Philadelphia Stock Exchange To Guarantee A Minimum Of 10 Contracts For Automatic Executions In Top 120 Options For Off-Floor Broker-Dealer Orders

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange (PHLX) announced today that the Securities and Exchange Commission has approved amendments to Exchange Rule 1080 that will provide for the automatic execution of a minimum of 10 contracts in the top 120 option classes for AUTO-X eligible orders for the account(s) of off-floor broker-dealers delivered through AUTOM, the Exchange's automated order routing, delivery, execution and reporting system for options. The program will begin tomorrow.

A "Top 120 Option" is defined as one of the 120 most actively traded equity options in terms of total number of contracts traded nationally for a specified month based on volume reflected by the Options Clearing Corp. (OCC).

In addition, options outside of the top 120 may be eligible for automatic execution on an issue-by-issue basis, subject to the approval of the PHLX Options Committee. Also, the automatic execution guaranteed size may be for a different number of contracts, on an issue-by-issue basis, than the automatic execution guaranteed size for public customer orders. This is also subject to approval from the PHLX Options Committee.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange was founded in 1790. The PHLX trades nearly 2,200 stocks, 1,200 equity options, 14 sectors index options and currency options. For more information about the PHLX and its products, visit www.phlx.com.