

[Federal Register: October 16, 2007 (Volume 72, Number 199)]
[Notices]               
[Page 58691-58693]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr16oc07-119]                         

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-56636; File No. SR-Amex-2007-108]

 
Self-Regulatory Organizations; American Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change To Increase the Annual Listing 
Fees for Certain Stock Issues of Listed Companies

October 10, 2007.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given that 
on October 3, 2007, the American Stock Exchange LLC (``Amex'' or 
``Exchange'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission 
(``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, 
and III below, which Items have been substantially prepared by Amex. 
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\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Exchange proposes to amend Section 141 of the Amex Company 
Guide to increase the annual listing fees for certain stock issues of 
listed companies. The text of the proposed rule change is available at 
http://www.amex.com, the Exchange's principal office, and the 

Commission's Public Reference Room.

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

    In its filing with the Commission, the Exchange included statements 
concerning the purpose of, and basis for,

[[Page 58692]]

the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the 
proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at 
the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared 
summaries, set forth in Sections A, B, and C below, of the most 
significant aspects of such statements.

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

1. Purpose
    Amex proposes to amend Section 141 of the Company Guide to increase 
the annual listing fees for certain stock issues of listed companies. 
The Exchange believes it is appropriate to increase these fees to cover 
the costs for maintaining its current programs and also to better align 
the Exchange's annual listing fees with those of the Nasdaq Capital 
Market.
    The Amex marketplace most closely resembles the Nasdaq Capital 
Market in terms of listing standards and demographics of listed 
companies, i.e. similar market capitalizations, trading volumes, and 
stage of development. On April 18, 2007, the Commission adopted an 
amendment to Rule 146(b) of the Securities Act of 1933 (``1933 Act''), 
to designate securities listed or authorized for listing on the Nasdaq 
Capital Market as ``covered securities'' under Section 18 of the 1933 
Act.\3\ Covered securities under Section 18 of the 1933 Act are exempt 
from state law registration requirements (``Blue Sky Laws''). Such an 
exemption from Blue Sky Laws, which companies listed on Amex have long 
enjoyed, further renders the Nasdaq Capital Market even more similar to 
the Amex marketplace. While the Nasdaq Capital Market is substantially 
similar to the Amex equity marketplace, the Exchange believes that 
certain services--such as associated service offerings, the AMEX IR 
Alliance, and the AMEX online targeting tool--are provided free of 
charge to listed companies at Amex, while similar services provided by 
the Nasdaq Capital Market are subject to fees.
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    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 33-8791 (April 18, 
2007), 72 FR 20410 (April 24, 2007) (S7-18-06).
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Annual Listing Fee
    The annual fees set forth in Section 141 of the Amex Company Guide, 
as depicted in the chart below, currently range from $16,500 to $34,000 
depending on the number of shares outstanding. In contrast, the Nasdaq 
Capital Market charges a flat fee of $27,500 across all levels of 
shares outstanding. The Exchange's current annual listing fees for 
stock issues are set forth below:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Number of shares                           Fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
5,000,000 shares or less...................................   $16,500.00
5,000,001 to 10,000,000 shares.............................    19,000.00
10,000,001 to 25,000,000 shares............................    21,500.00
25,000,001 to 50,000,000 shares............................    24,500.00
50,000,001 to 75,000,000 shares............................    32,500.00
In excess of 75,000,000 shares.............................    34,000.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    This proposal seeks to amend the annual listing fees set forth in 
Section 141 of the Amex Company Guide as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                      Number of shares                           Fee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
50,000,000 shares or less..................................   $27,500.00
50,000,001 to 75,000,000 shares............................    32,500.00
In excess of 75,000,000 shares.............................    34,000.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In effect, the Exchange through this proposal would raise annual 
listing fees only for those outstanding stock issues of 50 million 
shares or less.
    The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is an equitable 
allocation of annual listings fees for equity issues consistent with 
Section 6(b)(4) of the Act.\4\ The Exchange further submits that the 
proposed increases in the annual listing fees for stock issues of 50 
million shares or less are appropriate for the purpose of generating 
revenue to fund Exchange operations and to better align its fees with 
those of the Nasdaq Capital Market.
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    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
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2. Statutory Basis
    The proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act 
\5\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Sections 6(b)(4) of the 
Act \6\ in particular, in that the proposed rule change provides for 
the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges 
among members and issuers and other persons using the Exchange's 
facilities.
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    \5\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \6\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will 
impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

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

    Written comments on the proposed rule change were neither solicited 
nor received.

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

    Within 35 days of the date of publication of this notice in the 
Federal Register or within such longer period (i) as the Commission may 
designate up to 90 days of such date if it finds such longer period to 
be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to 
which the Exchange consents, the Commission will:
    (A) By order approve such proposed rule change, or
    (B) Institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule 
change should be disapproved.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

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

Electronic Comments

     Use the Commission's Internet comment form (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml.
); or     Send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 

File Number SR-Amex-2007-108 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

     Send paper comments in triplicate to Nancy M. Morris, 
Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20549-1090.

    All submissions should refer to File Number SR-Amex-2007-108. This 
file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. 
To help the Commission process and review your comments more 
efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all 
comments on the Commission's Internet Web site (http://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

[[Page 58693]]

those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the 
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for inspection and 
copying in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10 
a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of such filing also will be available for 
inspection and copying at the principal office of the 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-Amex-2007-108 and should be 
submitted on or before November 6, 2007.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\7\
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    \7\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E7-20362 Filed 10-15-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
