March 3, 2006
AUDIENCE
All INET Subscribers
SUMMARY
Effective Monday, March 6, 2006, INET ATS, Inc. will begin representing its orders in the following exchange-listed securities to the National Stock Exchange:
AL (Alcan Inc.)
BP (BP plc)
BTU (Peabody Energy Corp.)
CI (CIGNA Corp.)
CNQ (Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.)
CTX (Centex Corp.)
ED (Consolidated Edison Inc.)
GG (Goldcorp Inc.)
GRP (Grant Prideco Inc.)
GS (Goldman Sachs Group Inc.)
IWO (iShares Russell 2000 Growth Index)
JKL (iShares Morningstar Small Value Index)
KMG (Kerr-McGee Corp.)
KWK (Quicksilver Resources Inc.)
OEF (iShares S&P 100 Index)
PGR (Progressive Corp.)
PH (Parker-Hannifin Corp.)
PHM (Pulte Homes Inc.)
PTR (PetroChina Co. Ltd.)
PXD (Pioneer Natural Resources Co.)
PXP (Plains Exploration & Production Co.)
RSH (RadioShack Corp.)
SWN (Southwestern Energy Co.)
TDW (Tidewater Inc.)
TLM (Talisman Energy Inc.)
WMT (Wal-Mart Stores Inc.)
Please note that as a result of INET's decision to publicly display its orders in these stocks in the official Consolidated Quote through the National Stock Exchange (formerly Cincinnati Stock Exchange), all orders and executions are subject to trade-through prohibitions. To better understand the implications of this rule, please review the brief examples in this notice.
WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?
Due to INET's increasing success in the trading of exchange-listed securities with more than a three-fold increase in market share since the third quarter of 20041, INET will be disseminating its top of book in select exchange-listed securities through the National Stock Exchange. Although INET continues to be concerned about the effects of the trade-through rule, INET believes that displaying limit orders in these stocks through the National Stock Exchange provides the best possible trading environment for the most subscribers.
WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?
You do not have to do anything to support this change if you currently rely on the ITCH® data feed for INET data. If you rely on the Consolidated Quote for INET data, orders on INET will be displayed through the National Stock Exchange. You should be aware, however, that not every National Stock Exchange quote will necessarily represent an order displayed on INET since other broker-dealers may display quotations through the National Stock Exchange. For this reason, we recommend that INET subscribers use the ITCH® data feed to obtain INET market data.
If you are not currently an ITCH® data subscriber and would like access to INET's limit order book information, please contact an INET Subscriber Services representative by calling (212) 231-5180.
ISN'T THERE A THREE-CENT DE MINIMIS EXEMPTION IN THESE SECURITIES?
No. These securities were not included in the SEC's pilot program. In general, broker-dealers that participate in the Intermarket Trading System in exchange-listed securities are precluded from trading at a price inferior to that displayed by another market. This is known as the "trade-through rule." Although the SEC adopted a temporary three-cent de minimis exemption for SPY and DIA, the exemption is not applicable to other securities.
HOW DOES THE TRADE-THROUGH RULE AFFECT MY TRADING?
As a result of the trade-through rule, the INET system will check prices before and after order entry to ensure compliance with the trade-through rule. Below is a description of these checks.
Order entry - At the time of order entry, every order will be checked to ensure that it does not lock or cross the market, or cause an execution at a price that would constitute a violation of the trade-through rule. If an order locks the market, it will be turned into a non-display order so as not to quote a locked market. If an order crosses the market, or would cause a trade-through violation, it will be re-priced to the current low offer (for bids) or to the current best bid (for offers), and turned into a non-display order so as to not quote a locked market. Any non-display order that crosses the market will be re-priced to the current low offer (for bids) or to the current best bid (for offers).
Example:
The National Best Bid in IWO is $77.55.
INET Subscriber enters an order to sell at $77.54.
The INET system will automatically reprice the order to $77.55 and change it to non-display.
Post order entry - An order entered for display will not be affected by the trade-through rule after it is accepted. A non-display order, however, may be cancelled from the INET book with the reason code of #DNT if the market moves through the order after the order is accepted, to prevent trade-throughs.
Example:
The National Best Bid in IWO is $77.55.
INET Subscriber enters a non-display order to sell at $77.55.
The National Best Bid in IWO becomes $77.56.
The non-display order to sell at $77.55 will be cancelled with the reason code #DNT since it cannot be executed without causing a trade-through violation.
WHERE WILL INET DISPLAY ITS QUOTE IN THESE SECURITIES?
INET's top of book will continue to be available through the INET ITCH® data feed and will also be reflected on the Consolidated Quote feed through the National Stock Exchange.
LINKS
SEC Regulation ATS:
http://www.law.uc.edu/CCL/regM/rule301.html
SEC Extends Temporary De minimis Exemption:
http://www.sec.gov/rules/other/34-47950.htm
QUESTIONS
If you have any trading or operational questions or need support on the day of the change, you may contact an INET Equities Transaction Specialist directly by calling (212) 231-5100.
Thank you,
INET
Member NASD/NSX/SIPC
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1 Source: Consolidated Tape Data and Internal Statistics