Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 14091-14092 [2014-05316]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 48 / Wednesday, March 12, 2014 / Notices that no respondents will file Form N– 8B–4 each year. There are currently only four existing face-amount certificate companies, and none have filed a Form N–8B–4 in many years. No new faceamount certificate companies have been established since the last OMB information collection approval for this form, which occurred in 2011. Accordingly, the staff estimates that, each year, zero face-amount certificate companies will file Form N–8B–4, and that the total burden for the information collection is zero hours. Although Commission staff estimates that there is no hour burden associated with Form N–8B–4, the staff is requesting an hour burden of one hour for administrative purposes. Estimates of the burden hours are made solely for the purposes of the PRA and are not derived from a comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of SEC rules and forms. The information provided on Form N–8B–4 is mandatory. The information provided on Form N–8B–4 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 Street 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: March 6, 2014. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2014–05319 Filed 3–11–14; 8:45 am] tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES BILLING CODE 8011–01–P amendments are filed with the Commission on the face-amount certificate company’s Form S–1. Hence, respondents only file Form N–8B–4 for their initial registration statement and not for posteffective amendments. VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:51 Mar 11, 2014 Jkt 232001 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 17f–5; OMB Control No. 3235–0269, SEC File No. 270–259. 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’’) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) requests for extension of the previously approved collections of information discussed below. Rule 17f–5 (17 CFR 270.17f–5) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 [15 U.S.C. 80a] (the ‘‘Act’’) governs the custody of the assets of registered management investment companies (‘‘funds’’) with custodians outside the United States. Under rule 17f–5, a fund or its foreign custody manager (as delegated by the fund’s board) may maintain the fund’s foreign assets in the care of an eligible fund custodian under certain conditions. If the fund’s board delegates to a foreign custody manager authority to place foreign assets, the fund’s board must find that it is reasonable to rely on each delegate the board selects to act as the fund’s foreign custody manager. The delegate must agree to provide written reports that notify the board when the fund’s assets are placed with a foreign custodian and when any material change occurs in the fund’s custody arrangements. The delegate must agree to exercise reasonable care, prudence, and diligence, or to adhere to a higher standard of care. When the foreign custody manager selects an eligible foreign custodian, it must determine that the fund’s assets will be subject to reasonable care if maintained with that custodian, and that the written contract that governs each custody arrangement will provide reasonable care for fund assets. The contract must contain certain specified provisions or others that provide at least equivalent care. The foreign custody manager must establish a system to monitor the performance of the contract and the appropriateness of continuing to maintain assets with the eligible foreign custodian. The collection of information requirements in rule 17f–5 are intended to provide protection for fund assets PO 00000 Frm 00115 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 14091 maintained with a foreign bank custodian whose use is not authorized by statutory provisions that govern fund custody arrangements,1 and that is not subject to regulation and examination by U.S. regulators. The requirement that the fund board determine that it is reasonable to rely on each delegate is intended to ensure that the board carefully considers each delegate’s qualifications to perform its responsibilities. The requirement that the delegate provide written reports to the board is intended to ensure that the delegate notifies the board of important developments concerning custody arrangements so that the board may exercise effective oversight. The requirement that the delegate agree to exercise reasonable care is intended to provide assurances to the fund that the delegate will properly perform its duties. The requirements that the foreign custody manager determine that fund assets will be subject to reasonable care with the eligible foreign custodian and under the custody contract, and that each contract contain specified provisions or equivalent provisions, are intended to ensure that the delegate has evaluated the level of care provided by the custodian, that it weighs the adequacy of contractual provisions, and that fund assets are protected by minimal contractual safeguards. The requirement that the foreign custody manager establish a monitoring system is intended to ensure that the manager periodically reviews each custody arrangement and takes appropriate action if developing custody risks may threaten fund assets.2 Commission staff estimates that each year, approximately 130 registrants 3 could be required to make an average of one response per registrant under rule 17f–5, requiring approximately 2.5 hours of board of director time per response, to make the necessary findings concerning foreign custody managers. The total annual burden associated with these requirements of the rule is up to approximately 325 hours (130 registrants × 2.5 hours per registrant). The staff further estimates that during each year, approximately 15 1 See section 17(f) of the Act. 15 U.S.C. 80a–17(f). staff believes that subcustodian monitoring does not involve ‘‘collection of information’’ within the meaning of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501–3520) (‘‘Paperwork Reduction Act’’). 3 This figure is an estimate of the number of new funds each year, based on data reported by funds in 2012 on Forms N–1A, N–2, N–4, N–6, and S–6. In practice, not all funds will use foreign custody managers, and the actual figure may be smaller. 2 The E:\FR\FM\12MRN1.SGM 12MRN1 14092 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 48 / Wednesday, March 12, 2014 / Notices global custodians 4 are required to make an average of 4 responses per custodian concerning the use of foreign custodians other than depositories. The staff estimates that each response will take approximately 270 hours, requiring approximately 1,080 total hours annually per custodian. The total annual burden associated with these requirements of the rule is approximately 16,200 hours (15 global custodians × 1,080 hours per custodian). Therefore, the total annual burden of all collection of information requirements of rule 17f–5 is estimated to be up to 16,525 hours (325 + 16,200). The total annual cost of burden hours is estimated to be $5,609,200 (325 hours × $4,000/ hour for board of directors’ time, plus 16,200 hours × $266/hour for a trust administrator’s time).5 Compliance with the collection of information requirements of the rule is necessary to obtain the benefit of relying on the rule’s permission for funds to maintain their assets in foreign custodians. The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act. The estimate is not derived from a comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the costs of Commission rules and forms. 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 Street 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: March 6, 2014. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2014–05316 Filed 3–11–14; 8:45 am] tkelley on DSK3SPTVN1PROD with NOTICES BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 4 This estimate is based on staff research. board hourly rate is based on fund industry representations. The $266/hour figure for a trust administrator 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. 5 The VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:51 Mar 11, 2014 Jkt 232001 SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION [Release No. 34–71657; File No. SR– NASDAQ–2014–020] Self-Regulatory Organizations; The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC; Notice of Proposed Rule Change Relating to Listing and Trading of ExchangeTraded Managed Fund Shares March 6, 2014. 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 February 26, 2014, The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC (‘‘Nasdaq’’ or the ‘‘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 prepared by Nasdaq. 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 Pursuant to the provisions of Section 19(b)(1) of the Act,3 and Rule 19b–4 thereunder,4 Nasdaq is filing with the Commission a proposed rule change to list and trade under proposed Nasdaq Rule 5745 the shares of a proposed new type of open-end management investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (‘‘1940 Act’’), called an Exchange-Traded Managed Fund (‘‘ETMF’’), and to amend related references under Nasdaq Rules 4120, 5615 (and IM–5615–4) and 5940. The text of the proposed rule change is available at https:// nasdaq.cchwallstreet.com/, at Nasdaq’s principal office, and at the Commission’s Public Reference Room. II. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change In its filing with the Commission, Nasdaq included statements concerning the purpose of, and basis for, the proposed rule change. The text of these statements may be examined at the places specified in Item IV below, and is set forth in Sections A, B, and C below. 1 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). CFR 240.19b–4. 3 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1). 4 17 CFR 240.19b–4. 2 17 PO 00000 Frm 00116 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 A. Self-Regulatory Organization’s Statement of the Purpose of, and the Statutory Basis for, the Proposed Rule Change 1. Purpose The Exchange proposes to adopt Nasdaq Rule 5745 for the purpose of permitting the listing and trading of ETMF Shares. Similar to Managed Fund Shares as defined in Nasdaq Rule 5735,5 ETMF Shares would be issued in specified aggregate unit quantities in return for a deposit of a specified basket of securities and/or a cash amount with a value equal to the product of the ETMF’s net asset value per Share (‘‘NAV’’) and the number of Shares issued. When aggregated in the same specified unit quantities, ETMF Shares could be redeemed in exchange for a specified basket of securities and/or cash with a value per Share equal to the ETMF’s NAV. Unlike Managed Fund Shares, ETMF Shares would trade on Nasdaq using a new trading protocol called ‘‘NAV-Based Trading.’’ In NAVBased Trading, all bids, offers and execution prices would be expressed as a premium/discount (which may be zero) to the ETMF’s next-determined NAV (e.g., NAV¥$0.01; NAV+$0.01). An ETMF’s NAV would be determined each business day, normally as of 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Trade executions using NAV-Based Trading would be binding at the time orders are matched on Nasdaq’s facilities, with the transaction prices contingent upon the determination of the ETMF’s NAV at the end of the business day. Proposed Listing Rules for ExchangeTraded Managed Fund Shares Proposed Nasdaq Rule 5745(b)(1) provides that Nasdaq will file separate proposals under Section 19(b) of the Act before the listing of ETMF Shares. Proposed Nasdaq Rule 5745(b)(2) provides that transactions in ETMF Shares will occur during Nasdaq’s Regular Market Session through 4:00 p.m.6 Proposed Nasdaq Rule 5745(b)(3) provides that ETMF Shares will trade on Nasdaq at market-determined premiums or discounts to the next-determined NAV, and that the minimum price variation for quoting and entry of orders in ETMF Shares will be $0.01. Proposed Rule Nasdaq 5745(b)(4) provides that Nasdaq will implement written 5 The Commission approved Nasdaq Rule 5735 in Securities Exchange Act Release No. 57962 (June 13, 2008), 73 FR 35175 (June 20, 2008) (SR– NASDAQ–2008–039). 6 Nasdaq Rule 4120(b)(4) defines the Regular Market Session as the trading session from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. or 4:15 p.m. ETMF Shares will trade until 4:00 p.m. E:\FR\FM\12MRN1.SGM 12MRN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 48 (Wednesday, March 12, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 14091-14092]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05316]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

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

Extension:
    Rule 17f-5; OMB Control No. 3235-0269, SEC File No. 270-259.

    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'') has submitted to the Office of Management 
and Budget (``OMB'') requests for extension of the previously approved 
collections of information discussed below.
    Rule 17f-5 (17 CFR 270.17f-5) under the Investment Company Act of 
1940 [15 U.S.C. 80a] (the ``Act'') governs the custody of the assets of 
registered management investment companies (``funds'') with custodians 
outside the United States. Under rule 17f-5, a fund or its foreign 
custody manager (as delegated by the fund's board) may maintain the 
fund's foreign assets in the care of an eligible fund custodian under 
certain conditions. If the fund's board delegates to a foreign custody 
manager authority to place foreign assets, the fund's board must find 
that it is reasonable to rely on each delegate the board selects to act 
as the fund's foreign custody manager. The delegate must agree to 
provide written reports that notify the board when the fund's assets 
are placed with a foreign custodian and when any material change occurs 
in the fund's custody arrangements. The delegate must agree to exercise 
reasonable care, prudence, and diligence, or to adhere to a higher 
standard of care. When the foreign custody manager selects an eligible 
foreign custodian, it must determine that the fund's assets will be 
subject to reasonable care if maintained with that custodian, and that 
the written contract that governs each custody arrangement will provide 
reasonable care for fund assets. The contract must contain certain 
specified provisions or others that provide at least equivalent care. 
The foreign custody manager must establish a system to monitor the 
performance of the contract and the appropriateness of continuing to 
maintain assets with the eligible foreign custodian.
    The collection of information requirements in rule 17f-5 are 
intended to provide protection for fund assets maintained with a 
foreign bank custodian whose use is not authorized by statutory 
provisions that govern fund custody arrangements,\1\ and that is not 
subject to regulation and examination by U.S. regulators. The 
requirement that the fund board determine that it is reasonable to rely 
on each delegate is intended to ensure that the board carefully 
considers each delegate's qualifications to perform its 
responsibilities. The requirement that the delegate provide written 
reports to the board is intended to ensure that the delegate notifies 
the board of important developments concerning custody arrangements so 
that the board may exercise effective oversight. The requirement that 
the delegate agree to exercise reasonable care is intended to provide 
assurances to the fund that the delegate will properly perform its 
duties.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See section 17(f) of the Act. 15 U.S.C. 80a-17(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The requirements that the foreign custody manager determine that 
fund assets will be subject to reasonable care with the eligible 
foreign custodian and under the custody contract, and that each 
contract contain specified provisions or equivalent provisions, are 
intended to ensure that the delegate has evaluated the level of care 
provided by the custodian, that it weighs the adequacy of contractual 
provisions, and that fund assets are protected by minimal contractual 
safeguards. The requirement that the foreign custody manager establish 
a monitoring system is intended to ensure that the manager periodically 
reviews each custody arrangement and takes appropriate action if 
developing custody risks may threaten fund assets.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ The staff believes that subcustodian monitoring does not 
involve ``collection of information'' within the meaning of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) (``Paperwork 
Reduction Act'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Commission staff estimates that each year, approximately 130 
registrants \3\ could be required to make an average of one response 
per registrant under rule 17f-5, requiring approximately 2.5 hours of 
board of director time per response, to make the necessary findings 
concerning foreign custody managers. The total annual burden associated 
with these requirements of the rule is up to approximately 325 hours 
(130 registrants x 2.5 hours per registrant). The staff further 
estimates that during each year, approximately 15

[[Page 14092]]

global custodians \4\ are required to make an average of 4 responses 
per custodian concerning the use of foreign custodians other than 
depositories. The staff estimates that each response will take 
approximately 270 hours, requiring approximately 1,080 total hours 
annually per custodian. The total annual burden associated with these 
requirements of the rule is approximately 16,200 hours (15 global 
custodians x 1,080 hours per custodian). Therefore, the total annual 
burden of all collection of information requirements of rule 17f-5 is 
estimated to be up to 16,525 hours (325 + 16,200). The total annual 
cost of burden hours is estimated to be $5,609,200 (325 hours x $4,000/
hour for board of directors' time, plus 16,200 hours x $266/hour for a 
trust administrator's time).\5\ Compliance with the collection of 
information requirements of the rule is necessary to obtain the benefit 
of relying on the rule's permission for funds to maintain their assets 
in foreign custodians.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ This figure is an estimate of the number of new funds each 
year, based on data reported by funds in 2012 on Forms N-1A, N-2, N-
4, N-6, and S-6. In practice, not all funds will use foreign custody 
managers, and the actual figure may be smaller.
    \4\ This estimate is based on staff research.
    \5\ The board hourly rate is based on fund industry 
representations. The $266/hour figure for a trust administrator 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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the 
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act. The estimate is not derived 
from a comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the 
costs of Commission rules and forms.
    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 Street 
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: March 6, 2014.
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-05316 Filed 3-11-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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