Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 17727-17728 [E5-1589]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 66 / Thursday, April 7, 2005 / Notices
annual burden is approximately 14
hours.2
The staff believes that rules 27d–1
and 27d–2 and Form N–27D–1 do not
impose any cost burdens other than
those arising from the hour burdens
discussed above.
The estimates of average burden hours
and costs are made solely for the
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction
Act, and are not derived from a
comprehensive or even a representative
survey or study of the costs of
Commission rules and forms.3
Complying with the collection of
information requirements of rule 27d–1
is mandatory for depositors or principal
underwriters of issuers of periodic
payment plans unless they comply with
the requirements in rule 27d–2. The
information provided pursuant to rules
27d–1 and 27d–2 is public and,
therefore, will not be kept confidential.
An agency may not conduct or sponsor,
and a person is not required to respond
to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Written comments are invited on: (a)
Whether the collection of information is
necessary for the proper performance of
the functions of the Commission,
including whether the information has
practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the
Commission’s estimate of the burden of
the collection of information; (c) ways to
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity
of the information collected; and (d)
ways to minimize the burden of the
collection of information on
respondents, including through the use
of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
Consideration will be given to
comments and suggestions submitted in
writing within 60 days of this
publication.
Please direct your written comments
to R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Office of
Information Technology, Securities and
Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20549.
Dated: March 29, 2005.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5–1588 Filed 4–6–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
2 This estimate is based on the following
calculation: 2 funds × (2 hours negotiating coverage
+ 5 hours filing necessary proof of adequate
coverage) = 14 hours.
3 These estimates are based on telephone
interviews between the Commission staff and
representatives of depositors or principle
underwriters of periodic payment plan issuers.
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18:49 Apr 06, 2005
Jkt 205001
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Upon written request, copies available from:
Securities and Exchange Commission,
Office of Filings and Information Services,
Washington, DC 20549.
Extension:
Rule 17e–1; SEC File No. 270–224; OMB
Control No. 3235–0217.
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the
‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments
on the collections of information
summarized below. The Commission
plans to submit these existing
collections of information to the Office
of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for
extension and approval.
Rule 17e–1 [17 CFR 270.17e–1] under
the Investment Company Act of 1940
(the ‘‘Act’’) is entitled ‘‘Brokerage
Transactions on a Securities Exchange.’’
The rule governs the remuneration that
a broker affiliated with a registered
investment company (‘‘fund’’) may
receive in connection with securities
transactions by the fund. The rule
requires a fund’s board of directors to
establish, and review as necessary,
procedures reasonably designed to
provide that the remuneration to an
affiliated broker is a fair amount
compared to that received by other
brokers in connection with transactions
in similar securities during a
comparable period of time. Each
quarter, the board must determine that
all transactions with affiliated brokers
during the preceding quarter complied
with the procedures established under
the rule. Rule 17e–1 also requires the
fund to (i) maintain permanently a
written copy of the procedures adopted
by the board for complying with the
requirements of the rule; and (ii)
maintain for a period of six years a
written record of each transaction
subject to the rule, setting forth: The
amount and source of the commission,
fee or other remuneration received; the
identity of the broker; the terms of the
transaction; and the materials used to
determine that the transactions were
effected in compliance with the
procedures adopted by the board. The
Commission’s examination staff uses
these records to evaluate transactions
between funds and their affiliated
brokers for compliance with the rule.
The Commission staff estimates that
3,028 portfolios of approximately 2,126
funds use the services of one or more
subadvisers. Based on discussions with
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Frm 00084
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
17727
industry representatives, the staff
estimates that it will require
approximately 6 hours to draft and
execute revised subadvisory contracts (5
staff attorney hours, 1 supervisory
attorney hour), in order for funds and
subadvisers to be able to rely on the
exemptions in rule 17e–1. The staff
assumes that all of these funds amended
their advisory contracts when rule 17e–
1 was amended in 2002 by conditioning
certain exemptions upon such
contractual alterations.1
Based on an analysis of fund filings,
the staff estimates that approximately
200 new funds are registered annually.
Assuming that the number of these
funds that will use the services of
subadvisers is proportionate to the
number of funds that currently use the
services of subadvisers, then
approximately 46 new funds will enter
into subadvisory agreements each year.2
The Commission staff further estimates,
based on analysis of fund filings, that 10
extant funds will employ the services of
subadvisers for the first time each year.
Thus, the staff estimates that a total of
56 funds, with a total of 78 portfolios,3
will enter into subadvisory agreements
each year. Assuming that each of these
funds enters into a contract that permits
it to rely on the exemptions in rule 17e–
1, we estimate that the rule’s contract
modification requirement will result in
117 burden hours annually.4
Based on an analysis of fund filings,
the staff estimates that approximately
300 funds use at least one affiliated
broker. Based on conversations with
fund representatives, the staff estimates
that rule 17e–1’s exemption would free
approximately 40 percent of
transactions that occur under rule 17e–
1 from the rule’s recordkeeping and
review requirements. This would leave
approximately 180 funds (300 funds × .6
= 180) still subject to the rule’s
recordkeeping and review requirements.
The staff estimates that each of these
funds spends 57 hours per year hours at
a cost of approximately $3,780 per year
complying with rule 17e–1’s
requirements that (i) the fund retain
1 Rules 12d3–1, 10f–3, 17a–10, and 17e–1 require
virtually identical modifications to fund advisory
contracts. The Commission staff assumes that funds
would rely equally on the exemptions in these
rules, and therefore the burden hours associated
with the required contract modifications should be
apportioned equally among the four rules.
2 Based on information in Commission filings, we
estimate that 23 percent of funds are advised by
subadvisers.
3 Based on existing statistics, we assume that each
fund has 1.4 portfolios advised by a subadviser.
4 This estimate is based on the following
calculations: (78 portfolios × 6 hours = 468 burden
hours for rules 12d3–1, 10f–3, 17a–10, and 17e–1;
468 total burden hours for all of the rules/four rules
= 117 annual burden hours per rule.)
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07APN1
17728
Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 66 / Thursday, April 7, 2005 / Notices
records of transactions entered into
pursuant to the rule, and (ii) the fund’s
directors review those transactions
quarterly.5 We estimate, therefore, that
all funds relying on this exemption
incur yearly hourly burdens of 10,260
burden.6 Therefore, the annual aggregate
burden hour associated with rule 17e–
1 is 10,377.7
The estimate of average burden hours
is made solely for the purposes of the
Paperwork Reduction Act, and is not
derived from a comprehensive or even
a representative survey or study. An
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and
a person is not required to respond to,
a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Written comments are invited on: (a)
Whether the collections of information
are necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
Commission, including whether the
information has practical utility; (b) the
accuracy of the Commission’s estimate
of the burdens of the collections of
information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burdens of the collections
of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology. Consideration
will be given to comments and
suggestions submitted in writing within
60 days of this publication.
Please direct your written comments
to R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Office of
Information Technology, Securities and
Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20549.
Dated: March 28, 2005.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5–1589 Filed 4–6–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
5 In calculating the total annual cost of complying
with amended rule 17e–1, the Commission staff
assumes that the entire burden would be
attributable to professionals with an average hourly
wage rate of $66.31 per hour. Unless stated
otherwise, all hourly rates in this Supporting
Statement are derived from the average annual
salaries reported for employees outside of New
York City in Securities Industry Association,
Management and Professional Earnings in the
Securities Industry (2003) and Securities Industry
Association, Office Salaries in the Securities
Industry (2003).
6 This estimate is based on the following
calculation: (180 funds × 57 hours = 10,260).
7 This estimate is based on the following
calculation: (117 hours + 10,260 hours = 10,377).
VerDate jul<14>2003
18:22 Apr 06, 2005
Jkt 205001
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Upon written request, copies available
from: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of Filings and
Information Services, Washington, DC
20549.
Extension:
Rule 17a–6, SEC File No. 270–506, OMB
Control No. 3235–0564.
Notice is hereby given that pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) the Securities
and Exchange Commission (the
‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments
on the collections of information
summarized below. The Commission
plans to submit these existing
collections of information to the Office
of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for
extension and approval.
Section 17(a) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Act’’),
prohibits affiliated persons of a
registered investment company (‘‘fund’’)
from borrowing money or other property
from, or selling or buying securities or
other property to or from the fund, or
any company that the fund controls.
Rule 17a–6 permits a fund and its
‘‘portfolio affiliates’’ (an issuer of which
a fund owns more than five percent of
the voting securities) to engage in
principal transactions with if no
prohibited participants (e.g., directors,
officers, employees, or investment
advisers of the fund contain persons
controlling and under common control
with the fund, and their affiliates) are
parties to the transaction or have a
direct or indirect financial interest in
the transaction. Rule 17a–6 specifies
certain interests that are not ‘‘financial
interests.’’ The rule also provides that
the term ‘‘financial interest’’ does not
include any interest that the fund’s
board of directors (including a majority
of the directors who are not interested
persons of the fund) finds to be not
material, as long as the board records
the basis for the findings in its meeting
minutes.
The information collection
requirements in rule 17a–6 are intended
to ensure that Commission staff can
review, in the course of its compliance
and examination functions, the basis for
a board of director’s finding that the
financial interest of a prohibited
participant in a party to a transaction
with a portfolio affiliate is not material.
Based on analysis of past filings, the
Commission’s staff estimates that 148
funds are affiliated persons of 668
issuers as a result of the fund’s
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Frm 00085
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
ownership or control of the issuer’s
voting securities, and that there are
approximately 1,000 such affiliate
relationships. Staff discussions with
mutual fund representatives have
suggested that no funds currently rely
on rule 17a–6 exemptions. We do not
know definitively the reasons for this
change in transactional behavior, but
differing market conditions from year to
year may offer some explanation for the
current lack of fund interest in the
exemptions under rule 17a–6.
Accordingly, we estimate that annually
there will be no principal transactions
under rule 17a–6 that will result in a
collection of information.
The Commission requests
authorization to maintain an inventory
of one burden hour to ease future
renewals of rule 17a–6’s collection of
information analysis should reliance on
rule 17a–6 increase in the coming years.
The estimate of average burden hours
is made solely for the purposes of the
Paperwork Reduction Act. The estimate
is not derived from a comprehensive or
even a representative survey or study of
the costs of Commission rules.
Complying with this collection of
information requirement is necessary to
obtain the benefit of relying on rule
17a–6. An agency may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to
respond to, a collection of information
unless it displays a currently valid
control number.
Written comments are invited on: (a)
Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden of the collection of
information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including
through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology. Consideration will be given
to comments and suggestions submitted
in writing within 60 days of this
publication.
Please direct your written comments
to R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Office of
Information Technology, Securities and
Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20549.
Dated: March 28, 2005.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5–1590 Filed 4–6–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
E:\FR\FM\07APN1.SGM
07APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 66 (Thursday, April 7, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17727-17728]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-1589]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington,
DC 20549.
Extension:
Rule 17e-1; SEC File No. 270-224; OMB Control No. 3235-0217.
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the ``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the
collections of information summarized below. The Commission plans to
submit these existing collections of information to the Office of
Management and Budget (``OMB'') for extension and approval.
Rule 17e-1 [17 CFR 270.17e-1] under the Investment Company Act of
1940 (the ``Act'') is entitled ``Brokerage Transactions on a Securities
Exchange.'' The rule governs the remuneration that a broker affiliated
with a registered investment company (``fund'') may receive in
connection with securities transactions by the fund. The rule requires
a fund's board of directors to establish, and review as necessary,
procedures reasonably designed to provide that the remuneration to an
affiliated broker is a fair amount compared to that received by other
brokers in connection with transactions in similar securities during a
comparable period of time. Each quarter, the board must determine that
all transactions with affiliated brokers during the preceding quarter
complied with the procedures established under the rule. Rule 17e-1
also requires the fund to (i) maintain permanently a written copy of
the procedures adopted by the board for complying with the requirements
of the rule; and (ii) maintain for a period of six years a written
record of each transaction subject to the rule, setting forth: The
amount and source of the commission, fee or other remuneration
received; the identity of the broker; the terms of the transaction; and
the materials used to determine that the transactions were effected in
compliance with the procedures adopted by the board. The Commission's
examination staff uses these records to evaluate transactions between
funds and their affiliated brokers for compliance with the rule.
The Commission staff estimates that 3,028 portfolios of
approximately 2,126 funds use the services of one or more subadvisers.
Based on discussions with industry representatives, the staff estimates
that it will require approximately 6 hours to draft and execute revised
subadvisory contracts (5 staff attorney hours, 1 supervisory attorney
hour), in order for funds and subadvisers to be able to rely on the
exemptions in rule 17e-1. The staff assumes that all of these funds
amended their advisory contracts when rule 17e-1 was amended in 2002 by
conditioning certain exemptions upon such contractual alterations.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Rules 12d3-1, 10f-3, 17a-10, and 17e-1 require virtually
identical modifications to fund advisory contracts. The Commission
staff assumes that funds would rely equally on the exemptions in
these rules, and therefore the burden hours associated with the
required contract modifications should be apportioned equally among
the four rules.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on an analysis of fund filings, the staff estimates that
approximately 200 new funds are registered annually. Assuming that the
number of these funds that will use the services of subadvisers is
proportionate to the number of funds that currently use the services of
subadvisers, then approximately 46 new funds will enter into
subadvisory agreements each year.\2\ The Commission staff further
estimates, based on analysis of fund filings, that 10 extant funds will
employ the services of subadvisers for the first time each year. Thus,
the staff estimates that a total of 56 funds, with a total of 78
portfolios,\3\ will enter into subadvisory agreements each year.
Assuming that each of these funds enters into a contract that permits
it to rely on the exemptions in rule 17e-1, we estimate that the rule's
contract modification requirement will result in 117 burden hours
annually.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Based on information in Commission filings, we estimate that
23 percent of funds are advised by subadvisers.
\3\ Based on existing statistics, we assume that each fund has
1.4 portfolios advised by a subadviser.
\4\ This estimate is based on the following calculations: (78
portfolios x 6 hours = 468 burden hours for rules 12d3-1, 10f-3,
17a-10, and 17e-1; 468 total burden hours for all of the rules/four
rules = 117 annual burden hours per rule.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Based on an analysis of fund filings, the staff estimates that
approximately 300 funds use at least one affiliated broker. Based on
conversations with fund representatives, the staff estimates that rule
17e-1's exemption would free approximately 40 percent of transactions
that occur under rule 17e-1 from the rule's recordkeeping and review
requirements. This would leave approximately 180 funds (300 funds x .6
= 180) still subject to the rule's recordkeeping and review
requirements. The staff estimates that each of these funds spends 57
hours per year hours at a cost of approximately $3,780 per year
complying with rule 17e-1's requirements that (i) the fund retain
[[Page 17728]]
records of transactions entered into pursuant to the rule, and (ii) the
fund's directors review those transactions quarterly.\5\ We estimate,
therefore, that all funds relying on this exemption incur yearly hourly
burdens of 10,260 burden.\6\ Therefore, the annual aggregate burden
hour associated with rule 17e-1 is 10,377.\7\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ In calculating the total annual cost of complying with
amended rule 17e-1, the Commission staff assumes that the entire
burden would be attributable to professionals with an average hourly
wage rate of $66.31 per hour. Unless stated otherwise, all hourly
rates in this Supporting Statement are derived from the average
annual salaries reported for employees outside of New York City in
Securities Industry Association, Management and Professional
Earnings in the Securities Industry (2003) and Securities Industry
Association, Office Salaries in the Securities Industry (2003).
\6\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: (180
funds x 57 hours = 10,260).
\7\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: (117
hours + 10,260 hours = 10,377).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act, and is not derived from a
comprehensive or even a representative survey or study. An agency may
not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a
collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB
control number.
Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collections of
information are necessary for the proper performance of the functions
of the Commission, including whether the information has practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burdens
of the collections of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burdens of the collections of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology. Consideration will be given to
comments and suggestions submitted in writing within 60 days of this
publication.
Please direct your written comments to R. Corey Booth, Director/
Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities
and Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549.
Dated: March 28, 2005.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-1589 Filed 4-6-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P
