Under the provisions of Public Law 87-196, approved by the President on September 5, 1961, the Commission is authorized and directed to make a study and investigation of the securities markets and rules and practices relating thereto. The Commission has adopted an order of investigation authorizing members of the staff of the Special Study of Securities Markets to conduct the study and investigation pursuant to Public Law 87-196. Your cooperation is requested in completing the attached questionnaire which is being sent to all New York Stock Exchange specialists. Certain questions which are designated in the "Instructions" to the questionnaire need only be answered by each specialistdealer unit. The remaining questions in the questionnaire must be answered by you as a registered specialist on the Exchange. Your attention is directed to the fact that certain questions in the questionnaire can be answered only on the basis of certain activities of your specialist-dealer unit for a specified day or days: Question 28 and the accompanying Form C are being separately distributed to each specialist-dealer unit. Certain designated portions of Form C must be completed at the close of business on February 16, 1962 (the day on which Form C will be distributed) and the remainder at the opening of the stock indicated on February 19, 1962. Question 9 must be answered on the basis of certain activities of your specialist-dealer unit on February 21, 1962. Question 15 must be answered on the basis of certain activities of your specialist-dealer unit on February 27, 1962. VI-AB-1 Question 16 must be answered on the basis of certain activities of your specialist-dealer unit during the period March 19, 1962 through March 30, 1962. The purpose of the questionnaire is to obtain relevant de ta as to the various functions and practices of specialists. The fact that you have received this questionnaire is not to be construed as a reflection upon you or your firm or anyone connected with it. Nor should any questions about a particular action or course of conduct on your part be construed to mean that such action or conduct either is or is not deemed by the Commission to have been lawful, proper or otherwise desirable. Likewise questions about particular stocks should not be taken as any indication that your performance as specialist in these stocks has been improper or that particular stocks are under investigation. Certain questions are factual in nature; others ask for your comments and opinions. If the conclusions reached by this study are to be sound ones, it is essential that all questions be answered fully and carefully. We must also ask you to cooperate by submitting your reply to all questions, except question 16, not later than March 26, 1962. The report called for by question 16 on Form B should be submitted to your Floor Department in accordance with the special instructions contained on the reverse side of that form. All other completed forms should be returned with the questionnaire. You will note that question 27 calls for certain information with respect to your income from your specialist business. This income information is being requested in connection with our study of the specialist system and for no other purpose. Your specific income information will be treated in a confidential manner and without identification of yourself or your firm. Sincerely yours, Mittelt lahen Milton H. Cohen Director Attachment VI-AB-2 Every question should be answered in full. If there is no information to report or if the question is not applicable, you should answer "None" or "Not Applicable". If the space provided for any answer is insufficient, the complete answer should be prepared on a separate sheet to be attached to the questionnaire and identified as "Answer to Question As used herein the term "participant" when used with reference to a New York Stock Exchange member firm or corporation (referred to below as "member organization") shall mean a general or limited partner of a member firm or a holder of voting or non-voting stock in a member corporation; the phrase "member organization of the Exchange with which you are associated in any capacity," includes any affiliation by way of joint venture or joint account, including any clearing arrangement involving any sharing of profits. The term "principal stockholder" shall mean every person who is directly or indirectly the beneficial owner of more than ten percent of any class of equity security in an issuer. Additional copies of Form 81 and Forms A, B and C may be obtained from the New York Stock Exchange Floor Department. Questions 9, 15, 16, 26 and 28 only should be answered by each specialist-dealer unit e.g., firm account, joint account, etc. Separate answers to each of these questions need not be prepared by each registered specialist. The completed questionnaire, Forms A, C and 81 should be mailed to: Securities and Exchange Commission, Special Study of Securities Markets, Washington 25, D. C. Form B should be filed with the New York Stock Exchange Floor Department in accordance with the instructions contained on that form. VI-AB-3 1. PART I Give the date on which you became a member of the New York Stock 2. With respect to any member organization of the Exchange with which you are associated in any capacity, give the following information: Name of Member Organization 3. Give the following information with respect to each security allocated to you as specialist since January 1, 1959: Name of Security Date of Date of Termination of Registration (If Applicable) 4. A. List the securities in which you are currently registered as specialist and the member organization at which the specialist account for each such security is located: 96-740 0-63-pt. 231 B. State the name of each specialist-dealer unit for which you effect transactions: C. (1) If you are a participant in a specialist member organization, state the percentage of your interest in the member organization's profits from its specialist business: (2) If you are a participant in a specialist member organization which participates in a specialist joint account, state the percentage of your member organization's interest in each such joint account: Name of Account Percentage of Participation (3) If you participate in a specialist joint account as an individual, state the percentage of your interest in each such joint account: Name of Account Percentage of Participation PART II ("Stopping" Stock) For purposes of the questions in this part, a "stop" is defined as in Exchange Rule 116: "An agreement by a member to 'stop' securities at a specified price shall constitute a guarantee of the purchase or sale by him of the securities at that price or its equivalent." 5. State the approximate number of instances in which you have granted "stops" and the approximate number of shares involved in each such "stop", in the course of your specialist business on an average day: A. In active or inactive stocks, or is there no significant difference? Check one: Active Inactive No Difference |