Rule 16b-6
  Derivative Securities
a. The
establishment of or increase in a call equivalent position or liquidation
of or decrease in a put equivalent position shall be deemed a purchase
of the underlying security for purposes of
Section
16(b)
of the Act, and the establishment of or increase in a put equivalent position
or liquidation of or decrease in a call equivalent position shall be deemed
a sale of the underlying securities for purposes of
Section
16(b) of the Act; Provided, however, That if the increase or
decrease occurs as a result of the fixing of the exercise price of a right
initially issued without a fixed price, where the date the price is fixed
is not known in advance and is outside the control of the recipient, the
increase or decrease shall be exempt from
Section
16(b) of the Act with respect to any offsetting transaction within
the six months prior to the date the price is fixed.
b. The
closing of a derivative security position as a result of its exercise
or conversion shall be exempt from the operation of
Section
16(b) of the Act, and the acquisition of underlying securities at
a fixed exercise price due to the exercise or conversion of a call equivalent
position or the disposition of underlying securities at a fixed exercise
price due to the exercise of a put equivalent position shall be exempt
from the operation of
Section
16(b) of the Act: Provided, however, That the acquisition of
underlying securities from the exercise of an out-of-the-money option,
warrant, or right shall not be exempt unless the exercise is necessary
to comport with the sequential exercise provisions of the Internal Revenue
Code.
c.
In determining the short-swing
profit recoverable pursuant to
Section
16(b) of the Act from transactions involving the purchase and sale
or sale and purchase of derivative and other securities, the following
rules apply:
1. Short-swing
profits in transactions involving the purchase and sale or sale and purchase
of derivative securities that have identical characteristics (e.g.,
purchases and sales of call options of the same strike price and expiration
date, or purchases and sales of the same series of convertible debentures)
shall be measured by the actual prices paid or received in the short-swing
transactions.
2. Short-swing
profits in transactions involving the purchase and sale or sale and purchase
of derivative securities having different characteristics but related
to the same underlying security (e.g., the purchase of a call option
and the sale of a convertible debenture) or derivative securities and
underlying securities shall not exceed the difference in price of the
underlying security on the date of purchase or sale and the date of sale
or purchase. Such profits may be measured by calculating the short-swing
profits that would have been realized had the subject transactions involved
purchases and sales solely of the derivative security that was purchased
or solely of the derivative security that was sold, valued as of the time
of the matching purchase or sale, and calculated for the lesser of the
number of underlying securities actually purchased or sold.
d. Upon
cancellation or expiration of an option within six months of the writing
of the option, any profit derived from writing the option shall be recoverable
under Section 16(b)
of the Act. The profit shall not exceed the premium received for writing
the option. The disposition or closing of a long derivative security position,
as a result of cancellation or expiration, shall be exempt from
Section
16(b) of the Act where no value is received from the cancellation
or expiration.
|