issuer type is more
appropriate than haircut category. For
example, an equity security has
different market risk than certain highyield bonds; however, both types of
securities can be in the same haircut
category. Therefore, FINRA believes that
obtaining information regarding the
actual makeup of a firm’s inventory
positions is best achieved through the
proposed SIS.
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:
Paper Comments
• Send paper comments to Secretary,
Securities and Exchange Commission,
100 F Street NE., Washington, DC
20549–1090.
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–FINRA–2014–025. 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 such filing also will be
available for inspection and copying at
the principal office of FINRA. All
comments received will be posted
without change; the Commission does
not edit personal identifying
information from submissions. You
should submit only information that
you wish to make available publicly. All
submissions should refer to File
Number SR–FINRA–2014–025 and
should be submitted on or before July
17, 2014.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.39
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014–14942 Filed 6–25–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
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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–
FINRA–2014–025 on the subject line.
36 IMS.
37 IMS.
38 IMS.
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–72439; File No. SR–
NYSEArca–2014–47]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE
Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of
Amendments No. 2 and No. 3 and
Order Granting Accelerated Approval
of a Proposed Rule Change, as
Modified by Amendments No. 1, No. 2,
and No. 3 To List and Trade Shares of
Fidelity® Corporate Bond ETF
Managed Shares Under NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.600
June 20, 2014.
I. Introduction
On April 16, 2014, NYSE Arca, Inc.
(‘‘Exchange’’ or ‘‘NYSE Arca’’) filed
with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant
to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Exchange
Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3 a
proposed rule change to list and trade
shares (‘‘Shares’’) of the Fidelity
Corporate Bond ETF (‘‘Fund’’). On April
30, 2014, the Exchange filed
Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule
change, which amended and replaced
the proposed rule change in its
entirety.4 The proposed rule change, as
modified by Amendment No. 1, was
published for comment in the Federal
Register on May 1, 2014.5 On June 16,
2014, the Exchange filed Amendment
No. 2 to the proposed rule change.6 On
June 19, 2014, the Exchange filed
Amendment No. 3 to the proposed rule
change.7 The Commission received no
1 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
U.S.C. 78a.
3 17 CFR 240.19b–4.
4 Amendment No. 1 replaced SR–NYSEArca–
2014–47 as originally filed and supersedes such
filing in its entirety.
5 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 72068
(May 1, 2014), 79 FR 25923 (‘‘Notice’’).
6 In Amendment No. 2, the Exchange: (1) Clarified
its description of the reference assets that may
underlie the derivative investments held by the
Fund; (2) deleted a representation that the Fund’s
investments in preferred securities are generally not
expected to be exchange-listed, thus making clearer
that the Fund may invest in both exchange-listed
and non-exchange-listed preferred securities; (3)
clarified that information regarding only U.S.
exchange-listed options is available via the Options
Price Reporting Authority (‘‘OPRA’’); and (4)
corrected its characterization of investments such as
swaps, forwards and currency-related derivatives by
referring to them as ‘‘OTC-traded derivative
instruments’’ rather than as ‘‘OTC-traded derivative
securities.’’
7 In Amendment No. 3, the Exchange: (1)
Expanded the list of reference assets underlying the
futures contracts which the Fund may hold to
include both rates and indexes of rates; (2) added
that futures contracts currently overlie both rates
and indexes of rates; and (3) deleted an unnecessary
2 15
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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comments on the proposal. The
Commission is publishing this notice to
solicit comments on Amendments No. 2
and No. 3 (collectively, ‘‘Amendments’’)
from interested persons and is
approving the proposed rule change, as
modified by Amendments No. 1, No. 2,
and No. 3, on an accelerated basis.
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II. Description of the Proposed Rule
Change
The Exchange has proposed to list
and trade the Shares under NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.600, which governs the
listing and trading of Managed Fund
Shares on the Exchange. The Shares will
be offered by Fidelity Merrimack Street
Trust (‘‘Trust’’). The Trust is registered
with the Commission as an open-end
management investment company.8
Fidelity Management & Research
Company (‘‘FMR’’) will be the Fund’s
manager (‘‘Manager’’). Fidelity
Investments Money Management, Inc.
(‘‘FIMM’’) and other investment
advisers, as described below, will serve
as sub-advisers for the Fund (‘‘SubAdvisers’’). FIMM will have day-to-day
responsibility for choosing investments
for the Fund. FIMM is an affiliate of
FMR. Other investment advisers, which
also are affiliates of FMR, will assist
FMR with foreign investments,
including Fidelity Management &
Research (U.K.) Inc. (‘‘FMR U.K.’’),
Fidelity Management & Research (Hong
Kong) Limited (‘‘FMR H.K.’’), and
Fidelity Management & Research (Japan)
Inc. (‘‘FMR Japan’’). Fidelity
Distributors Corporation (‘‘FDC’’) will
be the distributor for the Fund’s Shares.
The Exchange represents that the
Manager and the Sub-Advisers are not
broker-dealers but are affiliated with
one or more broker-dealers and have
implemented a firewall with respect to
such broker-dealers regarding access to
information concerning the composition
of or changes to the Fund’s portfolio and
will be subject to procedures designed
to prevent the use and dissemination of
material non-public information
regarding the Fund’s portfolio.9
reference to other entities in which the Fund may
invest.
8 The Trust is registered under the 1940 Act. On
April 17, 2014, the Trust filed with the Commission
an amendment to its registration statement on Form
N–1A under the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C.
77a) (‘‘1933 Act’’) and the 1940 Act relating to the
Fund (File Nos. 333–186372 and 811–22796)
(‘‘Registration Statement’’). The description of the
operation of the Trust and the Fund 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.
30513 (May 10, 2013) (‘‘Exemptive Order’’) (File
No. 812–14104).
9 See Commentary .06 to NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.600. The Exchange represents that in the
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The Exchange has made the following
representations and statements
regarding the Fund.10
Fidelity Corporate Bond ETF
The Fund will seek a high level of
current income and normally 11 and will
invest at least 80% of its assets in
investment-grade corporate bonds and
other corporate debt securities. The
Fund may hold uninvested cash or may
invest in cash equivalents such as
money market securities, shares of
short-term bond exchanged-traded
funds registered under the 1940 Act
(‘‘ETFs’’),12 or mutual funds or money
market funds, including Fidelity central
funds (which are special types of
investment vehicles created by Fidelity
for use by the Fidelity funds and other
advisory clients).13 FMR also may invest
the Fund’s assets in debt securities of
foreign issuers in addition to securities
of domestic issuers.
Other Investments
While FMR normally will invest at
least 80% of assets of the Fund in
investment-grade corporate bonds and
other corporate debt securities, as
described above, FMR may invest up to
20% of the Fund’s assets in other
event (a) the Manager or any of the Sub-Advisers
become registered as a broker-dealer or become
newly affiliated with a broker-dealer, or (b) any new
adviser or sub-adviser is a registered broker-dealer
or becomes affiliated with a broker-dealer, they will
implement a firewall with respect to their relevant
personnel or broker-dealer affiliate regarding access
to information concerning the composition of or
changes to the portfolio and will be subject to
procedures designed to prevent the use and
dissemination of material non-public information
regarding such portfolio.
10 Additional information regarding the Trust, the
Fund, the Shares, investment strategies, investment
restrictions, 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 5 and 8,
respectively.
11 The term ‘‘normally’’ includes, but is not
limited to, the absence of adverse market,
economic, political, or other conditions, including
extreme volatility or trading halts in the fixedincome markets or the financial markets generally;
operational issues causing dissemination of
inaccurate market information; or force-majeuretype events such as systems failure, natural or manmade disaster, act of God, armed conflict, act of
terrorism, riot, labor disruption, or any similar
intervening circumstance.
12 ETFs, 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)); Portfolio Depositary
Receipts (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.100); and Managed Fund Shares (as described in
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600). See Notice, supra
note 5, at 25924.
13 It is currently expected that the Fund will only
invest in central funds that are money market
funds. See id.
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securities and financial instruments, as
summarized below.14
In addition to corporate debt
securities, the debt securities in which
the Fund may invest are U.S.
Government securities; repurchase
agreements and reverse repurchase
agreements; mortgage- and other assetbacked securities; loans; loan
participations, loan assignments, and
other evidences of indebtedness,
including letters of credit, revolving
credit facilities, and other standby
financing commitments; structured
securities; stripped securities;
municipal securities; sovereign debt
obligations; obligations of international
agencies or supranational entities; and
other securities believed to have debtlike characteristics, including hybrid
securities, which may offer
characteristics similar to those of a bond
security such as stated maturity and
preference over equity in bankruptcy.
(The securities described in the
preceding sentence, along with
corporate debt securities, are
collectively referred to herein as ‘‘Debt
Securities’’.)
The Fund may invest in securities of
other investment companies, including
shares of ETFs registered under the 1940
Act, closed-end investment companies
(which include business development
companies), unit investment trusts, and
open-end investment companies. In
addition, the Fund may invest in other
exchange-traded products (‘‘ETPs’’)
such as commodity pools.15 It is
anticipated that the Fund’s investments
in other ETFs and ETPs will generally
be limited to fixed-income ETFs and
ETPs.
The Fund may invest in inverse ETFs
(also called ‘‘short ETFs’’ or ‘‘bear
ETFs’’), shares of which are expected to
increase in value as the value of the
underlying benchmark decreases.
The Fund also may invest in
leveraged ETFs, which seek to deliver
multiples or inverse multiples of the
performance of an index or other
benchmark they track and which use
derivatives in an effort to amplify the
returns of the underlying index or
benchmark.
The Fund may invest in exchangetraded notes (‘‘ETNs’’), which are a type
of senior, unsecured, unsubordinated
debt security that is issued by a
financial institution and that pays a
return based on the performance of a
reference asset. It is anticipated that the
14 The Fund’s holdings of investment-grade
corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities
are generally expected to be U.S. dollar
denominated. See id.
15 See Amendment No. 3, supra note 7.
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Fund’s investments in other ETNs will
generally be limited to fixed-income
ETNs. The Fund may invest in
leveraged ETNs.
The Fund may invest in American
Depositary Receipts (‘‘ADRs’’) as well as
other ‘‘hybrid’’ forms of ADRs,
including European Depositary Receipts
(‘‘EDRs’’) and Global Depositary
Receipts (‘‘GDRs’’), which are
certificates evidencing ownership of
shares of a foreign issuer.16
FMR may make investments in
derivatives—regardless of whether the
Fund may own the asset, instrument, or
components of the index underlying the
derivative, as applicable (e.g., a swap
based on the Barclays U.S. Credit Bond
Index)—and in forward-settling
securities. The Fund’s derivative
investments, as described further below,
may reference: Corporate debt
securities; Debt Securities; rates;
currencies; commodities; indexes
related to corporate debt securities, Debt
Securities, rates, currencies, securities
prices, or commodities prices; specific
assets or securities or baskets thereof; a
basket of issuers or assets or an index
of assets; a benchmark, asset class, or
designated security or interest-rate
indicator; or futures contracts (including
commodity futures contracts).
The Fund may conduct foreign
currency transactions on a spot (i.e.,
cash) or forward basis (i.e., by entering
into forward contracts to purchase or
sell foreign currencies). The Fund may
invest in options and futures relating to
foreign currencies.
The Fund may invest in exchangelisted futures. The exchange-listed
futures contracts in which the Fund
may invest will have various types of
underlying instruments, including
specific assets or securities, baskets of
assets or securities, commodities or
commodities indexes, indexes of
securities prices, indexes of rates, or
rates.17
The Fund may invest in U.S.
exchange-traded option, as well as overthe-counter (‘‘OTC’’) options. The OTC
options in which the Fund may invest
will have various types of underlying
instruments, including specific assets or
securities, baskets of assets or securities,
indexes of securities or commodities
prices, and futures contracts (including
commodity futures contracts). To the
extent that the Fund invests in OTC
options, not more than 10% of the net
assets of the Fund in the aggregate shall
16 The Fund will invest only in ADRs, EDRs and
GDRs that are traded on an exchange that is a
member of the Intermarket Surveillance Group
(‘‘ISG’’) or with which the Exchange has in place
a comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement.
17 See Amendment No. 3, supra note 7.
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Jkt 232001
consist of futures contracts or exchangetraded options contracts whose
principal market is not a member of ISG
or is a market with which the Exchange
does not have a comprehensive
surveillance sharing agreement.
The Fund may also buy and sell
options on swaps (swaptions), which
are generally options on interest-rate
swaps. The Fund may hold swap
agreements, a portion of which may be
cleared swaps. The Fund may enter
into, among other things, interest rate
swaps (where the parties exchange a
floating rate for a fixed rate), asset swaps
(e.g., where parties combine the
purchase or sale of a bond with an
interest rate swap), total return swaps,
and credit default swaps.
The Fund may invest in lower-quality
Debt Securities. Lower-quality Debt
Securities include all types of debt
instruments, including debt securities of
foreign issuers, that have poor
protection with respect to the payment
of interest and repayment of principal,
and they may be in default.
The Fund may invest in preferred
securities. Preferred securities, which
may take the form of preferred stock,
represent an equity or ownership
interest in an issuer that pays dividends
at a specified rate and have precedence
over common stock in the payment of
dividends.
The Fund may invest in real estate
investment trusts (‘‘REITS’’). The Fund
may invest in exchange-listed and nonexchange-listed REITs.
The Fund may invest in restricted
securities, which are subject to legal
restrictions on their sale.
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.18 In
particular, the Commission finds that
the proposed rule change, as modified
by Amendments No. 1, No. 2, and No.
3, is consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of
the Exchange Act,19 which requires,
among other things, that the Exchange’s
rules be 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 a national market
system, and, in general, to protect
18 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).
19 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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36363
investors and the public interest. The
Commission notes that the Fund and the
Shares must comply with the
requirements of NYSE Arca Equities
Rule 8.600 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,20
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
underlying equity securities that are
U.S. exchange listed—including ETFs,
ETPs, ETNs, and ADRs; exchange-traded
REITs; exchange-traded preferred
securities; and exchange-traded
convertible securities—will be available
via the Consolidated Tape Association
(‘‘CTA’’) high speed line. Quotation and
last-sale information for U.S. exchangelisted securities and futures will be
available from the exchange on which
they are listed. Quotation and last-sale
information for U.S. exchange-listed
options will be available via the
OPRA.21
Quotation information for OTCTraded Securities, OTC-traded
derivative instruments (such as options,
swaps, forwards, and currency-related
derivatives), and investment company
securities (excluding ETFs), may be
obtained from brokers and dealers who
make markets in such instruments or
through nationally recognized pricing
services through subscription
agreements.22 The U.S. dollar value of
foreign securities, instruments, and
currencies can be derived by using
foreign currency exchange rate
quotations obtained from nationally
recognized pricing services.
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.23 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.24
In addition, the Portfolio Indicative
Value, as defined in NYSE Arca Equities
20 15
U.S.C. 78k–1(a)(1)(C)(iii).
Amendment No. 2, supra note 6.
22 See id.
23 See Notice, supra note 5, 79 FR at 25930.
24 See id.
21 See
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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.25 The dissemination of the
Portfolio Indicative Value, together with
the Disclosed Portfolio, will allow
investors to determine the approximate
value of the underlying portfolio of the
Fund on a daily basis and will provide
a close estimate of that value throughout
the trading day.26
The net asset value (‘‘NAV’’) of the
Fund for the Shares will be calculated
after 4:00 p.m. Eastern time each trading
day.27 The Trust’s Web site
(www.fidelity.com), which will be
publicly available, will include a form
of the prospectus for the Fund that may
be downloaded. The Trust’s Web site
will include additional quantitative
information updated on a daily basis,
including, on a per Share basis for the
Fund, (a) the prior business day’s NAV
and the market closing price or, if that
is unavailable, the mid-point of the bid/
ask spread at the time of calculation of
such NAV (the ‘‘Bid/Ask Price’’),28 and
(b) a calculation of the premium or
discount of the market closing price or,
if that is unavailable, the Bid/Ask Price
against the NAV.
Further, the Commission 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.
Eastern time to 4:00 p.m. Eastern time)
on the Exchange, the Fund will disclose
on the Trust’s Web site the Disclosed
Portfolio, as defined in NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 8.600(c)(2), that will form
the basis for the Fund’s calculation of
NAV at the end of the business day.29
25 Several major market data vendors display or
make widely available Portfolio Indicative Values
taken from the CTA or other data feeds. See id. at
25931.
26 See id.
27 See id. at 25931–32.
28 The Bid/Ask Price of the Fund’s Shares will be
determined using the mid-point of the highest bid
and the lowest offer on the Exchange as of the time
of calculation of the Fund’s NAV. The records
relating to Bid/Ask Prices will be retained by the
Fund and its service providers.
29 See id. at 25930. On a daily basis, the Fund will
disclose for each portfolio security and other
financial instrument of the Fund the following
information: ticker symbol (if applicable), name of
security or financial instrument, number of shares
(if applicable) and dollar value of each of the
securities and financial instruments held in the
portfolio, and percentage weighting of the security
and financial instrument in the portfolio. The Web
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The Commission notes that 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.30
In addition, the Fund will make
available through the NSCC on each
business day, prior to the opening of
trading on the NYSE (currently 9:30
a.m. Eastern time), the list of the names
and the required number of shares of
each Deposit Security and the amount of
the Cash Component (or Cash Deposit)
to be included in the current Portfolio
Deposit (based on information at the
end of the previous business day) for the
Fund.31 The Portfolio Deposit will be
applicable, subject to any adjustments,
in order to effect purchases of Creation
Units until such time as the nextannounced Portfolio Deposit
composition is made available.32
Further, the Commission notes that
personnel who make decisions on the
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.33
The Exchange represents that the
Manager and the Sub-Advisers are not
broker-dealers but are affiliated with
one or more broker-dealers and have
implemented a firewall with respect to
such broker-dealers regarding access to
information concerning the composition
of or changes to the Fund’s portfolio and
will be subject to procedures designed
to prevent the use and dissemination of
material non-public information
regarding the Fund’s portfolio.34 The
Exchange also has a general policy
prohibiting the distribution of material,
non-public information by its
employees.
With respect to trading halts, the
Exchange may consider all relevant
factors in exercising its discretion to
halt or suspend trading in the Shares.35
Trading in Shares will be halted if the
circuit breaker parameters in NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 7.12 have been reached.
site information will be publicly available at no
charge. Under accounting procedures followed by
the Fund, trades made on the prior business day
(‘‘T’’) will be booked and reflected in NAV on the
current business day (‘‘T+1’’). Accordingly, the
Fund 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. See id.
30 See id. at 25931.
31 See id. at 25929.
32 See id.
33 See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(B)(ii).
34 See supra note 9 and accompanying text.
35 See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12.
PO 00000
Frm 00079
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
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 or the
financial instruments constituting the
Disclosed Portfolio of the 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
may be halted.
The Exchange has represented that
the Shares are deemed to be equity
securities, thus rendering trading in the
Shares subject to the Exchange’s rules
governing the trading of equity
securities.36
In support of this proposal, the
Exchange has made additional
representations, including:
(1) The Shares will conform to the
initial and continuing listing criteria
under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600.
(2) The Exchange’s surveillance
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.37
(3) FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange,
will communicate as needed regarding
trading in the Shares and underlying
exchange-traded options, futures,
exchange-traded equity securities
(including ADRs, EDRs, and GDRs), and
other exchange-traded instruments with
other markets and other entities that are
members of the ISG, and FINRA, on
behalf of the Exchange, may obtain
trading information regarding trading in
the Shares and underlying exchangetraded options, futures, exchange-traded
equity securities (including ADRs,
EDRs, and GDRs), and other exchangetraded instruments from such markets
and other entities. In addition, the
Exchange may obtain information
regarding trading in the Shares and
underlying exchange-traded options,
futures, exchange-traded equity
securities (including ADRs, EDRs, and
GDRs), and other exchange-traded
instruments from markets and other
entities that are members of ISG or with
which the Exchange has in place a
comprehensive surveillance sharing
agreement. In addition, FINRA, on
36 See
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(C)(ii).
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
(‘‘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. See
Notice, supra note 5, 79 FR at 25931.
37 The
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behalf of the Exchange, is able to access,
as needed, trade information for certain
fixed-income securities held by the
Fund reported to FINRA’s Trade
Reporting and Compliance Engine.
(4) The Exchange has appropriate
rules to facilitate transactions in the
Shares during all trading sessions.
(5) Prior to the commencement of
trading, the Exchange will inform its
Equity Trading Permit 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 Equity Trading Permit 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 Equity Trading Permit
Holders deliver a prospectus to
investors purchasing newly issued
Shares prior to or concurrently with the
confirmation of a transaction; and (6)
trading information.
(6) For initial and continued listing,
the Fund will be in compliance with
Rule 10A–3 under the Exchange Act,38
as provided by NYSE Arca Equities Rule
5.3.39
(7) The Fund’s investments will be
consistent with its investment objective.
(8) The Fund may hold up to an
aggregate amount of 15% of its net
assets in illiquid assets (calculated at
the time of investment), including Rule
144A securities deemed illiquid by the
Manager or Sub-Advisers. The Fund
will monitor its portfolio liquidity on an
ongoing basis to determine whether, in
light of current circumstances, an
adequate level of liquidity is being
maintained, and will consider taking
appropriate steps in order to maintain
adequate liquidity if, through a change
in values, net assets, or other
circumstances, more than 15% of the
Fund’s net assets are held in illiquid
assets.
(9) A minimum of 100,000 Shares will
be outstanding at the commencement of
trading on the Exchange.
38 17
CFR 240.10A–3.
Notice, supra note 5, 79 FR at 25931.
39 See
VerDate Mar<15>2010
16:51 Jun 25, 2014
Jkt 232001
This order is based on all of the
Exchange’s representations, including
those set forth above and in the Notice.
For the foregoing reasons, the
Commission finds that the proposed
rule change is consistent with the
Exchange Act.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning whether the
Amendments are 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–2014–47 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–NYSEArca–2014–47. 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–2014–47, and should be
submitted on or before July 17, 2014.
PO 00000
Frm 00080
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
36365
V. Accelerated Approval of Proposed
Rule Change as Modified by
Amendments No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3
The Commission finds good cause to
approve the proposed rule change, as
modified by Amendments Nos. 1, No. 2,
and No. 3, prior to the thirtieth day after
the date of publication of notice in the
Federal Register. Amendment No. 2
supplements the proposed rule change
by describing more clearly and
specifically certain of the securities and
financial instruments in which the Fund
may invest, including the availability of
price information for those investments.
This additional information about the
Fund’s underlying investments assisted
the Commission’s analysis regarding the
intraday trading of the Shares.
Amendment No. 3 supplements the
proposed rule change by adding that the
futures contacts in which the Fund may
invest may overlie both rates or indexes
of rates. This additional information
regarding the underlying investments of
the Fund assisted the Commission
analysis regarding the other investments
which may be made by the Fund.
Accordingly, the Commission finds
good cause, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2)
of the Act, to approve the proposed rule
change, as modified by Amendments
No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, on an
accelerated basis.
VI. Conclusion
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to
Section 19(b)(2) of the Exchange Act,40
that the proposed rule change, as
modified by Amendments No. 1, No. 2,
and No. 3 (SR–NYSEArca–2014–47), be,
and it hereby is, approved on an
accelerated basis.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.41
Kevin M. O’Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014–14939 Filed 6–25–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
40 15
41 17
E:\FR\FM\26JNN1.SGM
U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 123 (Thursday, June 26, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36361-36365]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-14939]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-72439; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2014-47]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing
of Amendments No. 2 and No. 3 and Order Granting Accelerated Approval
of a Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendments No. 1, No. 2, and
No. 3 To List and Trade Shares of Fidelity[supreg] Corporate Bond ETF
Managed Shares Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600
June 20, 2014.
I. Introduction
On April 16, 2014, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``Exchange'' or ``NYSE Arca'')
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission''),
pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Exchange Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ a proposed rule
change to list and trade shares (``Shares'') of the Fidelity Corporate
Bond ETF (``Fund''). On April 30, 2014, the Exchange filed Amendment
No. 1 to the proposed rule change, which amended and replaced the
proposed rule change in its entirety.\4\ The proposed rule change, as
modified by Amendment No. 1, was published for comment in the Federal
Register on May 1, 2014.\5\ On June 16, 2014, the Exchange filed
Amendment No. 2 to the proposed rule change.\6\ On June 19, 2014, the
Exchange filed Amendment No. 3 to the proposed rule change.\7\ The
Commission received no
[[Page 36362]]
comments on the proposal. The Commission is publishing this notice to
solicit comments on Amendments No. 2 and No. 3 (collectively,
``Amendments'') from interested persons and is approving the proposed
rule change, as modified by Amendments No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, on an
accelerated basis.
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
\3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
\4\ Amendment No. 1 replaced SR-NYSEArca-2014-47 as originally
filed and supersedes such filing in its entirety.
\5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 72068 (May 1, 2014),
79 FR 25923 (``Notice'').
\6\ In Amendment No. 2, the Exchange: (1) Clarified its
description of the reference assets that may underlie the derivative
investments held by the Fund; (2) deleted a representation that the
Fund's investments in preferred securities are generally not
expected to be exchange-listed, thus making clearer that the Fund
may invest in both exchange-listed and non-exchange-listed preferred
securities; (3) clarified that information regarding only U.S.
exchange-listed options is available via the Options Price Reporting
Authority (``OPRA''); and (4) corrected its characterization of
investments such as swaps, forwards and currency-related derivatives
by referring to them as ``OTC-traded derivative instruments'' rather
than as ``OTC-traded derivative securities.''
\7\ In Amendment No. 3, the Exchange: (1) Expanded the list of
reference assets underlying the futures contracts which the Fund may
hold to include both rates and indexes of rates; (2) added that
futures contracts currently overlie both rates and indexes of rates;
and (3) deleted an unnecessary reference to other entities in which
the Fund may invest.
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II. Description of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange has proposed to list and trade the Shares under NYSE
Arca Equities Rule 8.600, which governs the listing and trading of
Managed Fund Shares on the Exchange. The Shares will be offered by
Fidelity Merrimack Street Trust (``Trust''). The Trust is registered
with the Commission as an open-end management investment company.\8\
Fidelity Management & Research Company (``FMR'') will be the Fund's
manager (``Manager''). Fidelity Investments Money Management, Inc.
(``FIMM'') and other investment advisers, as described below, will
serve as sub-advisers for the Fund (``Sub-Advisers''). FIMM will have
day-to-day responsibility for choosing investments for the Fund. FIMM
is an affiliate of FMR. Other investment advisers, which also are
affiliates of FMR, will assist FMR with foreign investments, including
Fidelity Management & Research (U.K.) Inc. (``FMR U.K.''), Fidelity
Management & Research (Hong Kong) Limited (``FMR H.K.''), and Fidelity
Management & Research (Japan) Inc. (``FMR Japan''). Fidelity
Distributors Corporation (``FDC'') will be the distributor for the
Fund's Shares. The Exchange represents that the Manager and the Sub-
Advisers are not broker-dealers but are affiliated with one or more
broker-dealers and have implemented a firewall with respect to such
broker-dealers regarding access to information concerning the
composition of or changes to the Fund's portfolio and will be subject
to procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material
non-public information regarding the Fund's portfolio.\9\
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\8\ The Trust is registered under the 1940 Act. On April 17,
2014, the Trust filed with the Commission an amendment to its
registration statement on Form N-1A under the Securities Act of 1933
(15 U.S.C. 77a) (``1933 Act'') and the 1940 Act relating to the Fund
(File Nos. 333-186372 and 811-22796) (``Registration Statement'').
The description of the operation of the Trust and the Fund 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.
30513 (May 10, 2013) (``Exemptive Order'') (File No. 812-14104).
\9\ See Commentary .06 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600. The
Exchange represents that in the event (a) the Manager or any of the
Sub-Advisers become registered as a broker-dealer or become newly
affiliated with a broker-dealer, or (b) any new adviser or sub-
adviser is a registered broker-dealer or becomes affiliated with a
broker-dealer, they will implement a firewall with respect to their
relevant personnel or broker-dealer affiliate regarding access to
information concerning the composition of or changes to the
portfolio and will be subject to procedures designed to prevent the
use and dissemination of material non-public information regarding
such portfolio.
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The Exchange has made the following representations and statements
regarding the Fund.\10\
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\10\ Additional information regarding the Trust, the Fund, the
Shares, investment strategies, investment restrictions, 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 5 and 8, respectively.
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Fidelity Corporate Bond ETF
The Fund will seek a high level of current income and normally \11\
and will invest at least 80% of its assets in investment-grade
corporate bonds and other corporate debt securities. The Fund may hold
uninvested cash or may invest in cash equivalents such as money market
securities, shares of short-term bond exchanged-traded funds registered
under the 1940 Act (``ETFs''),\12\ or mutual funds or money market
funds, including Fidelity central funds (which are special types of
investment vehicles created by Fidelity for use by the Fidelity funds
and other advisory clients).\13\ FMR also may invest the Fund's assets
in debt securities of foreign issuers in addition to securities of
domestic issuers.
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\11\ The term ``normally'' includes, but is not limited to, the
absence of adverse market, economic, political, or other conditions,
including extreme volatility or trading halts in the fixed-income
markets or the financial markets generally; operational issues
causing dissemination of inaccurate market information; or force-
majeure-type events such as systems failure, natural or man-made
disaster, act of God, armed conflict, act of terrorism, riot, labor
disruption, or any similar intervening circumstance.
\12\ ETFs, 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)); Portfolio
Depositary Receipts (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.100);
and Managed Fund Shares (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600). See Notice, supra note 5, at 25924.
\13\ It is currently expected that the Fund will only invest in
central funds that are money market funds. See id.
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Other Investments
While FMR normally will invest at least 80% of assets of the Fund
in investment-grade corporate bonds and other corporate debt
securities, as described above, FMR may invest up to 20% of the Fund's
assets in other securities and financial instruments, as summarized
below.\14\
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\14\ The Fund's holdings of investment-grade corporate bonds and
other corporate debt securities are generally expected to be U.S.
dollar denominated. See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition to corporate debt securities, the debt securities in
which the Fund may invest are U.S. Government securities; repurchase
agreements and reverse repurchase agreements; mortgage- and other
asset-backed securities; loans; loan participations, loan assignments,
and other evidences of indebtedness, including letters of credit,
revolving credit facilities, and other standby financing commitments;
structured securities; stripped securities; municipal securities;
sovereign debt obligations; obligations of international agencies or
supranational entities; and other securities believed to have debt-like
characteristics, including hybrid securities, which may offer
characteristics similar to those of a bond security such as stated
maturity and preference over equity in bankruptcy. (The securities
described in the preceding sentence, along with corporate debt
securities, are collectively referred to herein as ``Debt
Securities''.)
The Fund may invest in securities of other investment companies,
including shares of ETFs registered under the 1940 Act, closed-end
investment companies (which include business development companies),
unit investment trusts, and open-end investment companies. In addition,
the Fund may invest in other exchange-traded products (``ETPs'') such
as commodity pools.\15\ It is anticipated that the Fund's investments
in other ETFs and ETPs will generally be limited to fixed-income ETFs
and ETPs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\15\ See Amendment No. 3, supra note 7.
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The Fund may invest in inverse ETFs (also called ``short ETFs'' or
``bear ETFs''), shares of which are expected to increase in value as
the value of the underlying benchmark decreases.
The Fund also may invest in leveraged ETFs, which seek to deliver
multiples or inverse multiples of the performance of an index or other
benchmark they track and which use derivatives in an effort to amplify
the returns of the underlying index or benchmark.
The Fund may invest in exchange-traded notes (``ETNs''), which are
a type of senior, unsecured, unsubordinated debt security that is
issued by a financial institution and that pays a return based on the
performance of a reference asset. It is anticipated that the
[[Page 36363]]
Fund's investments in other ETNs will generally be limited to fixed-
income ETNs. The Fund may invest in leveraged ETNs.
The Fund may invest in American Depositary Receipts (``ADRs'') as
well as other ``hybrid'' forms of ADRs, including European Depositary
Receipts (``EDRs'') and Global Depositary Receipts (``GDRs''), which
are certificates evidencing ownership of shares of a foreign
issuer.\16\
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\16\ The Fund will invest only in ADRs, EDRs and GDRs that are
traded on an exchange that is a member of the Intermarket
Surveillance Group (``ISG'') or with which the Exchange has in place
a comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement.
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FMR may make investments in derivatives--regardless of whether the
Fund may own the asset, instrument, or components of the index
underlying the derivative, as applicable (e.g., a swap based on the
Barclays U.S. Credit Bond Index)--and in forward-settling securities.
The Fund's derivative investments, as described further below, may
reference: Corporate debt securities; Debt Securities; rates;
currencies; commodities; indexes related to corporate debt securities,
Debt Securities, rates, currencies, securities prices, or commodities
prices; specific assets or securities or baskets thereof; a basket of
issuers or assets or an index of assets; a benchmark, asset class, or
designated security or interest-rate indicator; or futures contracts
(including commodity futures contracts).
The Fund may conduct foreign currency transactions on a spot (i.e.,
cash) or forward basis (i.e., by entering into forward contracts to
purchase or sell foreign currencies). The Fund may invest in options
and futures relating to foreign currencies.
The Fund may invest in exchange-listed futures. The exchange-listed
futures contracts in which the Fund may invest will have various types
of underlying instruments, including specific assets or securities,
baskets of assets or securities, commodities or commodities indexes,
indexes of securities prices, indexes of rates, or rates.\17\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\17\ See Amendment No. 3, supra note 7.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Fund may invest in U.S. exchange-traded option, as well as
over-the-counter (``OTC'') options. The OTC options in which the Fund
may invest will have various types of underlying instruments, including
specific assets or securities, baskets of assets or securities, indexes
of securities or commodities prices, and futures contracts (including
commodity futures contracts). To the extent that the Fund invests in
OTC options, not more than 10% of the net assets of the Fund in the
aggregate shall consist of futures contracts or exchange-traded options
contracts whose principal market is not a member of ISG or is a market
with which the Exchange does not have a comprehensive surveillance
sharing agreement.
The Fund may also buy and sell options on swaps (swaptions), which
are generally options on interest-rate swaps. The Fund may hold swap
agreements, a portion of which may be cleared swaps. The Fund may enter
into, among other things, interest rate swaps (where the parties
exchange a floating rate for a fixed rate), asset swaps (e.g., where
parties combine the purchase or sale of a bond with an interest rate
swap), total return swaps, and credit default swaps.
The Fund may invest in lower-quality Debt Securities. Lower-quality
Debt Securities include all types of debt instruments, including debt
securities of foreign issuers, that have poor protection with respect
to the payment of interest and repayment of principal, and they may be
in default.
The Fund may invest in preferred securities. Preferred securities,
which may take the form of preferred stock, represent an equity or
ownership interest in an issuer that pays dividends at a specified rate
and have precedence over common stock in the payment of dividends.
The Fund may invest in real estate investment trusts (``REITS'').
The Fund may invest in exchange-listed and non-exchange-listed REITs.
The Fund may invest in restricted securities, which are subject to
legal restrictions on their sale.
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.\18\ In particular, the Commission finds that the
proposed rule change, as modified by Amendments No. 1, No. 2, and No.
3, is consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act,\19\ which
requires, among other things, that the Exchange's rules be 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 a national market system,
and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest. The
Commission notes that the Fund and the Shares must comply with the
requirements of NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600 to be listed and traded
on the Exchange.
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\18\ 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).
\19\ 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,\20\ 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 underlying equity securities that are
U.S. exchange listed--including ETFs, ETPs, ETNs, and ADRs; exchange-
traded REITs; exchange-traded preferred securities; and exchange-traded
convertible securities--will be available via the Consolidated Tape
Association (``CTA'') high speed line. Quotation and last-sale
information for U.S. exchange-listed securities and futures will be
available from the exchange on which they are listed. Quotation and
last-sale information for U.S. exchange-listed options will be
available via the OPRA.\21\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\20\ 15 U.S.C. 78k-1(a)(1)(C)(iii).
\21\ See Amendment No. 2, supra note 6.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quotation information for OTC-Traded Securities, OTC-traded
derivative instruments (such as options, swaps, forwards, and currency-
related derivatives), and investment company securities (excluding
ETFs), may be obtained from brokers and dealers who make markets in
such instruments or through nationally recognized pricing services
through subscription agreements.\22\ The U.S. dollar value of foreign
securities, instruments, and currencies can be derived by using foreign
currency exchange rate quotations obtained from nationally recognized
pricing services.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\22\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.\23\
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.\24\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\23\ See Notice, supra note 5, 79 FR at 25930.
\24\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In addition, the Portfolio Indicative Value, as defined in NYSE
Arca Equities
[[Page 36364]]
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.\25\ The dissemination of the Portfolio Indicative Value,
together with the Disclosed Portfolio, will allow investors to
determine the approximate value of the underlying portfolio of the Fund
on a daily basis and will provide a close estimate of that value
throughout the trading day.\26\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\25\ Several major market data vendors display or make widely
available Portfolio Indicative Values taken from the CTA or other
data feeds. See id. at 25931.
\26\ See id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The net asset value (``NAV'') of the Fund for the Shares will be
calculated after 4:00 p.m. Eastern time each trading day.\27\ The
Trust's Web site (www.fidelity.com), which will be publicly available,
will include a form of the prospectus for the Fund that may be
downloaded. The Trust's Web site will include additional quantitative
information updated on a daily basis, including, on a per Share basis
for the Fund, (a) the prior business day's NAV and the market closing
price or, if that is unavailable, the mid-point of the bid/ask spread
at the time of calculation of such NAV (the ``Bid/Ask Price''),\28\ and
(b) a calculation of the premium or discount of the market closing
price or, if that is unavailable, the Bid/Ask Price against the NAV.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\27\ See id. at 25931-32.
\28\ The Bid/Ask Price of the Fund's Shares will be determined
using the mid-point of the highest bid and the lowest offer on the
Exchange as of the time of calculation of the Fund's NAV. The
records relating to Bid/Ask Prices will be retained by the Fund and
its service providers.
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Further, the Commission 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. Eastern time to 4:00 p.m.
Eastern time) on the Exchange, the Fund will disclose on the Trust's
Web site the Disclosed Portfolio, as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600(c)(2), that will form the basis for the Fund's calculation of NAV
at the end of the business day.\29\ The Commission notes that 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.\30\
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\29\ See id. at 25930. On a daily basis, the Fund will disclose
for each portfolio security and other financial instrument of the
Fund the following information: ticker symbol (if applicable), name
of security or financial instrument, number of shares (if
applicable) and dollar value of each of the securities and financial
instruments held in the portfolio, and percentage weighting of the
security and financial instrument in the portfolio. The Web site
information will be publicly available at no charge. Under
accounting procedures followed by the Fund, trades made on the prior
business day (``T'') will be booked and reflected in NAV on the
current business day (``T+1''). Accordingly, the Fund 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. See id.
\30\ See id. at 25931.
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In addition, the Fund will make available through the NSCC on each
business day, prior to the opening of trading on the NYSE (currently
9:30 a.m. Eastern time), the list of the names and the required number
of shares of each Deposit Security and the amount of the Cash Component
(or Cash Deposit) to be included in the current Portfolio Deposit
(based on information at the end of the previous business day) for the
Fund.\31\ The Portfolio Deposit will be applicable, subject to any
adjustments, in order to effect purchases of Creation Units until such
time as the next-announced Portfolio Deposit composition is made
available.\32\
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\31\ See id. at 25929.
\32\ See id.
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Further, the Commission notes that personnel who make decisions on
the 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.\33\
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\33\ See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(B)(ii).
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The Exchange represents that the Manager and the Sub-Advisers are
not broker-dealers but are affiliated with one or more broker-dealers
and have implemented a firewall with respect to such broker-dealers
regarding access to information concerning the composition of or
changes to the Fund's portfolio and will be subject to procedures
designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material non-public
information regarding the Fund's portfolio.\34\ The Exchange also has a
general policy prohibiting the distribution of material, non-public
information by its employees.
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\34\ See supra note 9 and accompanying text.
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With respect to trading halts, the Exchange may consider all
relevant factors in exercising its discretion to halt or suspend
trading in the Shares.\35\ Trading in Shares 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 or the financial instruments constituting
the Disclosed Portfolio of the 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 may be halted.
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\35\ See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12.
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The Exchange has represented that the Shares are deemed to be
equity securities, thus rendering trading in the Shares subject to the
Exchange's rules governing the trading of equity securities.\36\
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\36\ See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(C)(ii).
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In support of this proposal, the Exchange has made additional
representations, including:
(1) The Shares will conform to the initial and continuing listing
criteria under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600.
(2) The Exchange's surveillance 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.\37\
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\37\ The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (``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. See Notice, supra note 5, 79 FR
at 25931.
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(3) FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, will communicate as needed
regarding trading in the Shares and underlying exchange-traded options,
futures, exchange-traded equity securities (including ADRs, EDRs, and
GDRs), and other exchange-traded instruments with other markets and
other entities that are members of the ISG, and FINRA, on behalf of the
Exchange, may obtain trading information regarding trading in the
Shares and underlying exchange-traded options, futures, exchange-traded
equity securities (including ADRs, EDRs, and GDRs), and other exchange-
traded instruments from such markets and other entities. In addition,
the Exchange may obtain information regarding trading in the Shares and
underlying exchange-traded options, futures, exchange-traded equity
securities (including ADRs, EDRs, and GDRs), and other exchange-traded
instruments from markets and other entities that are members of ISG or
with which the Exchange has in place a comprehensive surveillance
sharing agreement. In addition, FINRA, on
[[Page 36365]]
behalf of the Exchange, is able to access, as needed, trade information
for certain fixed-income securities held by the Fund reported to
FINRA's Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine.
(4) The Exchange has appropriate rules to facilitate transactions
in the Shares during all trading sessions.
(5) Prior to the commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform
its Equity Trading Permit 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 Equity Trading Permit 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 Equity Trading Permit Holders deliver a prospectus to
investors purchasing newly issued Shares prior to or concurrently with
the confirmation of a transaction; and (6) trading information.
(6) For initial and continued listing, the Fund will be in
compliance with Rule 10A-3 under the Exchange Act,\38\ as provided by
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.3.\39\
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\38\ 17 CFR 240.10A-3.
\39\ See Notice, supra note 5, 79 FR at 25931.
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(7) The Fund's investments will be consistent with its investment
objective.
(8) The Fund may hold up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net
assets in illiquid assets (calculated at the time of investment),
including Rule 144A securities deemed illiquid by the Manager or Sub-
Advisers. The Fund will monitor its portfolio liquidity on an ongoing
basis to determine whether, in light of current circumstances, an
adequate level of liquidity is being maintained, and will consider
taking appropriate steps in order to maintain adequate liquidity if,
through a change in values, net assets, or other circumstances, more
than 15% of the Fund's net assets are held in illiquid assets.
(9) A minimum of 100,000 Shares will be outstanding at the
commencement of trading on the Exchange.
This order is based on all of the Exchange's representations, including
those set forth above and in the Notice.
For the foregoing reasons, the Commission finds that the proposed
rule change is consistent with the Exchange Act.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning whether the Amendments are 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-2014-47 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-NYSEArca-2014-47. 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-2014-47, and should
be submitted on or before July 17, 2014.
V. Accelerated Approval of Proposed Rule Change as Modified by
Amendments No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3
The Commission finds good cause to approve the proposed rule
change, as modified by Amendments Nos. 1, No. 2, and No. 3, prior to
the thirtieth day after the date of publication of notice in the
Federal Register. Amendment No. 2 supplements the proposed rule change
by describing more clearly and specifically certain of the securities
and financial instruments in which the Fund may invest, including the
availability of price information for those investments. This
additional information about the Fund's underlying investments assisted
the Commission's analysis regarding the intraday trading of the Shares.
Amendment No. 3 supplements the proposed rule change by adding that the
futures contacts in which the Fund may invest may overlie both rates or
indexes of rates. This additional information regarding the underlying
investments of the Fund assisted the Commission analysis regarding the
other investments which may be made by the Fund. Accordingly, the
Commission finds good cause, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,
to approve the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendments No. 1,
No. 2, and No. 3, on an accelerated basis.
VI. Conclusion
It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the
Exchange Act,\40\ that the proposed rule change, as modified by
Amendments No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 (SR-NYSEArca-2014-47), be, and it
hereby is, approved on an accelerated basis.
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\40\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\41\
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\41\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-14939 Filed 6-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P