Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 33319-33320 [2015-14244]

Download as PDF Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 112 / Thursday, June 11, 2015 / Notices mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES FCMs, Commission staff estimates there are no costs related to existing contracts between funds and FCMs. This estimate does not include the time required by an FCM to comply with the rule’s contract requirements because, to the extent that complying with the contract provisions could be considered ‘‘collections of information,’’ the burden hours for compliance are already included in other PRA submissions.1 Thus, Commission staff estimates that any burden of the rule would be borne by funds and FCMs entering into new contracts pursuant to the rule. Commission staff estimates that approximately 291 fund complexes and 965 funds currently effect commodities transactions and could deposit margin with FCMs in connection with those transactions pursuant to rule 17f–6.2 Staff further estimates that of this number, 29 fund complexes and 97 funds enter into new contracts with FCMs each year.3 Based on conversations with fund representatives, Commission staff understands that fund complexes typically enter into contracts with FCMs on behalf of all funds in the fund complex that engage in commodities transactions. Funds covered by the contract are typically listed in an attachment, which may be amended to encompass new funds. Commission staff estimates that the burden for a fund complex to enter into a contract with an FCM that contains the contract requirements of rule 17f–6 is one hour, and further estimates that the burden to add a fund to an existing contract between a fund complex and an FCM is 6 minutes. Accordingly, Commission staff estimates that funds and FCMs spend 39 burden hours annually complying with the information collection requirements of rule 17f–6.4 At $380 per hour of professional (attorney) time, Commission staff estimates that the annual dollar cost for the 39 hours is $14,820.5 These estimates 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. Compliance with the collection of information requirements of the rule is necessary to obtain the benefit of relying on the rule. 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) Pamela Dyson, Director/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. 1 The rule requires a contract with the FCM to contain two provisions requiring the FCM to comply with existing requirements under the CEA and rules adopted thereunder. Thus, to the extent these provisions could be considered collections of information, the hours required for compliance would be included in the collection of information burden hours submitted by the CFTC for its rules. 2 This estimate is based on the number of funds that reported on Form N–SAR from June 1, 2014– November 30, 2014, in response to items (b) through (i) of question 70, that they engaged in futures and commodity option transactions. 3 These estimates are based on the assumption that 10% of fund complexes and funds enter into new FCM contracts each year. This assumption encompasses fund complexes and funds that enter into FCM contracts for the first time, as well as fund complexes and fund that change the FCM with whom they maintain margin accounts for commodities transactions. 4 This estimate is based upon the following calculation: (29 fund complexes × 1 hour) + (97 funds × 0.1 hours) = 39 hours. Upon Written Request Copies Available From: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE., Washington, DC 20549–2736. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:06 Jun 10, 2015 Jkt 235001 Dated: June 5, 2015. Robert W. Errett, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2015–14245 Filed 6–10–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request Extension: Rule 17f–2; OMB Control No. 3235–0223, SEC File No. 270–233. 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 (the ‘‘Commission’’) has submitted to the 5 The $380 per hour figure for an attorney is from SIFMA’s Management & Professional Earnings in the Securities Industry 2013, modified by Commission staff to account for an 1800-hour workyear and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee benefits and overhead. PO 00000 Frm 00092 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 33319 Office of Management and Budget a request for extension of the previously approved collection of information discussed below. Rule 17f–2 (17 CFR 270.17f–2), entitled ‘‘Custody of Investments by Registered Management Investment Company,’’ was adopted in 1940 under section 17(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a–17(f)) (the ‘‘Act’’), and was last amended materially in 1947. Rule 17f–2 establishes safeguards for arrangements in which a registered management investment company (‘‘fund’’) is deemed to maintain custody of its own assets, such as when the fund maintains its assets in a facility that provides safekeeping but not custodial services.1 The rule includes several recordkeeping or reporting requirements. The fund’s directors must prepare a resolution designating not more than five fund officers or responsible employees who may have access to the fund’s assets. The designated access persons (two or more of whom must act jointly when handling fund assets) must prepare a written notation providing certain information about each deposit or withdrawal of fund assets, and must transmit the notation to another officer or director designated by the directors. An independent public accountant must verify the fund’s assets three times each year, and two of those examinations must be unscheduled.2 Rule 17f–2’s requirement that directors designate access persons is intended to ensure that directors evaluate the trustworthiness of insiders who handle fund assets. The requirements that access persons act jointly in handling fund assets, prepare a written notation of each transaction, and transmit the notation to another designated person are intended to reduce the risk of misappropriation of fund assets by access persons, and to ensure that adequate records are prepared, reviewed by a responsible third person, and available for examination by the Commission. The requirement that auditors verify fund assets without notice twice each year is intended to provide an additional deterrent to the misappropriation of 1 The rule generally requires all assets to be deposited in the safekeeping of a ‘‘bank or other company whose functions and physical facilities are supervised by Federal or State authority.’’ The fund’s securities must be physically segregated at all times from the securities of any other person. 2 The accountant must transmit to the Commission promptly after each examination a certificate describing the examination on Form N–17f–2. The third (scheduled) examination may coincide with the annual verification required for every fund by section 30(g) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a–29(g)). E:\FR\FM\11JNN1.SGM 11JNN1 33320 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 112 / Thursday, June 11, 2015 / Notices mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES fund assets and to detect any irregularities. The Commission staff estimates that each fund makes 974 responses and spends an average of 252 hours annually in complying with the rule’s requirements.3 Commission staff estimates that on an annual basis it takes: (i) 0.5 hours of fund accounting personnel at a total cost of $99 to draft director resolutions; 4 (ii) 0.5 hours of the fund’s board of directors at a total cost of $2200 to adopt the resolution; 5 (iii) 244 hours for the fund’s accounting personnel at a total cost of $63,797 to prepare written notations of transactions; 6 and (iv) 7 hours for the fund’s accounting personnel at a total cost of $1386 to assist the independent public accountants when they perform verifications of fund assets.7 Commission staff estimates that approximately 188 funds file Form N– 17f–2 each year.8 Thus, the total annual hour burden for rule 17f–2 is estimated to be 47,376 hours.9 Based on the total costs per fund listed above, the total cost of rule 17f–2’s collection of 3 The 974 responses are: 1 (one) response to draft and adopt the resolution and 973 notations. Estimates of the number of hours are based on conversations with individuals in the fund industry. The actual number of hours may vary significantly depending on individual fund assets. 4 This estimate is based on the following calculation: 0.5 (burden hours per fund) × $198 (senior accountant’s hourly rate) = $99. Unless otherwise indicated, the hourly wage figures used herein are from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association’s Management & Professional Earnings in the Securities Industry 2013, 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 estimate for the cost of board time as a whole is derived from estimates made by the staff regarding typical board size and compensation that is based on information received from fund representatives and publicly available sources. 6 Respondents estimated that each fund makes 974 responses on an annual basis and spends a total of 0.25 hours per response. The fund personnel involved are Accounts Payable Manager ($186 hourly rate), Operations Manager ($334 hourly rate) and Accounting Manager ($265 hourly rate). The average hourly rate of these personnel is $262. The estimated cost of preparing notations is based on the following calculation: 974 × 0.25 × $262 = $63,797. 7 This estimate is based on the following calculation: 7 × $198 (senior accountant’s hourly rate) = $1386. 8 On average, each year approximately 188 funds filed Form N–17f–2 with the Commission during calendar years 2011–2013. 9 This estimate is based on the following calculation: 188 (funds) × 252 (total annual hourly burden per fund) = 47,376 hours for rule. The annual burden for rule 17f–2 does not include time spent preparing Form N–17f–2. The burden for Form N–17f–2 is included in a separate collection of information. VerDate Sep<11>2014 17:06 Jun 10, 2015 Jkt 235001 information requirements is estimated to be approximately $12.7 million.10 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. Complying with the collections of information required by rule 17f–2 is mandatory for those funds that maintain custody of their own assets. 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. 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) Pamela Dyson, Director/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: June 5, 2015. Robert W. Errett, Deputy Secretary. [FR Doc. 2015–14244 Filed 6–10–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8011–01–P SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION Submit completed loan applications to: U.S. Small Business Administration, Processing And Disbursement Center, 14925 Kingsport Road, Fort Worth, TX 76155. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: A. Escobar, Office of Disaster Assistance, U.S. Small Business Administration, 409 3rd Street SW., Suite 6050, Washington, DC 20416. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Notice is hereby given that as a result of the Administrator’s disaster declaration, applications for disaster loans may be filed at the address listed above or other locally announced locations. The following areas have been determined to be adversely affected by the disaster: Primary Counties: Dekalb. Contiguous Counties: Illinois: Boone, Kane, Kendall, La Salle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Winnebago. The Interest Rates are: ADDRESSES: Percent For Physical Damage: Homeowners with Credit Available Elsewhere ...................... Homeowners without Credit Available Elsewhere .............. Businesses with Credit Available Elsewhere ...................... Businesses without Credit Available Elsewhere .............. Non-Profit Organizations with Credit Available Elsewhere ... Non-Profit Organizations without Credit Available Elsewhere ..................................... For Economic Injury: Businesses & small agricultural cooperatives without credit available elsewhere ............... Non-profit organizations without credit available elsewhere ..... 3.625 1.813 6.000 4.000 2.625 2.625 4.000 2.625 [Disaster Declaration #14340 and #14341] The number assigned to this disaster for physical damage is 14340 B and for economic injury is 14341 0. The State which received an EIDL Declaration # is Illinois. Illinois Disaster #IL–00045 U.S. Small Business Administration. ACTION: Notice. AGENCY: This is a notice of an Administrative declaration of a disaster for the State of Illinois dated 06/03/ 2015. Incident: Severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. Incident Period: 04/09/2015. Effective Date: 06/03/2015. Physical Loan Application Deadline Date: 08/03/2015. Economic Injury (EIDL) Loan Application Deadline Date: 03/03/2016. SUMMARY: (Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 59002 and 59008) Dated: June 3, 2015. Maria Contreras-Sweet, Administrator. [FR Doc. 2015–14323 Filed 6–10–15; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 8025–01–P SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION [Disaster Declaration #14338 and #14339] West Virginia Disaster #WV–00036 10 This estimate is based on the following calculation: $67,482 (total annual cost per fund) × 188 funds = $12,686,616. PO 00000 Frm 00093 Fmt 4703 Sfmt 4703 U.S. Small Business Administration. AGENCY: E:\FR\FM\11JNN1.SGM 11JNN1

Agencies

[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 112 (Thursday, June 11, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 33319-33320]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-14244]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

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

Extension:
    Rule 17f-2; OMB Control No. 3235-0223, SEC File No. 270-233.

    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 (the ``Commission'') has submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget a request for extension of the previously 
approved collection of information discussed below.
    Rule 17f-2 (17 CFR 270.17f-2), entitled ``Custody of Investments by 
Registered Management Investment Company,'' was adopted in 1940 under 
section 17(f) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-
17(f)) (the ``Act''), and was last amended materially in 1947. Rule 
17f-2 establishes safeguards for arrangements in which a registered 
management investment company (``fund'') is deemed to maintain custody 
of its own assets, such as when the fund maintains its assets in a 
facility that provides safekeeping but not custodial services.\1\ The 
rule includes several recordkeeping or reporting requirements. The 
fund's directors must prepare a resolution designating not more than 
five fund officers or responsible employees who may have access to the 
fund's assets. The designated access persons (two or more of whom must 
act jointly when handling fund assets) must prepare a written notation 
providing certain information about each deposit or withdrawal of fund 
assets, and must transmit the notation to another officer or director 
designated by the directors. An independent public accountant must 
verify the fund's assets three times each year, and two of those 
examinations must be unscheduled.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ The rule generally requires all assets to be deposited in 
the safekeeping of a ``bank or other company whose functions and 
physical facilities are supervised by Federal or State authority.'' 
The fund's securities must be physically segregated at all times 
from the securities of any other person.
    \2\ The accountant must transmit to the Commission promptly 
after each examination a certificate describing the examination on 
Form N-17f-2. The third (scheduled) examination may coincide with 
the annual verification required for every fund by section 30(g) of 
the Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-29(g)).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Rule 17f-2's requirement that directors designate access persons is 
intended to ensure that directors evaluate the trustworthiness of 
insiders who handle fund assets. The requirements that access persons 
act jointly in handling fund assets, prepare a written notation of each 
transaction, and transmit the notation to another designated person are 
intended to reduce the risk of misappropriation of fund assets by 
access persons, and to ensure that adequate records are prepared, 
reviewed by a responsible third person, and available for examination 
by the Commission. The requirement that auditors verify fund assets 
without notice twice each year is intended to provide an additional 
deterrent to the misappropriation of

[[Page 33320]]

fund assets and to detect any irregularities.
    The Commission staff estimates that each fund makes 974 responses 
and spends an average of 252 hours annually in complying with the 
rule's requirements.\3\ Commission staff estimates that on an annual 
basis it takes: (i) 0.5 hours of fund accounting personnel at a total 
cost of $99 to draft director resolutions; \4\ (ii) 0.5 hours of the 
fund's board of directors at a total cost of $2200 to adopt the 
resolution; \5\ (iii) 244 hours for the fund's accounting personnel at 
a total cost of $63,797 to prepare written notations of transactions; 
\6\ and (iv) 7 hours for the fund's accounting personnel at a total 
cost of $1386 to assist the independent public accountants when they 
perform verifications of fund assets.\7\ Commission staff estimates 
that approximately 188 funds file Form N-17f-2 each year.\8\ Thus, the 
total annual hour burden for rule 17f-2 is estimated to be 47,376 
hours.\9\ Based on the total costs per fund listed above, the total 
cost of rule 17f-2's collection of information requirements is 
estimated to be approximately $12.7 million.\10\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ The 974 responses are: 1 (one) response to draft and adopt 
the resolution and 973 notations. Estimates of the number of hours 
are based on conversations with individuals in the fund industry. 
The actual number of hours may vary significantly depending on 
individual fund assets.
    \4\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 0.5 
(burden hours per fund) x $198 (senior accountant's hourly rate) = 
$99. Unless otherwise indicated, the hourly wage figures used herein 
are from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association's 
Management & Professional Earnings in the Securities Industry 2013, 
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 estimate for the cost of board time as a whole is 
derived from estimates made by the staff regarding typical board 
size and compensation that is based on information received from 
fund representatives and publicly available sources.
    \6\ Respondents estimated that each fund makes 974 responses on 
an annual basis and spends a total of 0.25 hours per response. The 
fund personnel involved are Accounts Payable Manager ($186 hourly 
rate), Operations Manager ($334 hourly rate) and Accounting Manager 
($265 hourly rate). The average hourly rate of these personnel is 
$262. The estimated cost of preparing notations is based on the 
following calculation: 974 x 0.25 x $262 = $63,797.
    \7\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 7 x 
$198 (senior accountant's hourly rate) = $1386.
    \8\ On average, each year approximately 188 funds filed Form N-
17f-2 with the Commission during calendar years 2011-2013.
    \9\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 188 
(funds) x 252 (total annual hourly burden per fund) = 47,376 hours 
for rule. The annual burden for rule 17f-2 does not include time 
spent preparing Form N-17f-2. The burden for Form N-17f-2 is 
included in a separate collection of information.
    \10\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 
$67,482 (total annual cost per fund) x 188 funds = $12,686,616.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    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. Complying with the collections of 
information required by rule 17f-2 is mandatory for those funds that 
maintain custody of their own assets. 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.
    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) Pamela Dyson, Director/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: June 5, 2015.
Robert W. Errett,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2015-14244 Filed 6-10-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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