83_FR_25192 83 FR 25087 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Options Clearing Corporation; Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and Order Approving Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, Related to The Options Clearing Corporation's Trade Acceptance and Novation Rules

83 FR 25087 - Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Options Clearing Corporation; Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and Order Approving Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, Related to The Options Clearing Corporation's Trade Acceptance and Novation Rules

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 83, Issue 105 (May 31, 2018)

Page Range25087-25093
FR Document2018-11611

Federal Register, Volume 83 Issue 105 (Thursday, May 31, 2018)
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 105 (Thursday, May 31, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25087-25093]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2018-11611]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 34-83321; File No. SR-OCC-2018-007]


Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Options Clearing Corporation; 
Notice of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and Order Approving Proposed Rule 
Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1, Related to The Options Clearing 
Corporation's Trade Acceptance and Novation Rules

May 24, 2018.
    On March 23, 2018, the Options Clearing Corporation (``OCC'') filed 
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission''), pursuant 
to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 
(``Act''),\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ proposed rule change SR-
OCC-2018-007. The proposed rule change was published for comment in the 
Federal Register on April 9, 2018.\3\ The Commission did not receive 
any comments on the proposed rule change. On April 19, 2018, OCC filed 
Amendment No. 1 to the proposed rule change.\4\ The Commission is 
publishing this notice to solicit comment on Amendment No. 1 from 
interested persons and is approving the proposed rule change, as 
modified by Amendment No. 1.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
    \2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
    \3\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 82984 (April 3, 2018), 
83 FR 15181 (April 9, 2018) (SR-OCC-2018-007) (``Notice'').
    \4\ OCC submitted Amendment No. 1 to correct an error in Exhibit 
5B of the Notice, which did not accurately reflect the text of 
existing OCC Rule 2202(c) and erroneously contained proposed changes 
to that inaccurate text. Amendment No. 1 clarifies that the rule 
text for existing Rule 2202(c) would remain unchanged and would not 
be affected by the proposed rule change.
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I. Description of the Proposed Rule Change 5
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    \5\ The subsequent description of the proposed rule change is 
substantially excerpted from OCC's description in the Notice. See 
Notice, 83 FR 15181-15186.
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    OCC proposed to amend OCC's By-Laws (``By-Laws'') and Rules to: (1) 
Clarify the time at which OCC accepts and novates \6\ the transactions 
that it clears; (2) streamline provisions in the By-Laws and Rules 
related to trade reporting and novation; and (3) delete provisions that 
apply only to certain dormant products that OCC no longer clears and 
settles or that are no longer applicable to OCC's current clearing 
processes.
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    \6\ In this context, novation is the process through which OCC 
is substituted as the buyer to the seller and the seller to the 
buyer for each cleared contact.

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[[Page 25088]]

Background

Acceptance and Novation Timing
    Clearly stating the specific time at which OCC accepts transactions 
for clearance and settlement is important to Clearing Members because 
it signifies the time under the By-Laws and Rules at which the 
following events occur: (1) OCC is substituted through novation as the 
central counterparty (``CCP'') to each Clearing Member that was an 
initial party to the transaction; (2) the rights of the initial 
Clearing Member parties to the transaction become solely as against 
OCC; and (3) OCC becomes obligated to each Clearing Member in 
accordance with the By-Laws and Rules,\7\ including as a guarantor of 
the settlement obligations associated with transactions that OCC 
accepts and novates.\8\
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    \7\ See, e.g., Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws.
    \8\ See generally 15 U.S.C. 78q-1; 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22.
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Current Acceptance and Novation of Confirmed Trades
    While most trades are functionally novated upon proper submission 
to OCC for clearing, OCC's current By-Laws and Rules require a user to 
parse through a number of provisions and definitions in various 
locations to identify the time at which acceptance and novation occur. 
For example, the term Confirmed Trade \9\ is defined to include all of 
the products for which OCC currently provides clearance and settlement 
services, with the exception of certain Stock Loan \10\ transactions. A 
Confirmed Trade is novated upon OCC's acceptance of the trade, but 
acceptance is not deemed to occur until a designated Commencement Time. 
Commencement Time is defined differently for different products that 
meet the definition of a Confirmed Trade, but one section of the By-
Laws (regarding OCC's obligations) generally defines it as the time at 
which OCC makes available to Clearing Members a Daily Position Report 
reflecting the Confirmed Trade.\11\ Another section of the By-Laws 
(regarding the reporting of Confirmed Trades) specifies that this 
acceptance is subject to the condition that the Exchange or OTC Trade 
Source on which the transaction occurred has reported to OCC, during 
such times as OCC has prescribed, certain information regarding the 
Confirmed Trade and that such information passes OCC's initial 
validation checks.\12\
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    \9\ Under the By-Laws, a Confirmed Trade is defined as ``a 
transaction for the purchase, writing, or sale of a cleared 
contract, or for the closing out of a long or short position in a 
cleared contract, that is (i) effected on or through the facilities 
of an Exchange and submitted to the Corporation for clearance or 
(ii) affirmed through the facilities of an OTC Trade Source and 
submitted to the Corporation for clearance.''
    \10\ See Article I, Section 1.S.(21) of the By-Laws. The term 
Stock Loan may refer to either a Hedge Loan that is part of OCC's 
Stock Loan/Hedge Program or a Market Loan that is part of OCC's 
Market Loan Program. Matters regarding the acceptance and novation 
of these products are addressed separately below.
    \11\ Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws. This typically occurs 
at the end of each business day.
    \12\ Article VI, Section 7 of the By-Laws.
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    Under yet another section of the By-Laws, OCC generally has no 
right (other than regarding certain types of Confirmed Trades discussed 
below) to reject a Confirmed Trade due to the failure of the Purchasing 
Clearing Member to pay any amount due to OCC at or before the 
settlement time.\13\ This means that transactions in most products that 
are Confirmed Trades will inevitably be accepted for clearing and 
novated at the Commencement Time simply due to the passage of time.\14\ 
OCC proposed the changes herein to reflect this reality.
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    \13\ See Article VI, Section 8 of the By-Laws.
    \14\ An Exchange or OTC Trade Source, however, may instruct OCC 
to disregard a transaction that it previously reported as a 
Confirmed Trade ``because of a subsequent determination that (i) the 
trade information submitted by the Purchasing Clearing Member and 
Selling Clearing Member did not agree, (ii) the trade information 
did not contain all the information required by the Corporation as 
set forth in the By-Laws and Rules, or (iii) new or revised trade 
information was required to properly clear the transaction.'' See 
Article VI, Section 7 of the By-Laws. This authority would be 
preserved and relocated into OCC's Rules in connection with the 
proposed changes described herein.
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Different Commencement Times and Rejection Rights for Certain Confirmed 
Trades
    Certain categories of Confirmed Trades are not subject to the 
general Commencement Time described above, and OCC retains certain 
rights to reject such transactions. Specifically, Article VI, Section 5 
of the By-Laws excludes the products described below from the general 
Commencement Time, while setting forth the following alternate 
definitions of Commencement Time:
    (1) For futures issued in exchange-for-physical transactions,\15\ 
block trades,\16\ or other trades designated as non-competitively 
executed: The time after the transaction is reported to OCC that OCC 
receives the first variation settlement payment; \17\
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    \15\ An exchange-for-physical transaction (or ``EFP'') is a 
transaction between two parties in which a futures contract on a 
commodity or security is exchanged for the actual physical good.
    \16\ A block trade is a trade involving a large number of shares 
being traded at an arranged price between parties, outside of the 
open markets, in order to lessen the impact of such a large trade 
being made public.
    \17\ See Article XII, Section 7 of the By-Laws.
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    (2) For cross-rate FX options and FX index options: The time that 
is three hours following the settlement time of the Confirmed Trade in 
which such contract was purchased; \18\ and
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    \18\ See Articles XX, Section 1 and XXIII, Section 1 of the By-
Laws.
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    (3) For OTC Options (other than Backloaded OTC Options): The time 
when a report of OCC's acceptance is made available to Clearing Members 
through OCC's clearing system.\19\
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    \19\ See Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws.
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    That same section of the By-Laws specifies that, for Backloaded OTC 
Options, the transaction is not accepted for clearing until the Selling 
Clearing Member has met its regular morning settlement obligation on 
the business day following the reporting of the trade to OCC.\20\
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    \20\ Id.
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    In addition to the separate Commencement Times for these types of 
Confirmed Trades, OCC also currently has certain authority to reject 
such trades due to the failure of the Purchasing Clearing Member to pay 
an amount due to OCC at or before the applicable settlement time.\21\ 
In contrast to most other types of Confirmed Trades, this means that 
OCC continues to have authority to reject these transactions even after 
they are properly submitted for clearing. OCC's authority to reject 
these types of Confirmed Trades arises under the following 
circumstances:
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    \21\ See generally Article VI, Section 8 of the By-Laws 
identifying these exceptions.
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    (1) For futures issued in exchange-for-physical transactions, block 
trades, or other trades designated as non-competitively executed: In 
the event OCC fails to receive any variation payment due in the 
accounts of the Clearing Members; \22\
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    \22\ See Article XII, Section 7 of the By-Laws.
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    (2) For cross-rate FX options and FX index options: In the event 
OCC fails to receive from the Purchasing Clearing Member premiums 
denominated in the proper trading currency in the account in which the 
transaction is effected; \23\ and
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    \23\ See Article XX, Section 5, Article XXIII, Section 7 of the 
By-Laws.
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    (3) For Backloaded OTC Options: In the event the Selling Clearing 
Member does not meet its regular morning settlement obligation on the 
business day following the reporting of the trade to OCC.\24\
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    \24\ See Article VI, Section 8 of the By-Laws. In addition, OCC 
will not accept a Backloaded OTC Option for clearing if OCC receives 
it from the OTC Trade Source after 4 p.m. Central on the business 
day that is four business days prior to its expiration.

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[[Page 25089]]

Proposed Changes to Acceptance and Novation Rules

Proposed Uniform Acceptance and Novation Timing for Nearly All 
Confirmed Trades
    To provide greater certainty and clarity to Clearing Members and 
other interested parties regarding the acceptance and novation timing 
for transactions that OCC clears and settles, OCC proposed to amend the 
substance of Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws \25\ to set forth a 
uniform acceptance and novation time for nearly all Confirmed Trades. 
As described in more detail below, OCC would retain exceptions from the 
uniform acceptance and novation time for Confirmed Trades in Backloaded 
OTC Options and Confirmed Trades in futures issued in exchange-for-
physical transactions, block trades, or other trades designated as non-
competitively executed.
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    \25\ As described below under the heading Reorganization, OCC 
also proposes to relocate the provisions currently in Article VI, 
Section 5 of the By-Laws to Rules 401 and 404.
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    To accomplish this, OCC proposed to eliminate the concept of 
Commencement Time and instead deem nearly all Confirmed Trades to be 
accepted and simultaneously novated when they are reported to OCC and 
the related position information has been recorded in OCC's clearing 
system (which occurs on a real-time basis).\26\ This would, however, be 
subject to the condition that the required transaction information 
reported to OCC by the Exchange or OTC Trade Source first passes OCC's 
validation procedures \27\ and is provided to OCC at such time as OCC 
prescribes. This change is intended to provide a more definitive 
indication of the point after which OCC no longer has authority to 
reject such transactions for clearing.\28\ Eliminating the concept of 
Commencement Time also necessitates deleting the term from the defined 
terms in Article I, Section 1 of the By-Laws and replacing all 
references to Commencement Time with references to the time at which 
OCC accepts a transaction for clearing. To do this, OCC proposed to 
amend the following provisions of its By-Laws: Article I (definition of 
``American; American-style''); Sections 5, 6, and 12 of Article VI; 
\29\ and Section 7 of Article XII.
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    \26\ OCC notes that upon acceptance and recording of position 
information in OCC's ENCORE clearing system, Clearing Members have 
the ability to see the trades they are responsible for via position 
information screens in the ENCORE system and through real-time 
messaging.
    \27\ All inbound trades to OCC are subject to coded validation 
of the required fields for trades. These fields contain the critical 
details of the trade, including but not limited to the trade source, 
symbol, expiration, strike, call or put, quantity, price, and 
Clearing Member details of both sides of the trade.
    \28\ As described above, an Exchange or OTC Trade Source would 
continue to have the authority to instruct OCC to disregard a 
Confirmed Trade. See supra 10.
    \29\ As described in more detail below, OCC proposes to relocate 
Article VI, Sections 5 and 6 to Rules 401, 404, and 405 to help 
streamline and reorganize provisions addressing trade reporting and 
novation.
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    OCC also proposed to amend Rule 401 to clarify the trade 
information required to be submitted by the participant Exchange to OCC 
as a condition to acceptance and novation. For options transactions, 
amended Rule 401(a)(1)(i) would provide that these terms include: (a) 
The identity of the Purchasing Clearing Member and Writing Clearing 
Member to the transaction; (b) the clearing date; (c) the transaction 
time; (d) the trade source; (e) the trade quantity; (f) the trade 
price; (g) the security type; (h) the ticker symbol; (i) the series/
contract date; (j) whether the trade is a put or a call; (k) the strike 
price; (l) whether the trade is a purchase or a sale; (m) the account 
type; (n) the allocation indicator, if applicable; (o) the CMTA 
indicator, if applicable; (p) the Give-Up Clearing Member, if 
applicable; (q) the trade type, including, in the case of futures 
options, whether the transaction is a block trade, exchange-for-
physical, or any other trade designated by the futures market or 
security futures market reporting the trade as a non-competitively 
executed trade; (r) in the case of OTC options transactions in a 
securities customers' account, a unique customer ID for the customer 
for whom the trade was executed; and (s) in the case of OTC options, 
such other variable terms as provided in Section 6 of Article XVII of 
the By-Laws. In addition, new Rule 401(a)(1)(ii) would provide that OCC 
may also request certain optional trade information that is not 
required as a condition for acceptance.\30\
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    \30\ OCC makes available to its participant Exchanges and 
Clearing Members the complete list of required and optional trade 
information in an inbound reference guide for Exchange trades.
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    For futures transactions, Rule 401(a)(2)(i) would be amended to 
provide that the required terms for acceptance and novation include: 
(a) The identity of the Purchasing Clearing Member and the Selling 
Clearing Member to the transaction; (b) the clearing date; (c) the 
transaction time; (d) the trade source; (e) the trade quantity; (f) the 
trade price; (g) the security type; (h) the ticker symbol; (i) the 
series/contract date; (j) whether the trade is a purchase or a sale; 
(k) the account type; (l) the allocation indicator, if applicable; (m) 
the CMTA indicator, if applicable; (n) the Give-Up Clearing Member, if 
applicable; and (o) whether the trade is an exchange-for-physical or 
block trade or any other trade designated by the futures market or 
security futures market reporting the trade as a non-competitively 
executed trade. In addition, new Rule 401(a)(2)(ii) would provide that 
OCC may also request certain optional trade information that is not 
required as a condition for acceptance.
    Taken together, these changes are designed to provide a uniform 
approach for nearly all Confirmed Trades regarding acceptance and 
novation. OCC believes the changes will reduce the complexity of its 
Rules and By-Laws, while at the same time providing significantly 
greater clarity and transparency in OCC's legal framework for Clearing 
Members and other interested parties concerning the point at which OCC 
does not have authority to reject a transaction after it has been 
properly submitted to and validated by OCC. OCC believes that adopting 
this uniform approach regarding acceptance and novation will neither 
functionally change the time at which OCC becomes obligated regarding 
Confirmed Trades nor otherwise alter the credit risk OCC faces with 
respect to such Confirmed Trades.
    First, providing that nearly all Confirmed Trades are accepted and 
novated upon proper submission functionally would not change the time 
at which OCC becomes obligated regarding such Confirmed Trades because 
OCC currently has no right to reject Confirmed Trades, upon proper 
submission, due to the failure of a Purchasing Clearing Member to pay 
any amount due to OCC at or before the settlement time. Second, OCC 
generally does not collect margin with respect to such Confirmed Trades 
until 9:00 a.m. Central the following business day.\31\ OCC, therefore, 
already faces this same credit risk between the acceptance of the 
Confirmed Trades and the time that it collects margin from Clearing 
Members. Accordingly, OCC does not anticipate that moving the novation 
time from the general Commencement Time to earlier in the day as 
described above--at the point of acceptance--would alter the credit 
risk OCC faces with respect to such Confirmed Trades. In addition, OCC 
would continue to have the same authority that it does today to address 
any credit risk as

[[Page 25090]]

necessary through intra-day margin collection.\32\
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    \31\ See Article I, Section 1.S.(16) of the By-Laws (defining 
the term ``settlement time'' in respect of a Clearing Member's 
obligation to pay amounts owed to OCC).
    \32\ See OCC Rule 609 (addressing OCC's authority to require 
intra-day margin).
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    Further, OCC believes that it would be appropriate to also apply 
the uniform acceptance and novation time to OTC Options that are not 
Backloaded OTC Options. OTC Options currently are subject to an 
alternative Commencement Time, designated for OTC Options that are not 
Backloaded OTC Options as the time when a report of OCC's acceptance is 
made available to Clearing Members through OCC's clearing system.\33\ 
In practice, OCC automatically makes a report of its acceptance of such 
OTC Options available to Clearing Members in its clearing system, 
provided the OTC Option is properly reported to OCC, the contract 
passes OCC's validation process, and the contract is not rejected, all 
of which generally is completed immediately upon submission of the 
contract to OCC.\34\ This is consistent with the new uniform approach 
OCC proposed, which would deem nearly all Confirmed Trades to be 
accepted and simultaneously novated when they are reported to OCC and 
the related position information has been recorded in OCC's clearing 
system, which occurs on a real-time basis. Accordingly, OCC believes 
there is no operational, risk management, or other reason to exclude 
OTC Options that are not Backloaded OTC Options from the proposed 
uniform acceptance and novation timing.
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    \33\ Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws.
    \34\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 68434 (December 14, 
2012), 77 FR 75243 (December 19, 2012) (SR-OCC-2012-14 and AN-OCC-
2012-01) (discussing the trade submission mechanics for OTC 
Options).
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Proposed Exceptions to the Uniform Acceptance and Novation Timing
    For other categories of Confirmed Trades that currently are not 
subject to the general definition of Commencement Time (i.e., Confirmed 
Trades in futures issued in exchange-for-physical transactions, block 
trades, or other trades designated as non-competitively executed), OCC 
proposed to preserve the existing structure under which OCC has 
authority to reject the transactions even after they are properly 
submitted for clearing by creating an exception to the uniform 
acceptance and novation timing for such trades. OCC believes that 
delayed novation continues to be appropriate for such non-competitively 
executed transactions because there is a heightened risk that non-
competitive execution may cause them to be effected at off-market 
prices, which could lead to significant losses if a Clearing Member 
defaults on the related settlement obligations.\35\
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    \35\ OCC also proposes to add new Interpretation and Policy .05 
to provide that OCC will not treat an EFP or block trade as a 
noncompetitively executed trade subject to Article XII, Section 7 of 
the By-Laws if the Exchange on which such trade is executed has made 
representations satisfactory to OCC that the Exchange has rules, 
policies or procedures that require each EFP and block trade that is 
submitted to OCC to be executed at a reasonable price and that such 
price is validated by the Exchange. This new Interpretation and 
Policy to Rule 401 would reiterate current Interpretation and Policy 
.04 to Article XII, Section 7 of the By-Laws to provide additional 
clarity in the Rules around the acceptance and novation time for 
competitively executed EFPs and block trades.
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    As proposed, an exception to the uniform acceptance and novation 
timing also would be made for Confirmed Trades that are Backloaded OTC 
Options, which are defined as OTC Options for which the premium payment 
date is prior to the business day on which the transaction is submitted 
to OCC for clearing.\36\ OCC believes that an exception for Backloaded 
OTC Options remains necessary because their ``backloaded'' nature means 
that the premium payment has already been made. Backloaded OTC Options 
also are subject to being non-competitively executed and therefore 
present the same heightened settlement default risk regarding other 
non-competitively executed transactions discussed above. In addition, 
because OCC is not able to immediately validate a Backloaded OTC 
Options transaction or check its price reasonability upon submission, 
OCC believes that it remains appropriate to continue its existing 
practice of delaying acceptance and novation for these contracts until 
the selling Clearing Member has met its regular morning settlement 
obligations on the business day following trade reporting.
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    \36\ See Article I, Section 1.B.(1) of the By-Laws.
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Provisional Information Regarding Confirmed Trades
    OCC proposed that its acceptance and novation time would no longer 
be tied to publication of a Daily Position Report, given that OCC's 
acceptance of a Confirmed Trade would instead be reflected in the 
position information that OCC makes available to Clearing Members 
throughout the business day. Accordingly, OCC proposed to amend 
Interpretation and Policy .01 to Rule 501 to: (1) Clarify that OCC 
makes updated position data reflecting accepted and novated trades 
available to its Clearing Members throughout the day; and (2) remove 
from that provision a statement that Clearing Members must rely on the 
Daily Position Report for definitive information regarding their 
positions.
Hedge Loans and Market Loans
    In addition to its clearance and settlement of Confirmed Trades, 
OCC also acts as a CCP for certain stock lending transactions that are 
part of its Stock Loan/Hedge Program and Market Loan Program. OCC 
proposed to amend its rules for both programs to better describe its 
process for accepting Hedge Loans and Market Loans and to appropriately 
harmonize certain provisions governing each type of Stock Loan.\37\
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    \37\ See OCC Rules 2202(b); 2202A(b), (c).
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    Stock Loan/Hedge Loan Program. Hedge Loans are initiated as stock 
lending transactions that are negotiated and settled between Clearing 
Members at The Depository Trust Company (``DTC'') before they are 
reported to OCC. Rule 2202(b) provides that OCC must generally accept 
these stock lending transactions upon receipt of a report from DTC that 
shows a completed transaction.\38\ However, OCC may reject a 
transaction if it determines that it is: (1) Not in accordance with 
OCC's By-Laws or Rules; (2) one or both account numbers specified are 
invalid for Hedge Loans; or (3) the information provided by DTC 
contains errors or omissions. Moreover, Rule 2202(b) provides that if 
OCC does not affirmatively reject a reported transaction by such a time 
as OCC is authorized to specify from time to time then the transaction 
is deemed accepted as a Hedge Loan. Upon acceptance, OCC becomes the 
lender to the Borrowing Clearing Member and the borrower to the Lending 
Clearing Member. Although OCC has discretion during each business day 
to make provisional information available to Clearing Members regarding 
their lending and borrowing activity, only the Stock Loan Mark to 
Market Activity Report is recognized as providing definitive Hedge Loan 
positions.\39\
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    \38\ OCC is not obligated to accept the stock lending 
transactions of a Clearing Member that has been suspended by DTC. 
See OCC Rule 2210(a). The same condition applies regarding Market 
Loans. See OCC Rule 2210A(a).
    \39\ See Rule 2202, Interpretation and Policy .01.
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    OCC proposed to amend Rule 2202(b) to clarify that OCC receives and 
accepts completed transaction information from DTC throughout the day, 
and it would delete the statement that a transaction is deemed accepted 
by a particular cut off time if OCC does not affirmatively notify 
Clearing Members of a rejection. Rule 2202(b) would instead state that 
OCC generally accepts completed transactions reported to it unless: (1) 
OCC is otherwise required to reject a transaction because it is not in 
accordance with the By-Laws or Rules;

[[Page 25091]]

(2) one or both account numbers specified are invalid; or (3) the 
information provided contains unresolved errors or omissions. OCC 
believes that these changes will help clarify the time at which Hedge 
Loans are accepted and the specific circumstances in which Hedge Loans 
will be rejected. As discussed more fully below, the change also would 
ensure consistency between parallel provisions in the Stock Loan/Hedge 
Program and Market Loan Program regarding the initiation process, which 
OCC believes should apply equally across both programs. Finally, a 
reference to the Stock Loan Mark to Market Activity Report being the 
only definitive statement of positions would be deleted because Hedge 
Loan positions would be definitive upon acceptance in OCC's clearing 
system.
    Market Loan Program. In connection with the Market Loan Program 
initiation process, DTC also sends information to OCC regarding 
completed stock lending transactions. Rule 2202A(b) provides that, upon 
OCC's receipt of an end of day stock loan activity file from DTC, OCC 
must accept the transactions as Market Loans unless it is required to 
reject them for the same reasons described above concerning Hedge 
Loans. The Rule further provides that, upon OCC's affirmative 
acceptance, OCC becomes the lender to the Borrowing Clearing Member and 
the borrower to the Lending Clearing Member.
    As with the proposed changes to the Stock Loan Hedge Program, OCC 
proposed to clarify that OCC receives and accepts completed transaction 
information from DTC throughout the day. OCC also proposed to delete a 
reference to affirmative acceptance in Rule 2202A(b) because the other 
proposed changes would clarify that acceptance will generally take 
place automatically unless OCC is specifically required to reject 
transactions due to the deficiencies described above. A conforming 
change also would be made in this regard in Rule 2202A(c). References 
to the definitive nature of the Stock Loan Mark to Market Activity 
Report would be deleted for the same reasons described above regarding 
Hedge Loans.
Streamlining and Reorganization
    As part of its continued effort to streamline its By-Laws and 
Rules, OCC proposed to relocate certain provisions from Article VI, 
Sections 4 through 8 of the By-Laws to Chapter IV of the Rules. This 
change would promote a centralized location for provisions that address 
trade reporting and novation. OCC also proposed to consolidate certain 
provisions in Chapter IV of the Rules to eliminate redundancy. These 
proposed organizational changes are summarized below.
    OCC would relocate Article VI, Section 4 of OCC's By-Laws regarding 
a Purchasing Clearing Member's obligations with respect to a Confirmed 
Trade, without amendment, to a new Rule 403. As described above, OCC 
would amend Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws regarding OCC's 
obligations with respect to a Confirmed Trade, and it would be 
incorporated into existing Rule 401 and new Rule 404. As described 
above, OCC would amend Article VI, Section 6 of the By-Laws regarding 
the issuance of cleared contracts, and it would be relocated to a new 
Rule 405. OCC would relocate Article VI, Section 7 of the By-Laws 
regarding the reporting of confirmed trades incorporate it into Rule 
401. More specifically, Article VI, Section 7(b) of the By-Laws would 
become Rule 401(e), Section 7(c) would become Rule 401(f), and 
Interpretation and Policy .01 to Section 7 would become Interpretation 
and Policy .03 to Rule 401. As described above, OCC would amend Article 
VI, Section 8 of the By-Laws regarding payments made to OCC and 
relocate it to new Rule 406. To accommodate these new rules in Chapter 
IV, current Rule 403 would be renumbered as 407, and current Rule 405 
would be renumbered as Rule 408. Cross-references also would be updated 
to reflect this renumbering throughout Chapter IV of the Rules, as well 
as in Article I, Section 1.G.(3) and (4), Article VI, Section 2, and 
Article XVII, Sections 2(a) and 2(c)(1) of the By-Laws, and Rules 
504(e), 504(g), and 611(a).
    Additionally, to create a more centralized trade reporting rule, 
OCC proposed to delete existing Rule 404 regarding the reporting of 
confirmed trades in OTC Options and to incorporate its substance into 
Rule 401. This would require the addition of references to OTC Trade 
Sources in Rule 401(a) and (b), and the merger of language from Rule 
404(b) into Rule 401(b) and from Rule 404(c) into Rule 401(d).
Elimination of Dormant Products and Rules
    OCC no longer clears and settles cross-rate foreign currency 
options and flexibly-structured index options denominated in a foreign 
currency. Accordingly, OCC proposed to delete certain provisions from 
its By-Laws and Rules that only apply to such products. When OCC still 
actively cleared and settled these products they were subject to 
delayed novation. OCC therefore believes that eliminating the rules 
governing these products at this time would avoid confusion and enhance 
clarity regarding OCC's proposed uniform approach to trade acceptance 
and novation timing. Consequently, OCC proposed to delete Articles XX 
and XXIII of its By-Laws, which governs cross-rate foreign currency 
options, and Chapters XXI and XXIV of its Rules, which govern flexibly-
structured index options denominated in a foreign currency. 
Additionally, OCC proposed to eliminate all other references to such 
products throughout its By-Laws and Rules, including in Section 1(d) of 
Article V, and Interpretation and Policy .03 to Section 1 of Article V 
of the By-Laws and Rules 607, 1107(a)(3) and 1107(a)(4), as well as in 
the definitions of Option Contract, Trading Currency, and Underlying 
Currency in Article I of the By-Laws.
    OCC also proposed to delete Rule 402 concerning the supplementary 
reporting of Confirmed Trades. Rule 402 grants OCC the discretion to, 
in certain extraordinary circumstances, accept from an Exchange after 
the cut-off time for receiving Confirmed Trade information for a 
particular business day (``trade date''), supplementary Confirmed Trade 
information reflecting the comparison of additional trades executed on 
or before the trade date that remained unconfirmed at the cut-off time. 
Rule 402 was adopted at a time when OCC received matched trade 
information from Exchanges for a given trade date in a single batch 
submission after the close of the trading day.\40\ Under this old 
process, trades that remained unmatched when an Exchange prepared its 
nightly trade tape to OCC were omitted from the tape and, if a trade 
was subsequently matched, the Exchange reported the trade to OCC the 
following night to be processed as if it had not been executed until 
the date when it was reported. OCC adopted Rule 402 to accommodate the 
late submission of trades that had not been matched in time to be 
submitted on the Exchange's original trade tape, thereby allowing those 
trades to be processed as if they were submitted on their original 
trade date. OCC proposed to delete Rule 402 because it is no longer 
applicable to OCC's current clearing processes, whereby OCC 
continuously receives matched trade information from Exchanges on a 
real-time basis.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \40\ See Filing and Order Granting Accelerated Approval of 
Proposed Rule Change of Options Clearing Corporation, Securities 
Exchange Act Release No. 21233 (August 10, 1984) (SR-OCC-84-12).

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

[[Page 25092]]

II. Discussion and Commission Findings

    Section 19(b)(2)(C) of the Act directs the Commission to approve a 
proposed rule change of a self-regulatory organization if it finds that 
such proposed rule change is consistent with the requirements of the 
Act and the rules and regulations thereunder applicable to such 
organization.\41\ After carefully considering the proposed rule change, 
the Commission believes that the proposed rule change is consistent 
with the requirements of the Act and the rules and regulations 
thereunder applicable to OCC. More specifically, the Commission 
believes that the proposal is consistent with Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of 
the Act \42\ and Rule 17Ad-22(e)(1) under the Act.\43\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \41\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(C).
    \42\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
    \43\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

A. Consistency With Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act

    Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act \44\ requires, among other things, 
that the rules of a clearing agency be designed to foster cooperation 
and coordination with persons engaged in the clearance and settlement 
of securities transactions, promote the prompt and accurate clearance 
and settlement of securities and derivatives transactions, and, in 
general, protect investors and the public interest. As described above, 
the proposed rule change is intended to provide a clear and uniform 
acceptance and novation time for nearly all Confirmed Trades and to 
clarify the acceptance and novation timing regarding Stock Loans by 
specifying the time at which novation occurs and when Confirmed Trades 
and Stock Loans may no longer be rejected by OCC. Under the proposed 
uniform acceptance time, OCC would deem nearly all Confirmed Trades to 
be accepted and simultaneously novated when they are reported to OCC, 
provided that the transaction information reported to OCC passes OCC's 
validation procedures and is provided to OCC at such time as OCC's 
rules prescribe. In addition, the proposed rule change would eliminate 
certain dormant rules no longer applicable to OCC's clearance and 
settlement services and processes.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \44\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3)(F).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission believes that these changes would provide greater 
clarity and transparency to Clearing Members, other users of OCC, and 
the general public regarding OCC's processes for the reporting of 
transactions, acceptance, and novation. Instead of parsing through 
multiple different definitions and provisions in various locations 
throughout OCC's By-Laws and Rules to identify the different times at 
which acceptance and novation occurs for different transactions, users 
and other interested parties will be able to refer to more uniform 
approach set forth in a single chapter of OCC's Rules. This, in turn, 
will help avoid potential confusion and ambiguity. Accordingly, the 
Commission believes that, taken together, these changes will help 
foster cooperation and coordination with persons engaged in the 
clearance and settlement of securities transactions, promote the prompt 
and accurate clearance and settlement of securities and derivatives 
transactions, and, in general, protect investors and the public 
interest consistent with Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act.\45\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \45\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

B. Consistency with Rule 17Ad-22(e)(1)

    Rule 17Ad-22(e)(1) \46\ requires a covered clearing agency to 
establish, implement, maintain and enforce written policies and 
procedures reasonably designed to provide for a well-founded, clear, 
transparent and enforceable legal basis for each aspect of its 
activities in all relevant jurisdictions. The Commission believes the 
proposed changes are consistent with Rule 17Ad-22(e)(1) for the reasons 
set forth below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \46\ 17 CFR 240.17Ad-22(e)(1).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    First, by modifying the current process so that all Confirmed 
Trades, subject to limited exceptions, would be deemed accepted and 
simultaneously novated when they are reported to OCC and the related 
position information has been recorded in OCC's clearing system, the 
proposed rule change would provide a clear and uniform time regarding 
OCC's acceptance and novation for nearly all Confirmed Trades and 
clarify OCC's acceptance and novation process regarding Stock Loans. 
The Commission believes this would bring clarity and transparency to 
OCC's By-Laws and Rulebook and help simplify the process of reporting 
transactions, acceptance, and novation, which in turn will help ensure 
that OCC has a well-founded, clear, transparent, and enforceable legal 
basis regarding the rights and obligations of OCC and Clearing Members 
regarding Confirmed Trades, consistent with Rule 17Ad-22(e)(1).
    Second, the Commission believes that the streamlining and 
reorganizing all of the provisions concerning transaction reporting, 
acceptance, and novation and consolidating them in Chapter IV of the 
Rules would promote consistency and readability and help avoid 
potential confusion and ambiguity, and therefore allow the provisions 
to be more easily understood. For example, enumerating the trade 
information required to be submitted by participant Exchanges to OCC 
for options and futures transactions would allow for greater clarity of 
the information required and that may be requested by OCC. Similarly, 
by better describing the process by which Hedge Loans and Market Loans 
are accepted, OCC would harmonize the relevant provisions of its 
Rulebook governing each type of Stock Loan. In addition, the Commission 
believes eliminating provisions related to processes no longer 
supported by OCC and dormant products that are no longer cleared and 
settled by OCC would improve the clarity and transparency of its By-
Laws and Rules. Accordingly, the Commission believes that the changes 
proposed in the proposed rule change are consistent with Rule 17Ad-
22(e)(1) under the Act.\47\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \47\ Id.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

III. Solicitation of Comments on Amendment No. 1

    Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views and 
arguments concerning whether Amendment No. 1, 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 rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include 
File Number SR-OCC-2018-007 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 Number SR-OCC-2018-007. 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 website (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

[[Page 25093]]

those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the 
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for website 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 such filing also will be available 
for inspection and copying at the principal office of OCC and on OCC's 
website at https://www.theocc.com/about/publications/bylaws.jsp.
    All comments received will be posted without change. Persons 
submitting comments are cautioned that we do not redact or edit 
personal identifying information from comment submissions. You should 
submit only information that you wish to make available publicly.
    All submissions should refer to File Number SR-OCC-2018-007 and 
should be submitted on or before June 15, 2018.

IV. Approval of Proposed Rule Change, as Modified by Amendment No. 1

    As discussed above, OCC submitted Amendment No. 1 to accurately 
reflect existing Rule 2202(c), which would not be affected by the 
proposed rule change. The Commission believes that Amendment No. 1 does 
not raise any novel issues or alter the proposed changes in any way. In 
addition, the Commission finds that the proposed rule change, as 
modified by Amendment No. 1, is consistent with Act and applicable 
rules thereunder for the reasons discussed above. Accordingly, the 
Commission finds good cause to approve the proposed rule change, as 
modified by Amendment No. 1 pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the 
Act.\48\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \48\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

V. Conclusion

    On the basis of the foregoing, the Commission finds that the 
proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, is consistent 
with the requirements of the Act, in particular with the requirements 
of Section 17A of the Act \49\ and Rule 17Ad-22(e)(1) thereunder.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \49\ In approving this proposed rule change, the Commission has 
considered the proposed rule's impact on efficiency, competition, 
and capital formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) \50\ of the 
Act, that the proposed rule change (SR-OCC-2018-007) be, and it hereby 
is, approved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \50\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
    \51\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12).

    For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, 
pursuant to delegated authority.\51\
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-11611 Filed 5-30-18; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P



                                                                            Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 105 / Thursday, May 31, 2018 / Notices                                                      25087

                                              an applicant using the Company name                     on net asset value. No expenses were                  SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
                                              box, at http://www.sec.gov/search/                      incurred in connection with the                       COMMISSION
                                              search.htm or by calling (202) 551–                     liquidation.
                                              8090. An order granting each                               Filing Dates: The application was                  [Release No. 34–83321; File No. SR–OCC–
                                              application will be issued unless the                                                                         2018–007]
                                                                                                      filed on May 5, 2017, and amended on
                                              SEC orders a hearing.
                                                Interested persons may request a                      May 1, 2018.                                          Self-Regulatory Organizations; The
                                              hearing on any application by writing to                   Applicant’s Address: Two                           Options Clearing Corporation; Notice
                                              the SEC’s Secretary at the address below                International Place, Boston,                          of Filing of Amendment No. 1 and
                                              and serving the relevant applicant with                 Massachusetts 02110.                                  Order Approving Proposed Rule
                                              a copy of the request, personally or by                                                                       Change, as Modified by Amendment
                                              mail. Hearing requests should be                        Compass Strategic Investments Fund                    No. 1, Related to The Options Clearing
                                              received by the SEC by 5:30 p.m. on                     [File No. 811–09021]                                  Corporation’s Trade Acceptance and
                                              June 19, 2018, and should be                               Summary: Applicant, a closed-end                   Novation Rules
                                              accompanied by proof of service on
                                                                                                      investment company, seeks an order                    May 24, 2018.
                                              applicants, in the form of an affidavit or,
                                                                                                      declaring that it has ceased to be an                    On March 23, 2018, the Options
                                              for lawyers, a certificate of service.
                                              Pursuant to Rule 0–5 under the Act,                     investment company. Applicant has                     Clearing Corporation (‘‘OCC’’) filed with
                                              hearing requests should state the nature                never made a public offering of its                   the Securities and Exchange
                                              of the writer’s interest, any facts bearing             securities and does not propose to make               Commission (‘‘Commission’’), pursuant
                                              upon the desirability of a hearing on the               a public offering. Applicant will                     to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities
                                              matter, the reason for the request, and                 continue to operate in reliance on                    Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Act’’),1 and
                                              the issues contested. Persons who wish                  Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Act, or             Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2 proposed rule
                                              to be notified of a hearing may request                 another applicable exclusion or                       change SR–OCC–2018–007. The
                                              notification by writing to the                          exemption.                                            proposed rule change was published for
                                              Commission’s Secretary.                                    Filing Dates: The application was                  comment in the Federal Register on
                                              ADDRESSES: The Commission: Secretary,
                                                                                                                                                            April 9, 2018.3 The Commission did not
                                                                                                      filed on April 5, 2018, and amended on
                                              U.S. Securities and Exchange                                                                                  receive any comments on the proposed
                                                                                                      May 18, 2018.
                                              Commission, 100 F Street NE,                                                                                  rule change. On April 19, 2018, OCC
                                                                                                         Applicant’s Address: MIO Partners,                 filed Amendment No. 1 to the proposed
                                              Washington, DC 20549–1090.
                                                                                                      Inc, 245 Park Avenue, 13th Floor, New                 rule change.4 The Commission is
                                              FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
                                                                                                      York, New York 10167.                                 publishing this notice to solicit
                                              Shawn Davis, Branch Chief, at (202)
                                                                                                                                                            comment on Amendment No. 1 from
                                              551–6413 or Chief Counsel’s Office at                   Partners Income Fund [File No. 811–
                                                                                                                                                            interested persons and is approving the
                                              (202) 551–6821; SEC, Division of                        06708]
                                                                                                                                                            proposed rule change, as modified by
                                              Investment Management, Chief
                                                                                                         Summary: Applicant, a closed-end                   Amendment No. 1.
                                              Counsel’s Office, 100 F Street NE,
                                              Washington, DC 20549–8010.                              investment company, seeks an order                    I. Description of the Proposed Rule
                                                                                                      declaring that it has ceased to be an                 Change 5
                                              Alpine Equity Trust [File No. 811–                      investment company. The applicant has
                                              05684]                                                                                                          OCC proposed to amend OCC’s By-
                                                                                                      transferred its assets to Compass Special
                                                                                                                                                            Laws (‘‘By-Laws’’) and Rules to: (1)
                                              Alpine Income Trust [File No. 811–                      Situations Fund LLC, and, on November                 Clarify the time at which OCC accepts
                                              21210]                                                  1, 2006, made a final distribution to its             and novates 6 the transactions that it
                                              Alpine Series Trust [File No. 811–                      shareholders based on net asset value.                clears; (2) streamline provisions in the
                                              10405]                                                  Expenses of $42,065 incurred in                       By-Laws and Rules related to trade
                                                 Summary: Each applicant seeks an                     connection with the reorganization were               reporting and novation; and (3) delete
                                              order declaring that it has ceased to be                paid by the acquiring fund.                           provisions that apply only to certain
                                              an investment company. Applicants                          Filing Dates: The application was                  dormant products that OCC no longer
                                              transferred their assets to the Aberdeen                filed on April 5, 2018, and amended on                clears and settles or that are no longer
                                              Funds and, on May 7, 2018, made final                   May 18, 2018.                                         applicable to OCC’s current clearing
                                              distributions to their shareholders based                                                                     processes.
                                                                                                         Applicant’s Address: MIO Partners,
                                              on net asset value. Aggregate expenses                  Inc, 245 Park Avenue, 13th Floor, New
                                              of $704,589 incurred in connection with                 York, New York 10167.
                                                                                                                                                              1 15  U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
                                                                                                                                                              2 17  CFR 240.19b–4.
                                              the reorganizations were paid by the
                                              applicants’ investment adviser and the                    For the Commission, by the Division of                3 Securities Exchange Act Release No. 82984

                                                                                                      Investment Management, pursuant to                    (April 3, 2018), 83 FR 15181 (April 9, 2018) (SR–
                                              acquiring funds’ investment adviser.                                                                          OCC–2018–007) (‘‘Notice’’).
                                                 Filing Dates: The applications were                  delegated authority.                                    4 OCC submitted Amendment No. 1 to correct an
                                              filed on May 11, 2018, and amended on                   Eduardo A. Aleman,                                    error in Exhibit 5B of the Notice, which did not
                                              May 23, 2018.                                           Assistant Secretary.                                  accurately reflect the text of existing OCC Rule
                                                 Applicants’ Addresses: 2500                                                                                2202(c) and erroneously contained proposed
                                                                                                      [FR Doc. 2018–11729 Filed 5–30–18; 8:45 am]           changes to that inaccurate text. Amendment No. 1
                                              Westchester Avenue, Suite 215,                                                                                clarifies that the rule text for existing Rule 2202(c)
                                                                                                      BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                              Purchase, New York 10577.
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1




                                                                                                                                                            would remain unchanged and would not be affected
                                                                                                                                                            by the proposed rule change.
                                              Bond Portfolio II [File No. 811–23008]                                                                          5 The subsequent description of the proposed rule

                                                Summary: Applicant seeks an order                                                                           change is substantially excerpted from OCC’s
                                              declaring that it has ceased to be an                                                                         description in the Notice. See Notice, 83 FR 15181–
                                                                                                                                                            15186.
                                              investment company. On April 21,                                                                                6 In this context, novation is the process through
                                              2016, applicant made a liquidating                                                                            which OCC is substituted as the buyer to the seller
                                              distribution to its shareholders, based                                                                       and the seller to the buyer for each cleared contact.



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                                              25088                           Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 105 / Thursday, May 31, 2018 / Notices

                                              Background                                                Confirmed Trades) specifies that this                  hours following the settlement time of
                                                                                                        acceptance is subject to the condition                 the Confirmed Trade in which such
                                              Acceptance and Novation Timing
                                                                                                        that the Exchange or OTC Trade Source                  contract was purchased; 18 and
                                                 Clearly stating the specific time at                   on which the transaction occurred has
                                              which OCC accepts transactions for                                                                                  (3) For OTC Options (other than
                                                                                                        reported to OCC, during such times as                  Backloaded OTC Options): The time
                                              clearance and settlement is important to                  OCC has prescribed, certain information
                                              Clearing Members because it signifies                                                                            when a report of OCC’s acceptance is
                                                                                                        regarding the Confirmed Trade and that
                                              the time under the By-Laws and Rules                                                                             made available to Clearing Members
                                                                                                        such information passes OCC’s initial
                                              at which the following events occur: (1)                  validation checks.12                                   through OCC’s clearing system.19
                                              OCC is substituted through novation as                       Under yet another section of the By-                   That same section of the By-Laws
                                              the central counterparty (‘‘CCP’’) to each                Laws, OCC generally has no right (other                specifies that, for Backloaded OTC
                                              Clearing Member that was an initial                       than regarding certain types of                        Options, the transaction is not accepted
                                              party to the transaction; (2) the rights of               Confirmed Trades discussed below) to                   for clearing until the Selling Clearing
                                              the initial Clearing Member parties to                    reject a Confirmed Trade due to the                    Member has met its regular morning
                                              the transaction become solely as against                  failure of the Purchasing Clearing                     settlement obligation on the business
                                              OCC; and (3) OCC becomes obligated to                     Member to pay any amount due to OCC                    day following the reporting of the trade
                                              each Clearing Member in accordance                        at or before the settlement time.13 This               to OCC.20
                                              with the By-Laws and Rules,7 including                    means that transactions in most
                                              as a guarantor of the settlement                          products that are Confirmed Trades will                   In addition to the separate
                                              obligations associated with transactions                  inevitably be accepted for clearing and                Commencement Times for these types of
                                              that OCC accepts and novates.8                            novated at the Commencement Time                       Confirmed Trades, OCC also currently
                                                                                                        simply due to the passage of time.14                   has certain authority to reject such
                                              Current Acceptance and Novation of                                                                               trades due to the failure of the
                                              Confirmed Trades                                          OCC proposed the changes herein to
                                                                                                        reflect this reality.                                  Purchasing Clearing Member to pay an
                                                 While most trades are functionally                                                                            amount due to OCC at or before the
                                              novated upon proper submission to                         Different Commencement Times and                       applicable settlement time.21 In contrast
                                              OCC for clearing, OCC’s current By-                       Rejection Rights for Certain Confirmed                 to most other types of Confirmed
                                              Laws and Rules require a user to parse                    Trades
                                                                                                                                                               Trades, this means that OCC continues
                                              through a number of provisions and                          Certain categories of Confirmed                      to have authority to reject these
                                              definitions in various locations to                       Trades are not subject to the general                  transactions even after they are properly
                                              identify the time at which acceptance                     Commencement Time described above,                     submitted for clearing. OCC’s authority
                                              and novation occur. For example, the                      and OCC retains certain rights to reject               to reject these types of Confirmed
                                              term Confirmed Trade 9 is defined to                      such transactions. Specifically, Article               Trades arises under the following
                                              include all of the products for which                     VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws excludes                  circumstances:
                                              OCC currently provides clearance and                      the products described below from the
                                              settlement services, with the exception                   general Commencement Time, while                          (1) For futures issued in exchange-for-
                                              of certain Stock Loan 10 transactions. A                  setting forth the following alternate                  physical transactions, block trades, or
                                              Confirmed Trade is novated upon OCC’s                     definitions of Commencement Time:                      other trades designated as non-
                                              acceptance of the trade, but acceptance                     (1) For futures issued in exchange-for-              competitively executed: In the event
                                              is not deemed to occur until a                            physical transactions,15 block trades,16               OCC fails to receive any variation
                                              designated Commencement Time.                             or other trades designated as non-                     payment due in the accounts of the
                                              Commencement Time is defined                              competitively executed: The time after                 Clearing Members; 22
                                              differently for different products that                   the transaction is reported to OCC that                   (2) For cross-rate FX options and FX
                                              meet the definition of a Confirmed                        OCC receives the first variation                       index options: In the event OCC fails to
                                              Trade, but one section of the By-Laws                     settlement payment; 17                                 receive from the Purchasing Clearing
                                              (regarding OCC’s obligations) generally                     (2) For cross-rate FX options and FX                 Member premiums denominated in the
                                              defines it as the time at which OCC                       index options: The time that is three
                                                                                                                                                               proper trading currency in the account
                                              makes available to Clearing Members a
                                                                                                                                                               in which the transaction is effected; 23
                                              Daily Position Report reflecting the                        12 Article  VI, Section 7 of the By-Laws.
                                                                                                          13 See   Article VI, Section 8 of the By-Laws.       and
                                              Confirmed Trade.11 Another section of
                                              the By-Laws (regarding the reporting of
                                                                                                           14 An Exchange or OTC Trade Source, however,
                                                                                                                                                                  (3) For Backloaded OTC Options: In
                                                                                                        may instruct OCC to disregard a transaction that it
                                                                                                        previously reported as a Confirmed Trade ‘‘because
                                                                                                                                                               the event the Selling Clearing Member
                                                7 See,   e.g., Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws.    of a subsequent determination that (i) the trade       does not meet its regular morning
                                                8 See   generally 15 U.S.C. 78q–1; 17 CFR               information submitted by the Purchasing Clearing       settlement obligation on the business
                                              240.17Ad–22.                                              Member and Selling Clearing Member did not agree,      day following the reporting of the trade
                                                 9 Under the By-Laws, a Confirmed Trade is              (ii) the trade information did not contain all the
                                              defined as ‘‘a transaction for the purchase, writing,     information required by the Corporation as set forth   to OCC.24
                                              or sale of a cleared contract, or for the closing out     in the By-Laws and Rules, or (iii) new or revised
                                                                                                                                                                 18 See Articles XX, Section 1 and XXIII, Section
                                              of a long or short position in a cleared contract, that   trade information was required to properly clear the
                                              is (i) effected on or through the facilities of an        transaction.’’ See Article VI, Section 7 of the By-    1 of the By-Laws.
                                              Exchange and submitted to the Corporation for             Laws. This authority would be preserved and              19 See Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws.

                                              clearance or (ii) affirmed through the facilities of an   relocated into OCC’s Rules in connection with the        20 Id.
                                              OTC Trade Source and submitted to the                     proposed changes described herein.                       21 See generally Article VI, Section 8 of the By-
                                              Corporation for clearance.’’                                 15 An exchange-for-physical transaction (or
                                                                                                                                                               Laws identifying these exceptions.
amozie on DSK3GDR082PROD with NOTICES1




                                                 10 See Article I, Section 1.S.(21) of the By-Laws.     ‘‘EFP’’) is a transaction between two parties in         22 See Article XII, Section 7 of the By-Laws.
                                              The term Stock Loan may refer to either a Hedge           which a futures contract on a commodity or
                                                                                                                                                                 23 See Article XX, Section 5, Article XXIII,
                                              Loan that is part of OCC’s Stock Loan/Hedge               security is exchanged for the actual physical good.
                                              Program or a Market Loan that is part of OCC’s               16 A block trade is a trade involving a large       Section 7 of the By-Laws.
                                                                                                                                                                 24 See Article VI, Section 8 of the By-Laws. In
                                              Market Loan Program. Matters regarding the                number of shares being traded at an arranged price
                                              acceptance and novation of these products are             between parties, outside of the open markets, in       addition, OCC will not accept a Backloaded OTC
                                              addressed separately below.                               order to lessen the impact of such a large trade       Option for clearing if OCC receives it from the OTC
                                                 11 Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws. This          being made public.                                     Trade Source after 4 p.m. Central on the business
                                              typically occurs at the end of each business day.            17 See Article XII, Section 7 of the By-Laws.       day that is four business days prior to its expiration.



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                                                                            Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 105 / Thursday, May 31, 2018 / Notices                                                       25089

                                              Proposed Changes to Acceptance and                      proposed to amend the following                        indicator, if applicable; (n) the Give-Up
                                              Novation Rules                                          provisions of its By-Laws: Article I                   Clearing Member, if applicable; and (o)
                                                                                                      (definition of ‘‘American; American-                   whether the trade is an exchange-for-
                                              Proposed Uniform Acceptance and
                                                                                                      style’’); Sections 5, 6, and 12 of Article             physical or block trade or any other
                                              Novation Timing for Nearly All
                                                                                                      VI; 29 and Section 7 of Article XII.                   trade designated by the futures market
                                              Confirmed Trades                                           OCC also proposed to amend Rule 401                 or security futures market reporting the
                                                 To provide greater certainty and                     to clarify the trade information required              trade as a non-competitively executed
                                              clarity to Clearing Members and other                   to be submitted by the participant                     trade. In addition, new Rule 401(a)(2)(ii)
                                              interested parties regarding the                        Exchange to OCC as a condition to                      would provide that OCC may also
                                              acceptance and novation timing for                      acceptance and novation. For options                   request certain optional trade
                                              transactions that OCC clears and settles,               transactions, amended Rule 401(a)(1)(i)                information that is not required as a
                                              OCC proposed to amend the substance                     would provide that these terms include:                condition for acceptance.
                                              of Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws 25              (a) The identity of the Purchasing
                                              to set forth a uniform acceptance and                                                                             Taken together, these changes are
                                                                                                      Clearing Member and Writing Clearing
                                              novation time for nearly all Confirmed                                                                         designed to provide a uniform approach
                                                                                                      Member to the transaction; (b) the
                                              Trades. As described in more detail                                                                            for nearly all Confirmed Trades
                                                                                                      clearing date; (c) the transaction time;
                                              below, OCC would retain exceptions                                                                             regarding acceptance and novation. OCC
                                                                                                      (d) the trade source; (e) the trade
                                              from the uniform acceptance and                                                                                believes the changes will reduce the
                                                                                                      quantity; (f) the trade price; (g) the
                                              novation time for Confirmed Trades in                                                                          complexity of its Rules and By-Laws,
                                                                                                      security type; (h) the ticker symbol; (i)
                                              Backloaded OTC Options and                                                                                     while at the same time providing
                                                                                                      the series/contract date; (j) whether the
                                              Confirmed Trades in futures issued in                                                                          significantly greater clarity and
                                                                                                      trade is a put or a call; (k) the strike
                                              exchange-for-physical transactions,                                                                            transparency in OCC’s legal framework
                                                                                                      price; (l) whether the trade is a purchase
                                              block trades, or other trades designated                                                                       for Clearing Members and other
                                                                                                      or a sale; (m) the account type; (n) the
                                              as non-competitively executed.                                                                                 interested parties concerning the point
                                                                                                      allocation indicator, if applicable; (o)
                                                 To accomplish this, OCC proposed to                                                                         at which OCC does not have authority
                                                                                                      the CMTA indicator, if applicable; (p)
                                              eliminate the concept of                                                                                       to reject a transaction after it has been
                                                                                                      the Give-Up Clearing Member, if
                                              Commencement Time and instead deem                                                                             properly submitted to and validated by
                                                                                                      applicable; (q) the trade type, including,
                                              nearly all Confirmed Trades to be                                                                              OCC. OCC believes that adopting this
                                                                                                      in the case of futures options, whether
                                              accepted and simultaneously novated                                                                            uniform approach regarding acceptance
                                                                                                      the transaction is a block trade,
                                              when they are reported to OCC and the                                                                          and novation will neither functionally
                                                                                                      exchange-for-physical, or any other
                                              related position information has been                                                                          change the time at which OCC becomes
                                                                                                      trade designated by the futures market
                                              recorded in OCC’s clearing system                                                                              obligated regarding Confirmed Trades
                                                                                                      or security futures market reporting the
                                              (which occurs on a real-time basis).26                                                                         nor otherwise alter the credit risk OCC
                                                                                                      trade as a non-competitively executed
                                              This would, however, be subject to the                                                                         faces with respect to such Confirmed
                                                                                                      trade; (r) in the case of OTC options
                                              condition that the required transaction                                                                        Trades.
                                                                                                      transactions in a securities customers’
                                              information reported to OCC by the                      account, a unique customer ID for the                     First, providing that nearly all
                                              Exchange or OTC Trade Source first                      customer for whom the trade was                        Confirmed Trades are accepted and
                                              passes OCC’s validation procedures 27                   executed; and (s) in the case of OTC                   novated upon proper submission
                                              and is provided to OCC at such time as                  options, such other variable terms as                  functionally would not change the time
                                              OCC prescribes. This change is intended                                                                        at which OCC becomes obligated
                                                                                                      provided in Section 6 of Article XVII of
                                              to provide a more definitive indication                                                                        regarding such Confirmed Trades
                                                                                                      the By-Laws. In addition, new Rule
                                              of the point after which OCC no longer                                                                         because OCC currently has no right to
                                                                                                      401(a)(1)(ii) would provide that OCC
                                              has authority to reject such transactions                                                                      reject Confirmed Trades, upon proper
                                                                                                      may also request certain optional trade
                                              for clearing.28 Eliminating the concept                                                                        submission, due to the failure of a
                                                                                                      information that is not required as a
                                              of Commencement Time also                                                                                      Purchasing Clearing Member to pay any
                                                                                                      condition for acceptance.30
                                              necessitates deleting the term from the                    For futures transactions, Rule                      amount due to OCC at or before the
                                              defined terms in Article I, Section 1 of                401(a)(2)(i) would be amended to                       settlement time. Second, OCC generally
                                              the By-Laws and replacing all references                                                                       does not collect margin with respect to
                                                                                                      provide that the required terms for
                                              to Commencement Time with references                                                                           such Confirmed Trades until 9:00 a.m.
                                                                                                      acceptance and novation include: (a)
                                              to the time at which OCC accepts a                                                                             Central the following business day.31
                                                                                                      The identity of the Purchasing Clearing
                                              transaction for clearing. To do this, OCC                                                                      OCC, therefore, already faces this same
                                                                                                      Member and the Selling Clearing
                                                 25 As described below under the heading
                                                                                                      Member to the transaction; (b) the                     credit risk between the acceptance of
                                              Reorganization, OCC also proposes to relocate the       clearing date; (c) the transaction time;               the Confirmed Trades and the time that
                                              provisions currently in Article VI, Section 5 of the    (d) the trade source; (e) the trade                    it collects margin from Clearing
                                              By-Laws to Rules 401 and 404.                           quantity; (f) the trade price; (g) the                 Members. Accordingly, OCC does not
                                                 26 OCC notes that upon acceptance and recording
                                                                                                      security type; (h) the ticker symbol; (i)              anticipate that moving the novation
                                              of position information in OCC’s ENCORE clearing
                                              system, Clearing Members have the ability to see        the series/contract date; (j) whether the              time from the general Commencement
                                              the trades they are responsible for via position        trade is a purchase or a sale; (k) the                 Time to earlier in the day as described
                                              information screens in the ENCORE system and            account type; (l) the allocation                       above—at the point of acceptance—
                                              through real-time messaging.
                                                 27 All inbound trades to OCC are subject to coded
                                                                                                      indicator, if applicable; (m) the CMTA                 would alter the credit risk OCC faces
                                              validation of the required fields for trades. These                                                            with respect to such Confirmed Trades.
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                                              fields contain the critical details of the trade,         29 As described in more detail below, OCC            In addition, OCC would continue to
                                              including but not limited to the trade source,          proposes to relocate Article VI, Sections 5 and 6 to   have the same authority that it does
                                              symbol, expiration, strike, call or put, quantity,      Rules 401, 404, and 405 to help streamline and
                                              price, and Clearing Member details of both sides of     reorganize provisions addressing trade reporting
                                                                                                                                                             today to address any credit risk as
                                              the trade.                                              and novation.
                                                 28 As described above, an Exchange or OTC Trade        30 OCC makes available to its participant              31 See Article I, Section 1.S.(16) of the By-Laws

                                              Source would continue to have the authority to          Exchanges and Clearing Members the complete list       (defining the term ‘‘settlement time’’ in respect of
                                              instruct OCC to disregard a Confirmed Trade. See        of required and optional trade information in an       a Clearing Member’s obligation to pay amounts
                                              supra 10.                                               inbound reference guide for Exchange trades.           owed to OCC).



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                                              25090                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 105 / Thursday, May 31, 2018 / Notices

                                              necessary through intra-day margin                      a Clearing Member defaults on the                      Hedge Loans and Market Loans
                                              collection.32                                           related settlement obligations.35                         In addition to its clearance and
                                                 Further, OCC believes that it would be                 As proposed, an exception to the                     settlement of Confirmed Trades, OCC
                                              appropriate to also apply the uniform                   uniform acceptance and novation timing                 also acts as a CCP for certain stock
                                              acceptance and novation time to OTC                     also would be made for Confirmed
                                                                                                                                                             lending transactions that are part of its
                                              Options that are not Backloaded OTC                     Trades that are Backloaded OTC
                                                                                                                                                             Stock Loan/Hedge Program and Market
                                              Options. OTC Options currently are                      Options, which are defined as OTC
                                                                                                                                                             Loan Program. OCC proposed to amend
                                              subject to an alternative Commencement                  Options for which the premium
                                                                                                                                                             its rules for both programs to better
                                              Time, designated for OTC Options that                   payment date is prior to the business
                                                                                                                                                             describe its process for accepting Hedge
                                              are not Backloaded OTC Options as the                   day on which the transaction is
                                                                                                                                                             Loans and Market Loans and to
                                              time when a report of OCC’s acceptance                  submitted to OCC for clearing.36 OCC
                                                                                                                                                             appropriately harmonize certain
                                              is made available to Clearing Members                   believes that an exception for
                                                                                                                                                             provisions governing each type of Stock
                                              through OCC’s clearing system.33 In                     Backloaded OTC Options remains
                                                                                                                                                             Loan.37
                                              practice, OCC automatically makes a                     necessary because their ‘‘backloaded’’
                                                                                                                                                                Stock Loan/Hedge Loan Program.
                                              report of its acceptance of such OTC                    nature means that the premium
                                                                                                                                                             Hedge Loans are initiated as stock
                                              Options available to Clearing Members                   payment has already been made.
                                                                                                                                                             lending transactions that are negotiated
                                              in its clearing system, provided the OTC                Backloaded OTC Options also are
                                                                                                                                                             and settled between Clearing Members
                                              Option is properly reported to OCC, the                 subject to being non-competitively
                                                                                                                                                             at The Depository Trust Company
                                              contract passes OCC’s validation                        executed and therefore present the same
                                              process, and the contract is not rejected,              heightened settlement default risk                     (‘‘DTC’’) before they are reported to
                                              all of which generally is completed                     regarding other non-competitively                      OCC. Rule 2202(b) provides that OCC
                                              immediately upon submission of the                      executed transactions discussed above.                 must generally accept these stock
                                              contract to OCC.34 This is consistent                   In addition, because OCC is not able to                lending transactions upon receipt of a
                                              with the new uniform approach OCC                       immediately validate a Backloaded OTC                  report from DTC that shows a completed
                                              proposed, which would deem nearly all                   Options transaction or check its price                 transaction.38 However, OCC may reject
                                              Confirmed Trades to be accepted and                     reasonability upon submission, OCC                     a transaction if it determines that it is:
                                              simultaneously novated when they are                    believes that it remains appropriate to                (1) Not in accordance with OCC’s By-
                                              reported to OCC and the related position                continue its existing practice of delaying             Laws or Rules; (2) one or both account
                                              information has been recorded in OCC’s                  acceptance and novation for these                      numbers specified are invalid for Hedge
                                              clearing system, which occurs on a real-                contracts until the selling Clearing                   Loans; or (3) the information provided
                                              time basis. Accordingly, OCC believes                   Member has met its regular morning                     by DTC contains errors or omissions.
                                              there is no operational, risk                           settlement obligations on the business                 Moreover, Rule 2202(b) provides that if
                                              management, or other reason to exclude                  day following trade reporting.                         OCC does not affirmatively reject a
                                              OTC Options that are not Backloaded                                                                            reported transaction by such a time as
                                                                                                      Provisional Information Regarding                      OCC is authorized to specify from time
                                              OTC Options from the proposed                           Confirmed Trades
                                              uniform acceptance and novation                                                                                to time then the transaction is deemed
                                              timing.                                                   OCC proposed that its acceptance and                 accepted as a Hedge Loan. Upon
                                                                                                      novation time would no longer be tied                  acceptance, OCC becomes the lender to
                                              Proposed Exceptions to the Uniform                      to publication of a Daily Position                     the Borrowing Clearing Member and the
                                              Acceptance and Novation Timing                          Report, given that OCC’s acceptance of                 borrower to the Lending Clearing
                                                 For other categories of Confirmed                    a Confirmed Trade would instead be                     Member. Although OCC has discretion
                                              Trades that currently are not subject to                reflected in the position information                  during each business day to make
                                              the general definition of                               that OCC makes available to Clearing                   provisional information available to
                                              Commencement Time (i.e., Confirmed                      Members throughout the business day.                   Clearing Members regarding their
                                              Trades in futures issued in exchange-                   Accordingly, OCC proposed to amend                     lending and borrowing activity, only the
                                              for-physical transactions, block trades,                Interpretation and Policy .01 to Rule 501              Stock Loan Mark to Market Activity
                                              or other trades designated as non-                      to: (1) Clarify that OCC makes updated                 Report is recognized as providing
                                              competitively executed), OCC proposed                   position data reflecting accepted and                  definitive Hedge Loan positions.39
                                              to preserve the existing structure under                novated trades available to its Clearing                  OCC proposed to amend Rule 2202(b)
                                              which OCC has authority to reject the                   Members throughout the day; and (2)                    to clarify that OCC receives and accepts
                                              transactions even after they are properly               remove from that provision a statement                 completed transaction information from
                                              submitted for clearing by creating an                   that Clearing Members must rely on the                 DTC throughout the day, and it would
                                              exception to the uniform acceptance                     Daily Position Report for definitive                   delete the statement that a transaction is
                                              and novation timing for such trades.                    information regarding their positions.                 deemed accepted by a particular cut off
                                              OCC believes that delayed novation                                                                             time if OCC does not affirmatively
                                              continues to be appropriate for such                       35 OCC also proposes to add new Interpretation      notify Clearing Members of a rejection.
                                                                                                      and Policy .05 to provide that OCC will not treat      Rule 2202(b) would instead state that
                                              non-competitively executed transactions                 an EFP or block trade as a noncompetitively
                                              because there is a heightened risk that                 executed trade subject to Article XII, Section 7 of
                                                                                                                                                             OCC generally accepts completed
                                              non-competitive execution may cause                     the By-Laws if the Exchange on which such trade        transactions reported to it unless: (1)
                                              them to be effected at off-market prices,               is executed has made representations satisfactory to   OCC is otherwise required to reject a
                                                                                                      OCC that the Exchange has rules, policies or           transaction because it is not in
                                              which could lead to significant losses if               procedures that require each EFP and block trade
                                                                                                                                                             accordance with the By-Laws or Rules;
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                                                                                                      that is submitted to OCC to be executed at a
                                                32 See OCC Rule 609 (addressing OCC’s authority
                                                                                                      reasonable price and that such price is validated by
                                              to require intra-day margin).                           the Exchange. This new Interpretation and Policy         37 See  OCC Rules 2202(b); 2202A(b), (c).
                                                33 Article VI, Section 5 of the By-Laws.              to Rule 401 would reiterate current Interpretation       38 OCC   is not obligated to accept the stock lending
                                                34 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 68434      and Policy .04 to Article XII, Section 7 of the By-    transactions of a Clearing Member that has been
                                              (December 14, 2012), 77 FR 75243 (December 19,          Laws to provide additional clarity in the Rules        suspended by DTC. See OCC Rule 2210(a). The
                                              2012) (SR–OCC–2012–14 and AN–OCC–2012–01)               around the acceptance and novation time for            same condition applies regarding Market Loans. See
                                              (discussing the trade submission mechanics for          competitively executed EFPs and block trades.          OCC Rule 2210A(a).
                                              OTC Options).                                              36 See Article I, Section 1.B.(1) of the By-Laws.      39 See Rule 2202, Interpretation and Policy .01.




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                                                                            Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 105 / Thursday, May 31, 2018 / Notices                                                 25091

                                              (2) one or both account numbers                         OCC also proposed to consolidate                      to delayed novation. OCC therefore
                                              specified are invalid; or (3) the                       certain provisions in Chapter IV of the               believes that eliminating the rules
                                              information provided contains                           Rules to eliminate redundancy. These                  governing these products at this time
                                              unresolved errors or omissions. OCC                     proposed organizational changes are                   would avoid confusion and enhance
                                              believes that these changes will help                   summarized below.                                     clarity regarding OCC’s proposed
                                              clarify the time at which Hedge Loans                      OCC would relocate Article VI,                     uniform approach to trade acceptance
                                              are accepted and the specific                           Section 4 of OCC’s By-Laws regarding a                and novation timing. Consequently,
                                              circumstances in which Hedge Loans                      Purchasing Clearing Member’s                          OCC proposed to delete Articles XX and
                                              will be rejected. As discussed more fully               obligations with respect to a Confirmed               XXIII of its By-Laws, which governs
                                              below, the change also would ensure                     Trade, without amendment, to a new                    cross-rate foreign currency options, and
                                              consistency between parallel provisions                 Rule 403. As described above, OCC                     Chapters XXI and XXIV of its Rules,
                                              in the Stock Loan/Hedge Program and                     would amend Article VI, Section 5 of                  which govern flexibly-structured index
                                              Market Loan Program regarding the                       the By-Laws regarding OCC’s                           options denominated in a foreign
                                              initiation process, which OCC believes                  obligations with respect to a Confirmed               currency. Additionally, OCC proposed
                                              should apply equally across both                        Trade, and it would be incorporated                   to eliminate all other references to such
                                              programs. Finally, a reference to the                   into existing Rule 401 and new Rule                   products throughout its By-Laws and
                                              Stock Loan Mark to Market Activity                      404. As described above, OCC would                    Rules, including in Section 1(d) of
                                              Report being the only definitive                        amend Article VI, Section 6 of the By-                Article V, and Interpretation and Policy
                                              statement of positions would be deleted                 Laws regarding the issuance of cleared                .03 to Section 1 of Article V of the By-
                                              because Hedge Loan positions would be                   contracts, and it would be relocated to               Laws and Rules 607, 1107(a)(3) and
                                              definitive upon acceptance in OCC’s                     a new Rule 405. OCC would relocate                    1107(a)(4), as well as in the definitions
                                              clearing system.                                        Article VI, Section 7 of the By-Laws                  of Option Contract, Trading Currency,
                                                 Market Loan Program. In connection                   regarding the reporting of confirmed                  and Underlying Currency in Article I of
                                              with the Market Loan Program initiation                 trades incorporate it into Rule 401. More             the By-Laws.
                                              process, DTC also sends information to                  specifically, Article VI, Section 7(b) of                OCC also proposed to delete Rule 402
                                              OCC regarding completed stock lending                   the By-Laws would become Rule 401(e),                 concerning the supplementary reporting
                                              transactions. Rule 2202A(b) provides                    Section 7(c) would become Rule 401(f),                of Confirmed Trades. Rule 402 grants
                                              that, upon OCC’s receipt of an end of                   and Interpretation and Policy .01 to                  OCC the discretion to, in certain
                                              day stock loan activity file from DTC,                  Section 7 would become Interpretation                 extraordinary circumstances, accept
                                              OCC must accept the transactions as                     and Policy .03 to Rule 401. As described              from an Exchange after the cut-off time
                                              Market Loans unless it is required to                   above, OCC would amend Article VI,                    for receiving Confirmed Trade
                                              reject them for the same reasons                        Section 8 of the By-Laws regarding                    information for a particular business
                                              described above concerning Hedge                        payments made to OCC and relocate it                  day (‘‘trade date’’), supplementary
                                              Loans. The Rule further provides that,                  to new Rule 406. To accommodate these                 Confirmed Trade information reflecting
                                              upon OCC’s affirmative acceptance,                      new rules in Chapter IV, current Rule                 the comparison of additional trades
                                              OCC becomes the lender to the                           403 would be renumbered as 407, and                   executed on or before the trade date that
                                              Borrowing Clearing Member and the                       current Rule 405 would be renumbered                  remained unconfirmed at the cut-off
                                              borrower to the Lending Clearing                        as Rule 408. Cross-references also would              time. Rule 402 was adopted at a time
                                              Member.                                                 be updated to reflect this renumbering                when OCC received matched trade
                                                 As with the proposed changes to the                  throughout Chapter IV of the Rules, as
                                                                                                                                                            information from Exchanges for a given
                                              Stock Loan Hedge Program, OCC                           well as in Article I, Section 1.G.(3) and
                                                                                                                                                            trade date in a single batch submission
                                              proposed to clarify that OCC receives                   (4), Article VI, Section 2, and Article
                                              and accepts completed transaction                                                                             after the close of the trading day.40
                                                                                                      XVII, Sections 2(a) and 2(c)(1) of the By-
                                              information from DTC throughout the                                                                           Under this old process, trades that
                                                                                                      Laws, and Rules 504(e), 504(g), and
                                              day. OCC also proposed to delete a                                                                            remained unmatched when an Exchange
                                                                                                      611(a).
                                              reference to affirmative acceptance in                     Additionally, to create a more                     prepared its nightly trade tape to OCC
                                              Rule 2202A(b) because the other                         centralized trade reporting rule, OCC                 were omitted from the tape and, if a
                                              proposed changes would clarify that                     proposed to delete existing Rule 404                  trade was subsequently matched, the
                                              acceptance will generally take place                    regarding the reporting of confirmed                  Exchange reported the trade to OCC the
                                              automatically unless OCC is specifically                trades in OTC Options and to                          following night to be processed as if it
                                              required to reject transactions due to the              incorporate its substance into Rule 401.              had not been executed until the date
                                              deficiencies described above. A                         This would require the addition of                    when it was reported. OCC adopted
                                              conforming change also would be made                    references to OTC Trade Sources in Rule               Rule 402 to accommodate the late
                                              in this regard in Rule 2202A(c).                        401(a) and (b), and the merger of                     submission of trades that had not been
                                              References to the definitive nature of the              language from Rule 404(b) into Rule                   matched in time to be submitted on the
                                              Stock Loan Mark to Market Activity                      401(b) and from Rule 404(c) into Rule                 Exchange’s original trade tape, thereby
                                              Report would be deleted for the same                    401(d).                                               allowing those trades to be processed as
                                              reasons described above regarding                                                                             if they were submitted on their original
                                                                                                      Elimination of Dormant Products and                   trade date. OCC proposed to delete Rule
                                              Hedge Loans.
                                                                                                      Rules                                                 402 because it is no longer applicable to
                                              Streamlining and Reorganization                            OCC no longer clears and settles                   OCC’s current clearing processes,
                                                 As part of its continued effort to                   cross-rate foreign currency options and               whereby OCC continuously receives
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                                              streamline its By-Laws and Rules, OCC                   flexibly-structured index options                     matched trade information from
                                              proposed to relocate certain provisions                 denominated in a foreign currency.                    Exchanges on a real-time basis.
                                              from Article VI, Sections 4 through 8 of                Accordingly, OCC proposed to delete
                                                                                                                                                              40 See Filing and Order Granting Accelerated
                                              the By-Laws to Chapter IV of the Rules.                 certain provisions from its By-Laws and
                                                                                                                                                            Approval of Proposed Rule Change of Options
                                              This change would promote a                             Rules that only apply to such products.               Clearing Corporation, Securities Exchange Act
                                              centralized location for provisions that                When OCC still actively cleared and                   Release No. 21233 (August 10, 1984) (SR–OCC–84–
                                              address trade reporting and novation.                   settled these products they were subject              12).



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                                              25092                         Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 105 / Thursday, May 31, 2018 / Notices

                                              II. Discussion and Commission                           multiple different definitions and                     confusion and ambiguity, and therefore
                                              Findings                                                provisions in various locations                        allow the provisions to be more easily
                                                 Section 19(b)(2)(C) of the Act directs               throughout OCC’s By-Laws and Rules to                  understood. For example, enumerating
                                              the Commission to approve a proposed                    identify the different times at which                  the trade information required to be
                                              rule change of a self-regulatory                        acceptance and novation occurs for                     submitted by participant Exchanges to
                                              organization if it finds that such                      different transactions, users and other                OCC for options and futures
                                              proposed rule change is consistent with                 interested parties will be able to refer to            transactions would allow for greater
                                              the requirements of the Act and the                     more uniform approach set forth in a                   clarity of the information required and
                                              rules and regulations thereunder                        single chapter of OCC’s Rules. This, in                that may be requested by OCC.
                                              applicable to such organization.41 After                turn, will help avoid potential                        Similarly, by better describing the
                                              carefully considering the proposed rule                 confusion and ambiguity. Accordingly,                  process by which Hedge Loans and
                                              change, the Commission believes that                    the Commission believes that, taken                    Market Loans are accepted, OCC would
                                              the proposed rule change is consistent                  together, these changes will help foster               harmonize the relevant provisions of its
                                              with the requirements of the Act and the                cooperation and coordination with                      Rulebook governing each type of Stock
                                              rules and regulations thereunder                        persons engaged in the clearance and                   Loan. In addition, the Commission
                                              applicable to OCC. More specifically,                   settlement of securities transactions,                 believes eliminating provisions related
                                              the Commission believes that the                        promote the prompt and accurate                        to processes no longer supported by
                                              proposal is consistent with Section                     clearance and settlement of securities                 OCC and dormant products that are no
                                              17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act 42 and Rule                     and derivatives transactions, and, in                  longer cleared and settled by OCC
                                              17Ad–22(e)(1) under the Act.43                          general, protect investors and the public              would improve the clarity and
                                                                                                      interest consistent with Section                       transparency of its By-Laws and Rules.
                                              A. Consistency With Section                             17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act.45                             Accordingly, the Commission believes
                                              17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act                                                                                        that the changes proposed in the
                                                                                                      B. Consistency with Rule 17Ad–22(e)(1)
                                                 Section 17A(b)(3)(F) of the Act 44                                                                          proposed rule change are consistent
                                              requires, among other things, that the                     Rule 17Ad–22(e)(1) 46 requires a                    with Rule 17Ad–22(e)(1) under the
                                              rules of a clearing agency be designed to               covered clearing agency to establish,                  Act.47
                                              foster cooperation and coordination                     implement, maintain and enforce
                                                                                                      written policies and procedures                        III. Solicitation of Comments on
                                              with persons engaged in the clearance                                                                          Amendment No. 1
                                              and settlement of securities                            reasonably designed to provide for a
                                              transactions, promote the prompt and                    well-founded, clear, transparent and                      Interested persons are invited to
                                              accurate clearance and settlement of                    enforceable legal basis for each aspect of             submit written data, views and
                                              securities and derivatives transactions,                its activities in all relevant jurisdictions.          arguments concerning whether
                                              and, in general, protect investors and                  The Commission believes the proposed                   Amendment No. 1, is consistent with
                                              the public interest. As described above,                changes are consistent with Rule 17Ad–                 the Act. Comments may be submitted by
                                              the proposed rule change is intended to                 22(e)(1) for the reasons set forth below.              any of the following methods:
                                              provide a clear and uniform acceptance                     First, by modifying the current
                                                                                                      process so that all Confirmed Trades,                  Electronic Comments
                                              and novation time for nearly all
                                              Confirmed Trades and to clarify the                     subject to limited exceptions, would be                  • Use the Commission’s internet
                                              acceptance and novation timing                          deemed accepted and simultaneously                     comment form (http://www.sec.gov/
                                              regarding Stock Loans by specifying the                 novated when they are reported to OCC                  rules/sro.shtml); or
                                              time at which novation occurs and                       and the related position information has                 • Send an email to rule-comments@
                                              when Confirmed Trades and Stock                         been recorded in OCC’s clearing system,                sec.gov. Please include File Number SR–
                                              Loans may no longer be rejected by                      the proposed rule change would provide                 OCC–2018–007 on the subject line.
                                              OCC. Under the proposed uniform                         a clear and uniform time regarding                     Paper Comments
                                              acceptance time, OCC would deem                         OCC’s acceptance and novation for
                                                                                                      nearly all Confirmed Trades and clarify                  • Send paper comments in triplicate
                                              nearly all Confirmed Trades to be                                                                              to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
                                              accepted and simultaneously novated                     OCC’s acceptance and novation process
                                                                                                      regarding Stock Loans. The Commission                  Commission, 100 F Street NE,
                                              when they are reported to OCC,                                                                                 Washington, DC 20549–1090.
                                              provided that the transaction                           believes this would bring clarity and
                                              information reported to OCC passes                      transparency to OCC’s By-Laws and                      All submissions should refer to File
                                              OCC’s validation procedures and is                      Rulebook and help simplify the process                 Number SR–OCC–2018–007. This file
                                              provided to OCC at such time as OCC’s                   of reporting transactions, acceptance,                 number should be included on the
                                              rules prescribe. In addition, the                       and novation, which in turn will help                  subject line if email is used. To help the
                                              proposed rule change would eliminate                    ensure that OCC has a well-founded,                    Commission process and review your
                                              certain dormant rules no longer                         clear, transparent, and enforceable legal              comments more efficiently, please use
                                              applicable to OCC’s clearance and                       basis regarding the rights and                         only one method. The Commission will
                                              settlement services and processes.                      obligations of OCC and Clearing                        post all comments on the Commission’s
                                                 The Commission believes that these                   Members regarding Confirmed Trades,                    internet website (http://www.sec.gov/
                                              changes would provide greater clarity                   consistent with Rule 17Ad–22(e)(1).                    rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
                                              and transparency to Clearing Members,                      Second, the Commission believes that                submission, all subsequent
                                              other users of OCC, and the general                     the streamlining and reorganizing all of               amendments, all written statements
                                              public regarding OCC’s processes for the                the provisions concerning transaction                  with respect to the proposed rule
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                                              reporting of transactions, acceptance,                  reporting, acceptance, and novation and                change that are filed with the
                                              and novation. Instead of parsing through                consolidating them in Chapter IV of the                Commission, and all written
                                                                                                      Rules would promote consistency and                    communications relating to the
                                                41 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(C).                            readability and help avoid potential                   proposed rule change between the
                                                42 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F).                                                                                 Commission and any person, other than
                                                43 17 CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(1).                           45 Id.
                                                44 15 U.S.C. 78q–1(b)(3)(F).                           46 17    CFR 240.17Ad–22(e)(1).                         47 Id.




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                                                                            Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 105 / Thursday, May 31, 2018 / Notices                                                    25093

                                              those that may be withheld from the                       For the Commission, by the Division of              the places specified in Item IV below.
                                              public in accordance with the                           Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated            The Exchange has prepared summaries,
                                              provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be                     authority.51                                          set forth in sections A, B, and C below,
                                              available for website viewing and                       Eduardo A. Aleman,                                    of the most significant parts of such
                                              printing in the Commission’s Public                     Assistant Secretary.                                  statements.
                                              Reference Room, 100 F Street NE,                        [FR Doc. 2018–11611 Filed 5–30–18; 8:45 am]
                                                                                                                                                            A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
                                              Washington, DC 20549, on official                       BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
                                                                                                                                                            Statement of the Purpose of, and the
                                              business days between the hours of                                                                            Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
                                              10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of such                                                                       Change
                                              filing also will be available for                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
                                              inspection and copying at the principal                 COMMISSION                                            1. Purpose
                                              office of OCC and on OCC’s website at                   [Release No. 34–83320; File No. SR–                      The Commission has approved the
                                              https://www.theocc.com/about/                           NYSEArca–2018–35]                                     listing and trading on the Exchange of
                                              publications/bylaws.jsp.                                                                                      shares (‘‘Shares’’) of the Fund, under
                                                 All comments received will be posted                 Self-Regulatory Organizations; NYSE                   NYSE Arca Rule 8.600–E(j)(3) (formerly
                                              without change. Persons submitting                      Arca, Inc.; Notice of Filing and                      NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600), which
                                              comments are cautioned that we do not                   Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed                   governs the listing and trading of
                                              redact or edit personal identifying                     Rule Change Relating to the Peritus                   Managed Fund Shares.4 The Fund’s
                                              information from comment submissions.                   High Yield ETF                                        Shares are currently listed and traded
                                              You should submit only information                                                                            on the Exchange under NYSE Arca Rule
                                                                                                      May 24, 2018
                                              that you wish to make available                                                                               8.600–E.5 The Shares are offered by
                                                                                                         Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) 1 of the              AdvisorShares Trust (‘‘Trust’’).6
                                              publicly.                                               Securities Exchange Act of 1934
                                                 All submissions should refer to File                 (‘‘Act’’) 2 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,3                  4 A Managed Fund Share is a security that

                                              Number SR–OCC–2018–007 and should                       notice is hereby given that, on May 14,               represents an interest in an investment company
                                              be submitted on or before June 15, 2018.                2018, NYSE Arca, Inc. (‘‘Exchange’’ or                registered under the Investment Company Act of
                                                                                                      ‘‘NYSE Arca’’) filed with the Securities              1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1) (the ‘‘1940 Act’’) organized
                                              IV. Approval of Proposed Rule Change,                                                                         as an open-end investment company or similar
                                                                                                      and Exchange Commission                               entity that invests in a portfolio of securities
                                              as Modified by Amendment No. 1                          (‘‘Commission’’) the proposed rule                    selected by its investment adviser consistent with
                                                As discussed above, OCC submitted                     change as described in Items I and II                 its investment objectives and policies. In contrast,
                                                                                                      below, which Items have been prepared                 an open-end investment company that issues
                                              Amendment No. 1 to accurately reflect                                                                         Investment Company Units, listed and traded on
                                                                                                      by the self-regulatory organization. The              the Exchange under NYSE Arca Rule 5.2–E(j)(3),
                                              existing Rule 2202(c), which would not
                                                                                                      Commission is publishing this notice to               seeks to provide investment results that correspond
                                              be affected by the proposed rule change.
                                                                                                      solicit comments on the proposed rule                 generally to the price and yield performance of a
                                              The Commission believes that                                                                                  specific foreign or domestic stock index, fixed
                                                                                                      change from interested persons.
                                              Amendment No. 1 does not raise any                                                                            income securities index or combination thereof.
                                              novel issues or alter the proposed                      I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                        5 The Commission previously approved the

                                              changes in any way. In addition, the                    Statement of the Terms of Substance of                listing and trading of the Shares of the Fund. See
                                                                                                                                                            Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 63329
                                              Commission finds that the proposed                      the Proposed Rule Change                              (November 17, 2010), 75 FR 71260 (November 24,
                                              rule change, as modified by Amendment                      The Exchange proposes to change                    2010) (SR–NYSEArca–2010–86) (Order Granting
                                              No. 1, is consistent with Act and                                                                             Approval of Proposed Rule Change Relating to the
                                                                                                      certain representations made in the                   Listing and Trading of Shares of the Peritus High
                                              applicable rules thereunder for the                     respective proposed rule changes                      Yield ETF) (‘‘Approval Order’’); 63041 (October 5,
                                              reasons discussed above. Accordingly,                   previously filed with the Commission                  2010), 75 FR 62905 (October 13, 2010) (SR–
                                              the Commission finds good cause to                      pursuant to Rule 19b-4 relating to the                NYSEArca-2010–86) (Notice of Filing of Proposed
                                              approve the proposed rule change, as                                                                          Rule Change Relating to the Listing and Trading of
                                                                                                      Peritus High Yield ETF (the ‘‘Fund’’).                Shares of the Peritus High Yield ETF) (‘‘Notice’’).
                                              modified by Amendment No. 1 pursuant                    Shares of the Fund are currently listed               The Exchange subsequently filed with the
                                              to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act.48                       and traded on the Exchange under                      Commission several proposed rule changes relating
                                                                                                      NYSE Arca Rule 8.600–E. The proposed                  to changes in the Fund’s holdings. See Securities
                                              V. Conclusion                                                                                                 Exchange Act Release Nos. 66818 (April 17, 2012),
                                                                                                      rule change is available on the                       77 FR 24233 (April 23, 2012) (SR–NYSEArca–2012–
                                                On the basis of the foregoing, the                    Exchange’s website at www.nyse.com, at                33) (Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of
                                              Commission finds that the proposed                      the principal office of the Exchange, and             Proposed Rule Change relating to the Peritus High
                                                                                                      at the Commission’s Public Reference                  Yield ETF); 70284 (August 29, 2013), 78 FR 54715
                                              rule change, as modified by Amendment                                                                         (September 5, 2013) (SR–NYSEArca–2013–83)
                                              No. 1, is consistent with the                           Room.                                                 (Notice of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness of
                                              requirements of the Act, in particular                  II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s                    Proposed Rule Change Relating to Investments in
                                              with the requirements of Section 17A of                                                                       Leveraged Loans by the Peritus High Yield ETF);
                                                                                                      Statement of the Purpose of, and                      72433 (June 19, 2014), 79 FR 36114 (June 25, 2014)
                                              the Act 49 and Rule 17Ad–22(e)(1)                       Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule                (SR–NYSEArca–2014–69) (Notice of Filing and
                                              thereunder.                                             Change                                                Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change
                                                It is therefore ordered, pursuant to                                                                        Relating to Holdings in Equity Securities by the
                                                                                                        In its filing with the Commission, the              Peritus High Yield ETF); 73181 (September 23,
                                              Section 19(b)(2) 50 of the Act, that the                self-regulatory organization included                 2014), 79 FR 58001 (September 26, 2014) (SR–
                                              proposed rule change (SR–OCC–2018–                      statements concerning the purpose of,                 NYSEArca–2014–103) (Notice of Filing and
                                              007) be, and it hereby is, approved.                    and basis for, the proposed rule change
                                                                                                                                                            Immediate Effectiveness of Proposed Rule Change
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                                                                                                                                                            Relating to an Increase in the Number of Securities
                                                                                                      and discussed any comments it received                Held by the Peritus High Yield ETF). (The Approval
                                                48 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
                                                                                                      on the proposed rule change. The text                 Order, Notice and other proposed rule changes
                                                49 Inapproving this proposed rule change, the                                                               referenced above are referred to collectively herein
                                              Commission has considered the proposed rule’s           of those statements may be examined at                as the ‘‘Releases’’).
                                              impact on efficiency, competition, and capital                                                                   6 The Trust is registered under the 1940 Act. On
                                              formation. See 15 U.S.C. 78c(f).                          1 15 U.S.C.78s(b)(1).                               November 1, 2017, the Trust filed with the
                                                50 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).                                 2 15 U.S.C. 78a.                                    Commission an amendment to its registration
                                                51 17 CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).                              3 17 CFR 240.19b–4.                                                                            Continued




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Document Created: 2018-05-31 00:49:00
Document Modified: 2018-05-31 00:49:00
CategoryRegulatory Information
CollectionFederal Register
sudoc ClassAE 2.7:
GS 4.107:
AE 2.106:
PublisherOffice of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
SectionNotices
FR Citation83 FR 25087 

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