

[Federal Register: January 23, 2008 (Volume 73, Number 15)]
[Notices]               
[Page 4027-4028]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr23ja08-95]                         

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-57154; File No. SR-Amex-2008-03]

 
Self-Regulatory Organizations; American Stock Exchange LLC; 
Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of a Proposed Rule Change 
Relating to ``Amex Only'' Orders and Quotes

January 15, 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 January 9, 2008, 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 and 
II below, which Items have been prepared substantially by the Amex. The 
Amex has submitted the proposed rule change under Section 19(b)(3)(A) 
of the Act \3\ and Rule 19b-4(f)(6) thereunder,\4\ which renders the 
proposal effective upon filing with the Commission. 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.
    \3\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \4\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
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I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance 
of the Proposed Rule Change

    The Amex proposes to amend Rule 131--AEMI, ``Types of Orders,'' to 
provide for ``Amex Only'' orders and quotes that will trade only at the 
Amex or be cancelled.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available at http://www.amex.com
, the principal office of the Amex, 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 Amex 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. The Amex 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
    The Amex proposes to add new paragraph (z) to Rule 131--AEMI to 
adopt a new order and a new quote type: the ``Amex Only'' order 
(``AOO'') and the ``Amex Only'' quote (``AOQ''). AOOs and AOQs will 
enable quoting and other market participants to post liquidity on the 
AEMI Book that will trade only at the Amex, and therefore will not 
incur the costs of routing to away markets. If any portion of an AOO or 
AOQ would otherwise be required, under Regulation NMS,\5\ to route to 
another market to avoid a trade-through or a locked or crossed market, 
AEMI would automatically cancel that portion of the AOO or AOQ. 
Additionally, if auto-ex is disabled during the regular trading 
session, all AOOs or AOQs on the AEMI Book would be cancelled (and all 
incoming AOOs and AOQs rejected), because neither AOOs nor AOQs would 
be permitted to participate in intra-day pair-offs.
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    \5\ 17 CFR 242.600 et seq.
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    AOOs and AOQs may be entered only during the pre-opening or regular 
trading session. AOOs may be limit or market orders. Quoting 
participants entering AOQs are limited to one per price point per side 
of the market in the particular security being quoted, and only those 
streaming quotes to the Amex via proprietary systems will have AOQ 
functionality, when implemented.\6\
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    \6\ See Rule 131--AEMI, Commentary .04.
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    The Amex states that it is introducing AOOs and AOQs in response to 
market participants' strong demands for more flexible order and quote 
types that will provide more control over transaction charges--one of 
the primary present drivers of order flow decisions. By using AOOs and 
AOQs, market participants on Amex will be able to be certain of either 
trading immediately against the contra side of the market on Amex, 
posting all or part of their order/quote on the AEMI Book, or 
cancelling the order/quote. The Amex notes that another market already 
has a similar order type in place,\7\ so competitive reasons also are 
driving the Amex's decision to offer comparable functionality to 
liquidity providers.
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    \7\ See NYSE Rule 13 (``Do Not Ship'' or ``DNS'' Orders). See 
also Securities Exchange Act Release No. 55768 (May 15, 2007), 72 FR 
28532 (May 21, 2007) (File No. SR-NYSE-2007-24) (notice of filing 
and immediate effectiveness of proposal to establish the DNS order 
type).
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2. Statutory Basis
    The proposed rule change is designed to be consistent with 
Regulation NMS, as well as Section 6(b) of the Act,\8\ in general, and 
furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) of the Act,\9\ 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.
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    \8\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

    The Amex believes that the proposed rule change does not 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

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

[[Page 4028]]

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

    The Amex has designated the proposed rule change as one that: (1) 
Does not significantly affect the protection of investors or the public 
interest; (2) does not impose any significant burden on competition; 
and (3) does not become operative for 30 days from the date of filing, 
or such shorter time as the Commission may designate if consistent with 
the protection of investors and the public interest. In addition, as 
required under Rule 19b-4(f)(6)(iii),\10\ the Amex provided the 
Commission with written notice of its intention to file the proposed 
rule change, along with a brief description of the text of the proposed 
rule change, at least five business days prior to filing the proposal 
with the Commission. Therefore, the proposed rule change has become 
effective pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A) of the Act \11\ and Rule 19b-
4(f)(6) thereunder.\12\
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    \10\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6)(iii).
    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A).
    \12\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
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    The Amex has requested that the Commission waive the 30-day 
operative delay for competitive reasons. The Commission hereby grants 
the Amex's request.\13\ AOOs and AOQs are substantially similar to 
order types that have been established on other exchanges.\14\ The 
Amex's proposal does not appear to raise any novel regulatory issues. 
Therefore, the Commission believes that waiving the 30-day operative 
delay is consistent with the protection of investors and the public 
interest.
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    \13\ For purposes of waiving the 30-day operative delay, the 
Commission has considered the proposal's impact on efficiency, 
competition, and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
    \14\ See note 7, supra. See also Philadelphia Stock Exchange 
Rule 185(b)(1)(D) (providing for Limit Orders and Reserve Orders 
with Do Not Route instructions).
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    At any time within 60 days of the filing of the proposed rule 
change, the Commission may summarily abrogate such rule change if it 
appears to the Commission that such action is necessary or appropriate 
in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or otherwise 
in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.

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-2008-03 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-Amex-2008-03. 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 the Amex. 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-Amex-2008-03 and should be 
submitted on or before February 13, 2008.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\15\
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    \15\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E8-1054 Filed 1-22-08; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
