Proposed Collection; Comment Request, 16415-16416 [2018-07783]
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 73 / Monday, April 16, 2018 / Notices
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. 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.
Written comments are invited on: (a)
Whether the collections of information
are necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
Commission, including whether the
information has practical utility; (b) the
accuracy of the Commission’s estimate
of the burdens of the collections of
information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burdens of the collections
of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated
collection techniques or other forms of
information technology. Consideration
will be given to comments and
suggestions submitted in writing within
60 days of this publication.
Please direct your written comments
to 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.
Dated: April 9, 2018.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018–07790 Filed 4–13–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Upon Written Request, Copies Available
From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549–2736.
srobinson on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
Reports of Evidence of Material Violations,
SEC File No. 270–514, OMB Control No.
3235–0572
Notice is hereby given that pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA)
of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Sections 3501–3520,
the Securities and Exchange
Commission (‘‘Commission’’) is
soliciting comments on the collection of
information summarized below. The
Commission plans to submit the
existing collection of information to the
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:42 Apr 13, 2018
Jkt 244001
Office of Management and Budget for
extension.
On February 6, 2003, the Commission
published final rules, effective August 5,
2003, entitled ‘‘Standards of
Professional Conduct for Attorneys
Appearing and Practicing Before the
Commission in the Representation of an
Issuer’’ (17 CFR 205.1–205.7). The
information collection embedded in the
rules is necessary to implement the
Standards of Professional Conduct for
Attorneys prescribed by the rule and
required by Section 307 of the SarbanesOxley Act of 2002 (15 U.S.C. 7245). The
rules impose an ‘‘up-the-ladder’’
reporting requirement when attorneys
appearing and practicing before the
Commission become aware of evidence
of a material violation by the issuer or
any officer, director, employee, or agent
of the issuer. An issuer may choose to
establish a qualified legal compliance
committee (‘‘QLCC’’) as an alternative
procedure for reporting evidence of a
material violation. In the rare cases in
which a majority of a QLCC has
concluded that an issuer did not act
appropriately, the information may be
communicated to the Commission. The
collection of information is, therefore,
an important component of the
Commission’s program to discourage
violations of the federal securities laws
and promote ethical behavior of
attorneys appearing and practicing
before the Commission.
The respondents to this collection of
information are attorneys who appear
and practice before the Commission
and, in certain cases, the issuer, and/or
officers, directors and committees of the
issuer. We believe that, in providing
quality representation to issuers,
attorneys report evidence of violations
to others within the issuer, including
the Chief Legal Officer, the Chief
Executive Officer, and, where necessary,
the directors. In addition, officers and
directors investigate evidence of
violations and report within the issuer
the results of the investigation and the
remedial steps they have taken or
sanctions they have imposed. Except as
discussed below, we therefore believe
that the reporting requirements imposed
by the rule are ‘‘usual and customary’’
activities that do not add to the burden
that would be imposed by the collection
of information.
Certain aspects of the collection of
information, however, may impose a
burden. For an issuer to establish a
QLCC, the QLCC must adopt written
procedures for the confidential receipt,
retention, and consideration of any
report of evidence of a material
violation. We estimate for purposes of
the PRA that there are approximately
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Frm 00131
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
16415
10,712 issuers that are subject to the
rules.1 Of these, we estimate that
approximately 319, which is
approximately 3 percent, have
established or will establish a QLCC.2
Establishing the written procedures
required by the rule should not impose
a significant burden. We assume that an
issuer would incur a greater burden in
the year that it first establishes the
procedures than in subsequent years, in
which the burden would be incurred in
updating, reviewing, or modifying the
procedures. For purposes of the PRA,
we assume that an issuer would spend
6 hours every three-year period on the
procedures. This would result in an
average burden of 2 hours per year.
Thus, we estimate for purposes of the
PRA that the total annual burden
imposed by the collection of
information would be 638 hours.
Assuming half of the burden hours will
be incurred by outside counsel at a rate
of $500 per hour would result in a cost
of $159,500.
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. 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.
Written comments are requested on:
(a) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
Commission, including whether the
information has practical utility; (b) the
accuracy of the Commission’s estimate
of the burden[s] of the collection of
information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including
through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information
technology. Consideration will be given
to comments and suggestions submitted
in writing within 60 days of this
publication.
Please direct your written comments
to Pamela Dyson, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and
Exchange Commission, c/o Remi Pavlik1 This figure is based on the estimated 7,625
operating companies that filed annual reports on
Form 10–K, Form 20–F, or Form 40–F during the
2017 calendar year, and the estimated 3,087
investment companies that filed periodic reports on
Form N–SAR during that same time period.
2 This estimate is based on issuer-filings made
with the Commission between January 1, 2015 and
March 18, 2018 that include a reference to the
issuer’s QLCC.
E:\FR\FM\16APN1.SGM
16APN1
16416
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 73 / Monday, April 16, 2018 / Notices
Simon, 100 F Street NE, Washington,
DC 20549 PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov.
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Dated: April 9, 2018.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
Proposed Collection; Comment
Request
Upon Written Request Copies Available
From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549–2736
[FR Doc. 2018–07783 Filed 4–13–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Extension:
Regulation A (Form 1–A), SEC File No.
270–110, OMB Control No. 3235–0286
Sunshine Act Meeting
Notice is hereby given,
pursuant to the provisions of the
Government in the Sunshine Act, Public
Law 94–409, the Securities and
Exchange Commission will hold an
Open Meeting on Wednesday, April 18,
2018, at 3:30 p.m.
PLACE: The meeting will be held in
Auditorium LL–002 at the
Commission’s headquarters, 100 F
Street NE, Washington, DC 20549.
STATUS: This meeting will begin at 3:30
p.m. (ET) and will be open to the public.
Seating will be on a first-come, firstserved basis. Visitors will be subject to
security checks. The meeting will be
webcast on the Commission’s website at
www.sec.gov.
MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: The subject
matters of the Open Meeting will be the
Commission’s consideration of:
• Whether to propose new and
amended rules and forms to require
registered investment advisers and
registered broker-dealers to provide a
brief relationship summary to retail
investors.
• Whether to propose a rule to
establish a standard of conduct for
broker-dealers and natural persons who
are associated persons of a broker-dealer
when making a recommendation of any
securities transaction or investment
strategy involving securities to a retail
customer.
• Whether to propose a Commission
interpretation of the standard of conduct
for investment advisers.
At times, changes in Commission
priorities require alterations in the
scheduling of meeting items.
CONTACT PERSON FOR MORE INFORMATION:
For further information and to ascertain
what, if any, matters have been added,
deleted or postponed; please contact
Brent J. Fields from the Office of the
Secretary at (202) 551–5400.
srobinson on DSK3G9T082PROD with NOTICES
TIME AND DATE:
Dated: April 11, 2018.
Brent J. Fields,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018–07954 Filed 4–12–18; 11:15 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
VerDate Sep<11>2014
19:42 Apr 13, 2018
Jkt 244001
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’’) is soliciting comments
on the collection of information
summarized below. The Commission
plans to submit this existing collection
of information to the Office of
Management and Budget for extension
and approval.
Regulation A (17 CFR 230.251
through 230.263) provides an exemption
from registration under the Securities
Act of 1933 (15 U.S.C. 77a et seq.) for
certain limited offerings of securities by
issuers who do not otherwise file
reports with the Commission. Form 1–
A is an offering statement filed under
Regulation A. The paperwork burden
from Regulation A is imposed through
the forms that are subject to the
disclosure requirements in Regulation A
and is reflected in the analysis of the
form. To avoid a Paperwork Reduction
Act inventory reflecting duplicative
burdens, for administrative convenience
we estimate the burden imposed by
Regulation A to be a total of one hour.
We estimate that approximately 112
issuers file Forms 1–A. We estimate that
Form 1–A takes approximately 751
hours to prepare, including the one hour
for Regulation A for total of 751 total
hours per response. We estimate that
75% of the 751 hours per response
(563.25 hours) is prepared by the
company for a total annual burden of
63,084 hours (563.25 hours per response
× 112 responses).
Written comments are invited on: (a)
Whether the proposed collection of
information is necessary for the proper
performance of the functions of the
agency, including whether the
information will have practical utility;
(b) the accuracy of the agency’s estimate
of the burden imposed by the collection
of information; (c) ways to enhance the
quality, utility, and clarity of the
information collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of
information on respondents, including
through the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information
PO 00000
Frm 00132
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
technology. Consideration will be given
to comments and suggestions submitted
in writing within 60 days of this
publication.
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.
Please direct your written comments
to Pamela Dyson, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and
Exchange Commission, c/o Remi PavlikSimon, 100 F Street NE, Washington,
DC 20549 or send an email to: PRA_
Mailbox@sec.gov.
Dated: April 9, 2018.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018–07794 Filed 4–13–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Proposed Collection; 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 15g–3, SEC File No. 270–346, OMB
Control No. 3235–0392
Notice is hereby given that pursuant
to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995
(‘‘PRA’’) (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(‘‘Commission’’) is soliciting comments
on the existing collection of information
provided for in Rule 15g–3—Broker or
dealer disclosure of quotations and
other information relating to the penny
stock market (17 CFR 240.15g–3) under
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (15
U.S.C. 78a et seq.). The Commission
plans to submit this existing collection
of information to the Office of
Management and Budget (‘‘OMB’’) for
extension and approval.
Rule 15g–3 requires that brokers and
dealers disclose to customers current
quotation prices or similar market
information in connection with
transactions in penny stocks. The
purpose of the rule is to increase the
level of disclosure to investors
concerning penny stocks generally and
specific penny stock transactions.
The Commission estimates that
approximately 195 broker-dealers will
spend an average of 87 hours annually
to comply with this rule. Thus, the total
compliance burden is approximately
16,965 burden-hours per year.
E:\FR\FM\16APN1.SGM
16APN1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 73 (Monday, April 16, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16415-16416]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-07783]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Proposed Collection; Comment Request
Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549-2736.
Reports of Evidence of Material Violations, SEC File No. 270-
514, OMB Control No. 3235-0572
Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act
(PRA) of 1995, 44 U.S.C. Sections 3501-3520, the Securities and
Exchange Commission (``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the
collection of information summarized below. The Commission plans to
submit the existing collection of information to the Office of
Management and Budget for extension.
On February 6, 2003, the Commission published final rules,
effective August 5, 2003, entitled ``Standards of Professional Conduct
for Attorneys Appearing and Practicing Before the Commission in the
Representation of an Issuer'' (17 CFR 205.1-205.7). The information
collection embedded in the rules is necessary to implement the
Standards of Professional Conduct for Attorneys prescribed by the rule
and required by Section 307 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (15
U.S.C. 7245). The rules impose an ``up-the-ladder'' reporting
requirement when attorneys appearing and practicing before the
Commission become aware of evidence of a material violation by the
issuer or any officer, director, employee, or agent of the issuer. An
issuer may choose to establish a qualified legal compliance committee
(``QLCC'') as an alternative procedure for reporting evidence of a
material violation. In the rare cases in which a majority of a QLCC has
concluded that an issuer did not act appropriately, the information may
be communicated to the Commission. The collection of information is,
therefore, an important component of the Commission's program to
discourage violations of the federal securities laws and promote
ethical behavior of attorneys appearing and practicing before the
Commission.
The respondents to this collection of information are attorneys who
appear and practice before the Commission and, in certain cases, the
issuer, and/or officers, directors and committees of the issuer. We
believe that, in providing quality representation to issuers, attorneys
report evidence of violations to others within the issuer, including
the Chief Legal Officer, the Chief Executive Officer, and, where
necessary, the directors. In addition, officers and directors
investigate evidence of violations and report within the issuer the
results of the investigation and the remedial steps they have taken or
sanctions they have imposed. Except as discussed below, we therefore
believe that the reporting requirements imposed by the rule are ``usual
and customary'' activities that do not add to the burden that would be
imposed by the collection of information.
Certain aspects of the collection of information, however, may
impose a burden. For an issuer to establish a QLCC, the QLCC must adopt
written procedures for the confidential receipt, retention, and
consideration of any report of evidence of a material violation. We
estimate for purposes of the PRA that there are approximately 10,712
issuers that are subject to the rules.\1\ Of these, we estimate that
approximately 319, which is approximately 3 percent, have established
or will establish a QLCC.\2\ Establishing the written procedures
required by the rule should not impose a significant burden. We assume
that an issuer would incur a greater burden in the year that it first
establishes the procedures than in subsequent years, in which the
burden would be incurred in updating, reviewing, or modifying the
procedures. For purposes of the PRA, we assume that an issuer would
spend 6 hours every three-year period on the procedures. This would
result in an average burden of 2 hours per year. Thus, we estimate for
purposes of the PRA that the total annual burden imposed by the
collection of information would be 638 hours. Assuming half of the
burden hours will be incurred by outside counsel at a rate of $500 per
hour would result in a cost of $159,500.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ This figure is based on the estimated 7,625 operating
companies that filed annual reports on Form 10-K, Form 20-F, or Form
40-F during the 2017 calendar year, and the estimated 3,087
investment companies that filed periodic reports on Form N-SAR
during that same time period.
\2\ This estimate is based on issuer-filings made with the
Commission between January 1, 2015 and March 18, 2018 that include a
reference to the issuer's QLCC.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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. 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.
Written comments are requested on: (a) Whether the collection of
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of
the Commission, including whether the information has practical
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's estimate of the burden[s]
of the collection of information; (c) ways to enhance the quality,
utility, and clarity of the information collected; and (d) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents,
including through the use of automated collection techniques or other
forms of information technology. Consideration will be given to
comments and suggestions submitted in writing within 60 days of this
publication.
Please direct your written comments to Pamela Dyson, Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o Remi
Pavlik-
[[Page 16416]]
Simon, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 [email protected].
Dated: April 9, 2018.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-07783 Filed 4-13-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
