[Federal Register: October 26, 2011 (Volume 76, Number 207)]
[Notices]
[Page 66348]
[DOCID:fr26oc11-108]

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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Aviation Administration

Agency Information Collection Activities; Requests for Comments:
Clearance of Renewed Approval of Information Collection; Aviation
Insurance

AGENCY: Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice and request for comments.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, FAA
invites public comments about our intention to request the Office of
Management and Budget (OMB) approval to renew an information
collection. The Federal Register Notice with a 60-day comment period
soliciting comments on the following collection of information was
published on August 24, 2011, vol. 76, no. 164, page 53022-53023. The
requested information is included in air carriers applications for
insurance when insurance is not available from private sources.

DATES: Written comments should be submitted by November 25, 2011.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kathy DePaepe at<PHONE_NUMBER>, or by
e-mail at: Kathy A. DePaepe @faa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: OMB Control Number: 2120-0514.
    Title: Aviation Insurance.
    Form Numbers: There are no FAA forms associated with this
collection.
    Type of Review: Renewal of an information collection.
    Background: The information submitted by applicants for insurance
under Chapter 443 of Title 49 U.S.C. is used by the FAA to identify the
eligibility of parties to be insured, the amount of coverage required,
and insurance premiums. Without collection of this information, the FAA
would not be able to issue required insurance.
    Respondents: Approximately 61 applicants.
    Frequency: Information is collected on occasion.
    Estimated Average Burden per Response: 4 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden: 616 hours.

ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit written comments on
the proposed information collection to the Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget. Comments should be
addressed to the attention of the Desk Officer, Department of
Transportation/FAA, and sent via electronic mail to oira_
<EMAIL_ADDRESS>or faxed to<PHONE_NUMBER>, or mailed to the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and
Budget, Docket Library, Room 10102, 725 17th Street, NW., Washington,
DC 20503.
    Public Comments Invited: You are asked to comment on any aspect of
this information collection, including (a) Whether the proposed
collection of information is necessary for FAA's performance; (b) the
accuracy of the estimated burden; (c) ways for FAA to enhance the
quality, utility and clarity of the information collection; and (d)
ways that the burden could be minimized without reducing the quality of
the collected information. The agency will summarize and/or include
your comments in the request for OMB's clearance of this information
collection.

    Issued in Washington, DC, on October 20, 2011.
Albert R. Spence,
FAA Assistant Information Collection Clearance Officer, IT Enterprises
Business Services Division, AES-200.
[FR Doc. 2011-27710 Filed 10-25-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-13-P


[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 68 (Monday, April 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 21137-21140]
[FR Doc No: 2012-8427]

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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-66721; File No. SR-Phlx-2012-34]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NASDAQ OMX PHLX LLC; Notice of
Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change Relating to
Singly Listed Options

April 3, 2012.
    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 \2\ thereunder, notice is hereby given
that, on March 26, 2012, NASDAQ OMX PHLX LLC (``Phlx'' or ``Exchange'')
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'' or
``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.
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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 amend Section III of the Exchange's
Pricing Schedule entitled ``Singly Listed Options.'' The Exchange also
proposes to amend Section II of the Pricing Schedule entitled, ``Equity
Options Fees'' to clarify text concerning rebates.
    While changes to the Pricing Schedule pursuant to this proposal are
effective upon filing, the Exchange has designated certain changes be
operative on April 2, 2012, namely the amendments to the Alpha Index
Options Fees and the proposed MSCI Index Options Fees. The Exchange
proposes the clarifying amendment in Section II be immediately
effective.
    The text of the proposed rule change is available on the Exchange's
Web site at http://nasdaqtrader.com/micro.aspx?id=PHLXRulefilings, at
the principal office of the Exchange, and at 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 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 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 proposes to amend Section III \3\ of the Exchange's
Pricing Schedule to: (1) Amend the Alpha Index Options Fees; and (ii)
create fees for MSCI Index Options. With respect to the Alpha Index
Options Fees, the Exchange is lowering the Customer fee and increasing
the Professional,\4\ Market Maker,\5\ Firm and Broker-Dealer fees with
respect to this index. Despite the increases, the fees will continue to
be lower than the Options Transaction Charges for other Singly Listed
Options.

The Exchange proposes these amendments to support options overlying
certain NASDAQ OMX Alpha IndexesTM (``Alpha Indexes'').\6\
The Exchange is also proposing to create fees for the MSCI Indexes \7\
and offer discounted pricing to encourage members and member
organizations to trade options overlying MSCI Indexes.
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    \3\ Section III of the Pricing Schedule includes options
overlying equities, ETFs, ETNs, indexes and HOLDRs which are not
listed on another exchange.
    \4\ The Exchange defines a ``professional'' as any person or
entity that (i) is not a broker or dealer in securities, and (ii)
places more than 390 orders in listed options per day on average
during a calendar month for its own beneficial account(s)
(hereinafter ``Professional'').
    \5\ The term ``Market Maker'' is utilized herein to describe
fees and rebates applicable to Specialists, Registered Options
Traders, Streaming Quote Traders and Remote Streaming Quote Traders.
    \6\ The Exchange initially received approval to list Alpha Index
Options limited to specific Alpha Indexes the Target Component of
which is a single stock. Specifically, Alpha Indexes based on the
following Alpha Pairs: AAPL/SPY, AMZN/SPY, CSCO/SPY, F/SPY, GE/SPY,
GOOG/SPY, HPQ/SPY, IBM/SPY, INTC/SPY, KO/SPY, MRK/SPY, MSFT/SPY,
ORCL/SPY, PFE/SPY, RIMM/SPY, T/SPY, TGT/SPY, VZ/SPY and WMT/SPY. See
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 63860 (February 7, 2011), 76 FR
7888 (February 11, 2001) (SR-Phlx-2010-176). The Exchange expanded
the number of Alpha Indexes on which options can be listed to
include certain Alpha Indexes based on the following Alpha Pairs:
DIA/SPY, EEM/SPY, EWJ/SPY, EWZ/SPY, FXI/SPY, GLD/SPY, IWM/SPY, QQQ/
SPY, SLV/SPY, TLT/SPY, XLE/SPY and XLF/SPY. In these Alpha Indexes,
the Target Component as well as the Benchmark Component is an ETF
share. The proposed Alpha Index Options will enable investors to
trade the relative performance of the market sectors represented by
the Target Components as compared with the overall market
performance represented by the Benchmark Component SPY. See
Securities Exchange Act Release No. 65149 (August 17, 2011), 76 FR
52729 (August 23, 2011) (SR-Phlx-2011-89).
    \7\ The Exchange filed to list options on the MSCI EM Index. The
MSCI EM Index is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index
consisting of large and midcap component securities from countries
classified by MSCI as ``emerging markets,'' and is designed to
measure equity market performance of emerging markets. The index
consists of component securities from the following 21 emerging
market countries: Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic,
Egypt, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco,
Peru, Philippines, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand,
and Turkey. See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 66420 (February
17, 2012), 77 FR 11177 (February 24, 2012) (SR-Phlx-2011-179) (an
order granting approval of the proposal to list and trade options on
the MSCI EM Index). The Exchange also proposed to list options on
the MSCI EAFE Index. The MSCI EAFE Index is a free float-adjusted
market capitalization index that is designed to measure the equity
market performance of developed markets, excluding the U.S. and
Canada. The MSCI EAFE Index consists of component securities from
the following twenty-two (22) developed market countries: Australia,
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong
Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand,
Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the
United Kingdom. See SR-Phlx-2012-28.
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    Both the Alpha Indexes and MSCI Indexes trade on the Exchange as
Singly Listed Options.\8\ The Exchange currently assesses the following
fees on options overlying Alpha Indexes:
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    \8\ A Singly Listed Option means an option that is only listed
on the Exchange and is not listed by any other national securities
exchange.

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                                                                Customer         Professional       Market maker           Firm          Broker-Dealer
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Alpha Index Options......................................            $0.15+              $0.20              $0.00              $0.20              $0.20
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+ Customer executions with average daily volume of 1,000 Customer contracts or more in a calendar month will be assessed $0.10 per contract.

The Exchange is proposing to amend the Alpha Index Options Fees as
noted below and assess the same fees for MSCI Index Options.

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                                                                Customer         Professional       Market maker           Firm          Broker-Dealer
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Alpha and MSCI Index Options.............................             $0.10              $0.25              $0.15              $0.25              $0.25
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    The Exchange proposes to eliminate the current incentive for
Customer executions with average daily volume of 1,000 Customer
contracts or more in a calendar month that are assessed $0.10 per
contract. The Exchange is proposing to assess a $0.05 per contract
surcharge on non-Customer executions in MSCI Index Options in order to
recover a portion of the cost associated with licensing MSCI
products.\9\ The Exchange intends that the aforementioned fee
amendments become operative on April 2, 2012.
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    \9\ The Exchange has entered into a license agreement with MSCI
Inc. (``MSCI'') to list certain products.
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    The Exchange also proposes to amend Section II of the Pricing
Schedule to clarify that the current $0.07 per contract rebate that is
applicable to Customer Orders that are electronically-delivered to a
member that has an average daily volume of 50,000 contracts are
Customer contracts. The Exchange is assessing rebates for Customer
orders based on Customer volume. The Exchange proposes to clarify the
text of the Pricing Schedule by adding the word ``Customer'' in the
section of the sentence pertaining to the average daily volume. The
Exchange proposes this amendment to be immediately effective.
2. Statutory Basis
    The Exchange believes that its proposal to amend its Pricing
Schedule is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act \10\ in general,
and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(4) of the Act \11\ in
particular, in that it is an equitable allocation of reasonable fees
and other charges among Exchange members and other persons using its
facilities.
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    \10\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
    \11\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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    The Exchange's proposal to amend the Alpha Index Options Fees and
assess those same fees for MSCI Index Options is reasonable because the
Exchange is seeking to recoup the operation and development costs
associated with both the Alpha and MSCI Indexes.\12\ The Exchange would
also be assessing lower fees for these options products, despite the
increase to certain market participants in the Alpha Index Options
Fees, as compared to other Singly Listed Options products to encourage
members and member organizations to trade options on Alpha and MSCI
Indexes. For example, Customers would be assessed $0.10 per contract to
transact options on Alpha and MSCI Indexes as compared to $0.35 per
contract for other Singly Listed Options products; Professionals, Firms
and Broker-Dealers would be assessed $0.25 per contract as compared to
$0.45 per contract for all other Singly Listed Options products; and
Market Makers would be assessed $0.15 per contract as compared to the
$0.35 per contract for all other Singly Listed Options products.
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    \12\ The Exchange continues to incur costs for maintaining the
Alpha proprietary index including marketing expenses. The Exchange
also has incurred and will continue to incur costs to list options
on MSCI Indexes. In addition, the Exchange incurs certain additional
costs related to Singly Listed options as compared to Multiply
Listed options. For example, in analyzing an obvious error for a
Singly Listed option, the Exchange does not have the additional data
points available in establishing a theoretical price as is the case
for a Multiply Listed option. For this reason, a Singly Listed
option requires additional analysis and administrative time to
comply with Exchange rules to resolve an obvious error.
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    The Exchange believes that its proposal to amend the Alpha Index
Options Fees is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because
despite

the increase for all market participants, except Customers, the fees
for Alpha Index Options would be lower than those for other Singly
Listed Options products as detailed above. Specifically, the Customer
fee for Alpha Index Options is being lowered from $0.15 per contract to
$0.10 per contract to encourage market participants to transact a
greater number of Customer orders in options overlying Alpha Indexes.
The Exchange believes that it is equitable and not unfairly
discriminatory to assess lower fees to Customers, because all market
participants benefit from Customer order flow. The Professional, Firm
and Broker-Dealer Alpha Index Options Fees would be increased by $0.05
per contract (from $0.20 per contract to $0.25 per contract) and these
fees would be uniformly assessed to these market participants and
exclude Customers and Market Makers, which market participant fees are
more specifically described herein. Currently, Market Makers \13\ are
not assessed a fee for Alpha Index Options. The Exchange did not
initially assess Market Makers a fee because the Exchange desired to
encourage such Market Makers to transact Alpha Index Options. At this
time, the Exchange still desires to encourage Market Makers to transact
Alpha Index Options by assessing them a fee equal to that of a Customer
($0.15 per contract) while still continuing to recognize the burdensome
quoting obligations \14\ to the market which do not apply to Customers,
Professionals, Firms and Broker-Dealers. The Exchange also believes the
Market Maker fee amendment is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory
because the amendment will more closely align the Market Maker fee with
other market participant fees for Alpha Index Options.
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    \13\ The term ``Market Maker'' is utilized herein to describe
fees and rebates applicable to Specialists, Registered Options
Traders, Streaming Quote Traders and Remote Streaming Quote Traders.
    \14\ See Exchange Rule 1014 titled ``Obligations and
Restrictions Applicable to Specialists and Registered Options
Traders.''
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    The Exchange believes that the proposed MSCI Index Options fees are
equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because the fees would be
lower than those for other Singly Listed Options products as detailed
above. In addition, the Exchange would be assessing a lower Customer
fee ($0.10 per contract) because the Exchange, as noted above, seeks to
encourage Customer order flow, which benefits all market participants.
The Exchange would assess Market Makers a lower fee similar to a
Customer ($0.15 per contract) because of the burdensome quoting
obligations borne by these participants. The remaining market
participants, Professionals, Firms and Broker-Dealers, would be
uniformly assessed a $0.25 per contract fee to transact MSCI Index
Options.
    The Exchange also believes that it is reasonable, equitable and not
unfairly discriminatory to assess a surcharge of $0.05 per contract for
non-Customer executions in MSCI Index Options. The Exchange incurs
licensing fees associated with MSCI products and seeks to recoup those
costs with the surcharge. The Exchange believes it is equitable and not
unfairly discriminatory to assess this surcharge on all participants
except Customers because the Exchange seeks to encourage Customer order
flow and the liquidity such order flow brings to the marketplace, which
in turn benefits all market participants.
    The Exchange has previously stated that it incurs higher costs for
Singly Listed options as compared to Multiply Listed options.\15\ The
Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (``CBOE'') noted in a
comment letter dated June 21, 2010 that CBOE relies upon fees to recoup
licensing costs incurred on options products that use third-party
proprietary indexes as benchmarks (such as the S&P 500[supreg]), and to
generate returns on its investments for its own popular proprietary
products (such as The CBOE Volatility Index[supreg] (``VIX[supreg]'')
Options).\16\ The Exchange agrees with CBOE's position and while the
Exchange continues to assert that Singly Listed products incur higher
costs and therefore market participants should be assessed higher fees
as compared to Multiply Listed products, the Exchange is proposing to
assess lower fees for the Alpha Indexes, and MSCI Indexes,\17\ as a
means to promote these new index products.\18\ In addition, the
Exchange believes that the proposed fees are reasonable, equitable and
not unfairly discriminatory because the fees are consistent with price
differentiation that exists today at all option exchanges. For example,
CBOE assesses different rates for certain proprietary indexes as
compared to other index products transacted at CBOE. VIX options and
The S&P 500[supreg] Index options (``SPX\SM\'') are assessed different
fees than other indexes.\19\ In addition, the concept of offering a
volume discount to incentivize order flow is not novel.\20\
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    \15\ See Securities Exchange Release Act No. 64096 (March 18,
2011), 76 FR 16646 (March 24, 2011) (SR-Phlx-2011-34).
    \16\ See CBOE's Comment Letter dated June 21, 2010 to the
Proposed Amendments to Rule 610 of Regulation NMS, File No. S7-09-
10. CBOE further noted that options exchanges expend considerable
resources on research and development related to new product
offerings and options exchanges incur large licensing costs for many
products.
    \17\ The proposed fees for the MSCI Index Options are lower than
the options transaction charges for other Singly Listed options
products even including the proposed $0.05 surcharge on non-Customer
executions.
    \18\ The Alpha Indexes are still in an early phase of their life
cycle and the MSCI EM Index is not yet listed. If the Exchange
determines to increase the pricing for options overlying Alpha or
MSCI Indexes at a later date, the Exchange would file a proposal
with the Commission.
    \19\ See CBOE's Fees Schedule.
    \20\ See CBOE's Fees Schedule. CBOE has a sliding scale for its
proprietary products whereby transaction fees are reduced when a
Clearing Trading Permit Holder reaches certain volume thresholds in
Multiply Listed options on CBOE in a month.
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    The Exchange believes that its proposal to add the term
``Customer'' as a clarifying amendment to a sentence describing rebates
in Section II is reasonable because the addition of the word
``Customer'' will further clarify that the rebate, applicable to
Customer orders, is based on members that have a certain amount of
Customer volume. The Exchange believes that the proposal to amend this
text is equitable and not unfairly discriminatory because it will help
to clarify the Pricing Schedule and the Exchange's calculation of its
fees.
    The Exchange operates in a highly competitive market, comprised of
nine exchanges, in which market participants can easily and readily
direct order flow to competing venues if they deem fee levels at a
particular venue to be excessive. Accordingly, the fees that are
assessed by the Exchange must remain competitive with fees charged by
other venues and therefore must continue to be reasonable and equitably
allocated to those members that opt to direct orders to the Exchange
rather than competing venues.

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 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 either solicited or received.

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

    The foregoing rule change has become effective pursuant to Section

19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Act.\21\ At any time within 60 days of the
filing of the proposed rule change, the Commission summarily may
temporarily suspend 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. If the Commission takes such action, the
Commission shall institute proceedings to determine whether the
proposed rule should be approved or disapproved.
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    \21\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
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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 email to<EMAIL_ADDRESS>Please include
File Number SR-Phlx-2012-34 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-Phlx-2012-34. This file
number should be included on the subject line if email 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 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 the 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-Phlx-2012-34 and should be
submitted on or before April 30, 2012.
    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\22\
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    \22\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

Elizabeth M. Murphy,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2012-8427 Filed 4-6-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P