[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 137 (Monday, July 17, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44081-44082]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-18006]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request

    Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and 
Exchange Commission, Office of Filings and Information Services, 
Washington, DC 20549.

Extension:
Rule 17Ad-4(b) & (c), SEC File No. 270-264, OMB Control No. 3235-
0341.
Rule 15, SEC File No. 270-360, OMB Control No. 3235-0409.

    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'') has submitted to the Office of Management 
and Budget requests for extension on the previously

[[Page 44082]]

approved collections of information discussed below.

Rule 17Ad-4(b) & (c) Notices Regarding Exempt Transfer Agent Status

    Rule 17Ad-4(b) & (c) is used to document when transfer agents are 
exempt, or no longer exempt, from the minimum performance standards and 
certain recordkeeping provisions of the Commission's transfer agent 
rules. Rule 17Ad-4(c) sets forth the conditions under which a 
registered transfer agent loses it exempt status. Once the conditions 
for exemption no longer exist, the transfer agent, to keep the 
appropriate regulatory authority (``ARA'' apprised of its current 
status, must prepare, and file if the ARA for the transfer agent is the 
Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (``BGFRS'') or the 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (``FDIC''), a notice of loss of 
exempt status under paragraph (c). The transfer agent then cannot claim 
exempt status under Rule 17Ad-4(b) again until it remains subject to 
the minimum performance standards for non-exempt transfer agents for 
six consecutive months. The ARAs use the information contained in the 
notice to determine whether a registered transfer agent qualifies for 
the exemption, to determine when a registered transfer agent no longer 
qualifies for the exemption, and to determine the extent to which the 
transfer agent is subject to regulation.
    The BGFRS receives approximately twelve notices of exempt status 
and six notices of loss of exempt status annually. The FDIC receives 
approximately eighteen notices of exempt status and three notices of 
loss of exempt status annually. The Commission and the Office of the 
Comptroller of the Currency (``OCC'') do not require transfer agents to 
file notice of exempt status or loss of exempt status. Instead, 
transfer agents whose ARA is the Commission or OCC need only to prepare 
and maintain these notices. The Commission estimates that approximately 
sixteen notices of exempt status and loss of exempt status are prepared 
annually by transfer agents whose ARA is the Commission. Similarly, the 
OCC estimates that the transfer agents for which it is the ARA, prepare 
and maintain approximately fifteen notices of exempt status and loss of 
exempt status annually. Thus, a total of approximately seventy notices 
of exempt status and loss of exempt status are prepared and maintained 
by transfer agents annually. Of these seventy notices, approximately 
forty are filed with an ARA. Any additional costs associated with 
filing such notices would be limited primarily to postage, which would 
be minimal. Since the Commission estimates that no more than one-half 
hour is required to prepare each notice, the total annual burden to 
transfer agents is approximately thirty-five hours. The average cost 
per hour is approximately $30. Therefore, the total cost of compliance 
to the transfer agent community is $1,050.

Rule 17Ad-15 Signature Guarantees

    Rule 17Ad-15 requires approximately 1,093 transfer agents to 
establish written standards for accepting and rejecting guarantees of 
securities transfers from eligible guarantor institutions. Transfer 
agents are also required to establish procedures to ensure that those 
standards are used by the transfer agent to determine whether to accept 
or reject guarantees from eligible guarantor institutions. Transfer 
agents must maintain, for a period of three years following the date of 
a rejection of transfer, a record of all transfers rejected, along with 
the reason for the rejection, identification of the guarantor, and 
whether the guarantor filed to meet the transfer agent's guaranteed 
standard. These recordkeeping requirements assist the Commission and 
other regulatory agencies with monitoring transfer agents and ensuring 
compliance with the rule.
    There are approximately 1,093 registered transfer agents. Of the 
1,093 registered transfer agents, approximately 120 will receive fewer 
than 100 items for transfer. The staff expects that more small transfer 
agents will have few, if any, rejections. The average number of hours 
necessary for every transfer agents agent to comply with the Rule 17Ad-
15 is about forty hours annually. The total burden is 43,720 hours for 
all transfer agents. The average cost per hour is approximately $30. 
Therefore, the total cost of compliance for all transfer agents is 
about $1,311,600.
    The retention period for the recordkeeping requirement under Rule 
17Ad-15 is three years following the date of a rejection of transfer. 
The recordkeeping requirement under the rule is mandatory to assist the 
Commission and other regulatory agencies with monitoring transfer 
agents and ensuring compliance with the rule. This rule does not 
involve the collection of confidential information. 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.
    General comments regarding the estimated burden hours should be 
directed to the following persons: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities 
and Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget, Room 3208, New Executive Office 
Building, Washington, D.C. 20503. and (ii) Micheal E. Bartell, 
Associate Executive Director, Office of Information Technology, 
Securities and Exchange Commission, 450 Fifth Street, Washington, D.C. 
20549. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 days of this notice.

    Dated: July 10, 2000.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 00-18006 Filed 7-14-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-M