[Federal Register Volume 75, Number 144 (Wednesday, July 28, 2010)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44294-44295]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2010-18445]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, Washington, DC 
20549-0213.
Extension:
    Rule 17e-1; SEC File No. 270-224; OMB Control No. 3235-0217.

    Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520), the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (the ``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the 
collections of information summarized below. The Commission plans to 
submit these existing collections of information to the Office of 
Management and Budget (``OMB'') for extension and approval.
    Rule 17e-1 (17 CFR 270.17e-1) under the Investment Company Act of 
1940 (15 U.S.C. 80a-1) (the ``Act'') is entitled ``Brokerage 
Transactions on a Securities Exchange.'' The rule governs the 
remuneration that a broker affiliated with a registered investment 
company (``fund'') may receive in connection with securities 
transactions by the fund. The rule requires a fund's board of directors 
to establish, and review as necessary, procedures reasonably designed 
to provide that the remuneration to an affiliated broker is a fair 
amount compared to that received by other brokers in connection with 
transactions in similar securities during a comparable period of time. 
Each quarter, the board must determine that all transactions with 
affiliated brokers during the preceding quarter complied with the 
procedures established under the rule. Rule 17e-1 also requires the 
fund to (i) maintain permanently a written copy of the procedures 
adopted by the board for complying with the requirements of the rule; 
and (ii) maintain for a period of six years a written record of each 
transaction subject to the rule, setting forth: the amount and source 
of the commission, fee or other remuneration received; the identity of 
the broker; the terms of the transaction; and the materials used to 
determine that the transactions were effected in compliance with the 
procedures adopted by the board. The Commission's examination staff 
uses these records to evaluate transactions between funds and their 
affiliated brokers for compliance with the rule.
    Based on an analysis of fund filings, the staff estimates that 
approximately 252 fund portfolios enter into subadvisory agreements 
each year.\1\ Based on discussions with industry representatives, the 
staff estimates that it will require approximately 3 attorney hours to 
draft and execute additional clauses in new subadvisory contracts in 
order for funds and subadvisers to be able to rely on the exemptions in 
rule 17e-1. Because these additional clauses are identical to the 
clauses that a fund would need to insert in their subadvisory contracts 
to rely on rules 12d3-1, 10f-3, 17a-10, and because we believe that 
funds that use one such rule generally use all of these rules, we 
apportion this 3 hour time burden equally to all four rules. Therefore, 
we estimate that the burden allocated to rule 17e-1 for this contract 
change would be 0.75 hours.\2\ Assuming that all 252 funds that enter 
into new subadvisory contracts each year make the modification to their 
contract required by the rule, we estimate that the rule's contract 
modification requirement will result in 189 burden hours annually, with 
an associated cost of approximately $59,724.\3\
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    \1\ Based on information in Commission filings, we estimate that 
42.5 percent of funds are advised by subadvisers.
    \2\ This estimate is based on the following calculation (3 hours 
/ 4 rules = .75 hours).
    \3\ These estimates are based on the following calculations: 
(0.75 hours x 252 portfolios = 189 burden hours); ($316 per hour x 
189 hours = $59,724 total cost). The Commission staff's estimates 
concerning the wage rates for attorney time are based on salary 
information for the securities industry compiled by the Securities 
Industry Association. The $316 per hour figure for an attorney is 
from the SIA Report on Management & Professional Earnings in the 
Securities Industry 2009, modified to account for an 1800-hour work-
year and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, 
employee benefits and overhead.
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    Based on an analysis of fund filings, the staff estimates that 
approximately 1935 funds use at least one affiliated broker. Based on 
conversations with fund representatives, the staff estimates that rule 
17e-1's exemption would free approximately 40 percent of transactions 
that occur under rule 17e-1 from the rule's recordkeeping and review 
requirements. This would leave approximately 1161 funds (1935 funds x 
.6 = 1161) still subject to the rule's recordkeeping and review 
requirements. The staff estimates that each of these funds spends 
approximately 59 hours per year (40 hours by accounting staff, 15 hours 
by an attorney, and 4 director hours) at a cost of approximately 
$25,500 per year to comply with rule 17e-1's requirements that (i) the 
fund retain records of transactions entered into pursuant to the rule, 
and (ii) the fund's directors review those transactions quarterly.\4\ 
We estimate, therefore, that the total yearly hourly burden for all 
funds relying on this exemption is 68,499 hours,\5\ with yearly costs 
of approximately $29,605,500.\6\ Therefore, the estimated annual 
aggregate burden hour associated with rule 17e-1 is 68,688,\7\ and the 
estimated annual aggregate cost associated with it is $29,665,224.\8\
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    \4\ This estimate is based on the following calculations: (40 
hours accounting staff x $119 per hour = $4760) (15 hours by an 
attorney x $316 per hour = $4740); (4 hours by directors x $4000 = 
$16,000) ($4760 + $4740 + $16,000 = $25,500 total cost). The 
Commission staff's estimates concerning the wage rate for 
professional time are based on salary information for the securities 
industry compiled by the Securities Industry Association, except for 
the estimate of $4000 per hour for a board of directors. The $316 
per hour estimate for an attorney and the $119 per hour estimate for 
accountant time is from the SIA Report on Management & Professional 
Earnings in the Securities Industry 2009, modified to account for an 
1800-hour work-year and multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, 
firm size, employee benefits and overhead.
    \5\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: (1161 
funds x 59 hours = 68,499).
    \6\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 
($25,500 x 1161 funds = $29,605,500).
    \7\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: (189 
hours + 68,499 hours = 68,688 total hours).
    \8\ This estimate is based on the following calculation: 
($59,724 + $29,605,500 = $29,665,224).
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    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. 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 OMB 
control number.
    Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collections of 
information are necessary for the proper

[[Page 44295]]

performance of the functions of the Commission, including whether the 
information has practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's 
estimate of the burdens of the collections of information; (c) ways to 
enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information collected; 
and (d) ways to minimize the burdens of the collections of information 
on respondents, including 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 Charles Boucher, Director/
Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O 
Shirley Martinson, 6432 General Green Way, Alexandria, VA 22312; or 
send an e-mail to: [email protected].

    Dated: July 21, 2010.
Florence E. Harmon,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2010-18445 Filed 7-27-10; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P