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 July 1, 2010, NYSE Arca, Inc. (the “Exchange” or “NYSE Arca”) 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 self-regulatory organization. The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.
15 U.S.C. 78a.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization's Statement of the Terms of Substance of the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to list and trade shares of the Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3). The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange, the Commission's Public Reference Room, and http://www.nyse.com.
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 the Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change
1. Purpose
The Exchange proposes to list and trade the Shares of the Wilshire Micro-Cap ETF (the “Fund”) under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3), the Exchange's listing standards for Investment Company Units (“Units”). The Fund is a series of the Claymore Exchange-Traded Fund Trust.
An Investment Company Unit is a security that represents an interest in a registered investment company that holds securities comprising, or otherwise based on or representing an interest in, an index or portfolio of securities (or holds securities in another registered investment company that holds securities comprising, or otherwise based on or representing an interest in, an index or portfolio of securities). See NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3)(A).
The Fund seeks investment results that correspond generally to the performance, before the Fund's fees and expenses, of the Wilshire US Micro-Cap Index (the “Wilshire Micro-Cap” or the “Index”).
See the Claymore Exchange-Traded Fund Trust's registration statement on Form N-1A, dated May 18, 2010 (File Nos. 333-134551; 811-21906) (“Registration Statement”). Statements herein regarding the Fund, the Shares and the Wilshire US Micro-Cap Index are based on the Registration Statement.
The Exchange is submitting this proposed rule change because the Index for the Fund does not meet all of the “generic” listing requirements of Commentary .01(a)(A) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3) applicable to listing of ICUs based on US indexes. The Index meets all such requirements except for those set forth in Commentary .01(a)(A)(1) and .01(a)(A)(5). Specifically, as of April 21, 2010, 76.93% of the weight of the Index components have a market capitalization greater than $75 million. In addition, as of April 21, 2010, the Index included 201 non-NMS stocks out of a total of approximately 1,564 components in the Index. Thus, non-NMS stocks comprised approximately 12.8% of the number of stocks in the Index. Stocks comprising 97.3% of the weight of the Index were NMS stocks.
Commentary .01(a)(A)(1) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3) provides that component stocks (excluding Units and securities defined in Section 2 of Rule 8, collectively, “Derivative Securities Products”) that in the aggregate account for at least 90% of the weight of the index or portfolio (excluding such Derivative Securities Products) each shall have a minimum market value of at least $75 million.
Commentary .01(a)(A)(5) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3) provides that all securities in the index or portfolio shall be US Component Stocks listed on a national securities exchange and shall be NMS Stocks as defined in Rule 600 of Regulation NMS under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (17 U.S.C. 78a) (“Act”). NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3) defines the term “US Component Stock” as an equity security that is registered under Sections 12(b) or 12(g) of the Act or an American Depositary Receipt, the underlying equity security of which is registered under Sections 12(b) or 12(g) of the Act.
Non-NMS stocks are traded either on the OTC Bulletin Board or the Pink OTC Markets.
According to the Registration Statement, the Fund, using a low cost “passive” or “indexing” investment approach, will seek to replicate, before the Fund's fees and expenses, the performance of the Wilshire Micro-Cap. The Wilshire Micro-Cap is a rules-based index comprised of approximately 1,564 securities of micro-capitalization companies as of March 31, 2010, as defined by Wilshire Associates Incorporated (“Wilshire” or the “Index Provider”). The Wilshire Micro-Cap is designed to represent micro-sized companies and is a subset of the Wilshire 5000 Total Market IndexSM (the “Wilshire 5000”). The Wilshire Micro-Cap represents a float-adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index of the issues ranked below 2500 by market capitalization of the Wilshire 5000.
The Exchange represents that: (1) Except for Commentary .01(a)(A)(1) and .01(a)(A)(5) to NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3), the Shares of the Fund currently satisfy all of the generic listing standards under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3); (2) the continued listing standards under NYSE Arca Equities Rules 5.2(j)(3) and 5.5(g)(2) applicable to Units shall apply to the Shares; and (3) the Trust is required to comply with Rule 10A-3 under the Act for the initial and continued listing of the Shares. In addition, the Exchange represents that the Shares will comply with all other requirements applicable to Units including, but not limited to, requirements relating to the dissemination of key information such as the value of the Index and Intraday Indicative Value, rules governing the trading of equity securities, trading hours, trading halts, surveillance, and Information Bulletin to ETP Holders, as set forth in Exchange rules applicable to Units and prior Commission orders approving the generic listing rules applicable to the listing and trading of Units.
17 CFR 240.10A-3.
See, e.g., Securities Exchange Act Release No. 44551 (July 12, 2001), 66 FR 37716 (July 19, 2001) (SR-PCX-2001-14) (order approving generic listing standards for Units and Portfolio Depositary Receipts); Securities Exchange Act Release No. 41983 (October 6, 1999), 64 FR 56008 (October 15, 1999) (SR-PCX-98-29) (order approving rules for listing and trading of Units).
The Exchange believes that, notwithstanding the fact that the Index does not meet certain generic listing criteria in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 5.2(j)(3), Commentary .01, the Index is sufficiently broad-based, and the Index stocks are sufficiently liquid to deter potential manipulation. As of June 9, 2010, the average market capitalization of Index stocks was $82.52 million, 62.82% of the Index weight was comprised of stocks with a global monthly trading volume of greater than one million shares, and 77.82% of the Index weight was comprised of stocks with a global monthly trading volume of greater than 500,000 shares. The average global monthly trading volume for Index stocks for the period December 2009 through May 2010 ranged from 3.7 million to 9.7 million shares. In addition, as of April 21, 2010, stocks comprising only 2.7% of the Index weight were non-NMS stocks.
Detailed descriptions of the Fund, the Index, procedures for creating and redeeming Shares, transaction fees and expenses, dividends, distributions, taxes, risks, and reports to be distributed to beneficial owners of the Shares can be found in the Registration Statement or on the Web site for the Fund ( http://www.claymore.com ), as applicable.
2. Statutory Basis
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 and a national market system. The Exchange believes that the proposed rule change will facilitate the listing and trading of an additional type of exchange-traded product that will enhance competition among market participants, to the benefit of investors and the marketplace.
15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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
No written comments were solicited or received with respect to 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 self-regulatory organization 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 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-NYSEArca-2010-64 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-NYSEArca-2010-64. 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 such 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-NYSEArca-2010-64 and should be submitted on or before August 5, 2010.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-17192 Filed 7-14-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P