Securities Exchange Act of 1934 - 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.