Self-Regulatory Organizations; Notice of Filing of Proposed Rule Change by the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. Amending the Exchange's Automatic Execution Facility (NYSE Direct+)

Pursuant to section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Act”), and Rule 19b-4 thereunder, notice is hereby given that on November 1, 2002, the New York Stock Exchange, Inc. (“NYSE” or “Exchange”) filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“Commission”) the proposed rule change as described in Items I, II and III below, which Items have been prepared by the NYSE. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.

I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change

The proposed rule change consists of amendments to Exchange Rules governing NYSE Direct+® (“NYSE Direct +”). The rule amendments propose to amend NYSE Rule 1005 to permit entry of limit orders up to 1,099 shares within 30 seconds for an account in which the same person has an interest, provided that the orders are entered from different terminals and that the member or member organization responsible for the entry of the orders to the trading floor (“Floor”) has procedures to monitor compliance with the separate terminal requirement. Below is the text of the proposed rule change. Proposed new text is italicized and proposed deleted text is [bracketed].

Rule 1005 An auto ex order for any account in which the same person is directly or indirectly interested may only be entered at intervals of no less than 30 seconds between entry of each such order in a stock[.], unless the orders are entered by means of separate order entry terminals, and the member or member organization responsible for entry of the orders to the Floor has procedures in place to monitor compliance with the separate terminal requirement.

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 NYSE included statements concerning the purpose of and basis for the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below and is set forth in Sections A, B, and C below.

A. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change

1. Purpose

The NYSE Direct+ pilot provides for the automatic execution of limit orders of 1099 shares or less (known as an “NX order” or auto ex order) against trading interest reflected in the Exchange's published quotation. It is not mandatory that all limit orders of 1099 shares be entered as NX orders; rather, the member organization entering the order, or its customer if enabled by the member organization, can choose to enter an NX order when such member organization (or customer) believes that the speed and certainty of an execution at the Exchange's published bid or offer price is in its customer's best interest.

An order placed in NYSE Direct+ is executed when the limit price is equal to or better than the published bid or offer. If an order placed in NYSE Direct+ is not executed, it is placed on the specialist's book for representation in the market at its limit price.

NYSE Rule 1005 provides that an NX order for any account in which the same person is directly or indirectly interested may only be entered at intervals of no less than 30 seconds between entry of each such order. The restriction against the same customer entering an order within 30 seconds focuses on the identity of the ultimate beneficial owner of an account. Thus, an order cannot be entered for the same beneficial owner within 30 seconds. The purpose of this restriction is to limit the ability of a trader to circumvent the restriction on order size by breaking a large order into smaller components and repetitively entering them to exhaust liquidity at the published bid or offer price. The restriction in NYSE Rule 1005 applies across an entire firm, even if separate traders are making independent decisions with respect to an account in which the firm has an interest.

The Exchange is proposing to amend NYSE Rule 1005 to permit entry of NX orders within 30 seconds for an account in which the same person has an interest, provided that the orders are entered from different terminals and that the member or member organization responsible for the entry of the orders to the Floor has procedures to monitor compliance with the separate terminal requirement. Such procedures, at a minimum, would require member organization compliance departments to review patterns of order entry from individual terminals on a periodic basis to ensure compliance with the 30 second requirement. The Exchange will include compliance with NYSE Rule 1005 in its examination scope when conducting its periodic examinations of member organizations. This amendment is not inconsistent with the original intent of Rule 1005 to preclude the intentional breaking up of large size orders to circumvent the 1099 NX order size limitation because orders are typically entered by traders who are independent decision makers and who operate from his or her own discrete order entry terminal. Thus, as a practical matter, the Exchange believes that the proposed amendment to NYSE Rule 1005 cannot reasonably be expected to facilitate the ability of any individual trader to break up large orders at less than 30 second intervals to circumvent the 1099 share size limitation for NX orders.

2. Statutory Basis

The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change is consistent with section 6(b)(5), which requires an Exchange to have rules that are designed to promote just and equitable principles of trade, to remove impediments to and perfect the mechanism of a free and open market and a national market system and, in general, to protect investors and the public interest. The Exchange also believes that the proposed rule change is designed to support the principles of section 11A(a)(1) of the Act in that it seeks to assure economically efficient execution of securities transactions, make it practicable for brokers to execute investors' orders in the best market, and provide an opportunity for investors' orders to be executed without the participation of a dealer.

B. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement on Burden on Competition

The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any burden on competition that is 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 has neither solicited nor received written comments on the proposed rule change.

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 NYSE consents, the Commission will:

(A) by order approve the 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 proposal is consistent with the Act. Persons making written submissions should file six copies thereof with the Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street NW., Washington, DC 20549-0609. Copies of the submission, all subsequent amendments, all written statements with respect to the proposed rule change that are filed with the Commission, and all written communications relating to the proposed rule change between the Commission and any person, other than those that may be withheld from the public in accordance with the provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be available for inspection and copying in the Commission's Public Reference Room. Copies of such filing will also be available for inspection and copying at the principal office of the NYSE. All submissions should refer to File No. SR-NYSE-2002-58 and should be submitted by December 31, 2002.

For the Commission, by the Division of Market Regulation, pursuant to delegated Authority.