Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 50711-50712 [2014-20085]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 164 / Monday, August 25, 2014 / Notices that highlights material differences among classes, directors might not perceive potential conflicts of interests when they determine whether the plan is in the best interests of each class and the fund. In addition, the plan may be useful to Commission staff in reviewing the fund’s compliance with the rule. Based on an analysis of fund filings, the Commission estimates that there are approximately 5,831 multiple class funds offered by 969 registrants. The Commission estimates that each of the 969 registrants will make an average of 0.5 responses annually to prepare and approve a written 18f-3 plan.1 The Commission estimates each response will take 6 hours, requiring a total of 3 hours per registrant per year.2 Thus the total annual hour burden associated with these requirements of the rule is approximately 2,907 hours.3 Estimates of the average 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 and forms. The collection of information under rule 18f-3 is mandatory. The information provided under rule 18f-3 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: August 19, 2014. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2014–20087 Filed 8–22–14; 8:45 am] emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES BILLING CODE 8011–01–P 1 The Commission estimates that each registrant prepares and approves a rule 18f-3 plan every two years when issuing a new fund or new class or amending a plan (or that 484.5 of all 969 registrants prepare and approve a plan each year). 2 0.5 responses per registrant × 6 hours per response = 3 hours per registrant. 3 3 hours per registrant per year × 969 registrants = 2,907 hours per year. VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:31 Aug 22, 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 FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549–2736. Extension: Rule 3a–8;OMB Control No. 3235–0574, SEC File No. 270–516. 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 (‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. 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’’). 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 1 Rule PO 00000 3a–8(a)(6) (17 CFR 270.3a–8(6)). Frm 00098 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 50711 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 48,393 R&D companies may take advantage of rule 3a–8.2 Given that the board resolutions and investment guidelines will generally need to be adopted only once (unless relevant circumstances change),3 the Commission believes that all the R&D companies that existed prior to the adoption of rule 3a–8 adopted their board resolutions and established written investment guidelines in 2003 when the rule was adopted. We expect that R&D companies formed subsequent to the adoption of rule 3a–8 would adopt the board resolution and investment guidelines simultaneously with their formation documents in the ordinary course of business.4 Therefore, we estimate that rule 3a–8 does not impose additional burdens. 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 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, 2 See National Science Foundation/Division of Science Resources Statistics, Business Research and Development and Innovation Survey: 2010 (results published September 18, 2013). 3 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. 4 In order for these companies to raise sufficient capital to fund their product development stage, Commission staff believes that they will need to present potential investors with investment guidelines. Investors generally want to be assured that the company’s funds are invested consistent with the goals of capital preservation and liquidity. E:\FR\FM\25AUN1.SGM 25AUN1 50712 Federal Register / Vol. 79, No. 164 / Monday, August 25, 2014 / Notices 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: August 19, 2014. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2014–20085 Filed 8–22–14; 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 FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549–2736. emcdonald on DSK67QTVN1PROD with NOTICES Extension: Form 24F–2;OMB Control No. 3235–0456, SEC File No. 270–399. 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’’) has submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. Rule 24f–2 (17 CFR 270.24f–2) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a) requires any open-end management companies (‘‘mutual funds’’), unit investment trusts (‘‘UITs’’) or face-amount certificate companies (collectively, ‘‘funds’’) deemed to have registered an indefinite amount of securities to file, not later than 90 days after the end of any fiscal year in which it has publicly offered such securities, Form 24F–2 (17 CFR 274.24) with the Commission. Form 24F–2 is the annual notice of securities sold by funds that accompanies the payment of registration fees with respect to the securities sold during the fiscal year. The Commission estimates that 6946 funds file Form 24F–2 on the required annual basis. The average annual burden per respondent for Form 24F–2 is estimated to be two hours. The total annual burden for all respondents to Form 24F–2 is estimated to be 13,892 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. Compliance with the collection of information required by Form 24F–2 is VerDate Mar<15>2010 17:31 Aug 22, 2014 Jkt 232001 mandatory. The Form 24F–2 filing that must be made to the Commission is available to the public. 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 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: August 19, 2014. Kevin M. O’Neill, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2014–20089 Filed 8–22–14; 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 FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549–2736. Extension: Rule 31a–1; OMB Control No. 3235–0178; SEC File No. 270–173. 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’’) a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. Rule 31a–1 (17 CFR 270.31a–1) under the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the ‘‘Act’’) (15 U.S.C. 80a) is entitled ‘‘Records to be maintained by registered investment companies, certain majorityowned subsidiaries thereof, and other persons having transactions with registered investment companies.’’ Rule 31a–1 requires registered investment companies (‘‘funds’’), and every underwriter, broker, dealer, or investment adviser that is a majority- PO 00000 Frm 00099 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 owned subsidiary of a fund, to maintain and keep current accounts, books, and other documents which constitute the record forming the basis for financial statements required to be filed pursuant to section 31 of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a– 30) and of the auditor’s certificates relating thereto. The rule lists specific records to be maintained by funds. The rule also requires certain underwriters, brokers, dealers, depositors, and investment advisers to maintain the records that they are required to maintain under federal securities laws. The Commission periodically inspects the operations of funds to insure their compliance with the provisions of the Act and the rules thereunder. The books and records required to be maintained by rule 31a–1 constitute a major focus of the Commission’s inspection program. There are approximately 4132 investment companies registered with the Commission, all of which are required to comply with rule 31a–1. For purposes of determining the burden imposed by rule 31a–1, the Commission staff estimates that each fund is divided into approximately four series, on average, and that each series is required to comply with the recordkeeping requirements of rule 31a–1. Based on conversations with fund representatives, it is estimated that rule 31a–1 imposes an average burden of approximately 1750 hours annually per series for a total of 7000 annual hours per fund. The estimated total annual burden for all 4132 funds subject to the rule therefore is approximately 28,924,000 hours. Based on conversations with fund representatives, however, the Commission staff estimates that even absent the requirements of rule 31a–1, 90 percent of the records created pursuant to the rule are the type that generally would be created as a matter of normal business practice and to prepare financial statements. Thus, the Commission staff estimates that the total annual burden associated with rule 31a– 1 is 2,892,400 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. The collection of information required by rule 31a–1 is mandatory. Responses will not be kept confidential. The records required by rule 31a–1 are required to be preserved pursuant to rule 31a–2 under the Investment Company Act (17 CFR 270.31a–2). Rule 31a–2 requires that certain of these records be preserved permanently, and that others be preserved six years from the end of the fiscal year in which any transaction E:\FR\FM\25AUN1.SGM 25AUN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 164 (Monday, August 25, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 50711-50712]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-20085]


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

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 
20549-2736.

Extension:
    Rule 3a-8;OMB Control No. 3235-0574, SEC File No. 270-516.

    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 (``Commission'') has submitted to the Office of Management 
and Budget (``OMB'') a request for extension of the previously approved 
collection of information discussed below.
    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'').
    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.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Rule 3a-8(a)(6) (17 CFR 270.3a-8(6)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 48,393 R&D companies 
may take advantage of rule 3a-8.\2\ Given that the board resolutions 
and investment guidelines will generally need to be adopted only once 
(unless relevant circumstances change),\3\ the Commission believes that 
all the R&D companies that existed prior to the adoption of rule 3a-8 
adopted their board resolutions and established written investment 
guidelines in 2003 when the rule was adopted. We expect that R&D 
companies formed subsequent to the adoption of rule 3a-8 would adopt 
the board resolution and investment guidelines simultaneously with 
their formation documents in the ordinary course of business.\4\ 
Therefore, we estimate that rule 3a-8 does not impose additional 
burdens.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ See National Science Foundation/Division of Science 
Resources Statistics, Business Research and Development and 
Innovation Survey: 2010 (results published September 18, 2013).
    \3\ 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.
    \4\ In order for these companies to raise sufficient capital to 
fund their product development stage, Commission staff believes that 
they will need to present potential investors with investment 
guidelines. Investors generally want to be assured that the 
company's funds are invested consistent with the goals of capital 
preservation and liquidity.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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 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,

[[Page 50712]]

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: August 19, 2014.
Kevin M. O'Neill,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-20085 Filed 8-22-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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