
[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 164 (Wednesday, August 24, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52998-53004]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21591]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-65160; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2011-54]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing 
of Proposed Rule Change by NYSE Arca, Inc. Relating to Listing and 
Trading of the WisdomTree Dreyfus Australia & New Zealand Debt Fund 
Under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600

August 18, 2011.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(the ``Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ notice is hereby given 
that, on August 3, 2011, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the ``Exchange'' or ``NYSE 
Arca'') filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the 
``Commission'') the proposed rule change as described in Items I and II 
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\ 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 list and trade the shares of the following 
fund of the WisdomTree Trust (the ``Trust'') under NYSE Arca Equities 
Rule 8.600 (``Managed Fund Shares''): WisdomTree Dreyfus Australia & 
New Zealand Debt Fund. The shares of the Fund are collectively referred 
to herein as the ``Shares.'' The text of the proposed rule change is 
available at the Exchange, the Commission's Public Reference Room, and 
http://www.nyse.com.

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 list and trade the Shares of the 
WisdomTree Dreyfus Australia & New Zealand Debt Fund (``Fund'') under 
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600, which governs the listing and trading of 
Managed Fund Shares on the Exchange.\3\ The Shares

[[Page 52999]]

will be offered by the Trust, which was established as a Delaware 
statutory trust on December 15, 2005. The Trust is registered with the 
Commission as an investment company and the Fund has filed a 
registration statement on Form N-1A (``Registration Statement'') with 
the Commission. The Fund is currently known as the ``WisdomTree Dreyfus 
New Zealand Dollar Fund'' and is an actively managed exchange-traded 
fund. The Commission approved listing and trading on the Exchange of 
the WisdomTree Dreyfus New Zealand Dollar Fund pursuant to Section 
19(b)(2) of the Exchange Act on May 8, 2008 (the ``May 2008 
Order'').\4\ On April 14, 2011, the WisdomTree Dreyfus New Zealand 
Dollar Fund filed a supplement to its Registration Statement (the 
``Supplement'') pursuant to Rule 497 under the Securities Act of 1933. 
As stated in the Supplement, the WisdomTree Dreyfus New Zealand Dollar 
Fund, effective on or after August 26, 2011, will change its investment 
objective and strategy and will be renamed the ``WisdomTree Dreyfus 
Australia & New Zealand Debt Fund.'' The Fund's new name, investment 
objective, and investment strategies are not reflected in the May 2008 
Order and are described in more detail herein.\5\
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    \3\ The Commission approved NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600 and 
the listing and trading of certain funds of the PowerShares Actively 
Managed Funds Trust on the Exchange pursuant to Rule 8.600 in 
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 57619 (April 4, 2008) 73 FR 
19544 (April 10, 2008) (SR-NYSEArca-2008-25). The Commission also 
has approved listing and trading on the Exchange of a number of 
actively managed funds 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); 
58564 (September 17, 2008), 73 FR 55194 (September 24, 2008) (SR-
NYSEArca-2008-86) (order approving Exchange listing and trading of 
WisdomTree Dreyfus Emerging Currency Fund); 62604 (July 30, 2010), 
75 FR 47323 (August 5, 2010) (SR-NYSEArca-2010-49) (order approving 
listing and trading of WisdomTree Emerging Markets Local Debt Fund); 
62623 (August 2, 2010), 75 FR 47652 (August 6, 2010) (SR-NYSEArca-
2010-51) (order approving listing and trading of WisdomTree Dreyfus 
Commodity Currency Fund); 63598 (December 22, 2010), 75 FR 82106 
(December 29, 2010) (SR-NYSEArca-2010-98) (order approving listing 
and trading of WisdomTree Managed Futures Strategy Fund); and 63919 
(February 16, 2011), 76 FR 10073 (February 23, 2011) (SR-NYSEArca-
2010-116) (order approving listing and trading of WisdomTree Asia 
Local Debt Fund).
    \4\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 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). In the May 2008 Order, the Commission also 
approved the WisdomTree Australian Dollar Fund for Exchange listing 
and trading; however, such fund has not commenced trading.
    \5\ See Form 497, Supplement to Registration Statement on Form 
N-1A for the Trust, dated April 14, 2011 (File Nos. 333-132380 and 
811-21864). The descriptions of the Fund and the Shares contained 
herein are based, in part, on information in the Supplement and the 
Registration Statement.
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Description of the Shares and the Fund
    WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. (``WisdomTree Asset Management'') 
is the investment adviser (``Adviser'') to the Fund.\6\ The Dreyfus 
Corporation serves as sub-adviser for the Fund (``Sub-Adviser'').\7\ 
The Bank of New York Mellon is the administrator, custodian and 
transfer agent for the Trust. ALPS Distributors, Inc. serves as the 
distributor for the Trust.\8\
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    \6\ WisdomTree Investments, Inc. (``WisdomTree Investments'') is 
the parent company of WisdomTree Asset Management.
    \7\ The Sub-Adviser is responsible for day-to-day management of 
the Fund and, as such, typically makes all decisions with respect to 
portfolio holdings. The Adviser has ongoing oversight 
responsibility.
    \8\ The Commission has issued an order granting certain 
exemptive relief to the Trust under the Investment Company Act of 
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1) (``1940 Act''). See Investment Company Act 
Release No. 28171 (October 27, 2008) (File No. 812-13458). In 
compliance with Commentary .05 to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600, 
which applies to Managed Fund Shares based on an international or 
global portfolio, the Trust's application for exemptive relief under 
the 1940 Act states that the Fund will comply with the federal 
securities laws in accepting securities for deposits and satisfying 
redemptions with redemption securities, including that the 
securities accepted for deposits and the securities used to satisfy 
redemption requests are sold in transactions that would be exempt 
from registration under the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a).
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    Commentary .06 to Rule 8.600 provides that, if the investment 
adviser to the Investment Company issuing Managed Fund Shares is 
affiliated with a broker-dealer, such investment adviser shall erect a 
``fire wall'' between the investment adviser and the broker-dealer with 
respect to access to information concerning the composition and/or 
changes to such Investment Company portfolio.\9\ In addition, 
Commentary .06 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. Commentary .06 to 
Rule 8.600 is similar to Commentary .03(a)(i) and (iii) to NYSE Arca 
Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3); however, Commentary .06 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. 
WisdomTree Asset Management is not affiliated with any broker-dealer. 
The Sub-Adviser is affiliated with multiple broker-dealers and has 
implemented a ``fire wall'' with respect to such broker-dealers 
regarding access to information concerning the composition and/or 
changes to the Fund's portfolio. In addition, the Sub-Adviser personnel 
who make decisions regarding the Fund's portfolio are subject to 
procedures designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material 
nonpublic information regarding the Fund's portfolio. In the event (a) 
The Adviser or the Sub-Adviser becomes newly affiliated with a broker-
dealer, or (b) any new adviser or sub-adviser becomes affiliated with a 
broker-dealer, it will implement a fire wall with respect to such 
broker-dealer 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.
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    \9\ 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 Sub-Adviser and their related 
personnel are 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 violation, 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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WisdomTree Dreyfus Australia & New Zealand Debt Fund
    As noted above, effective on or after August 26, 2011, the 
WisdomTree Dreyfus New Zealand Dollar Fund will change its investment 
objective and investment strategies and be renamed the ``WisdomTree 
Dreyfus Australia & New Zealand Debt Fund.'' Upon implementation of the 
change, the Fund's new investment objective will be to seek a high 
level of total returns consisting of both income and capital 
appreciation and its investment strategies will be changed as described 
herein. Shareholders who wish to remain in the Fund do not need to take 
any action. Shareholders who, for whatever reason, do not wish to 
remain invested in the Fund may sell their Shares at any time prior to 
or after implementation of the planned change.\10\
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    \10\ The Adviser represents that the Supplement has been sent to 
existing Shareholders of the Fund to notify them of the planned 
change. The Supplement and additional information have been posted 
on the Fund's Web site at http://www.wisdomtree.com.

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[[Page 53000]]

    Under normal circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of 
its net assets in Fixed Income Securities denominated in Australian or 
New Zealand dollars.\11\ For purposes of this proposed rule change, 
Fixed Income Securities include bonds, notes or other debt obligations, 
such as government or corporate bonds, denominated in Australian or New 
Zealand dollars, including issues denominated in Australian or New 
Zealand dollars that are issued by ``supranational issuers'', such as 
the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, and the 
International Finance Corporation, as well as development agencies 
supported by other national governments, or other regional development 
banks. Under normal circumstances, the Fund may invest up to 20% of its 
assets in Fixed Income Securities denominated in U.S. dollars. The Fund 
may invest in Money Market Securities and derivative instruments and 
other investments, as described below.
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    \11\ The term ``under normal market circumstances'' includes, 
but is not limited to, the absence of extreme volatility or trading 
halts in the fixed income markets or the financial markets 
generally; operational issues causing dissemination of inaccurate 
market information; or force majeure type events such as systems 
failure, natural or man-made disaster, act of God, armed conflict, 
act of terrorism, riot or labor disruption or any similar 
intervening circumstance.
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    The Fund intends to focus its investments on ``Sovereign Debt.'' 
For these purposes, Sovereign Debt means Fixed Income Securities issued 
by governments, government agencies and government-sponsored 
enterprises in Australia and New Zealand that are denominated in either 
Australian or New Zealand dollars. This includes inflation-linked bonds 
designed to provide protection against increases in general inflation 
rates. The Fund may invest in corporate debt of companies organized in 
Australia or New Zealand or that have significant economic ties to 
Australia or New Zealand. The Fund will invest only in corporate bonds 
that the Adviser or Sub-Adviser deems to be sufficiently liquid. 
Generally a corporate bond must have $200 million or more par amount 
outstanding and significant par value traded to be considered as an 
eligible investment. Economic and other conditions may, from time to 
time, lead to a decrease in the average par amount outstanding of bond 
issuances. Therefore, although the Fund does not intend to do so, the 
Fund may invest up to 5% of its net assets in corporate bonds with less 
than $200 million par amount outstanding if (i) The Adviser or Sub-
Adviser deems such security to be sufficiently liquid based on its 
analysis of the market for such security (based on, for example, 
broker-dealer quotations or its analysis of the trading history of the 
security or the trading history of other securities issued by the 
issuer), (ii) such investment is consistent with the Fund's goal of 
providing exposure to a broad range of Fixed Income Securities 
denominated in Australian or New Zealand dollars, and (iii) such 
investment is deemed by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser to be in the best 
interest of the Fund.
    The Fund's investments generally will be allocated among the 
countries according to relative economic size and market depth. As a 
larger country with greater market depth, it is anticipated that 
Australian issues would comprise a larger percentage of the portfolio 
than issues of New Zealand issuers.
    The universe of Australian and New Zealand Fixed Income Securities 
currently includes securities that are rated ``investment grade'' as 
well as ``non-investment grade.'' \12\ Therefore, the Fund will invest 
in both investment grade and non-investment-grade securities. 
Securities rated investment grade generally are considered to be of 
higher credit quality and subject to lower default risk. Although 
securities rated below investment grade may offer the potential for 
higher yields, they generally are subject to a higher potential risk of 
loss. The Fund expects to have 75% or more of its assets invested in 
investment grade bonds, though this percentage may change from time to 
time in accordance with market conditions and the debt ratings assigned 
to countries and issuers.
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    \12\ As of December 2010, the amount of Australian dollar 
denominated debt outstanding was as follows: short-term non-
government securities issued in Australia, AU$385.9 billion; long-
term non-government securities issued in Australia, AU$433.3 
billion; Australian government securities, AU$334.5 billion; and 
non-government securities issued offshore, AU$507.2 billion. Source: 
Reserve Bank of Australia, at http://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/tables/xls/d04hist.xls?accessed=2502-06:57:23. As of March 28, 2011, 
AU$1.000 equaled approximately US$1.0260. Source: Reserve Bank of 
Australia, at http://www.rba.gov.au/statistics/frequency/exchange-rates.html. As of January 2011, the amount of New Zealand government 
securities outstanding was approximately NZ$56.282 billion. Source: 
Reserve Bank of New Zealand, at http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/govfin/d1/data.html. As of March 28, 2011 NZ$1.00 equaled 
approximately US$0.752. Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand, at 
http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/exandint/b1/data.html.
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    Because the debt ratings of issuers will change from time to time, 
the exact percentage of the Fund's investments in investment grade and 
non-investment grade Fixed Income Securities will change from time to 
time in response to economic events and changes to the credit ratings 
of such issuers. Within the non-investment grade category some issuers 
and instruments are considered to be of lower credit quality and at 
higher risk of default. In order to limit its exposure to these more 
speculative credits, the Fund will not invest more than 10% of its 
assets in securities rated BB or below by Moody's, or equivalently 
rated by S&P or Fitch. The Fund does not intend to invest in unrated 
securities. However, it may do so to a limited extent, such as where a 
rated security becomes unrated, if such security is determined by the 
Adviser and Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality. In determining 
whether a security is of ``comparable quality,'' the Adviser or Sub-
Adviser will consider, for example, current information about the 
credit quality of the issuer and whether or not the issuer of the 
security has issued other rated securities.
    The Fund will attempt to limit interest rate risk by maintaining an 
aggregate portfolio duration of between two and eight years under 
normal market conditions. Aggregate portfolio duration is important to 
investors as an indication of the Fund's sensitivity to changes in 
interest rates. Funds with higher durations generally are subject to 
greater interest rate risk. An aggregate portfolio duration of between 
two and eight years generally would be considered to be 
``intermediate.'' The Fund's actual portfolio duration may be longer or 
shorter depending upon market conditions. The Fund may also invest in 
short-term Money Market Securities (as defined below) denominated in 
the currencies of countries in which the Fund invests.
    The Fund intends to invest in Fixed Income Securities of at least 
13 non-affiliated issuers. The Fund will not concentrate 25% or more of 
the value of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of 
each investment) in any one industry, as that term is used in the 1940 
Act (except that this restriction does not apply to obligations issued 
by the U.S. government, or any non-U.S. government, or their respective 
agencies and instrumentalities or government-sponsored 
enterprises).\13\
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    \13\ See Form N-1A, Item 9. The Commission has taken the 
position that a fund is concentrated if it invests more than 25% of 
the value of its total assets in any one industry. See e.g., 
Investment Company Act Release No. 9011 (October 30, 1975), 40 FR 
54241 (November 21, 1975).
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    The Fund intends to qualify each year as a regulated investment 
company (a ``RIC'') under Subchapter M of the Internal Revenue Code of 
1986, as

[[Page 53001]]

amended.\14\ The Fund will invest its assets, and otherwise conduct its 
operations, in a manner that is intended to satisfy the qualifying 
income, diversification and distribution requirements necessary to 
establish and maintain RIC qualification under Subchapter M. The 
Subchapter M diversification tests generally require that (i) The Fund 
invest no more than 25% of its total assets in securities (other than 
securities of the U.S. government or other RICs) of any one issuer or 
two or more issuers that are controlled by the Fund and that are 
engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses, and (ii) 
at least 50% of the Fund's total assets consist of cash and cash items, 
U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other 
securities, with investments in such other securities limited in 
respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value 
of the Fund's total assets and 10% of the outstanding voting securities 
of such issuer.
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    \14\ 26 U.S.C. 851.
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    In addition to satisfying the above referenced RIC diversification 
requirements, no portfolio security held by the Fund (other than U.S. 
government securities and non-U.S. government securities) will 
represent more than 30% of the weight of the Fund's portfolio and the 
five highest weighted portfolio securities of the Fund (other than U.S. 
government securities and/or non-U.S. government securities) will not 
in the aggregate account for more than 65% of the weight of the Fund's 
portfolio. For these purposes, the Fund may treat repurchase agreements 
collateralized by U.S. government securities or non-U.S. government 
securities as U.S. or non-U.S. government securities, as applicable.
Money Market Securities
    Assets not invested in Fixed Income Securities generally will be 
invested in Money Market Securities.
    The Fund intends to invest in Money Market Securities in order to 
help manage cash flows in and out of the Fund, such as in connection 
with payment of dividends or expenses, and to satisfy margin 
requirements, to provide collateral or to otherwise back investments in 
derivative instruments. For these purposes, Money Market Securities 
include: short-term, high-quality obligations issued or guaranteed by 
the U.S. Treasury or the agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. 
government; short-term, high-quality securities issued or guaranteed by 
non-U.S. governments, agencies and instrumentalities; repurchase 
agreements backed by short-term U.S. government securities or non-U.S. 
government securities; money market mutual funds; and deposits and 
other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks and financial 
institutions. All Money Market Securities acquired by the Fund will be 
rated investment grade; except that the Fund may invest in unrated 
Money Market Securities that are deemed by the Adviser or Sub-Adviser 
to be of comparable quality to Money Market Securities rated investment 
grade. In determining whether a security is of ``comparable quality'', 
the Adviser or Sub-Adviser will consider, for example, current 
information about the credit quality of the issuer and whether or not 
the issuer of the security has issued other rated securities.
Derivative Instruments and Other Investments
    The Fund may use derivative instruments as part of its investment 
strategies. Examples of derivative instruments include listed futures 
contracts,\15\ forward currency contracts, non-deliverable forward 
currency contracts, currency and interest rate swaps, currency options, 
options on futures contracts, swap agreements and credit-linked 
notes.\16\ The Fund's use of derivative instruments (other than credit-
linked notes) will be collateralized or otherwise backed by investments 
in short term, high-quality U.S. Money Market Securities. Under normal 
circumstances, the Fund will invest no more than 20% of the value of 
the Fund's net assets in derivative instruments. Such investments will 
be consistent with the Fund's investment objective and will not be used 
to enhance leverage.
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    \15\ The listed futures contracts in which the Fund will invest 
may be listed on exchanges in the U.S. or in London, Hong Kong or 
Singapore. Each of the United Kingdom's primary financial markets 
regulator, the Financial Services Authority, Hong Kong's primary 
financial markets regulator, the Securities and Futures Commission, 
and Singapore's primary financial markets regulator, the Monetary 
Authority of Singapore, are signatories to the International 
Organization of Securities Commissions (``IOSCO'') Multilateral 
Memorandum of Understanding (``MMOU''), which is a multi-party 
information sharing arrangement among major financial regulators. 
Both the Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are 
signatories to the IOSCO MMOU.
    \16\ The Fund may invest in credit-linked notes. A credit linked 
note is a type of structured note whose value is linked to an 
underlying reference asset. Credit linked notes typically provide 
periodic payments of interest as well as payment of principal upon 
maturity. The value of the periodic payments and the principal 
amount payable upon maturity are tied (positively or negatively) to 
a reference asset such as an index, government bond, interest rate 
or currency exchange rate. The ongoing payments and principal upon 
maturity typically will increase or decrease depending on increases 
or decreases in the value of the reference asset. The Fund's 
investments in credit-linked notes will be limited to notes 
providing exposure to Fixed Income Securities denominated in 
Australian or New Zealand dollars. The Fund's overall investment in 
credit-linked notes will not exceed 25% of the Fund's assets.
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    With respect to certain kinds of derivative transactions entered 
into by the Fund that involve obligations to make future payments to 
third parties, including, but not limited to, futures, forward 
contracts, swap contracts, the purchase of securities on a when-issued 
or delayed delivery basis, or reverse repurchase agreements, the Fund, 
in accordance with applicable federal securities laws, rules, and 
interpretations thereof, will ``set aside'' liquid assets to ``cover'' 
open positions with respect to such transactions.\17\
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    \17\ See 15 U.S.C. 80a-18. See also, Investment Company Act 
Release No. 10666 (April 18, 1979), 44 FR 25128 (April 27, 1979); 
Dreyfus Strategic Investing, Commission No-Action Letter (June 22, 
1987); Merrill Lynch Asset Management, L.P., Commission No-Action 
Letter (July 2, 1996).
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    The Fund may engage in foreign currency transactions, and may 
invest directly in foreign currencies in the form of bank and financial 
institution deposits, certificates of deposit, and bankers acceptances 
denominated in a specified non-U.S. currency. The Fund may enter into 
forward currency contracts in order to ``lock in'' the exchange rate 
between the currency it will deliver and the currency it will receive 
for the duration of the contract.
    The Fund may enter into swap agreements, including interest rate 
swaps and currency swaps (e.g., Australian dollar vs. U.S. dollar), and 
may buy or sell put and call options on foreign currencies, either on 
exchanges or in the over-the-counter market. The Fund may enter into 
repurchase agreements with counterparties that are deemed to present 
acceptable credit risks, and may enter into reverse repurchase 
agreements, which involve the sale of securities held by the Fund 
subject to its agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed upon 
date or upon demand and at a price reflecting a market rate of 
interest.
    The Fund may invest in the securities of other investment companies 
(including money market funds and exchange-traded funds (``ETFs''). The 
Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 15% of its net assets in 
(a) Illiquid securities and (b) Rule 144A securities. Illiquid 
securities include securities subject to contractual or other 
restrictions on resale and other

[[Page 53002]]

instruments that lack readily available markets.\18\
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    \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 
14617 (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).
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    The Fund will not invest in non-U.S. equity securities.
The Shares
    The Fund will issue and redeem Shares on a continuous basis at net 
asset value (``NAV'') \19\ only in large blocks of Shares (``Creation 
Units'') in transactions with Authorized Participants. Creation Units 
generally will consist of 100,000 Shares, though this may change from 
time to time. Creation Units are not expected to consist of less than 
50,000 Shares. The Fund generally will issue and redeem Creation Units 
in exchange for a portfolio of Fixed Income Securities closely 
approximating the holdings of the Fund and/or a designated amount of 
cash in U.S. dollars. Once created, Shares of the Fund will trade on 
the secondary market in amounts less than a Creation Unit. Shares may 
be redeemed from the Fund only in Creation Unit aggregations. Upon 
delivery and settlement of the Shares upon redemption, the Fund will 
deliver to the redeeming Authorized Participant a designated basket of 
Fixed Income Securities and an amount of cash. Together, such 
designated basket and amount of cash constitute the ``Redemption 
Payment.'' The Redemption Payment may consist entirely of cash at the 
discretion of the Fund.
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    \19\ The NAV of the Fund's Shares generally is calculated once 
daily Monday through Friday as of the close of regular trading on 
the New York Stock Exchange, generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time (the 
``NAV Calculation Time''). NAV per Share is calculated by dividing 
the Fund's net assets by the number of Fund Shares outstanding. For 
more information regarding the valuation of Fund investments in 
calculating the Fund's NAV, see the Registration Statement.
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    Additional information regarding the Shares and the Fund, including 
investment strategies, risks, creation and redemption procedures, fees, 
portfolio holdings disclosure policies, distributions and taxes is 
included in the Registration Statement.
Availability of Information
    The Fund's Web site (http://www.wisdomtree.com), which will be 
publicly available prior to the public offering of Shares, will include 
a form of the prospectus for the Fund that may be downloaded. The Web 
site will include additional quantitative information updated on a 
daily basis, including, for the Fund: (1) The prior business day's 
reported NAV, mid-point of the bid/ask spread at the time of 
calculation of such NAV (the ``Bid/Ask Price''),\20\ 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. On each business day, before commencement of trading in 
Shares in the Core Trading Session \21\ on the Exchange, the Trust will 
disclose on its Web site the identities and quantities of the portfolio 
of securities and other assets (the ``Disclosed Portfolio'') held by 
the Fund that will form the basis for the Fund's calculation of NAV at 
the end of the business day.\22\ The Disclosed Portfolio will include, 
as applicable, the names, quantity, percentage weighting and market 
value of Fixed Income Securities, and other assets held by the Fund and 
the characteristics of such assets. The Web site and information will 
be publicly available at no charge.
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    \20\ The Bid/Ask Price of the Fund will be determined using the 
midpoint of the highest bid and the lowest offer on the Exchange as 
of the time of calculation of such Fund's NAV. The records relating 
to Bid/Ask Prices will be retained by the Fund and its service 
providers.
    \21\ The Core Trading Session is 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern 
time.
    \22\ Under accounting procedures followed by the Fund, trades 
made on the prior business day (``T'') will be booked and reflected 
in NAV on the current business day (``T+1''). Notwithstanding the 
foregoing, portfolio trades that are executed prior to the opening 
of the Exchange on any business day may be booked and reflected in 
NAV on such business day. Accordingly, the Fund will be able to 
disclose at the beginning of the business day the portfolio that 
will form the basis for the NAV calculation at the end of the 
business day.
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    In addition, for the Fund, an estimated value, defined in Rule 
8.600 as the ``Portfolio Indicative Value,'' that reflects an estimated 
intraday value of the Fund's portfolio, will be disseminated. The 
Portfolio Indicative Value will be based upon the current value for the 
components of the Disclosed Portfolio and will be updated and 
disseminated by one or more major market data vendors at least every 15 
seconds during the Core Trading Session on the Exchange. In addition, 
during hours when the markets for Fixed Income Securities in the Fund's 
portfolio are closed, the Portfolio Indicative Value will be updated at 
least every 15 seconds during the Core Trading Session to reflect 
currency exchange fluctuations.
    The dissemination of the Portfolio Indicative Value, together with 
the Disclosed Portfolio, will allow investors to determine the value of 
the underlying portfolio of the Fund on a daily basis and to provide a 
close estimate of that value throughout the trading day.
    Information regarding market price and volume of the Shares will be 
continually available on a real-time basis throughout the day on 
brokers' computer screens and other electronic services. The previous 
day's closing price and trading volume information for the Shares will 
be published daily in the financial section of newspapers. Quotation 
and last sale information for the Shares will be available via the 
Consolidated Tape Association (``CTA'') high-speed line.
    Intra-day and end-of-day prices are readily available through major 
market data providers and broker-dealers for the Fixed Income 
Securities, Money Market Securities and derivative instruments held by 
the Fund.
Initial and Continued Listing
    The Shares will be subject to Rule 8.600, which sets forth the 
initial and continued listing criteria applicable to Managed Fund 
Shares. The Exchange represents that, for initial and/or continued 
listing, the Fund must be in compliance with Rule 10A-3 \23\ under the 
Exchange Act, as provided by NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.3. A minimum of 
100,000 Shares will be outstanding at the commencement of trading on 
the Exchange. The Exchange will obtain a representation from the issuer 
of the Shares that the NAV per Share will be calculated daily and that 
the NAV and the Disclosed Portfolio will be made available to all 
market participants at the same time.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \23\ See 17 CFR 240.10A-3.
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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 Fund. Shares of the Fund will be halted if 
the ``circuit breaker'' parameters in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12 are 
reached. Trading may be halted because of market conditions or for

[[Page 53003]]

reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in the Shares 
inadvisable. These may include: (1) The extent to which trading is not 
occurring in the securities and/or the financial instruments comprising 
the Disclosed Portfolio of the Fund; or (2) whether other unusual 
conditions or circumstances detrimental to the maintenance of a fair 
and orderly market are present. Trading in the Shares will be subject 
to Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D), which sets forth circumstances under which 
Shares of the Fund may be halted.
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 from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time in 
accordance with NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34 (Opening, Core, and Late 
Trading Sessions). The Exchange has appropriate rules to facilitate 
transactions in the Shares during all trading sessions. As provided in 
NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.6, Commentary .03, 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.
Surveillance
    The Exchange intends to utilize its existing surveillance 
procedures applicable to derivative products (which includes Managed 
Fund Shares) to monitor trading in the Shares. 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 applicable federal securities laws.
    The Exchange's current trading surveillance focuses on detecting 
securities trading outside their normal patterns. 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 may obtain information via the Intermarket 
Surveillance Group (``ISG'') from other exchanges who are members of 
the ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a comprehensive 
surveillance sharing agreement.\24\
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    \24\ For a list of the current members of ISG, see http://www.isgportal.org. The Exchange notes that not all of the components 
of the Disclosed Portfolio for the Fund may trade on exchanges that 
are members of the ISG or with which the Exchange has in place a 
comprehensive surveillance sharing agreement.
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    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 
in Creation Unit aggregations (and that Shares are not individually 
redeemable); (2) NYSE Arca Equities Rule 9.2(a), which imposes a duty 
of due diligence on its ETP Holders to learn the essential facts 
relating to every customer prior to trading the Shares; (3) the risks 
involved in trading the Shares during the Opening and Late Trading 
Sessions when an updated Portfolio Indicative Value will not be 
calculated or publicly disseminated; (4) how information regarding the 
Portfolio Indicative Value is disseminated; (5) the requirement that 
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 Fund is 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 Exchange Act. 
The Bulletin will also disclose that the NAV for the Shares will be 
calculated after 4:00 p.m. Eastern time each trading day.
2. Statutory Basis
    The basis under the Exchange Act for this proposed rule change is 
the requirement under Section 6(b)(5) \25\ that an exchange have rules 
that are 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, in general, to protect investors and the public interest.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \25\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 
8.600. The Exchange has in place surveillance procedures that are 
adequate to properly monitor trading in the Shares in all trading 
sessions and to deter and detect violations of Exchange rules and 
applicable federal securities laws. The Exchange 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. According to the Registration Statement, under normal 
circumstances, the Fund will invest at least 80% of its net assets in 
Fixed Income Securities denominated in Australian or New Zealand 
dollars, and the Fund intends to focus its investments on Sovereign 
Debt. The Fund expects to have 75% or more of its assets invested in 
investment grade bonds, though this percentage may change from time to 
time in accordance with market conditions and the debt ratings assigned 
to countries and issuers. The Fund will not invest more than 10% of its 
assets in securities rated BB or below by Moody's, or equivalently 
rated by S&P or Fitch. The Fund does not intend to invest in unrated 
securities. However, it may do so to a limited extent, such as where a 
rated security becomes unrated, if such security is determined by the 
Adviser and Sub-Adviser to be of comparable quality, as noted above. 
The Fund expects to have 75% or more of its assets invested in 
investment grade bonds, though this percentage may change from time to 
time in accordance with market conditions and the debt ratings assigned 
to countries and issuers. Generally, a corporate bond must have $200 
million or more par amount outstanding and significant par value traded 
to be considered as an eligible investment. Under normal circumstances, 
the Fund will invest no more than 20% of the value of the Fund's net 
assets in derivative instruments. Such investments will be consistent 
with the Fund's investment objective and will not be used to enhance 
leverage. The Fund will not invest in non-U.S. equity securities.
    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 the 
Shares that the NAV per Share will be calculated daily and that the NAV 
and the Disclosed Portfolio will be made available to all market 
participants at the same time. In addition, a large amount of 
information

[[Page 53004]]

is publicly available regarding the Fund and the Shares, thereby 
promoting market transparency. The Fund's portfolio holdings will be 
disclosed on its Web site daily after the close of trading on the 
Exchange and prior to the opening of trading on the Exchange the 
following day. Moreover, the Portfolio Indicative Value will be 
disseminated by one or more major market data vendors at least every 15 
seconds during the Exchange's Core Trading Session. On each business 
day, before commencement of trading in Shares in the Core Trading 
Session on the Exchange, the Fund will disclose on its Web site the 
Disclosed Portfolio that will form the basis for the Fund's calculation 
of NAV at the end of the business day. Information regarding market 
price and trading volume of the Shares is and will be continually 
available on a real-time basis throughout the day on brokers' computer 
screens and other electronic services, and quotation and last sale 
information will be available via the CTA high-speed line. The Web site 
for the Fund will include a form of the prospectus for the Fund and 
additional data relating to NAV and other applicable quantitative 
information. 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 the 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, and trading in the Shares will 
be subject to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D), which sets forth 
circumstances under which Shares of the Fund may be halted. In 
addition, as noted above, investors will have ready access to 
information regarding the Fund's holdings, the Portfolio Indicative 
Value, the Disclosed Portfolio, and quotation and last sale information 
for the Shares.
    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 Fund's holdings, 
the Portfolio Indicative Value, the Disclosed Portfolio, 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.

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 within such longer period (i) As the Commission may 
designate up to 90 days of such date if it finds such longer period to 
be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to 
which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission will:
    (A) By order approve or disapprove 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 (http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml); or
     Send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File Number SR-NYSEArca-2011-54 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Number SR-NYSEArca-2011-54. 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 Web site 
viewing and printing in the Commission's Public Reference Section, 100 
F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090, on official business days 
between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing will also be available 
for inspection and copying at the NYSE's principal office and on its 
Internet Web site at http://www.nyse.com. 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-2011-54 and should be submitted 
on or before September 14, 2011.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\26\
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    \26\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-21591 Filed 8-23-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


