Fair Administration and Governance of Self-Regulatory Organizations; Disclosure and Regulatory Reporting by Self-Regulatory Organizations; Recordkeeping Requirements for Self-Regulatory Organizations; Ownership and Voting Limitations for Members of Self-Regulatory Organizations; Ownership Reporting Requirements for Members of Self-Regulatory Organizations; Listing and Trading of Affiliated Securities by a Self-Regulatory Organization

Résumé

The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") is proposing to adopt new rules and amend existing rules and forms under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act"). The proposals pertain to the governance, administration, transparency and ownership of self-regulatory organizations ("SROs") that are national securities exchanges or registered securities associations and the periodic reporting of information by these SROs regarding their regulatory programs. The proposals also relate to the listing and trading by SROs of their own or affiliated securities. First, the proposals would impose new governance standards on national securities exchanges and registered securities associations by requiring a majority of the members of the exchange's or association's board of directors to be independent. In addition, key committees of the board would be required to be composed solely of independent directors. The proposals would define the term "independent director." The proposals also would require exchanges and associations to establish policies and procedures to maintain a separation between their regulatory functions and their market operations and other commercial interes