Victory Portfolios, et al.; Notice of Application, 12862-12863 [2017-04440]
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12862
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 43 / Tuesday, March 7, 2017 / Notices
Shares under Rule 14.11(i), including
those requirements regarding the
Disclosed Portfolio,15 Intraday
Indicative Value,16 suspension of
trading or removal,17 trading halts,18
disclosure,19 and firewalls.20
For the above reasons, the Exchange
believes that the proposed rule change
is consistent with the requirements of
Section 6(b)(5) of the Act.
Electronic Comments
B. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Burden on Competition
• Send paper comments in triplicate
to Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, 100 F Street NE.,
Washington, DC 20549–1090.
The Exchange does not believe that
the proposed rule change will impose
any burden on competition that is not
necessary or appropriate in furtherance
of the purpose of the Act. The Exchange
notes that the proposed rule change,
rather will facilitate the listing and
trading of an additional activelymanaged exchange-traded product that
will enhance competition among both
market participants and listing venues,
to the benefit of investors and the
marketplace.
C. Self-Regulatory Organization’s
Statement on Comments on the
Proposed Rule Change Received From
Members, Participants, or Others
The Exchange has neither solicited
nor received written comments on the
proposed rule change.
III. Date of Effectiveness of the
Proposed Rule Change and Timing for
Commission Action
Within 45 days of the date of
publication of this notice in the Federal
Register or within such longer period
up to 90 days (i) as the Commission may
designate of such date if it finds such
longer period to be appropriate and
publishes its reasons for so finding or
(ii) as to which the Exchange consents,
the Commission will: (a) By order
approve or disapprove such proposed
rule change, or (b) institute proceedings
to determine whether the proposed rule
change should be disapproved.
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
IV. Solicitation of Comments
Interested persons are invited to
submit written data, views, and
arguments concerning the foregoing,
including whether the proposed rule
change is consistent with the Act.
Comments may be submitted by any of
the following methods:
Rule 14.11(i)(4)(B)(i).
16 See Rule 14.11(i)(4)(B)(ii).
17 See Rule 14.11(i)(4)(B)(iii).
18 See Rule 14.11(i)(4)(B)(iv).
19 See Rule 14.11(i)(6).
20 See Rule 14.11(i)(7).
16:01 Mar 06, 2017
Paper Comments
All submissions should refer to File
Number SR–BatsBZX–2017–14. This file
number should be included on the
subject line if email is used. To help the
Commission process and review your
comments more efficiently, please use
only one method. The Commission will
post all comments on the Commission’s
Internet Web site (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml). Copies of the
submission, all subsequent
amendments, all written statements
with respect to the proposed rule
change that are filed with the
Commission, and all written
communications relating to the
proposed rule change between the
Commission and any person, other than
those that may be withheld from the
public in accordance with the
provisions of 5 U.S.C. 552, will be
available for Web site viewing and
printing in the Commission’s Public
Reference Room, 100 F Street, NE.,
Washington, DC 20549, on official
business days between the hours of
10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Copies of the
filing also will be available for
inspection and copying at the principal
office of the Exchange. All comments
received will be posted without change;
the Commission does not edit personal
identifying information from
submissions. You should submit only
information that you wish to make
available publicly. All submissions
should refer to File Number SR–
BatsBZX–2017–14 and should be
submitted on or before March 28, 2017.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated
authority.21
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017–04351 Filed 3–6–17; 8:45 am]
15 See
VerDate Sep<11>2014
• Use the Commission’s Internet
comment form (https://www.sec.gov/
rules/sro.shtml); or
• Send an email to rulecomments@sec.gov. Please include File
Number SR–BatsBZX–2017–14 on the
subject line.
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
21 17
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CFR 200.30–3(a)(12).
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[Investment Company Act Release No.
32519; File No. 812–14719]
Victory Portfolios, et al.; Notice of
Application
March 2, 2017.
Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’).
ACTION: Notice of an application for an
order pursuant to: (a) Section 6(c) of the
Investment Company Act of 1940
(‘‘Act’’) granting an exemption from
sections 18(f) and 21(b) of the Act; (b)
section 12(d)(1)(J) of the Act granting an
exemption from section 12(d)(1) of the
Act; (c) sections 6(c) and 17(b) of the
Act granting an exemption from sections
17(a)(1), 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Act;
and (d) section 17(d) of the Act and rule
17d–1 under the Act to permit certain
joint arrangements and transactions.
Applicants request an order that would
permit certain registered open-end
management investment companies to
participate in a joint lending and
borrowing facility.
AGENCY:
Victory Portfolios, Victory
Portfolios II, Victory Institutional Funds
and Victory Variable Insurance Funds
(each a ‘‘Trust’’), each a Delaware
statutory trust registered under the Act
as an open-end management investment
company with multiple series,1 and
Victory Capital Management Inc. (the
‘‘Adviser’’), a New York Corporation
registered as an investment adviser
under the Investment Advisers Act of
1940.
DATES: Filing Dates: The application was
filed on December 2, 2016 and amended
on January 17, 2017.
HEARING OR NOTIFICATION OF HEARING: An
order granting the requested relief will
be issued unless the Commission orders
a hearing. Interested persons may
request a hearing by writing to the
Commission’s Secretary and serving
applicants with a copy of the request,
personally or by mail. Hearing requests
should be received by the Commission
by 5:30 p.m. on March 27, 2017 and
should be accompanied by proof of
service on the applicants, in the form of
an affidavit, or, for lawyers, a certificate
of service. Pursuant to Rule 0–5 under
the Act, hearing requests should state
the nature of the writer’s interest, any
APPLICANTS:
1 In the future the Adviser may advise Funds (as
defined below) that are registered closed-end
management investment companies or Funds that
are money market funds that comply with Rule 2a–
7 under the 1940 Act. The Funds that are closedend management investment companies and money
market funds will not participate as borrowers in
the interfund lending facility.
E:\FR\FM\07MRN1.SGM
07MRN1
Federal Register / Vol. 82, No. 43 / Tuesday, March 7, 2017 / Notices
facts bearing upon the desirability of a
hearing on the matter, the reason for the
request, and the issues contested.
Persons who wish to be notified of a
hearing may request notification by
writing to the Commission’s Secretary.
ADDRESSES: Secretary, U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street
NE., Washington, DC 20549–1090;
Applicants: Victory Portfolios, Victory
Portfolios II, Victory Institutional
Funds, Victory Variable Insurance
Funds and Victory Capital Management
Inc., 4900 Tiedeman Road, 4th Floor,
Brooklyn, Ohio 44144.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Deepak T. Pai, Senior Counsel, at (202)
551–6876 or Robert H. Shapiro, Branch
Chief, at (202) 551–6821 (Division of
Investment Management, Chief
Counsel’s Office).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The
following is a summary of the
application. The complete application
may be obtained via the Commission’s
Web site by searching for the file
number, or an applicant using the
Company name box, at https://
www.sec.gov/search/search.htm or by
calling (202) 551–8090.
sradovich on DSK3GMQ082PROD with NOTICES
Summary of the Application
1. Applicants request an order that
would permit the applicants to
participate in an interfund lending
facility where each Fund could lend
money directly to and borrow money
directly from other Funds to cover
unanticipated cash shortfalls, such as
unanticipated redemptions or trade
fails.2 The Funds will not borrow under
the facility for leverage purposes and
the loans’ duration will be no more than
7 days.3
2. Applicants anticipate that the
proposed facility would provide a
borrowing Fund with a source of
liquidity at a rate lower than the bank
borrowing rate at times when the cash
position of the Fund is insufficient to
meet temporary cash requirements. In
addition, Funds making short-term cash
loans directly to other Funds would
earn interest at a rate higher than they
2 Applicants request that the order apply to the
applicants and to any existing or future registered
open-end or closed-end management investment
company or series thereof for which the Adviser or
any successor thereto or an investment adviser
controlling, controlled by, or under common
control with the Adviser or any successor thereto
serves as investment adviser (each a ‘‘Fund’’ and
collectively the ‘‘Funds’’ and each such investment
adviser the ‘‘Adviser’’). For purposes of the
requested order, ‘‘successor’’ is limited to any entity
that results from a reorganization into another
jurisdiction or a change in the type of a business
organization.
3 Any Fund, however, will be able to call a loan
on one business day’s notice.
VerDate Sep<11>2014
16:01 Mar 06, 2017
Jkt 241001
otherwise could obtain from investing
their cash in repurchase agreements or
certain other short term money market
instruments. Thus, applicants assert that
the facility would benefit both
borrowing and lending Funds.
3. Applicants agree that any order
granting the requested relief will be
subject to the terms and conditions
stated in the application. Among others,
the Adviser, through a designated
committee, would administer the
facility as a disinterested fiduciary as
part of its duties under the investment
management and administrative
agreements with the Funds and would
receive no additional fee as
compensation for its services in
connection with the administration of
the facility. The facility would be
subject to oversight and certain
approvals by the Funds’ Board,
including, among others, approval of the
interest rate formula and of the method
for allocating loans across Funds, as
well as review of the process in place to
evaluate the liquidity implications for
the Funds. A Fund’s aggregate
outstanding interfund loans will not
exceed 15% of its net assets, and the
Fund’s loans to any one Fund will not
exceed 5% of the lending Fund’s net
assets.4
4. Applicants assert that the facility
does not raise the concerns underlying
section 12(d)(1) of the Act given that the
Funds are part of the same group of
investment companies and there will be
no duplicative costs or fees to the
Funds.5 Applicants also assert that the
proposed transactions do not raise the
concerns underlying sections 17(a)(1),
17(a)(3), 17(d) and 21(b) of the Act as
the Funds would not engage in lending
transactions that unfairly benefit
insiders or are detrimental to the Funds.
Applicants state that the facility will
offer both reduced borrowing costs and
enhanced returns on loaned funds to all
participating Funds and each Fund
would have an equal opportunity to
borrow and lend on equal terms based
on an interest rate formula that is
objective and verifiable. With respect to
the relief from section 17(a)(2) of the
Act, applicants note that any collateral
pledged to secure an interfund loan
would be subject to the same conditions
imposed by any other lender to a Fund
that imposes conditions on the quality
of or access to collateral for a borrowing
(if the lender is another Fund) or the
4 Under certain circumstances, a borrowing Fund
will be required to pledge collateral to secure the
loan.
5 Applicants state that the obligation to repay an
interfund loan could be deemed to constitute a
security for the purposes of sections 17(a)(1) and
12(d)(1) of the Act.
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 9990
12863
same or better conditions (in any other
circumstance).6
5. Applicants also believe that the
limited relief from section 18(f)(1) of the
Act that is necessary to implement the
facility (because the lending Funds are
not banks) is appropriate in light of the
conditions and safeguards described in
the application and because the openend Funds would remain subject to the
requirement of section 18(f)(1) that all
borrowings of the open-end Fund,
including combined interfund loans and
bank borrowings, have at least 300%
asset coverage.
6. Section 6(c) of the Act permits the
Commission to exempt any persons or
transactions from any provision of the
Act if such exemption is necessary or
appropriate in the public interest and
consistent with the protection of
investors and the purposes fairly
intended by the policy and provisions of
the Act. Section 12(d)(1)(J) of the Act
provides that the Commission may
exempt any person, security, or
transaction, or any class or classes of
persons, securities, or transactions, from
any provision of section 12(d)(1) if the
exemption is consistent with the public
interest and the protection of investors.
Section 17(b) of the Act authorizes the
Commission to grant an order
permitting a transaction otherwise
prohibited by section 17(a) if it finds
that (a) the terms of the proposed
transaction are fair and reasonable and
do not involve overreaching on the part
of any person concerned; (b) the
proposed transaction is consistent with
the policies of each registered
investment company involved; and (c)
the proposed transaction is consistent
with the general purposes of the Act.
Rule 17d–1(b) under the Act provides
that in passing upon an application filed
under the rule, the Commission will
consider whether the participation of
the registered investment company in a
joint enterprise, joint arrangement or
profit sharing plan on the basis
proposed is consistent with the
provisions, policies and purposes of the
Act and the extent to which such
participation is on a basis different from
or less advantageous than that of the
other participants.
For the Commission, by the Division of
Investment Management, under delegated
authority.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017–04440 Filed 3–6–17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
6 Applicants state that any pledge of securities to
secure an interfund loan could constitute a
purchase of securities for purposes of section
17(a)(2) of the Act.
E:\FR\FM\07MRN1.SGM
07MRN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 43 (Tuesday, March 7, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12862-12863]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-04440]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Investment Company Act Release No. 32519; File No. 812-14719]
Victory Portfolios, et al.; Notice of Application
March 2, 2017.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'').
ACTION: Notice of an application for an order pursuant to: (a) Section
6(c) of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') granting an
exemption from sections 18(f) and 21(b) of the Act; (b) section
12(d)(1)(J) of the Act granting an exemption from section 12(d)(1) of
the Act; (c) sections 6(c) and 17(b) of the Act granting an exemption
from sections 17(a)(1), 17(a)(2) and 17(a)(3) of the Act; and (d)
section 17(d) of the Act and rule 17d-1 under the Act to permit certain
joint arrangements and transactions. Applicants request an order that
would permit certain registered open-end management investment
companies to participate in a joint lending and borrowing facility.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Applicants: Victory Portfolios, Victory Portfolios II, Victory
Institutional Funds and Victory Variable Insurance Funds (each a
``Trust''), each a Delaware statutory trust registered under the Act as
an open-end management investment company with multiple series,\1\ and
Victory Capital Management Inc. (the ``Adviser''), a New York
Corporation registered as an investment adviser under the Investment
Advisers Act of 1940.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ In the future the Adviser may advise Funds (as defined
below) that are registered closed-end management investment
companies or Funds that are money market funds that comply with Rule
2a-7 under the 1940 Act. The Funds that are closed-end management
investment companies and money market funds will not participate as
borrowers in the interfund lending facility.
DATES: Filing Dates: The application was filed on December 2, 2016 and
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
amended on January 17, 2017.
Hearing or Notification of Hearing: An order granting the requested
relief will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing.
Interested persons may request a hearing by writing to the Commission's
Secretary and serving applicants with a copy of the request, personally
or by mail. Hearing requests should be received by the Commission by
5:30 p.m. on March 27, 2017 and should be accompanied by proof of
service on the applicants, in the form of an affidavit, or, for
lawyers, a certificate of service. Pursuant to Rule 0-5 under the Act,
hearing requests should state the nature of the writer's interest, any
[[Page 12863]]
facts bearing upon the desirability of a hearing on the matter, the
reason for the request, and the issues contested. Persons who wish to
be notified of a hearing may request notification by writing to the
Commission's Secretary.
ADDRESSES: Secretary, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F
Street NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090; Applicants: Victory Portfolios,
Victory Portfolios II, Victory Institutional Funds, Victory Variable
Insurance Funds and Victory Capital Management Inc., 4900 Tiedeman
Road, 4th Floor, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Deepak T. Pai, Senior Counsel, at
(202) 551-6876 or Robert H. Shapiro, Branch Chief, at (202) 551-6821
(Division of Investment Management, Chief Counsel's Office).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the
application. The complete application may be obtained via the
Commission's Web site by searching for the file number, or an applicant
using the Company name box, at https://www.sec.gov/search/search.htm or
by calling (202) 551-8090.
Summary of the Application
1. Applicants request an order that would permit the applicants to
participate in an interfund lending facility where each Fund could lend
money directly to and borrow money directly from other Funds to cover
unanticipated cash shortfalls, such as unanticipated redemptions or
trade fails.\2\ The Funds will not borrow under the facility for
leverage purposes and the loans' duration will be no more than 7
days.\3\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ Applicants request that the order apply to the applicants
and to any existing or future registered open-end or closed-end
management investment company or series thereof for which the
Adviser or any successor thereto or an investment adviser
controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Adviser
or any successor thereto serves as investment adviser (each a
``Fund'' and collectively the ``Funds'' and each such investment
adviser the ``Adviser''). For purposes of the requested order,
``successor'' is limited to any entity that results from a
reorganization into another jurisdiction or a change in the type of
a business organization.
\3\ Any Fund, however, will be able to call a loan on one
business day's notice.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Applicants anticipate that the proposed facility would provide a
borrowing Fund with a source of liquidity at a rate lower than the bank
borrowing rate at times when the cash position of the Fund is
insufficient to meet temporary cash requirements. In addition, Funds
making short-term cash loans directly to other Funds would earn
interest at a rate higher than they otherwise could obtain from
investing their cash in repurchase agreements or certain other short
term money market instruments. Thus, applicants assert that the
facility would benefit both borrowing and lending Funds.
3. Applicants agree that any order granting the requested relief
will be subject to the terms and conditions stated in the application.
Among others, the Adviser, through a designated committee, would
administer the facility as a disinterested fiduciary as part of its
duties under the investment management and administrative agreements
with the Funds and would receive no additional fee as compensation for
its services in connection with the administration of the facility. The
facility would be subject to oversight and certain approvals by the
Funds' Board, including, among others, approval of the interest rate
formula and of the method for allocating loans across Funds, as well as
review of the process in place to evaluate the liquidity implications
for the Funds. A Fund's aggregate outstanding interfund loans will not
exceed 15% of its net assets, and the Fund's loans to any one Fund will
not exceed 5% of the lending Fund's net assets.\4\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\4\ Under certain circumstances, a borrowing Fund will be
required to pledge collateral to secure the loan.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Applicants assert that the facility does not raise the concerns
underlying section 12(d)(1) of the Act given that the Funds are part of
the same group of investment companies and there will be no duplicative
costs or fees to the Funds.\5\ Applicants also assert that the proposed
transactions do not raise the concerns underlying sections 17(a)(1),
17(a)(3), 17(d) and 21(b) of the Act as the Funds would not engage in
lending transactions that unfairly benefit insiders or are detrimental
to the Funds. Applicants state that the facility will offer both
reduced borrowing costs and enhanced returns on loaned funds to all
participating Funds and each Fund would have an equal opportunity to
borrow and lend on equal terms based on an interest rate formula that
is objective and verifiable. With respect to the relief from section
17(a)(2) of the Act, applicants note that any collateral pledged to
secure an interfund loan would be subject to the same conditions
imposed by any other lender to a Fund that imposes conditions on the
quality of or access to collateral for a borrowing (if the lender is
another Fund) or the same or better conditions (in any other
circumstance).\6\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\5\ Applicants state that the obligation to repay an interfund
loan could be deemed to constitute a security for the purposes of
sections 17(a)(1) and 12(d)(1) of the Act.
\6\ Applicants state that any pledge of securities to secure an
interfund loan could constitute a purchase of securities for
purposes of section 17(a)(2) of the Act.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Applicants also believe that the limited relief from section
18(f)(1) of the Act that is necessary to implement the facility
(because the lending Funds are not banks) is appropriate in light of
the conditions and safeguards described in the application and because
the open-end Funds would remain subject to the requirement of section
18(f)(1) that all borrowings of the open-end Fund, including combined
interfund loans and bank borrowings, have at least 300% asset coverage.
6. Section 6(c) of the Act permits the Commission to exempt any
persons or transactions from any provision of the Act if such exemption
is necessary or appropriate in the public interest and consistent with
the protection of investors and the purposes fairly intended by the
policy and provisions of the Act. Section 12(d)(1)(J) of the Act
provides that the Commission may exempt any person, security, or
transaction, or any class or classes of persons, securities, or
transactions, from any provision of section 12(d)(1) if the exemption
is consistent with the public interest and the protection of investors.
Section 17(b) of the Act authorizes the Commission to grant an order
permitting a transaction otherwise prohibited by section 17(a) if it
finds that (a) the terms of the proposed transaction are fair and
reasonable and do not involve overreaching on the part of any person
concerned; (b) the proposed transaction is consistent with the policies
of each registered investment company involved; and (c) the proposed
transaction is consistent with the general purposes of the Act. Rule
17d-1(b) under the Act provides that in passing upon an application
filed under the rule, the Commission will consider whether the
participation of the registered investment company in a joint
enterprise, joint arrangement or profit sharing plan on the basis
proposed is consistent with the provisions, policies and purposes of
the Act and the extent to which such participation is on a basis
different from or less advantageous than that of the other
participants.
For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management,
under delegated authority.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2017-04440 Filed 3-6-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
