Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 35317-35319 [E5-3120]
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 116 / Friday, June 17, 2005 / Notices
information that foreign investors do
when making investment decisions.
Form 6–K is a public document and all
information provided is mandatory.
Form 6–K is filed by approximately
14,661 issuers annually. We estimate
that it takes 8 hours per response to
prepare Form 6–K for a total annual
burden of 117,288 hours. We further
estimate that 367 Forms 6–K each year
require an additional 27 hours per
response to translate into English an
additional 8 pages of foreign language
text for a total of 9,909 additional
burden hours, which results in 127,197
total annual burden hours for Form 6–
K. We estimate that respondents incur
75% of the 117,288 annual burden
hours (87,966 hours) to prepare Form 6–
K and 25% of the 9,909 burden hours
(2,477 hours) to translate the additional
foreign language text into English for a
total annual reporting burden of 90,443
hours. The remaining burden hours are
reflected as a cost to the foreign private
issuers.
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 send an 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 7, 2005.
J. Lynn Taylor,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5–3118 Filed 6–16–05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
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.
Extensions:
Form 8–A, OMB Control No. 3235–0056,
SEC File No. 270–54.
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Form 12b–25, OMB Control No. 3235–
0058, SEC File No. 270–71.
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’’) 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 for
extension and approval.
Form 8–A is a registration statement
for certain classes of securities pursuant
to Section 12(b) and 12(g) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Section 12(a) requires securities traded
on national exchanges to be registered
under the Exchange Act. Section 12(g),
and Rule 12g–1 promulgated
thereunder, extend the Exchange Act
registration requirements to issuers
engaged in interstate commerce, or in a
business affecting interstate commerce,
and having total assets exceeding
$10,000,000 and a class of equity
security held or record by 500 or more
people. Form 8–A takes approximately
3 hours to prepare and is filed by
approximately 1,760 respondents for a
total of 5,280 annual burden hours.
Form 12b–25 provides notice to the
Commission and the marketplace that a
public company will be unable to timely
file a required periodic report. If certain
conditions are met, the company is
granted an automatic filing extension.
Form 12b–25 is filed by publicly held
companies. Form 12b–25 takes
approximately 2.5 hours to prepare and
is filed by approximately 7,799
companies for a total of 19,498 annual
burden hours.
Written comments are invited on: (a)
Whether these collections of
information are 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 collections 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 Fifth Street,
NW., Washington, DC 20549.
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35317
Dated: June 8, 2005.
J. Lynn Taylor,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5–3119 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 7d–2, SEC File No. 270–464, OMB
Control No. 3235–0527.
Rule 237, SEC File No. 270–465, OMB
Control No. 3235–0528.
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’’) has submitted to the
Office of Management and Budget
(‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension and
approval of the collections of
information discussed below.
In Canada, as in the United States,
individuals can invest a portion of their
earnings in tax-deferred retirement
savings accounts (‘‘Canadian retirement
accounts’’). In cases where these
individuals move to the United States,
these participants (‘‘Canadian/U.S.
Participants’’ or ‘‘participants’’) may not
be able to manage their Canadian
retirement account investments. Most
securities and most investment
companies (‘‘funds’’) that are ‘‘qualified
investments’’ for Canadian retirement
accounts are not registered under the
U.S. securities laws. Those securities,
therefore, generally cannot be publicly
offered and sold in the United States
without violating the registration
requirements of the Securities Act of
1933 (‘‘Securities Act’’) 1 and, in the
case of securities of an unregistered
fund, the Investment Company Act of
1940 (‘‘Investment Company Act’’).2 As
a result of these registration
requirements of the U.S. securities laws,
Canadian/U.S. Participants, in the past,
had not been able to purchase or
exchange securities for their Canadian
retirement accounts as needed to meet
their changing investment goals or
income needs.
In 2000, the Commission issued two
rules that enabled Canadian/U.S.
Participants to manage the assets in
1 15
2 15
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U.S.C. 77.
U.S.C. 80a.
17JNN1
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 116 / Friday, June 17, 2005 / Notices
their Canadian retirement accounts by
providing relief from the U.S.
registration requirements for offers of
securities of foreign issuers to Canadian/
U.S. Participants and sales to their
accounts.3 Rule 237 under the Securities
Act permits securities of foreign issuers,
including securities of foreign funds, to
be offered to Canadian/U.S. Participants
and sold to their Canadian retirement
accounts without being registered under
the Securities Act. Rule 7d–2 under the
Investment Company Act permits
foreign funds to offer securities to
Canadian/U.S. Participants and sell
securities to their Canadian retirement
accounts without registering as
investment companies under the
Investment Company Act.
The provisions of rules 237 and 7d–
2 are substantially identical. Rule 237
requires written offering materials for
securities that are offered and sold in
reliance on the rule to disclose
prominently that those securities are not
registered with the Commission and
may not be offered or sold in the United
States unless they are registered or
exempt from registration under the U.S.
securities laws. Rule 7d–2 requires
written offering materials for securities
offered or sold in reliance on that rule
to make the same disclosure concerning
those securities, and also to disclose
prominently that the fund that issued
the securities is not registered with the
Commission. Neither rule 237 nor rule
7d–2 requires any documents to be filed
with the Commission. The burden
under either rule associated with adding
this disclosure to written offering
documents is minimal and is nonrecurring. The foreign issuer,
underwriter or broker-dealer can redraft
an existing prospectus or other written
offering material to add this disclosure
statement, or may draft a sticker or
supplement containing this disclosure
to be added to existing offering
materials. In either case, based on
discussions with representatives of the
Canadian fund industry, the staff
estimates that it would take an average
of 10 minutes per document to draft the
requisite disclosure statement. The staff
estimates the annual burden as a result
of the disclosure requirements of rules
7d-2 and 237 as follows.
a. Rule 7d–2
The staff estimated that there are
approximately 1,300 publicly offered
Canadian funds that potentially would
rely on the rule to offer securities to
3 See Offer and Sale of Securities to Canadian
Tax-Deferred Retirement Savings Accounts, Release
Nos. 33–7860, 34–42905, IC–24491 (June 7, 2000)
[65 FR 37672 (June 15, 2000)].
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17:59 Jun 16, 2005
Jkt 205001
participants and sell securities to their
Canadian retirement accounts without
registering under the Investment
Company Act. The staff estimates that
approximately 65 (5 percent) additional
Canadian funds may rely on the rule
each year to offer securities to
Canadian/U.S. participants and sell
securities to their Canadian retirement
accounts, and that each of those funds,
on average, distributes 3 different
written offering documents concerning
those securities, for a total of 195
offering documents. The staff therefore
estimates that approximately 65
respondents would make 195 responses
by adding the new disclosure statement
to approximately 195 written offering
documents. The staff therefore estimates
that the annual burden associated with
the rule 7d–2 disclosure requirement
would be approximately 32.5 hours (195
offering documents × 10 minutes per
document). The total annual cost of
these burden hours is estimated to be
$2,155.08 (32.5 hours × $66.31 per hour
of professional time).4
b. Rule 237
Canadian issuers other than funds.
The Commission understands that there
are approximately 3,500 Canadian
issuers other than funds that may rely
on rule 237 to make an initial public
offering of their securities to Canadian/
U.S. Participants.5 The staff estimates
that in any given year approximately 35
(or 1 percent) of those issuers are likely
to rely on rule 237 to make a public
offering of their securities to
participants, and that each of those 35
issuers, on average, distributes 3
different written offering documents
concerning those securities, for a total of
105 offering documents.
The staff therefore estimates that
during each year that rule 237 is in
effect, approximately 35 respondents 6
4 The Commission’s estimate concerning the wage
rate for professional time is based on salary
information for the securities industry compiled by
the Securities Industry Association. See Securities
Industry Association, Report on Management and
Professional Earnings in the Securities Industry
2003 (September 2003).
5 Canadian funds can rely on both rule 7d–2 and
rule 237 to offer securities to participants and sell
securities to their Canadian retirement accounts
without violating the registration requirements of
the Investment Company Act or the Securities Act.
Rule 237, however, does not require any disclosure
in addition to that required by rule 7d–2. Thus, the
disclosure requirements of rule 237 do not impose
any burden on Canadian funds in addition to the
burden imposed by the disclosure requirements of
rule 7d–2. To avoid double-counting this burden,
the staff has excluded Canadian funds from the
estimate of the hourly burden associated with rule
237.
6 This estimate of respondents also assumes that
all respondents are foreign issuers. The number of
respondents may be greater if foreign underwriters
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would be required to make 105
responses by adding the new disclosure
statements to approximately 105 written
offering documents. Thus, the staff
estimates that the total annual burden
associated with the rule 237 disclosure
requirement would be approximately
17.5 hours (105 offering documents × 10
minutes per document). The total
annual cost of burden hours is estimated
to be $1,160.43 (17.5 hours × $66.31
hour of professional time).7 Other
foreign issuers other than funds. In
addition, issuers from foreign countries
other than Canada could rely on rule
237 to offer securities to Canadian/U.S.
Participants and sell securities to their
accounts without becoming subject to
the registration requirements of the
Securities Act. Because Canadian law
strictly limits the amount of foreign
investments that may be held in a
Canadian retirement account, however,
the staff believes that the number of
issuers from other countries that relies
on rule 237, and that therefore is
required to comply with the offering
document disclosure requirements, is
negligible.
These burden hour estimates are
based upon the Commission staff’s
experience and discussions with the
fund industry. The estimates of average
burden hours are made solely for the
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction
Act. These estimates are not derived
from a comprehensive or even a
representative survey or study of the
costs of Commission rules.
Compliance with the collection of
information requirements of the rule is
mandatory and is necessary to comply
with the requirements of the rule in
general. 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 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, 450 5th Street, NW.,
Washington, DC 20549. Comments must
or broker-dealers draft a sticker or supplement to
add the required disclosure to an existing offering
document.
7 See supra note 4.
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Federal Register / Vol. 70, No. 116 / Friday, June 17, 2005 / Notices
be submitted to OMB within 30 days of
this notice.
Dated: June 6, 2005.
J. Lynn Taylor,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5–3120 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 12d3–1, SEC File No. 270–504, OMB
Control No. 3235–0561.
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 12(d)(3) of the Act generally
prohibits registered investment
companies (‘‘funds’’), and companies
controlled by funds, from purchasing
securities issued by a registered
investment adviser, broker, dealer, or
underwriter (‘‘securities-related
businesses’’). Rule 12d3–1 (‘‘Exemption
of acquisitions of securities issued by
persons engaged in securities related
businesses’’ [17 CFR 270.12d3–1])
permits a fund to invest up to five
percent of its assets in securities of an
issuer deriving more than fifteen
percent of its gross revenues from
securities-related businesses, but a fund
may not rely on rule 12d3–1 to acquire
securities of its own investment adviser
or any affiliated person of its own
investment adviser.
A fund may, however, rely on an
exemption in rule 12d3–1 to acquire
securities issued by its subadvisers in
circumstances in which the subadviser
would have little ability to take
advantage of the fund, because it is not
in a position to direct the fund’s
securities purchases. The exemption in
rule 12d3–1 is available if (i) the
subadviser is not, and is not an affiliated
person of, an investment adviser that
provides advice with respect to the
portion of the fund that is acquiring the
securities, and (ii) the advisory contracts
of the subadviser, and any subadviser
that is advising the purchasing portion
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17:59 Jun 16, 2005
Jkt 205001
of the fund, prohibit them from
consulting with each other concerning
securities transactions of the fund, and
limit their responsibility in providing
advice to providing advice with respect
to discrete portions of the fund’s
portfolio.
The Commission staff estimates that
3,028 portfolios of approximately 2,126
funds use the services of one or more
subadvisers. Based on an analysis of
investment company filings, the staff
estimates that approximately 200 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 we estimate that 46
new funds will enter into subadvisory
agreements each year.1 The Commission
staff further estimates, based on 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
(respondents),2 will enter into
subadvisory agreements each year.
Assuming that each of these funds
enters into a subadvisory contract that
permits it to rely on the exemptions in
rule 12d3–1(c)(3),3 we estimate that the
rule’s contract modification requirement
will result in 117 burden hours
annually.4
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
12d3–1. 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
1 The Commission staff estimates that
approximately 23 percent of funds are advised by
subadvisers.
2 Based on existing statistics, we assume that each
fund has 1.4 portfolios advised by a subadviser.
3 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 Commission has
apportioned the burden hours associated with the
required contract modifications equally among the
four rules.
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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35319
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. E5–3121 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 15g–2; SEC File No. 270–
381; OMB Control No. 3235–0434.
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.
The ‘‘Penny Stock Disclosure Rules’’
(Rule 15g–2, 17 CFR 240.15g–2) require
broker-dealers to provide their
customers with a risk disclosure
document, as set forth in Schedule 15G,
prior to their first non-exempt
transaction in a ‘‘penny stock’’. As
amended, the rule requires brokerdealers to obtain written
acknowledgement from the customer
that he or she has received the required
risk disclosure document. The amended
rule also requires broker-dealers to
maintain a copy of the customer’s
written acknowledgement for at least
three years following the date on which
the risk disclosure document was
provided to the customer, the first two
years in an accessible place.
The risk disclosure documents are for
the benefit of the customers, to assure
that they are aware of the risks of
trading in ‘‘penny stocks’’ before they
enter into a transaction. The risk
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 116 (Friday, June 17, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35317-35319]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-3120]
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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 7d-2, SEC File No. 270-464, OMB Control No. 3235-0527.
Rule 237, SEC File No. 270-465, OMB Control No. 3235-0528.
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'') has submitted to the Office of
Management and Budget (``OMB'') a request for extension and approval of
the collections of information discussed below.
In Canada, as in the United States, individuals can invest a
portion of their earnings in tax-deferred retirement savings accounts
(``Canadian retirement accounts''). In cases where these individuals
move to the United States, these participants (``Canadian/U.S.
Participants'' or ``participants'') may not be able to manage their
Canadian retirement account investments. Most securities and most
investment companies (``funds'') that are ``qualified investments'' for
Canadian retirement accounts are not registered under the U.S.
securities laws. Those securities, therefore, generally cannot be
publicly offered and sold in the United States without violating the
registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933 (``Securities
Act'') \1\ and, in the case of securities of an unregistered fund, the
Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Investment Company Act'').\2\ As a
result of these registration requirements of the U.S. securities laws,
Canadian/U.S. Participants, in the past, had not been able to purchase
or exchange securities for their Canadian retirement accounts as needed
to meet their changing investment goals or income needs.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ 15 U.S.C. 77.
\2\ 15 U.S.C. 80a.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
In 2000, the Commission issued two rules that enabled Canadian/U.S.
Participants to manage the assets in
[[Page 35318]]
their Canadian retirement accounts by providing relief from the U.S.
registration requirements for offers of securities of foreign issuers
to Canadian/U.S. Participants and sales to their accounts.\3\ Rule 237
under the Securities Act permits securities of foreign issuers,
including securities of foreign funds, to be offered to Canadian/U.S.
Participants and sold to their Canadian retirement accounts without
being registered under the Securities Act. Rule 7d-2 under the
Investment Company Act permits foreign funds to offer securities to
Canadian/U.S. Participants and sell securities to their Canadian
retirement accounts without registering as investment companies under
the Investment Company Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\3\ See Offer and Sale of Securities to Canadian Tax-Deferred
Retirement Savings Accounts, Release Nos. 33-7860, 34-42905, IC-
24491 (June 7, 2000) [65 FR 37672 (June 15, 2000)].
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The provisions of rules 237 and 7d-2 are substantially identical.
Rule 237 requires written offering materials for securities that are
offered and sold in reliance on the rule to disclose prominently that
those securities are not registered with the Commission and may not be
offered or sold in the United States unless they are registered or
exempt from registration under the U.S. securities laws. Rule 7d-2
requires written offering materials for securities offered or sold in
reliance on that rule to make the same disclosure concerning those
securities, and also to disclose prominently that the fund that issued
the securities is not registered with the Commission. Neither rule 237
nor rule 7d-2 requires any documents to be filed with the Commission.
The burden under either rule associated with adding this disclosure to
written offering documents is minimal and is non-recurring. The foreign
issuer, underwriter or broker-dealer can redraft an existing prospectus
or other written offering material to add this disclosure statement, or
may draft a sticker or supplement containing this disclosure to be
added to existing offering materials. In either case, based on
discussions with representatives of the Canadian fund industry, the
staff estimates that it would take an average of 10 minutes per
document to draft the requisite disclosure statement. The staff
estimates the annual burden as a result of the disclosure requirements
of rules 7d-2 and 237 as follows.
a. Rule 7d-2
The staff estimated that there are approximately 1,300 publicly
offered Canadian funds that potentially would rely on the rule to offer
securities to participants and sell securities to their Canadian
retirement accounts without registering under the Investment Company
Act. The staff estimates that approximately 65 (5 percent) additional
Canadian funds may rely on the rule each year to offer securities to
Canadian/U.S. participants and sell securities to their Canadian
retirement accounts, and that each of those funds, on average,
distributes 3 different written offering documents concerning those
securities, for a total of 195 offering documents. The staff therefore
estimates that approximately 65 respondents would make 195 responses by
adding the new disclosure statement to approximately 195 written
offering documents. The staff therefore estimates that the annual
burden associated with the rule 7d-2 disclosure requirement would be
approximately 32.5 hours (195 offering documents x 10 minutes per
document). The total annual cost of these burden hours is estimated to
be $2,155.08 (32.5 hours x $66.31 per hour of professional time).\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ The Commission's estimate concerning the wage rate for
professional time is based on salary information for the securities
industry compiled by the Securities Industry Association. See
Securities Industry Association, Report on Management and
Professional Earnings in the Securities Industry 2003 (September
2003).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Rule 237
Canadian issuers other than funds. The Commission understands that
there are approximately 3,500 Canadian issuers other than funds that
may rely on rule 237 to make an initial public offering of their
securities to Canadian/U.S. Participants.\5\ The staff estimates that
in any given year approximately 35 (or 1 percent) of those issuers are
likely to rely on rule 237 to make a public offering of their
securities to participants, and that each of those 35 issuers, on
average, distributes 3 different written offering documents concerning
those securities, for a total of 105 offering documents.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Canadian funds can rely on both rule 7d-2 and rule 237 to
offer securities to participants and sell securities to their
Canadian retirement accounts without violating the registration
requirements of the Investment Company Act or the Securities Act.
Rule 237, however, does not require any disclosure in addition to
that required by rule 7d-2. Thus, the disclosure requirements of
rule 237 do not impose any burden on Canadian funds in addition to
the burden imposed by the disclosure requirements of rule 7d-2. To
avoid double-counting this burden, the staff has excluded Canadian
funds from the estimate of the hourly burden associated with rule
237.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The staff therefore estimates that during each year that rule 237
is in effect, approximately 35 respondents \6\ would be required to
make 105 responses by adding the new disclosure statements to
approximately 105 written offering documents. Thus, the staff estimates
that the total annual burden associated with the rule 237 disclosure
requirement would be approximately 17.5 hours (105 offering documents x
10 minutes per document). The total annual cost of burden hours is
estimated to be $1,160.43 (17.5 hours x $66.31 hour of professional
time).\7\ Other foreign issuers other than funds. In addition, issuers
from foreign countries other than Canada could rely on rule 237 to
offer securities to Canadian/U.S. Participants and sell securities to
their accounts without becoming subject to the registration
requirements of the Securities Act. Because Canadian law strictly
limits the amount of foreign investments that may be held in a Canadian
retirement account, however, the staff believes that the number of
issuers from other countries that relies on rule 237, and that
therefore is required to comply with the offering document disclosure
requirements, is negligible.
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\6\ This estimate of respondents also assumes that all
respondents are foreign issuers. The number of respondents may be
greater if foreign underwriters or broker-dealers draft a sticker or
supplement to add the required disclosure to an existing offering
document.
\7\ See supra note 4.
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These burden hour estimates are based upon the Commission staff's
experience and discussions with the fund industry. The estimates of
average burden hours are made solely for the purposes of the Paperwork
Reduction Act. These estimates are not derived from a comprehensive or
even a representative survey or study of the costs of Commission rules.
Compliance with the collection of information requirements of the
rule is mandatory and is necessary to comply with the requirements of
the rule in general. 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 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, 450 5th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549.
Comments must
[[Page 35319]]
be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice.
Dated: June 6, 2005.
J. Lynn Taylor,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-3120 Filed 6-16-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P
