Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”), and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, notice is hereby given that on June 15, 2006, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (“CBOE” 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 prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
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 amend its Fees Schedule to extend until July 31, 2007 the Options Intermarket Linkage (“Linkage”) fee pilot program. The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Commission's Public Reference Room, at the Exchange's Office of the Secretary, and at the Exchange's Web site ( http://www.cboe.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 Exchange included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the proposed rule change as amended 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
The Exchange's fees for Principal (“P”) and Principal Acting as Agent (“P/A”) orders are operating under a pilot program scheduled to expire on July 31, 2006. The Exchange proposes to amend its Fees Schedule to extend the pilot program until July 31, 2007.
Under the Plan for the Purpose of Creating and Operating an Options Intermarket Linkage (“Plan”) and CBOE Rule 6.80(12), which tracks the language of the Plan, a “Linkage Order” means an Immediate or Cancel Order routed through the Linkage as permitted under the Plan. There are three types of Linkage Orders: (i) A “P/A Order,” which is an order for the principal account of a specialist (or equivalent entity an another Participant Exchange that is authorized to represent Public Customer orders), reflecting the terms of a related unexecuted Public Customer order for which the specialist is acting as agent; (ii) a “P Order,” which is an order for the principal account of an Eligible Market Maker and is not a P/A Order; and (iii) a “Satisfaction Order,” which is an order sent through the Linkage to notify a member of another Participant Exchange of a Trade-Through and to seek satisfaction of the liability arising from that Trade-Through.
See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 52073 (July 20, 2005), 70 FR 43474 (July 27, 2005), (SR-CBOE-2005-54).
The Exchange also proposes to amend Section 21 of the Fees Schedule to change the Linkage fees pilot expiration date included in that section.
The Exchange assesses its members the following Linkage order transaction fees: (i) $.24 per contract for equity, QQQQ and SPDR options; (ii) $.26 per contract for DIA options; (iii) $.35 or $.20 per contract, depending on the premium, for OEF options and $.45 or $.25 per contract, depending on the premium, for other index options; (iv) $.30 per contract RAES access fee, if a Linkage order is executed in whole or in part on RAES; and (v) $.10 per contract license fee on transactions in MNX and NDX options. Satisfaction orders are not assessed Exchange fees.
See CBOE Fees Schedule, Footnote 15.
The Exchange believes that extension of the Linkage fee pilot program until July 31, 2007 will give the Exchange and the Commission further opportunity to evaluate the appropriateness of Linkage fees.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange states that the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of the Act in particular, in that it is designed to provide for the equitable allocation of reasonable dues, fees, and other charges among CBOE members and other persons using its facilities.
15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change would 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 by the Exchange with respect to this proposed rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule
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 self-regulatory organization 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 No. SR-CBOE-2006-59 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-CBOE-2006-59. 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 Commissions 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. 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-CBOE-2006-59 and should be submitted by July 27, 2006.
For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated authority.
J. Lynn Taylor,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E6-10535 Filed 7-5-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P