Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1)
The Exchange proposes to list and trade shares of the following fund of the WisdomTree Trust (“Trust”) under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600: WisdomTree Dreyfus Commodity Currency Fund (“Fund”). The text of the proposed rule change is available at the Exchange, the Commission's Public Reference Room, and on the Exchange's Web site at
In its filing with the Commission, the self-regulatory organization included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the proposed rule change and discussed any comments it received on the proposed rule change. The text of those statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below. The Exchange has prepared summaries, set forth in sections A, B, and C below, of the most significant parts of such statements.
The Exchange proposes to list and trade the Shares of the Fund under NYSE Arca Equities Rule 8.600, which governs the listing and trading of “Managed Fund Shares” on the Exchange.
WisdomTree Asset Management, Inc. (“WisdomTree Asset Management”) is the investment adviser (“Adviser”) to the Fund.
Commentary .06
The WisdomTree Dreyfus Commodity Currency Fund (the “Fund”) seeks to achieve total returns reflective of money market rates in selected commodity-producing countries and changes to the
The term “commodity currency” generally is used to describe the currency of a country whose economic success is commonly identified with the production and export of commodities (such as precious metals, oil, agricultural products or other raw materials) and whose value is closely linked to the value of such commodities. As the demand for, or price of, such commodities increases money tends to flow into the country. Conversely, declines in the demand for, or value of, such commodities historically have contributed to declines in the relative value of these countries' currencies.
The Fund is designed to provide exposure to both the currencies and money market rates available to foreign investors in selected commodity-producing countries. The Fund intends to invest in commodity-producing countries such as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Russia and South Africa. In addition to seeking broad exposure across countries and currencies, the Fund intends to seek exposure across currencies correlated to each of the key commodity groups: industrial metals, precious metals, energy, agriculture and livestock. The Fund generally will invest only in currencies that “float” relative to other currencies. The value of a floating currency is largely determined by supply and demand and prevailing market rates. In contrast, the value of a “fixed” currency generally is set by a government or central bank at an official exchange rate. The Fund generally does not intend to invest in the currencies of notable commodity producers, such as China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, since they are fixed or otherwise closely linked to the U.S. dollar. The Fund will only invest in currencies that it deems to be sufficiently liquid and accessible.
The Fund intends to achieve exposure to selected commodity-producing countries available to U.S. investors by investing primarily in short-term U.S. money market securities and forward currency contracts and swaps. The combination of money market securities with forward currency contracts and currency swaps is designed to create a position economically similar to a money market instrument denominated in a non-U.S. currency. A forward currency contract is an agreement to buy or sell a specific currency at a future date at a price set at the time of the contract. A currency swap is an agreement between two parties to exchange one currency for another at a future rate.
In order to reduce interest rate risk, the Fund generally expects to maintain an average portfolio maturity of 90 days or less. The “average portfolio maturity” of the Fund is the average of all the current maturities of the individual securities in the Fund's portfolio. All money market securities acquired by the Fund will be rated in the upper two short-term ratings by at least two nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (“NRSROs”) or, if unrated, deemed by the Adviser to be of equivalent quality.
As a matter of general policy, the Fund will invest, under normal circumstances, at least 80% of its net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in investments that are tied economically to selected commodity-producing countries available to U.S. investors that make a significant contribution to the global export of commodities. If, subsequent to an investment, the 80% requirement is no longer met, the Fund's future investments will be made in a manner that will bring the Fund into compliance with this policy.
According to the Registration Statement, the Fund is considered to be “non-diversified” and is not limited by the 1940 Act with regard to the percentage of assets that may be invested in the securities of a single issuer. As a result, the Fund may invest more of its assets in the securities of a single issuer or a smaller number of issuers than if it were classified as a diversified fund. The Fund will maintain the level of diversification necessary to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under Subchapter M of the Code. The Subchapter M diversification tests generally require that (i) a Fund invest no more than 25% of its total assets in securities (other than securities of the U.S. government or other RICs) of any one issuer or two or more issuers that are controlled by a Fund and that are engaged in the same, similar or related trades or businesses, and (ii) at least 50% of a Fund's total assets consist of cash and cash items, U.S. government securities, securities of other RICs and other securities, with investments in such other securities limited in respect of any one issuer to an amount not greater than 5% of the value of the Fund's total assets and 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer. These tax requirements are generally applied at the end of each quarter of a Fund's taxable year.
In addition to satisfying the above referenced RIC diversification requirements, no portfolio security held by a Fund (other than U.S. government securities and non-U.S. government securities) will represent more than 30% of the weight of a Fund and the five highest weighted portfolio securities of a Fund (other than U.S. government securities and/or non-U.S. government securities) will not in the aggregate account for more than 65% of the weight of a Fund. For these purposes, a Fund may treat repurchase agreements collateralized by U.S. government securities or non-U.S. government securities as U.S. or non-U.S. government securities, as applicable.
All U.S. money market securities acquired by the Fund will be rated in the upper two short-term ratings by at least two NRSROs or, if unrated, deemed to be of equivalent quality. The Fund may purchase short-term obligations issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury or the agencies or instrumentalities of the U.S. government.
The Fund may invest in short-term securities issued or guaranteed by non-U.S. governments, agencies and instrumentalities; and deposits and other obligations of U.S. and non-U.S. banks and financial institutions. Deposits and obligations of banks and financial institutions include certificates of deposit, time deposits, and bankers' acceptances. The Fund may purchase floating rate and adjustable rate obligations, such as demand notes, bonds, and commercial paper; and mortgage-backed and asset-backed securities.
The Fund may engage in foreign currency transactions and may invest directly in foreign currencies in the form of bank and financial institution deposits, certificates of deposit, and bankers acceptances denominated in a specified non-U.S. currency and may enter into foreign currency exchange transactions. The Fund will conduct its foreign currency exchange transactions
The Fund may enter into swap agreements, including interest rate swaps and currency swaps; may buy or sell put and call options on foreign currencies either on exchanges or in the over-the-counter market; may use futures contracts and related options: (i) To attempt to gain exposure to foreign currencies, and (ii) to attempt to gain exposure to a particular market, instrument or index; may use swap agreements; may enter into repurchase agreements with counterparties that are deemed to present acceptable credit risks; may enter into reverse repurchase agreements, which involve the sale of securities held by a [sic] Fund subject to its agreement to repurchase the securities at an agreed upon date or upon demand and at a price reflecting a market rate of interest; and may invest in the securities of other investment companies (including money market funds). Each [sic] Fund may use derivative instruments as part of its investment strategies, as described in the Registration Statement.
The Fund may invest up to an aggregate amount of 10% of its net assets in illiquid securities. Illiquid securities include securities subject to contractual or other restrictions on resale and other instruments that lack readily available markets.
The Fund may invest in very short-term money market securities denominated in various foreign currencies and/or investments designed to provide exposure to such currencies and money market rates. Such currencies include the Australian dollar; Brazilian Real; Canadian Dollar; Chilean Peso; Chinese Yuan; Indian Rupee; Indonesian Rupiah; Japanese Yen; Mexican Peso; New Zealand Dollar; Norwegian Kroner; Russian Ruble; South African Rand. In addition, the Funds may invest assets in a market or markets considered to be “emerging” or “developing” or in securities that provide exposure to such market(s).
The Fund will not invest in non-U.S. equity securities.
The Fund issues and redeems Shares on a continuous basis at net asset value (“NAV”)
The Fund's Web site (
In addition, for the Fund, an estimated value, defined in Rule 8.600 as the “Portfolio Indicative Value,” that reflects an estimated intraday value of the Fund's portfolio, will be disseminated. The Portfolio Indicative Value will be based upon the current value for the components of the Disclosed Portfolio and will be updated and disseminated by one or more major market data vendors at least every 15 seconds during the Core Trading Session on the Exchange. The dissemination of the Portfolio Indicative Value, together with the Disclosed Portfolio, will allow investors to determine the value of the underlying portfolio of the Fund on a daily basis and to provide a close estimate of that value throughout the trading day.
Information regarding market price and volume of the Shares is and will be continually available on a real-time basis throughout the day on brokers' computer screens and other electronic services. The previous day's closing price and trading volume information will be published daily in the financial section of newspapers. Quotation and last sale information for the Shares will be available via the Consolidated Tape Association high-speed line.
The Shares will be subject to Rule 8.600(d), which sets forth the initial and continued listing criteria applicable to Managed Fund Shares. The Exchange represents that, for initial and/or continued listing, the Shares must be in compliance with Rule 10A–3
With respect to trading halts, the Exchange may consider all relevant factors in exercising its discretion to halt or suspend trading in the Shares of a Fund. Shares of the Fund will be halted if the “circuit breaker” parameters in NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.12 are reached. Trading may be halted because of market conditions or for reasons that, in the view of the Exchange, make trading in the Shares inadvisable. These may include: (1) The extent to which trading is not occurring in the securities comprising the Disclosed Portfolio and/or the financial instruments of a Fund; or (2) whether other unusual conditions or circumstances detrimental to the maintenance of a fair and orderly market are present. Trading in the Shares will be subject to Rule 8.600(d)(2)(D), which sets forth circumstances under which Shares of a Fund may be halted.
The Exchange deems the Shares to be equity securities, thus rendering trading in the Shares subject to the Exchange's existing rules governing the trading of equity securities. Shares will trade on the NYSE Arca Marketplace from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern time in accordance with NYSE Arca Equities Rule 7.34 (Opening, Core, and Late Trading Sessions). The Exchange has appropriate rules to facilitate transactions in the Shares during all trading sessions. The minimum trading increment for Shares on the Exchange will be $0.01.
The Exchange intends to utilize its existing surveillance procedures applicable to derivative products (which includes Managed Fund Shares) to monitor trading in the Shares. The Exchange represents that these procedures are adequate to properly monitor Exchange trading of the Shares in all trading sessions and to deter and detect violations of Exchange rules and applicable federal securities laws.
The Exchange's current trading surveillance focuses on detecting securities trading outside their normal patterns. When such situations are detected, surveillance analysis follows and investigations are opened, where appropriate, to review the behavior of all relevant parties for all relevant trading violations.
The Exchange may obtain information via the Intermarket Surveillance Group (“ISG”) from other exchanges who are members of the ISG.
In addition, the Exchange also has a general policy prohibiting the distribution of material, non-public information by its employees.
Prior to the commencement of trading, the Exchange will inform its ETP Holders in an Information Bulletin (“Bulletin”) of the special characteristics and risks associated with trading the Shares. Specifically, the Bulletin will discuss the following: (1) The procedures for purchases and redemptions of Shares in Creation Unit aggregations (and that Shares are not individually redeemable); (2) NYSE Arca Equities Rule 9.2(a), which imposes a duty of due diligence on its ETP Holders to learn the essential facts relating to every customer prior to trading the Shares; (3) the risks involved in trading the Shares during the Opening and Late Trading Sessions when an updated Portfolio Indicative Value will not be calculated or publicly disseminated; (4) how information regarding the Portfolio Indicative Value is disseminated; (5) the requirement that ETP Holders deliver a prospectus to investors purchasing newly issued Shares prior to or concurrently with the confirmation of a transaction; and (6) trading information.
In addition, the Bulletin will reference that the Fund is subject to various fees and expenses described in the Registration Statement. The Bulletin will discuss any exemptive, no-action, and interpretive relief granted by the Commission from any rules under the Exchange Act. The Bulletin will also disclose that the NAV for the Shares will be calculated after 4:00 p.m. Eastern time each trading day.
The basis under the Exchange Act for this proposed rule change is the requirement under Section 6(b)(5)
The Exchange does not believe that the proposed rule change will impose any burden on competition that is not necessary or appropriate in furtherance of the purposes of the Act.
No written comments were solicited or received with respect to the proposed rule change.
Within 35 days of the date of publication of this notice in the
(A) By order approve the proposed rule change, or
(B) institute proceedings to determine whether the proposed rule change should be disapproved.
Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and arguments concerning the foregoing, including whether the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act. Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
• Use the Commission's Internet comment form (
• Send an e-mail to
• Send paper comments in triplicate to Elizabeth M. Murphy, Secretary,
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.