

[Federal Register: January 14, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 9)]
[Notices]               
[Page 2296-2297]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr14ja08-114]                         

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-57105; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2007-100]

 
Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; 
Notice of Filing of a Proposed Rule Change To Nasdaq's Rule 7033 to 
Modify the Fees Charged for the Mutual Fund Quotation Service and to 
Correct Certain Errors in the Rule Manual

January 4, 2008.
    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 December 19, 2007, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (``Nasdaq'') filed 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') the 
proposed rule change as described in Items I, II and III below, which 
Items have been prepared substantially by Nasdaq. 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

    Nasdaq proposes to modify the fees charged for the Mutual Fund 
Quotation Service (``MFQS'') and to correct certain errors in the rule 
manual. The text of the proposed rule change is available at http://www.nasdaq.complinet.com
, the principal offices of Nasdaq, 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, Nasdaq 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 these statements may be examined at the places specified in 
Item IV below. Nasdaq 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
    Nasdaq seeks retroactive approval for the implementation of MFQS 
fees previously approved when MFQS was operated as a facility of The 
National Association of Securities Dealers (``NASD'') but not 
transferred to the corresponding Nasdaq rule when Nasdaq commenced 
operations as a national securities exchange on August 1, 2006. Nasdaq 
is also seeking approval effective on January 1, 2008, for changes to 
eliminate the fee differential between News Media and Supplemental 
listings.
SR-NASD-2003-52
    Subsection (e) of NASD Rule 7090 was approved by the Commission in 
connection with its approval of SR-NASD-2003-52 effective as of August 
7, 2003.\3\ That subsection, although approved, was inadvertently 
omitted from the NASD's online manual. On August 1, 2006, Nasdaq 
formally separated from NASD. As Nasdaq prepared to begin operating as 
an independent national securities exchange in 2006, it replicated 
sections of the NASD rule manual and proposed that they be included in 
the new Nasdaq rule manual in the same form.\4\ Due to the inadvertent 
omission of subsection (e) of Rule 7090 from the NASD manual, Nasdaq 
failed to include that subsection in its manual (as Rule 7033). Nasdaq 
proposes to rectify that omission through the current rule proposal, 
retroactive to its separation date of August 1, 2006.
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    \3\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 48279 (August 1, 2003), 
68 FR 47121 (August 7, 2003) (SR-NASD-2003-52).
    \4\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 53128 (January 13, 
2006), 71 FR 3550 (January 23, 2006).
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New Uniform Pricing
    Nasdaq seeks to change the fees charged for the News Media and 
Supplemental Lists to reflect a conformity of effort by Nasdaq in 
providing both services. MFQS was created to collect and disseminate 
data pertaining to the value of open-end and closed-end mutual funds, 
money market funds, and unit investment trusts. MFQS has two ``lists'' 
in which a fund or trust may be included: (1) The News Media List and 
(2) the Supplemental List. The listing requirements for the News Media 
List are different than the listing requirements for the Supplemental 
List, so a fund will only qualify for one list or the other. If a fund 
or trust is listed on the News Media List, pricing information about 
the fund or trust is eligible for inclusion in the fund/trust tables of 
newspapers and is also eligible for dissemination over Nasdaq's Mutual 
Fund Dissemination Service (``MFDS'') data feed, which is distributed 
to market data vendors. If the fund or trust is listed on the 
Supplemental List, the pricing information about the fund or trust

[[Page 2297]]

generally is not included in newspaper fund/trust tables, but is 
disseminated over Nasdaq's MFDS data feed.
    Historically, Nasdaq spent more time and effort compiling and 
disseminating the News Media List, which justified its higher fee. Over 
time, Nasdaq has enhanced its processes and technology; as a result, 
the effort it takes to compile the two lists generally is the same. 
Nasdaq follows similar processes in the development of the Lists: both 
require the same processing to set up, both are disseminated to the 
public over the same data feed using the same message formats, and both 
require the same technical support. Given the uniformity of effort, 
Nasdaq believes that the pricing distinction between the two Lists is 
no longer valid and seeks with this filing to establish a uniform price 
for both. The new uniform price represents a decrease in fees for the 
News Media List and an increase for the Supplemental List, which 
reflects Nasdaq's enhanced system and extended reporting session.
    With this filing, Nasdaq seeks to raise the Supplemental List fee 
by $100 and lower the News Media List by $25 as compared to the fees 
currently being charged, effective on January 1, 2008. The increase 
reflects additional services rendered in providing the Supplemental 
List, and the decrease is for sake of conformity. Fees were last raised 
over two years ago.
2. Statutory Basis
    Nasdaq believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with 
section 6(b) of the Act \5\ in general, and with section 6(b)(4) of the 
Act,\6\ in particular, in that the proposal provides for the equitable 
allocation of reasonable dues, fees and other charges among members and 
issuers and other persons using any facility or system which Nasdaq 
operates or controls. The proposed rule change establishes new uniform 
MFQS fees based on increased services rendered and uniformity of 
effort, and also corrects certain errors in the rule manual on a 
retroactive basis.
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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

    Nasdaq 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 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 Nasdaq 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-NASDAQ-2007-100 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NASDAQ-2007-100. 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 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 Nasdaq. 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 publicly available. All 
submissions should refer to File Number SR-NASDAQ-2007-100 and should 
be submitted on or before February 4, 2008.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
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. E8-393 Filed 1-11-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
