[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 59 (Monday, March 29, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 15465-15468]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-6779]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Investment Company Act Release No. 29178; 812-13058-06]
RMR Real Estate Income Fund, et al.; Notice of Application
March 23, 2010.
AGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission'').
ACTION: Notice of application under section 6(c) of the Investment
Company Act of 1940 (``Act'') for an exemption from section 19(b) of
the Act and rule 19b-1 under the Act.
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SUMMARY OF APPLICATION: Applicants request an order to permit certain
closed-end investment companies to make periodic distributions of long-
term capital gains with respect to their outstanding common stock as
frequently as twelve times each year, and as frequently as
distributions are specified by or in accordance with the terms of any
outstanding preferred stock that such investment companies may issue.
APPLICANTS: RMR Real Estate Income Fund and RMR Advisors, Inc.
FILING DATES: December 31, 2003, September 23, 2008, February 13, 2009,
and September 30, 2009.
HEARING OR NOTIFICATION OF HEARING: An order granting the application
will be issued unless the Commission orders a hearing. Interested
persons may request a hearing by writing to the Commission's Secretary
and serving applicants with a copy of the request, personally or by
mail. Hearing requests should be received by the Commission by 5:30
p.m. on April 19, 2010, and should be accompanied by proof of service
on applicants, 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 who wish to be notified of a hearing may request
notification by writing to the Commission's Secretary.
ADDRESSES: Secretary, Securities and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street,
NE., Washington, DC 20549-1090; applicants, 400 Centre Street, Newton,
MA 02458.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wendy Friedlander, Senior Counsel, at
(202) 551-6837, or James M. Curtis, Branch Chief, at (202) 551-6712
(Division of Investment Management, Office of Chief Counsel).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The following is a summary of the
application. The complete application may be obtained via the
Commission's Web site by searching for the file number, or for an
applicant using the Company name box, at http://www.sec.gov/search/search.htm, or by calling (202) 551-8090.
Applicants' Representations
1. RMR Real Estate Income Fund (``RIF'') is a closed-end management
investment company registered under the Act and organized as a Delaware
statutory trust.\1\ RIF's primary investment objective is to earn and
pay to its common shareholders a high level of income by investing in
real estate companies, including real estate investment trusts. RIF's
secondary investment objective is capital appreciation. RIF has common
stock that is listed and traded on the NYSE Amex and preferred stock
that does not trade on any exchange. Applicants believe that the
investors in the common stock of RIF may prefer an investment vehicle
that provides regular periodic distributions and a steady cash flow.
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\1\ Applicants request that any order issued granting the relief
requested in the application also apply to any closed-end investment
company that in the future: (a) Is advised by the Adviser (including
any successor in interest) or by any entity controlling, controlled
by, or under common control (within the meaning of section 2(a)(9)
of the Act) with the Adviser; and (b) complies with the terms and
conditions of the requested order. A successor in interest is
limited to entities that result from a reorganization into another
jurisdiction or a change in the type of business organization.
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2. RMR Advisors, Inc. (the ``Adviser'') is registered under the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940 and has provided investment advisory
services to RIF since its inception. The Adviser is wholly-owned by
Barry M. Portnoy and Adam D. Portnoy.
3. Applicants represent that RIF's Board of Trustees (the
``Board''), including a majority of the members of the Board who are
not ``interested persons'' of RIF as defined in section 2(a)(19) of the
Act (the ``Independent Trustees''), approved RIF's adoption of a
distribution plan with respect to RIF's common stock (``Plan''). The
Plan would permit RIF to distribute as often as monthly to its common
stockholders a fixed percentage of the market price per common share, a
fixed percentage of net asset value (``NAV'') per common share, or a
fixed amount per common share, any of which may be adjusted from time
to time.
4. Applicants represent that, in adopting the Plan, RIF's Board,
including a majority of RIF's Independent Trustees: (a) Requested and
considered, and the Adviser provided, information regarding the purpose
and terms of the Plan; the reasonably foreseeable material effect of
the Plan on RIF's long-term total return (in relation to market price
and NAV per common share); and what conflicts of interest the Adviser
and the affiliated persons of the Adviser and RIF might have with
respect to the adoption or implementation of the Plan; (b) approved
RIF's adoption of compliance policies and procedures in accordance with
rule 38a-1 under the Act that (i) are reasonably designed to ensure
that all notices required to be sent to RIF's shareholders pursuant to
section 19(b) of the Act, rule 19b-1 under the Act and the conditions
set forth below (``Notices'') include the disclosure required by rule
19b-1 and the condition II. A. below, and that all other written
communications by RIF or its agents include the disclosure required by
condition III .A. below; and (ii) require RIF to keep records that
demonstrate its compliance with all of the conditions of the requested
Order and that are necessary to form the basis for, or demonstrate the
calculation of, the amounts disclosed in the Notice. Applicants further
state that after considering such information the Board, including a
majority of the Independent Trustees, approved the Plan and determined
that the Plan is consistent with RIF's investment objectives and is in
the best interests of RIF's common stockholders. Applicants represent
that the Board has recorded the basis for its approval of the Plan,
including its considerations of the factors listed in this paragraph,
in its minutes, which will be preserved for a period of not less that
six years from the date of the meeting, the first two years in an
easily accessible place, or such longer period as may otherwise be
required by law.
Applicants' Legal Analysis
1. Section 19(b) generally makes it unlawful for any registered
investment company to make long-term capital gains distributions more
than once each year. Rule 19b-1 limits the number of capital gains
dividends, as defined in section 852(b)(3)(C) of the Code
[[Page 15466]]
(``distributions''), that a fund may make with respect to any one
taxable year to one, plus a supplemental ``clean up'' distribution made
pursuant to section 855 of the Code not exceeding 10% of the total
amount distributed for the year, plus one additional capital gain
dividend made in whole or in part to avoid the excise tax under section
4982 of the Code.
2. Section 6(c) provides that the Commission may, by order upon
application, conditionally or unconditionally exempt any person,
security, or transaction, or any class or classes of persons,
securities or transactions, from any provision of the Act, if and to
the extent that 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.
3. Applicants state that one of the concerns underlying section
19(b) and rule 19b-1 is that stockholders might be unable to
differentiate between regular distributions of capital gains and
distributions of investment income. Applicants state, however, that
rule 19a-1 effectively addresses this concern by requiring that a
separate statement showing the sources of a distribution (e.g.,
estimated net income, net short-term capital gains, net long-term
capital gains and/or return of capital) accompany any distributions (or
the confirmation of the reinvestment of distributions) estimated to be
sourced in part from capital gains or capital. Applicants state that
the same information also is included annual reports to stockholders
and on its IRS Form 1099-DIV, which is sent to each common and
preferred stockholder who received distributions during the year.
4. Applicants further state that RIF will make the additional
disclosures required by the conditions set forth below, and has adopted
compliance policies and procedures in accordance with rule 38a-1 to
ensure that all required Notices and disclosures are sent to its
stockholders. Applicants argue that by providing the information
required by section 19(a) and rule 19a-1, and by complying with the
procedures adopted under the Plan and the conditions listed below, RIF
will ensure that its stockholders are provided sufficient information
to understand that their periodic distributions are not tied to RIF's
net investment income (which for this purpose is RIF's taxable income
other than from capital gains) and realized capital gains to date, and
may not represent yield or investment return. Applicants also state
that compliance with the Plan's compliance procedures and condition III
set forth below will ensure that prospective stockholders and third
parties are provided with the same information. Accordingly, applicants
assert that continuing to subject RIF to section 19(b) and rule 19b-1
would afford its stockholders no extra protection.
5. Applicants note that section 19(b) and rule 19b-1 also were
intended to prevent certain improper sales practices including, in
particular, the practice of urging an investor to purchase stock of a
fund on the basis of an upcoming capital gains dividend (``selling the
dividend''), where the dividend would result in an immediate
corresponding reduction in NAV and would be in effect a taxable return
of the investor's capital. Applicants assert that the ``selling the
dividend'' concern should not apply to closed-end investment companies
which do not continuously distribute shares. According to applicants,
if the underlying concern extends to secondary market purchases of
stock of closed-end funds that are subject to a large upcoming capital
gains distribution, adoption of a Plan actually helps minimize the
concern by avoiding, through periodic distributions, any buildup of
large end-of-the-year distributions.
6. Applicants also note that common stock of closed-end funds that
invest primarily in equity securities often trades in the marketplace
at a discount to the fund's NAV. Applicants believe that this discount
may be reduced for closed-end funds that pay relatively frequent
dividends on their common stock at a consistent rate, whether or not
those dividends contain an element of long-term capital gain.
7. Applicants assert that the application of rule 19b-1 to a Plan
actually could have an undesirable influence on portfolio management
decisions. Applicants state that, in the absence of an exemption from
rule 19b-1, the implementation of a Plan imposes pressure on fund
management to realize short-term gains rather than long-term gains to
ensure that capital gains distributions fit within the framework of
rule 19b-1, notwithstanding that purely investment considerations might
favor realization of long-term gains at different times or in different
amounts.
8. In addition, Applicants assert that rule 19b-1 may cause fixed
regular periodic distributions under a Plan to be funded with returns
of capital \2\ (to the extent net investment income and realized short-
term capital gains are insufficient to fund the distribution), even
though realized net long-term capital gains otherwise could be
available. To distribute all of a fund's long-term capital gains within
the limits in rule 19b-1, a fund may be required to make total
distributions in excess of the annual amount called for by its Plan, or
to retain and pay taxes on the excess amount. Applicants thus assert
that the requested order would minimize these effects of rule 19b-1 by
enabling the Funds to realize long-term capital gains as often as
investment considerations dictate without fear of violating rule 19b-1.
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\2\ Returns of capital as used in the application means return
of capital for financial accounting purposes and not for tax
accounting purposes.
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9. Applicants state that Revenue Ruling 89-81 under the Code
requires that a fund that has both common stock and preferred stock
outstanding designate the types of income, e.g., investment income and
capital gains, in the same proportion as the total distributions
distributed to each class for the tax year. To satisfy the
proportionate designation requirements of Revenue Ruling 89-81,
whenever a fund has realized a long-term capital gain with respect to a
given tax year, the fund must designate the required proportionate
share of such capital gain to be included in common and preferred stock
dividends. Applicants state that although rule 19b-1 allows a fund some
flexibility with respect to the frequency of capital gains
distributions, a fund might use all of the exceptions available under
the rule for a tax year and still need to distribute additional capital
gains allocated to the preferred stock to comply with Revenue Ruling
89-81.
10. Applicants assert that the potential abuses addressed by
section 19(b) and rule 19b-1 do not arise with respect to preferred
stock issued by a closed-end fund. Applicants assert that such
distributions are fixed or determined in periodic auctions by reference
to short-term interest rates rather than by reference to performance of
the issuer and Revenue Ruling 89-81 determines the proportion of such
distributions that are comprised of the long-term capital gains.
11. Applicants also submit that the ``selling the dividend''
concern is not applicable to preferred stock, which entitles a holder
to no more than a periodic dividend at a fixed rate or the rate
determined by the market, and, like a debt security, is priced based
upon its liquidation value, credit quality, and frequency of payment.
Applicants state that investors buy preferred shares for the purpose of
receiving payments at the frequency bargained for, and do not expect
the liquidation value of their shares to change.
[[Page 15467]]
12. Applicants request an order under section 6(c) granting an
exemption from the provisions of section 19(b) and rule 19b-1 to permit
each Fund's common stock to distribute periodic capital gains dividends
(as defined in section 852(b)(3)(C) of the Code) as often as monthly in
any one taxable year in respect of its common stock and as often as
specified by or determined in accordance with the terms thereof in
respect of its preferred stock.\3\
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\3\ Applicants state that a future fund that relies on the
requested order will satisfy each of the representations in the
application except that such representations will be made in respect
of actions by the board of directors of such future fund and will be
made at a future time.
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Applicants' Conditions
Applicants agree that, with respect to each fund seeking to rely on
the order, the order will be subject to the following conditions:
I. Compliance Review and Reporting
The fund's chief compliance officer will: (a) Report to the fund's
Board, no less frequently than once every three months or at the next
regularly scheduled quarterly board meeting, whether (i) the fund and
the Adviser have complied with the conditions to the requested order,
and (ii) a Material Compliance Matter, as defined in rule 38a-1(e)(2),
has occurred with respect to compliance with such conditions; and (b)
review the adequacy of the policies and procedures adopted by the fund
no less frequently than annually.
II. Disclosures To Fund Stockholders
A. Each Notice to the holders of a fund's common stock, in addition
to the information required by section 19(a) and rule 19a-1:
1. Will provide, in a tabular or graphical format:
(a) The amount of the distribution, on a per common share basis,
together with the amounts of such distribution amount, on a per common
share basis and as a percentage of such distribution amount, from
estimated: (A) Net investment income; (B) net realized short-term
capital gains; (C) net realized long-term capital gains; and (D) return
of capital or other capital source;
(b) The fiscal year-to-date cumulative amount of distributions, on
a per common share basis, together with the amounts of such cumulative
amount, on a per common share basis and as a percentage of such
cumulative amount of distributions, from estimated: (A) Net investment
income; (B) net realized short-term capital gains; (C) net realized
long-term capital gains; and (D) return of capital or other capital
source;
(c) The average annual total return in relation to the change in
NAV for the 5-year period (or, if the fund's history of operations is
less than five years, the time period commencing immediately following
the fund's first public offering) ending on the last day of the month
prior to the most recent distribution record date compared to the
current fiscal period's annualized distribution rate expressed as a
percentage of NAV as of the last day of the month prior to the most
recent distribution declaration date; and
(d) The cumulative total return in relation to the change in NAV
per common share from the last completed fiscal year to the last day of
the month prior to the most recent distribution record date compared to
the fiscal year-to-date cumulative distribution rate expressed as a
percentage of NAV per common share as of the last day of the month
prior to the most recent distribution record date.
Such disclosure shall be made in a type size at least as large and
as prominent as the estimate of the sources of the current
distribution; and
2. Will include the following disclosure:
(a) ``You should not draw any conclusions about the fund's
investment performance from the amount of this distribution or from the
terms of the fund's Plan'';
(b) ``The fund estimates that it has distributed more than its
income and net realized capital gains; therefore, a portion of your
distribution may be a return of capital. A return of capital may occur,
for example, when some or all of the money that you invested in the
fund is paid back to you. A return of capital distribution does not
necessarily reflect the fund's investment performance and should not be
confused with `yield' or `income'''; \4\ and
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\4\ This disclosure will be included only if the current
distribution or the fiscal year-to-date cumulative distributions are
estimated to include a return of capital.
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(c) ``The amounts and sources of distributions reported in this
Notice are only estimates and are not being provided for tax reporting
purposes. The actual amounts and sources of the amounts for tax
reporting purposes will depend upon the fund's investment experience
during the remainder of its fiscal year and may be subject to changes
based on tax regulations. The fund will send you a Form 1099-DIV for
the calendar year that will tell you how to report these distributions
for federal income tax purposes.''
Such disclosure shall be made in a type size at least as large as
and as prominent as any other information in the Notice and placed on
the same page in close proximity to the amount and the sources of the
distribution.
B. On the inside front cover of each report to stockholders under
rule 30e-1 under the Act, the fund will:
1. Describe the terms of the Plan (including the fixed amount or
fixed percentage of the distributions and the frequency of the
distributions);
2. Include the disclosure required by condition II.A.2.a above;
3. State, if applicable, that the Plan provides that the Board may
amend or terminate the Plan at any time without prior notice to fund
stockholders; and
4. Describe any reasonably foreseeable circumstances that might
cause the fund to terminate the Plan and any reasonably foreseeable
consequences of such termination.
C. Each report provided to stockholders under rule 30e-1 and each
prospectus filed with the Commission on Form N-2 under the Act, will
provide the fund's total return in relation to changes in NAV in the
financial highlights table and in any discussion about the fund's total
return.
III. Disclosure to Stockholders, Prospective Stockholders and Third
Parties
A. Each fund will include the information contained in the relevant
Notice, including the disclosure required by condition II.A.2 above, in
any written communication (other than a Form 1099) about the Plan or
distributions under the Plan by the fund, or agents that the fund has
authorized to make such communication on the fund's behalf, to any fund
stockholder, prospective stockholder or third-party information
provider;
B. Each fund will issue, contemporaneously with the issuance of any
Notice, a press release containing the information in the Notice and
will file with the Commission the information contained in such Notice,
including the disclosure required by condition II.A.2 above, as an
exhibit to its next filed Form N-CSR; and
C. Each fund will post prominently a statement on its (or its
adviser's) Web site containing the information in each Notice,
including the disclosure required by condition II.A.2 above, and will
maintain such information on such Web site for at least 24 months.
IV. Delivery of 19(a) Notices to Beneficial Owners
If a broker, dealer, bank or other person (``financial
intermediary'') holds common stock issued by a fund in
[[Page 15468]]
nominee name, or otherwise, on behalf of a beneficial owner, the fund:
(a) Will request that the financial intermediary, or its agent, forward
the Notice to all beneficial owners of the fund's stock held through
such financial intermediary; (b) will provide, in a timely manner, to
the financial intermediary, or its agent, enough copies of the Notice
assembled in the form and at the place that the financial intermediary,
or its agent, reasonably requests to facilitate the financial
intermediary's sending of the Notice to each beneficial owner of the
fund's common stock; and (c) upon the request of any financial
intermediary, or its agent, that receives copies of the Notice, will
pay the financial intermediary, or its agent, the reasonable expenses
of sending the Notice to such beneficial owners.
V. Additional Board Determinations for Funds Whose Stock Trades at a
Premium
If:
A. A fund's common stock has traded on the exchange that it
primarily trades on at the time in question at an average premium to
NAV equal to or greater than 10%, as determined on the basis of the
average of the discount or premium to NAV of the fund's common stock as
of the close of each trading day over a 12-week rolling period (each
such 12-week rolling period ending on the last trading day of each
week); and
B. The fund's annualized distribution rate for such 12-week rolling
period, expressed as a percentage of NAV as of the ending date of such
12-week rolling period, is greater than the fund's average annual total
return in relation to the change in NAV over the 2-year period ending
on the last day of such 12-week rolling period; then:
1. At the earlier of the next regularly scheduled meeting or within
four months of the last day of such 12-week rolling period, the Board
including a majority of the Independent Trustees:
(a) Will request and evaluate, and the Adviser will furnish, such
information as may be reasonably necessary to make an informed
determination of whether the Plan should be continued or continued
after amendment;
(b) Will determine whether continuation, or continuation after
amendment, of the Plan is consistent with the fund's investment
objective(s) and policies and in the best interests of the fund and its
stockholders, after considering the information in condition V.B.1.a
above; including, without limitation:
(1) Whether the Plan is accomplishing its purpose(s);
(2) The reasonably foreseeable effects of the Plan on the fund's
long-term total return in relation to the market price and NAV of the
fund's common stock; and
(3) The fund's current distribution rate, as described in condition
V.B above, compared to the fund's average annual total return over the
2-year period, as described in condition V.B, or such longer period as
the Board deems appropriate; and
(c) Based upon that determination, will approve or disapprove the
continuation, or continuation after amendment, of the Plan; and
2. The Board will record the information considered by it and the
basis for its approval or disapproval of the continuation, or
continuation after amendment, of the Plan in its meeting minutes, which
must be made and preserved for a period of not less than six years from
the date of such meeting, the first two years in an easily accessible
place.
VI. Public Offerings
The fund will not make a public offering of the fund's common stock
other than:
A. A rights offering below net asset value to holders of the fund's
common stock;
B. An offering in connection with a dividend reinvestment plan,
merger, consolidation, acquisition, spin-off or reorganization of the
fund; or
C. An offering other than an offering described in conditions VI.A
and VI.B above, unless, with respect to such other offering:
1. The fund's annualized distribution rate for the six months
ending on the last day of the month ended immediately prior to the most
recent distribution declaration date,\5\ expressed as a percentage of
NAV per share as of such date, is no more than 1 percentage point
greater than the fund's average annual total return for the 5-year
period ending on such date;\6\ and
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\5\ If the fund has been in operation fewer than six months, the
measured period will begin immediately following the fund's first
public offering.
\6\ If the fund has been in operation fewer than five years, the
measured period will begin immediately following the fund's first
public offering.
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2. The transmittal letter accompanying any registration statement
filed with the Commission in connection with such offering discloses
that the fund has received an order under section 19(b) to permit it to
make periodic distributions of long-term capital gains with respect to
its common stock as frequently as twelve times each year, and as
frequently as distributions are specified in accordance with the terms
of any outstanding preferred stock that such fund may issue.
VII. Amendments to Rule 19b-1
The requested relief will expire on the effective date of any
amendment to rule 19b-1 that provides relief permitting certain closed-
end investment companies to make periodic distributions of long-term
capital gains with respect to their outstanding common stock as
frequently as twelve times each year.
For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management,
under delegated authority.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-6779 Filed 3-26-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P