Emergency Order Pursuant to Section 12(k)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 Taking Temporary Action To Respond To Market Developments

SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
RELEASE NO. 44791 / September 14, 2001

EMERGENCY ORDER PURSUANT TO SECTION 12(k)(2) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 TAKING TEMPORARY ACTION TO RESPOND TO MARKET DEVELOPMENTS

The United States securities markets are the world's strongest and most vibrant. The Commission has full confidence that the attacks of September 11, 2001, will have little lasting market impact. To that end, the Commission seeks to serve investors and the markets through all available means to facilitate the reopening of fair and orderly markets.

Section 12(k)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") grants the Commission the authority, in the event of certain major market disturbances, to issue summarily orders to alter, supplement, suspend, or impose requirements or restrictions with respect to matters or actions subject to regulation by the Commission. On September 11, 2001, the U.S. equities and options markets determined not to open in light of the attacks that morning. The U.S. equities and options markets have remained closed since then. Based on all available information, the Commission has determined that:

(1) Uncertainty concerning the impact of the closure of the U.S. equities and options markets constitutes a major market disturbance characterized by "sudden and excessive fluctuations of securities prices generally, or a substantial threat thereof, that threatens fair and orderly markets."1 In particular, the Commission seeks to ensure that, when the U.S. equities and options markets reopen for trading, they will not be confronted with undue order imbalances.

(2) Purchases by registrants of their own securities can represent an important source of liquidity during times of market volatility. Registrants may be reluctant to engage in such purchases, however, because of certain securities law requirements. In particular, Exchange Act Rule 10b-18 provides registrants with a safe harbor to effect repurchases, but only if the repurchases meet the conditions specified in the Rule. Certain registrants that recently engaged in or initiated business combinations that otherwise qualify for pooling-of-interests treatment under generally accepted accounting principles also may be reluctant to effect repurchases. In this regard, Regulation S-X, Article 4 (Rules of General Application), Part 4-01, provides in pertinent part that, "Financial statements filed with the Commission which are not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles will be presumed to be misleading or inaccurate, despite footnote or other disclosures, unless the Commission has otherwise provided."

(3) The Commission understands that some registrants may have internal policies relating to purchases of the registrant's securities during specific time periods. These policies are designed to prevent violations of the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws. While the antifraud provisions remain in effect, a registrant's failure to comply with those timing policies for purchases by the registrant of its securities during the period covered by the Order will not by itself be considered as any indication that the registrant may have violated the antifraud provisions. In addition, certain persons may refrain from purchase activity that otherwise serves the public interest because of concern about potential profit recovery under Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act.

(4) Temporary action with respect to the conditions of Rule 10b-18, the application of Article 4 of Regulation S-X,2 and the operation of certain other provisions of the federal securities laws will provide additional flexibility and certainty to registrants and others that consider engaging in purchases of securities when the U.S. equities and options markets reopen for trading. Accordingly, these temporary measures are in the public interest and for the protection of investors in order to maintain or restore fair and orderly securities markets.

Therefore, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 12(k)(2) of the Exchange Act, that,

In connection with a Rule 10b-18 purchase3 or with a Rule 10b-18 bid that is made during the period covered by this Order by the use of any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce or of the mails, or of any facility of any national securities exchange, an issuer, or an affiliated purchaser of the issuer, shall not be deemed to have violated Section 9(a)(2) of the Exchange Act or Rule 10b-5 under the Exchange Act, solely by reason of the time or price at which its Rule 10b-18 bids or Rule 10b-18 purchases are made or the amount of such bids or purchases or the number of brokers or dealers used in connection with such bids or purchases if the issuer or affiliated purchaser of the issuer meets all of the conditions in Rule 10b-18, with the exception that:

(i) The timing condition in paragraph (b)(2) may be satisfied if the issuer makes Rule 10b-18 purchases without regard to whether any such Rule 10b-18 purchase constitutes the opening transaction in a reported or exchange traded security or whether any such purchase would occur during the one-half hour before the scheduled close of trading on the primary market for such security; and

(ii) The volume condition in paragraph (b)(4) may be satisfied if the issuer makes all Rule 10b-18 purchases other than block purchases of a reported or exchange traded security in an amount that, when added to the amount of all other Rule 10b-18 purchases, other than block purchases, from or through a broker or dealer effected by or for the issuer or an affiliated purchaser of the issuer on that day, does not exceed 100 percent of the trading volume (determined on the basis of the 4 calendar weeks preceding the week beginning on September 10, 2001) for the security; and

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that,

Notwithstanding the pooling-of-interests provisions in Accounting Principles Board Opinion No. 16, Business Combinations, and the related interpretations of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, consensuses of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Emerging Issues Task Force, rules and regulations of the Commission and interpretations by its staff, and other authoritative accounting guidance, acquisitions by registrants of their own equity securities during the period covered by this Order will not affect the availability of pooling-of-interests accounting and, accordingly, a registrant's financial statements will not be misleading or inaccurate solely because the registrant has engaged in such purchases and has accounted for its business combination transactions as a pooling of interests; and

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that,

Notwithstanding the profit recovery provisions of Section 16(b) of the Exchange Act and the rules adopted under it, any purchase during the period covered by this Order by a person subject to Section 16 shall be exempt from the operation of that section with respect to any sale by that person during the preceding six months, and accordingly shall not be matched with such sale. The purchase continues to be reportable on Form 4 under Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act. The Form 4 should use transaction code "J" and describe the transaction in a footnote, making specific reference to this Order; and

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that,

Broker-dealers need not treat the 11th, 12th, 13th and 14th of September, 2001 as business or calendar days for purposes of calculating charges or taking actions under Rules 15c3-1 and 15c3-3 arising from failed transactions or imbalances in securities accounting systems, or for the purposes of FOCUS reporting; and

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that,

Broker-dealers that are required to do a reserve computation (including PAIB) for the week ending September 14, 2001 under Rule 15c3-3 will not be required to do such a computation, provided they do not withdraw money from their reserve bank account without first doing a computation.

This Order shall be effective with respect to the five business days beginning on the date of the first reopening of trading on the U.S. equities and options markets after September 11, 2001.

By the Commission

Jonathan G. Katz
Secretary

Footnotes

1 This finding of an "emergency" is solely for purposes of Section 12(k)(2) of the Exchange Act and is not intended to have any other effect or meaning or to confer any right or impose any obligation.

2 While our authority to supplement Regulation S-X in this context is derived from the Exchange Act, we acknowledge that our action will affect filings under other provisions of the securities laws that require filings to be in compliance with Regulation S-X.

3 Terms used in this order have the same meanings as those terms used in Exchange Act Rule 10b-18 unless stated otherwise. Issuers repurchasing their shares pursuant to this Order may qualify for the safe harbor notwithstanding the fact that they may have shareholders selling shares pursuant to a shelf registration, so long as any selling shareholder is not an affiliate of the issuer or, if affiliated, the selling activity does not rise to the level of a distribution under Regulation M. 17 CFR 242. 100 et seq.