Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request, 55222-55223 [2018-23960]
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Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 213 / Friday, November 2, 2018 / Notices
representative survey or study of the
cost of Commission rules and forms.
The collection of information under
Form N–Q is mandatory. The
information provided by the form is not
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 website,
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:
Lindsay.M.Abate@omb.eop.gov; and (ii)
Charles Riddle, Acting Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and
Exchange Commission, c/o Candace
Kenner, 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: October 29, 2018.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018–23959 Filed 11–1–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
Submission for OMB Review;
Comment Request
Upon Written Request, Copy Available
From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services,
100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549–2736
Extension:
Rule 23c–3 and Form N–23c–3; SEC File
No. 270–373, OMB Control No. 3235–
0422
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 (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 23c–3 (17 CFR 270.23c–3) under
the Investment Company Act of 1940
(15 U.S.C. 80a–1 et seq.) permits a
registered closed-end investment
company (‘‘closed-end fund’’ or ‘‘fund’’)
that meets certain requirements to
repurchase common stock of which it is
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17:57 Nov 01, 2018
Jkt 247001
the issuer from shareholders at periodic
intervals, pursuant to repurchase offers
made to all holders of the stock. The
rule enables these funds to offer their
shareholders a limited ability to resell
their shares in a manner that previously
was available only to open-end
investment company shareholders. To
protect shareholders, a closed-end fund
that relies on rule 23c–3 must send
shareholders a notification that contains
specified information each time the
fund makes a repurchase offer (on a
quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis,
or, for certain funds, on a discretionary
basis not more often than every two
years). The fund also must file copies of
the shareholder notification with the
Commission (electronically through the
Commission’s Electronic Data
Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval
System (‘‘EDGAR’’)) on Form N–23c–3,
a filing that provides certain
information about the fund and the type
of offer the fund is making.1 The fund
must describe in its annual report to
shareholders the fund’s policy
concerning repurchase offers and the
results of any repurchase offers made
during the reporting period. The fund’s
board of directors must adopt written
procedures designed to ensure that the
fund’s investment portfolio is
sufficiently liquid to meet its repurchase
obligations and other obligations under
the rule. The board periodically must
review the composition of the fund’s
portfolio and change the liquidity
procedures as necessary. The fund also
must file copies of advertisements and
other sales literature with the
Commission as if it were an open-end
investment company subject to Section
24 of the Investment Company Act (15
U.S.C. 80a–24) and the rules that
implement Section 24. Rule 24b–3
under the Investment Company Act (17
CFR 270.24b–3), however, exempts the
fund from that requirement if the
materials are filed instead with the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority
(‘‘FINRA’’).
The requirement that the fund send a
notification to shareholders of each offer
is intended to ensure that a fund
provides material information to
shareholders about the terms of each
offer. The requirement that copies be
sent to the Commission is intended to
enable the Commission to monitor the
fund’s compliance with the notification
requirement. The requirement that the
shareholder notification be attached to
1 Form N–23c–3, entitled ‘‘Notification of
Repurchase Offer Pursuant to Rule 23c–3,’’ requires
the fund to state its registration number, its full
name and address, the date of the accompanying
shareholder notification, and the type of offer being
made (periodic, discretionary, or both).
PO 00000
Frm 00081
Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
Form N–23c–3 is intended to ensure
that the fund provides basic information
necessary for the Commission to process
the notification and to monitor the
fund’s use of repurchase offers. The
requirement that the fund describe its
current policy on repurchase offers and
the results of recent offers in the annual
shareholder report is intended to
provide shareholders current
information about the fund’s repurchase
policies and its recent experience. The
requirement that the board approve and
review written procedures designed to
maintain portfolio liquidity is intended
to ensure that the fund has enough cash
or liquid securities to meet its
repurchase obligations, and that written
procedures are available for review by
shareholders and examination by the
Commission. The requirement that the
fund file advertisements and sales
literature as if it were an open-end fund
is intended to facilitate the review of
these materials by the Commission or
FINRA to prevent incomplete,
inaccurate, or misleading disclosure
about the special characteristics of a
closed-end fund that makes periodic
repurchase offers.
The Commission staff estimates that
33 funds make use of rule 23c–3
annually, including eight funds that are
relying upon rule 23c–3 for the first
time. The Commission staff estimates
that on average a fund spends 89 hours
annually in complying with the
requirements of the rule and Form N–
23c–3, with funds relying upon rule
23c–3 for the first time incurring an
additional one-time burden of 28 hours.
The Commission therefore estimates the
total annual hour burden of the rule’s
and form’s paperwork requirements to
be 3,161 hours. In addition to the
burden hours, the Commission staff
estimates that the average yearly cost to
each fund that relies on rule 23c–3 to
print and mail repurchase offers to
shareholders is about $31,184.88. The
Commission estimates total annual cost
is therefore about $1,029,101.
Estimates of average burden hours
and costs are made solely for purposes
of the Paperwork Reduction Act and are
not derived from a comprehensive or
even representative survey or study of
the costs of Commission rules and
forms. Compliance with the collection
of information requirements of the rule
and form is mandatory only for those
funds that rely on the rule in order to
repurchase shares of the fund. The
information provided to the
Commission on Form N–23c–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
E:\FR\FM\02NON1.SGM
02NON1
Federal Register / Vol. 83, No. 213 / Friday, November 2, 2018 / Notices
information unless it displays a
currently valid OMB control number.
The public may view the background
documentation for this information
collection at the following website:
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:
Lindsay.M.Abate@omb.eop.gov; and (ii)
Charles Riddle, Acting Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and
Exchange Commission, c/o Candace
Kenner, 100 F Street NE, Washington,
DC 20549 or by sending an email to:
PRA_Mailbox@sec.gov. Comments must
be submitted to OMB within 30 days of
this notice.
Dated: October 29, 2018.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018–23960 Filed 11–1–18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011–01–P
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE
COMMISSION
[SEC File No. 270–603, OMB Control No.
3235–0658]
Submission to OMB; 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 22e–3
Notice is hereby given that, under 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 a
request for extension of the previously
approved collection of information
discussed below.
Section 22(e) of the Investment
Company Act [15 U.S.C. 80a–22(e)]
(‘‘Act’’) generally prohibits funds,
including money market funds, from
suspending the right of redemption, and
from postponing the payment or
satisfaction upon redemption of any
redeemable security for more than seven
days. The provision was designed to
prevent funds and their investment
advisers from interfering with the
redemption rights of shareholders for
improper purposes, such as the
preservation of management fees.
Although section 22(e) permits funds to
VerDate Sep<11>2014
17:57 Nov 01, 2018
Jkt 247001
postpone the date of payment or
satisfaction upon redemption for up to
seven days, it does not permit funds to
suspend the right of redemption for any
amount of time, absent certain specified
circumstances or a Commission order.
Rule 22e–3 under the Act [17 CFR
270.22e–3] exempts money market
funds from section 22(e) to permit them
to suspend redemptions in order to
facilitate an orderly liquidation of the
fund. Specifically, rule 22e–3 permits a
money market fund to suspend
redemptions and postpone the payment
of proceeds pending board-approved
liquidation proceedings if: (i) The fund’s
board of directors, including a majority
of disinterested directors, determines
pursuant to § 270.2a–7(c)(8)(ii)(C) that
the extent of the deviation between the
fund’s amortized cost price per share
and its current net asset value per share
calculated using available market
quotations (or an appropriate substitute
that reflects current market conditions)
may result in material dilution or other
unfair results to investors or existing
shareholders; (ii) the fund’s board of
directors, including a majority of
disinterested directors, irrevocably
approves the liquidation of the fund;
and (iii) the fund, prior to suspending
redemptions, notifies the Commission of
its decision to liquidate and suspend
redemptions. Rule 22e–3 also provides
an exemption from section 22(e) for
registered investment companies that
own shares of a money market fund
pursuant to section 12(d)(1)(E) of the
Act (‘‘conduit funds’’), if the underlying
money market fund has suspended
redemptions pursuant to the rule. A
conduit fund that suspends redemptions
in reliance on the exemption provided
by rule 22e–3 is required to provide
prompt notice of the suspension of
redemptions to the Commission. Notices
required by the rule must be provided
by electronic mail, directed to the
attention of the Director of the Division
of Investment Management or the
Director’s designee.1 Compliance with
the notification requirement is
mandatory for money market funds and
conduit funds that rely on rule 22e–3 to
suspend redemptions and postpone
payment of proceeds pending a
liquidation, and are not kept
confidential.
Commission staff estimates that, on
average, one money market fund would
break the buck and liquidate every six
years.2 In addition, Commission staff
1 See
rule 22e–3(a)(3).
estimate is based upon the Commission’s
experience with the frequency with which money
market funds have historically required sponsor
support. Although the vast majority of money
2 This
PO 00000
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Fmt 4703
Sfmt 4703
55223
estimates that there are an average of
two conduit funds that may be invested
in a money market fund that breaks the
buck.3 Commission staff further
estimates that a money market fund or
conduit fund would spend
approximately one hour of an in-house
attorney’s time to prepare and submit
the notice required by the rule. Given
these estimates, the total annual burden
of the notification requirement of rule
22e–3 for all money market funds and
conduit funds would be approximately
30 minutes,4 at a cost of $201.5
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.
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 website,
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:
Lindsay.M.Abate@omb.eop.gov; and (ii)
Charles Riddle, Acting Director/Chief
Information Officer, Securities and
Exchange Commission, c/o Candace
market fund sponsors have supported their money
market funds in times of market distress, for
purposes of this estimate Commission staff
conservatively estimates that one or more sponsors
may not provide support.
3 Based on a review of filings with the
Commission, Commission staff estimates that 2.3
conduit funds are invested in each master fund.
However, master funds account for only 5.1% of all
money market funds. Solely for the purposes of this
information collection, and to avoid
underestimating possible burdens, the Commission
conservatively assumes that any money market that
breaks the buck and liquidates would be a master
fund.
4 This estimate is based on the following
calculations: (1 hour ÷ 6 years) = 10 minutes per
year for each fund and conduit fund that is required
to provide notice under the rule. 10 minutes per
year × 3 (combined number of affected funds and
conduit funds) = 30 minutes.
5 This estimate is based on the following
calculation: $401/hour × 30 minutes = $200.50. The
estimated hourly wages used in this PRA analysis
were derived from reports prepared by the
Securities Industry and Financial Markets
Association, modified to account for an 1800-hour
work year and multiplied by 5.35 to account for
bonuses, firm size, employee benefits and overhead,
and adjusted for inflation.
E:\FR\FM\02NON1.SGM
02NON1
]]>Agencies
[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 213 (Friday, November 2, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 55222-55223]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23960]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
Upon Written Request, Copy Available From: Securities and Exchange
Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC
20549-2736
Extension:
Rule 23c-3 and Form N-23c-3; SEC File No. 270-373, OMB Control
No. 3235-0422
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 (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 23c-3 (17 CFR 270.23c-3) under the Investment Company Act of
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1 et seq.) permits a registered closed-end
investment company (``closed-end fund'' or ``fund'') that meets certain
requirements to repurchase common stock of which it is the issuer from
shareholders at periodic intervals, pursuant to repurchase offers made
to all holders of the stock. The rule enables these funds to offer
their shareholders a limited ability to resell their shares in a manner
that previously was available only to open-end investment company
shareholders. To protect shareholders, a closed-end fund that relies on
rule 23c-3 must send shareholders a notification that contains
specified information each time the fund makes a repurchase offer (on a
quarterly, semi-annual, or annual basis, or, for certain funds, on a
discretionary basis not more often than every two years). The fund also
must file copies of the shareholder notification with the Commission
(electronically through the Commission's Electronic Data Gathering,
Analysis, and Retrieval System (``EDGAR'')) on Form N-23c-3, a filing
that provides certain information about the fund and the type of offer
the fund is making.\1\ The fund must describe in its annual report to
shareholders the fund's policy concerning repurchase offers and the
results of any repurchase offers made during the reporting period. The
fund's board of directors must adopt written procedures designed to
ensure that the fund's investment portfolio is sufficiently liquid to
meet its repurchase obligations and other obligations under the rule.
The board periodically must review the composition of the fund's
portfolio and change the liquidity procedures as necessary. The fund
also must file copies of advertisements and other sales literature with
the Commission as if it were an open-end investment company subject to
Section 24 of the Investment Company Act (15 U.S.C. 80a-24) and the
rules that implement Section 24. Rule 24b-3 under the Investment
Company Act (17 CFR 270.24b-3), however, exempts the fund from that
requirement if the materials are filed instead with the Financial
Industry Regulatory Authority (``FINRA'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Form N-23c-3, entitled ``Notification of Repurchase Offer
Pursuant to Rule 23c-3,'' requires the fund to state its
registration number, its full name and address, the date of the
accompanying shareholder notification, and the type of offer being
made (periodic, discretionary, or both).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The requirement that the fund send a notification to shareholders
of each offer is intended to ensure that a fund provides material
information to shareholders about the terms of each offer. The
requirement that copies be sent to the Commission is intended to enable
the Commission to monitor the fund's compliance with the notification
requirement. The requirement that the shareholder notification be
attached to Form N-23c-3 is intended to ensure that the fund provides
basic information necessary for the Commission to process the
notification and to monitor the fund's use of repurchase offers. The
requirement that the fund describe its current policy on repurchase
offers and the results of recent offers in the annual shareholder
report is intended to provide shareholders current information about
the fund's repurchase policies and its recent experience. The
requirement that the board approve and review written procedures
designed to maintain portfolio liquidity is intended to ensure that the
fund has enough cash or liquid securities to meet its repurchase
obligations, and that written procedures are available for review by
shareholders and examination by the Commission. The requirement that
the fund file advertisements and sales literature as if it were an
open-end fund is intended to facilitate the review of these materials
by the Commission or FINRA to prevent incomplete, inaccurate, or
misleading disclosure about the special characteristics of a closed-end
fund that makes periodic repurchase offers.
The Commission staff estimates that 33 funds make use of rule 23c-3
annually, including eight funds that are relying upon rule 23c-3 for
the first time. The Commission staff estimates that on average a fund
spends 89 hours annually in complying with the requirements of the rule
and Form N-23c-3, with funds relying upon rule 23c-3 for the first time
incurring an additional one-time burden of 28 hours. The Commission
therefore estimates the total annual hour burden of the rule's and
form's paperwork requirements to be 3,161 hours. In addition to the
burden hours, the Commission staff estimates that the average yearly
cost to each fund that relies on rule 23c-3 to print and mail
repurchase offers to shareholders is about $31,184.88. The Commission
estimates total annual cost is therefore about $1,029,101.
Estimates of average burden hours and costs are made solely for
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act and are not derived from a
comprehensive or even representative survey or study of the costs of
Commission rules and forms. Compliance with the collection of
information requirements of the rule and form is mandatory only for
those funds that rely on the rule in order to repurchase shares of the
fund. The information provided to the Commission on Form N-23c-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
[[Page 55223]]
information unless it displays a currently valid OMB control number.
The public may view the background documentation for this
information collection at the following website: 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:
[email protected]; and (ii) Charles Riddle, Acting Director/
Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o
Candace Kenner, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 or by sending an
email to: [email protected]. Comments must be submitted to OMB within
30 days of this notice.
Dated: October 29, 2018.
Eduardo A. Aleman,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2018-23960 Filed 11-1-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
