Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”), and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, notice is hereby given that on December 24, 2009, the International Securities Exchange, LLC (the “Exchange” or the “ISE”) 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 Exchange has filed the proposal as a “non-controversial” proposed rule change pursuant to Section 19(b)(3)(A)(iii) of the Act and Rule 19b-4(f)(6) thereunder. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
17 CFR 240.19b-4.
17 CFR 240.19b-4(f)(6).
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange is proposing to make permanent its pilot program regarding limitations on orders to include the exposure of all-or-none orders. The text of the proposed rule change is as follows, with deletions in [brackets] and additions italicized:
Rule 717. Limitations on Orders
Supplementary Material to Rule 717
.01-.03 No Change.
.04 A non-marketable all-or-none limit order shall be deemed “exposed” for the purposes of paragraphs (d) and (e) one second following a broadcast notifying market participants that such an order to buy or sell a specified number of contracts at a specified price has been received in the options series. [This provision shall be in effect on a pilot basis expiring January 31, 2010.]
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 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 self-regulatory organization 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
(a) Purpose—The purpose of the proposed rule change is to make permanent the Exchange's pilot program regarding limitations on orders to include the exposure of all-or-none orders.
Pursuant to ISE Rule 717(d) and (e), Electronic Access Members must expose agency orders on the Exchange for at least one second before entering a contra-side proprietary order or a contra-side order that was solicited from a broker-dealer, or utilize one of the Exchange's execution mechanisms that have one second exposure periods built into the functionality.
See ISE Rule 716(d) (Facilitation Mechanism), Rule 716(e) (Solicited Order Mechanism) and Rule 723 (Price Improvement Mechanism for Crossing Transactions).
The Exchange operates an integrated system that consolidates all market maker quotes and orders, and automatically disseminates the best bid and offer. If a limit order is designated as all-or-none (“AON”), the contingency that the order must be executed in full makes it ineligible for display in the best bid or offer. Nevertheless, such orders are maintained in the system and remain available for execution after all other trading interest at the same price has been exhausted. Upon the receipt of a non-marketable all-or-none limit order, the system automatically will send a broadcast message to all market participants notifying them that an all-or-none order to buy or to sell a specified number of contracts at a specified price has been placed on the book. The broadcast message, which includes all of the terms of the order, will be made available to any market participant, not just members.
Supplementary Material .02 to ISE Rule 713.
The AON broadcast message is available through the Exchange's application programming interface (“API”). Any member or non-member connecting to the API can receive the AON broadcast message. The Exchange is not proposing to adopt a fee associated with receiving this message, and any future fee would be filed with the Commission.
On July 9, 2009, the Exchange adopted a proposed rule change on a three-month pilot basis to specify that a non-marketable all-or-none limit order is deemed “exposed” for the purposes of Rule 717(d) and (e) one second following a broadcast notifying members that such an order to buy or sell a specified number of contracts at a specified price has been received in the options series. The Exchange subsequently extended the pilot for an additional month, and again through December 31, 2009. During the extension through December 31, 2009, the broadcast message was made available to any market participant, not just members. Thus, all of the terms of the order continue to be disclosed to all market participants. The pilot was subsequently extended for an additional month and is set to expire on January 31, 2010. The Exchange now proposes to make the pilot permanent, as of February 1, 2010.
See Exchange Act Release No. 60311 (July 15, 2009), 74 FR 36290 (July 22, 2009).
See Exchange Act Release No. 60866 (October 22, 2009), 74 FR 55879 (October 29, 2009).
See Exchange Act Release No. 61016 (November 17, 2009), 74 FR 61393 (November 24, 2009).
(b) Basis—The basis under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Exchange Act”) for this proposed rule change is the requirement under Section 6(b)(5) that an exchange have rules that are designed to promote just and equitable principles of trade, and to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism for a free and open market and a national market system, and in general, to protect investors and the public interest. In particular, under the proposed rule change all-or-none orders will continue to be exposed to all market participants so that there is a greater opportunity for them to interact with such orders.
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
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
The Exchange has not solicited, and does not intend to solicit, comments on this proposed rule change. The Exchange has not received any unsolicited written comments from members or other interested parties.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for Commission Action
This proposed rule change does not significantly affect the protection of investors or the public interest, does not impose any significant burden on competition, and, by its terms, does not become operative for 30 days after the date of the filing, or such shorter time as the Commission may designate if consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest. The Exchange provided the Commission with written notice of its intent to file the proposed rule change, along with a brief description and text of the proposed rule change, at least five business days prior to the date of filing the proposed rule change as required by Rule 19b-4(f)(6). The proposed rule change will permit the exchange to make the current pilot program permanent. For the foregoing reason, this rule filing qualifies for immediate effectiveness as a “non-controversial” rule change under paragraph (f)(6) of Rule 19b-4 of the Act, as it does not raise any new, unique or substantive issues, and is beneficial for competitive purposes and to promote a free and open market for the benefit of investors.
The Commission notes that the pilot will become permanent as of February 1, 2010 (see supra Section II(A)(a)).
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 No. SR-ISE-2009-113 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 No. SR-ISE-2009-113. 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 ISE. 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 No. SR-ISE-2009-113 and should be submitted on or before February 1, 2010.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-240 Filed 1-8-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P