ICI Submits Comment Letter on Proposed Circuit Breaker Rule Amendments

Washington, DC, March 18, 1998 - The Institute has submitted a comment letter on the proposed amendments to the New York Stock Exchange's (NYSE) circuit breaker rule, which would increase the trigger levels to 10, 20, and 30 percent declines of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and require that price indications be made during an intraday halt for the stocks comprising the DJIA.

The letter strongly supports increasing the triggers, but expresses concern about those aspects of the proposal that could result in a premature market close. The letter states, however, that the proposal to increase the triggers should greatly minimize the potential for an early close and, thus, largely addresses these concerns. The letter supports the proposed requirement that price indications be made during an intraday halt but recommends that the requirement be expanded beyond the thirty stocks that comprise the DJIA to include stocks comprising the S&P 100 index or some other index that contains a number of the NYSE's most active, highly capitalized stocks.

The comment letter references ICI's Statement for the Record before the Senate Banking Committee and SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt's testimony before that same committee.