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October 5, 2021

NYSE Makes Juneteenth a New Market Holiday

On Thursday, the SEC posted notice & immediate effectiveness of an NYSE proposal to make Juneteenth National Independence Day an Exchange holiday. As Lynn blogged earlier this year, the exchanges were left to make their own determinations of operating status when Juneteenth was declared a Federal holiday. It was very short notice for them to do anything for the 2021 observance, but this WSJ article explains that SIFMA made a recommendation back in July that the exchanges would close on the holiday beginning in 2022.

Under this change to NYSE Rule 7.2, the Exchange will be closed on June 19th of each year going forward. If the holiday falls on a Saturday, the Exchange will be closed the preceding Friday – and if it falls on a Sunday, the Exchange will be closed the succeeding Monday. This rule change brings the number of NYSE market holidays to ten.

The rule is immediately effective – but may be temporarily suspended within 60 days if the Commission decides that it needs to take that action for the protection of investors or the public interest, and it would then institute proceedings to determine whether the proposal should be approved or disapproved. The rule doesn’t apply to other exchanges – they’ll have to propose their own amendments.

Juneteenth commemorates the day in 1865 when enslaved Black people in Galveston, Texas were finally informed they were free. It had been recognized by most states as a holiday before being declared a Federal holiday in June of this year. Check out this PracticalESG.com blog for ideas on how your company can observe the occasion next year.

Liz Dunshee