Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a New NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 and To List and Trade Shares of the Royce Pennsylvania ETF; Royce Premier ETF; and Royce Total Return ETF Under Proposed NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900, 20932-20945 [2017-08980]

Download as PDF 20932 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, pursuant to delegated authority. Eduardo A. Aleman, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. 2017–08984 Filed 5–3–17; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–80553; File No. SR– NYSEArca–2017–36] Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a New NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 and To List and Trade Shares of the Royce Pennsylvania ETF; Royce Premier ETF; and Royce Total Return ETF Under Proposed NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 April 28, 2017. Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the ‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3 notice is hereby given that, on April 14, 2017, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the ‘‘Exchange,’’ ‘‘NYSE Arca,’’ or the ‘‘Corporation’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared by the selfregulatory organization. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons. pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change The Exchange proposes to adopt a new NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 to permit it to list and trade Managed Portfolio Shares, which are shares of actively managed exchange-traded funds (‘‘ETFs’’) for which the portfolio is disclosed in accordance with standard mutual fund disclosure rules. In addition, the Exchange proposes to list and trade shares of the following under proposed NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900: Royce Pennsylvania ETF; Royce Premier ETF; and Royce Total Return ETF. The proposed change is available on the Exchange’s Web site at www.nyse.com, at the principal office of the Exchange, and at the Commission’s Public Reference Room. 1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). U.S.C. 78a. 3 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 2 15 VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of those statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant parts of such statements. A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and the Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 1. Purpose The Exchange proposes to add new NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 for the purpose of permitting the listing and trading, or trading pursuant to unlisted trading privileges (‘‘UTP’’), of Managed Portfolio Shares, which are securities issued by an actively managed open-end investment management company.4 In addition to the above-mentioned proposed rule changes, the Exchange proposes to list and trade shares (‘‘Shares’’) of the following under proposed NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900: Royce Pennsylvania ETF; Royce Premier ETF; and Royce Total Return ETF (each, a ‘‘Fund’’ and, collectively, the ‘‘Funds’’). Proposed Listing Rules Proposed Rule 8.900(a) provides that the Corporation will consider for trading, whether by listing or pursuant to UTP, Managed Portfolio Shares that meet the criteria of Rule 8.900. Proposed Rule 8.900(b) provides that Rule 8.900 is applicable only to Managed Portfolio Shares and that, except to the extent inconsistent with Rule 8.900, or unless the context otherwise requires, the rules and procedures of the Corporation’s Board of Directors shall be applicable to the 4 A Managed Portfolio Share is a security that represents an interest in an investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–1) (‘‘1940 Act’’) organized as an open-end investment company or similar entity that invests in a portfolio of securities selected by its investment adviser consistent with its investment objectives and policies. In contrast, an open-end investment company that issues Investment Company Units, listed and traded on the Exchange under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3) (‘‘Index ETFs’’), seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance of a specific foreign or domestic stock index, fixed income securities index or combination thereof. PO 00000 Frm 00069 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 trading on the Corporation of such securities. Proposed Rule 8.900(b) provides further that Managed Portfolio Shares are included within the definition of ‘‘security’’ or ‘‘securities’’ as such terms are used in the Rules of the Corporation. Proposed Definitions Proposed Rule 8.900(c)(1) defines the term ‘‘Managed Portfolio Share’’ as a security that (a) is issued by a registered investment company (‘‘Investment Company’’) organized as an open-end management investment company or similar entity, that invests in a portfolio of securities selected by the Investment Company’s investment adviser consistent with the Investment Company’s investment objectives and policies; and (b) when aggregated in a number of shares equal to a Redemption Unit or multiples thereof, may be redeemed at the request of an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Investment Company’s Form N–1A filed with the SEC), which Authorized Participant will be paid, through its own separate confidential account established for its benefit, a portfolio of securities and/or cash with a value equal to the next determined net asset value (‘‘NAV’’). Proposed Rule 8.900(c)(2) defines the term ‘‘Verified Intraday Indicative Value (‘‘VIIV’’) as the estimated indicative value of a Managed Portfolio Share based on all of the issuer’s holdings as of the close of business on the prior business day, priced and disseminated in one second intervals, and subject to validation by a pricing verification agent of the Investment Company that is responsible for comparing multiple independent pricing sources to establish the accuracy of the VIIV. Proposed Rule 8.900(c)(3) defines the term ‘‘Redemption Unit’’ as a specified number of Managed Portfolio Shares. Proposed Rule 8.900(c)(4) defines the term ‘‘Reporting Authority’’ in respect of a particular series of Managed Portfolio Shares as a reporting service designated by the issuer as the official source for calculating and reporting information relating to such series, including, but not limited to, the VIIV, NAV, or other information relating to the issuance, redemption or trading of Managed Portfolio Shares. A series of Managed Portfolio Shares may have more than one Reporting Authority, each having different functions. Proposed Rule 8.900(d) sets forth initial and continued listing criteria applicable to Managed Portfolio Shares. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(1)(A) provides that, for each series of Managed Portfolio Shares, the Corporation will E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES establish a minimum number of Managed Portfolio Shares required to be outstanding at the time of commencement of trading on the Corporation. In addition, proposed Rule 8.900(d)(1)(B) provides that the Corporation will obtain a representation from the issuer of each series of Managed Portfolio Shares that the NAV per share for the series will be calculated daily and that the NAV will be made available to all market participants at the same time.5 Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2) provides that each series of Managed Portfolio Shares will be listed and traded subject to application of the following continued listing criteria: • Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(A) provides that the VIIV for Managed Portfolio Shares will be widely disseminated by one or more major market data vendors every second during the Exchange’s Core Trading Session (as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34). • Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(B) provides that the Corporation will maintain surveillance procedures for securities listed under Rule 8.900 and will consider the suspension of trading in, and will commence delisting proceedings under Rule 5.5(m) of, a series of Managed Portfolio Shares under any of the following circumstances: (i) If, following the initial twelvemonth period after commencement of trading on the Exchange of a series of Managed Portfolio Shares, there are fewer than 50 beneficial holders of the series of Managed Portfolio Shares; (ii) if the value of the VIIV is no longer calculated or made available to all market participants at the same time; (iii) if the Investment Company issuing the Managed Portfolio Shares has failed to file any filings required by the Commission or if the Corporation is aware that the Investment Company is not in compliance with the conditions of any exemptive order or no-action relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission to the Investment Company with respect to the series of Managed Portfolio Shares; 5 NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.18(d)(2) (‘‘Halts of Derivative Securities Products Listed on the NYSE Arca Marketplace)’’ provides that, with respect to Derivative Securities Products listed on the NYSE Arca Marketplace for which a net asset value is disseminated, if the Exchange becomes aware that the net asset value is not being disseminated to all market participants at the same time, it will halt trading in the affected Derivative Securities Product on the NYSE Arca Marketplace until such time as the net asset value is available to all market participants. VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 (iv) if any of the continued listing requirements set forth in Rule 8.900 are not continuously maintained; (v) if the Corporation submits a rule filing pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act to permit the listing and trading of a series of Managed Portfolio Shares and any of the statements or representations regarding (a) the description of the portfolio or reference asset, (b) limitations on portfolio holdings or reference assets, or (c) the applicability of Exchange listing rules specified in such rule filing are not continuously maintained; or (vi) if such other event shall occur or condition exists which, in the opinion of the Corporation, makes further dealings on the Corporation inadvisable. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(C) provides that, upon notification to the Corporation by the Investment Company or its agent that (i) the prices from the multiple independent pricing sources to be validated by the Investment Company’s pricing verification agent differ by more than 25 basis points for 60 seconds in connection with pricing of the VIIV, or (ii) that the VIIV of a series of Managed Portfolio Shares is not being priced and disseminated in onesecond intervals, as required, the Corporation shall halt trading in the Managed Portfolio Shares as soon as practicable. Such halt in trading shall continue until the Investment Company or its agent notifies the Corporation that the prices from the independent pricing sources no longer differ by more than 25 basis points for 60 seconds or that the VIIV is being priced and disseminated as required. The Investment Company or its agent shall be responsible for monitoring that the VIIV is being priced and disseminated as required and whether the prices to be validated from multiple independent pricing sources differ by more than 25 basis points for 60 seconds. With respect to series of Managed Portfolio Shares trading on the Corporation pursuant to unlisted trading privileges, if a temporary interruption occurs in the pricing or dissemination of the applicable Verified Intraday Indicative Value and the listing market halts trading in such series, the Corporation, upon notification by the listing market of such halt due to such temporary interruption, will halt trading in such series. In addition, if the Exchange becomes aware that the NAV with respect to a series of Managed Portfolio Shares is not disseminated to all market participants at the same time, it will halt trading in such series until such time as the NAV is available to all market participants. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(D) provides that, upon termination of an Investment PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 20933 Company, the Corporation requires that Managed Portfolio Shares issued in connection with such entity be removed from Corporation listing. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(E) provides that voting rights shall be as set forth in the applicable Investment Company prospectus. Proposed Rule 8.900(e), which relates to limitation of Corporation liability, provides that neither the Corporation, the Reporting Authority, nor any agent of the Corporation shall have any liability for damages, claims, losses or expenses caused by any errors, omissions, or delays in calculating or disseminating any current portfolio value; the VIIV; the current value of the portfolio of securities required to be deposited to the open-end management investment company in connection with issuance of Managed Portfolio Shares; the amount of any dividend equivalent payment or cash distribution to holders of Managed Portfolio Shares; NAV; or other information relating to the purchase, redemption, or trading of Managed Portfolio Shares, resulting from any negligent act or omission by the Corporation, the Reporting Authority or any agent of the Corporation, or any act, condition, or cause beyond the reasonable control of the Corporation, its agent, or the Reporting Authority, including, but not limited to, an act of God; fire; flood; extraordinary weather conditions; war; insurrection; riot; strike; accident; action of government; communications or power failure; equipment or software malfunction; or any error, omission, or delay in the reports of transactions in one or more underlying securities. Proposed Commentary .01 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides that the Corporation will file separate proposals under Section 19(b) of the Act before the listing and trading of Managed Portfolio Shares. All statements or representations contained in such rule filing regarding (a) the description of the portfolio or reference asset, (b) limitations on portfolio holdings or reference assets, or (c) the applicability of Exchange listing rules specified in such rule filing will constitute continued listing requirements. An issuer of such securities must notify the Exchange of any failure to comply with such continued listing requirements. Proposed Commentary .02 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides that transactions in Managed Portfolio Shares will occur only during the Core Trading Session as specified in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34(a)(2). Proposed Commentary .03 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides that E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 20934 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES the Exchange will implement written surveillance procedures for Managed Portfolio Shares. Proposed Commentary .04 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides that Authorized Participants (as defined in the Investment Company’s Form N–1A filed with the SEC) or non-Authorized Participant market makers redeeming Managed Portfolio Shares will sign an agreement with an agent (‘‘Trusted Agent’’) to establish a confidential account for the benefit of such Authorized Participant or nonAuthorized Participant market maker that will receive all consideration from the issuer in a redemption. A Trusted Agent may not disclose the consideration received in a redemption except as required by law or as provided in the Investment Company’s Form N– 1A, as applicable Proposed Commentary .05 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides that, if the investment adviser to the Investment Company issuing Managed Portfolio Shares is affiliated with a broker-dealer, or if any Trusted Agent is registered as a broker-dealer or is affiliated with a broker-dealer, such investment adviser or Trusted Agent will erect and maintain a ‘‘fire wall’’ between the investment adviser or Trusted Agent and (i) personnel of the broker-dealer or broker-dealer affiliate, as applicable, or (ii) the Authorized Participant or non-Authorized Participant market maker, as applicable, with respect to access to information concerning the composition and/or changes to such Investment Company portfolio. Personnel who make decisions on the Investment Company’s portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information regarding the applicable Investment Company portfolio.6 Key Features of Managed Portfolio Shares While funds issuing Managed Portfolio Shares will be activelymanaged and, to that extent, will be similar to Managed Fund Shares, Managed Portfolio Shares differ from Managed Fund Shares in the following important respects. First, in contrast to Managed Fund Shares, which are actively-managed funds listed and traded under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600 7 and for which a ‘‘Disclosed 6 The Exchange will propose applicable NYSE Arca Equities listing fees for Managed Portfolio Shares in the NYSE Arca Equities Schedule of Fees and Charges via a separate proposed rule change. 7 The Commission has previously approved listing and trading on the Exchange of a number of VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 Portfolio’’ is required to be disseminated at least once daily,8 the portfolio for an issue of Managed Portfolio Shares will be disclosed quarterly in accordance with normal disclosure requirements otherwise applicable to open-end investment companies registered under the 1940 Act.9 Second, in connection with the redemption of shares in ‘‘Redemption Unit’’ size (as described below), the delivery of any portfolio securities in kind will generally be effected through a ‘‘Confidential Account’’ (as described below) for the benefit of the redeeming ‘‘Authorized Participant’’ (as described below in ‘‘Creation and Redemption of Shares’’) without disclosing the identity of such securities to the Authorized Participant. For each series of Managed Portfolio Shares, an estimated value—the VIIV— that reflects an estimated intraday value of a fund’s portfolio will be disseminated. With respect to the Funds, the VIIV will be based upon all of a Fund’s holdings as of the close of the prior business day and will be widely disseminated by one or more major market data vendors every second during the Exchange’s Core Trading Session (normally, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 issues of Managed Fund Shares under Rule 8.600. See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 57801 (May 8, 2008), 73 FR 27878 (May 14, 2008) (SR–NYSEArca–2008–31) (order approving Exchange listing and trading of twelve activelymanaged funds of the WisdomTree Trust); 60460 (August 7, 2009), 74 FR 41468 (August 17, 2009) (SR–NYSEArca–2009–55) (order approving listing of Dent Tactical ETF); 63076 (October 12, 2010), 75 FR 63874 (October 18, 2010) (SR–NYSEArca–2010– 79) (order approving Exchange listing and trading of Cambria Global Tactical ETF); 63802 (January 31, 2011), 76 FR 6503 (February 4, 2011) (SR– NYSEArca–2010–118) (order approving Exchange listing and trading of the SiM Dynamic Allocation Diversified Income ETF and SiM Dynamic Allocation Growth Income ETF). More recently, the Commission approved a proposed rule change to adopt generic listing standards for Managed Fund Shares. Securities Exchange Act Release No. 78397 (July 22, 2016), 81 FR 49320 (July 27, 2016 (SR– NYSEArca–2015–110) ( amending NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600 to adopt generic listing standards for Managed Fund Shares). 8 NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(c)(2) defines the term ‘‘Disclosed Portfolio’’ as the identities and quantities of the securities and other assets held by the Investment Company that will form the basis for the Investment Company’s calculation of net asset value at the end of the business day. NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(B)(i) requires that the Disclosed Portfolio will be disseminated at least once daily and will be made available to all market participants at the same time. 9 A mutual fund is required to file with the Commission its complete portfolio schedules for the second and fourth fiscal quarters on Form N–CSR under the 1940 Act, and is required to file its complete portfolio schedules for the first and third fiscal quarters on Form N–Q under the 1940 Act, within 60 days of the end of the quarter. Form N– Q requires funds to file the same schedules of investments that are required in annual and semiannual reports to shareholders. These forms are available to the public on the Commission’s Web site at www.sec.gov. PO 00000 Frm 00071 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 p.m., Eastern Time (‘‘E.T.’’)). The dissemination of the VIIV will allow investors to determine the estimated intra-day value of the underlying portfolio of a series of Managed Portfolio Shares on a daily basis and will provide a close estimate of that value throughout the trading day. The VIIV should not be viewed as a ‘‘realtime’’ update of the NAV per Share of each Fund because the VIIV may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, which will be computed once a day, generally at the end of the business day. Unlike the VIIV, which will be based on consolidated midpoint of the bid ask spread, the NAV per Share will be based on the closing price on the primary market for each portfolio security. If there is no closing price for a particular portfolio security, such as when it the [sic] subject of a trading halt, a Fund will use fair value pricing. That fair value pricing will be carried over to the next day’s VIIV until the first trade in that stock is reported unless the ‘‘Adviser’’ (defined below) deems a particular portfolio security to be illiquid and/or the available ongoing pricing information unlikely to be reliable. In such case, that fact will be immediately disclosed on each Fund’s Web site, including the identity and weighting of that security in a Fund’s portfolio, and the impact of that security on VIIV calculation, including the fair value price for that security being used for the calculation of that day’s VIIV. The Exchange, after consulting with various Lead Market Makers that trade exchange-traded funds (‘‘ETFs’’) on the Exchange, believes that market makers will be able to make efficient and liquid markets priced near the VIIV as long as a VIIV is disseminated every second, market makers have knowledge of a Fund’s means of achieving its investment objective, and market makers are permitted to engage in ‘‘Bona Fide Arbitrage,’’ as described below. The Exchange believes that market makers will employ Bona Fide Arbitrage in addition to risk-management techniques such as ‘‘statistical arbitrage,’’ which is currently used throughout the financial services industry, to make efficient markets in exchange-traded products.10 This ability 10 Statistical arbitrage enables a trader to construct an accurate proxy for another instrument, allowing it to hedge the other instrument or buy or sell the instrument when it is cheap or expensive in relation to the proxy. Statistical analysis permits traders to discover correlations based purely on trading data without regard to other fundamental drivers. These correlations are a function of differentials, over time, between one instrument or group of instruments and one or more other instruments. Once the nature of these price deviations have been quantified, a universe of E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES should permit market makers to make efficient markets in an issue of Managed Portfolio Shares without precise knowledge of a Fund’s underlying portfolio.11 To enable market makers to engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage, on each ‘‘Business Day’’ (as defined below), before commencement of trading in Shares on the Exchange, the Funds will provide to a ‘‘Trusted Agent’’ (as described below) of each Authorized Participant or ‘‘NonAuthorized Participant Market Maker’’ 12 the identities and quantities of portfolio securities that will form the basis for a Fund’s calculation of NAV per Share at the end of the Business Day, as well as the names and quantities of the instruments comprising a ‘‘Creation Basket’’ and the estimated ‘‘Balancing Amount’’ (if any) (as described below), for that day. This information will permit Authorized Participants to purchase ‘‘Creation Units’’ through an in-kind transaction with a Fund, as described below. In addition, Authorized Participants will be able to instruct the Trusted Agent to buy or sell portfolio securities during the day and thereby engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage throughout the trading day. For example, if an Authorized Participant believes that Shares of a Fund are trading at a price that is higher than the value of its underlying portfolio based on the VIIV, the Authorized Participant may sell Shares short and instruct the Trusted Agent to buy portfolio securities for its Confidential Account. When the market price of a Fund’s Shares falls in line with the value of the portfolio, the Authorized Participant can then close out its positions in both the Shares and the portfolio securities. The Authorized Participant’s purchase of the portfolio securities into its Confidential Account, combined with the sale of Shares, may also create downward pressure on the price of Shares and/or upward pressure on the price of the portfolio securities, securities is searched in an effort to, in the case of a hedging strategy, minimize the differential. Once a suitable hedging proxy has been identified, a trader can minimize portfolio risk by executing the hedging basket. The trader then can monitor the performance of this hedge throughout the trade period making correction where warranted. 11 Authorized Participants and other brokerdealers that enter into their own separate Confidential Accounts shall have enough information to ensure that they are able to comply with applicable regulatory requirements. For example, for purposes of net capital requirements, the maximum Securities Haircut applicable to the securities in a Creation Basket, as determined under Rule 15c3–1, will be disclosed daily on each Fund’s Web site. 12 A Non-Authorized Participant Market Maker is a market participant that makes a market in Shares, but is not an Authorized Participant. VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 bringing the market price of Shares and the value of a Fund’s portfolio securities closer together. Similarly, an Authorized Participant could buy Shares and instruct the Trusted Agent to sell the underlying portfolio securities from its Confidential Account in an attempt to profit when a Fund’s Shares are trading at a discount to its portfolio. The Authorized Participant’s purchase of a Fund’s Shares in the secondary market, combined with the sale of the portfolio securities from its Confidential Account, may also create upward pressure on the price of Shares and/or downward pressure on the price of portfolio securities, driving the market price of Shares and the value of a Fund’s portfolio securities closer together. The Adviser represents that it understands that, other than the confidential nature of the account, this process is identical to how many Authorized Participants currently arbitrage existing traditional ETFs. Because other market participants can also engage in arbitrage activity without using the creation or redemption processes described above, the Confidential Account structure will be made available to any Non-Authorized Participant Market Maker that is willing to establish a Confidential Account. In that case, if a market participant believes that a Fund is overvalued relative to its underlying assets, the market participant may sell short Shares and instruct its Trusted Agent to buy portfolio securities in its Confidential Account, wait for the trading prices to move toward parity, and then close out the positions in both the Shares and the portfolio securities to realize a profit from the relative movement of their trading prices. Similarly, a market participant could buy Shares and instruct the Trusted Agent to sell the underlying portfolio securities in an attempt to profit when a Fund’s Shares are trading at a discount to a Fund’s underlying or reference assets. Any investor that is willing to transact through a broker-dealer that has established a Confidential Account with a Trusted Agent will have the same opportunity to engage in arbitrage activity. As discussed above, the trading of a Fund’s Shares and the Fund’s portfolio securities may bring the prices of a Fund’s Shares and its portfolio assets closer together through market pressure. This type of arbitrage is referred to herein as ‘‘Bona Fide Arbitrage.’’ The Exchange understands that traders use statistical analysis to derive correlations between different sets of instruments to identify opportunities to buy or sell one set of instruments when PO 00000 Frm 00072 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 20935 it is mispriced relative to the others. For Managed Portfolio Shares, market makers, in addition to employing Bona Fide Arbitrage, may use the knowledge of a Fund’s means of achieving its investment objective, as described in the applicable Fund registration statement, to construct a hedging proxy for a Fund to manage a market maker’s quoting risk in connection with trading Fund Shares. Market makers can then conduct statistical arbitrage between their hedging proxy (for example, the Russell 1000 Index) and Shares of a Fund, buying and selling one against the other over the course of the trading day. They will evaluate how their proxy performed in comparison to the price of a Fund’s Shares, and use that analysis as well as knowledge of risk metrics, such as volatility and turnover, to enhance their proxy calculation to make it a more efficient hedge. Market makers not intending to utilize Bona Fide Arbitrage have indicated to the Exchange that there will be sufficient data to run a statistical analysis which will lead to spreads being tightened substantially around the VIIV. This is similar to certain other existing exchange traded products (for example, ETFs that invest in foreign securities that do not trade during U.S. trading hours), in which spreads may be generally wider in the early days of trading and then narrow as market makers gain more confidence in their real-time hedges. Description of the Funds and the Trust The Shares of each Fund will be issued by Precidian ETFs Trust [sic] (‘‘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.13 The investment adviser to the Trust will be Precidian Funds LLC (the ‘‘Adviser’’). Foreside Fund 13 The Trust will be registered under the 1940 Act. On April 5, 2017, the Trust filed a registration statement on Form N–1A under the Securities Act of 1933 (the ‘‘1933 Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 77a), and under the 1940 Act relating to the Funds (File Nos. 333– 171987 and 811–22524) [sic] (the ‘‘Registration Statement’’). The Trust filed an amended Application for an Order under Section 6(c) of the 1940 Act for exemptions from various provisions of the 1940 Act and rules thereunder (File No. 812– 14405), dated September 21, 2015 [sic] (‘‘Exemptive Application’’). The Shares will not be listed on the Exchange until an order (‘‘Exemptive Order’’) under the 1940 Act has been issued by the Commission with respect to the Exemptive Application. Investments made by the Funds will comply with the conditions set forth in the Exemptive Order. The description of the operation of the Trust and the Funds herein is based, in part, on the Registration Statement and the Exemptive Application. E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 20936 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES Services, LLC (‘‘Distributor’’) will serve as the distributor of the Fund’s Shares. As noted above, proposed Commentary .05 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides that, if the investment adviser to the Investment Company issuing Managed Portfolio Shares is affiliated with a broker-dealer, or if any Trusted Agent is registered as a broker-dealer or is affiliated with a broker-dealer, such investment adviser or Trusted Agent will erect and maintain a ‘‘fire wall’’ between the investment adviser or Trusted Agent and (i) personnel of the broker-dealer or broker-dealer affiliate, as applicable, or (ii) the Authorized Participant or nonAuthorized Participant market maker, as applicable, with respect to access to information concerning the composition and/or changes to such Investment Company portfolio. Personnel who make decisions on the Investment Company’s portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information regarding the applicable Investment Company portfolio.14 In addition, proposed Commentary .05 further requires that personnel who make decisions on the open-end fund’s portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information regarding the open-end fund’s portfolio. Proposed Commentary .05 to Rule 8.900 is similar to Commentary .03(a)(i) and (iii) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3); however, Commentary .05 in connection with the establishment of a ‘‘fire wall’’ between the investment adviser and the broker-dealer reflects the applicable 14 An investment adviser to an open-end fund is required to be registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Advisers Act’’). As a result, the Adviser and its related personnel will be subject to the provisions of Rule 204A–1 under the Advisers Act relating to codes of ethics. This Rule requires investment advisers to adopt a code of ethics that reflects the fiduciary nature of the relationship to clients as well as compliance with other applicable securities laws. Accordingly, procedures designed to prevent the communication and misuse of non-public information by an investment adviser must be consistent with Rule 204A–1 under the Advisers Act. In addition, Rule 206(4)–7 under the Advisers Act makes it unlawful for an investment adviser to provide investment advice to clients unless such investment adviser has (i) adopted and implemented written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent violations, by the investment adviser and its supervised persons, of the Advisers Act and the Commission rules adopted thereunder; (ii) implemented, at a minimum, an annual review regarding the adequacy of the policies and procedures established pursuant to subparagraph (i) above and the effectiveness of their implementation; and (iii) designated an individual (who is a supervised person) responsible for administering the policies and procedures adopted under subparagraph (i) above. VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 open-end fund’s portfolio, not an underlying benchmark index, as is the case with index-based funds. The Adviser is not registered as a brokerdealer or affiliated with a broker-dealer. In the event (a) the Adviser or any sub-adviser becomes registered as a broker-dealer or becomes 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, it will implement a fire wall with respect to its relevant personnel or its broker-dealer affiliate regarding access to information concerning the composition and/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. The portfolio for each Fund will consist of long and/or short positions in U.S.-listed securities and shares issued by other U.S.-listed ETFs 15 All exchange-listed equity securities in which the Funds will invest will be listed and traded on U.S. national securities exchanges. Description of the Funds Royce Pennsylvania ETF The Royce Pennsylvania ETF will invest primarily in US- listed equity securities of small-cap companies with stock market capitalizations up to $3 billion that Royce & Associates, LP (‘‘Royce’’), the Fund’s investment subadviser, believes are trading below its estimate of their current worth. The Fund may invest in other investment companies that invest in equity securities. The Fund may sell securities to, among other things, secure gains, limit losses, redeploy assets into what Royce deems to be more promising opportunities, and/or manage cash levels in the Fund’s portfolio. Royce Premier ETF The Royce Premier ETF will invest in a limited number of US- listed equity securities of primarily small-cap companies with stock market capitalizations from $1 billion to $3 billion at the time of investment. The Fund may invest in other investment companies that invest in equity securities. The Fund may sell securities 15 For purposes of this filing, ETFs include Investment Company Units (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3)); Portfolio Depository Receipts (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.100); and Managed Fund Shares (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600). The ETFs in which a Fund will invest all will be listed and traded on national securities exchanges. While the Funds may invest in inverse ETFs, the Funds will not invest in leveraged (e.g., 2X, ¥2X, 3X or ¥3X) ETFs. PO 00000 Frm 00073 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 to, among other things, secure gains, limit losses, redeploy assets into what Royce deems to be more promising opportunities, and/or manage cash levels in the Fund’s portfolio. Royce Total Return ETF The Royce Total Return ETF will invest primarily in dividend-paying USlisted securities of small-cap companies with stock market capitalizations up to $3 billion that it believes are trading below its estimate of their current worth. The Fund may invest in other investment companies that invest in equity securities. The Fund may sell securities to, among other things, secure gains, limit losses, redeploy assets into what Royce deems to be more promising opportunities, and/or manage cash levels in the Fund’s portfolio. Other Investments While each Fund, under normal market conditions, will invest primarily in U.S.-listed securities, as described above, each Fund may invest its remaining assets in other securities and financial instruments, as described below. According to the Registration Statement, each Fund may enter into repurchase agreements. It will be the policy of the Trust to enter into repurchase agreements only with recognized securities dealers, banks and Fixed Income Clearing Corporation, a securities clearing agency registered with the Commission. Each Fund may invest up to 5% of its total assets in warrants, rights and options. Each Fund may invest a portion of its assets in cash or cash equivalents.16 Each Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies (including money market funds) to the extent allowed by law. Investment Restrictions Each Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in illiquid assets (calculated at 16 For purposes of this filing, cash equivalents include short-term instruments (instruments with maturities of less than 3 months) of the following types: (i) U.S. Government securities, including bills, notes and bonds differing as to maturity and rates of interest, which are either issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury or by U.S. Government agencies or instrumentalities; (ii) certificates of deposit issued against funds deposited in a bank or savings and loan association; (iii) bankers’ acceptances, which are short-term credit instruments used to finance commercial transactions; (iv) repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase agreements; (v) bank time deposits, which are monies kept on deposit with banks or savings and loan associations for a stated period of time at a fixed rate of interest; (vi) commercial paper, which are short-term unsecured promissory notes; and (vii) money market funds. E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES the time of investment),17 consistent with Commission guidance. Each 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 a Fund’s net assets are invested in illiquid assets. Illiquid assets include securities subject to contractual or other restrictions on resale and other instruments that lack readily available markets as determined in accordance with Commission staff guidance.18 According to the Registration Statement, each Fund will seek to qualify for treatment as a Regulated Investment Company (‘‘RIC’’) under the Internal Revenue Code.19 The Shares of each Fund will conform to the initial and continued listing criteria under proposed Rule 8.900. The Funds will not invest in futures, forwards or swaps. Each Fund’s investments will be consistent with its investment objective and will not be used to enhance leverage. While a Fund may invest in inverse ETFs, a Fund will not invest in leveraged (e.g., 2X, ¥2X, 3X or ¥3X) ETFs. The Funds will not invest in nonU.S.-listed securities. 17 In reaching liquidity decisions, the Adviser may consider the following factors: The frequency of trades and quotes for the security; the number of dealers wishing to purchase or sell the security and the number of other potential purchasers; dealer undertakings to make a market in the security; and the nature of the security and the nature of the marketplace in which it trades (e.g., the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting offers and the mechanics of transfer). 18 The Commission has stated that long-standing Commission guidelines have required open-end funds to hold no more than 15% of their net assets in illiquid securities and other illiquid assets. See Investment Company Act Release No. 28193 (March 11, 2008), 73 FR 14618 (March 18, 2008), footnote 34. See also, Investment Company Act Release No. 5847 (October 21, 1969), 35 FR 19989 (December 31, 1970) (Statement Regarding ‘‘Restricted Securities’’); Investment Company Act Release No. 18612 (March 12, 1992), 57 FR 9828 (March 20, 1992) (Revisions of Guidelines to Form N–1A). A fund’s portfolio security is illiquid if it cannot be disposed of in the ordinary course of business within seven days at approximately the value ascribed to it by the fund. See Investment Company Act Release No. 14983 (March 12, 1986), 51 FR 9773 (March 21, 1986) (adopting amendments to Rule 2a–7 under the 1940 Act); Investment Company Act Release No. 17452 (April 23, 1990), 55 FR 17933 (April 30, 1990) (adopting Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933). The Commission recently codified this long standing position in Rule 22e–4. See Investment Company Act Release No. 32315 (October 13, 2016), 81 FR 82142 (November 18, 2016) (adopting requirements for investment company liquidity risk management programs). 19 26 U.S.C. 851. VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 Creations and Redemptions of Shares In connection with the creation and redemption of Creation Units (defined below), the delivery or receipt of any portfolio securities in-kind will be required to be effected through a separate confidential brokerage account (i.e., a Confidential Account) with a Trusted Agent,20 which will be a bank or broker-dealer such as JP Morgan Chase, State Street Bank and Trust, or Bank of New York Mellon, for the benefit of an Authorized Participant.21 An Authorized Participant will generally be a Depository Trust Company (‘‘DTC’’) Participant that has executed a ‘‘Participant Agreement’’ with the Distributor with respect to the creation and redemption of Creation Units and formed a Confidential Account for its benefit in accordance with the terms of the Participant Agreement. For purposes of creations or redemptions, all transactions will be effected through the respective Authorized Participant’s Confidential Account, for the benefit of the Authorized Participant without disclosing the identity of such securities to the Authorized Participant. Each Trusted Agent will be given, before the commencement of trading each Business Day (defined below), both the holdings of a Fund and their relative weightings for that day. This information will permit an Authorized Participant, or other market participant that has established a Confidential Account with a Trusted Agent, to instruct the Trusted Agent to buy and sell positions in the portfolio securities to permit Bona Fide Arbitrage, as defined above. Shares of each Fund will be issued in Creation Units of 25,000 or more Shares. The Funds will offer and sell Creation Units through the Distributor on a continuous basis at the NAV per Share next determined after receipt of an order in proper form. The NAV per Share of each Fund will be determined as of the close of regular trading on the New York Stock Exchange (‘‘NYSE’’) on each day that the NYSE is open. A ‘‘Business Day’’ is defined as any day that the Trust is open for business. The Funds will sell and redeem Creation Units only on Business Days. Applicants anticipate that the initially [sic] price of a Share will range from $20 to $30, and that the 20 Each Authorized Participant shall enter into its own separate Confidential Account with a Trusted Agent. 21 In the event that a Trusted Agent is a bank, the bank will be required to have an affiliated brokerdealer to accommodate the execution of hedging transactions on behalf of the holder of a Confidential Account. PO 00000 Frm 00074 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 20937 price of a Creation Unit initial [sic] will range from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000. In order to keep costs low and permit each Fund to be as fully invested as possible, Shares will be purchased and redeemed in Creation Units and generally on an in-kind basis. Accordingly, except where the purchase or redemption will include cash under the circumstances described in the Registration Statement, purchasers will be required to purchase Creation Units by making an in-kind deposit of specified instruments (‘‘Deposit Instruments’’), and shareholders redeeming their Shares will receive an in-kind transfer of specified instruments (‘‘Redemption Instruments’’).22 On any given Business Day, the names and quantities of the instruments that constitute the Deposit Instruments and the names and quantities of the instruments that constitute the Redemption Instruments will be identical, and these instruments may be referred to, in the case of either a purchase or a redemption, as the ‘‘Creation Basket.’’ 23 As noted above, each Authorized Participant will be required to establish a Confidential Account with a Trusted Agent and transact with each Fund through that Confidential Account.24 Therefore, before the commencement of trading on each Business Day, the Trusted Agent of each Authorized Participant will be provided, on a confidential basis, with a list of the names and quantities of the instruments comprising a Creation Basket, as well as the estimated Balancing Amount (if any), for that day. The published Creation Basket will apply until a new Creation Basket is announced on the following Business Day, and there will be no intra-day changes to the Creation Basket except to correct errors in the 22 The Funds must comply with the federal securities laws in accepting Deposit Instruments and satisfying redemptions with Redemption Instruments, including that the Deposit Instruments and Redemption Instruments are sold in transactions that would be exempt from registration under the 1933 Act. 23 In determining whether a particular Fund will sell or redeem Creation Units entirely on a cash or in-kind basis, whether for a given day or a given order, the key consideration will be the benefit that would accrue to a Fund and its investors. The Adviser represents that the Funds do not currently anticipate the need to sell or redeem Creation Units entirely on a cash basis. 24 The Adviser represents that transacting through a Confidential Account is similar to transacting through any broker-dealer account, except that the Trusted Agent will be bound to keep the names and weights of the portfolio securities confidential. To comply with certain recordkeeping requirements applicable to Authorized Participants, the Trusted Agent will maintain and preserve, and make available to the Commission, certain required records related to the securities held in the Confidential Account. E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 20938 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES published Creation Basket. The instruments and cash that the purchaser is required to deliver in exchange for the Creation Units it is purchasing are referred to as the ‘‘Portfolio Deposit.’’ Placement of Purchase Orders Each Fund will issue Shares through the Distributor on a continuous basis at NAV. The Exchange represents that the issuance of Shares will operate in a manner substantially similar to that of other ETFs. Each Fund will issue Shares only at the NAV per Share next determined after an order in proper form is received. The Trust will sell and redeem Shares on each such day and will not suspend the right of redemption or postpone the date of payment or satisfaction upon redemption for more than seven days, other than as provided by Section 22(d) of the 1940 Act. Shares may be purchased from a Fund by an Authorized Participant for its own account or for the benefit of a customer. The Distributor will furnish acknowledgements to those placing such orders that the orders have been accepted, but the Distributor may reject any order which is not submitted in proper form, as described in a Fund’s prospectus or Statement of Additional Information (‘‘SAI’’). Purchases of Shares will be settled in-kind or cash for an amount equal to the applicable NAV per Share purchased plus applicable ‘‘Transaction Fees,’’ as discussed below. The NAV of each Fund is expected to be determined once each Business Day at a time determined by the Trust’s Board of Directors (‘‘Board’’), currently anticipated to be as of the close of the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. E.T.) (the ‘‘Valuation Time’’). Each Fund will establish a cut-off time (‘‘Order Cut-Off Time’’) for purchase orders in proper form. To initiate a purchase of Shares, an Authorized Participant must submit to the Distributor an irrevocable order to purchase such Shares after the most recent prior Valuation Time but not later than the Order Cut-Off Time. The Order Cut-Off Time for a Fund may be its Valuation Time, or may be prior to the Valuation Time if the Board determines that an earlier Order Cut-Off Time for purchase of Shares is necessary and is in the best interests of Fund shareholders. All orders to purchase Creation Units must be received by the Distributor no later than the scheduled closing time of the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. E.T.) in each case on the date such order is placed (‘‘Transmittal Date’’) in order for the purchaser to receive the NAV per Share VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 determined on the Transmittal Date. In the case of custom orders, the order must be received by the Distributor, no later than 3:00 p.m. E.T., or such earlier time as may be designated by the Funds and disclosed to Authorized Participants.25 The Distributor will maintain a record of Creation Unit purchases and will send out confirmations of such purchases.26 Transaction Fees The Trust may impose purchase or redemption transaction fees (‘‘Transaction Fees’’) in connection with the purchase or redemption of Shares from the Funds. The exact amounts of any such Transaction Fees will be determined by the Adviser. The purpose of the Transaction Fees is to protect the continuing shareholders against possible dilutive transactional expenses, including operational processing and brokerage costs, associated with establishing and liquidating portfolio positions, including short positions, in connection with the purchase and redemption of Shares. Purchases of Shares—Secondary Market Only Authorized Participants and their customers will be able to acquire Shares at NAV directly from a Fund through the Distributor. The required payment must be transferred in the manner set forth in a Fund’s SAI by the specified time on the third DTC settlement day following the day it is transmitted (the ‘‘Transmittal Date’’). These investors and others will also be able to purchase Shares in secondary market transactions at prevailing market prices. Each Fund will reserve the right to reject any purchase order at any time. Redemption Beneficial Owners may sell their Shares in the secondary market. Alternatively, investors that own enough Shares to constitute a Redemption Unit (currently, 25,000 Shares) or multiples thereof may redeem those Shares through the Distributor, which will act as the Trust’s representative for redemption. The size of a Redemption Unit will be subject to change. Redemption orders for Redemption Units or multiples thereof must be placed by or through an Authorized Participant. 25 A ‘‘custom order’’ is any purchase or redemption of Shares made in whole or in part on a cash basis, as provided in the Registration Statement. 26 A Trusted Agent will provide information related to creations and redemption of Creation Units to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (‘‘FINRA’’) upon request. PO 00000 Frm 00075 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Authorized Participant Redemption The Shares may be redeemed to a Fund in Redemption Unit size or multiples thereof as described below. Redemption orders of Redemption Units must be placed by or through an Authorized Participant (‘‘AP Redemption Order’’). Each Fund will establish an Order Cut-Off Time for redemption orders of Redemption Units in proper form. Redemption Units of the Fund will be redeemable at their NAV per Share next determined after receipt of a request for redemption by the Trust in the manner specified below before the Order Cut-Off Time. To initiate an AP Redemption Order, an Authorized Participant must submit to the Distributor an irrevocable order to redeem such Redemption Unit after the most recent prior Valuation Time but not later than the Order Cut-Off Time. The Order Cut-Off Time for a Fund may be its Valuation Time, or may be prior to the Valuation Time if the Board determines that an earlier Order Cut-Off Time for redemption of Redemption Units is necessary and is in the best interests of Fund shareholders. Consistent with the provisions of Section 22(e) of the 1940 Act and Rule 22e–2 thereunder, the right to redeem will not be suspended, nor payment upon redemption delayed, except for: (1) Any period during which the NYSE is closed other than customary weekend and holiday closings, (2) any period during which trading on the NYSE is restricted, (3) any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which disposal by a Fund of securities owned by it is not reasonably practicable or it is not reasonably practicable for a Fund to determine its NAV, and (4) for such other periods as the Commission may by order permit for the protection of shareholders. Redemptions will occur primarily inkind, although redemption payments may also be made partly or wholly in cash.27 The Participant Agreement signed by each Authorized Participant will require establishment of a Confidential Account to receive distributions of securities in-kind upon redemption.28 Each Authorized 27 It is anticipated that any portion of a Fund’s NAV attributable to appreciated short positions will be paid in cash, as securities sold short are not susceptible to in-kind settlement. The value of other positions not susceptible to in-kind settlement may also be paid in cash. 28 The terms of each Confidential Account will be set forth as an exhibit to the applicable Participant Agreement, which will be signed by each Authorized Participant. The terms of the Confidential Account will provide that the trust be formed under applicable state laws; the Custodian may act as Trusted Agent of the Confidential Account; and the Trusted Agent will be paid by the E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES Participant will be required to open a Confidential Account with a Trusted Agent in order to facilitate orderly processing of redemptions. While a Fund will generally distribute securities in-kind, the Adviser may determine from time to time that it is not in a Fund’s best interests to distribute securities in-kind, but rather to sell securities and/or distribute cash. For example, the Adviser may distribute cash to facilitate orderly portfolio management in connection with rebalancing or transitioning a portfolio in line with its investment objective, or if there is substantially more creation than redemption activity during the period immediately preceding a redemption request, or as necessary or appropriate in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. In this manner, a Fund can use in-kind redemptions to reduce the unrealized capital gains that may, at times, exist in a Fund by distributing low cost lots of each security that a Fund needs to dispose of to maintain its desired portfolio exposures. Shareholders of a Fund would benefit from the in-kind redemptions through the reduction of the unrealized capital gains in a Fund that would otherwise have to be realized and, eventually, distributed to shareholders. The redemption basket will consist of the same securities for all Authorized Participants on any given day subject to the Adviser’s ability to make minor adjustments to address odd lots, fractional shares, tradeable sizes or other situations. After receipt of a Redemption Order, a Fund’s custodian (‘‘Custodian’’) will typically deliver securities to the Confidential Account on a pro rata basis (which securities are determined by the Adviser) with a value approximately equal to the value of the Shares 29 tendered for redemption at the Cut-Off time. The Custodian will make delivery of the securities by appropriate entries on its books and records transferring ownership of the securities to the Authorized Participant’s Confidential Account, subject to delivery of the Shares redeemed. The Trusted Agent of the Confidential Account will in turn liquidate, hedge or otherwise manage the securities based on instructions from Authorized Participant a fee negotiated directly between the Authorized Participants and the Trusted Agent(s). 29 If the NAV of the Shares redeemed differs from the value of the securities delivered to the applicable Confidential Account, the Fund will pay a cash balancing amount to compensate for the difference between the value of the securities delivered and the NAV. VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 the Authorized Participant.30 If the Trusted Agent is instructed to sell all securities received at the close on the redemption date, the Trusted Agent will pay the liquidation proceeds net of expenses plus or minus any cash balancing amount to the Authorized Participant through DTC.31 The redemption securities that the Confidential Account receives are expected to mirror the portfolio holdings of a Fund pro rata. To the extent a Fund distributes portfolio securities through an in-kind distribution to more than one Confidential Account for the benefit of that account’s Authorized Participant, each Fund expects to distribute a pro rata portion of the portfolio securities selected for distribution to each redeeming Authorized Participant. If the Authorized Participant would receive a security that it is restricted from receiving, a Fund will deliver cash equal to the value of that security. To address odd lots, fractional shares, tradeable sizes or other situations where dividing securities is not practical or possible, the Adviser may make minor adjustments to the pro rata portion of portfolio securities selected for distribution to each redeeming Authorized Participant on such Business Day. The Trust will accept a Redemption Order in proper form. A Redemption Order is subject to acceptance by the Trust and must be preceded or accompanied by an irrevocable commitment to deliver the requisite number of Shares. At the time of settlement, an Authorized Participant will initiate a delivery of the Shares versus subsequent payment against the proceeds, if any, of the sale of portfolio securities distributed to the applicable Confidential Account plus or minus any cash balancing amounts, and less the expenses of liquidation. Net Asset Value The NAV per Share of a Fund will be computed by dividing the value of the 30 An Authorized Participant will issue execution instructions to the Trusted Agent and be responsible for all associated profit or losses. Like a traditional ETF, the Authorized Participant has the ability to sell the basket securities at any point during normal trading hours. 31 Under applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, the Authorized Participant is expected to be deemed a ‘‘substantial owner’’ of the Confidential Account because it receives distributions from the Confidential Account. As a result, all income, gain or loss realized by the Confidential Account will be directly attributed to the Authorized Participant. In a redemption, the Authorized Participant will have a basis in the distributed securities equal to the fair market value at the time of the distribution and any gain or loss realized on the sale of those Shares will be taxable income to the Authorized Participant. PO 00000 Frm 00076 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 20939 net assets of a Fund (i.e., the value of its total assets less total liabilities) by the total number of Shares of a Fund outstanding, rounded to the nearest cent. Expenses and fees, including, without limitation, the management, administration and distribution fees, will be accrued daily and taken into account for purposes of determining NAV. Interest and investment income on the Trust’s assets accrue daily and will be included in the Fund’s total assets. The NAV per Share for a Fund will be calculated by a Fund’s administrator (‘‘Administrator’’) and determined as of the close of the regular trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., E.T.) on each day that the NYSE is open. Shares of exchange-listed equity securities and exchange-listed options will be valued at market value, which will generally be determined using the last reported official closing or last trading price on the exchange or market on which the securities are primarily traded at the time of valuation. Repurchase agreements will be valued based on price quotations or other equivalent indications of value provided by a third-party pricing service. Money market funds will be valued based on price quotations or other equivalent indications of value provided by a thirdparty pricing service. Cash equivalents will generally be valued on the basis of independent pricing services or quotes obtained from brokers and dealers. Options not listed on an exchange, rights and warrants will be valued based on price quotations or other equivalent indications of value provided by a thirdparty pricing service. When last sale prices and market quotations are not readily available, are deemed unreliable or do not reflect material events occurring between the close of local markets and the time of valuation, investments will be valued using fair value pricing as determined in good faith by the Adviser under procedures established by and under the general supervision and responsibility of the Trust’s Board of Trustees. Investments that may be valued using fair value pricing include, but are not limited to: (1) Securities that are not actively traded; (2) securities of an issuer that becomes bankrupt or enters into a restructuring; and (3) securities whose trading has been halted or suspended. The frequency with which each Fund’s investments will be valued using fair value pricing will primarily be a function of the types of securities and other assets in which the respective Fund will invest pursuant to its investment objective, strategies and E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 20940 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES limitations. If the Funds invest in openend management investment companies registered under the 1940 Act (other than ETFs), they may rely on the NAVs of those companies to value the shares they hold of them. Valuing the Funds’ investments using fair value pricing involves the consideration of a number of subjective factors and thus the prices for those investments may differ from current market valuations. Accordingly, fair value pricing could result in a difference between the prices used to calculate NAV and the prices used to determine a Fund’s VIIV, which could result in the market prices for Shares deviating from NAV. In cases where the fair value price of the security is materially different from the pricing data provided by the independent pricing sources and the Adviser determined that the ongoing pricing information is not likely to be reliable, the fair value will be used for calculation of the VIIV, and a Fund’s Custodian will be instructed to disclose the identity and weight of the fair valued securities, as well as the fair value price being used for the security. Availability of Information The Funds’ Web site (www.precidianfunds.com), which will be publicly available prior to the public offering of Shares, will include a form of the prospectus for each Fund that may be downloaded. The Funds’ Web site will include additional quantitative information updated on a daily basis, including, for each Fund, (1) daily trading volume, the prior Business Day’s reported closing price, NAV and midpoint of the bid/ask spread at the time of calculation of such NAV (the ‘‘Bid/ Ask Price’’),32 and a calculation of the premium and discount of the Bid/Ask Price against the NAV, and (2) data in chart format displaying the frequency distribution of discounts and premiums of the daily Bid/Ask Price against the NAV, within appropriate ranges, for each of the four previous calendar quarters. The Web site and information will be publicly available at no charge. As noted above, a mutual fund is required to file with the Commission its complete portfolio schedules for the second and fourth fiscal quarters on Form N–CSR under the 1940 Act, and is required to file its complete portfolio schedules for the first and third fiscal quarters on Form N–Q under the 1940 32 The Bid/Ask Price of a Fund 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 a Fund’s NAV. The records relating to Bid/Ask Prices will be retained by each Fund and its service providers. VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 Act, within 60 days of the end of the quarter. Form N–Q requires funds to file the same schedules of investments that are required in annual and semi-annual reports to shareholders. The Trust’s SAI and each Fund’s shareholder reports will be available free upon request from the Trust. These documents and forms may be viewed on-screen or downloaded from the Commission’s Web site at www.sec.gov. Information regarding market price and trading volume of the Shares will be continually available on a real-time basis throughout the day on brokers’ computer screens and other electronic services. Information regarding the previous day’s closing price and trading volume information for the Shares will be published daily in the financial section of newspapers. Updated price information for U.S. exchange-listed equity securities is available through major market data vendors or securities exchanges trading such securities. The intraday, closing and settlement prices of money market funds, repurchase agreements, reverse repurchase agreements and cash equivalents will be readily available from published or other public sources, or major market data vendors such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. 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. Quotation and last sale information for the Shares will be available via the Consolidated Tape Association (‘‘CTA’’) high-speed line. In addition, the VIIV, as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900(c)(3) and as described further below, will be widely disseminated by one or more major market data vendors at least every second during the Exchange’s Core Trading Session. Dissemination of the Verified Intraday Indicative Value The VIIV, which is approximate value of each Fund’s investments on a per Share basis, will be disseminated every second during the Exchange’s Core Trading Session. The VIIV should not be viewed as a ‘‘real-time’’ update of NAV because the VIIV may not be calculated in the same manner as NAV, which is computed once per day. The Exchange will disseminate the VIIV for each Fund in one-second intervals during the Core Trading Session, through the facilities of the CTA. The VIIV is essentially an intraday NAV calculation every second during the Core Trading Session. Each Fund will adopt procedures governing the calculation of the VIIV and will bear PO 00000 Frm 00077 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 responsibility for the accuracy of its calculation. Pursuant to those procedures, the VIIV will include all accrued income and expenses of a Fund and will assure that any extraordinary expenses, booked during the day, that would be taken into account in calculating a Fund’s NAV for that day are also taken into account in calculating the VIIV. For purposes of the VIIV, securities held by a Fund will be valued throughout the day based on the mid-point between the disseminated current national best bid and offer. The Adviser represents that, by utilizing the mid-point pricing for purposes of VIIV calculation, stale prices are eliminated and more accurate representation of the real time value of the underlying securities is provided to the market. Specifically, quotations based on the mid-point of bid/ask spreads more accurately reflect current market sentiment by providing real time information on where market participants are willing to buy or sell securities at that point in time. Using quotations rather than last sale information addresses concerns regarding the staleness of pricing information of less actively traded securities. Because quotations are updated more frequently than last sale information especially for inactive securities, the VIIV will be based on more current and accurate information. The use of quotations will also dampen the impact of any momentary spikes in the price of a portfolio security. Each Fund will utilize two independent pricing sources to provide two independent sources of pricing information. Each Fund will also utilize a ‘‘Pricing Verification Agent’’ and establish a computer-based protocol that will permit the Pricing Verification Agent to continuously compare the two data streams from the independent pricing agents sources on a real time basis.33 A single VIIV will be disseminated publicly for each Fund; however, the Pricing Verification Agent will continuously compare the public VIIV against a non-public alternative intra-day indicative value to which the Pricing Verification Agent has access. If it becomes apparent that there is a material discrepancy between the two data streams, the Exchange will be notified and have the ability to halt trading in a Fund until the discrepancy is resolved. Each Fund’s Board will review the procedures used to calculate the VIIV and maintain its accuracy as 33 A Fund’s Custodian will provide, on a daily basis, the constituent basket file comprised of all securities plus any cash to the independent pricing agent(s) for purposes of pricing. E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices appropriate, but not less than annually. The specific methodology for calculating the VIIV will be disclosed on each Fund’s Web site. Trading Halts With respect to trading halts, the Exchange may consider all relevant factors in exercising its discretion to halt or suspend trading in the Shares of the Funds.34 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. Trading in the Shares will be subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900(d)(2)(C), which sets forth circumstances under which Shares of the Funds will be halted. pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES Trading Rules The Exchange deems the Shares to be equity securities, thus rendering trading in the Shares subject to the Exchange’s existing rules governing the trading of equity securities. Shares will trade on the NYSE Arca Marketplace only during the Core Trading Session in accordance with NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34(a)(2). As provided in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.6, the minimum price variation (‘‘MPV’’) for quoting and entry of orders in equity securities traded on the NYSE Arca Marketplace is $0.01, with the exception of securities that are priced less than $1.00 for which the MPV for order entry is $0.0001. The Shares will conform to the initial and continued listing criteria under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900. The Exchange represents that, for initial and/or continued listing, each Fund will be in compliance with Rule 10A–3 under the Act,35 as provided by NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.3. A minimum of 100,000 Shares of each Fund will be outstanding at the commencement of trading on the Exchange. The Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer of the Shares of each Fund that the NAV per Share of each Fund will be calculated daily and will be made available to all market participants at the same time. Surveillance The Exchange represents that trading in the Shares will be subject to the existing trading surveillances, administered by the Exchange, as well as cross-market surveillances administered by FINRA on behalf of the Exchange, which are designed to detect 34 See 35 See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12. 17 CFR 240.10A–3. VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 violations of Exchange rules and applicable federal securities laws.36 The Exchange represents that these procedures are adequate to properly monitor Exchange trading of the Shares in all trading sessions and to deter and detect violations of Exchange rules and federal securities laws applicable to trading on the Exchange. The surveillances referred to above generally focus on detecting securities trading outside their normal patterns, which could be indicative of manipulative or other violative activity. When such situations are detected, surveillance analysis follows and investigations are opened, where appropriate, to review the behavior of all relevant parties for all relevant trading violations. The Exchange or FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, or both, will communicate as needed regarding trading in the Shares, underlying stocks, ETFs and exchange-listed options with other markets and other entities that are members of the Intermarket Surveillance Group (‘‘ISG’’), and the Exchange or FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, or both, may obtain trading information regarding trading such securities from such markets and other entities. In addition, the Exchange may obtain information regarding trading in the Shares, underlying stocks, ETFs and exchange-listed options from markets and other entities that are members of ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement.37 The Funds’ Adviser will make available daily to FINRA and the Exchange the portfolio holdings of each Fund in order to facilitate the performance of the surveillances referred to above. In addition, the Exchange also has a general policy prohibiting the distribution of material, non-public information by its employees. Information Bulletin Prior to the commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform its Equity Trading Permit (‘‘ETP’’) Holders in an Information Bulletin (‘‘Bulletin’’) of the special characteristics and risks associated with trading the Shares. Specifically, the Bulletin will discuss the following: (1) The procedures for purchases and redemptions of Shares; (2) NYSE Arca Equities Rule 9.2(a), 36 FINRA conducts cross-market surveillances on behalf of the Exchange pursuant to a regulatory services agreement. The Exchange is responsible for FINRA’s performance under this regulatory services agreement. 37 For a list of the current members of ISG, see www.isgportal.org. PO 00000 Frm 00078 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 20941 which imposes a duty of due diligence on its ETP Holders to learn the essential facts relating to every customer prior to trading the Shares; (4) [sic] how information regarding the VIIV is disseminated; (5) the requirement that ETP Holders deliver a prospectus to investors purchasing newly issued Shares prior to or concurrently with the confirmation of a transaction; and (6) trading information. In addition, the Bulletin will reference that the Funds are subject to various fees and expenses described in the Registration Statement. The Bulletin will discuss any exemptive, no-action, and interpretive relief granted by the Commission from any rules under the Act. The Bulletin will also disclose that the NAV for the Shares will be calculated after 4:00 p.m., E.T. each trading day. 2. Statutory Basis The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act,38 in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,39 in particular, in that it is 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 Exchange believes that proposed Rule 8.900 is designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices in that the proposed rules relating to listing and trading of Managed Portfolio Shares provide specific initial and continued listing criteria required to be met by such securities. Proposed Rule 8.900(d) sets forth initial and continued listing criteria applicable to Managed Portfolio Shares. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(1) provides that, for each series of Managed Portfolio Shares, the Corporation will establish a minimum number of Managed Portfolio Shares required to be outstanding at the time of commencement of trading. In addition, the Corporation will obtain a representation from the issuer of each series of Managed Portfolio Shares that the NAV per share for the series will be calculated daily and that the NAV will be made available to all market participants at the same time. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2) provides that each series of Managed Portfolio Shares will be listed and traded subject to application of the specified continued 38 15 39 15 E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM U.S.C. 78f(b). U.S.C. 78f(b)(5). 04MYN1 pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES 20942 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices listing criteria, as described above. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(A) provides that the VIIV for Managed Portfolio Shares will be widely disseminated by one or more major market data vendors every second during the Exchange’s Core Trading Session. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(B) provides that the Corporation will maintain surveillance procedures for securities listed under Rule 8.900 and will consider the suspension of trading in, and will commence delisting proceedings under Rule 5.5(m) of, a series of Managed Portfolio Shares under any of the circumstances set forth in proposed Rules 8.900(d)(2)(B)(i) through (vi), as described above, including if any of the continued listing requirements set forth in Rule 8.900 are not continuously maintained (proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(B)(iv)), and if the Corporation submits a rule filing pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act to permit the listing and trading of a series of Managed Portfolio Shares and any of the statements or representations regarding (a) the description of the portfolio or reference asset, (b) limitations on portfolio holdings or reference assets, or (c) the applicability of Exchange listing rules specified in such rule filing are not continuously maintained (proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(B)(v)). Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(C) provides that, upon notification to the Corporation by the Investment Company or its agent that (i) the prices from the multiple independent pricing sources to be validated by the Investment Company’s pricing verification agent differ by more than 25 basis points for 60 seconds in connection with pricing of the VIIV, or (ii) that the VIIV of a series of Managed Portfolio Shares is not being priced and disseminated in one-second intervals, as required, the Corporation shall halt trading in the Managed Portfolio Shares as soon as practicable. Such halt in trading shall continue until the Investment Company or its agent notifies the Corporation that the prices from the independent pricing sources no longer differ by more than 25 basis points for 60 seconds or that the VIIV is being priced and disseminated as required. Proposed Commentary .05 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides that, if the investment adviser to the Investment Company issuing Managed Portfolio Shares is affiliated with a broker-dealer, or if any Trusted Agent is registered as a broker-dealer or is affiliated with a broker-dealer, such investment adviser or Trusted Agent will erect and maintain a ‘‘fire wall’’ between the investment adviser or VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 Trusted Agent and (i) personnel of the broker-dealer or broker-dealer affiliate, as applicable, or (ii) the Authorized Participant or non-Authorized Participant market maker, as applicable, with respect to access to information concerning the composition and/or changes to such Investment Company portfolio. Personnel who make decisions on the Investment Company’s portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information regarding the applicable Investment Company portfolio Personnel who make decisions on the Investment Company’s portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information regarding the applicable Investment Company portfolio. With respect to the proposed listing and trading of Shares of the Funds, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices in that the Shares will be listed and traded on the Exchange pursuant to the initial and continued listing criteria in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900. Price information for the exchange-listed equity securities held by the Funds will be available through major market data vendors or securities exchanges listing and trading such securities. All exchange-listed equity securities held by the Funds will be listed on national securities exchanges. The listing and trading of such securities is subject to rules of the exchanges on which they are listed and traded, as approved by the Commission. The Funds will primarily hold U.S.listed securities or ETFs. A Fund’s investments will be consistent with its respective investment objective and will not be used to enhance leverage. The Funds will not invest in non-U.S.-listed securities. The Exchange or FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, or both, will communicate as needed regarding trading in the Shares and underlying stocks and ETFs with other markets and other entities that are members of the ISG, and the Exchange or FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, or both, may obtain trading information regarding trading such securities from such markets and other entities. In addition, the Exchange may obtain information regarding trading in the Shares, underlying stocks and ETFs from markets and other entities that are members of ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement. A PO 00000 Frm 00079 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 Trusted Agent will provide information related to creations and redemption of Creation Units to FINRA upon request. The Funds’ Adviser will make available daily to FINRA and the Exchange the portfolio holdings of each Fund in order to facilitate the performance of the surveillances referred to above. The Exchange, after consulting with various Lead Market Makers that trade ETFs on the Exchange, believes that market makers will be able to make efficient and liquid markets priced near the VIIV, market makers have knowledge of a fund’s means of achieving its investment objective even without daily disclosure of a fund’s underlying portfolio, and are able to engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage. The Exchange believes that market makers will employ risk-management techniques such as Bona Fide Arbitrage in addition to ‘‘statistical arbitrage,’’ which is currently used throughout the financial services industry, to make efficient markets in exchange traded products.40 This ability should permit market makers to make efficient markets in shares without knowledge of a fund’s underlying portfolio. The Exchange understands that traders, in addition to employing Bona Fide Arbitrage, use statistical analysis to derive correlations between different sets of instruments to identify opportunities to buy or sell one set of instruments when it is mispriced relative to the others. For Managed Portfolio Shares, market makers utilizing statistical arbitrage use the knowledge of a fund’s means of achieving its investment objective, as described in the applicable fund registration statement, to construct a hedging proxy for a fund to manage a market maker’s quoting risk in connection with trading fund shares. Market makers will then conduct statistical arbitrage between their hedging proxy (for example, the Russell 1000 Index) and shares of a fund, buying and selling one against the other over the course of the trading day. Eventually, at the end of each day, they will evaluate how their proxy performed in comparison to the price of a fund’s shares, and use that analysis as well as knowledge of risk metrics, such as volatility and turnover, to enhance their proxy calculation to make it a more efficient hedge. Market makers who anticipate employing statistical arbitrage more often than Bona Fide Arbitrage, have indicated to the Exchange that, after the first few days of trading, there will be sufficient data to run a statistical 40 See E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM note 10, supra. 04MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES analysis which will lead to spreads being tightened substantially around VIIV. This is similar to certain other existing exchange traded products (for example, ETFs that invest in foreign securities that do not trade during U.S. trading hours), in which spreads may be generally wider in the early days of trading and then narrow as market makers gain more confidence in their real-time hedges. The Lead Market Makers also indicated that, as with some other new exchange-traded products, spreads may be generally wider in the early days of trading and would tend to narrow as market makers gain more confidence in the accuracy of their hedges and their ability to adjust these hedges in realtime relative to the published VIIV and gain an understanding of the applicable market risk metrics such as volatility and turnover, and as natural buyers and sellers enter the market. Other relevant factors cited by Lead Market Makers were that a fund’s investment objectives are clearly disclosed in the applicable prospectus, the existence of quarterly portfolio disclosure, the capacity to engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage and the ability to create shares in creation unit size. The Commission’s concept release regarding ‘‘Actively Managed ExchangeTraded Funds’’ highlighted several issues that could impact the Commission’s willingness to authorize the operation of an actively-managed ETF, including whether effective arbitrage of the ETF shares exists.41 The Concept Release identifies the transparency of a fund’s portfolio and the liquidity of the securities in a fund’s portfolio as central to effective arbitrage. With respect to the Funds, the Funds’ use of U.S.-listed securities and the ability of market makers to engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage provide adequate liquidity as well as the ability to engage in riskless arbitrage. Additionally, certain existing ETFs with portfolios of foreign securities have shown their ability to trade efficiently in the secondary market at approximately their NAV even though they do not provide opportunities for riskless arbitrage transactions during much of the trading day.42 Such ETFs have been shown to 41 See Investment Company Act Release No. 25258 (November 8, 2001) (the ‘‘Concept Release’’). 42 The Adviser represents that the mechanics of arbitrage and hedging differ. Prior Rule 10a–1 and Regulation T under the Act both describe arbitrage as either buying and selling the same security in two different markets or buying and selling two different securities, one of which is convertible into the other. This is also known as a ‘‘riskless arbitrage’’ transaction in that the transaction is risk free since it generally consists of buying an asset at one price and simultaneously selling that same VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 have pricing characteristics very similar to ETFs that can be arbitraged in this manner. For example, index-based ETFs containing securities that trade during different trading hours than the ETF, such as ETFs that hold Asian stocks, have demonstrated efficient pricing characteristics notwithstanding the inability of market professionals to engage in ‘‘riskless arbitrage’’ with respect to the underlying portfolio for most, or even all, of the U.S. trading day when Asian markets are closed. Pricing for shares of such ETFs is efficient because market professionals are still able to hedge their positions with offsetting, correlated positions in derivative instruments during the entire trading day. The real-time dissemination of a fund’s VIIV, the ability for market makers to engage is [sic] riskless arbitrage through the Bona Fide Arbitrage mechanism, together with the right of Authorized Participants to create and redeem each day at the NAV, will be sufficient for market participants to value and trade shares in a manner that will not lead to significant deviations between the shares’ Bid/Ask Price and NAV. The pricing efficiency with respect to trading a series of Managed Portfolio Shares will generally rest on the ability of market participants to arbitrage between the shares and a fund’s portfolio, in addition to the ability of market participants to assess a fund’s underlying value accurately enough throughout the trading day in order to hedge positions in shares effectively. Professional traders not employing Bona Fide Arbitrage can buy shares that they perceive to be trading at a price less than that which will be available at a subsequent time, and sell shares they perceive to be trading at a price higher than that which will be available at a subsequent time. It is expected that, as part of their normal day-to-day trading activity, market makers assigned to shares by the Exchange, off-exchange market makers, firms that specialize in electronic trading, hedge funds and other professionals specializing in shortterm, non-fundamental trading strategies will assume the risk of being ‘‘long’’ or ‘‘short’’ shares through such trading and will hedge such risk wholly or partly by simultaneously taking asset at a higher price, thereby generating a profit on the difference. Hedging, on the other hand, involves managing risk by purchasing or selling a security or instrument that will track or offset the value of another security or instrument. Arbitrage and hedging are both used to manage risk; however, they involve different trading strategies. PO 00000 Frm 00080 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 20943 positions in correlated assets 43 or by netting the exposure against other, offsetting trading positions—much as such firms do with existing ETFs and other equities. Disclosure of a fund’s investment objective and principal investment strategies in its prospectus and SAI, along with the dissemination of the VIIV every second, should permit professional investors to engage easily in this type of hedging activity.44 With respect to trading of Shares of the Funds, the ability of market participants to buy and sell Shares at prices near the VIIV is dependent upon their assessment that the VIIV is a reliable, indicative real-time value for a Fund’s underlying holdings. Market participants are expected to accept the VIIV as a reliable, indicative real-time value because (1) the VIIV will be calculated and disseminated based on a Fund’s actual portfolio holdings, (2) the securities in which the Funds plan to 43 Price correlation trading is used throughout the financial industry. It is used to discover both trading opportunities to be exploited, such as currency pairs and statistical arbitrage, as well as for risk mitigation such as dispersion trading and beta hedging. These correlations are a function of differentials, over time, between one or multiple securities pricing. Once the nature of these price deviations have been quantified, a universe of securities is searched in an effort to, in the case of a hedging strategy, minimize the differential. Once a suitable hedging basket has been identified, a trader can minimize portfolio risk by executing the hedging basket. The trader then can monitor the performance of this hedge throughout the trade period, making corrections where warranted. 44 With respect to trading in Shares of the Funds, market participants would manage risk in a variety of ways. In addition to Bona Fide Arbitrage, it is expected that market participants will be able to determine how to trade Shares at levels approximating the VIIV without taking undue risk by gaining experience with how various market factors (e.g., general market movements, sensitivity of the VIIV to intraday movements in interest rates or commodity prices, etc.) affect VIIV, and by finding hedges for their long or short positions in Shares using instruments correlated with such factors. The Adviser expects that market participants will initially determine the VIIV’s correlation to a major large capitalization equity benchmark with active derivative contracts, such as the Russell 1000 Index, and the degree of sensitivity of the VIIV to changes in that benchmark. For example, using hypothetical numbers for illustrative purposes, market participants should be able to determine quickly that price movements in the Russell 1000 Index predict movements in a Fund’s VIIV 95% of the time (an acceptably high correlation) but that the VIIV generally moves approximately half as much as the Russell 1000 Index with each price movement. This information is sufficient for market participants to construct a reasonable hedge—buy or sell an amount of futures, swaps or ETFs that track the Russell 1000 equal to half the opposite exposure taken with respect to Shares. Market participants will also continuously compare the intraday performance of their hedge to a Fund’s VIIV. If the intraday performance of the hedge is correlated with the VIIV to the expected degree, market participants will feel comfortable they are appropriately hedged and can rely on the VIIV as appropriately indicative of a Fund’s performance. E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES 20944 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices invest are generally highly liquid and actively traded and therefore generally have accurate real time pricing available, and (3) market participants will have a daily opportunity to evaluate whether the VIIV at or near the close of trading is indeed predictive of the actual NAV. The real-time dissemination of a Fund’s VIIV, the ability for market makers to engage is [sic] riskless arbitrage through the Bona Fide Arbitrage mechanism, together with the ability of Authorized Participants to create and redeem each day at the NAV, will be crucial for market participants to value and trade Shares in a manner that will not lead to significant deviations between the Shares’ Bid/Ask Price and NAV.45 In a typical index-based ETF, it is standard for Authorized Participants to know what securities must be delivered in a creation or will be received in a redemption. For Managed Portfolio Shares, however, Authorized Participants do not need to know the securities comprising the portfolio of a Fund since creations and redemptions are handled through the Confidential Account mechanism. The Adviser represents that the in-kind creations and redemptions through a Confidential Account will preserve the integrity of the active investment strategy and eliminate the potential for ‘‘free riding’’ or ‘‘front-running,’’ while still providing investors with the advantages of the ETF structure. The proposed rule change is designed to promote just and equitable principles of trade and to protect investors and the public interest in that the Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer of an issue of Managed Portfolio Shares that the NAV per share of a fund will be calculated daily and that the NAV and [sic] will be made available to all market participants at the same time. Investors can also obtain a fund’s SAI, shareholder reports, and its Form N– CSR, Form N–Q and Form N–SAR. A fund’s SAI and shareholder reports will be available free upon request from the applicable fund, and those documents and the Form N–CSR, Form N–Q and Form N–SAR may be viewed on-screen or downloaded from the Commission’s Web site. In addition, with respect to the Funds, a large amount of information will be publicly available regarding the Funds and the Shares, thereby promoting market transparency. 45 The statements in the Statutory Basis section of this filing relating to pricing efficiency, arbitrage, and activities of market participants, including market makers and Authorized Participants, are based on representations by the Adviser and review by the Exchange. VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 Quotation and last sale information for the Shares will be available via the CTA high-speed line. Information regarding the intra-day value of the Shares of a Fund, which is the VIIV as defined in proposed NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900(c)(3), will be widely disseminated every second throughout the Exchange’s Core Trading Session by one or more major market data vendors. The Web site for the Funds will include a form of the prospectus for the Funds that may be downloaded, and additional data relating to NAV and other applicable quantitative information, updated on a daily basis. Moreover, prior to the commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform its ETP Holders in an Information Bulletin of the special characteristics and risks associated with trading the Shares. Trading in Shares of a Fund will be halted if the circuit breaker parameters in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12 have been reached or because of market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in the Shares inadvisable. Trading in the Shares will be subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900(d)(2)(C), which sets forth circumstances under which Shares of the Funds will be halted. In addition, as noted above, investors will have ready access to the VIIV, and quotation and last sale information for the Shares. The Shares will conform to the initial and continued listing criteria under proposed Rule 8.900. The Funds will not invest in futures, forwards or swaps. Each Fund’s investments will be consistent with its investment objective and will not be used to enhance leverage. While a Fund may invest in inverse ETFs, a Fund will not invest in leveraged (e.g., 2X, ¥2X, 3X or ¥3X) ETFs. The Funds will not invest in nonU.S. listed securities. The proposed rule change is designed to perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest in that it will facilitate the listing and trading of an additional type of activelymanaged exchange-traded product that will enhance competition among market participants, to the benefit of investors and the marketplace. As noted above, the Exchange has in place surveillance procedures relating to trading in the Shares and may obtain information via ISG from other exchanges that are members of ISG or with which the Exchange has entered into a comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement. In addition, as noted above, investors will have ready access to information regarding the VIIV and PO 00000 Frm 00081 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 quotation and last sale information for the Shares. B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Burden on Competition The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange believes the proposed rule change would permit listing and trading of another type of actively-managed ETF that has characteristics different from existing actively-managed and index ETFs, and would introduce additional competition among various ETF products to the benefit of investors. C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the proposed rule change. III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for Commission Action Within 45 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register or up to 90 days (i) as the Commission may designate if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission will: (A) By order approve or disapprove the proposed rule change, or (B) institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved. IV. Solicitation of Comments Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods: Electronic Comments • Use the Commission’s Internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/ rules/sro.shtml); or • Send an email to rule-comments@ sec.gov. Please include File Number SR– NYSEArca–2017–36 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–2017–36. This E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1 Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 85 / Thursday, May 4, 2017 / Notices 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–2017–36 and should be submitted on or before May 25, 2017. For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.46 Eduardo A. Aleman, Assistant Secretary. (‘‘Act’’),1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder.2 The proposed rule change was published for comment in the Federal Register on March 14, 2017.3 The Commission did not receive any comment letters on the proposed rule change. This order approves the proposed rule change. I. Description of the Proposed Rule Change OCC operates two Stock Loan Programs—the Hedge Program and Market Loan Program—in which a participating clearing member can lend an agreed-upon number of shares of eligible stock 4 to another clearing member in exchange for an agreed-upon value of U.S. dollar cash collateral and then novate the loan to OCC for clearing.5 The Hedge Program permits clearing members to bilaterally execute stock loans and negotiate collateralization and other terms before submitting such stock loans to OCC for novation and clearing.6 The Market Loan Program is operationally similar to the Hedge Program, but it permits clearing members to execute stock loans through a multilateral loan market.7 In each case, upon completion of the novation process, OCC, in its capacity as a central counterparty, guarantees return of (i) loaned stock, or that stock’s value, to the lending clearing member, and (ii) the value of cash collateral to the borrowing clearing member.8 In addition, OCC makes mark-to-market margin payments on a daily basis to ensure stock loans remain fully collateralized. OCC proposes a number of changes to the Stock Loan Programs and its Rules [FR Doc. 2017–08980 Filed 5–3–17; 8:45 am] 1 15 BILLING CODE 8011–01–P U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). CFR 240.19b–4. 3 Securities Exchange Act Release No. 34–80323 (March 8, 2017), 82 FR 13690 (March 14, 2017) (File No. SR–OCC–2017–004) (‘‘Notice’’). 4 See OCC Rules 2202 and 2202A (providing that stock loans under the Hedge Program and the Market Loan Program, respectively, must effect transfer only of ‘‘Eligible Stock,’’ as defined in Article I of OCC’s By-laws). OCC permits clearing members to execute stock loans involving 6,191 eligible securities as March 29, 2017, available at https://www.theocc.com/webapps/stock loaneligible-securities. 5 The Hedge Program is governed by Article XXI of OCC’s By-Laws and Chapter XXII of OCC’s Rules. The Market Loan Program is governed by Article XXIA of OCC’s By-Laws and Chapter XXIIA of OCC’s Rules. The Commission understands that OCC cleared approximately 10–15% of the overall U.S.-equities stock loan market through the two programs, as of November 2015. 6 The Commission understands that the Hedge Program accounts for approximately 95% of cleared stock loan volume at OCC, as of November 2015. 7 Automated Equity Finance Markets, Inc. is the sole loan market through which clearing members can execute stock loans in the Market Loan Program. 8 See OCC Rules 2202(b) and 2202A(b). 2 17 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–80555; File No. SR–OCC– 2017–004] Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Options Clearing Corporation; Order Approving Proposed Rule Change Concerning Enhancements to OCC’s Stock Loan Programs pmangrum on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES April 28, 2017. On February 28, 2017, The Options Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule change SR–OCC–2017– 004 pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 46 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12). VerDate Sep<11>2014 14:39 May 03, 2017 Jkt 241001 PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 20945 governing those Programs.9 First, to improve trade certainty and transparency concerning clearing member exposures, OCC proposes amendments to its rules governing the Stock Loan Programs to do the following: (1) Require clearing members to have policies and procedures to reconcile stock loan positions each business day; (2) state explicitly that the controlling record for stock loan positions for margin and other purposes is OCC’s ‘‘golden’’ record; and (3) provide that stock loan positions remain in effect until OCC’s records reflect stock loan terminations. Second, to mitigate risks that may arise in the event of a clearing member suspension, OCC proposes amendments to its rules governing the Stock Loan Programs to do the following: (1) Provide a two-day trading window in which clearing members must execute close-out transactions, also known as ‘‘buy-in’’ or ‘‘sell-out’’ transactions; (2) provide broad authority for OCC to use reasonable prices to settle close-out transactions; and (3) permit OCC to close out and re-establish the matchedbook stock loan positions of a suspended Hedge Program clearing member through termination by offset and ‘‘re-matching’’ with other clearing members. Each of these proposals is discussed in more detail below. A. Proposed Measures To Improve Trade Certainty and Transparency OCC proposes three amendments to the rules governing its Stock Loan Programs that are intended to improve trade certainty and transparency for clearing members and OCC. 1. Daily Reconciliation of Stock Loan Positions Clearing members that participate in the Hedge Program and the Market Loan Program execute and terminate stock loans on a bilateral basis. Following execution or termination of stock loans, OCC requires clearing members to promptly report stock loans directly to OCC, or to facilitate such reporting to OCC through the Depository Trust Corporation (‘‘DTC’’), ensuring OCC accepts stock loans for clearing and records the novation or termination for margin and other purposes. Under the current trade-reporting process, clearing members may fail to report (or to have DTC report) stock loans to OCC in a timely manner, increasing uncertainty in the novation process and decreasing transparency with respect to OCC’s 9 For a more detailed description of the specific rule changes OCC is proposing, see Notice, supra note 3. E:\FR\FM\04MYN1.SGM 04MYN1

Agencies

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 85 (Thursday, May 4, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20932-20945]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-08980]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-80553; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2017-36]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing 
of Proposed Rule Change To Adopt a New NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 
and To List and Trade Shares of the Royce Pennsylvania ETF; Royce 
Premier ETF; and Royce Total Return ETF Under Proposed NYSE Arca 
Equities Rule 8.900

April 28, 2017.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) \1\ of the Securities Exchange Act of 
1934 (the ``Act'') \2\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\3\ notice is hereby 
given that, on April 14, 2017, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the ``Exchange,'' 
``NYSE Arca,'' or the ``Corporation'') filed with the Securities and 
Exchange Commission (the ``Commission'') the proposed rule change as 
described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared 
by the self-regulatory organization. The Commission is publishing this 
notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested 
persons.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 78a.
    \3\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to adopt a new NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 
to permit it to list and trade Managed Portfolio Shares, which are 
shares of actively managed exchange-traded funds (``ETFs'') for which 
the portfolio is disclosed in accordance with standard mutual fund 
disclosure rules. In addition, the Exchange proposes to list and trade 
shares of the following under proposed NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900: 
Royce Pennsylvania ETF; Royce Premier ETF; and Royce Total Return ETF. 
The proposed change is available on the Exchange's Web site at 
www.nyse.com, at the principal office of the Exchange, and at the 
Commission's Public Reference Room.

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

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

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

1. Purpose
    The Exchange proposes to add new NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 for 
the purpose of permitting the listing and trading, or trading pursuant 
to unlisted trading privileges (``UTP''), of Managed Portfolio Shares, 
which are securities issued by an actively managed open-end investment 
management company.\4\
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    \4\ A Managed Portfolio Share is a security that represents an 
interest in an investment company registered under the Investment 
Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1) (``1940 Act'') organized as an 
open-end investment company or similar entity that invests in a 
portfolio of securities selected by its investment adviser 
consistent with its investment objectives and policies. In contrast, 
an open-end investment company that issues Investment Company Units, 
listed and traded on the Exchange under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 
5.2(j)(3) (``Index ETFs''), seeks to provide investment results that 
correspond generally to the price and yield performance of a 
specific foreign or domestic stock index, fixed income securities 
index or combination thereof.
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    In addition to the above-mentioned proposed rule changes, the 
Exchange proposes to list and trade shares (``Shares'') of the 
following under proposed NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900: Royce 
Pennsylvania ETF; Royce Premier ETF; and Royce Total Return ETF (each, 
a ``Fund'' and, collectively, the ``Funds'').
Proposed Listing Rules
    Proposed Rule 8.900(a) provides that the Corporation will consider 
for trading, whether by listing or pursuant to UTP, Managed Portfolio 
Shares that meet the criteria of Rule 8.900.
    Proposed Rule 8.900(b) provides that Rule 8.900 is applicable only 
to Managed Portfolio Shares and that, except to the extent inconsistent 
with Rule 8.900, or unless the context otherwise requires, the rules 
and procedures of the Corporation's Board of Directors shall be 
applicable to the trading on the Corporation of such securities. 
Proposed Rule 8.900(b) provides further that Managed Portfolio Shares 
are included within the definition of ``security'' or ``securities'' as 
such terms are used in the Rules of the Corporation.
Proposed Definitions
    Proposed Rule 8.900(c)(1) defines the term ``Managed Portfolio 
Share'' as a security that (a) is issued by a registered investment 
company (``Investment Company'') organized as an open-end management 
investment company or similar entity, that invests in a portfolio of 
securities selected by the Investment Company's investment adviser 
consistent with the Investment Company's investment objectives and 
policies; and (b) when aggregated in a number of shares equal to a 
Redemption Unit or multiples thereof, may be redeemed at the request of 
an Authorized Participant (as defined in the Investment Company's Form 
N-1A filed with the SEC), which Authorized Participant will be paid, 
through its own separate confidential account established for its 
benefit, a portfolio of securities and/or cash with a value equal to 
the next determined net asset value (``NAV'').
    Proposed Rule 8.900(c)(2) defines the term ``Verified Intraday 
Indicative Value (``VIIV'') as the estimated indicative value of a 
Managed Portfolio Share based on all of the issuer's holdings as of the 
close of business on the prior business day, priced and disseminated in 
one second intervals, and subject to validation by a pricing 
verification agent of the Investment Company that is responsible for 
comparing multiple independent pricing sources to establish the 
accuracy of the VIIV.
    Proposed Rule 8.900(c)(3) defines the term ``Redemption Unit'' as a 
specified number of Managed Portfolio Shares.
    Proposed Rule 8.900(c)(4) defines the term ``Reporting Authority'' 
in respect of a particular series of Managed Portfolio Shares as a 
reporting service designated by the issuer as the official source for 
calculating and reporting information relating to such series, 
including, but not limited to, the VIIV, NAV, or other information 
relating to the issuance, redemption or trading of Managed Portfolio 
Shares. A series of Managed Portfolio Shares may have more than one 
Reporting Authority, each having different functions.
    Proposed Rule 8.900(d) sets forth initial and continued listing 
criteria applicable to Managed Portfolio Shares. Proposed Rule 
8.900(d)(1)(A) provides that, for each series of Managed Portfolio 
Shares, the Corporation will

[[Page 20933]]

establish a minimum number of Managed Portfolio Shares required to be 
outstanding at the time of commencement of trading on the Corporation. 
In addition, proposed Rule 8.900(d)(1)(B) provides that the Corporation 
will obtain a representation from the issuer of each series of Managed 
Portfolio Shares that the NAV per share for the series will be 
calculated daily and that the NAV will be made available to all market 
participants at the same time.\5\
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    \5\ NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.18(d)(2) (``Halts of Derivative 
Securities Products Listed on the NYSE Arca Marketplace)'' provides 
that, with respect to Derivative Securities Products listed on the 
NYSE Arca Marketplace for which a net asset value is disseminated, 
if the Exchange becomes aware that the net asset value is not being 
disseminated to all market participants at the same time, it will 
halt trading in the affected Derivative Securities Product on the 
NYSE Arca Marketplace until such time as the net asset value is 
available to all market participants.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2) provides that each series of Managed 
Portfolio Shares will be listed and traded subject to application of 
the following continued listing criteria:
     Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(A) provides that the VIIV for 
Managed Portfolio Shares will be widely disseminated by one or more 
major market data vendors every second during the Exchange's Core 
Trading Session (as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34).
     Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(B) provides that the Corporation 
will maintain surveillance procedures for securities listed under Rule 
8.900 and will consider the suspension of trading in, and will commence 
delisting proceedings under Rule 5.5(m) of, a series of Managed 
Portfolio Shares under any of the following circumstances:
    (i) If, following the initial twelve-month period after 
commencement of trading on the Exchange of a series of Managed 
Portfolio Shares, there are fewer than 50 beneficial holders of the 
series of Managed Portfolio Shares;
    (ii) if the value of the VIIV is no longer calculated or made 
available to all market participants at the same time;
    (iii) if the Investment Company issuing the Managed Portfolio 
Shares has failed to file any filings required by the Commission or if 
the Corporation is aware that the Investment Company is not in 
compliance with the conditions of any exemptive order or no-action 
relief granted by the Securities and Exchange Commission to the 
Investment Company with respect to the series of Managed Portfolio 
Shares;
    (iv) if any of the continued listing requirements set forth in Rule 
8.900 are not continuously maintained;
    (v) if the Corporation submits a rule filing pursuant to Section 
19(b) of the Act to permit the listing and trading of a series of 
Managed Portfolio Shares and any of the statements or representations 
regarding (a) the description of the portfolio or reference asset, (b) 
limitations on portfolio holdings or reference assets, or (c) the 
applicability of Exchange listing rules specified in such rule filing 
are not continuously maintained; or
    (vi) if such other event shall occur or condition exists which, in 
the opinion of the Corporation, makes further dealings on the 
Corporation inadvisable.
    Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(C) provides that, upon notification to 
the Corporation by the Investment Company or its agent that (i) the 
prices from the multiple independent pricing sources to be validated by 
the Investment Company's pricing verification agent differ by more than 
25 basis points for 60 seconds in connection with pricing of the VIIV, 
or (ii) that the VIIV of a series of Managed Portfolio Shares is not 
being priced and disseminated in one-second intervals, as required, the 
Corporation shall halt trading in the Managed Portfolio Shares as soon 
as practicable. Such halt in trading shall continue until the 
Investment Company or its agent notifies the Corporation that the 
prices from the independent pricing sources no longer differ by more 
than 25 basis points for 60 seconds or that the VIIV is being priced 
and disseminated as required. The Investment Company or its agent shall 
be responsible for monitoring that the VIIV is being priced and 
disseminated as required and whether the prices to be validated from 
multiple independent pricing sources differ by more than 25 basis 
points for 60 seconds. With respect to series of Managed Portfolio 
Shares trading on the Corporation pursuant to unlisted trading 
privileges, if a temporary interruption occurs in the pricing or 
dissemination of the applicable Verified Intraday Indicative Value and 
the listing market halts trading in such series, the Corporation, upon 
notification by the listing market of such halt due to such temporary 
interruption, will halt trading in such series. In addition, if the 
Exchange becomes aware that the NAV with respect to a series of Managed 
Portfolio Shares is not disseminated to all market participants at the 
same time, it will halt trading in such series until such time as the 
NAV is available to all market participants.
    Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(D) provides that, upon termination of an 
Investment Company, the Corporation requires that Managed Portfolio 
Shares issued in connection with such entity be removed from 
Corporation listing.
    Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(E) provides that voting rights shall be 
as set forth in the applicable Investment Company prospectus.
    Proposed Rule 8.900(e), which relates to limitation of Corporation 
liability, provides that neither the Corporation, the Reporting 
Authority, nor any agent of the Corporation shall have any liability 
for damages, claims, losses or expenses caused by any errors, 
omissions, or delays in calculating or disseminating any current 
portfolio value; the VIIV; the current value of the portfolio of 
securities required to be deposited to the open-end management 
investment company in connection with issuance of Managed Portfolio 
Shares; the amount of any dividend equivalent payment or cash 
distribution to holders of Managed Portfolio Shares; NAV; or other 
information relating to the purchase, redemption, or trading of Managed 
Portfolio Shares, resulting from any negligent act or omission by the 
Corporation, the Reporting Authority or any agent of the Corporation, 
or any act, condition, or cause beyond the reasonable control of the 
Corporation, its agent, or the Reporting Authority, including, but not 
limited to, an act of God; fire; flood; extraordinary weather 
conditions; war; insurrection; riot; strike; accident; action of 
government; communications or power failure; equipment or software 
malfunction; or any error, omission, or delay in the reports of 
transactions in one or more underlying securities.
    Proposed Commentary .01 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides 
that the Corporation will file separate proposals under Section 19(b) 
of the Act before the listing and trading of Managed Portfolio Shares. 
All statements or representations contained in such rule filing 
regarding (a) the description of the portfolio or reference asset, (b) 
limitations on portfolio holdings or reference assets, or (c) the 
applicability of Exchange listing rules specified in such rule filing 
will constitute continued listing requirements. An issuer of such 
securities must notify the Exchange of any failure to comply with such 
continued listing requirements. Proposed Commentary .02 to NYSE Arca 
Equities Rule 8.900 provides that transactions in Managed Portfolio 
Shares will occur only during the Core Trading Session as specified in 
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34(a)(2).
    Proposed Commentary .03 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides 
that

[[Page 20934]]

the Exchange will implement written surveillance procedures for Managed 
Portfolio Shares.
    Proposed Commentary .04 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides 
that Authorized Participants (as defined in the Investment Company's 
Form N-1A filed with the SEC) or non-Authorized Participant market 
makers redeeming Managed Portfolio Shares will sign an agreement with 
an agent (``Trusted Agent'') to establish a confidential account for 
the benefit of such Authorized Participant or non-Authorized 
Participant market maker that will receive all consideration from the 
issuer in a redemption. A Trusted Agent may not disclose the 
consideration received in a redemption except as required by law or as 
provided in the Investment Company's Form N-1A, as applicable
    Proposed Commentary .05 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides 
that, if the investment adviser to the Investment Company issuing 
Managed Portfolio Shares is affiliated with a broker-dealer, or if any 
Trusted Agent is registered as a broker-dealer or is affiliated with a 
broker-dealer, such investment adviser or Trusted Agent will erect and 
maintain a ``fire wall'' between the investment adviser or Trusted 
Agent and (i) personnel of the broker-dealer or broker-dealer 
affiliate, as applicable, or (ii) the Authorized Participant or non-
Authorized Participant market maker, as applicable, with respect to 
access to information concerning the composition and/or changes to such 
Investment Company portfolio. Personnel who make decisions on the 
Investment Company's portfolio composition must be subject to 
procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material 
nonpublic information regarding the applicable Investment Company 
portfolio.\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ The Exchange will propose applicable NYSE Arca Equities 
listing fees for Managed Portfolio Shares in the NYSE Arca Equities 
Schedule of Fees and Charges via a separate proposed rule change.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Key Features of Managed Portfolio Shares
    While funds issuing Managed Portfolio Shares will be actively-
managed and, to that extent, will be similar to Managed Fund Shares, 
Managed Portfolio Shares differ from Managed Fund Shares in the 
following important respects. First, in contrast to Managed Fund 
Shares, which are actively-managed funds listed and traded under NYSE 
Arca Equities Rule 8.600 \7\ and for which a ``Disclosed Portfolio'' is 
required to be disseminated at least once daily,\8\ the portfolio for 
an issue of Managed Portfolio Shares will be disclosed quarterly in 
accordance with normal disclosure requirements otherwise applicable to 
open-end investment companies registered under the 1940 Act.\9\ Second, 
in connection with the redemption of shares in ``Redemption Unit'' size 
(as described below), the delivery of any portfolio securities in kind 
will generally be effected through a ``Confidential Account'' (as 
described below) for the benefit of the redeeming ``Authorized 
Participant'' (as described below in ``Creation and Redemption of 
Shares'') without disclosing the identity of such securities to the 
Authorized Participant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ The Commission has previously approved listing and trading 
on the Exchange of a number of issues of Managed Fund Shares under 
Rule 8.600. See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 57801 
(May 8, 2008), 73 FR 27878 (May 14, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2008-31) 
(order approving Exchange listing and trading of twelve actively-
managed funds of the WisdomTree Trust); 60460 (August 7, 2009), 74 
FR 41468 (August 17, 2009) (SR-NYSEArca-2009-55) (order approving 
listing of Dent Tactical ETF); 63076 (October 12, 2010), 75 FR 63874 
(October 18, 2010) (SR-NYSEArca-2010-79) (order approving Exchange 
listing and trading of Cambria Global Tactical ETF); 63802 (January 
31, 2011), 76 FR 6503 (February 4, 2011) (SR-NYSEArca-2010-118) 
(order approving Exchange listing and trading of the SiM Dynamic 
Allocation Diversified Income ETF and SiM Dynamic Allocation Growth 
Income ETF). More recently, the Commission approved a proposed rule 
change to adopt generic listing standards for Managed Fund Shares. 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 78397 (July 22, 2016), 81 FR 
49320 (July 27, 2016 (SR-NYSEArca-2015-110) ( amending NYSE Arca 
Equities Rule 8.600 to adopt generic listing standards for Managed 
Fund Shares).
    \8\ NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(c)(2) defines the term 
``Disclosed Portfolio'' as the identities and quantities of the 
securities and other assets held by the Investment Company that will 
form the basis for the Investment Company's calculation of net asset 
value at the end of the business day. NYSE Arca Equities Rule 
8.600(d)(2)(B)(i) requires that the Disclosed Portfolio will be 
disseminated at least once daily and will be made available to all 
market participants at the same time.
    \9\ A mutual fund is required to file with the Commission its 
complete portfolio schedules for the second and fourth fiscal 
quarters on Form N-CSR under the 1940 Act, and is required to file 
its complete portfolio schedules for the first and third fiscal 
quarters on Form N-Q under the 1940 Act, within 60 days of the end 
of the quarter. Form N-Q requires funds to file the same schedules 
of investments that are required in annual and semi-annual reports 
to shareholders. These forms are available to the public on the 
Commission's Web site at www.sec.gov.
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    For each series of Managed Portfolio Shares, an estimated value--
the VIIV--that reflects an estimated intraday value of a fund's 
portfolio will be disseminated. With respect to the Funds, the VIIV 
will be based upon all of a Fund's holdings as of the close of the 
prior business day and will be widely disseminated by one or more major 
market data vendors every second during the Exchange's Core Trading 
Session (normally, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Eastern Time (``E.T.'')). 
The dissemination of the VIIV will allow investors to determine the 
estimated intra-day value of the underlying portfolio of a series of 
Managed Portfolio Shares on a daily basis and will provide a close 
estimate of that value throughout the trading day. The VIIV should not 
be viewed as a ``real-time'' update of the NAV per Share of each Fund 
because the VIIV may not be calculated in the same manner as the NAV, 
which will be computed once a day, generally at the end of the business 
day. Unlike the VIIV, which will be based on consolidated midpoint of 
the bid ask spread, the NAV per Share will be based on the closing 
price on the primary market for each portfolio security. If there is no 
closing price for a particular portfolio security, such as when it the 
[sic] subject of a trading halt, a Fund will use fair value pricing. 
That fair value pricing will be carried over to the next day's VIIV 
until the first trade in that stock is reported unless the ``Adviser'' 
(defined below) deems a particular portfolio security to be illiquid 
and/or the available ongoing pricing information unlikely to be 
reliable. In such case, that fact will be immediately disclosed on each 
Fund's Web site, including the identity and weighting of that security 
in a Fund's portfolio, and the impact of that security on VIIV 
calculation, including the fair value price for that security being 
used for the calculation of that day's VIIV.
    The Exchange, after consulting with various Lead Market Makers that 
trade exchange-traded funds (``ETFs'') on the Exchange, believes that 
market makers will be able to make efficient and liquid markets priced 
near the VIIV as long as a VIIV is disseminated every second, market 
makers have knowledge of a Fund's means of achieving its investment 
objective, and market makers are permitted to engage in ``Bona Fide 
Arbitrage,'' as described below. The Exchange believes that market 
makers will employ Bona Fide Arbitrage in addition to risk-management 
techniques such as ``statistical arbitrage,'' which is currently used 
throughout the financial services industry, to make efficient markets 
in exchange-traded products.\10\ This ability

[[Page 20935]]

should permit market makers to make efficient markets in an issue of 
Managed Portfolio Shares without precise knowledge of a Fund's 
underlying portfolio.\11\
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    \10\ Statistical arbitrage enables a trader to construct an 
accurate proxy for another instrument, allowing it to hedge the 
other instrument or buy or sell the instrument when it is cheap or 
expensive in relation to the proxy. Statistical analysis permits 
traders to discover correlations based purely on trading data 
without regard to other fundamental drivers. These correlations are 
a function of differentials, over time, between one instrument or 
group of instruments and one or more other instruments. Once the 
nature of these price deviations have been quantified, a universe of 
securities is searched in an effort to, in the case of a hedging 
strategy, minimize the differential. Once a suitable hedging proxy 
has been identified, a trader can minimize portfolio risk by 
executing the hedging basket. The trader then can monitor the 
performance of this hedge throughout the trade period making 
correction where warranted.
    \11\ Authorized Participants and other broker-dealers that enter 
into their own separate Confidential Accounts shall have enough 
information to ensure that they are able to comply with applicable 
regulatory requirements. For example, for purposes of net capital 
requirements, the maximum Securities Haircut applicable to the 
securities in a Creation Basket, as determined under Rule 15c3-1, 
will be disclosed daily on each Fund's Web site.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    To enable market makers to engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage, on each 
``Business Day'' (as defined below), before commencement of trading in 
Shares on the Exchange, the Funds will provide to a ``Trusted Agent'' 
(as described below) of each Authorized Participant or ``Non-Authorized 
Participant Market Maker'' \12\ the identities and quantities of 
portfolio securities that will form the basis for a Fund's calculation 
of NAV per Share at the end of the Business Day, as well as the names 
and quantities of the instruments comprising a ``Creation Basket'' and 
the estimated ``Balancing Amount'' (if any) (as described below), for 
that day. This information will permit Authorized Participants to 
purchase ``Creation Units'' through an in-kind transaction with a Fund, 
as described below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ A Non-Authorized Participant Market Maker is a market 
participant that makes a market in Shares, but is not an Authorized 
Participant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In addition, Authorized Participants will be able to instruct the 
Trusted Agent to buy or sell portfolio securities during the day and 
thereby engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage throughout the trading day. For 
example, if an Authorized Participant believes that Shares of a Fund 
are trading at a price that is higher than the value of its underlying 
portfolio based on the VIIV, the Authorized Participant may sell Shares 
short and instruct the Trusted Agent to buy portfolio securities for 
its Confidential Account. When the market price of a Fund's Shares 
falls in line with the value of the portfolio, the Authorized 
Participant can then close out its positions in both the Shares and the 
portfolio securities. The Authorized Participant's purchase of the 
portfolio securities into its Confidential Account, combined with the 
sale of Shares, may also create downward pressure on the price of 
Shares and/or upward pressure on the price of the portfolio securities, 
bringing the market price of Shares and the value of a Fund's portfolio 
securities closer together. Similarly, an Authorized Participant could 
buy Shares and instruct the Trusted Agent to sell the underlying 
portfolio securities from its Confidential Account in an attempt to 
profit when a Fund's Shares are trading at a discount to its portfolio. 
The Authorized Participant's purchase of a Fund's Shares in the 
secondary market, combined with the sale of the portfolio securities 
from its Confidential Account, may also create upward pressure on the 
price of Shares and/or downward pressure on the price of portfolio 
securities, driving the market price of Shares and the value of a 
Fund's portfolio securities closer together. The Adviser represents 
that it understands that, other than the confidential nature of the 
account, this process is identical to how many Authorized Participants 
currently arbitrage existing traditional ETFs.
    Because other market participants can also engage in arbitrage 
activity without using the creation or redemption processes described 
above, the Confidential Account structure will be made available to any 
Non-Authorized Participant Market Maker that is willing to establish a 
Confidential Account. In that case, if a market participant believes 
that a Fund is overvalued relative to its underlying assets, the market 
participant may sell short Shares and instruct its Trusted Agent to buy 
portfolio securities in its Confidential Account, wait for the trading 
prices to move toward parity, and then close out the positions in both 
the Shares and the portfolio securities to realize a profit from the 
relative movement of their trading prices. Similarly, a market 
participant could buy Shares and instruct the Trusted Agent to sell the 
underlying portfolio securities in an attempt to profit when a Fund's 
Shares are trading at a discount to a Fund's underlying or reference 
assets. Any investor that is willing to transact through a broker-
dealer that has established a Confidential Account with a Trusted Agent 
will have the same opportunity to engage in arbitrage activity. As 
discussed above, the trading of a Fund's Shares and the Fund's 
portfolio securities may bring the prices of a Fund's Shares and its 
portfolio assets closer together through market pressure. This type of 
arbitrage is referred to herein as ``Bona Fide Arbitrage.''
    The Exchange understands that traders use statistical analysis to 
derive correlations between different sets of instruments to identify 
opportunities to buy or sell one set of instruments when it is 
mispriced relative to the others. For Managed Portfolio Shares, market 
makers, in addition to employing Bona Fide Arbitrage, may use the 
knowledge of a Fund's means of achieving its investment objective, as 
described in the applicable Fund registration statement, to construct a 
hedging proxy for a Fund to manage a market maker's quoting risk in 
connection with trading Fund Shares. Market makers can then conduct 
statistical arbitrage between their hedging proxy (for example, the 
Russell 1000 Index) and Shares of a Fund, buying and selling one 
against the other over the course of the trading day. They will 
evaluate how their proxy performed in comparison to the price of a 
Fund's Shares, and use that analysis as well as knowledge of risk 
metrics, such as volatility and turnover, to enhance their proxy 
calculation to make it a more efficient hedge.
    Market makers not intending to utilize Bona Fide Arbitrage have 
indicated to the Exchange that there will be sufficient data to run a 
statistical analysis which will lead to spreads being tightened 
substantially around the VIIV. This is similar to certain other 
existing exchange traded products (for example, ETFs that invest in 
foreign securities that do not trade during U.S. trading hours), in 
which spreads may be generally wider in the early days of trading and 
then narrow as market makers gain more confidence in their real-time 
hedges.
Description of the Funds and the Trust
    The Shares of each Fund will be issued by Precidian ETFs Trust 
[sic] (``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.\13\ The investment adviser to the Trust 
will be Precidian Funds LLC (the ``Adviser''). Foreside Fund

[[Page 20936]]

Services, LLC (``Distributor'') will serve as the distributor of the 
Fund's Shares.
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    \13\ The Trust will be registered under the 1940 Act. On April 
5, 2017, the Trust filed a registration statement on Form N-1A under 
the Securities Act of 1933 (the ``1933 Act'') (15 U.S.C. 77a), and 
under the 1940 Act relating to the Funds (File Nos. 333-171987 and 
811-22524) [sic] (the ``Registration Statement''). The Trust filed 
an amended Application for an Order under Section 6(c) of the 1940 
Act for exemptions from various provisions of the 1940 Act and rules 
thereunder (File No. 812-14405), dated September 21, 2015 [sic] 
(``Exemptive Application''). The Shares will not be listed on the 
Exchange until an order (``Exemptive Order'') under the 1940 Act has 
been issued by the Commission with respect to the Exemptive 
Application. Investments made by the Funds will comply with the 
conditions set forth in the Exemptive Order. The description of the 
operation of the Trust and the Funds herein is based, in part, on 
the Registration Statement and the Exemptive Application.
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    As noted above, proposed Commentary .05 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 
8.900 provides that, if the investment adviser to the Investment 
Company issuing Managed Portfolio Shares is affiliated with a broker-
dealer, or if any Trusted Agent is registered as a broker-dealer or is 
affiliated with a broker-dealer, such investment adviser or Trusted 
Agent will erect and maintain a ``fire wall'' between the investment 
adviser or Trusted Agent and (i) personnel of the broker-dealer or 
broker-dealer affiliate, as applicable, or (ii) the Authorized 
Participant or non-Authorized Participant market maker, as applicable, 
with respect to access to information concerning the composition and/or 
changes to such Investment Company portfolio. Personnel who make 
decisions on the Investment Company's portfolio composition must be 
subject to procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of 
material nonpublic information regarding the applicable Investment 
Company portfolio.\14\ In addition, proposed Commentary .05 further 
requires that personnel who make decisions on the open-end fund's 
portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to prevent 
the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information regarding 
the open-end fund's portfolio. Proposed Commentary .05 to Rule 8.900 is 
similar to Commentary .03(a)(i) and (iii) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 
5.2(j)(3); however, Commentary .05 in connection with the establishment 
of a ``fire wall'' between the investment adviser and the broker-dealer 
reflects the applicable open-end fund's portfolio, not an underlying 
benchmark index, as is the case with index-based funds. The Adviser is 
not registered as a broker-dealer or affiliated with a broker-dealer.
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    \14\ An investment adviser to an open-end fund is required to be 
registered under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the ``Advisers 
Act''). As a result, the Adviser and its related personnel will be 
subject to the provisions of Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act 
relating to codes of ethics. This Rule requires investment advisers 
to adopt a code of ethics that reflects the fiduciary nature of the 
relationship to clients as well as compliance with other applicable 
securities laws. Accordingly, procedures designed to prevent the 
communication and misuse of non-public information by an investment 
adviser must be consistent with Rule 204A-1 under the Advisers Act. 
In addition, Rule 206(4)-7 under the Advisers Act makes it unlawful 
for an investment adviser to provide investment advice to clients 
unless such investment adviser has (i) adopted and implemented 
written policies and procedures reasonably designed to prevent 
violations, by the investment adviser and its supervised persons, of 
the Advisers Act and the Commission rules adopted thereunder; (ii) 
implemented, at a minimum, an annual review regarding the adequacy 
of the policies and procedures established pursuant to subparagraph 
(i) above and the effectiveness of their implementation; and (iii) 
designated an individual (who is a supervised person) responsible 
for administering the policies and procedures adopted under 
subparagraph (i) above.
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    In the event (a) the Adviser or any sub-adviser becomes registered 
as a broker-dealer or becomes 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, it will implement a fire wall 
with respect to its relevant personnel or its broker-dealer affiliate 
regarding access to information concerning the composition and/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.
    The portfolio for each Fund will consist of long and/or short 
positions in U.S.-listed securities and shares issued by other U.S.-
listed ETFs \15\ All exchange-listed equity securities in which the 
Funds will invest will be listed and traded on U.S. national securities 
exchanges.
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    \15\ For purposes of this filing, ETFs include Investment 
Company Units (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3)); 
Portfolio Depository Receipts (as described in NYSE Arca Equities 
Rule 8.100); and Managed Fund Shares (as described in NYSE Arca 
Equities Rule 8.600). The ETFs in which a Fund will invest all will 
be listed and traded on national securities exchanges. While the 
Funds may invest in inverse ETFs, the Funds will not invest in 
leveraged (e.g., 2X, -2X, 3X or -3X) ETFs.
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Description of the Funds
Royce Pennsylvania ETF
    The Royce Pennsylvania ETF will invest primarily in US- listed 
equity securities of small-cap companies with stock market 
capitalizations up to $3 billion that Royce & Associates, LP 
(``Royce''), the Fund's investment sub-adviser, believes are trading 
below its estimate of their current worth. The Fund may invest in other 
investment companies that invest in equity securities. The Fund may 
sell securities to, among other things, secure gains, limit losses, 
redeploy assets into what Royce deems to be more promising 
opportunities, and/or manage cash levels in the Fund's portfolio.
Royce Premier ETF
    The Royce Premier ETF will invest in a limited number of US- listed 
equity securities of primarily small-cap companies with stock market 
capitalizations from $1 billion to $3 billion at the time of 
investment. The Fund may invest in other investment companies that 
invest in equity securities. The Fund may sell securities to, among 
other things, secure gains, limit losses, redeploy assets into what 
Royce deems to be more promising opportunities, and/or manage cash 
levels in the Fund's portfolio.
Royce Total Return ETF
    The Royce Total Return ETF will invest primarily in dividend-paying 
US- listed securities of small-cap companies with stock market 
capitalizations up to $3 billion that it believes are trading below its 
estimate of their current worth. The Fund may invest in other 
investment companies that invest in equity securities. The Fund may 
sell securities to, among other things, secure gains, limit losses, 
redeploy assets into what Royce deems to be more promising 
opportunities, and/or manage cash levels in the Fund's portfolio.
Other Investments
    While each Fund, under normal market conditions, will invest 
primarily in U.S.-listed securities, as described above, each Fund may 
invest its remaining assets in other securities and financial 
instruments, as described below.
    According to the Registration Statement, each Fund may enter into 
repurchase agreements.
    It will be the policy of the Trust to enter into repurchase 
agreements only with recognized securities dealers, banks and Fixed 
Income Clearing Corporation, a securities clearing agency registered 
with the Commission.
    Each Fund may invest up to 5% of its total assets in warrants, 
rights and options.
    Each Fund may invest a portion of its assets in cash or cash 
equivalents.\16\
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    \16\ For purposes of this filing, cash equivalents include 
short-term instruments (instruments with maturities of less than 3 
months) of the following types: (i) U.S. Government securities, 
including bills, notes and bonds differing as to maturity and rates 
of interest, which are either issued or guaranteed by the U.S. 
Treasury or by U.S. Government agencies or instrumentalities; (ii) 
certificates of deposit issued against funds deposited in a bank or 
savings and loan association; (iii) bankers' acceptances, which are 
short-term credit instruments used to finance commercial 
transactions; (iv) repurchase agreements and reverse repurchase 
agreements; (v) bank time deposits, which are monies kept on deposit 
with banks or savings and loan associations for a stated period of 
time at a fixed rate of interest; (vi) commercial paper, which are 
short-term unsecured promissory notes; and (vii) money market funds.
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    Each Fund may invest in the securities of other investment 
companies (including money market funds) to the extent allowed by law.
Investment Restrictions
    Each Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net 
assets in illiquid assets (calculated at

[[Page 20937]]

the time of investment),\17\ consistent with Commission guidance. Each 
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 a Fund's 
net assets are invested in illiquid assets. Illiquid assets include 
securities subject to contractual or other restrictions on resale and 
other instruments that lack readily available markets as determined in 
accordance with Commission staff guidance.\18\
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    \17\ In reaching liquidity decisions, the Adviser may consider 
the following factors: The frequency of trades and quotes for the 
security; the number of dealers wishing to purchase or sell the 
security and the number of other potential purchasers; dealer 
undertakings to make a market in the security; and the nature of the 
security and the nature of the marketplace in which it trades (e.g., 
the time needed to dispose of the security, the method of soliciting 
offers and the mechanics of transfer).
    \18\ The Commission has stated that long-standing Commission 
guidelines have required open-end funds to hold no more than 15% of 
their net assets in illiquid securities and other illiquid assets. 
See Investment Company Act Release No. 28193 (March 11, 2008), 73 FR 
14618 (March 18, 2008), footnote 34. See also, Investment Company 
Act Release No. 5847 (October 21, 1969), 35 FR 19989 (December 31, 
1970) (Statement Regarding ``Restricted Securities''); Investment 
Company Act Release No. 18612 (March 12, 1992), 57 FR 9828 (March 
20, 1992) (Revisions of Guidelines to Form N-1A). A fund's portfolio 
security is illiquid if it cannot be disposed of in the ordinary 
course of business within seven days at approximately the value 
ascribed to it by the fund. See Investment Company Act Release No. 
14983 (March 12, 1986), 51 FR 9773 (March 21, 1986) (adopting 
amendments to Rule 2a-7 under the 1940 Act); Investment Company Act 
Release No. 17452 (April 23, 1990), 55 FR 17933 (April 30, 1990) 
(adopting Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933). The 
Commission recently codified this long standing position in Rule 
22e-4. See Investment Company Act Release No. 32315 (October 13, 
2016), 81 FR 82142 (November 18, 2016) (adopting requirements for 
investment company liquidity risk management programs).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    According to the Registration Statement, each Fund will seek to 
qualify for treatment as a Regulated Investment Company (``RIC'') under 
the Internal Revenue Code.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ 26 U.S.C. 851.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Shares of each Fund will conform to the initial and continued 
listing criteria under proposed Rule 8.900. The Funds will not invest 
in futures, forwards or swaps.
    Each Fund's investments will be consistent with its investment 
objective and will not be used to enhance leverage. While a Fund may 
invest in inverse ETFs, a Fund will not invest in leveraged (e.g., 2X, 
-2X, 3X or -3X) ETFs.
    The Funds will not invest in non-U.S.-listed securities.
Creations and Redemptions of Shares
    In connection with the creation and redemption of Creation Units 
(defined below), the delivery or receipt of any portfolio securities 
in-kind will be required to be effected through a separate confidential 
brokerage account (i.e., a Confidential Account) with a Trusted 
Agent,\20\ which will be a bank or broker-dealer such as JP Morgan 
Chase, State Street Bank and Trust, or Bank of New York Mellon, for the 
benefit of an Authorized Participant.\21\ An Authorized Participant 
will generally be a Depository Trust Company (``DTC'') Participant that 
has executed a ``Participant Agreement'' with the Distributor with 
respect to the creation and redemption of Creation Units and formed a 
Confidential Account for its benefit in accordance with the terms of 
the Participant Agreement. For purposes of creations or redemptions, 
all transactions will be effected through the respective Authorized 
Participant's Confidential Account, for the benefit of the Authorized 
Participant without disclosing the identity of such securities to the 
Authorized Participant. Each Trusted Agent will be given, before the 
commencement of trading each Business Day (defined below), both the 
holdings of a Fund and their relative weightings for that day. This 
information will permit an Authorized Participant, or other market 
participant that has established a Confidential Account with a Trusted 
Agent, to instruct the Trusted Agent to buy and sell positions in the 
portfolio securities to permit Bona Fide Arbitrage, as defined above.
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    \20\ Each Authorized Participant shall enter into its own 
separate Confidential Account with a Trusted Agent.
    \21\ In the event that a Trusted Agent is a bank, the bank will 
be required to have an affiliated broker-dealer to accommodate the 
execution of hedging transactions on behalf of the holder of a 
Confidential Account.
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    Shares of each Fund will be issued in Creation Units of 25,000 or 
more Shares. The Funds will offer and sell Creation Units through the 
Distributor on a continuous basis at the NAV per Share next determined 
after receipt of an order in proper form. The NAV per Share of each 
Fund will be determined as of the close of regular trading on the New 
York Stock Exchange (``NYSE'') on each day that the NYSE is open. A 
``Business Day'' is defined as any day that the Trust is open for 
business. The Funds will sell and redeem Creation Units only on 
Business Days. Applicants anticipate that the initially [sic] price of 
a Share will range from $20 to $30, and that the price of a Creation 
Unit initial [sic] will range from $1,000,000 to $5,000,000.
    In order to keep costs low and permit each Fund to be as fully 
invested as possible, Shares will be purchased and redeemed in Creation 
Units and generally on an in-kind basis. Accordingly, except where the 
purchase or redemption will include cash under the circumstances 
described in the Registration Statement, purchasers will be required to 
purchase Creation Units by making an in-kind deposit of specified 
instruments (``Deposit Instruments''), and shareholders redeeming their 
Shares will receive an in-kind transfer of specified instruments 
(``Redemption Instruments'').\22\ On any given Business Day, the names 
and quantities of the instruments that constitute the Deposit 
Instruments and the names and quantities of the instruments that 
constitute the Redemption Instruments will be identical, and these 
instruments may be referred to, in the case of either a purchase or a 
redemption, as the ``Creation Basket.'' \23\
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    \22\ The Funds must comply with the federal securities laws in 
accepting Deposit Instruments and satisfying redemptions with 
Redemption Instruments, including that the Deposit Instruments and 
Redemption Instruments are sold in transactions that would be exempt 
from registration under the 1933 Act.
    \23\ In determining whether a particular Fund will sell or 
redeem Creation Units entirely on a cash or in-kind basis, whether 
for a given day or a given order, the key consideration will be the 
benefit that would accrue to a Fund and its investors. The Adviser 
represents that the Funds do not currently anticipate the need to 
sell or redeem Creation Units entirely on a cash basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As noted above, each Authorized Participant will be required to 
establish a Confidential Account with a Trusted Agent and transact with 
each Fund through that Confidential Account.\24\ Therefore, before the 
commencement of trading on each Business Day, the Trusted Agent of each 
Authorized Participant will be provided, on a confidential basis, with 
a list of the names and quantities of the instruments comprising a 
Creation Basket, as well as the estimated Balancing Amount (if any), 
for that day. The published Creation Basket will apply until a new 
Creation Basket is announced on the following Business Day, and there 
will be no intra-day changes to the Creation Basket except to correct 
errors in the

[[Page 20938]]

published Creation Basket. The instruments and cash that the purchaser 
is required to deliver in exchange for the Creation Units it is 
purchasing are referred to as the ``Portfolio Deposit.''
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    \24\ The Adviser represents that transacting through a 
Confidential Account is similar to transacting through any broker-
dealer account, except that the Trusted Agent will be bound to keep 
the names and weights of the portfolio securities confidential. To 
comply with certain recordkeeping requirements applicable to 
Authorized Participants, the Trusted Agent will maintain and 
preserve, and make available to the Commission, certain required 
records related to the securities held in the Confidential Account.
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Placement of Purchase Orders
    Each Fund will issue Shares through the Distributor on a continuous 
basis at NAV. The Exchange represents that the issuance of Shares will 
operate in a manner substantially similar to that of other ETFs.
    Each Fund will issue Shares only at the NAV per Share next 
determined after an order in proper form is received. The Trust will 
sell and redeem Shares on each such day and will not suspend the right 
of redemption or postpone the date of payment or satisfaction upon 
redemption for more than seven days, other than as provided by Section 
22(d) of the 1940 Act.
    Shares may be purchased from a Fund by an Authorized Participant 
for its own account or for the benefit of a customer. The Distributor 
will furnish acknowledgements to those placing such orders that the 
orders have been accepted, but the Distributor may reject any order 
which is not submitted in proper form, as described in a Fund's 
prospectus or Statement of Additional Information (``SAI''). Purchases 
of Shares will be settled in-kind or cash for an amount equal to the 
applicable NAV per Share purchased plus applicable ``Transaction 
Fees,'' as discussed below.
    The NAV of each Fund is expected to be determined once each 
Business Day at a time determined by the Trust's Board of Directors 
(``Board''), currently anticipated to be as of the close of the regular 
trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. E.T.) (the 
``Valuation Time''). Each Fund will establish a cut-off time (``Order 
Cut-Off Time'') for purchase orders in proper form. To initiate a 
purchase of Shares, an Authorized Participant must submit to the 
Distributor an irrevocable order to purchase such Shares after the most 
recent prior Valuation Time but not later than the Order Cut-Off Time. 
The Order Cut-Off Time for a Fund may be its Valuation Time, or may be 
prior to the Valuation Time if the Board determines that an earlier 
Order Cut-Off Time for purchase of Shares is necessary and is in the 
best interests of Fund shareholders.
    All orders to purchase Creation Units must be received by the 
Distributor no later than the scheduled closing time of the regular 
trading session on the NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m. E.T.) in each case on 
the date such order is placed (``Transmittal Date'') in order for the 
purchaser to receive the NAV per Share determined on the Transmittal 
Date. In the case of custom orders, the order must be received by the 
Distributor, no later than 3:00 p.m. E.T., or such earlier time as may 
be designated by the Funds and disclosed to Authorized 
Participants.\25\ The Distributor will maintain a record of Creation 
Unit purchases and will send out confirmations of such purchases.\26\
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    \25\ A ``custom order'' is any purchase or redemption of Shares 
made in whole or in part on a cash basis, as provided in the 
Registration Statement.
    \26\ A Trusted Agent will provide information related to 
creations and redemption of Creation Units to the Financial Industry 
Regulatory Authority (``FINRA'') upon request.
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Transaction Fees
    The Trust may impose purchase or redemption transaction fees 
(``Transaction Fees'') in connection with the purchase or redemption of 
Shares from the Funds. The exact amounts of any such Transaction Fees 
will be determined by the Adviser. The purpose of the Transaction Fees 
is to protect the continuing shareholders against possible dilutive 
transactional expenses, including operational processing and brokerage 
costs, associated with establishing and liquidating portfolio 
positions, including short positions, in connection with the purchase 
and redemption of Shares.
Purchases of Shares--Secondary Market
    Only Authorized Participants and their customers will be able to 
acquire Shares at NAV directly from a Fund through the Distributor. The 
required payment must be transferred in the manner set forth in a 
Fund's SAI by the specified time on the third DTC settlement day 
following the day it is transmitted (the ``Transmittal Date''). These 
investors and others will also be able to purchase Shares in secondary 
market transactions at prevailing market prices. Each Fund will reserve 
the right to reject any purchase order at any time.
Redemption
    Beneficial Owners may sell their Shares in the secondary market. 
Alternatively, investors that own enough Shares to constitute a 
Redemption Unit (currently, 25,000 Shares) or multiples thereof may 
redeem those Shares through the Distributor, which will act as the 
Trust's representative for redemption. The size of a Redemption Unit 
will be subject to change. Redemption orders for Redemption Units or 
multiples thereof must be placed by or through an Authorized 
Participant.
Authorized Participant Redemption
    The Shares may be redeemed to a Fund in Redemption Unit size or 
multiples thereof as described below. Redemption orders of Redemption 
Units must be placed by or through an Authorized Participant (``AP 
Redemption Order''). Each Fund will establish an Order Cut-Off Time for 
redemption orders of Redemption Units in proper form. Redemption Units 
of the Fund will be redeemable at their NAV per Share next determined 
after receipt of a request for redemption by the Trust in the manner 
specified below before the Order Cut-Off Time. To initiate an AP 
Redemption Order, an Authorized Participant must submit to the 
Distributor an irrevocable order to redeem such Redemption Unit after 
the most recent prior Valuation Time but not later than the Order Cut-
Off Time. The Order Cut-Off Time for a Fund may be its Valuation Time, 
or may be prior to the Valuation Time if the Board determines that an 
earlier Order Cut-Off Time for redemption of Redemption Units is 
necessary and is in the best interests of Fund shareholders.
    Consistent with the provisions of Section 22(e) of the 1940 Act and 
Rule 22e-2 thereunder, the right to redeem will not be suspended, nor 
payment upon redemption delayed, except for: (1) Any period during 
which the NYSE is closed other than customary weekend and holiday 
closings, (2) any period during which trading on the NYSE is 
restricted, (3) any period during which an emergency exists as a result 
of which disposal by a Fund of securities owned by it is not reasonably 
practicable or it is not reasonably practicable for a Fund to determine 
its NAV, and (4) for such other periods as the Commission may by order 
permit for the protection of shareholders.
    Redemptions will occur primarily in-kind, although redemption 
payments may also be made partly or wholly in cash.\27\ The Participant 
Agreement signed by each Authorized Participant will require 
establishment of a Confidential Account to receive distributions of 
securities in-kind upon redemption.\28\ Each Authorized

[[Page 20939]]

Participant will be required to open a Confidential Account with a 
Trusted Agent in order to facilitate orderly processing of redemptions. 
While a Fund will generally distribute securities in-kind, the Adviser 
may determine from time to time that it is not in a Fund's best 
interests to distribute securities in-kind, but rather to sell 
securities and/or distribute cash. For example, the Adviser may 
distribute cash to facilitate orderly portfolio management in 
connection with rebalancing or transitioning a portfolio in line with 
its investment objective, or if there is substantially more creation 
than redemption activity during the period immediately preceding a 
redemption request, or as necessary or appropriate in accordance with 
applicable laws and regulations. In this manner, a Fund can use in-kind 
redemptions to reduce the unrealized capital gains that may, at times, 
exist in a Fund by distributing low cost lots of each security that a 
Fund needs to dispose of to maintain its desired portfolio exposures. 
Shareholders of a Fund would benefit from the in-kind redemptions 
through the reduction of the unrealized capital gains in a Fund that 
would otherwise have to be realized and, eventually, distributed to 
shareholders.
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    \27\ It is anticipated that any portion of a Fund's NAV 
attributable to appreciated short positions will be paid in cash, as 
securities sold short are not susceptible to in-kind settlement. The 
value of other positions not susceptible to in-kind settlement may 
also be paid in cash.
    \28\ The terms of each Confidential Account will be set forth as 
an exhibit to the applicable Participant Agreement, which will be 
signed by each Authorized Participant. The terms of the Confidential 
Account will provide that the trust be formed under applicable state 
laws; the Custodian may act as Trusted Agent of the Confidential 
Account; and the Trusted Agent will be paid by the Authorized 
Participant a fee negotiated directly between the Authorized 
Participants and the Trusted Agent(s).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The redemption basket will consist of the same securities for all 
Authorized Participants on any given day subject to the Adviser's 
ability to make minor adjustments to address odd lots, fractional 
shares, tradeable sizes or other situations.
    After receipt of a Redemption Order, a Fund's custodian 
(``Custodian'') will typically deliver securities to the Confidential 
Account on a pro rata basis (which securities are determined by the 
Adviser) with a value approximately equal to the value of the Shares 
\29\ tendered for redemption at the Cut-Off time. The Custodian will 
make delivery of the securities by appropriate entries on its books and 
records transferring ownership of the securities to the Authorized 
Participant's Confidential Account, subject to delivery of the Shares 
redeemed. The Trusted Agent of the Confidential Account will in turn 
liquidate, hedge or otherwise manage the securities based on 
instructions from the Authorized Participant.\30\ If the Trusted Agent 
is instructed to sell all securities received at the close on the 
redemption date, the Trusted Agent will pay the liquidation proceeds 
net of expenses plus or minus any cash balancing amount to the 
Authorized Participant through DTC.\31\ The redemption securities that 
the Confidential Account receives are expected to mirror the portfolio 
holdings of a Fund pro rata. To the extent a Fund distributes portfolio 
securities through an in-kind distribution to more than one 
Confidential Account for the benefit of that account's Authorized 
Participant, each Fund expects to distribute a pro rata portion of the 
portfolio securities selected for distribution to each redeeming 
Authorized Participant.
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    \29\ If the NAV of the Shares redeemed differs from the value of 
the securities delivered to the applicable Confidential Account, the 
Fund will pay a cash balancing amount to compensate for the 
difference between the value of the securities delivered and the 
NAV.
    \30\ An Authorized Participant will issue execution instructions 
to the Trusted Agent and be responsible for all associated profit or 
losses. Like a traditional ETF, the Authorized Participant has the 
ability to sell the basket securities at any point during normal 
trading hours.
    \31\ Under applicable provisions of the Internal Revenue Code, 
the Authorized Participant is expected to be deemed a ``substantial 
owner'' of the Confidential Account because it receives 
distributions from the Confidential Account. As a result, all 
income, gain or loss realized by the Confidential Account will be 
directly attributed to the Authorized Participant. In a redemption, 
the Authorized Participant will have a basis in the distributed 
securities equal to the fair market value at the time of the 
distribution and any gain or loss realized on the sale of those 
Shares will be taxable income to the Authorized Participant.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If the Authorized Participant would receive a security that it is 
restricted from receiving, a Fund will deliver cash equal to the value 
of that security.
    To address odd lots, fractional shares, tradeable sizes or other 
situations where dividing securities is not practical or possible, the 
Adviser may make minor adjustments to the pro rata portion of portfolio 
securities selected for distribution to each redeeming Authorized 
Participant on such Business Day.
    The Trust will accept a Redemption Order in proper form. A 
Redemption Order is subject to acceptance by the Trust and must be 
preceded or accompanied by an irrevocable commitment to deliver the 
requisite number of Shares. At the time of settlement, an Authorized 
Participant will initiate a delivery of the Shares versus subsequent 
payment against the proceeds, if any, of the sale of portfolio 
securities distributed to the applicable Confidential Account plus or 
minus any cash balancing amounts, and less the expenses of liquidation.
Net Asset Value
    The NAV per Share of a Fund will be computed by dividing the value 
of the net assets of a Fund (i.e., the value of its total assets less 
total liabilities) by the total number of Shares of a Fund outstanding, 
rounded to the nearest cent. Expenses and fees, including, without 
limitation, the management, administration and distribution fees, will 
be accrued daily and taken into account for purposes of determining 
NAV. Interest and investment income on the Trust's assets accrue daily 
and will be included in the Fund's total assets. The NAV per Share for 
a Fund will be calculated by a Fund's administrator (``Administrator'') 
and determined as of the close of the regular trading session on the 
NYSE (ordinarily 4:00 p.m., E.T.) on each day that the NYSE is open.
    Shares of exchange-listed equity securities and exchange-listed 
options will be valued at market value, which will generally be 
determined using the last reported official closing or last trading 
price on the exchange or market on which the securities are primarily 
traded at the time of valuation. Repurchase agreements will be valued 
based on price quotations or other equivalent indications of value 
provided by a third-party pricing service. Money market funds will be 
valued based on price quotations or other equivalent indications of 
value provided by a third-party pricing service. Cash equivalents will 
generally be valued on the basis of independent pricing services or 
quotes obtained from brokers and dealers. Options not listed on an 
exchange, rights and warrants will be valued based on price quotations 
or other equivalent indications of value provided by a third-party 
pricing service.
    When last sale prices and market quotations are not readily 
available, are deemed unreliable or do not reflect material events 
occurring between the close of local markets and the time of valuation, 
investments will be valued using fair value pricing as determined in 
good faith by the Adviser under procedures established by and under the 
general supervision and responsibility of the Trust's Board of 
Trustees. Investments that may be valued using fair value pricing 
include, but are not limited to: (1) Securities that are not actively 
traded; (2) securities of an issuer that becomes bankrupt or enters 
into a restructuring; and (3) securities whose trading has been halted 
or suspended.
    The frequency with which each Fund's investments will be valued 
using fair value pricing will primarily be a function of the types of 
securities and other assets in which the respective Fund will invest 
pursuant to its investment objective, strategies and

[[Page 20940]]

limitations. If the Funds invest in open-end management investment 
companies registered under the 1940 Act (other than ETFs), they may 
rely on the NAVs of those companies to value the shares they hold of 
them.
    Valuing the Funds' investments using fair value pricing involves 
the consideration of a number of subjective factors and thus the prices 
for those investments may differ from current market valuations. 
Accordingly, fair value pricing could result in a difference between 
the prices used to calculate NAV and the prices used to determine a 
Fund's VIIV, which could result in the market prices for Shares 
deviating from NAV. In cases where the fair value price of the security 
is materially different from the pricing data provided by the 
independent pricing sources and the Adviser determined that the ongoing 
pricing information is not likely to be reliable, the fair value will 
be used for calculation of the VIIV, and a Fund's Custodian will be 
instructed to disclose the identity and weight of the fair valued 
securities, as well as the fair value price being used for the 
security.
Availability of Information
    The Funds' Web site (www.precidianfunds.com), which will be 
publicly available prior to the public offering of Shares, will include 
a form of the prospectus for each Fund that may be downloaded. The 
Funds' Web site will include additional quantitative information 
updated on a daily basis, including, for each Fund, (1) daily trading 
volume, the prior Business Day's reported closing price, NAV and mid-
point of the bid/ask spread at the time of calculation of such NAV (the 
``Bid/Ask Price''),\32\ and a calculation of the premium and discount 
of the Bid/Ask Price against the NAV, and (2) data in chart format 
displaying the frequency distribution of discounts and premiums of the 
daily Bid/Ask Price against the NAV, within appropriate ranges, for 
each of the four previous calendar quarters. The Web site and 
information will be publicly available at no charge.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \32\ The Bid/Ask Price of a Fund 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 a Fund's NAV. The records relating to 
Bid/Ask Prices will be retained by each Fund and its service 
providers.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    As noted above, a mutual fund is required to file with the 
Commission its complete portfolio schedules for the second and fourth 
fiscal quarters on Form N-CSR under the 1940 Act, and is required to 
file its complete portfolio schedules for the first and third fiscal 
quarters on Form N-Q under the 1940 Act, within 60 days of the end of 
the quarter. Form N-Q requires funds to file the same schedules of 
investments that are required in annual and semi-annual reports to 
shareholders. The Trust's SAI and each Fund's shareholder reports will 
be available free upon request from the Trust. These documents and 
forms may be viewed on-screen or downloaded from the Commission's Web 
site at www.sec.gov.
    Information regarding market price and trading volume of the Shares 
will be continually available on a real-time basis throughout the day 
on brokers' computer screens and other electronic services. Information 
regarding the previous day's closing price and trading volume 
information for the Shares will be published daily in the financial 
section of newspapers. Updated price information for U.S. exchange-
listed equity securities is available through major market data vendors 
or securities exchanges trading such securities. The intraday, closing 
and settlement prices of money market funds, repurchase agreements, 
reverse repurchase agreements and cash equivalents will be readily 
available from published or other public sources, or major market data 
vendors such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters. 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. Quotation and last sale information for the Shares will be 
available via the Consolidated Tape Association (``CTA'') high-speed 
line. In addition, the VIIV, as defined in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 
8.900(c)(3) and as described further below, will be widely disseminated 
by one or more major market data vendors at least every second during 
the Exchange's Core Trading Session.
Dissemination of the Verified Intraday Indicative Value
    The VIIV, which is approximate value of each Fund's investments on 
a per Share basis, will be disseminated every second during the 
Exchange's Core Trading Session. The VIIV should not be viewed as a 
``real-time'' update of NAV because the VIIV may not be calculated in 
the same manner as NAV, which is computed once per day.
    The Exchange will disseminate the VIIV for each Fund in one-second 
intervals during the Core Trading Session, through the facilities of 
the CTA. The VIIV is essentially an intraday NAV calculation every 
second during the Core Trading Session. Each Fund will adopt procedures 
governing the calculation of the VIIV and will bear responsibility for 
the accuracy of its calculation. Pursuant to those procedures, the VIIV 
will include all accrued income and expenses of a Fund and will assure 
that any extraordinary expenses, booked during the day, that would be 
taken into account in calculating a Fund's NAV for that day are also 
taken into account in calculating the VIIV. For purposes of the VIIV, 
securities held by a Fund will be valued throughout the day based on 
the mid-point between the disseminated current national best bid and 
offer. The Adviser represents that, by utilizing the mid-point pricing 
for purposes of VIIV calculation, stale prices are eliminated and more 
accurate representation of the real time value of the underlying 
securities is provided to the market. Specifically, quotations based on 
the mid-point of bid/ask spreads more accurately reflect current market 
sentiment by providing real time information on where market 
participants are willing to buy or sell securities at that point in 
time. Using quotations rather than last sale information addresses 
concerns regarding the staleness of pricing information of less 
actively traded securities. Because quotations are updated more 
frequently than last sale information especially for inactive 
securities, the VIIV will be based on more current and accurate 
information. The use of quotations will also dampen the impact of any 
momentary spikes in the price of a portfolio security.
    Each Fund will utilize two independent pricing sources to provide 
two independent sources of pricing information. Each Fund will also 
utilize a ``Pricing Verification Agent'' and establish a computer-based 
protocol that will permit the Pricing Verification Agent to 
continuously compare the two data streams from the independent pricing 
agents sources on a real time basis.\33\ A single VIIV will be 
disseminated publicly for each Fund; however, the Pricing Verification 
Agent will continuously compare the public VIIV against a non-public 
alternative intra-day indicative value to which the Pricing 
Verification Agent has access. If it becomes apparent that there is a 
material discrepancy between the two data streams, the Exchange will be 
notified and have the ability to halt trading in a Fund until the 
discrepancy is resolved. Each Fund's Board will review the procedures 
used to calculate the VIIV and maintain its accuracy as

[[Page 20941]]

appropriate, but not less than annually. The specific methodology for 
calculating the VIIV will be disclosed on each Fund's Web site.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \33\ A Fund's Custodian will provide, on a daily basis, the 
constituent basket file comprised of all securities plus any cash to 
the independent pricing agent(s) for purposes of pricing.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trading Halts
    With respect to trading halts, the Exchange may consider all 
relevant factors in exercising its discretion to halt or suspend 
trading in the Shares of the Funds.\34\ 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. Trading in the Shares will be 
subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900(d)(2)(C), which sets forth 
circumstances under which Shares of the Funds will be halted.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \34\ See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trading Rules
    The Exchange deems the Shares to be equity securities, thus 
rendering trading in the Shares subject to the Exchange's existing 
rules governing the trading of equity securities. Shares will trade on 
the NYSE Arca Marketplace only during the Core Trading Session in 
accordance with NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34(a)(2). As provided in NYSE 
Arca Equities Rule 7.6, the minimum price variation (``MPV'') for 
quoting and entry of orders in equity securities traded on the NYSE 
Arca Marketplace is $0.01, with the exception of securities that are 
priced less than $1.00 for which the MPV for order entry is $0.0001.
    The Shares will conform to the initial and continued listing 
criteria under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900. The Exchange represents 
that, for initial and/or continued listing, each Fund will be in 
compliance with Rule 10A-3 under the Act,\35\ as provided by NYSE Arca 
Equities Rule 5.3. A minimum of 100,000 Shares of each Fund will be 
outstanding at the commencement of trading on the Exchange. The 
Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer of the Shares of 
each Fund that the NAV per Share of each Fund will be calculated daily 
and will be made available to all market participants at the same time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \35\ See 17 CFR 240.10A-3.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Surveillance
    The Exchange represents that trading in the Shares will be subject 
to the existing trading surveillances, administered by the Exchange, as 
well as cross-market surveillances administered by FINRA on behalf of 
the Exchange, which are designed to detect violations of Exchange rules 
and applicable federal securities laws.\36\ The Exchange represents 
that these procedures are adequate to properly monitor Exchange trading 
of the Shares in all trading sessions and to deter and detect 
violations of Exchange rules and federal securities laws applicable to 
trading on the Exchange.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \36\ FINRA conducts cross-market surveillances on behalf of the 
Exchange pursuant to a regulatory services agreement. The Exchange 
is responsible for FINRA's performance under this regulatory 
services agreement.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The surveillances referred to above generally focus on detecting 
securities trading outside their normal patterns, which could be 
indicative of manipulative or other violative activity. When such 
situations are detected, surveillance analysis follows and 
investigations are opened, where appropriate, to review the behavior of 
all relevant parties for all relevant trading violations.
    The Exchange or FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, or both, will 
communicate as needed regarding trading in the Shares, underlying 
stocks, ETFs and exchange-listed options with other markets and other 
entities that are members of the Intermarket Surveillance Group 
(``ISG''), and the Exchange or FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, or 
both, may obtain trading information regarding trading such securities 
from such markets and other entities. In addition, the Exchange may 
obtain information regarding trading in the Shares, underlying stocks, 
ETFs and exchange-listed options from markets and other entities that 
are members of ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a 
comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement.\37\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \37\ For a list of the current members of ISG, see 
www.isgportal.org.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Funds' Adviser will make available daily to FINRA and the 
Exchange the portfolio holdings of each Fund in order to facilitate the 
performance of the surveillances referred to above.
    In addition, the Exchange also has a general policy prohibiting the 
distribution of material, non-public information by its employees.
Information Bulletin
    Prior to the commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform its 
Equity Trading Permit (``ETP'') Holders in an Information Bulletin 
(``Bulletin'') of the special characteristics and risks associated with 
trading the Shares. Specifically, the Bulletin will discuss the 
following: (1) The procedures for purchases and redemptions of Shares; 
(2) NYSE Arca Equities Rule 9.2(a), which imposes a duty of due 
diligence on its ETP Holders to learn the essential facts relating to 
every customer prior to trading the Shares; (4) [sic] how information 
regarding the VIIV is disseminated; (5) the requirement that ETP 
Holders deliver a prospectus to investors purchasing newly issued 
Shares prior to or concurrently with the confirmation of a transaction; 
and (6) trading information.
    In addition, the Bulletin will reference that the Funds are subject 
to various fees and expenses described in the Registration Statement. 
The Bulletin will discuss any exemptive, no-action, and interpretive 
relief granted by the Commission from any rules under the Act. The 
Bulletin will also disclose that the NAV for the Shares will be 
calculated after 4:00 p.m., E.T. each trading day.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with Section 6(b) of the Act,\38\ in general, and furthers the 
objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,\39\ in particular, in that it 
is 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \38\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \39\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange believes that proposed Rule 8.900 is designed to 
prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices in that the 
proposed rules relating to listing and trading of Managed Portfolio 
Shares provide specific initial and continued listing criteria required 
to be met by such securities. Proposed Rule 8.900(d) sets forth initial 
and continued listing criteria applicable to Managed Portfolio Shares. 
Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(1) provides that, for each series of Managed 
Portfolio Shares, the Corporation will establish a minimum number of 
Managed Portfolio Shares required to be outstanding at the time of 
commencement of trading. In addition, the Corporation will obtain a 
representation from the issuer of each series of Managed Portfolio 
Shares that the NAV per share for the series will be calculated daily 
and that the NAV will be made available to all market participants at 
the same time. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2) provides that each series of 
Managed Portfolio Shares will be listed and traded subject to 
application of the specified continued

[[Page 20942]]

listing criteria, as described above. Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(A) 
provides that the VIIV for Managed Portfolio Shares will be widely 
disseminated by one or more major market data vendors every second 
during the Exchange's Core Trading Session. Proposed Rule 
8.900(d)(2)(B) provides that the Corporation will maintain surveillance 
procedures for securities listed under Rule 8.900 and will consider the 
suspension of trading in, and will commence delisting proceedings under 
Rule 5.5(m) of, a series of Managed Portfolio Shares under any of the 
circumstances set forth in proposed Rules 8.900(d)(2)(B)(i) through 
(vi), as described above, including if any of the continued listing 
requirements set forth in Rule 8.900 are not continuously maintained 
(proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(B)(iv)), and if the Corporation submits a 
rule filing pursuant to Section 19(b) of the Act to permit the listing 
and trading of a series of Managed Portfolio Shares and any of the 
statements or representations regarding (a) the description of the 
portfolio or reference asset, (b) limitations on portfolio holdings or 
reference assets, or (c) the applicability of Exchange listing rules 
specified in such rule filing are not continuously maintained (proposed 
Rule 8.900(d)(2)(B)(v)). Proposed Rule 8.900(d)(2)(C) provides that, 
upon notification to the Corporation by the Investment Company or its 
agent that (i) the prices from the multiple independent pricing sources 
to be validated by the Investment Company's pricing verification agent 
differ by more than 25 basis points for 60 seconds in connection with 
pricing of the VIIV, or (ii) that the VIIV of a series of Managed 
Portfolio Shares is not being priced and disseminated in one-second 
intervals, as required, the Corporation shall halt trading in the 
Managed Portfolio Shares as soon as practicable. Such halt in trading 
shall continue until the Investment Company or its agent notifies the 
Corporation that the prices from the independent pricing sources no 
longer differ by more than 25 basis points for 60 seconds or that the 
VIIV is being priced and disseminated as required. Proposed Commentary 
.05 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.900 provides that, if the investment 
adviser to the Investment Company issuing Managed Portfolio Shares is 
affiliated with a broker-dealer, or if any Trusted Agent is registered 
as a broker-dealer or is affiliated with a broker-dealer, such 
investment adviser or Trusted Agent will erect and maintain a ``fire 
wall'' between the investment adviser or Trusted Agent and (i) 
personnel of the broker-dealer or broker-dealer affiliate, as 
applicable, or (ii) the Authorized Participant or non-Authorized 
Participant market maker, as applicable, with respect to access to 
information concerning the composition and/or changes to such 
Investment Company portfolio. Personnel who make decisions on the 
Investment Company's portfolio composition must be subject to 
procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material 
nonpublic information regarding the applicable Investment Company 
portfolio Personnel who make decisions on the Investment Company's 
portfolio composition must be subject to procedures designed to prevent 
the use and dissemination of material nonpublic information regarding 
the applicable Investment Company portfolio.
    With respect to the proposed listing and trading of Shares of the 
Funds, the Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is designed 
to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices in that the 
Shares will be listed and traded on the Exchange pursuant to the 
initial and continued listing criteria in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 
8.900. Price information for the exchange-listed equity securities held 
by the Funds will be available through major market data vendors or 
securities exchanges listing and trading such securities. All exchange-
listed equity securities held by the Funds will be listed on national 
securities exchanges. The listing and trading of such securities is 
subject to rules of the exchanges on which they are listed and traded, 
as approved by the Commission. The Funds will primarily hold U.S.-
listed securities or ETFs. A Fund's investments will be consistent with 
its respective investment objective and will not be used to enhance 
leverage. The Funds will not invest in non-U.S.-listed securities. The 
Exchange or FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, or both, will communicate 
as needed regarding trading in the Shares and underlying stocks and 
ETFs with other markets and other entities that are members of the ISG, 
and the Exchange or FINRA, on behalf of the Exchange, or both, may 
obtain trading information regarding trading such securities from such 
markets and other entities. In addition, the Exchange may obtain 
information regarding trading in the Shares, underlying stocks and ETFs 
from markets and other entities that are members of ISG or with which 
the Exchange has in place a comprehensive surveillance sharing 
agreement. A Trusted Agent will provide information related to 
creations and redemption of Creation Units to FINRA upon request. The 
Funds' Adviser will make available daily to FINRA and the Exchange the 
portfolio holdings of each Fund in order to facilitate the performance 
of the surveillances referred to above.
    The Exchange, after consulting with various Lead Market Makers that 
trade ETFs on the Exchange, believes that market makers will be able to 
make efficient and liquid markets priced near the VIIV, market makers 
have knowledge of a fund's means of achieving its investment objective 
even without daily disclosure of a fund's underlying portfolio, and are 
able to engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage. The Exchange believes that 
market makers will employ risk-management techniques such as Bona Fide 
Arbitrage in addition to ``statistical arbitrage,'' which is currently 
used throughout the financial services industry, to make efficient 
markets in exchange traded products.\40\ This ability should permit 
market makers to make efficient markets in shares without knowledge of 
a fund's underlying portfolio.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ See note 10, supra.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Exchange understands that traders, in addition to employing 
Bona Fide Arbitrage, use statistical analysis to derive correlations 
between different sets of instruments to identify opportunities to buy 
or sell one set of instruments when it is mispriced relative to the 
others. For Managed Portfolio Shares, market makers utilizing 
statistical arbitrage use the knowledge of a fund's means of achieving 
its investment objective, as described in the applicable fund 
registration statement, to construct a hedging proxy for a fund to 
manage a market maker's quoting risk in connection with trading fund 
shares. Market makers will then conduct statistical arbitrage between 
their hedging proxy (for example, the Russell 1000 Index) and shares of 
a fund, buying and selling one against the other over the course of the 
trading day. Eventually, at the end of each day, they will evaluate how 
their proxy performed in comparison to the price of a fund's shares, 
and use that analysis as well as knowledge of risk metrics, such as 
volatility and turnover, to enhance their proxy calculation to make it 
a more efficient hedge.
    Market makers who anticipate employing statistical arbitrage more 
often than Bona Fide Arbitrage, have indicated to the Exchange that, 
after the first few days of trading, there will be sufficient data to 
run a statistical

[[Page 20943]]

analysis which will lead to spreads being tightened substantially 
around VIIV. This is similar to certain other existing exchange traded 
products (for example, ETFs that invest in foreign securities that do 
not trade during U.S. trading hours), in which spreads may be generally 
wider in the early days of trading and then narrow as market makers 
gain more confidence in their real-time hedges.
    The Lead Market Makers also indicated that, as with some other new 
exchange-traded products, spreads may be generally wider in the early 
days of trading and would tend to narrow as market makers gain more 
confidence in the accuracy of their hedges and their ability to adjust 
these hedges in real-time relative to the published VIIV and gain an 
understanding of the applicable market risk metrics such as volatility 
and turnover, and as natural buyers and sellers enter the market. Other 
relevant factors cited by Lead Market Makers were that a fund's 
investment objectives are clearly disclosed in the applicable 
prospectus, the existence of quarterly portfolio disclosure, the 
capacity to engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage and the ability to create 
shares in creation unit size.
    The Commission's concept release regarding ``Actively Managed 
Exchange-Traded Funds'' highlighted several issues that could impact 
the Commission's willingness to authorize the operation of an actively-
managed ETF, including whether effective arbitrage of the ETF shares 
exists.\41\ The Concept Release identifies the transparency of a fund's 
portfolio and the liquidity of the securities in a fund's portfolio as 
central to effective arbitrage. With respect to the Funds, the Funds' 
use of U.S.-listed securities and the ability of market makers to 
engage in Bona Fide Arbitrage provide adequate liquidity as well as the 
ability to engage in riskless arbitrage. Additionally, certain existing 
ETFs with portfolios of foreign securities have shown their ability to 
trade efficiently in the secondary market at approximately their NAV 
even though they do not provide opportunities for riskless arbitrage 
transactions during much of the trading day.\42\ Such ETFs have been 
shown to have pricing characteristics very similar to ETFs that can be 
arbitraged in this manner. For example, index-based ETFs containing 
securities that trade during different trading hours than the ETF, such 
as ETFs that hold Asian stocks, have demonstrated efficient pricing 
characteristics notwithstanding the inability of market professionals 
to engage in ``riskless arbitrage'' with respect to the underlying 
portfolio for most, or even all, of the U.S. trading day when Asian 
markets are closed. Pricing for shares of such ETFs is efficient 
because market professionals are still able to hedge their positions 
with offsetting, correlated positions in derivative instruments during 
the entire trading day.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \41\ See Investment Company Act Release No. 25258 (November 8, 
2001) (the ``Concept Release'').
    \42\ The Adviser represents that the mechanics of arbitrage and 
hedging differ. Prior Rule 10a-1 and Regulation T under the Act both 
describe arbitrage as either buying and selling the same security in 
two different markets or buying and selling two different 
securities, one of which is convertible into the other. This is also 
known as a ``riskless arbitrage'' transaction in that the 
transaction is risk free since it generally consists of buying an 
asset at one price and simultaneously selling that same asset at a 
higher price, thereby generating a profit on the difference. 
Hedging, on the other hand, involves managing risk by purchasing or 
selling a security or instrument that will track or offset the value 
of another security or instrument. Arbitrage and hedging are both 
used to manage risk; however, they involve different trading 
strategies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The real-time dissemination of a fund's VIIV, the ability for 
market makers to engage is [sic] riskless arbitrage through the Bona 
Fide Arbitrage mechanism, together with the right of Authorized 
Participants to create and redeem each day at the NAV, will be 
sufficient for market participants to value and trade shares in a 
manner that will not lead to significant deviations between the shares' 
Bid/Ask Price and NAV.
    The pricing efficiency with respect to trading a series of Managed 
Portfolio Shares will generally rest on the ability of market 
participants to arbitrage between the shares and a fund's portfolio, in 
addition to the ability of market participants to assess a fund's 
underlying value accurately enough throughout the trading day in order 
to hedge positions in shares effectively. Professional traders not 
employing Bona Fide Arbitrage can buy shares that they perceive to be 
trading at a price less than that which will be available at a 
subsequent time, and sell shares they perceive to be trading at a price 
higher than that which will be available at a subsequent time. It is 
expected that, as part of their normal day-to-day trading activity, 
market makers assigned to shares by the Exchange, off-exchange market 
makers, firms that specialize in electronic trading, hedge funds and 
other professionals specializing in short-term, non-fundamental trading 
strategies will assume the risk of being ``long'' or ``short'' shares 
through such trading and will hedge such risk wholly or partly by 
simultaneously taking positions in correlated assets \43\ or by netting 
the exposure against other, offsetting trading positions--much as such 
firms do with existing ETFs and other equities. Disclosure of a fund's 
investment objective and principal investment strategies in its 
prospectus and SAI, along with the dissemination of the VIIV every 
second, should permit professional investors to engage easily in this 
type of hedging activity.\44\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \43\ Price correlation trading is used throughout the financial 
industry. It is used to discover both trading opportunities to be 
exploited, such as currency pairs and statistical arbitrage, as well 
as for risk mitigation such as dispersion trading and beta hedging. 
These correlations are a function of differentials, over time, 
between one or multiple securities pricing. Once the nature of these 
price deviations have been quantified, a universe of securities is 
searched in an effort to, in the case of a hedging strategy, 
minimize the differential. Once a suitable hedging basket has been 
identified, a trader can minimize portfolio risk by executing the 
hedging basket. The trader then can monitor the performance of this 
hedge throughout the trade period, making corrections where 
warranted.
    \44\ With respect to trading in Shares of the Funds, market 
participants would manage risk in a variety of ways. In addition to 
Bona Fide Arbitrage, it is expected that market participants will be 
able to determine how to trade Shares at levels approximating the 
VIIV without taking undue risk by gaining experience with how 
various market factors (e.g., general market movements, sensitivity 
of the VIIV to intraday movements in interest rates or commodity 
prices, etc.) affect VIIV, and by finding hedges for their long or 
short positions in Shares using instruments correlated with such 
factors. The Adviser expects that market participants will initially 
determine the VIIV's correlation to a major large capitalization 
equity benchmark with active derivative contracts, such as the 
Russell 1000 Index, and the degree of sensitivity of the VIIV to 
changes in that benchmark. For example, using hypothetical numbers 
for illustrative purposes, market participants should be able to 
determine quickly that price movements in the Russell 1000 Index 
predict movements in a Fund's VIIV 95% of the time (an acceptably 
high correlation) but that the VIIV generally moves approximately 
half as much as the Russell 1000 Index with each price movement. 
This information is sufficient for market participants to construct 
a reasonable hedge--buy or sell an amount of futures, swaps or ETFs 
that track the Russell 1000 equal to half the opposite exposure 
taken with respect to Shares. Market participants will also 
continuously compare the intraday performance of their hedge to a 
Fund's VIIV. If the intraday performance of the hedge is correlated 
with the VIIV to the expected degree, market participants will feel 
comfortable they are appropriately hedged and can rely on the VIIV 
as appropriately indicative of a Fund's performance.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    With respect to trading of Shares of the Funds, the ability of 
market participants to buy and sell Shares at prices near the VIIV is 
dependent upon their assessment that the VIIV is a reliable, indicative 
real-time value for a Fund's underlying holdings. Market participants 
are expected to accept the VIIV as a reliable, indicative real-time 
value because (1) the VIIV will be calculated and disseminated based on 
a Fund's actual portfolio holdings, (2) the securities in which the 
Funds plan to

[[Page 20944]]

invest are generally highly liquid and actively traded and therefore 
generally have accurate real time pricing available, and (3) market 
participants will have a daily opportunity to evaluate whether the VIIV 
at or near the close of trading is indeed predictive of the actual NAV.
    The real-time dissemination of a Fund's VIIV, the ability for 
market makers to engage is [sic] riskless arbitrage through the Bona 
Fide Arbitrage mechanism, together with the ability of Authorized 
Participants to create and redeem each day at the NAV, will be crucial 
for market participants to value and trade Shares in a manner that will 
not lead to significant deviations between the Shares' Bid/Ask Price 
and NAV.\45\
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    \45\ The statements in the Statutory Basis section of this 
filing relating to pricing efficiency, arbitrage, and activities of 
market participants, including market makers and Authorized 
Participants, are based on representations by the Adviser and review 
by the Exchange.
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    In a typical index-based ETF, it is standard for Authorized 
Participants to know what securities must be delivered in a creation or 
will be received in a redemption. For Managed Portfolio Shares, 
however, Authorized Participants do not need to know the securities 
comprising the portfolio of a Fund since creations and redemptions are 
handled through the Confidential Account mechanism. The Adviser 
represents that the in-kind creations and redemptions through a 
Confidential Account will preserve the integrity of the active 
investment strategy and eliminate the potential for ``free riding'' or 
``front-running,'' while still providing investors with the advantages 
of the ETF structure.
    The proposed rule change is designed to promote just and equitable 
principles of trade and to protect investors and the public interest in 
that the Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer of an 
issue of Managed Portfolio Shares that the NAV per share of a fund will 
be calculated daily and that the NAV and [sic] will be made available 
to all market participants at the same time. Investors can also obtain 
a fund's SAI, shareholder reports, and its Form N-CSR, Form N-Q and 
Form N-SAR. A fund's SAI and shareholder reports will be available free 
upon request from the applicable fund, and those documents and the Form 
N-CSR, Form N-Q and Form N-SAR may be viewed on-screen or downloaded 
from the Commission's Web site. In addition, with respect to the Funds, 
a large amount of information will be publicly available regarding the 
Funds and the Shares, thereby promoting market transparency. Quotation 
and last sale information for the Shares will be available via the CTA 
high-speed line. Information regarding the intra-day value of the 
Shares of a Fund, which is the VIIV as defined in proposed NYSE Arca 
Equities Rule 8.900(c)(3), will be widely disseminated every second 
throughout the Exchange's Core Trading Session by one or more major 
market data vendors. The Web site for the Funds will include a form of 
the prospectus for the Funds that may be downloaded, and additional 
data relating to NAV and other applicable quantitative information, 
updated on a daily basis. Moreover, prior to the commencement of 
trading, the Exchange will inform its ETP Holders in an Information 
Bulletin of the special characteristics and risks associated with 
trading the Shares. Trading in Shares of a Fund will be halted if the 
circuit breaker parameters in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12 have been 
reached or because of market conditions or for reasons that, in the 
view of the Exchange, make trading in the Shares inadvisable. Trading 
in the Shares will be subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 
8.900(d)(2)(C), which sets forth circumstances under which Shares of 
the Funds will be halted. In addition, as noted above, investors will 
have ready access to the VIIV, and quotation and last sale information 
for the Shares. The Shares will conform to the initial and continued 
listing criteria under proposed Rule 8.900. The Funds will not invest 
in futures, forwards or swaps. Each Fund's investments will be 
consistent with its investment objective and will not be used to 
enhance leverage. While a Fund may invest in inverse ETFs, a Fund will 
not invest in leveraged (e.g., 2X, -2X, 3X or -3X) ETFs. The Funds will 
not invest in non-U.S. listed securities.
    The proposed rule change is designed to perfect the mechanism of a 
free and open market and, in general, to protect investors and the 
public interest in that it will facilitate the listing and trading of 
an additional type of actively-managed exchange-traded product that 
will enhance competition among market participants, to the benefit of 
investors and the marketplace. As noted above, the Exchange has in 
place surveillance procedures relating to trading in the Shares and may 
obtain information via ISG from other exchanges that are members of ISG 
or with which the Exchange has entered into a comprehensive 
surveillance sharing agreement. In addition, as noted above, investors 
will have ready access to information regarding the VIIV and quotation 
and last sale information for the Shares.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will 
impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act. The Exchange believes the 
proposed rule change would permit listing and trading of another type 
of actively-managed ETF that has characteristics different from 
existing actively-managed and index ETFs, and would introduce 
additional competition among various ETF products to the benefit of 
investors.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed 
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants, or Others

    No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the 
proposed rule change.

III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for 
Commission Action

    Within 45 days of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register or up to 90 days (i) as the Commission may designate 
if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its 
reasons for so finding or (ii) as to which the self-regulatory 
organization consents, the Commission will:
    (A) By order approve or disapprove the proposed rule change, or
    (B) institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule 
change should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

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

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an email to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File Number SR-NYSEArca-2017-36 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-2017-36. This

[[Page 20945]]

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-2017-36 and should 
be submitted on or before May 25, 2017.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\46\
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    \46\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-08980 Filed 5-3-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P

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