[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 14 (Monday, January 24, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 3401-3402]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E5-252]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


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

Extension: Complaint & Question Forms; SEC File No. 270-485; OMB 
Control No. 3235-0547.

    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.
    Each year, the SEC receives more than 250,000 contacts from 
investors who have complaints or questions on a wide range of 
investment-related issues. These contacts generally fall into the 
following three categories:
    (a) Complaints against SEC-regulated individuals or entities;
    (b) Questions concerning the federal securities laws, companies or 
firms that the SEC regulates, or other investment-related questions; 
and
    (c) Tips concerning potential violations of the federal securities 
laws.
    Investors who submit complaints, ask questions, or provide tips do 
so voluntarily. To make it easier for investors to contact the agency 
electronically, the SEC created a series of investor complaint and 
question web forms. The titles of the forms are: Enforcement Complaint 
Form; Investor Complaint Form; Financial Privacy Notice Complaint Form; 
and Questions and Feedback Form. Investors can access these forms 
through the SEC Center for Complaints and Enforcement Tips at http://www.sec.gov/complaint.shtml.
    Although the SEC's complaint and question forms provide a 
structured format for incoming investor correspondence, the SEC does 
not require that investors use any particular form or format when 
contacting the agency. To the contrary, investors may submit 
complaints, questions, and tips through a variety of other means, 
including telephone, letter, facsimile, or e-mail. Approximately 20,000 
investors each year voluntarily choose to use the complaint and 
question forms, and approximately 98% of those investors submit the 
forms electronically through the Internet (as opposed to printing and 
mailing or faxing the forms).
    Investors who choose not to use the complaint and question forms 
receive the same level of service as those who do. The dual purpose of 
the forms is to make it easier for the public to contact the agency 
with complaints, questions, tips, or other feedback and to streamline 
the workflow of the SEC staff who handle those contacts.
    The SEC has used--and will continue to use--the information that 
investors supply on the complaint and question forms to review and 
process the contact (which may, in turn, involve responding to 
questions, processing complaints, or, as appropriate, initiating 
enforcement investigations), to maintain a record of contacts, to track 
the volume of investor complaints, and to analyze trends.
    The complaint forms ask investors to provide information 
concerning, among other things, their names, how they can be reached, 
the names of the individuals or entities involved, the nature of their 
complaint or tip, what documents they can provide, and what, if any, 
legal actions they have taken. The question form asks investors to 
provide their names, e-mail addresses, and questions.
    Investor use of the SEC's complaint and question forms is strictly 
voluntary. Moreover, the SEC does not require investors to submit 
complaints, questions, tips, or other feedback. Absent the forms, 
investors would still have several ways to contact the agency, 
including telephone, facsimile, letters, and e-mail. Nevertheless, the 
SEC created its complaint and question forms to make it easier for 
investors to contact the agency with complaints, questions, or tips. 
The forms further streamline the workflow of SEC staff who record, 
process, and respond to investor contacts.
    The staff of the SEC estimates that the total reporting burden for 
using the complaint and question forms is 5,000 hours. The calculation 
of this estimate depends on the number of investors who use the forms 
each year and the estimated time it takes to complete the forms: 20,000 
respondents x 15 minutes = 5,000 burden hours.
    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 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

[[Page 3402]]

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 R. Corey Booth, Director/
Chief Information Officer, Office of Information Technology, Securities 
and Exchange Commission, 450 5th Street, NW., Washington, DC 20549.

    Dated: January 13, 2005.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. E5-252 Filed 1-21-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P