[Federal Register: February 3, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 21)]
[Notices]
[Page 5952-5954]
[DOCID:fr03fe09-59]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-59310; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2009-005]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC;
Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change as Modified by Amendment No. 1
Thereto To Reduce The Order Exposure Period on the NASDAQ Options
Market

January 28, 2009.
    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 23, 2009, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (``NASDAQ'') filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') proposed
rule change as described in Items I and II below, which Items have been
prepared by the Exchange. Amendment 1 was filed on January 27, 2009.
The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the
proposed rule change, as amended, 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

    Specifically, NASDAQ is proposing to amend Chapter VII, Section 12
of the NASDAQ rule manual governing the NASDAQ Options Market to
provide that: (i) Options Participants may not execute as principal
against orders on the limit order book they represent as agent unless
such agency orders are first exposed on the limit order book for at
least one (1) second, or the Options Participant has been bidding or
offering on the Exchange for at least one (1) second prior to receiving
an agency order that is executable against such order, and (ii) Options
Participants must expose orders they represent as agent for at least
one (1) second before such orders may be automatically executed, in
whole or in part, against orders solicited from members and non-member
broker-dealers to transact with such orders.\3\
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    \3\ Amendment 1 makes a technical correction to conform
Commentary .03 to the proposed new rule language.
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    The text of the proposed rule change is below. Proposed new
language is in italics; proposed deletions are in brackets.\4\
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    \4\ Changes are marked to the rule text that appears in the
electronic NASDAQ Manual found at http://wallstreet.cch.com/nasdaq/.
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* * * * *
    Chapter VII, Market Participants:
    Sec. 12 Order Exposure Requirements:
    With respect to orders routed to NOM, Options Participants may not
execute as principal orders they represent as agent unless (i) agency
orders are first exposed on NOM for at least one (1) second [three (3)
seconds] or (ii) the Options Participant has been bidding or offering
on NOM for at least one (1) second [three (3) seconds] prior to
receiving an agency order that is executable against such bid or offer.
    Commentary:
    .01 and .02 No change.
    .03 With respect to non-displayed trading interest, including the
reserve portion, the exposure requirement of subsection (i) is
satisfied if the displayable portion of the order is displayed at its
displayable price for one [three] seconds.
    .04 No change.
* * * * *

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
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose
    The purpose of the proposed rule change is to reduce the exposure
time during which Options Participants may not execute as principal
against orders they represent as agent while continuing to afford the
opportunity for other market participants to execute at or better than
the limit order price during such exposure period.
    Chapter VII, Section 12 currently provide that an Options
Participant \5\ may not execute as principal against orders on the
limit order book they represent as agent unless: (a) Agency orders are
first exposed on the limit order book for at least three seconds, or
(b) the Options Participant has been bidding or offering on the
Exchange for at least three (3) seconds prior to receiving an agency
order that is executable against such order.
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    \5\ Pursuant to Chapter I, Section 1(a)(40) of the NOM Rules,
the term ``Options Participant'' means a firm, or organization that
is registered with the Exchange for purposes of participating in
options trading on NOM as a ``Nasdaq Options Order Entry Firm'' or
``Nasdaq Options Market Maker''.
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    In addition, Options Participants must expose orders they represent
as agent for at least three (3) seconds before such orders may be
automatically executed, in whole or in part, against orders solicited
from members and non-member broker-dealers to transact with such
orders. Under the proposal, these exposure periods would be reduced to
one second.
    The Exchange adopted the 3-second exposure period upon its initial
creation, based upon similar requirements and functionality already in
existence on other options exchanges.\6\ The three-second order
handling and exposure period assumes that three seconds is not long
enough to permit human interaction with the orders. Rather, market
participants had become sufficiently automated that they could react to
these orders electronically. In this context, the Exchange believes it
would be in all market participants' best interest to minimize the
exposure period to a time frame that continues to allow adequate time
for market participants to respond electronically, as both the order
being exposed and the participants responding are subject to market
risk during the exposure period. In this respect, the Exchange states
that its experience with the three-second exposure time period
indicates that one second would provide an adequate response time. The
Exchange does not believe it is necessary or beneficial to the orders
being exposed to continue to subject them to market risk for a full
three seconds.
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    \6\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 57478 (March 12, 2008),
73 FR 14521 (March 18, 2008) (SR-NASDAQ-2007-004).
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    The Exchange has numerous market participants that have the
capability and do opt to respond within a one-second exposure period on
the Exchange's fully automated trading platform for options. Recently,
the Exchange distributed a survey to all NOM Options Participants. To
substantiate that its members could receive, process, and communicate a
response back to the Exchange within one second, the survey asked
members to identify how many milliseconds it took for (i) a broadcast
from the Exchange to reach their systems; (ii) their systems to
generate responses; and (iii) their responses to reach the Exchange.
The survey results indicate that the time it takes a message to travel
between the Exchange and its members is not more than 100 milliseconds
each way. The survey also indicated that it typically takes not more
than 50 milliseconds for member systems to process the information and
generate a response. Thus, the survey indicated that it typically takes
not more than 250 milliseconds for members to receive, process, and
respond to broadcast messages related to the various Mechanisms.
Additionally, all 8 members that responded to the survey indicated that
reducing the exposure period to one second would not impair their
ability to participate in orders affected by the proposal. The Exchange
believes that this information provides additional support for its
assertion that reducing the exposure periods from three seconds to one
second will continue to provide members with sufficient time to ensure
effective interaction with orders.
    The Exchange is submitting the instant proposal in order to remain
competitive with other exchanges that have reduced the exposure period
from 3 seconds to 1 second.\7\ The Exchange believes that reducing its
order handling and exposure periods from three seconds to one second
will benefit market participants. The Exchange further believes that
reducing the time periods to one second will allow it to provide
investors and other market participants with more timely executions,
thereby reducing market risk.\8\
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    \7\ See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 57849 (May 22,
2008), 73 FR 31167 (May 30, 2008) (SR-CBOE-2008-16); and 58224 (July
25, 2008), 73 FR 44303 (July 30, 2008) (SR-ISE-2007-94).
    \8\ The Exchange believes that the proposed timeframe would give
market participants sufficient time to respond, compete, and provide
price improvement for orders. The Exchange also notes that
electronic systems are readily available to, if not already in place
for, Exchange members that allow them to respond in a meaningful way
within the proposed timeframe.
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2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal is consistent with Section
6(b) of the Act \9\ in general, and furthers the objectives of Section
6(b)(5) of the Act \10\ in particular, in that it is designed 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, by providing investors with more timely execution of their
options orders, while ensuring that there is adequate exposure of limit
orders in the Exchange's marketplace.
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    \9\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \10\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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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 not necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purposes of the Act. To the contrary, NASDAQ is adopting this
proposed rule change in response to the competitive advantage enjoyed
by options exchanges that have already reduced the order exposure
requirement from three seconds to one second.

C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed
Rule Change Received From Members, Participants or Others

    None.

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 the Phlx 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.
    The Exchange has requested accelerated approval of this proposed
rule change prior to the 30th day after the date of publication of the
notice in the Federal Register. The Commission is considering granting
accelerated approval of the proposed rule change at the end of a 15-day
comment period.

IV. Solicitation of Comments

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the proposal, including whether it 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<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Please include
File Number SR-NASDAQ-2009-005 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-NASDAQ-2009-005. 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 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 offices 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-NASDAQ-2009-005 and
should be submitted on or before February 18, 2009.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\11\
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    \11\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).
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Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E9-2226 Filed 2-2-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 41 (Thursday, March 2, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Page 13135]
[FR Doc No: 2023-04288]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Federal Emergency Management Agency

[Internal Agency Docket No. FEMA-3591-EM; Docket ID FEMA-2023-0001]

California; Amendment No. 3 to Notice of an Emergency Declaration

AGENCY: Federal Emergency Management Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This notice amends the notice of an emergency declaration for
the State California (FEMA-3591-EM), dated January 9, 2023, and related
determinations.

DATES: This amendment was issued February 6, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dean Webster, Office of Response and
Recovery, Federal Emergency Management Agency, 500 C Street SW,
Washington, DC 20472,<PHONE_NUMBER>.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that the incident
period for this emergency is closed effective January 31, 2023.

    The following Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers
(CFDA) are to be used for reporting and drawing funds: 97.030,
Community Disaster Loans; 97.031, Cora Brown Fund; 97.032, Crisis
Counseling; 97.033, Disaster Legal Services; 97.034, Disaster
Unemployment Assistance (DUA); 97.046, Fire Management Assistance
Grant; 97.048, Disaster Housing Assistance to Individuals and
Households In Presidentially Declared Disaster Areas; 97.049,
Presidentially Declared Disaster Assistance--Disaster Housing
Operations for Individuals and Households; 97.050, Presidentially
Declared Disaster Assistance to Individuals and Households--Other
Needs; 97.036, Disaster Grants--Public Assistance (Presidentially
Declared Disasters); 97.039, Hazard Mitigation Grant.

Deanne Criswell,
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency.
[FR Doc. 2023-04288 Filed 3-1-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-23-P