Title 17

SECTION 270.6c-11

270.6c-11 Exchange-traded funds.

§ 270.6c-11 Exchange-traded funds.

(a) Definitions. (1) For purposes of this section:

Authorized participant means a member or participant of a clearing agency registered with the Commission, which has a written agreement with the exchange-traded fund or one of its service providers that allows the authorized participant to place orders for the purchase and redemption of creation units.

Basket means the securities, assets or other positions in exchange for which an exchange-traded fund issues (or in return for which it redeems) creation units.

Business day means any day the exchange-traded fund is open for business, including any day when it satisfies redemption requests as required by section 22(e) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-22(e)).

Cash balancing amount means an amount of cash to account for any difference between the value of the basket and the net asset value of a creation unit.

Creation unit means a specified number of exchange-traded fund shares that the exchange-traded fund will issue to (or redeem from) an authorized participant in exchange for the deposit (or delivery) of a basket and a cash balancing amount if any.

Custom basket means:

(A) A basket that is composed of a non-representative selection of the exchange-traded fund's portfolio holdings; or

(B) A representative basket that is different from the initial basket used in transactions on the same business day.

Exchange-traded fund means a registered open-end management company:

(A) That issues (and redeems) creation units to (and from) authorized participants in exchange for a basket and a cash balancing amount if any; and

(B) Whose shares are listed on a national securities exchange and traded at market-determined prices.

Exchange-traded fund share means a share of stock issued by an exchange-traded fund.

Foreign investment means any security, asset or other position of the ETF issued by a foreign issuer as that term is defined in § 240.3b-4 of this title, and that is traded on a trading market outside of the United States.

Market price means:

(A) The official closing price of an exchange-traded fund share; or

(B) If it more accurately reflects the market value of an exchange-traded fund share at the time as of which the exchange-traded fund calculates current net asset value per share, the price that is the midpoint between the national best bid and national best offer as of that time.

National securities exchange means an exchange that is registered with the Commission under section 6 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78f).

Portfolio holdings means the securities, assets or other positions held by the exchange-traded fund.

Premium or discount means the positive or negative difference between the market price of an exchange-traded fund share at the time as of which the current net asset value is calculated and the exchange-traded fund's current net asset value per share, expressed as a percentage of the exchange-traded fund share's current net asset value per share.

(2) Notwithstanding the definition of exchange-traded fund in paragraph (a)(1) of this section, an exchange-traded fund is not prohibited from selling (or redeeming) individual shares on the day of consummation of a reorganization, merger, conversion or liquidation, and is not limited to transactions with authorized participants under these circumstances.

(b) Application of the Act to exchange-traded funds. If the conditions of paragraph (c) of this section are satisfied:

(1) Redeemable security. An exchange-traded fund share is considered a “redeemable security” within the meaning of section 2(a)(32) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-2(a)(32)).

(2) Pricing. A dealer in exchange-traded fund shares is exempt from section 22(d) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-22(d)) and § 270.22c-1(a) with regard to purchases, sales and repurchases of exchange-traded fund shares at market-determined prices.

(3) Affiliated transactions. A person who is an affiliated person of an exchange-traded fund (or who is an affiliated person of such a person) solely by reason of the circumstances described in paragraphs (b)(3)(i) and (ii) of this section is exempt from sections 17(a)(1) and 17(a)(2) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-17(a)(1) and (a)(2)) with regard to the deposit and receipt of baskets:

(i) Holding with the power to vote 5% or more of the exchange-traded fund's shares; or

(ii) Holding with the power to vote 5% or more of any investment company that is an affiliated person of the exchange-traded fund.

(4) Postponement of redemptions. If an exchange-traded fund includes a foreign investment in its basket, and if a local market holiday, or series of consecutive holidays, or the extended delivery cycles for transferring foreign investments to redeeming authorized participants prevents timely delivery of the foreign investment in response to a redemption request, the exchange-traded fund is exempt, with respect to the delivery of the foreign investment, from the prohibition in section 22(e) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-22(e)) against postponing the date of satisfaction upon redemption for more than seven days after the tender of a redeemable security if the exchange-traded fund delivers the foreign investment as soon as practicable, but in no event later than 15 days after the tender of the exchange-traded fund shares.

(c) Conditions. (1) Each business day, an exchange-traded fund must disclose prominently on its website, which is publicly available and free of charge:

(i) Before the opening of regular trading on the primary listing exchange of the exchange-traded fund shares, the following information (as applicable) for each portfolio holding that will form the basis of the next calculation of current net asset value per share:

(A) Ticker symbol;

(B) CUSIP or other identifier;

(D) Quantity of each security or other asset held; and

(E) Percentage weight of the holding in the portfolio;

(ii) The exchange-traded fund's current net asset value per share, market price, and premium or discount, each as of the end of the prior business day;

(iii) A table showing the number of days the exchange-traded fund's shares traded at a premium or discount during the most recently completed calendar year and the most recently completed calendar quarters since that year (or the life of the exchange-traded fund, if shorter);

(iv) A line graph showing exchange-traded fund share premiums or discounts for the most recently completed calendar year and the most recently completed calendar quarters since that year (or the life of the exchange-traded fund, if shorter);

(v) The exchange-traded fund's median bid-ask spread, expressed as a percentage rounded to the nearest hundredth, computed by:

(A) Identifying the exchange-traded fund's national best bid and national best offer as of the end of each 10 second interval during each trading day of the last 30 calendar days;

(B) Dividing the difference between each such bid and offer by the midpoint of the national best bid and national best offer; and

(vi) If the exchange-traded fund's premium or discount is greater than 2% for more than seven consecutive trading days, a statement that the exchange-traded fund's premium or discount, as applicable, was greater than 2% and a discussion of the factors that are reasonably believed to have materially contributed to the premium or discount, which must be maintained on the website for at least one year thereafter.

(2) The portfolio holdings that form the basis for the exchange-traded fund's next calculation of current net asset value per share must be the ETF's portfolio holdings as of the close of business on the prior business day.

(3) An exchange-traded fund must adopt and implement written policies and procedures that govern the construction of baskets and the process that will be used for the acceptance of baskets; provided, however, if the exchange-traded fund utilizes a custom basket, these written policies and procedures also must:

(i) Set forth detailed parameters for the construction and acceptance of custom baskets that are in the best interests of the exchange-traded fund and its shareholders, including the process for any revisions to, or deviations from, those parameters; and

(ii) Specify the titles or roles of the employees of the exchange-traded fund's investment adviser who are required to review each custom basket for compliance with those parameters.

(4) An exchange-traded fund that seeks, directly or indirectly, to provide investment returns that correspond to the performance of a market index by a specified multiple, or to provide investment returns that have an inverse relationship to the performance of a market index, over a predetermined period of time, must comply with all applicable provisions of § 270.18f-4.

(d) Recordkeeping. The exchange-traded fund must maintain and preserve for a period of not less than five years, the first two years in an easily accessible place:

(1) All written agreements (or copies thereof) between an authorized participant and the exchange-traded fund or one of its service providers that allows the authorized participant to place orders for the purchase or redemption of creation units;

(2) For each basket exchanged with an authorized participant, records setting forth:

(i) The ticker symbol, CUSIP or other identifier, description of holding, quantity of each holding, and percentage weight of each holding composing the basket exchanged for creation units;

(ii) If applicable, identification of the basket as a custom basket and a record stating that the custom basket complies with policies and procedures that the exchange-traded fund adopted pursuant to paragraph (c)(3) of this section;

(iii) Cash balancing amount (if any); and

(iv) Identity of authorized participant transacting with the exchange-traded fund.

[84 FR 57234, Oct. 24, 2019, as amended at 85 FR 83291, Dec. 21, 2020]