Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Act”) and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, notice is hereby given that on February 8, 2010, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, Incorporated (“Exchange” or “CBOE”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II, and III below, which Items have been prepared by the Exchange. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
17 CFR 240.19b-4.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change
CBOE proposes to amend certain rules to enable the listing and trading on the Exchange of options on the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust. The text of the rule proposal is available on the Exchange's Web site ( http://www.cboe.org/legal ), at the Exchange's Office of the Secretary and at the Commission.
II. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of those statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant parts of such statements.
A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
Recently, the Commission authorized CBOE to list and trade options on the SPDR Gold Trust, the iShares COMEX Gold Trust, the iShares Silver Trust, the ETFS Silver Trust and the ETFS Gold Trust. Now, the Exchange proposes to list and trade options on the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust.
See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 57897 (May 30, 2008), 73 FR 32061 (June 5, 2008) (order approving SR-CBOE-2005-11).
See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 59055 (December 4, 2008), 73 FR 75148 (December 10, 2008) (order approving SR-CBOE-2008-72).
See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 61483 (February 3, 2010) (order approving SR-CBOE-2010-007).
Under current Rule 5.3, only Units (also referred to herein as exchange traded funds (“ETFs”)) representing (i) interests in registered investment companies (or series thereof) organized as open-end management investment companies, unit investment trusts or similar entities that hold portfolios of securities and/or financial instruments including, but not limited to, stock index futures contracts, options on futures, options on securities and indexes, equity caps, collars and floors, swap agreements, forward contracts, repurchase agreements and reverse purchase agreements (the “Financial Instruments”), and money market instruments, including, but not limited to, U.S. government securities and repurchase agreements (the “Money Market Instruments”) comprising or otherwise based on or representing investments in indexes or portfolios of securities and/or Financial Instruments and Money Market Instruments (or that hold securities in one or more other registered investment companies that themselves hold such portfolios of securities and/or Financial Instruments and Money Market Instruments); or (ii) interests in a trust or similar entity that holds a specified non-U.S. currency deposited with the trust or similar entity when aggregated in some specified minimum number may be surrendered to the trust by the beneficial owner to receive the specified non-U.S. currency and pays the beneficial owner interest and other distributions on deposited non-U.S. currency, if any, declared and paid by the trust; or (iii) commodity pool interests principally engaged, directly or indirectly, in holding and/or managing portfolios or baskets of securities, commodity futures contracts, options on commodity futures contracts, swaps, forward contracts and/or options on physical commodities and/or non-U.S. currency (“Commodity Pool Units”), or (iv) represent interests in the streetTRACKS Gold Trust or the iShares COMEX Gold Trust or the iShares Silver Trust or the ETFS Silver Trust or the ETFS Gold Trust or (v) represents an interest in a registered investment company (“Investment Company”) organized as an open-end management investment company or similar entity, that invests in a portfolio of securities selected by the Investment Company's investment adviser consistent with the Investment Company's investment objectives and policies, which is issued in a specified aggregate minimum number in return for a deposit of a specified portfolio of securities and/or a cash amount with a value equal to the next determined net asset value (“NAV”), and when aggregated in the same specified minimum number, may be redeemed at a holder's request, which holder will be paid a specified portfolio of securities and/or cash with a value equal to the next determined NAV (“Managed Fund Share”) are eligible as underlying securities for options traded on the Exchange. This rule change proposes to expand the types of ETFs that may be approved for options trading on the Exchange to include the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust.
See Interpretation and Policy .06 to Rule 5.3.
Apart from allowing the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust to be an underlying for options traded on the Exchange as described above, the listing standards for ETFs will remain unchanged from those that apply under current Exchange rules. ETFs on which options may be listed and traded must still be listed and traded on a national securities exchange and must satisfy the other listing standards set forth in Interpretation and Policy .06 to Rule 5.3.
Specifically, in addition to satisfying the aforementioned listing requirements, Units must meet either (1) the criteria and guidelines under Rule 5.3 and Interpretation and Policy .01 to Rule 5.3, Criteria for Underlying Securities; or (2) they must be available for creation or redemption each business day from or through the issuer in cash or in kind at a price related to net asset value, and the issuer must be obligated to issue Units in a specified aggregate number even if some or all of the investment assets required to be deposited have not been received by the issuer, subject to the condition that the person obligated to deposit the investments has undertaken to deliver the investment assets as soon as possible and such undertaking is secured by the delivery and maintenance of collateral consisting of cash or cash equivalents satisfactory to the issuer, as provided in the respective prospectus.
The Exchange states that the current continued listing standards for options on ETFs will apply to options on the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust. Specifically, under Interpretation and Policy .08 to Rule 5.4, options on Units may be subject to the suspension of opening transactions as follows: (1) Following the initial twelve-month period beginning upon the commencement of trading of the Units, there are fewer than 50 record and/or beneficial holders of the Units for 30 or more consecutive trading days; (2) the value of the index or portfolio of securities, non-U.S. currency, or portfolio of commodities including commodity futures contracts, options on commodity futures contracts, swaps, forward contracts and/or options on physical commodities and/or Financial Instruments and Money Market Instruments on which Units are based is no longer calculated or available; or (3) such other event occurs or condition exists that in the opinion of the Exchange makes further dealing on the Exchange inadvisable.
Additionally, the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust shall not be deemed to meet the requirements for continued approval, and the Exchange shall not open for trading any additional series of option contracts of the class covering the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust, if the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust ceases to be an “NMS stock” as provided for in paragraph (f) of Interpretation and Policy .01 of Rule 5.4 or the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust is halted from trading on its primary market.
The addition of the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust to Interpretation and Policy .06 to Rule 5.3 will not have any effect on the rules pertaining to position and exercise limits or margin.
See Rules 4.11, Position Limits, and 4.12, Exercise Limits.
See Rule 12.3, Margin Requirements.
The Exchange represents that its surveillance procedures applicable to trading in options on the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust will be similar to those applicable to all other options on other Units currently traded on the Exchange. The Exchange represents that its surveillance procedures applicable to trading in options on the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust will be similar to those applicable to all other options on other ETFs currently traded on the Exchange. Also, the Exchange may obtain information from the New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. (“NYMEX”) (a member of the Intermarket Surveillance Group) related to any financial instrument that is based, in whole or in part, upon an interest in or performance of palladium or platinum.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes the proposed rule change is consistent with Section 6(b) of the Act, in general, and furthers the objectives of Section 6(b)(5) in particular in that it is designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices, to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to foster cooperation and coordination with persons engaged in facilitating transactions in securities, and to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanisms of a free and open market in a manner consistent with the protection of investors and the public interest. In particular, the Exchange believes that amending its rules to accommodate the listing and trading of options on the ETFS Palladium Trust and the ETFS Platinum Trust will benefit investors by providing them with valuable risk management tools.
15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition
CBOE does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any burden on competition not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Comments on the Proposed Rule Change Received From Members, Participants or Others
The Exchange neither solicited nor received comments on the proposal.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the Proposed Rule Change and Timing for Commission Action
Within 35 days of the date of publication of this notice in the Federal Register or within such longer period (i) as the Commission may designate up to 90 days of such date if it finds such longer period to be appropriate and publishes its reasons for so finding or (ii) as to which the self-regulatory organization consents, the Commission will:
(A) By order approve such proposed rule change, or
(B) Institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved.
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Electronic Comments
- Use the Commission's Internet comment form ( http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml ); or
- Send an e-mail to rule-comments@sec.gov. Please include File Number SR-CBOE-2010-015 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
- Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to File Number SR-CBOE-2010-015. This file number should be included on the subject line if e-mail is used. To help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently, please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on the Commission's Internet Web site ( http://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml ). Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for Web site viewing and printing in the Commission's Public Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549, on official business days between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. All comments received will be posted without change; the Commission does not edit personal identifying information from submissions. You should submit only information that you wish to make available publicly. All submissions should refer to File Number SR-CBOE-2010-015 and should be submitted on or before April 2, 2010.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-5315 Filed 3-11-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P