SEC NEWS DIGEST Issue 2003-195 October 14, 2003 HOLDING COMPANY ACT RELEASES NORTHEAST UTILITIES, ET AL. A notice has been issued giving interested persons until Nov. 4, 2003, to request a hearing on a proposal filed by Northeast Utilities (NU), a registered holding company, and Northeast Nuclear Energy Company (NNECO), its wholly owned subsidiary (Applicants). The Applicants request authorization for NNECO to pay dividends to and, or in the alternative, to repurchase its common stock from, NU out of paid-in- capital and unearned surplus in an amount of up to $16.2 million during the period through Dec. 31, 2004. (Rel. 35- 27735) KEYSPAN CORPORATION, ET AL. A notice has been issued giving interested persons until Nov. 4, 2003, to request a hearing on a proposal by KeySpan Corporation, a registered holding company, and KeySpan Energy Management LLC, an indirect nonutility subsidiary, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Metro Energy LLC, a nonaffiliated New York limited liability company. (Rel. 35-27735) CENTERPOINT ENERGY, INC., ET AL. A notice has been issued giving interested persons until Nov. 4, 2003, to request a hearing on a proposal by CenterPoint Energy, Inc. (CenterPoint), a registered holding company, to form a service company that will provide goods and services to affiliates and to allow CenterPoint and certain of its subsidiaries to provide certain goods and services to specified affiliates. (Rel. 35-27735) XCEL ENERGY, ET AL. The Commission has issued an Order and Report, authorizing a request by Xcel Energy, Inc. (Xcel), a registered holding company, and its wholly owned subsidiary, NRG Energy, Inc. (NRG), and certain NRG subsidiaries (Applicants). NRG and certain NRG subsidiaries (Debtors) filed voluntary petitions for bankruptcy on May 14, 2003, under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Applicants request authorization for the solicitation regarding the third amended plan of reorganization pursuant to section 11(g) of the Act and authorization under Section 12(e) to solicit consents and approvals from the holders of the securities of the Debtors. Applicants also request approval of the plan pursuant to Section 11(f) of the Act, together with such ancillary and related authorizations as are necessary to implement the Plan. (Rel. 35- 27736) SELF-REGULATORY ORGANIZATIONS ACCELERATED APPROVAL OF PROPOSED RULE CHANGES The Commission granted accelerated approval on a pilot basis to a proposed rule change (SR-CBOE-2003-44) submitted by the Chicago Board Options Exchange to amend a rule regarding nullification and adjustment of transactions. Publication of the proposal is expected in the Federal Register during the week of October 13. (Rel. 34-48600) Emerging Market Clearing Corporation filed a proposed rule change (SR- EMCC-2003-05) under Section 19(b)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act. The Commission is approving on an accelerated basis EMCC's proposed rule change that provides for its members to receive excess clearing fund deposits on a daily basis. Publication of the proposal is expected in the Federal Register during the week of October 13. (Rel. 34-48615) The Commission granted accelerated approval to a proposed rule change (SR-NASD-2003-137), and Amendment No. 1 thereto, submitted by the National Association of Securities Dealers, through its subsidiary The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc., under Rule 19b-4 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to extend a pilot relating to the issuance of market participant identifiers. Publication of the proposal is expected in the Federal Register during the week of October 13. (Rel. 34-48619) The Commission granted accelerated approval to a proposed rule change (SR-BSE-2003-18), and Amendment Nos. 1 and 2 thereto, submitted by the Boston Stock Exchange under Section 19(b)(2) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to adopt an Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Program. (Rel. 34-48622) APPROVAL OF PROPOSED RULE CHANGE The Commission approved a proposed rule change (SR-CBOE-2003-22), and Amendment No. 1 thereto, and granted accelerated approval to Amendment No. 3 thereto, submitted by the Chicago Board Options Exchange relating to the limitation of liability of the Options Clearing Corporation to Exchange members. (Rel. 34-48609) PROPOSED RULE CHANGES The National Securities Clearing Corporation and The Depository Trust Company filed proposed rule changes (SR-NSCC-2003-19 and SR-DTC-2003-11) to allow NSCC to require settling banks to use the Federal Reserve Banks' Net Settlement Service to satisfy end-of-day settlement obligations and would allow the consolidation of DTC and NSCC settlement processing operations. Publication of the proposal is expected in the Federal Register during the week of October 13. (Rel. 34-48614) IMMEDIATE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROPOSED RULE CHANGE A proposed rule change filed by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (SR- CBOE-2003-43) to make changes to its Fee Schedule involving the Exchange's Hybrid Trading System and Retail Automatic Execution System orders has become immediately effective under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Publication of the proposal is expected in the Federal Register during the week of October 13. (Rel. 34-48623) DELISTINGS GRANTED An order has been issued granting the application of the Pacific Exchange to strike from listing and registration certain call and put options contracts issued by The Options Clearing Corporation respecting the underlying common stock of the following companies effective at the opening of business on October 14: Comverse Technology Inc. (CMVT) Qiao Xing Universal Telephone Inc. (XING) (Rel. 34-48620) An order has been issued granting the application of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange to strike from listing and registration certain call and put options contracts issued by The Options Clearing Corporation respecting underlying securities of the following companies, effective at the opening of business on October 14: IHOP Corp. (IHP) Kennametal, Inc. (KMT) Max Re Capital Ltd. (QRF/MXRE) Mercury General Corporation (MCY) Molex Incorporated (OXQ/MOLX) Selective Insurance Group, Inc. (SQZ/SIGI) Transaction Systems Architechts, Inc. (TQR/TSAI) (Rel. 34-48621)