Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 35315-35316 [E5-3116]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 116 / Friday, June 17, 2005 / Notices the Commission should attach to the granting of the application any terms or conditions necessary or appropriate in the public interest, for the protection of investors, or in furtherance of the purposes of Section 17A of the Exchange Act. Without Rule 17Ac3–1(a) and Form TA–W, transfer agents registered with the Commission would not have a means for voluntary deregistration when necessary or appropriate to do so. Respondents file approximately 50 TA–Ws with the Commission annually. A Form TA–W filing occurs only once, when a transfer agent is seeing deregistration. Since the form is simple and straightforward, the Commission estimates that a transfer agent need spend no more than 30 minutes to complete a Form TA–W. Therefore, the total average annual burden to covered entities is approximately 25 hours of preparation and maintenance time. In view of the ready availability of the information requested by TA–W, its short and simple presentation, and the Commission’s experience with the form, we estimate that approximately 30 minutes is required to complete Form TA–W, including clerical time. The Commission estimates a cost of approximately $35 for each 30 minutes. Therefore, the total average annual cost burden is approximately $1,750. 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 regarding the above information should be directed to the following persons: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or by sending an e-mail to: David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street, NE., Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice. Dated: June 7, 2005. J. Lynn Taylor, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. E5–3107 Filed 6–16–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8010–01–P VerDate jul<14>2003 17:59 Jun 16, 2005 Jkt 205001 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549. Extension: Rule 17a–13, SEC File No. 270–27, OMB Control No. 3235–0035. 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 (‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) a request for the extension of the previously approved collection of information on the following rule: 17 CFR 240.17a–13 Quarterly Security Counts to be Made by Certain Exchange Members, Brokers, and Dealers. Rule 17a–13(b) generally requires that at least once each calendar quarter, all registered brokers and dealers physically examine and count all securities held and account for all other securities not in their possession, but subject to the broker-dealer’s control or direction. Any discrepancies between the broker-dealer’s securities count and the firm’s records must be noted and, within seven days, the unaccounted for difference must be recorded in the firm’s records. Rule 17a–13(c) provides that under specified conditions, the securities counts, examination and verification of the broker-dealer’s entire list of securities may be conducted on a cyclical basis rather than on a certain date. Although Rule 17a–13 does not require filing a report with the Commission, the discrepancies must be reported on Form X–17a–5 as required by Rule 17a–5. Rule 17a–13 exempts broker-dealers that limit their business to the sale and redemption of securities of registered investment companies and interests or participation in an insurance company separate account and those who solicit accounts for federally insured savings and loan associations, provided that such persons promptly transmit all funds and securities and hold no customer funds and securities. The information obtained from Rule 17a–13 is used as an inventory control device to monitor a broker-dealer’s ability to account for all securities held, in transfer, in transit, pledged, loaned, borrowed, deposited or otherwise subject to the firm’s control or direction. Discrepancies between the securities counts and the broker-dealer’s records PO 00000 Frm 00095 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 35315 alert the Commission and the Self Regulatory Organizations (‘‘SROs’’) to those firms having problems in their back offices. Currently, there are approximately 5,907 respondents that must comply with Rule 17a–13. However, given the variability in their businesses, it is difficult to quantify how many hours per year each respondent spends on the rule. As noted, the rule requires a respondent to account for all securities in its possession. Many respondents hold few, if any, securities; while others hold large quantities. Therefore, the time burden of complying with the rule will depend on respondent-specific factors, including size, number of customers, and proprietary trading activity. The staff estimates that the average time spent per respondent on the rule is 100 hours per year. This estimate takes into account the fact that more than half the 5,907 respondents— according to financial reports filed with the SEC—may spend little or no time in complying with the rule, given that they do not do a public securities business or do not hold inventories of securities. For these reasons, the staff estimates that the total compliance burden per year is 590,700 hours (5,907 respondents x 100 hours/respondent). It should be noted that most brokerdealers would engage in the activities required by Rule 17a–13 even if they were not required to do so. Security counts under Rule 17a–13 are mandatory for broker-dealers. If a broker-dealer has security discrepancies that must be recorded in its records, such records must be preserved for a period of no less than three years pursuant to Rule 17a–4(b)(1). Rule 17a– 13 does not assure confidentiality for security discrepancy records and reports on Form X–17a–5.1 Please note that 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 regarding the above information should be directed to the following persons: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and 1 The records required by Rule 17a–13 are available only to the examination of the Commission staff, state securities authorities and the SROs. Subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 522, and the Commission’s rules thereunder (17 CFR 200.80(b)(4)(iii)), the Commission does not generally publish or make available information contained in any reports, summaries, analyses, letters, or memoranda arising out of, in anticipation of, or in connection with an examination or inspection of the books and records of any person or any other investigation. E:\FR\FM\17JNN1.SGM 17JNN1 35316 Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 116 / Friday, June 17, 2005 / Notices Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10202, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or e-mail to David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/CIO, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice. Dated: June 6, 2005. J. Lynn Taylor, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. E5–3116 Filed 6–16–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8010–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549. Extension: Rule 17a–10, SEC File No. 270–507, OMB Control No. 3235–0563. 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 (‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. 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–10 permits (i) a subadviser of a fund to enter into transactions with funds the subadviser does not advise but which are affiliated persons of a fund that it does advise (e.g., other funds in the fund complex), and (ii) a subadviser (and its affiliated persons) to enter into transactions and arrangements with funds the subadviser does advise, but only with respect to discrete portions of the subadvised fund for which the subadviser does not provide investment advice. To qualify for the exemptions in rule 17a–10, the subadvisory relationship must be the sole reason why section 17(a) prohibits the transaction; and the advisory contracts of the subadviser entering into the transaction, and any VerDate jul<14>2003 17:59 Jun 16, 2005 Jkt 205001 subadviser that is advising the purchasing portion of the fund, must prohibit the subadvisers from consulting with each other concerning securities transactions of the fund, and limit their responsibility to providing advice with respect to discrete portions of the fund’s portfolio.1 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 17a–10. The staff assumes that all of these funds amended their advisory contracts following the adoption of rule 17a–10 in 2002 that conditioned certain exemptions upon these contractual alterations.2 Based on an analysis of investment company 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.3 The Commission staff further estimates, based on an analysis of investment company 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,4 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 17a–10, we estimate that the rule’s contract modification requirement will result in 117 burden hours annually.5 The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act. The estimate 17 CFR 270.17a–10(a)(2). 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 Commission has apportioned the burden hours associated with the required contract modifications equally among the four rules. 3 Based on information in Commission filings, we estimate that 23 percent of funds are advised by subadvisers. 4 Based on existing statistics, we assume that each fund has 1.4 portfolios advised by a subadviser. 5 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). PO 00000 1 See 2 Rules Frm 00096 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 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–10. Responses 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 control number. General comments regarding the above information should be directed to the following persons: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or email to: David_Rostker@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice. Dated: June 6, 2005. J. Lynn Taylor, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. E5–3117 Filed 6–16–05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8010–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 20549. Extensions: Form 6–K, OMB Control No. 3235–0116, SEC File No. 270–107. 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 (‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. Form 6–K elicits material information from foreign private issuers of publicly traded securities promptly after the occurrence of specified or other important corporate events so that investors have current information upon which to base investment decisions. The purpose of Form 6–K is to ensure that U.S. investors have access to the same E:\FR\FM\17JNN1.SGM 17JNN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 116 (Friday, June 17, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35315-35316]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-3116]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Upon written request, copies available from: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, Washington, DC 
20549.

Extension:
    Rule 17a-13, SEC File No. 270-27, OMB Control No. 3235-0035.

    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 (``Commission'') has submitted to the Office of Management 
and Budget (``OMB'') a request for the extension of the previously 
approved collection of information on the following rule: 17 CFR 
240.17a-13 Quarterly Security Counts to be Made by Certain Exchange 
Members, Brokers, and Dealers.
    Rule 17a-13(b) generally requires that at least once each calendar 
quarter, all registered brokers and dealers physically examine and 
count all securities held and account for all other securities not in 
their possession, but subject to the broker-dealer's control or 
direction. Any discrepancies between the broker-dealer's securities 
count and the firm's records must be noted and, within seven days, the 
unaccounted for difference must be recorded in the firm's records. Rule 
17a-13(c) provides that under specified conditions, the securities 
counts, examination and verification of the broker-dealer's entire list 
of securities may be conducted on a cyclical basis rather than on a 
certain date. Although Rule 17a-13 does not require filing a report 
with the Commission, the discrepancies must be reported on Form X-17a-5 
as required by Rule 17a-5. Rule 17a-13 exempts broker-dealers that 
limit their business to the sale and redemption of securities of 
registered investment companies and interests or participation in an 
insurance company separate account and those who solicit accounts for 
federally insured savings and loan associations, provided that such 
persons promptly transmit all funds and securities and hold no customer 
funds and securities.
    The information obtained from Rule 17a-13 is used as an inventory 
control device to monitor a broker-dealer's ability to account for all 
securities held, in transfer, in transit, pledged, loaned, borrowed, 
deposited or otherwise subject to the firm's control or direction. 
Discrepancies between the securities counts and the broker-dealer's 
records alert the Commission and the Self Regulatory Organizations 
(``SROs'') to those firms having problems in their back offices.
    Currently, there are approximately 5,907 respondents that must 
comply with Rule 17a-13. However, given the variability in their 
businesses, it is difficult to quantify how many hours per year each 
respondent spends on the rule. As noted, the rule requires a respondent 
to account for all securities in its possession. Many respondents hold 
few, if any, securities; while others hold large quantities. Therefore, 
the time burden of complying with the rule will depend on respondent-
specific factors, including size, number of customers, and proprietary 
trading activity. The staff estimates that the average time spent per 
respondent on the rule is 100 hours per year. This estimate takes into 
account the fact that more than half the 5,907 respondents--according 
to financial reports filed with the SEC--may spend little or no time in 
complying with the rule, given that they do not do a public securities 
business or do not hold inventories of securities. For these reasons, 
the staff estimates that the total compliance burden per year is 
590,700 hours (5,907 respondents x 100 hours/respondent). It should be 
noted that most broker-dealers would engage in the activities required 
by Rule 17a-13 even if they were not required to do so.
    Security counts under Rule 17a-13 are mandatory for broker-dealers. 
If a broker-dealer has security discrepancies that must be recorded in 
its records, such records must be preserved for a period of no less 
than three years pursuant to Rule 17a-4(b)(1). Rule 17a-13 does not 
assure confidentiality for security discrepancy records and reports on 
Form X-17a-5.\1\ Please note that 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The records required by Rule 17a-13 are available only to 
the examination of the Commission staff, state securities 
authorities and the SROs. Subject to the provisions of the Freedom 
of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. 522, and the Commission's rules 
thereunder (17 CFR 200.80(b)(4)(iii)), the Commission does not 
generally publish or make available information contained in any 
reports, summaries, analyses, letters, or memoranda arising out of, 
in anticipation of, or in connection with an examination or 
inspection of the books and records of any person or any other 
investigation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Written comments regarding the above information should be directed 
to the following persons: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and 
Exchange Commission, Office of Information and

[[Page 35316]]

Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10202, New 
Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503 or e-mail to David--
Rostker@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) R. Corey Booth, Director/CIO, Office of 
Information Technology, Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth 
Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. Comments must be submitted to OMB 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
within 30 days of this notice.

    Dated: June 6, 2005.
J. Lynn Taylor,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-3116 Filed 6-16-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P
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