96-12540. Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Depository Trust Company; Order Approving a Proposed Rule Change Implementing the Initial Public Offering Tracking System  

  • [Federal Register Volume 61, Number 98 (Monday, May 20, 1996)]
    [Notices]
    [Pages 25253-25257]
    From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
    [FR Doc No: 96-12540]
    
    
    
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    SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
    [Release No. 34-37208; File No. SR-DTC-95-27]
    
    
    Self-Regulatory Organizations; The Depository Trust Company; 
    Order Approving a Proposed Rule Change Implementing the Initial Public 
    Offering Tracking System
    
    May 13, 1996.
        On January 2, 1996, The Depository Trust Company (``DTC'') filed 
    with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'') a proposed 
    rule change (File No. SR-DTC-95-27) under Section 19(b)(1) of the 
    Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') \1\ seeking to implement the 
    Initial Public Offering (``IPO'') Tracking System. On January 31, 1996, 
    DTC amended the proposed rule change.\2\ Notice of the proposal was 
    published in the Federal Register on March 6, 1996.\3\ On march 7, 
    1996, DTC filed a second amendment to the proposed rule change.\4\ The 
    Commission received one comment letter in response to the filing.\5\ 
    For the reasons discussed below, the Commission is approving the 
    proposed rule change.
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        \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78(b)(1) (1988).
        \2\ Memo from Richard B. Nesson, Executive Vice President and 
    General Counsel, DTC, to Christine Sibille, Commission (January 31, 
    1996).
        \3\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 36897 (February 27, 
    1996), 61 FR 8992.
        \4\ Letter from Richard B. Nesson, Executive Vice President and 
    General Counsel, DTC, to Christine Sibille, Senior Counsel, Division 
    of Market Regulation, Commission (March 4, 1996). The amendment 
    provides that DTC will provide thirty days notice prior to 
    implementing the IPO Tracking System. Because the amendment did not 
    change the substance of the filing, the Commission did not republish 
    the proposed rule change for comment.
        \5\ Letter from Carl H. Hewitt, Managing Director and General 
    Counsel, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg, to Commission (May 3, 1996).
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    I. Description
    
        DTC is implementing its IPO Tracking System to allow lead managers 
    (also referred to as managing underwriters) and syndicate members\6\ of 
    equity underwritings to monitor ``flipping'' \7\ of new issues. 
    Currently, many IPOs are distributed entirely in physical, certificated 
    form outside the depositories so that tracking may be accomplished by 
    using certificate numbers to monitor the movements of the securities. 
    DTC's IPO Tracking System provides a means for lead managers to track 
    IPOs in a book-entry environment and thus eliminates the need to 
    distribute newly underwritten equity securities through the use of 
    physical certificates.
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        \6\ Syndicate members are a group of broker-dealers that agree 
    to purchase a new issue of securities from an issuer under an 
    underwriting agreement. The selling group is a group of broker-
    dealers that market the new issue to the public. Selling group 
    broker-dealers may purchase from a syndicate member or may be a 
    syndicate member.
        \7\ Flipping occurs when a syndicate's lead manager is 
    supporting the IPO with a stabilization bid (i.e., the lead manager 
    is purchasing shares in the secondary market in order to keep the 
    price of the issue from dropping below its initial offering price), 
    and securities of the IPO that had been distributed to investors are 
    sold by those investors in the secondary market and are purchased by 
    a syndicate member. The lead manager may wish to identify flipped 
    transactions so that underwriting concessions (i.e., the discount 
    from the offering price received by syndicate members) can be 
    recovered from the appropriate syndicate members.
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        Currently, securities to be listed on an exchange or quoted through 
    the Nasdaq Stock Market (``Nasdaq'') must be made depository 
    eligible.\8\ Furthermore, the
    
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    NASD and most exchanges have rules which require transactions in 
    depository eligible securities between financial intermediaries and 
    between a financial intermediary and a customer with delivery versus 
    payment privileges to be settled by book entry.\9\ Due to the need to 
    distribute new issues in physical form (i.e., without using book entry 
    movements) for tracking purposes, these rules provide that prior to the 
    availability of a flipping tracking system a managing underwriter can 
    delay the date a security is deemed depository eligible for up to three 
    months after trading has commended in the security. Once a flipping 
    tracking system becomes available, managing underwriters will no longer 
    have the option to delay an issue's depository eligible date and will 
    be unable to distribute Nasdaq quoted or exchange listed new issues in 
    physical certificate form outside the depositories. DTC will provide 
    notice of the IPO Tracking system's availability date at least thirty 
    calendar days prior to its availability.\10\
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        \8\ Under the rules of most national securities exchanges and 
    the National Association of Securities Dealers (``NASD''), in order 
    to be listed for trading on a national securities exchange or to be 
    eligible for inclusion in the Nasdaq and issuer must represent that 
    the CUSIP number identifying the security to be listed of such 
    exchange or to be eligible for inclusion in Nasdaq is included in 
    the file of eligible issues maintained by a securities depository 
    registered as a clearing agency under Section 17A of the Act. E.q., 
    New York Stock Exchange (``NYSE'') Rule 227 and NASD Uniform 
    Practice Code Section 11. Securities Exchange Act Release No. 35798 
    (June 1, 1995), 60 FR 30909.
        \9\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 32455 (June 11, 1993), 
    58 FR 33679. E.g., NYSE Rule 226, NASD By-laws, Schedule D, Part II, 
    Section 1(c)(23) and Uniform Practice Code Section 11.
        \10\ Supra note 3.
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        Under DTC's proposed rule change, the lead manager will be required 
    to notify DTC of its decision to use the IPO Tracking System to track 
    an issue by 4:00 p.m. two days prior to the date of the initial 
    distribution of securities (``closing date''). On the closing date, 
    DTC's underwriting department will place the IPO shares in the IPO 
    control account of the lead manager.\11\ Allocation of these shares by 
    the lead manager depends upon the nature of the ultimate buyer (i.e., 
    retail or institutional).
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        \11\ IPO control accounts are restricted accounts established 
    for DTC participant broker-dealers in which their IPO shares are 
    kept separate from other shares held by the participants and from 
    which limited account movements may be made without a ``flip'' being 
    reported. These unreported movements include: (i) the movement of 
    shares from the lead manager (or comanager when there are shares to 
    be distributed to foreign brokers) to a DTC participant and (ii) the 
    movement of shares from a DTC participant to a custodian for an 
    institution.
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    Retail Trade
    
        For a retail distribution, the lead manager moves the securities 
    from its IPO control account directly to the IPO control account of the 
    selling group broker-dealer for the retail customer.\12\ While broker-
    dealers are not required to provide customer level detail, selling 
    group broker-dealers may populate the IPO database with information for 
    retail accounts (e.g., internal customer identification numbers) either 
    directly into the IPO Tracking System by using the ``Add Customer-Level 
    Detail'' function or into the IPO Tracking System through submissions 
    of daily formatted trade files. Broker-dealers also may change such 
    information using the IPO Customer Level Adjustment function.
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        \12\ Share movements out of the selling group broker-dealer's 
    IPO control account will be reported as a flip.
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        Upon the subsequent sale of a position that was established in the 
    initial distribution, the selling group broker-dealer releases the 
    shares from its IPO control account to its free account by using the 
    IPO release capability through DTC's participant terminal system 
    (``PTS''), computer-to-computer facilities (``CCF''), or main frame 
    dual host (``MDH''). The release instructions must include number of 
    shares, trade date, and price. If the broker-dealer has previously 
    assigned a customer internal account number to the IPO shares, the 
    release instructions must include such number which must match a 
    previously established IPO database entry or the transaction will be 
    rejected. Upon DTC's acceptance of the release instructions, the shares 
    are moved from the broker-dealer's IPO control account to its free 
    account. It is this movement that marks the activity as a flip. All 
    deliveries and Continuous Net Settlement (``CNS'') short positions are 
    satisfied from the participant's free account.
    
    Institutional Trade
    
        For an institutional customer, the lead manager moves the shares 
    from its IPO control account directly into the selling group broker-
    dealer's IPO account at DTC by using an initial distribution deliver 
    order (``DO''). The selling group broker-dealer then distributes the 
    institutional portion of the initial distribution to the institution's 
    custodian, which is either an agent bank or prime broker,\13\ through 
    DTC's Institutional Delivery (``ID'') system or by submitting a DO with 
    an ID agent bank identifier.\14\ The DO or ID confirm will contain the 
    Agent Internal Account (``AIA'') number and the Broker Internal Account 
    (``BIA'') number,\15\ which will be stored in the IPO database.
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        \13\ A prime broker is a broker-dealer that acts as custodian 
    for institutional customers and uses DTC's ID system (i.e., the 
    prime broker acts as an agent bank).
        \14\ Alternatively, the lead manager may deliver directly to the 
    custodian of the selling group member's institutional client. This 
    process is referred to as directed concessions.
        \15\ The AIA number is the internal number used by the custodian 
    to identify the institutional client. The BIA number is the internal 
    account number that the selling group broker-dealer uses to identify 
    the institutional client.
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        Agents banks do not have IPO control accounts; therefore, all 
    activity into and out of the agent banks' free accounts is monitored to 
    keep track of customer purchases and sales. When an ID confirm is 
    generated for a sale in a tracked issue, DTC matches the AIA number on 
    the confirm against the AIA number in the IPO database. A warning 
    message is produced on the confirmation and on the affirmed 
    confirmation when an AIA number does not match any AIA number contained 
    in the IPO database. Similarly, settlement authorization or DO 
    processing is prohibited if a match to an AIA number in the IPO 
    database is not found.\16\ In order to settle the transaction, the 
    agent bank must either change the AIA number in the IPO database using 
    the IPO Customer-Level Adjustment function or submit a DO with an AIA 
    number that matches the IPO database.
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        \16\ As a result, the transaction is marked as a fail.
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        Unlike agent banks, prime brokers will have IPO control accounts at 
    DTC. Shares from an initial distribution are moved into the prime 
    broker's IPO control account, and the IPO database is updated with AIA 
    and BIA numbers from the ID trade confirmation. The IPO Tracking System 
    automatically releases IPO positions to the prime broker's free account 
    for affirmed ID trades of secondary market transactions when the AIA 
    number on the confirmation matches an AIA number contained in the IPO 
    database. It is the release of the IPO position that results in a 
    report of a flip.
        When an institutional customer has positions in the same security 
    purchased both in an IPO and in the secondary market, the system uses 
    the secondary market position to complete a delivery before using 
    shares received during the initial distribution. Also, when a customer 
    has received shares from multiple broker-dealers and subsequently sells 
    such shares, the system assigns the ``flipped'' shares on a prorated 
    basis among the selling group members servicing that customer.
    
    Correspondent Relationships
    
        When an introducing broker (ie., not a DTC participant) is acting 
    as a selling group member, its shares are held by its designated 
    clearing agent, which may be a broker-dealer or agent bank. When
    
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    distribution these shares, the lead manager identifies the transaction 
    as a correspondent delivery by entering the Correspondent Account 
    (``CA'') number on the DO.\17\ The IPO Tracking System captures the CA 
    number from the delivery to the clearing agent. The CA number is stored 
    in the IPO database with the clearing agent's participant number to 
    fully identify a correspondent (i.e., the introducing broker) as a 
    selling group member.\18\ Subsequent share movements for 
    correspondents, either sales or account transfers, require use of the 
    CA number and are subject to the same release rules that apply to 
    direct DTC participants.
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        \17\ The CA number is the clearing firm's internal number for 
    the introducing broker.
        \18\ When the ultimate purchaser is a retail customer, clearing 
    agents may enter customer-level details into the IPO database on 
    behalf of correspondents. When the ultimate purchaser is an 
    institution, clearing agents are able to use the ID system or a 
    properly identified DO to deliver shares as part of the initial 
    distribution to a custodian.
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    Physical Certificates
    
        DTC does not accept deposits of physical certificates in tracked 
    issues. Participants may request a physical certificate through a 
    withdrawal-by-transfer (``WT'') request, which will be processed 
    beginning on the first settlement day of the issue.\19\ For shares held 
    by agent banks, the bank must input into the automated WT system the 
    AIA, CA, and ID agent bank numbers. If the numbers entered do not match 
    those in the IPO database, the WT request will be rejected. If a WT 
    request exceeds the position in the agent bank's account, the request 
    will be rejected, and an error message will be generated. The IPO 
    Tracking System will process WT requests first using shares which were 
    not part of the initial distribution and then using shares which were 
    part of the initial distribution provided there is sufficient position.
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        \19\ A WT is used when participants need to withdraw physical 
    stock or registered bond certificates from DTC registered in a name 
    other than DTC's nominee name, Cede & Co. DTC permits participants 
    to withdraw securities in round lots, odd lots, or mixed lots 
    registered in a name designated by the participant.
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        For shares held by broker-dealers, the WT request must include the 
    customer identification number. DTC will process WT requests using 
    shares in the IPO control account with a matching customer number. When 
    there is a customer number match in the IPO database, DTC generates a 
    release from the IPO account and reports it on the lead manager's and 
    selling group member's reports as a WT even if the WT is not processed. 
    The released IPO shares are combined with free account shares, and the 
    WT is processed from the free account. If the broker-dealer's IPO 
    control account does not contain shares with a matching customer 
    number, the WT is processed using shares from the free account provided 
    there is sufficient position.
    
    Stock Loan
    
        Participants may process stock loan DOs using stock loan reason 
    codes. Participants do not have to enter individual account numbers 
    (e.g., AIA numbers) to match the IPO database. For brokers, IPO tracked 
    shares do not have to be released by participants to execute stock 
    loans because the IPO system automatically releases these shares. Stock 
    loans will be reported to the lead manager as separate items from 
    flipped shares.
    
    Customer Account Transfer
    
        When a customer account includes shares in a tracked issue, the 
    transfer of such shares cannot occur through the National Securities 
    Clearing Corporation's (``NSCC'') normal Automated Customer Account 
    Transfer (``ACAT'') system processing. While the initial processing at 
    NSCC will remain the same, at the end of the settlement process NSCC 
    will issue a trade-for-trade ticket for shares in a tracked issue, and 
    the shares will not be delivered through NSCC's Continuous Net 
    Settlement System.\20\ Instead, customer shares in a tracked issue must 
    be processed by DTC's new IPO customer account transfer function. The 
    function allows the deliverer (i.e., the broker-dealer or agent bank) 
    to enter the customer internal account number associated with the 
    shares to be delivered, its participant number, and customer internal 
    account number of the broker-dealer to which the shares are to be 
    delivered. The shares are then moved from the IPO control account of 
    the delivering broker-dealer to the IPO control account of the 
    receiving broker-dealer.
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        \20\ For a complete description of customer account transfers of 
    IPOs in the ACAT system, refer to Securities Exchange Act Release 
    No. 36931 (March 6, 1996), 61 FR 10050 [File No. SR-NSCC-96-05] 
    (notice of filing of proposed rule change modifying the ACAT service 
    to facilitate the transfer of shares being tracked in the IPO 
    Tracking System).
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    Reclamation
    
        Initial distribution deliveries (i.e., deliveries from the lead 
    manager to a selling group member) that are reclaimed and matched will 
    return to the account from which they originated (i.e., the lead 
    manager's IPO control account). Reclamations done for shares which were 
    released from a selling group broker-dealer's IPO control account or a 
    prime broker's IPO control account to a free account to satisfy an 
    obligation on the secondary market will be returned to the delivering 
    participant's free account, and such shares will still be registered as 
    flipped. When a reclamation occurs for an agent bank, the reclaimed DO 
    will be matched to the original delivery, and the information in the 
    IPO database will be reversed (i.e., no flip will be registered).
    
    Oversubscription
    
        Generally, when an issue is oversubscribed the lead manager will 
    purchase securities in the secondary market. These shares will reside 
    in the lead manager's free account. The lead manager will have the 
    option of delivering oversubscribed shares from its free account to 
    selling group members' IPO control accounts or to its IPO control 
    account for its own customers' shares.
    
    Memo Segregation
    
        Participants may enter memo segregation instructions with share 
    quantities that represent the combined total of their free and IPO 
    shares.\21\ As DTC processes DOs, the share quantity of the memo 
    segregation instruction will be subtracted from the combined share 
    total of the free account and the IPO account and then compared against 
    the quantity on the DO to determine if the delivery can take place. The 
    shares to be delivered will be removed from the participant's free 
    account.
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        \21\ The memo segregation function creates a memo position 
    within the participant's account enabling participants to protect 
    customer securities.
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    Termination of Tracking
    
        During the tracking period, the lead manager and selling group 
    members are able to obtain information on the flipping of shares 
    through hard copy or machine readable daily reports or through a new 
    PTS inquiry function.\22\ DTC discontinues tracking an IPO on the 
    earlier of the business day following DTC's receipt of a termination 
    request from the managing underwriting or 120 calendar days from the 
    date trading commenced. Once IPO tracking is discontinued, any shares 
    remaining in a broker-dealer's IPO control account are moved to its 
    free account.\23\
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        \22\ The lead manager's report combined with market conditions 
    will assist the lead manager in determining when to instruct DTC to 
    discontinue IPO tracking.
        \23\ DTC will automatically release the shares from the IPO 
    control account to the participant's memo segregation account at the 
    close of the tracking period when requested in writing as a standing 
    instruction by individual participants that use the memo segregation 
    service. Without this standing instruction, DTC will release shares 
    residing in the IPO control account directly into the participant's 
    free account at the end of the tracking period.
    
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        At the close of the tracking period the lead manager receives a 
    final report detailing the selling group members (including the 
    clearing agents) whose customers have flipped. The report includes sale 
    price, trade date, and number of shares as well as the clearing agent's 
    participant number and the CA number. The report also shows: (1) 
    Outstanding CNS short positions for selling group members long in the 
    IPO control account, (2) a total aggregate of all open CNS commitments, 
    (3) WT transfers, and (4) outstanding stock loans by agent banks or 
    broker-dealers. The lead manager's report does not include customer 
    level detail information (i.e., BIA numbers, AIA numbers, or customers 
    internal account numbers).
        Selling group members and lead managers, as part of the syndicate, 
    receive a report of their institutional or retail customers' sale 
    transactions.\24\ Such report includes the original BIA number, the 
    identity of any prime brokers or agent banks, and the AIA numbers or 
    the customer internal account numbers. This provides sufficient 
    information for selling group members to identify the clients that have 
    potentially flipped shares during the tracking period.
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        \24\ Syndicate members will not see information regarding 
    customers of their selling group broker-dealers.
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    II. Comment Letter
    
        The Commission received one comment letter in response to the 
    proposed rule change.\25\ The commenter believes that the proposal is 
    too broad because the IPO Tracking System will allow tracking of all 
    new issues regardless of whether the issues are subject to a 
    stabilization bid. The commenter is concerned that DTC's IPO Tracking 
    System will encourage syndicates to monitor secondary market sales of 
    all IPOs. The commenter believes such use of the IPO Tracking System 
    will place a burden on the marketplace by restricting trading in the 
    secondary market and will infringe upon the anonymous nature of 
    trading.
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        \25\ Supra note 5.
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    III. Discussion
    
        The Commission believes that DTC's proposal is consistent with 
    Section 17A of the Act \26\ and specifically with Sections 17A(b)(3) 
    (A) and (F) thereunder.\27\ Sections 17A(b)(3) (A) and (F) require that 
    a clearing agency be organized and its rules be designed to facilitate 
    and to promote the prompt and accurate clearance and settlement of 
    securities transactions and to assure the safeguarding of securities 
    and funds which are in the custody or control of DTC or for which it is 
    responsible. By facilitating a lead manger's ability to track flipping 
    of IPOs in a book-entry environment, DTC's IPO Tracking System should 
    further efficiencies and safety in the clearance and settlement of 
    securities transactions by reducing the number of transactions that are 
    settled outside the national clearance and settlement system.
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        \26\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1 (1988).
        \27\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(b)(3) (A) and (F) (1988).
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        Book-entry settlement of securities transactions has been a goal 
    since Congress enacted the Securities Acts Amendments of 1975.\28\ In 
    Section 17A(e),\29\ Congress directed the Commission to use its 
    authority to end the physical movement of securities certificates in 
    connection with the settlement among brokers and dealers of 
    transactions in securities. Since 1975, substantial progress has been 
    made in reducing the flow of physical certificates for settlement of 
    interdealer and institutional securities transactions.\30\ Approval of 
    the present rule change should further aid in the efficiencies of the 
    clearance and settlement system because the IPO Tracking System should 
    reduce costs, risks, and delays associated with the physical delivery 
    of certificates.
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        \28\ Pub. L. No. 94-29, 89 Stat. 97 (1975) (codified at 15 
    U.S.C. 77-80h [1988]).
        \29\ 15 U.S.C. 78q-1(e) (1988).
        \30\ E.g., Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 22021 (September 
    23, 1983), 48 FR 45167 (order granting full registration to nine 
    clearing agencies); 19698 (April 15, 1983), 48 FR 17604 (order 
    implementing DTC;'s Fast Automated Securities Transfer program); 
    30283 (January 23, 1992), 57 FR 3658 (order implementing DTC's 
    Deposit/Withdrawal at Custodian program); 30505 (March 20, 1992), 57 
    FR 10683 (order eliminating DTC's Certificate on Demand service for 
    most corporate issues); 31645 (December 23, 1992), 57 FR 62407 
    (order approving rule change requiring that most interdealer 
    transactions in municipal securities be settled by book-entry 
    through a depository); 32455 (June 11, 1993), 58 FR 33679 (order 
    approving uniform book-entry settlement rules); and 35798 (June 1, 
    1995), 60 FR 30909 (order approving depository eligibility 
    requirements).
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        The one commenter has suggested that the IPO Tracking System is 
    overly broad. It is true that the IPO Tracking System may facilitate 
    the tracking of more issues than the method currently used. However, 
    the increase in the amount of information available to the lead manager 
    does not, in itself, create the problems cited by the commenter. Any 
    use of the IPO Tracking System would need to be consistent with federal 
    securities laws in effect at that time, including, if adopted, recent 
    proposals designed to address concerns about post-offering activities 
    by underwriters.\31\ Therefore, the Commission does not believe that 
    the gathering of information by the IPO Tracking System will be 
    detrimental to public policy.
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        \31\ Securities Exchange Act Release No. 37094 (April 11, 1996), 
    61 FR 17108.
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        The commenter also stated that the IPO Tracking System prevents 
    anonymity in the securities market. The Commission believes that the 
    IPO Tracking System generally does not provide any more information 
    than is obtained through the current method of tracking with physical 
    certificates. In a retail trade, the selling group broker-dealer is not 
    required to populate the IPO datebase with retail customer information. 
    In instances where customer information is provided either in a retail 
    or institutional trade, only the selling group broker-dealer, and not 
    the lead manager, will receive reports identifying the customer. This 
    process mirrors the flow of information in physicial tracking where a 
    lead manager can identify the selling group broker-dealer by the 
    certificate number, and the selling group broker-dealer can identify 
    its customer by the certificate number. Further, the Commission 
    disagrees that the proposal will restrict secondary market sales. The 
    system may in practice actually make it easier for retail customers to 
    resell through any broker-dealer because an investor can immediately 
    request issuance of physical certificates in her name or request a 
    transfer to another broker-dealer through the ACAT service, which 
    generally provides a more expedient method to transfer an account 
    because the transfer is conducted through book entry movements. 
    Finally, the Commission believes the efficiencies of the IPO Tracking 
    System outweigh the potential for misuse of the system and finds the 
    system to be an effective alternative to the present method of tracking 
    IPO shares in certificate form.
        Furthermore, the IPO Tracking System will not impede an investor's 
    ability to obtain physical certificates through a WT transaction. The 
    modifications to the automated WT system allow participants to withdraw 
    physical certificates of tracked issues without causing the withdrawals 
    to show as flipped transactions.\32\ Similarly, investors will be able 
    to loan or to pledge stock or to transfer their accounts between 
    broker-dealers during the tracking period.
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        \32\ The system will report the withdrawal of a certificate to 
    the lead manager which may request further clarification from the 
    selling group broker-dealer as to the nature of the transaction.
    
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        However, the Commission notes that while a delivery reclaimed by an 
    agent bank on behalf of an institution will be matched to the original 
    delivery and the reclamation will not be recorded as a flip, a 
    reclamation done for shares delivered from a selling group broker-
    dealer's IPO control account will be registered as flipped. This 
    distinction could possibly result in discrimination between retail 
    customers, who typically hold through broker-dealers, and institutional 
    customers. The Commission understands that this distinction is a result 
    of systems limitations.\33\ The Commission urges DTC to monitor this 
    situation once the system is operational to determine whether the 
    limitation has a discriminatory effect. If so, DTC should consider 
    systems modifications to address this concern.
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        \33\ Because all movements out of an agent bank's account are 
    monitored, DTC is able to determine exactly which shares are 
    reclaimed. In contrast, shares are removed from a broker-dealer's 
    free account without regard to their origin.
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    IV. Conclusion
        The Commission finds that DTC's proposal is consistent with the 
    requirements of the Act and particularly with Section 17A and the rules 
    and regulations thereunder.
        It is therefore ordered, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, 
    that the proposed rule change (File No. SR-DTC-95-27) be and hereby is 
    approved. As stated, DTC has agreed to notify self-regulatory 
    organizations and managing underwriters at least thirty calendar days 
    prior to the general availability of the IPO Tracking System.\34\
    
        \34\ Supra note 3.
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        For the Commission by the Division of Market Regulation, 
    pursuant to delegated authority.\35\
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        \35\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(12) (1995).
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    Margaret H. McFarland,
    Deputy Secretary.
    [FR Doc. 96-12540 Filed 5-17-96; 8:45 am]
    BILLING CODE 8010-01-M
    
    

Document Information

Published:
05/20/1996
Department:
Securities and Exchange Commission
Entry Type:
Notice
Document Number:
96-12540
Pages:
25253-25257 (5 pages)
Docket Numbers:
Release No. 34-37208, File No. SR-DTC-95-27
PDF File:
96-12540.pdf