Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 9503-9504 [2014-03577]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 33 / Wednesday, February 19, 2014 / Notices Dated: February 12, 2014. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2014–03578 Filed 2–18–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 20549–0213. EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES Extension: Rule 17a–6 OMB Control No. 3235–0564, SEC File No. 270–506 Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501), the Securities and Exchange Commission (‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. Section 17(a) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Act’’) generally prohibits affiliated persons of a registered investment company (‘‘fund’’) from borrowing money or other property from, or selling or buying securities or other property to or from, the fund or any company that the fund controls. 1 Rule 17a–6 (17 CFR 270.17a– 6) permits a fund and a ‘‘portfolio affiliate’’ (a company that is an affiliated person of the fund because the fund controls the company, or holds five percent or more of the company’s outstanding voting securities) to engage in principal transactions that would otherwise be prohibited under section 17(a) of the Act under certain conditions. A fund may not rely on the exemption in the rule to enter into a principal transaction with a portfolio affiliate if certain prohibited participants (e.g., directors, officers, employees, or investment advisers of the fund) have a financial interest in a party to the transaction. Rule 17a–6 specifies certain interests that are not ‘‘financial interests,’’ including any interest that the fund’s board of directors (including a majority of the directors who are not interested persons of the fund) finds to be not material. A board making this finding is required to record the basis for the finding in its meeting minutes. This recordkeeping requirement is a collection of 1 15 U.S.C. 80a–17(a). VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:15 Feb 18, 2014 information under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (‘‘PRA’’).2 The rule is designed to permit transactions between funds and their portfolio affiliates in circumstances in which it is unlikely that the affiliate would be in a position to take advantage of the fund. In determining whether a financial interest is ‘‘material,’’ the board of the fund should consider whether the nature and extent of the interest in the transaction is sufficiently small that a reasonable person would not believe that the interest affected the determination of whether to enter into the transaction or arrangement or the terms of the transaction or arrangement. The information collection requirements in rule 17a–6 are intended to ensure that Commission staff can review, in the course of its compliance and examination functions, the basis for a board of director’s finding that the financial interest of an otherwise prohibited participant in a party to a transaction with a portfolio affiliate is not material. Based on staff discussions with fund representatives, we estimate that funds currently do not rely on the exemption from the term ‘‘financial interest’’ with respect to any interest that the fund’s board of directors (including a majority of the directors who are not interested persons of the fund) finds to be not material. Accordingly, we estimate that annually there will be no principal transactions under rule 17a–6 that will result in a collection of information. The Commission requests authorization to maintain an inventory of one burden hour to ease future renewals of rule 17a–6’s collection of information analysis should funds rely on this exemption to the term ‘‘financial interest’’ as defined in rule 17a–6. The estimate of 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 17a–6. 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. The public may view the background documentation for this information collection at the following Web site, www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory 2 44 Jkt 232001 PO 00000 U.S.C. 3501. Frm 00048 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 9503 Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, or by sending an email to: Shagufta_ Ahmed@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Thomas Bayer, Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/ o Remi Pavlik-Simon, 100 F St, NE., Washington DC 20549 or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice. February 12, 2014. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2014–03576 Filed 2–18–14; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 20549–0213. Extension: Rule 482; OMB Control No. 3235–0565, SEC File No. 270–508. Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’), 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. Like most issuers of securities, when an investment company (‘‘fund’’) 1 offers its shares to the public, its promotional efforts become subject to the advertising restrictions of the Securities Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77) (the ‘‘Securities Act’’). In recognition of the particular problems faced by funds that continually offer securities and wish to advertise their securities, the Commission has previously adopted advertising safe harbor rules. The most important of these is rule 482 (17 CFR 230.482) under the Securities Act, which, under certain circumstances, permits funds to advertise investment performance data, as well as other information. Rule 482 advertisements are deemed to be 1 ‘‘Investment company’’ refers to both investment companies registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (‘‘Investment Company Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.) and business development companies. E:\FR\FM\19FEN1.SGM 19FEN1 EMCDONALD on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES 9504 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 33 / Wednesday, February 19, 2014 / Notices ‘‘prospectuses’’ under Section 10(b) of the Securities Act.2 Rule 482 contains certain requirements regarding the disclosure that funds are required to provide in qualifying advertisements. These requirements are intended to encourage the provision to investors of information that is balanced and informative, particularly in the area of investment performance. For example, a fund is required to include disclosure advising investors to consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses, and other information described in the fund’s prospectus, and highlighting the availability of the fund’s prospectus and, if applicable, its summary prospectus. In addition, rule 482 advertisements that include performance data of open-end funds or insurance company separate accounts offering variable annuity contracts are required to include certain standardized performance information, information about any sales loads or other nonrecurring fees, and a legend warning that past performance does not guarantee future results. Such funds including performance information in rule 482 advertisements are also required to make available to investors month-end performance figures via Web site disclosure or by a toll-free telephone number, and to disclose the availability of the month-end performance data in the advertisement. The rule also sets forth requirements regarding the prominence of certain disclosures, requirements regarding advertisements that make tax representations, requirements regarding advertisements used prior to the effectiveness of the fund’s registration statement, requirements regarding the timeliness of performance data, and certain required disclosures by money market funds. Rule 482 advertisements must be filed with the Commission or, in the alternative, with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (‘‘FINRA’’).3 This information collection differs from many other federal information collections that are primarily for the use and benefit of the collecting agency. Rule 482 contains requirements that are intended to encourage the provision to investors of information that is balanced and informative, particularly in the area of investment performance. The Commission is concerned that in the absence of such provisions fund investors may be misled by deceptive rule 482 advertisements and may rely on less-than-adequate information when determining in which funds they should invest money. As a result, the Commission believes it is beneficial for funds to provide investors with balanced information in fund advertisements in order to allow investors to make better-informed decisions. The Commission estimates that 59,245 responses to rule 482 are filed annually by 3,430 investment companies offering approximately 16,428 portfolios, or approximately 3.6 responses per portfolio annually. The burden associated with rule 482 is presently estimated to be 5.16 hours per response. The annual hourly burden is therefore approximately 305,704 hours.4 The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act and is not derived from a comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of Commission rules and forms. The provision of information under rule 482 is necessary to obtain the benefits of the safe harbor offered by the rule. The information provided under rule 482 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 OMB control number. The public may view the background documentation for this information collection at the following Web site: www.reginfo.gov. Comments should be directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office Building, Washington, DC 20503, or by sending an email to: Shagufta_ Ahmed@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Thomas Bayer, Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/ o Remi Pavlik-Simon, 100 F St. NE., Washington, DC 20549; or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice. 2 15 Dated: February 12, 2014. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. 3 See [FR Doc. 2014–03577 Filed 2–18–14; 8:45 am] U.S.C. 77j(b). rule 24b–3 under the Investment Company Act (17 CFR 270.24b–3), which provides that any sales material, including rule 482 advertisements, shall be deemed filed with the Commission for purposes of Section 24(b) of the Investment Company Act upon filing with FINRA. VerDate Mar<15>2010 16:15 Feb 18, 2014 Jkt 232001 BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 4 59,245 responses × 5.16 hours per response = 305,704 hours. PO 00000 Frm 00049 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–71550/February 12, 2014] Order Making Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Adjustments to Transaction Fee Rates I. Background Section 31 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (‘‘Exchange Act’’) requires each national securities exchange and national securities association to pay transaction fees to the Commission.1 Specifically, Section 31(b) requires each national securities exchange to pay to the Commission fees based on the aggregate dollar amount of sales of certain securities (‘‘covered sales’’) transacted on the exchange.2 Section 31(c) requires each national securities association to pay to the Commission fees based on the aggregate dollar amount of covered sales transacted by or through any member of the association other than on an exchange.3 Section 31 of the Exchange Act requires the Commission to annually adjust the fee rates applicable under Sections 31(b) and (c) to a uniform adjusted rate.4 Specifically, the Commission must adjust the fee rates to a uniform adjusted rate that is reasonably likely to produce aggregate fee collections (including assessments on security futures transactions) equal to the regular appropriation to the Commission for the applicable fiscal year.5 The Commission is required to publish notice of the new fee rates under Section 31 not later than 30 days after the date on which an Act making a regular appropriation for the applicable fiscal year is enacted.6 On January 17, 2014, the President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2014, providing $1,350,000,000 in funds to the SEC for fiscal year 2014. II. Fiscal Year 2014 Annual Adjustment to the Fee Rate The new fee rate is determined by (1) subtracting the sum of fees estimated to 1 15 U.S.C. 78ee. U.S.C. 78ee(b). 3 15 U.S.C. 78ee(c). 4 In some circumstances, the SEC also must make a mid-year adjustment to the fee rates applicable under Sections 31(b) and (c). 5 15 U.S.C. 78ee(j)(1) (the Commission must adjust the rates under Sections 31(b) and (c) to a ‘‘uniform adjusted rate that, when applied to the baseline estimate of the aggregate dollar amount of sales for such fiscal year, is reasonably likely to produce aggregate fee collections under [Section 31] (including assessments collected under [Section 31(d)]) that are equal to the regular appropriation to the Commission by Congress for such fiscal year.’’). 6 15 U.S.C. § 78ee(g). 2 15 E:\FR\FM\19FEN1.SGM 19FEN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 33 (Wednesday, February 19, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9503-9504]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-03577]


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

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

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

Extension:
    Rule 482; OMB Control No. 3235-0565, SEC File No. 270-508.

    Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (``Paperwork Reduction Act''), 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.
    Like most issuers of securities, when an investment company 
(``fund'') \1\ offers its shares to the public, its promotional efforts 
become subject to the advertising restrictions of the Securities Act of 
1933 (15 U.S.C. 77) (the ``Securities Act''). In recognition of the 
particular problems faced by funds that continually offer securities 
and wish to advertise their securities, the Commission has previously 
adopted advertising safe harbor rules. The most important of these is 
rule 482 (17 CFR 230.482) under the Securities Act, which, under 
certain circumstances, permits funds to advertise investment 
performance data, as well as other information. Rule 482 advertisements 
are deemed to be

[[Page 9504]]

``prospectuses'' under Section 10(b) of the Securities Act.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ ``Investment company'' refers to both investment companies 
registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Investment 
Company Act'') (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.) and business development 
companies.
    \2\ 15 U.S.C. 77j(b).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rule 482 contains certain requirements regarding the disclosure 
that funds are required to provide in qualifying advertisements. These 
requirements are intended to encourage the provision to investors of 
information that is balanced and informative, particularly in the area 
of investment performance. For example, a fund is required to include 
disclosure advising investors to consider the fund's investment 
objectives, risks, charges and expenses, and other information 
described in the fund's prospectus, and highlighting the availability 
of the fund's prospectus and, if applicable, its summary prospectus. In 
addition, rule 482 advertisements that include performance data of 
open-end funds or insurance company separate accounts offering variable 
annuity contracts are required to include certain standardized 
performance information, information about any sales loads or other 
nonrecurring fees, and a legend warning that past performance does not 
guarantee future results. Such funds including performance information 
in rule 482 advertisements are also required to make available to 
investors month-end performance figures via Web site disclosure or by a 
toll-free telephone number, and to disclose the availability of the 
month-end performance data in the advertisement. The rule also sets 
forth requirements regarding the prominence of certain disclosures, 
requirements regarding advertisements that make tax representations, 
requirements regarding advertisements used prior to the effectiveness 
of the fund's registration statement, requirements regarding the 
timeliness of performance data, and certain required disclosures by 
money market funds.
    Rule 482 advertisements must be filed with the Commission or, in 
the alternative, with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority 
(``FINRA'').\3\ This information collection differs from many other 
federal information collections that are primarily for the use and 
benefit of the collecting agency.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ See rule 24b-3 under the Investment Company Act (17 CFR 
270.24b-3), which provides that any sales material, including rule 
482 advertisements, shall be deemed filed with the Commission for 
purposes of Section 24(b) of the Investment Company Act upon filing 
with FINRA.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rule 482 contains requirements that are intended to encourage the 
provision to investors of information that is balanced and informative, 
particularly in the area of investment performance. The Commission is 
concerned that in the absence of such provisions fund investors may be 
misled by deceptive rule 482 advertisements and may rely on less-than-
adequate information when determining in which funds they should invest 
money. As a result, the Commission believes it is beneficial for funds 
to provide investors with balanced information in fund advertisements 
in order to allow investors to make better-informed decisions.
    The Commission estimates that 59,245 responses to rule 482 are 
filed annually by 3,430 investment companies offering approximately 
16,428 portfolios, or approximately 3.6 responses per portfolio 
annually. The burden associated with rule 482 is presently estimated to 
be 5.16 hours per response. The annual hourly burden is therefore 
approximately 305,704 hours.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \4\ 59,245 responses x 5.16 hours per response = 305,704 hours.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the 
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act and is not derived from a 
comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of 
Commission rules and forms. The provision of information under rule 482 
is necessary to obtain the benefits of the safe harbor offered by the 
rule. The information provided under rule 482 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 OMB control number.
    The public may view the background documentation for this 
information collection at the following Web site: www.reginfo.gov. 
Comments should be directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and 
Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office 
Building, Washington, DC 20503, or by sending an email to: Shagufta_Ahmed@omb.eop.gov; and (ii) Thomas Bayer, Chief Information Officer, 
Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi Pavlik-Simon, 100 F St. 
NE., Washington, DC 20549; or send an email to: PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. 
Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice.

    Dated: February 12, 2014.
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-03577 Filed 2-18-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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