[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 4 (Friday, January 6, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2166-2167]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-294]



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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Rel. No. IC-20811; 812-9346]


A.T. Ohio Municipal Money Fund and The Victory Funds; Notice of 
Application

December 29, 1994.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission (``SEC'').

ACTION: Notice of application for exemption under the Investment 
Company Act of 1940 (the ``Act'').

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APPLICANTS: A.T. Ohio Municipal Money Fund (``A.T. Ohio'') and the 
Victory Funds (the ``Fund'').

RELEVANT ACT SECTIONS: Exemption requested under section 6(c) from rule 
24f-2 under the Act.

SUMMARY OF APPLICATION: A.T. Ohio and the Fund request an order to 
permit them to pay a share registration fee due under rule 24f-2 for 
their fiscal years ending August 30, 1994 and August 31, 1994, 
respectively, based on net sales, i.e., new sales minus redemptions, 
rather than on gross sales, i.e., with no credit for redemptions.

FILING DATE: The application was filed on December 7, 1994.

HEARING OR NOTIFICATION OF HEARING: An order granting the application 
will be issued unless the SEC orders a hearing. Interested parties may 
request a hearing by writing to the SEC's Secretary and serving 
applicant with a copy of the request, personally or by mail. Hearing 
requests should be received by the SEC by 5:30 p.m. on January 23, 
1995, and should be accompanied by proof of service on applicant, in 
the form of an affidavit or, for lawyers, a certificate of service. 
Hearing requests should state the nature of the writer's interest, the 
reason for the request, and the issues contested. Persons may request 
notification of a hearing by writing to the SEC's Secretary.

ADDRESSES: Secretary, SEC, 450 5th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549. 
Applicants, 125 West 55th Street, New York, New York 10019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Fran Pollack-Matz, Senior Attorney, at 
(202) 942-0570, or Robert A. Robertson, Branch Chief, at (202) 942-0564 
(Division of Investment Management, Office of Investment Company 
Regulation).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the 
application. The complete application may be obtained for a fee at the 
SEC's Public Reference Branch.

APPLICANTS' REPRESENTATIONS: 1. A.T. Ohio and the Fund, registered 
open-end investment companies, each filed declarations pursuant to rule 
24f-2 [[Page 2167]] under the Act to register an indefinite amount of 
shares under the Securities Act of 1933.
    2. An investment company that has filed a declaration under rule 
24f-2 must file annual notices with the SEC and pay share registration 
fees for shares sold in the previous fiscal year. If the rule 24f-2 
notice is filed within two months after the close of the investment 
company's fiscal year, the amount of the registration fee is based on 
net sales (new sales minus redemptions) in the year in question. If the 
rule 24f-2 notice is not filed within two months, the registration fee 
is based on gross sales (with no credit for redemptions). At the 
latest, the rule 24f-2 notice along with the appropriate registration 
fee must be filed within six months after the end of an investment 
company's fiscal year. A.T. Ohio's fiscal year ends August 30, and the 
Fund's fiscal year ends August 31.
    3. A.T. Ohio transferred all of its assets to the Ohio Municipal 
Money Market Portfolio (the ``Portfolio'') of the Fund on August 30, 
1994. The Portfolio was established to continue the operations of A.T. 
Ohio as a series portfolio of the Fund. Applicants assert that there 
was uncertainty as to how the applicants' fees should be calculated 
because of the reorganization. Thus, the amounts of the registration 
fees were unsettled until after the New York banks were closed October 
28, 1994, and applicants' administrator had to obtain a certified check 
in the amount of the Fund's net fee payment on October 31, 1994, the 
last day of the two month filing deadline.
    4. A.T. Ohio and the Fund submitted their rule 24f-2 notices for 
the fiscal year ending August 30 and 31, 1994, respectively, to a same 
day courier service on October 31, 1994. Because A.T. Ohio had net 
redemptions during the fiscal year, no registration fee was due with 
the 24f-2 notice. The Fund, however, had net sales during the fiscal 
year. That notice, therefore, was accompanied by $109,700.69, the fee 
payable to register the shares sold by the Fund in excess of 
redemptions. The filing arrived at the SEC's filing desk after 5:30 
p.m. on October 31, 1994. As a result, the filing was made on November 
1, 1994, but was rejected as having been filed too late to be eligible 
for a registration fee based on net sales. Thus, absent relief, 
applicants owe registration fees based on gross sales. For A.T. Ohio's 
fiscal year ending August 30, 1994, this would amount to an additional 
$429,084.50 and for the Fund's fiscal year ending August 31, 1994 this 
would amount to an additional $1,997.07.

Applicants' Legal Analysis

    1. Section 6(c) permits the SEC to exempt any person, security, or 
transaction from any provisions of the Act if and to the extent the 
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. In addition, the SEC 
must find that an investment company was not at fault to grant an 
exemption from the two month filing deadline of rule 24f-2.\1\

    \1\See Decision of the Comptroller General of the United States, 
File No. B-239769.2 (July 24, 1992).
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    2. A.T. Ohio and the Fund believe that they made a good faith 
effort to file the rule 24f-2 notices on a timely basis by same-day 
courier. Applicants state that the delay in receipt of their filings 
was caused by a series of delays precipitated by the same-day courier 
service.
    3. Applicants believe that the requested relief meets the section 
6(c) standards. Thus, applicants request an exemption under section 
6(c) from rule 24f-2 to permit them to pay registration fees based on 
net sales.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, 
pursuant to delegated authority.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-294 Filed 1-5-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-M