[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 215 (Monday, November 7, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 78231-78233]
[FR Doc No: 2016-26790]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-79211; File No. SR-NYSEArca-2016-100]

Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE Arca, Inc.; Order Instituting
Proceedings To Determine Whether To Approve or Disapprove a Proposed
Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, To List and Trade Shares
of the Direxion Daily Municipal Bond Taxable Bear 1X Fund Under NYSE
Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3)

November 1, 2016.

I. Introduction

    On July 13, 2016, NYSE Arca, Inc. (``Exchange'' or ``NYSE Arca'')
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission''),
pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(``Exchange Act'') \1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ a proposed rule
change to list and trade shares (``Shares'') of the Direxion Daily
Municipal Bond Taxable Bear 1X Fund (``Fund''), a series of the
Direxion Shares ETF Trust (``Trust''). The proposed rule change was
published for comment in the Federal Register on August 3, 2016.\3\ On
September 14, 2016, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,\4\ the
Commission designated a longer period within which to approve the
proposed rule change, disapprove the proposed rule change, or institute
proceedings to determine whether to disapprove the proposed rule
change.\5\ On September 15, 2016, the Exchange filed Amendment No. 1 to
the proposed rule change.\6\ The Commission received no comments on the
proposed rule change. This order institutes proceedings under Section
19(b)(2)(B) of the Act \7\ to determine whether to approve or
disapprove the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 78433 (July 28,
2016), 81 FR 51241.
    \4\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
    \5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 78840, 81 FR 64552
(September 20, 2016). The Commission designated November 1, 2016, as
the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove,
or institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove, the
proposed rule change.
    \6\ In Amendment No. 1, which replaced the original filing in
its entirety, the Exchange: (1) Revised the description of the
Fund's principal investments and (2) made other technical
amendments. Amendment No. 1 is available at https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nysearca-2016-100/nysearca2016100-1.pdf.
    \7\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

II. The Exchange's Description of the Proposal

    The Exchange proposes to list and trade the Shares under NYSE Arca
Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3), Commentary .02, which governs the listing and
trading of Investment Company Units based on fixed income securities
indexes. The Fund is a series of the Trust.\8\ Rafferty Asset
Management, LLC would be the investment adviser to the Fund. Foreside
Fund Services, LLC will be the distributor of the Fund's Shares. The
Bank of New York Mellon would serve as the accounting agent, custodian,
and transfer agent for the Fund. U.S. Bancorp Fund Services, LLC will
serve as the Fund's administrator.\9\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \8\ The Trust is registered under the Investment Company Act of
1940 (``1940 Act''). According to the Exchange, on February 29,
2016, the Trust filed a registration statement on Form N-1A under
the Securities Act of 1933 and the 1940 Act (File Nos.: 811-22201
and 333-150525).
    \9\ Additional information regarding the Trust, the Fund, and
the Shares, including investment strategies, risks, creation and
redemption procedures, fees, portfolio holdings, disclosure
policies, calculation of the NAV, distributions, and taxes, among
other things, can be found in Amendment No. 1 and the Registration
Statement, as applicable. See Amendment No. 1, supra note 6 and
Registration Statement, supra note 8.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Standard & Poor's National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index
(``Index'') would be the Fund's benchmark.\10\ The Index is a broad,
comprehensive, market value-weighted index designed to measure the
performance of the tax-exempt, investment-grade U.S. municipal bond
market. The Fund would seek daily inverse investment results of the
Index but would not seek to achieve its stated investment objective
over a period of time greater than one day. Further, the Fund might
gain inverse exposure to only a representative sample of the securities
in the Index that have aggregate characteristics similar to those of
the Index. The Fund would gain this inverse exposure by investing in a
combination of Financial Instruments (defined below) that provide
inverse exposure to the underlying securities of the Index. The Fund
would not seek income that is exempt from federal, state, or local
income taxes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \10\ The S&P Dow Jones Indices is the ``Index Provider'' with
respect to the Index. The Index Provider is not a broker-dealer or
affiliated with a broker-dealer and has implemented procedures
designed to prevent the use and dissemination of material, non-
public information regarding the Index.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. The Fund's Principal Investments

    The Fund would seek to track 100% of the inverse of the daily
performance of the Index. Under normal circumstances, the Fund would
create net short positions by investing at least 80% of the Fund's
assets (plus any borrowings for investment purposes) in the following
financial instruments (``Financial Instruments''): Options on exchange-
traded funds (``ETFs'') and indices, traded on U.S. exchanges (based on
gross notional value); swaps that provide short exposure to the
securities included in the Index and various ETFs (based on gross
notional value); and short positions in ETFs, as described below in
this section, that, in combination, provide inverse exposure to the
Index.
    The Fund might invest in options that provide short exposure to the
Index or various ETFs, including iShares National Muni Bond ETF, SPDR
Nuveen Barclays Municipal Bond ETF, iShares Short-term National Muni
Bond ETF, SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short-Term Municipal Bond ETF, Market
Vectors High-Yield Municipal Index ETF, SPDR Nuveen S&P High Yield
Municipal Bond ETF, Market Vectors AMT-Free Intermediate Municipal
Index ETF, PowerShares National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Portfolio,
Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF, and the PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond
Active Exchange-Traded Fund.
    The Fund might invest in swaps that provide short exposure to the
securities included in the Index and various ETFs, including iShares
National Muni Bond ETF, SPDR Nuveen Barclays Municipal Bond ETF,
iShares Short-Term National Muni Bond ETF, SPDR Nuveen Barclays Short-
Term Municipal Bond ETF, Market Vectors High-Yield Municipal Index ETF,
SPDR Nuveen S&P High Yield Municipal Bond ETF, Market Vectors AMT-Free
Intermediate Municipal Index ETF, PowerShares

National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Portfolio, Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond
ETF, and the PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond Active Exchange-Traded
Fund.
    The Fund might take direct short positions in ETFs, such as the
iShares National Muni Bond ETF, SPDR Nuveen Barclays Municipal Bond
ETF, iShares Short-term National Muni Bond ETF, SPDR Nuveen Barclays
Short-Term Municipal Bond ETF, Market Vectors High-Yield Municipal
Index ETF, SPDR Nuveen S&P High Yield Municipal Bond ETF, Market
Vectors AMT-Free Intermediate Municipal Index ETF, PowerShares National
AMT-Free Municipal Bond Portfolio, Vanguard Tax-Exempt Bond ETF, and
the PIMCO Intermediate Municipal Bond Active Exchange-Traded Fund.\11\
The Fund would not take long positions in ETFs or invest in options
that overlie inverse, leveraged, or inverse leveraged ETFs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \11\ For purposes of this filing, ETFs are Investment Company
Units (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3)); Portfolio
Depositary Receipts (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.100);
and Managed Fund Shares (as described in NYSE Arca Equities Rule
8.600) and also are securities listed on another national securities
exchange pursuant to substantially equivalent listing rules. The
Fund will not take short positions in inverse, leveraged, or inverse
leveraged ETFs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. The Fund's Non-Principal Investments

    According to the Exchange, under normal circumstances, at least 80%
of the Fund's assets will be invested in Financial Instruments to
establish net short positions, as described above, and the Fund's
remaining assets might be invested in cash and the following cash
equivalents (in addition to cash or cash equivalents used to
collateralize the Fund's investments in Financial Instruments): Money
market funds, depository accounts with institutions with high quality
credit ratings, U.S. government securities that have terms-to-maturity
of less than 397 days, and repurchase agreements that have terms-to-
maturity of less than 397 days.

III. Proceedings To Determine Whether To Approve or Disapprove SR-
NYSEArca-2016-100 and Grounds for Disapproval Under Consideration

    The Commission is instituting proceedings pursuant to Section
19(b)(2)(B) of the Act \12\ to determine whether the proposed rule
change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, should be approved or
disapproved. Institution of such proceedings is appropriate at this
time in view of the legal and policy issues raised by the proposed rule
change. Institution of proceedings does not indicate that the
Commission has reached any conclusions with respect to any of the
issues involved. Rather, as stated below, the Commission seeks and
encourages interested persons to provide comments on the proposed rule
change.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \12\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Pursuant to Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Act,\13\ the Commission is
providing notice of the grounds for disapproval under consideration.
The Commission is instituting proceedings to allow for additional
analysis of the proposed rule change's consistency with Section 6(b)(5)
of the Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a
national securities exchange be ``designed to prevent fraudulent and
manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable
principles of trade'' and ``to protect investors and the public
interest.'' \14\ The Exchange has submitted the proposed rule change
because the Shares do not meet all of the ``generic'' listing
requirements of Commentary .02(a) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3).
Namely, Commentary .02(a)(2) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3)
provides that, for an index or portfolio that underlies a series of
Investment Company Units, components that in the aggregate account for
at least 75% of the weight of such index or portfolio each shall have a
minimum original principal amount outstanding of $100 million or more.
Although the Index that underlies the Shares does not satisfy this
requirement, the Exchange states that the Index is nonetheless
sufficiently broad-based to deter potential manipulation because: (1)
It is composed of approximately 3,063 issues and 474 unique issuers;
(2) a substantial portion (95.87%) of the Index weight is composed of
maturities that are part of an entire municipal bond offering with a
minimum original principal amount outstanding of $100 million or more;
and (3) the total ($248 billion) and the average ($81 million) dollar
amount outstanding of Index issues are ``substantial.'' \15\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \13\ Id.
    \14\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
    \15\ Namely, according to the Exchange, as of May 23, 2016, the
total dollar amount outstanding of issues in the Index was
approximately $248 billion and the average dollar amount outstanding
of issues in the Index was approximately $81 million. Further, as of
May 23, 2016, the most heavily weighted component represents 0.43%
of the weight of the Index and the five most heavily weighted
components represent 1.88% of the weight of the Index.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission seeks comment on whether the Index characteristics
the Exchange has identified, as noted above, provide sufficient basis
for the Commission to determine that the Index, and thereby the Shares
that overlie it, is not susceptible to manipulation. In this regard,
the Commission notes that it recently approved a proposal to list and
trade shares of an actively managed municipal bond ETF,\16\ where the
listing exchange made a number of other representations regarding the
type of municipal bonds that the fund would hold. For example, the
exchange, in that instance, stated that the fund's investments in
municipal securities would provide exposure to at least 15 different
states, with no more than 30% of the value of the fund's net assets
comprising municipal securities that provide exposure to any single
state. Further, the exchange also noted that the fund would include
securities from a minimum of 13 non-affiliated issuers.\17\ Although in
this filing, the Fund would seek an inverse investment result of an
index rather than actively manage a portfolio of municipal securities,
the concerns regarding the susceptibility of the Index underlying the
Shares to manipulation is similar to the concerns regarding the
susceptibility of a portfolio to manipulation. Accordingly, the
Commission seeks comment on whether the Exchange has demonstrated that
its proposal is consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Act, and
specifically whether the price of the Shares is susceptible to
manipulation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \16\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 78913 (Sep. 23,
2016), 81 FR 69109 (Oct. 5, 2016) (SR-NASDAQ-2016-002).
    \17\ For purposes of this restriction, the exchange provided
that ``non-affiliated issuers'' are issuers that are not
``affiliated persons'' within the meaning of Section 2(a)(3) of the
1940 Act. Additionally, each state and each separate political
subdivision, agency, authority, or instrumentality of such state,
each multi-state agency or authority, and each guarantor, if any,
would be treated as separate issuers of municipal securities.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

IV. Procedure: Request for Written Comments

    The Commission requests that interested persons provide written
submissions of their views, data, and arguments with respect to the
issues identified above, as well as any other concerns they may have
with the proposal. In particular, the Commission invites the written
views of interested persons concerning whether the proposal is
consistent with Section 6(b)(5) or any other provision of the Act, or
the rules and regulations thereunder. Although there do not appear to
be any issues relevant to approval or disapproval that would be
facilitated by an oral presentation of views, data, and arguments, the
Commission will consider, pursuant to Rule 19b-4, any

request for an opportunity to make an oral presentation.\18\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \18\ Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, as amended by the Securities
Act Amendments of 1975, Pub. L. 94-29 (June 4, 1975), grants the
Commission flexibility to determine what type of proceeding--either
oral or notice and opportunity for written comments--is appropriate
for consideration of a particular proposal by a self-regulatory
organization. See Securities Act Amendments of 1975, Senate Comm. on
Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, S. Rep. No. 75, 94th Cong., 1st
Sess. 30 (1975).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments regarding whether the proposal should be approved or
disapproved by November 28, 2016. Any person who wishes to file a
rebuttal to any other person's submission must file that rebuttal by
December 12, 2016. The Commission asks that commenters address the
sufficiency of the Exchange's statements in support of the proposal,
which are set forth in Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule change, in
addition to any other comments they may wish to submit about the
proposed rule change.
    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-NYSEArca-2016-100 on the subject line.

Paper Comments

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

All submissions should refer to File Numbers SR-NYSEArca-2016-100. 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
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of these filings 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-NYSEArca-2016-100 and should
be submitted on or before November 28, 2016. Rebuttal comments should
be submitted by December 12, 2016.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\19\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \19\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(57).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brent J. Fields,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-26790 Filed 11-4-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P


[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 217 (Thursday, November 10, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67888-67889]
[FR Doc No: 2022-24531]

=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Project No. 2489-049]

Green Mountain Power Corporation; Notice of Application Tendered
for Filing With the Commission and Soliciting Additional Study Requests
and Establishing Procedural Schedule for Relicensing and a Deadline for
Submission of Final Amendments

    Take notice that the following hydroelectric application has been
filed with the Commission and is available for public inspection.
    a. Type of Application: Subsequent Minor License.
    b. Project No.: P-2489-049.
    c. Date filed: October 31, 2022.
    d. Applicant: Green Mountain Power Corporation.
    e. Name of Project: Cavendish Hydroelectric Project.
    f. Location: On the Black River, in the town of Cavendish, in
Windsor County, Vermont. The project does not occupy any federal land.
    g. Filed Pursuant to: Federal Power Act 16 U.S.C. 791 (a)-825(r).
    h. Applicant Contact: John Greenan, Green Mountain Power
Corporation, 2152 Post Road, Rutland, VT 05701; Phone at (802) 770-
2195, or email at [email protected].
    i. FERC Contact: Adam Peer at<PHONE_NUMBER> or email at
[email protected].
    j. Cooperating agencies: Federal, state, local, and tribal agencies
with jurisdiction and/or special expertise with respect to
environmental issues that wish to cooperate in the preparation of the
environmental document should follow the instructions for filing such
requests described in item l below. Cooperating agencies should note
the Commission's policy that agencies that cooperate in the preparation
of the environmental document cannot also intervene. See, 94 FERC ]
61,076 (2001).
    k. Pursuant to section 4.32(b)(7) of 18 CFR of the Commission's
regulations, if any resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person believes
that an additional scientific study should be conducted in order to
form an adequate factual basis for a complete analysis of the
application on its merit, the resource agency, Indian Tribe, or person
must file a request for a study with the Commission not later than 60
days from the date of filing of the application, and serve a copy of
the request on the applicant.

    l. Deadline for filing additional study requests and requests for
cooperating agency status: December 30, 2022.
    The Commission strongly encourages electronic filing. Please file
additional study requests and requests for cooperating agency status
using the Commission's eFiling system at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx. For assistance, please contact FERC Online Support at
[email protected],<PHONE_NUMBER> (toll free), or (202) 502-
8659 (TTY). In lieu of electronic filing, you may submit a paper copy.
Submissions sent via the U.S. Postal Service must be addressed to:
Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888
First Street NE, Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426. Submissions sent via
any other carrier must be addressed to: Kimberly D. Bose, Secretary,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 12225 Wilkins Avenue, Rockville,
Maryland 20852. All filings must clearly identify the project name and
docket number on the first page: Cavendish Hydroelectric Project (P-
2489-049).
    m. The application is not ready for environmental analysis at this
time.
    n. The existing Cavendish Project consists of: (1) a 3,000 foot-
long, 10-acre impoundment with a gross storage capacity of 18.4-acre-
feet at a normal water surface elevation of 884.13 feet National
Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (NGVD 29); (2) a 111-foot-long concrete
gravity dam that consists of: (a) a 90-foot-long by 25-foot-high north
spillway section topped with a 6-foot-high inflatable flashboard
system; and (b) a 21-foot-long by 6-foot-high south spillway section
topped with 2.5-foot-high steel flashboards; (3) an 18-inch wide
downstream fish passage chute located on the north side of the
spillway; (4) a concrete intake structure equipped with a mechanically
operated headgate, and a trash rack with 2-inch clear bar spacing; (5)
a 178-foot-long concrete and rock tunnel that carries flows from the
intake to a penstock; (6) a 6-foot-diameter, 1,090-foot-long steel
penstock; (7) a 64-foot-long by 34-foot-wide powerhouse containing
three turbine-generator units with a combined capacity of 1.44
megawatts; (8) a 100-foot-long transmission line that runs from the
powerhouse to a substation within the project boundary; and (9)
appurtenant facilities. The project creates a 1,570-foot-long bypassed
reach of the Black River.
    The current license requires Green Mountain Power Corporation to:
(1) operate the project in run-of-river mode; (2) maintain the
impoundment water level no lower than 6 inches below the crest of the
flashboards; (3) release a continuous minimum flow of 10 cubic feet per
second (cfs) to the bypassed reach; and (4) release downstream flows of
at least 42 cfs from June 1 to September 30, at least 83 cfs from
October 1 to March 31, and at least 332 cfs from April 1 to May 31 when
refilling the impoundment after project maintenance or flashboard
installation. If inflows are insufficient to meet the downstream flows
during impoundment refill, Green Mountain Power Corporation is required
to release 90 percent of instantaneous inflow through the turbines. The
project generates about 4,864 megawatt-hours annually.
    Green Mountain Power Corporation proposes to: (1) continue
operating the project in run-of-river mode; (2) maintain a stable
impoundment water level at the top of the flashboard crest; (3)
continue releasing a continuous minimum flow of 10 cfs to the bypassed
reach; and (4) release 90 percent of instantaneous inflow through the
turbines at all times when refilling the impoundment. Green Mountain
Power Corporation also proposes to modify the penstock geometry and
replace the three existing turbines.
    o. In addition to publishing the full text of this notice in the
Federal Register, the Commission provides all interested persons an
opportunity to view and/or print the contents of this notice, as well
as other documents in the proceeding (e.g., license application) via
the internet through the Commission's Home Page (http://www.ferc.gov)
using the ``eLibrary'' link. Enter the docket number excluding the last
three digits in the docket number field to access the document (P-
2489). For assistance, contact FERC at [email protected] or
call toll-free,<PHONE_NUMBER> or<PHONE_NUMBER> (TTY).
    You may also register online at https://ferconline.ferc.gov/FERCOnline.aspx to be notified via email of new filings and issuances
related to this or other pending projects. For assistance, contact FERC
Online Support.
    p. Procedural schedule and final amendments: The application will
be processed according to the following preliminary schedule. Revisions
to the schedule will be made as appropriate.

Issue Deficiency Letter (if necessary)--January 2022
Request Additional Information--January 2022
Issue Acceptance Letter--May 2022
Issue Scoping Document 1 for comments--May 2023
Issue Scoping Document 2 (if necessary)--July 2023
Issue Notice of Ready for Environmental Analysis--July 2023

    Final amendments to the application must be filed with the
Commission no later than 30 days from the issuance date of the notice
of ready for environmental analysis.

    Dated: November 4, 2022.
Kimberly D. Bose,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2022-24531 Filed 11-9-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P