17 CFR § 40.5 - Voluntary submission of rules for Commission review and approval.

(a) Request for approval of rules. Pursuant to Section 5c(c) of the Act, a registered entity may request that the Commission approve a new rule, rule amendment or dormant rule prior to implementation of the rule, or if the request was initially submitted under §§ 40.2 or 40.6 of this part, subsequent to implementation of the rule. A request for approval shall:

(1) Be filed electronically in a format and manner specified by the Secretary of the Commission with the Secretary of the Commission;

(2) Include a copy of the submission cover sheet in accordance with the instructions in appendix D to this part;

(3) Set forth the text of the rule or rule amendment (in the case of a rule amendment, deletions and additions must be indicated);

(4) Describe the proposed effective date of the rule or rule amendment and any action taken or anticipated to be taken to adopt the proposed rule by the registered entity or by its governing board or by any committee thereof, and cite the rules of the entity that authorize the adoption of the proposed rule;

(5) Provide an explanation and analysis of the operation, purpose, and effect of the proposed rule or rule amendment and its compliance with applicable provisions of the Act, including core principles, and the Commission's regulations thereunder, including, as applicable, a description of the anticipated benefits to market participants or others, any potential anticompetitive effects on market participants or others, and how the rule fits into the registered entity's framework of self-regulation;

(6) Certify that the registered entity posted a notice of pending rule with the Commission and a copy of the submission, concurrent with the filing of a submission with the Commission, on the registered entity's Web site. Information which the registered entity seeks to keep confidential may be redacted from the documents published on the registered entity's Web site but must be republished consistent with any determination made pursuant to § 40.8(c)(4);

(7) Provide additional information which may be beneficial to the Commission in analyzing the new rule or rule amendment. If a proposed rule affects, directly or indirectly, the application of any other rule of the registered entity, the pertinent text of any such rule must be set forth and the anticipated effect described;

(8) Provide a brief explanation of any substantive opposing views expressed to the registered entity by governing board or committee members, members of the entity or market participants that were not incorporated into the rule, or a statement that no such opposing views were expressed;

(9) Identify any Commission regulation that the Commission may need to amend, or sections of the Act or the Commission's regulations that the Commission may need to interpret, in order to approve the new rule or rule amendment. To the extent that such an amendment or interpretation is necessary to accommodate a new rule or rule amendment, the submission should include a reasoned analysis supporting the amendment to the Commission's regulation or the interpretation;

(10) As appropriate, include a request for confidential treatment as permitted under the procedures of § 40.8.

(b) Standard for review and approval. The Commission shall approve a new rule or rule amendment unless the rule or rule amendment is inconsistent with the Act or the Commission's regulations.

(c) Forty-five day review.

(1) All rules submitted for Commission approval under paragraph (a) of this section shall be deemed approved by the Commission under section 5c(c) of the Act 45 days after receipt by the Commission, or at the conclusion of such extended period as provided under paragraph (d) of this section, unless the registered entity is notified otherwise within the applicable period, if:

(i) The submission complies with the requirements of paragraph (a) of this section;

(ii) The registered entity does not amend the proposed rule or supplement the submission, except as requested by the Commission, during the pendency of the review period other than for correction of typographical errors, renumbering or other non-substantive revisions. Any amendment or supplementation not requested by the Commission will be treated as the submission of a new filing under this section.

(2) The Commission shall commence the review period in paragraph (c) of this section for a compliant submission under § 40.4(b)(5) ten business days after its receipt.

(d) Commencement and extension of time for review. The Commission may further extend the review period in paragraph (c) of this section for any approval request for:

(1) An additional 45 days, if the proposed rule raises novel or complex issues that require additional time for review or is of major economic significance, the submission is incomplete or the requestor does not respond completely to Commission questions in a timely manner, in which case the Commission shall notify the submitting registered entity within the initial forty-five day review period and shall briefly describe the nature of the specific issues for which additional time for review shall be required; or

(2) Any period, beyond the additional 45 days provided in § 40.5(d)(1), to which the registered entity agrees in writing.

(e) Notice of non-approval. Any time during its review under this section, the Commission may notify the registered entity that it will not, or is unable to, approve the new rule or rule amendment. This notification will briefly specify the nature of the issues raised and the specific provision of the Act or the Commission's regulations, including the form or content requirements of this section, with which the new rule or rule amendment is inconsistent or appears to be inconsistent with the Act or the Commission's regulations.

(f) Effect of non-approval.

(1) Notification to a registered entity under paragraph (e) of this section does not prevent the registered entity from subsequently submitting a revised version of the proposed rule or rule amendment for Commission review and approval or from submitting the new rule or rule amendment as initially proposed in a supplemented submission; the revised submission will be reviewed without prejudice.

(2) Notification to a registered entity under paragraph (e) of this section of the Commission's determination not to approve a proposed rule or rule amendment of a registered entity shall be presumptive evidence that the entity may not truthfully certify that the same, or substantially the same, proposed rule or rule amendment under § 40.6(a) of this section.

(g) Expedited approval. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph (c) of this section, changes to a proposed rule or a rule amendment, including changes to terms and conditions of a product that are consistent with the Act and Commission regulations and with standards approved or established by the Commission may be approved by the Commission at such time and under such conditions as the Commission shall specify in the written notification, provided, however, that the Commission may, at any time, alter or revoke the applicability of such a notice to any particular product or rule amendment.