Submission of OMB Review; Comment Request, 6297-6299 [E7-2170]
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 27 / Friday, February 9, 2007 / Notices
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND
SPACE ADMINISTRATION
[Notice: (07–007)]
Notice of Information Collection
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration (NASA).
ACTION: Notice of information collection.
AGENCY:
SUMMARY: The National Aeronautics and
Space Administration, as part of its
continuing effort to reduce paperwork
and respondent burden, invites the
general public and other Federal
agencies to take this opportunity to
comment on proposed and/or
continuing information collections, as
required by the Paperwork Reduction
Act of 1995 (Public Law 104–13, 44
U.S.C. 3506(c)(2)(A)).
DATES: All comments should be
submitted within 60 calendar days from
the date of this publication.
ADDRESSES: All comments should be
addressed to Mr. Walter Kit, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration,
Washington, DC 20546–0001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Requests for additional information or
copies of the information collection
instrument(s) and instructions should
be directed to Mr. Walter Kit, NASA
PRA Officer, NASA Headquarters, 300 E
Street SW., JE000, Washington, DC
20546, (202) 358–1350,
Walter.Kit-1@nasa.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. Abstract
In 2005, NASA TV switched from
transmitting an analog TV signal to a
Digital signal that requires viewers to
buy a digital receiver. NASA needs to
determine how this switch affects
viewers, how viewers use NASA TV,
and what changes they request.
Responses will be used to recommend
improvements to NASA TV.
II. Method of Collection
Respondents will complete an online
survey. All study data will be collected
online using Web-based database
technologies.
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III. Data
Title: NASA TV Viewers Survey.
OMB Number: 2700–XXXX.
Type of review: Emergency new
collection.
Affected Public: Individuals or
households; Not-for-profit institutions.
Number of Respondents: 1020.
Responses Per Respondent: 1.
Annual Responses: 1020.
Hours Per Response: 0.17 hours.
Annual Burden Hours: 170.
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IV. Request for Comments
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether
the proposed collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance
of the functions of NASA, including
whether the information collected has
practical utility; (2) the accuracy of
NASA’s estimate of the burden
(including hours and cost) of the
proposed collection of information; (3)
ways to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be
collected; and (4) ways to minimize the
burden of the collection of information
on respondents, including automated
collection techniques or the use of other
forms of information technology.
Comments submitted in response to
this notice will be summarized and
included in the request for OMB
approval of this information collection.
They will also become a matter of
public record.
Reason for Late Notice: Time and date
of meeting were not established until
February 5, 2007.
Gary Cox,
Deputy Chief Information Officer (Acting).
[FR Doc. E7–2204 Filed 2–8–07; 8:45 am]
Notice is hereby given that pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), the Securities
and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments
on the collections of information
summarized below. The Commission
plans to submit this existing collection
of information to the Office of
Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for
extension and approval.
Section 31(a)(1) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Act’’)
requires registered investment
companies (‘‘funds’’) and certain
principal underwriters, broker-dealers,
investment advisers and depositors of
funds to maintain and preserve records
as prescribed by Commission rules.1
Rule 31a–1 specifies the books and
records that each of these entities must
maintain.2 Rule 31a–2, which was
adopted on April 17, 1944, specifies the
time periods that entities must retain
books and records required to be
maintained under rule 31a–1.3
Rule 31a–2 requires the following:
1. Every fund must preserve
permanently, and in an easily accessible
place for the first two years, all books
and records required under rule 31a–
1(b)(1)–(4).4
BILLING CODE 7510–13–P
NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION
National Science Board; National
Science Board Commission on 21st
Century Education in Science,
Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics (29127); Notice of
Meeting
In accordance with the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92–
463, as amended), the National Science
Board announces the following meeting:
Date and Time: Wednesday, February
21, 2007, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. EST
(teleconference meeting)
Place: National Science Foundation,
4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, Virginia.
Room II–535 will be available to the
public to listen to this teleconference
meeting.
Type of Meeting: Open.
Contact Person: Dr. Elizabeth
Strickland, Commission Executive
Secretary, National Science Board
Office, National Science Foundation,
4201 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
22230. Telephone: 703–292–4527. Email: estrickl@nsf.gov.
Purpose of Meeting: To discuss the
report of the National Science Board’s
Commission on 21st Century Education
in Science, Technology, Engineering,
and Mathematics.
Agenda: Discussion of feedback from
the National Science Board to the
Commission on preliminary draft
recommendations and discussion of the
format of the complete report.
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Susanne Bolton,
Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. E7–2198 Filed 2–8–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7555–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Submission of 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 31a–2, SEC File No. 270–174, OMB
Control No. 3235–0179.
1 15
U.S.C. 80a–30(a)(1).
CFR 270.31a–1.
3 17 CFR 270.31a–2.
4 17 CFR 270.31a–1(b)(1)–(4). These include,
among other records, journals detailing daily
purchases and sales of securities or contracts to
purchase and sell securities, general and auxiliary
ledgers reflecting all asset, liability, reserve, capital,
income and expense accounts, separate ledgers
reflecting, separately for each portfolio security as
of the trade date all ‘‘long’’ and ‘‘short’’ positions
carried by the fund for its own account, and
corporate charters, certificates of incorporation and
by-laws.
2 17
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 27 / Friday, February 9, 2007 / Notices
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2. Every fund must preserve for at
least six years, and in an easily
accessible place for the first two years:
a. all books and records required
under rule 31a–1(b)(5)–(12);5
b. all vouchers, memoranda,
correspondence, checkbooks, bank
statements, canceled checks, cash
reconciliations, canceled stock
certificates and all schedules that
support each computation of net asset
value of fund shares;
c. any advertisement, pamphlet,
circular, form letter or other sales
literature addressed or intended for
distribution to prospective investors;
d. any record of the initial
determination that a director is not an
interested person of the fund, and each
subsequent determination that the
director is not an interested person of
the fund, including any questionnaire
and any other document used to
determine that a director is not an
interested person of the company;
e. any materials used by the
disinterested directors of a fund to
determine that a person who is acting as
legal counsel to those directors is an
independent legal counsel; and
f. any documents or other written
information considered by the directors
of the fund pursuant to section 15(c) of
the Act in approving the terms or
renewal of a contract or agreement
between the company and an
investment advisor.
3. Every underwriter, broker or dealer
that is a majority-owned subsidiary of a
fund must preserve records required to
be preserved by brokers and dealers
under rules adopted under section 17 of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 6
(‘‘section 17’’) for the periods
established in those rules.
4. Every depositor of any fund, and
every principal underwriter of any fund
other than a closed-end fund, must
preserve for at least six years records
required to be preserved by brokers and
dealers under rules adopted under
section 17 to the extent the records are
necessary or appropriate to record the
entity’s transactions with the fund.
5. Every investment adviser that is a
majority-owned subsidiary of a fund
must preserve the records required to be
5 17 CFR 270.31a–1(b)(5)–(12). These include,
among other records, records of each brokerage
order given in connection with purchases and sales
of securities by the fund, all other portfolio
purchases, records of all puts, calls, spreads,
straddles or other options in which the fund has an
interest, has granted, or has guaranteed, records of
proof of money balances in all ledger accounts, files
of all advisory material received from the
investment adviser, and memoranda identifying
persons, committees or groups authorizing the
purchase or sale of securities for the fund.
6 15 U.S.C. 78q.
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maintained by investment advisers
under rules adopted under section 204
of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 7
(‘‘section 204’’) for the periods specified
in those rules.
6. Every investment adviser that is not
a majority-owned subsidiary of a fund
must preserve for at least six years
records required to be maintained by
registered investment advisers under
rules adopted under section 204 to the
extent the records are necessary or
appropriate to reflect the adviser’s
transactions with the fund.
The records required to be maintained
and preserved under this part may be
maintained and preserved for the
required time by, or on behalf of, a fund
on (i) micrographic media, including
microfilm, microfiche, or any similar
medium, or (ii) electronic storage media,
including any digital storage medium or
system that meets the terms of this
section. The fund, or person that
maintains and preserves records on its
behalf, must arrange and index the
records in a way that permits easy
location, access, and retrieval of any
particular record.8
The Commission periodically inspects
the operations of all funds to ensure
their compliance with the provisions of
the Act and the rules under the Act. The
Commission staff spends a significant
portion of their time in these
inspections reviewing the information
contained in the books and records
required to be kept by rule 31a–1 and
to be preserved by rule 31a–2.
There are approximately 4,920 funds
as of December 31, 2006, all of which
are required to comply with rule 31a–
2. Based on recent conversations with
representatives of the fund industry and
past estimates, our staff estimates that
each fund currently spends 220 hours
per year complying with the records
7 15
U.S.C. 80b–4.
addition, the fund, or whoever maintains the
documents for the fund must provide promptly any
of the following that the Commission (by its
examiners or other representatives) or the directors
of the fund may request: (A) A legible, true, and
complete copy of the record in the medium and
format in which it is stored; (B) a legible, true, and
complete printout of the record; and (C) means to
access, view, and print the records; and separately
store, for the time required for preservation of the
original record, a duplicate copy of the record on
any medium allowed by this section. In the case of
records retained on electronic storage media, the
fund, or person that maintains and preserves
records on its behalf, must establish and maintain
procedures: (i) To maintain and preserve the
records, so as to reasonably safeguard them from
loss, alteration, or destruction; (ii) to limit access to
the records to properly authorized personnel, the
directors of the fund, and the Commission
(including its examiners and other representatives);
and (iii) to reasonably ensure that any reproduction
of a non-electronic original record on electronic
storage media is complete, true, and legible when
retrieved.
8 In
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preservation required by rule 31a–2.
The hour burden is incurred by a variety
of fund staff, and the type of staff
position used for compliance with the
rule varies widely from fund to fund.
Based on these estimates, our staff
estimates that the total annual burden of
a fund to comply with rule 31a–2, is 220
hours, with a total annual burden for all
funds of 1,082,400 hours.9
The hour burden estimates for
retaining records under rule 31a–2 are
based on our experience with registrants
and our experience with similar
requirements under the Act and the
rules under the Act. The number of
burden hours may vary depending on,
among other things, the complexity of
the fund, the issues faced by the fund,
and the number of series and classes of
the fund. The estimated average burden
hours are made solely for purposes of
the Paperwork Reduction Act and are
not derived from quantitative,
comprehensive, or even representative
survey or study of the burdens
associated with our rules and forms.
The Commission staff estimates the
average cost of preserving books and
records required by rule 31a–2, to be
approximately $.000035 per $1.00 of net
assets per year.10 As of December 31,
2006, our staff estimates total net assets
of all funds at about $10 trillion, and
that compliance with rule 31a–2 costs
the fund industry approximately $350
million per year.11 Our staff estimates,
however, based on conversations with
representatives of the fund industry,
that funds would already spend half of
this amount ($175 million) to preserve
these same books and records, as they
are also necessary to prepare financial
statements, meet various state reporting
requirements, and prepare their annual
federal and state income tax returns.
Therefore, we estimate that the total
annual cost burden for registered fund
due to compliance with rule 31a–2 is
$175 million per year.
These estimates of average costs are
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
9 This estimate is based on the following
calculation : 4,920 registered investment companies
× 220 hours = 1,082,400 total hours.
10 The staff estimated the annual cost of
preserving the required books and records by
identifying the annual costs for several funds and
then relating this total cost to the average net assets
of these funds during the year. The staff estimates
that the annual cost of preserving records is $70,000
per fund; the funds queried in support of this
analysis had an average asset base of approximately
$2 billion (70,000/2 billion = .000035).
11 This estimate is based on the annual cost per
dollar of net assets of the average fund as applied
to the net assets of all funds ($10 trillion × .000035
= $350 million).
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Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 27 / Friday, February 9, 2007 / Notices
the costs of Commission rules. 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, Securities and
Exchange Commission, C/O Shirley
Martinson 6432 General Green Way,
Alexandria, Virginia, 22312; or send an
e-mail to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.
Dated: February 5, 2007.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7–2170 Filed 2–8–07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Sunshine Act Meeting
Federal Register Citation of Previous
Announcement: [72 FR 5090, February
2, 2007]
STATUS:
PLACE:
Closed Meeting.
100 F Street, NE., Washington,
DC.
DATE AND TIME OF PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
MEETING: Thursday, February 8, 2007 at
2 p.m.
Time Change.
The Closed Meeting scheduled for
Thursday, February 8, 2007 at 2 p.m.
has been changed to Thursday, February
8, 2007 at 10 a.m.
At times, changes in Commission
priorities require alterations in the
scheduling of meeting items. For further
information and to ascertain what, if
any, matters have been added, deleted
or postponed, please contact the Office
of the Secretary at (202) 551–5400.
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CHANGE IN THE MEETING:
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Dated: February 6, 2007.
Nancy M. Morris,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 07–610 Filed 2–7–07; 10:52 am]
has substantially prepared summaries,
set forth in Sections A, B, and C below,
of the most significant aspects of such
statements.
BILLING CODE 8010–01–P
A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Release No. 34–55229; File No. SR–Amex–
2007–12]
Self-Regulatory Organizations;
American Stock Exchange LLC; Notice
of Filing and Immediate Effectiveness
of a Proposed Rule Change Relating to
a Clarification to the Exchange’s
Payment for Order Flow Plan
February 2, 2007.
Pursuant to Section 19(b)(1) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
(‘‘Act’’) 1 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,2
notice is hereby given that on January
22, 2007, the American Stock Exchange
LLC (‘‘Amex’’ or ‘‘Exchange’’) filed with
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’) the
proposed rule change as described in
Items I, II, and III below, which Items
have been substantially prepared by the
Exchange. Amex has designated this
proposal as one establishing or changing
a due, fee, or other charge imposed by
Amex under Section 19(b)(3)(A)(ii) of
the Act 3 and Rule 19b–4(f)(2)
thereunder,4 which renders the proposal
effective upon filing with the
Commission. The Commission is
publishing this notice to solicit
comments on the proposed rule change
from interested persons.
I. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Terms of Substance of
the Proposed Rule Change
The Exchange proposes to clarify the
current Payment for Order Flow Plan
with respect to funds collected from
Supplemental Registered Options
Traders (‘‘SROTs’’).
II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement of the Purpose of, and
Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule
Change
In its filing with the Commission, the
Exchange 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 these
statements may be examined at the
places specified in Item IV below. Amex
1 15
U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
CFR 240.19b–4.
3 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(3)(A)(ii).
4 17 CFR 240.19b–4(f)(2).
2 17
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1. Purpose
The Exchange adopted its current
Payment for Order Flow Plan in
February of 2006.5 Under the current
plan, the Exchange charges an equity
options marketing fee of $0.75 per
contract 6 solely to customer orders that
are from payment accepting firms with
whom a specialist or a Supplemental
Registered Options Trader (‘‘SROT’’),
has negotiated a payment for order flow
arrangement.7 This fee solely applies to
those orders which are executed
electronically through the Exchange’s
ANTE system.
As noted in the Exchange’s previous
Payment for Order Flow filings, fees are
collected from any SROT, specialist or
ROT who participates in a trade with a
payment accepting firm with whom a
specialist has negotiated a payment for
order flow arrangement, or with whom
an SROT has negotiated a payment with
an affiliated SROT.
The Exchange proposes to clarify the
current Payment for Order Flow Plan to
limit the spending of funds collected
from SROTs, which are allocated to a
specialist, when the SROT participates
in a trade where the specialist has
negotiated a payment for order flow
arrangement. In these instances, the
Exchange proposes to require that the
specialist be limited to spending any
SROT collected funds only in those
options classes in which the SROT is
able to trade.
2. Statutory Basis
The Exchange believes that the
proposed rule change is consistent with
Section 6(b) of the Act 8 in general, and
Section 6(b)(4) of the Act 9 in particular,
because it is an equitable allocation of
reasonable dues, fees, and other charges
among exchange members and other
persons using exchange facilities.
5 See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 53341
(February 21, 2006), 71 FR 10085 (February 28,
2006) (approving SR–Amex 2006–15).
6 The fee is $1.00 for SPDR contracts.
7 See Securities Exchange Act Release Nos. 54324
(August 16, 2006), 71 FR 50110 (August 24, 2006)
(SR–Amex 2006–63); and 54486 (September 22,
2006), 71 FR 57009 (September 28, 2006) (SR–Amex
2006–79).
8 15 U.S.C. 78f(b).
9 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(4).
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]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 27 (Friday, February 9, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 6297-6299]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-2170]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Submission of 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 31a-2, SEC File No. 270-174, OMB Control No. 3235-0179.
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act
of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Securities and Exchange Commission
(``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the collections of
information summarized below. The Commission plans to submit this
existing collection of information to the Office of Management and
Budget (``OMB'') for extension and approval.
Section 31(a)(1) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the
``Act'') requires registered investment companies (``funds'') and
certain principal underwriters, broker-dealers, investment advisers and
depositors of funds to maintain and preserve records as prescribed by
Commission rules.\1\ Rule 31a-1 specifies the books and records that
each of these entities must maintain.\2\ Rule 31a-2, which was adopted
on April 17, 1944, specifies the time periods that entities must retain
books and records required to be maintained under rule 31a-1.\3\
Rule 31a-2 requires the following:
1. Every fund must preserve permanently, and in an easily
accessible place for the first two years, all books and records
required under rule 31a-1(b)(1)-(4).\4\
[[Page 6298]]
2. Every fund must preserve for at least six years, and in an
easily accessible place for the first two years:
a. all books and records required under rule 31a-1(b)(5)-(12);\5\
b. all vouchers, memoranda, correspondence, checkbooks, bank
statements, canceled checks, cash reconciliations, canceled stock
certificates and all schedules that support each computation of net
asset value of fund shares;
c. any advertisement, pamphlet, circular, form letter or other
sales literature addressed or intended for distribution to prospective
investors;
d. any record of the initial determination that a director is not
an interested person of the fund, and each subsequent determination
that the director is not an interested person of the fund, including
any questionnaire and any other document used to determine that a
director is not an interested person of the company;
e. any materials used by the disinterested directors of a fund to
determine that a person who is acting as legal counsel to those
directors is an independent legal counsel; and
f. any documents or other written information considered by the
directors of the fund pursuant to section 15(c) of the Act in approving
the terms or renewal of a contract or agreement between the company and
an investment advisor.
3. Every underwriter, broker or dealer that is a majority-owned
subsidiary of a fund must preserve records required to be preserved by
brokers and dealers under rules adopted under section 17 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 \6\ (``section 17'') for the periods
established in those rules.
4. Every depositor of any fund, and every principal underwriter of
any fund other than a closed-end fund, must preserve for at least six
years records required to be preserved by brokers and dealers under
rules adopted under section 17 to the extent the records are necessary
or appropriate to record the entity's transactions with the fund.
5. Every investment adviser that is a majority-owned subsidiary of
a fund must preserve the records required to be maintained by
investment advisers under rules adopted under section 204 of the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 \7\ (``section 204'') for the periods
specified in those rules.
6. Every investment adviser that is not a majority-owned subsidiary
of a fund must preserve for at least six years records required to be
maintained by registered investment advisers under rules adopted under
section 204 to the extent the records are necessary or appropriate to
reflect the adviser's transactions with the fund.
The records required to be maintained and preserved under this part
may be maintained and preserved for the required time by, or on behalf
of, a fund on (i) micrographic media, including microfilm, microfiche,
or any similar medium, or (ii) electronic storage media, including any
digital storage medium or system that meets the terms of this section.
The fund, or person that maintains and preserves records on its behalf,
must arrange and index the records in a way that permits easy location,
access, and retrieval of any particular record.\8\
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 80a-30(a)(1).
\2\ 17 CFR 270.31a-1.
\3\ 17 CFR 270.31a-2.
\4\ 17 CFR 270.31a-1(b)(1)-(4). These include, among other
records, journals detailing daily purchases and sales of securities
or contracts to purchase and sell securities, general and auxiliary
ledgers reflecting all asset, liability, reserve, capital, income
and expense accounts, separate ledgers reflecting, separately for
each portfolio security as of the trade date all ``long'' and
``short'' positions carried by the fund for its own account, and
corporate charters, certificates of incorporation and by-laws.
\5\ 17 CFR 270.31a-1(b)(5)-(12). These include, among other
records, records of each brokerage order given in connection with
purchases and sales of securities by the fund, all other portfolio
purchases, records of all puts, calls, spreads, straddles or other
options in which the fund has an interest, has granted, or has
guaranteed, records of proof of money balances in all ledger
accounts, files of all advisory material received from the
investment adviser, and memoranda identifying persons, committees or
groups authorizing the purchase or sale of securities for the fund.
\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78q.
\7\ 15 U.S.C. 80b-4.
\8\ In addition, the fund, or whoever maintains the documents
for the fund must provide promptly any of the following that the
Commission (by its examiners or other representatives) or the
directors of the fund may request: (A) A legible, true, and complete
copy of the record in the medium and format in which it is stored;
(B) a legible, true, and complete printout of the record; and (C)
means to access, view, and print the records; and separately store,
for the time required for preservation of the original record, a
duplicate copy of the record on any medium allowed by this section.
In the case of records retained on electronic storage media, the
fund, or person that maintains and preserves records on its behalf,
must establish and maintain procedures: (i) To maintain and preserve
the records, so as to reasonably safeguard them from loss,
alteration, or destruction; (ii) to limit access to the records to
properly authorized personnel, the directors of the fund, and the
Commission (including its examiners and other representatives); and
(iii) to reasonably ensure that any reproduction of a non-electronic
original record on electronic storage media is complete, true, and
legible when retrieved.
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The Commission periodically inspects the operations of all funds to
ensure their compliance with the provisions of the Act and the rules
under the Act. The Commission staff spends a significant portion of
their time in these inspections reviewing the information contained in
the books and records required to be kept by rule 31a-1 and to be
preserved by rule 31a-2.
There are approximately 4,920 funds as of December 31, 2006, all of
which are required to comply with rule 31a-2. Based on recent
conversations with representatives of the fund industry and past
estimates, our staff estimates that each fund currently spends 220
hours per year complying with the records preservation required by rule
31a-2. The hour burden is incurred by a variety of fund staff, and the
type of staff position used for compliance with the rule varies widely
from fund to fund. Based on these estimates, our staff estimates that
the total annual burden of a fund to comply with rule 31a-2, is 220
hours, with a total annual burden for all funds of 1,082,400 hours.\9\
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\9\ This estimate is based on the following calculation : 4,920
registered investment companies x 220 hours = 1,082,400 total hours.
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The hour burden estimates for retaining records under rule 31a-2
are based on our experience with registrants and our experience with
similar requirements under the Act and the rules under the Act. The
number of burden hours may vary depending on, among other things, the
complexity of the fund, the issues faced by the fund, and the number of
series and classes of the fund. The estimated average burden hours are
made solely for purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act and are not
derived from quantitative, comprehensive, or even representative survey
or study of the burdens associated with our rules and forms.
The Commission staff estimates the average cost of preserving books
and records required by rule 31a-2, to be approximately $.000035 per
$1.00 of net assets per year.\10\ As of December 31, 2006, our staff
estimates total net assets of all funds at about $10 trillion, and that
compliance with rule 31a-2 costs the fund industry approximately $350
million per year.\11\ Our staff estimates, however, based on
conversations with representatives of the fund industry, that funds
would already spend half of this amount ($175 million) to preserve
these same books and records, as they are also necessary to prepare
financial statements, meet various state reporting requirements, and
prepare their annual federal and state income tax returns. Therefore,
we estimate that the total annual cost burden for registered fund due
to compliance with rule 31a-2 is $175 million per year.
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\10\ The staff estimated the annual cost of preserving the
required books and records by identifying the annual costs for
several funds and then relating this total cost to the average net
assets of these funds during the year. The staff estimates that the
annual cost of preserving records is $70,000 per fund; the funds
queried in support of this analysis had an average asset base of
approximately $2 billion (70,000/2 billion = .000035).
\11\ This estimate is based on the annual cost per dollar of net
assets of the average fund as applied to the net assets of all funds
($10 trillion x .000035 = $350 million).
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These estimates of average costs are 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
[[Page 6299]]
the costs of Commission rules. 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, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O
Shirley Martinson 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, Virginia, 22312;
or send an e-mail to: PRA--Mailbox@sec.gov.
Dated: February 5, 2007.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E7-2170 Filed 2-8-07; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P
