Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 63213-63215 [E8-25244]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 206 / Thursday, October 23, 2008 / Notices Electronic copies of DG–1205 are available through the NRC’s public Web site under Draft Regulatory Guides in the ‘‘Regulatory Guides’’ collection of the NRC’s Electronic Reading Room at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doccollections/. Electronic copies are also available in ADAMS (https:// www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html), under Accession No. ML082140114. In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the NRC’s Public Document Room (PDR), which is located at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The PDR’s mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555–0001. The PDR can also be reached by telephone at (301) 415–4737 or (800) 397–4205, by fax at (301) 415– 3548, and by e-mail to pdr.resource@nrc.gov. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is not required to reproduce them. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 17 day of October 2008. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Andrea D. Valentin, Chief, Regulatory Guide Development Branch, Division of Engineering, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. E8–25292 Filed 10–22–08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Proposed Collection; Comment Request Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 20549–0213. dwashington3 on PRODPC61 with NOTICES Extension: Rule 3a–8; SEC File No. 270–516; OMB Control No. 3235–0574. 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 the existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget for extension and approval. Rule 3a–8 (17 CFR 270.3a–8) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a) (the ‘‘Act’’), serves as a nonexclusive safe harbor from investment company status for certain research and development companies (‘‘R&D companies’’). VerDate Aug<31>2005 14:58 Oct 22, 2008 Jkt 217001 The rule requires that the board of directors of an R&D company seeking to rely on the safe harbor adopt an appropriate resolution evidencing that the company is primarily engaged in a non-investment business and record that resolution contemporaneously in its minute books or comparable documents.1 An R&D company seeking to rely on the safe harbor must retain these records only as long as such records must be maintained in accordance with state law. Rule 3a–8 contains an additional requirement that is also a collection of information within the meaning of the PRA. The board of directors of a company that relies on the safe harbor under rule 3a–8 must adopt a written policy with respect to the company’s capital preservation investments. We expect that the board of directors will base its decision to adopt the resolution discussed above, in part, on investment guidelines that the company will follow to ensure its investment portfolio is in compliance with the rule’s requirements. The collection of information imposed by rule 3a–8 is voluntary because the rule is an exemptive safe harbor, and therefore, R&D companies may choose whether or not to rely on it. The purposes of the information collection requirements in rule 3a–8 are to ensure that: (i) The board of directors of an R&D company is involved in determining whether the company should be considered an investment company and subject to regulation under the Act, and (ii) adequate records are available for Commission review, if necessary. Rule 3a–8 would not require the reporting of any information or the filing of any documents with the Commission. Commission staff estimates that there is no annual recordkeeping burden associated with the rule’s requirements. Nevertheless, the Commission requests authorization to maintain an inventory of one burden hour for administrative purposes. Commission staff estimates that approximately 500 R&D companies may rely on rule 3a–8. Given that the board resolutions and investment guidelines will generally need to be adopted only once (unless relevant circumstances change),2 the Commission believes that all the companies that rely on rule 3a–8 adopted their board resolutions and established written investment 1 Rule 3a–8(a)(6) (17 CFR 270.3a–8(6)). 2 In the event of changed circumstances, the Commission believes that the board resolution and investment guidelines will be amended and recorded in the ordinary course of business and would not create additional time burdens. PO 00000 Frm 00082 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 63213 guidelines in 2003 when the rule was adopted. We expect that newly formed R&D companies would adopt the board resolution and investment guidelines simultaneously with their formation documents in the ordinary course of business.3 Therefore, we estimate that rule 3a–8 will not create additional time burdens. 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 Lewis W. Walker, Acting Director/ CIO, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O Shirley Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312; or send an e-mail to: PRA_ Mailbox@sec.gov. Dated: October 16, 2008. J. Lynn Taylor, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. E8–25238 Filed 10–22–08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Proposed Collection; Comment Request Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 20549–0213. Extension: Rule 0–1, SEC File No. 270–472, OMB Control No. 3235–0531. Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 350l et seq.), the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) plans to submit to the Office of Management and Budget a 3 In order for these companies to raise sufficient capital to fund their product development stage, we believe they will need to present potential investors with investment guidelines. Investors would want to be assured that the company’s funds are invested consistent with the goals of capital preservation and liquidity. E:\FR\FM\23OCN1.SGM 23OCN1 63214 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 206 / Thursday, October 23, 2008 / Notices request for extension of the previous approved collection of information discussed below. The Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Act’’) 1 establishes a comprehensive framework for regulating the organization and operation of investment companies (‘‘funds’’). A principal objective of the Act is to protect fund investors by addressing the conflicts of interest that exist between funds and their investment advisers and other affiliated persons. The Act places significant responsibility on the fund board of directors in overseeing the operations of the fund and policing the relevant conflicts of interest.2 In one of its first releases, the Commission exercised its rulemaking authority pursuant to sections 38(a) and 40(b) of the Act by adopting rule 0–1 (17 CFR 270.0–1).3 Rule 0–1, as subsequently amended on numerous occasions, provides definitions for the terms used by the Commission in the rules and regulations it has adopted pursuant to the Act. The rule also contains a number of rules of construction for terms that are defined either in the Act itself or elsewhere in the Commission’s rules and regulations. Finally, rule 0–1 defines terms that serve as conditions to the availability of certain of the Commission’s exemptive rules. More specifically, the term ‘‘independent legal counsel,’’ as defined in rule 0–1, sets out conditions that funds must meet in order to rely on any of ten exemptive rules (‘‘exemptive rules’’) under the Act.4 The Commission amended rule 0–1 to include the definition of the term ‘‘independent legal counsel’’ in 2001.5 This amendment was designed to enhance the effectiveness of fund boards of directors and to better enable investors to assess the independence of those directors. The Commission also amended the exemptive rules to require that any person who serves as legal counsel to the independent directors of any fund that relies on any of the exemptive rules must be an 1 15 U.S.C. 80a. example, fund directors must approve investment advisory and distribution contracts. See 15 U.S.C. 80a–15(a), (b), and (c). 3 Investment Company Act Release No. 4 (Oct. 29, 1940) (5 FR 4316 (Oct. 31, 1940)). Note that rule 0– 1 was originally adopted as rule N–1. 4 The relevant exemptive rules are: rule 10f–3 (17 CFR 270.10f–3), rule 12b–1 (17 CFR 270.12b–1), rule 15a–4(b)(2) (17 CFR 270.15a–4(b)(2)), rule 17a– 7 (17 CFR 270.17a–7), rule 17a–8 (17 CFR 270.17a– 8), rule 17d–1(d)(7) (17 CFR 270.17d–1(d)(7)), rule 17e–1(c) (17 CFR 270.17e–1(c)), rule 17g–1 (17 CFR 270.17g–1), rule 18f–3 (17 CFR 270.18f–3), and rule 23c–3 (17 CFR 270.23c–3). 5 See Role of Independent Directors of Investment Companies, Investment Company Act Release No. 24816 (Jan. 2, 2001) (66 FR 3735 (Jan. 16, 2001)). dwashington3 on PRODPC61 with NOTICES 2 For VerDate Aug<31>2005 14:58 Oct 22, 2008 Jkt 217001 ‘‘independent legal counsel.’’ This requirement was added because independent directors can better perform the responsibilities assigned to them under the Act and the rules if they have the assistance of truly independent legal counsel. If the board’s counsel has represented the fund’s investment adviser, principal underwriter, administrator (collectively, ‘‘management organizations’’) or their ‘‘control persons’’ 6 during the past two years, rule 0–1 requires that the board’s independent directors make a determination about the adequacy of the counsel’s independence. A majority of the board’s independent directors are required to reasonably determine, in the exercise of their judgment, that the counsel’s prior or current representation of the management organizations or their control persons was sufficiently limited to conclude that it is unlikely to adversely affect the counsel’s professional judgment and legal representation. Rule 0–1 also requires that a record for the basis of this determination is made in the minutes of the directors’ meeting. In addition, the independent directors must have obtained an undertaking from the counsel to provide them with the information necessary to make their determination and to update promptly that information when the person begins to represent a management organization or control person, or when he or she materially increases his or her representation. Generally, the independent directors must reevaluate their determination no less frequently than annually. Any fund that relies on one of the exemptive rules must comply with the requirements in the definition of ‘‘independent legal counsel’’ under rule 0–1. We assume that approximately 4128 funds rely on at least one of the exemptive rules annually.7 We further assume that the independent directors of approximately one-third (1376) of those funds would need to make the required determination in order for their counsel to meet the definition of independent legal counsel.8 We 6 A ‘‘control person’’ is any person—other than a fund—directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control, with any of the fund’s management organizations. See 17 CFR 270.01(a)(6)(iv)(B). 7 Based on statistics compiled by Commission staff, we estimate that there are approximately 4586 funds that could rely on one or more of the exemptive rules. Of those funds, we assume that approximately 90 percent (4128) actually rely on at least one exemptive rule annually. 8 We assume that the independent directors of the remaining two-thirds of those funds will choose not to have counsel, or will rely on counsel who has not recently represented the fund’s management PO 00000 Frm 00083 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 estimate that each of these 1376 funds would be required to spend, on average, 0.75 hours annually to comply with the recordkeeping requirement associated with this determination, for a total annual burden of approximately 1032 hours. Based on this estimate, the total annual cost for all funds’ compliance with this rule is approximately $145,168. To calculate this total annual cost, the Commission staff assumed that approximately two-thirds of the total annual hour burden (688 hours) would be incurred by compliance staff with an average hourly wage rate of $180 per hour,9 and one-third of the annual hour burden (344 hours) would be incurred by clerical staff with an average hourly wage rate of $62 per hour.10 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. 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 burdens of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burdens 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 Lewis W. Walker, Acting Director/ CIO, Securities and Exchange organizations or control persons. In both circumstances, it would not be necessary for the fund’s independent directors to make a determination about their counsel’s independence. 9 The estimated hourly wages used in this PRA analysis were derived from reports prepared by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. See Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Report on Management and Professional Earnings in the Securities Industry— 2007 (2007), modified to account for an 1800-hour work year and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee benefits and overhead; and Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Office Salaries in the Securities Industry—2007 (2007), modified to account for an 1800-hour work year and multiplied by 2.93 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee benefits and overhead. 10 (688 x $180/hour) + (344 x $62/hour) = $145,168). E:\FR\FM\23OCN1.SGM 23OCN1 Federal Register / Vol. 73, No. 206 / Thursday, October 23, 2008 / Notices Commission, c/o Shirley Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312; or send an e-mail to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Dated: October 16, 2008. J. Lynn Taylor, Assistant Secretary. [FR Doc. E8–25244 Filed 10–22–08; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Proposed Collection; Comment Request Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 20549–0213. dwashington3 on PRODPC61 with NOTICES Extension: Rule 17a–7; SEC File No. 270–238; OMB Control No. 3235–0214. 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 the existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget for extension and approval. Rule 17a–7 (17 CFR 270.17a–7) (the ‘‘rule’’) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.) (the ‘‘Act’’) is entitled ‘‘Exemption of certain purchase or sale transactions between an investment company and certain affiliated persons thereof.’’ It provides an exemption from section 17(a) of the Act for purchases and sales of securities between registered investment companies (‘‘funds’’), that are affiliated persons (‘‘first-tier affiliates’’) or affiliated persons of affiliated persons (‘‘second-tier affiliates’’), or between a fund and a first- or second-tier affiliate other than another fund, when the affiliation arises solely because of a common investment adviser, director, or officer. Rule 17a–7 requires funds to keep various records in connection with purchase or sale transactions effected in reliance on the rule. The rule requires the fund’s board of directors to establish procedures reasonably designed to ensure that the rule’s conditions have been satisfied. The board is also required to determine, at least on a quarterly basis, that all affiliated transactions effected during the preceding quarter in reliance on the rule were made in compliance with these established procedures. If a fund VerDate Aug<31>2005 14:58 Oct 22, 2008 Jkt 217001 enters into a purchase or sale transaction with an affiliated person, the rule requires the fund to compile and maintain written records of the transaction.1 The Commission’s examination staff uses these records to evaluate for compliance with the rule. While most funds do not commonly engage in transactions covered by rule 17a–7, the Commission staff estimates that nearly all funds have adopted procedures for complying with the rule.2 Of the approximately 3891 currently active funds, the staff estimates that virtually all have already adopted procedures for compliance with rule 17a–7. This is a one-time burden, and the staff therefore does not estimate an ongoing burden related to the policies and procedures requirement of the rule for funds.3 The staff estimates that there are approximately 150 new funds that register each year, and that each of these funds adopts the relevant polices and procedures. The staff estimates that it takes approximately 4 hours to develop and adopt these policies and procedures, as follows; 3 hours spent by a compliance attorney, and 1 hour collectively spent by the board of directors. Therefore, the total annual burden related to developing and adopting these policies and procedures would be approximately 600 hours.4 Of the 3891 existing funds, the staff assumes that approximately 25% (or 973), enter into transactions affected by rule 17a–7 each year (either by the fund directly or through one of the fund’s series), and that the same percentage (25%, or 38 funds) of the estimated 150 funds that newly register each year will also enter into these transactions, for a total of 1011 5 companies that are affected by the recordkeeping requirements of rule 17a–7. These funds must keep records of each of these transactions, and the board of directors must quarterly determine that all 1 The written records are required to set forth a description of the security purchased or sold, the identity of the person on the other side of the transaction, and the information or materials upon which the board of directors’ determination that the transaction was in compliance with the procedures was made. 2 Unless stated otherwise, these estimates are based on conversations with the examination and inspections staff of the Commission and fund representatives. 3 Based on our reviews and conversations with fund representatives, we understand that funds rarely, if ever, need to make changes to these policies and procedures once adopted, and therefore we do not estimate a paperwork burden for such updates. 4 This estimate is based on the following calculations: (4 hours × 150 = 600 hours). 5 This estimate is based on the following calculation: (973 + 38 = 1011). PO 00000 Frm 00084 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 63215 relevant transactions were made in compliance with the company’s policies and procedures. The rule generally imposes a minimal burden of collecting and storing records already generated for other purposes.6 The staff estimates that the burden related to making these records and for the board to review all transactions would be 3 hours annually for each respondent, (2 hours spent by compliance attorneys and 1 hour spent by the board of directors) 7 or 3033 total hours each year.8 Based on these estimates, the staff estimates the combined total annual burden hours associated with rule 17a– 7 is 3633 hours.9 The staff also estimates that there are approximately 1161 respondents and 8238 total responses.10 The estimates of burden hours 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. The collection of information required by rule 17a–7 is necessary to obtain the benefits of the rule. 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. 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 6 Commission staff believes that rule 17a–7 does not impose any costs associated with record preservation in addition to the costs that funds already incur to comply with the record preservation requirements of rule 31a–2 under the Act. Rule 31a–2 requires companies to preserve certain records for specified periods of time. 7 The staff estimates that funds that rely on rule 17a–7 annually enter into an average of 8 rule 17a– 7 transactions each year. The staff estimates that the compliance attorneys of the companies spend approximately 15 minutes per transaction on this recordkeeping, and the board of directors spends a total of 1 hour annually in determining that all transactions made that year were done in compliance with the company’s policies and procedures. 8 This estimate is based on the following calculation: (3 hours × 1011 companies = 3033 hours). 9 This estimate is based on the following calculations: (600 hours + 3033 hours = 3633 total hours). 10 This estimate is based on the following calculations: (150 newly registered funds + 1011 funds that engage in rule 17a–7 transactions = 1161); (1011 funds that engage in rule 17a–7 transactions × 8 times per year = 8088); (8088 + 150 = 8238 responses). E:\FR\FM\23OCN1.SGM 23OCN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 206 (Thursday, October 23, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63213-63215]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-25244]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 
20549-0213.

Extension:
    Rule 0-1, SEC File No. 270-472, OMB Control No. 3235-0531.

    Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 350l et seq.), the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (``Commission'') plans to submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget a

[[Page 63214]]

request for extension of the previous approved collection of 
information discussed below.
    The Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ``Act'') \1\ establishes a 
comprehensive framework for regulating the organization and operation 
of investment companies (``funds''). A principal objective of the Act 
is to protect fund investors by addressing the conflicts of interest 
that exist between funds and their investment advisers and other 
affiliated persons. The Act places significant responsibility on the 
fund board of directors in overseeing the operations of the fund and 
policing the relevant conflicts of interest.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 80a.
    \2\ For example, fund directors must approve investment advisory 
and distribution contracts. See 15 U.S.C. 80a-15(a), (b), and (c).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    In one of its first releases, the Commission exercised its 
rulemaking authority pursuant to sections 38(a) and 40(b) of the Act by 
adopting rule 0-1 (17 CFR 270.0-1).\3\ Rule 0-1, as subsequently 
amended on numerous occasions, provides definitions for the terms used 
by the Commission in the rules and regulations it has adopted pursuant 
to the Act. The rule also contains a number of rules of construction 
for terms that are defined either in the Act itself or elsewhere in the 
Commission's rules and regulations. Finally, rule 0-1 defines terms 
that serve as conditions to the availability of certain of the 
Commission's exemptive rules. More specifically, the term ``independent 
legal counsel,'' as defined in rule 0-1, sets out conditions that funds 
must meet in order to rely on any of ten exemptive rules (``exemptive 
rules'') under the Act.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ Investment Company Act Release No. 4 (Oct. 29, 1940) (5 FR 
4316 (Oct. 31, 1940)). Note that rule 0-1 was originally adopted as 
rule N-1.
    \4\ The relevant exemptive rules are: rule 10f-3 (17 CFR 
270.10f-3), rule 12b-1 (17 CFR 270.12b-1), rule 15a-4(b)(2) (17 CFR 
270.15a-4(b)(2)), rule 17a-7 (17 CFR 270.17a-7), rule 17a-8 (17 CFR 
270.17a-8), rule 17d-1(d)(7) (17 CFR 270.17d-1(d)(7)), rule 17e-1(c) 
(17 CFR 270.17e-1(c)), rule 17g-1 (17 CFR 270.17g-1), rule 18f-3 (17 
CFR 270.18f-3), and rule 23c-3 (17 CFR 270.23c-3).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The Commission amended rule 0-1 to include the definition of the 
term ``independent legal counsel'' in 2001.\5\ This amendment was 
designed to enhance the effectiveness of fund boards of directors and 
to better enable investors to assess the independence of those 
directors. The Commission also amended the exemptive rules to require 
that any person who serves as legal counsel to the independent 
directors of any fund that relies on any of the exemptive rules must be 
an ``independent legal counsel.'' This requirement was added because 
independent directors can better perform the responsibilities assigned 
to them under the Act and the rules if they have the assistance of 
truly independent legal counsel.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \5\ See Role of Independent Directors of Investment Companies, 
Investment Company Act Release No. 24816 (Jan. 2, 2001) (66 FR 3735 
(Jan. 16, 2001)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    If the board's counsel has represented the fund's investment 
adviser, principal underwriter, administrator (collectively, 
``management organizations'') or their ``control persons'' \6\ during 
the past two years, rule 0-1 requires that the board's independent 
directors make a determination about the adequacy of the counsel's 
independence. A majority of the board's independent directors are 
required to reasonably determine, in the exercise of their judgment, 
that the counsel's prior or current representation of the management 
organizations or their control persons was sufficiently limited to 
conclude that it is unlikely to adversely affect the counsel's 
professional judgment and legal representation. Rule 0-1 also requires 
that a record for the basis of this determination is made in the 
minutes of the directors' meeting. In addition, the independent 
directors must have obtained an undertaking from the counsel to provide 
them with the information necessary to make their determination and to 
update promptly that information when the person begins to represent a 
management organization or control person, or when he or she materially 
increases his or her representation. Generally, the independent 
directors must reevaluate their determination no less frequently than 
annually.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \6\ A ``control person'' is any person--other than a fund--
directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common 
control, with any of the fund's management organizations. See 17 CFR 
270.01(a)(6)(iv)(B).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Any fund that relies on one of the exemptive rules must comply with 
the requirements in the definition of ``independent legal counsel'' 
under rule 0-1. We assume that approximately 4128 funds rely on at 
least one of the exemptive rules annually.\7\ We further assume that 
the independent directors of approximately one-third (1376) of those 
funds would need to make the required determination in order for their 
counsel to meet the definition of independent legal counsel.\8\ We 
estimate that each of these 1376 funds would be required to spend, on 
average, 0.75 hours annually to comply with the recordkeeping 
requirement associated with this determination, for a total annual 
burden of approximately 1032 hours. Based on this estimate, the total 
annual cost for all funds' compliance with this rule is approximately 
$145,168. To calculate this total annual cost, the Commission staff 
assumed that approximately two-thirds of the total annual hour burden 
(688 hours) would be incurred by compliance staff with an average 
hourly wage rate of $180 per hour,\9\ and one-third of the annual hour 
burden (344 hours) would be incurred by clerical staff with an average 
hourly wage rate of $62 per hour.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \7\ Based on statistics compiled by Commission staff, we 
estimate that there are approximately 4586 funds that could rely on 
one or more of the exemptive rules. Of those funds, we assume that 
approximately 90 percent (4128) actually rely on at least one 
exemptive rule annually.
    \8\ We assume that the independent directors of the remaining 
two-thirds of those funds will choose not to have counsel, or will 
rely on counsel who has not recently represented the fund's 
management organizations or control persons. In both circumstances, 
it would not be necessary for the fund's independent directors to 
make a determination about their counsel's independence.
    \9\ The estimated hourly wages used in this PRA analysis were 
derived from reports prepared by the Securities Industry and 
Financial Markets Association. See Securities Industry and Financial 
Markets Association, Report on Management and Professional Earnings 
in the Securities Industry--2007 (2007), modified to account for an 
1800-hour work year and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, 
firm size, employee benefits and overhead; and Securities Industry 
and Financial Markets Association, Office Salaries in the Securities 
Industry--2007 (2007), modified to account for an 1800-hour work 
year and multiplied by 2.93 to account for bonuses, firm size, 
employee benefits and overhead.
    \10\ (688 x $180/hour) + (344 x $62/hour) = $145,168).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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.
    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 burdens 
of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, 
utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to 
minimize the burdens 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 Lewis W. Walker, Acting 
Director/CIO, Securities and Exchange

[[Page 63215]]

Commission, c/o Shirley Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, 
VA 22312; or send an e-mail to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.

    Dated: October 16, 2008.
J. Lynn Taylor,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. E8-25244 Filed 10-22-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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