FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             2001-64
                              
 COMMISSION ISSUES ONE-MONTH EXEMPTION FROM PUBLIC REPORTING
 REQUIREMENTS OF ORDER EXECUTION QUALITY DISCLOSURE RULE FOR
 LISTED SECURITIES; PROVIDES ADDITIONAL WRITTEN GUIDANCE ON
                   IMPLEMENTATION OF RULE

     Washington, DC, June 22, 2001 - Today the Securities
and Exchange Commission announced that it has issued a one-
month exemption with respect to any market center that is
required to prepare a report under Rule 11Ac1-5 that covers
trading in May 2001.  Under the exemption, such a market
center is not required to make its May report publicly
available on an Internet site; the market center, however,
must prepare a May report internally and make it available
for inspection and examination by the Commission staff.  The
Commission emphasized that reports that cover trading in
June must be made publicly available on an Internet site by
the end of July.  The exemption is set forth in a letter to
the New York Stock Exchange, Inc.

     The Division of Market Regulation also has published an
updated Staff Legal Bulletin No. 12R responding to questions
the staff has received from market participants on the
application of Rule 11Ac1-5.  The legal bulletin, in the
form of a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document, sets
forth the views of the Division of Market Regulation.  The
Commission has neither approved nor disapproved its content.
     
     Among the matters addressed in the legal bulletin, the
Commission has exempted from Rule 11Ac1-5 orders in national
market system securities that are very inactively traded and
certain small market centers that do not focus their
business on the most actively traded securities.  The small
firm exemption covers any market center that reported fewer
than 200 transactions per trading day on average over the
preceding six month period in securities that are covered by
the Rule, but only if more that 90% of such transactions
were in securities that are not included in the Nasdaq-100
Index or the S&P 500 Composite Stock Price Index.  The
exemptions are set forth in a letter to the NASD Small Firms
Advisory Board.
     
     Finally, the legal bulletin provides guidance on a
number of other issues that is intended to enhance the
reliability and comparability of the order execution quality
statistics to be disclosed under the Rule.
     
     
     
     

     The Commission's exemption letters and Staff Legal
Bulletin No. 12R will be made available on the SEC's
Internet site at: http://www.sec.gov.

     For further information, contact:  Susie Cho in the
Division of Market Regulation at 202-942-0748.

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