Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 36605-36606 [2013-14421]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 117 / Tuesday, June 18, 2013 / Notices retirement accounts rather than prematurely withdrawing (or ‘‘cashing out’’) those assets, which would result in immediate taxation in Canada. Once in the United States, however, these participants historically have been unable to manage their Canadian retirement account investments. Most securities 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 requirement of the Securities Act of 1933 (‘‘Securities Act’’).1 As a result of this registration requirement, CanadianU.S. Participants previously were not able to purchase or exchange securities for their Canadian retirement accounts as needed to meet their changing investment goals or income needs. The Commission issued a rulemaking in 2000 that enabled Canadian-U.S. Participants to manage the assets in their Canadian retirement accounts by providing relief from the U.S. registration requirements for offers of securities of foreign issuers to CanadianU.S. Participants and sales to Canadian retirement accounts.2 Rule 237 under the Securities Act 3 permits securities of foreign issuers, including securities of foreign funds, to be offered to CanadianU.S. Participants and sold to their Canadian retirement accounts without being registered under the Securities Act. Rule 237 requires written offering documents for securities offered and sold in reliance on the rule to disclose prominently that the securities are not registered with the Commission and are exempt from registration under the U.S. securities laws. The burden under the rule associated with adding this disclosure to written offering documents is minimal and is non-recurring. The foreign issuer, underwriter, or brokerdealer can redraft an existing prospectus or other written offering material to add this disclosure statement, or may draft a sticker or supplement containing this mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 1 15 U.S.C. 77. In addition, the offering and selling of securities of investment companies (‘‘funds’’) that are not registered pursuant to the Investment Company Act of 1940 (‘‘Investment Company Act’’) is generally prohibited by U.S. securities laws. 15 U.S.C. 80a. 2 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)]. This rulemaking also included new rule 7d–2 under the Investment Company Act, permitting foreign funds to offer securities to Canadian-U.S. Participants and sell securities to Canadian retirement accounts without registering as investment companies under the Investment Company Act. 17 CFR 270.7d–2. 3 17 CFR 230.237. VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:49 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 229001 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 Commission understands that there are approximately 4101 Canadian issuers other than funds that may rely on rule 237 to make an initial public offering of their securities to CanadianU.S. Participants.4 The staff estimates that in any given year approximately 41 (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 41 issuers, on average, distributes 3 different written offering documents concerning those securities, for a total of 123 offering documents. The staff therefore estimates that during each year that rule 237 is in effect, approximately 41 respondents 5 would be required to make 123 responses by adding the new disclosure statements to approximately 123 written offering documents. Thus, the staff estimates that the total annual burden associated with the rule 237 disclosure requirement would be approximately 20.5 hours (123 offering documents × 10 minutes per document). The total annual cost of burden hours is estimated to be $7769.50 (20.5 hours × $379 per hour of attorney time).6 In addition, issuers from foreign countries other than Canada could rely on rule 237 to offer securities to Canadian-U.S. Participants and sell 4 This estimate is based on the following calculation: 3970 equity issuers + 131 bond issuers = 4101 total issuers. See World Federation of Exchanges, Number of Listed Issuers, available at https://www.world-exchanges.org/statistics/annualquery-tool (providing number of equity issuers listed on Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange in 2012). After 2009, the World Federation of Exchanges ceased reporting the number of fixedincome issuers on Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange. The number of fixed-income issuers in 2012 is based on the ratio of the number of fixedincome issuers listed on Canada’s Toronto Stock Exchange in 2009 (111) relative to the number of bonds listed on that exchange in that year (178) multiplied against the number of bonds listed on that exchange in 2012 (210): (111/178) × 210 = 131. 5 This estimate of respondents only includes foreign issuers. The number of respondents would be greater if foreign underwriters or broker-dealers draft stickers or supplements to add the required disclosure to existing offering documents. 6 The Commission’s estimate concerning the wage rate for attorney time is based on salary information for the securities industry compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (‘‘SIFMA’’). The $379 per hour figure for an attorney is from SIFMA’s Management & Professional Earnings in the Securities Industry 2012, modified by Commission staff to account for an 1800-hour work-year and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee benefits, and overhead. PO 00000 Frm 00100 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 36605 securities to their accounts without becoming subject to the registration requirements of the Securities Act. However, the staff believes that the number of issuers from other countries that rely on rule 237, and that therefore are 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. 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. Please direct your written comments to Thomas Bayer, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi PavlikSimon, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312; or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Dated: June 13, 2013. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2013–14452 Filed 6–17–13; 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 15Ba2–1 and Form MSD. SEC File No. 270–0088, OMB Control No. 3235–0083 Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (‘‘PRA’’) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments on the existing collection of information provided for in Rule 15Ba2–1 (17 CFR 240.15Ba2–1) and Form MSD (17 CFR 249.1100), under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (‘‘Exchange Act’’). The Commission plans to submit this existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for extension and approval. E:\FR\FM\18JNN1.SGM 18JNN1 mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES 36606 Federal Register / Vol. 78, No. 117 / Tuesday, June 18, 2013 / Notices Rule 15Ba2–1 provides that an application for registration with the Commission by a bank municipal securities dealer must be filed on Form MSD. The Commission uses the information obtained from Form MSD filings to determine whether bank municipal securities dealers meet the standards for registration set forth in the Act, to maintain a central registry where members of the public may obtain information about particular bank municipal securities dealers, and to develop risk assessment information about bank municipal securities dealers. Based upon past submissions, the staff estimates that approximately 22 respondents will utilize this application procedure annually. The staff estimates that the average number of hours necessary to comply with the requirements of Rule 15Ba2–1 and Form MSD is 1.5 hours per respondent, for a total burden of 33 hours per year. The staff estimates that the average internal compliance cost per hour is approximately $310. Therefore, the estimated total annual cost of compliance for the respondents is approximately $10,230. Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission’s estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 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. An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number. Please direct your written comments to: Thomas Bayer, Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi PavlikSimon, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312 or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Dated: June 12, 2013. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2013–14421 Filed 6–17–13; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:39 Jun 17, 2013 Jkt 229001 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 7d–2, OMB Control No. 3235–0527, SEC File No. 270–464. Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520), the Securities and Exchange Commission (the ‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments on the collection of information summarized below. The Commission plans to submit this existing collection of information to the Office of Management and Budget for extension and approval. In Canada, as in the United States, individuals can invest a portion of their earnings in tax-deferred retirement savings accounts (‘‘Canadian retirement accounts’’). These accounts, which operate in a manner similar to individual retirement accounts in the United States, encourage retirement savings by permitting savings on a taxdeferred basis. Individuals who establish Canadian retirement accounts while living and working in Canada and who later move to the United States (‘‘Canadian-U.S. Participants’’ or ‘‘participants’’) often continue to hold their retirement assets in their Canadian retirement accounts rather than prematurely withdrawing (or ‘‘cashing out’’) those assets, which would result in immediate taxation in Canada. Once in the United States, however, these participants historically have been unable to manage their Canadian retirement account investments. Most investment companies (‘‘funds’’) that are ‘‘qualified companies’’ for Canadian retirement accounts are not registered under the U.S. securities laws. Securities of those unregistered funds, therefore, generally cannot be publicly offered and sold in the United States without violating the registration requirement of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (‘‘Investment Company Act’’).1 As a result of this registration requirement, Canadian-U.S. Participants previously were not able to purchase or exchange securities for their Canadian retirement accounts as needed to meet 1 15 U.S.C. 80a. In addition, the offering and selling of securities that are not registered pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933 (‘‘Securities Act’’) is generally prohibited by U.S. securities laws. 15 U.S.C. 77. PO 00000 Frm 00101 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 their changing investment goals or income needs. The Commission issued a rulemaking in 2000 that enabled Canadian-U.S. Participants to manage the assets in their Canadian retirement accounts by providing relief from the U.S. registration requirements for offers of securities of foreign issuers to CanadianU.S. Participants and sales to Canadian retirement accounts.2 Rule 7d–2 under the Investment Company Act 3 permits foreign funds to offer securities to Canadian-U.S. Participants and sell securities to Canadian retirement accounts without registering as investment companies under the Investment Company Act. Rule 7d–2 contains a ‘‘collection of information’’ requirement within the meaning of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.4 Rule 7d–2 requires written offering materials for securities offered or sold in reliance on that rule to disclose prominently that those securities and the fund issuing those securities are not registered with the Commission, and that those securities and the fund issuing those securities are exempt from registration under U.S. securities laws. Rule 7d–2 does not require any documents to be filed with the Commission. Rule 7d–2 requires written offering documents for securities offered or sold in reliance on the rule to disclose prominently that the securities are not registered with the Commission and may not be offered or sold in the United States unless registered or exempt from registration under the U.S. securities laws, and also to disclose prominently that the fund that issued the securities is not registered with the Commission. The burden under the 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 2 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)]. This rulemaking also included new rule 237 under the Securities Act, permitting securities of foreign issuers to be offered to Canadian-U.S. Participants and sold to Canadian retirement accounts without being registered under the Securities Act. 17 CFR 230.237. 3 17 CFR 270.7d–2. 4 44 U.S.C. 3501–3502. E:\FR\FM\18JNN1.SGM 18JNN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 18, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36605-36606]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-14421]


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

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 15Ba2-1 and Form MSD.
    SEC File No. 270-0088, OMB Control No. 3235-0083

    Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (``PRA'') (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the existing 
collection of information provided for in Rule 15Ba2-1 (17 CFR 
240.15Ba2-1) and Form MSD (17 CFR 249.1100), under the Securities and 
Exchange Act of 1934 (15 U.S.C. 78a et seq.) (``Exchange Act''). The 
Commission plans to submit this existing collection of information to 
the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for extension and 
approval.

[[Page 36606]]

    Rule 15Ba2-1 provides that an application for registration with the 
Commission by a bank municipal securities dealer must be filed on Form 
MSD. The Commission uses the information obtained from Form MSD filings 
to determine whether bank municipal securities dealers meet the 
standards for registration set forth in the Act, to maintain a central 
registry where members of the public may obtain information about 
particular bank municipal securities dealers, and to develop risk 
assessment information about bank municipal securities dealers.
    Based upon past submissions, the staff estimates that approximately 
22 respondents will utilize this application procedure annually. The 
staff estimates that the average number of hours necessary to comply 
with the requirements of Rule 15Ba2-1 and Form MSD is 1.5 hours per 
respondent, for a total burden of 33 hours per year. The staff 
estimates that the average internal compliance cost per hour is 
approximately $310. Therefore, the estimated total annual cost of 
compliance for the respondents is approximately $10,230.
    Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Commission, including whether the information 
shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's 
estimate of the burden of the collection of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be 
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.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it 
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
    Please direct your written comments to: Thomas Bayer, Director/
Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi 
Pavlik-Simon, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312 or send an 
email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.

    Dated: June 12, 2013.
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2013-14421 Filed 6-17-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.