[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 146 (Tuesday, July 30, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36981-36983]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-16088]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


Proposed Collection; Comment Request

Upon Written Request, Copies Available From: Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Office of FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 
20549-2736

Extension:
    Rule 19b-4 and Form 19b-4, SEC File No. 270-38, OMB Control No. 
3235-0045

    Notice is hereby given that pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act 
of 1995 (``PRA'') (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the existing 
collection of information provided for in Rule 19b-4 (17 CFR 240.19b-
4), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'') (15 U.S.C. 78a 
et seq.). The Commission plans to submit this existing collection of 
information to the Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') for 
extension and approval.
    Section 19(b) of the Act (15 U.S.C. 78s(b)) requires each self-
regulatory organization (``SRO'') to file with the Commission copies of 
any proposed rule, or any proposed change in, addition to, or deletion 
from the rules of such SRO. Rule 19b-4 implements the requirements of 
Section 19(b) by requiring the SROs to file their proposed rule changes 
on Form 19b-4 and by clarifying which actions taken by SROs

[[Page 36982]]

are subject to the filing requirement set forth in Section 19(b). Rule 
19b-4(n) requires a designated clearing agency to provide the 
Commission advance notice (``Advance Notice'') of any proposed change 
to its rules, procedures, or operations that could materially affect 
the nature or level of risks presented by such clearing agency. Rule 
19b-4(o) requires a registered clearing agency to submit for a 
Commission determination any security-based swap, or any group, 
category, type, or class of security-based swaps it plans to accept for 
clearing (``Security-Based Swap Submission''), and provide notice to 
its members of such submissions.
    The collection of information is designed to provide the Commission 
with the information necessary to determine, as required by the Act, 
whether the proposed rule change is consistent with the Act and the 
rules thereunder. The information is used to determine if the proposed 
rule change should be approved, disapproved, suspended, or if 
proceedings should be instituted to determine whether to approve or 
disapprove the proposed rule change.
    The respondents to the collection of information are SROs (as 
defined by Section 3(a)(26) of the Act),\1\ including national 
securities exchanges, national securities associations, registered 
clearing agencies, notice registered securities future product 
exchanges, and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.
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    \1\ 15 U.S.C. 78c(a)(26).
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    In calendar year 2018, each respondent filed an average of 
approximately 39 proposed rule changes. Each filing takes approximately 
41 hours to complete on average. Thus, the total annual reporting 
burden for filing proposed rule changes with the Commission is 67,158 
hours (39 proposals per year x 42 SROs x 41 hours per filing) for the 
estimated future number of 42 SROs.\2\ In addition to filing their 
proposed rule changes with the Commission, the respondents also are 
required to post each of their proposals on their respective websites, 
a process that takes approximately four hours to complete per proposal. 
Thus, the total annual reporting burden on respondents to post the 
proposals on their websites is 6,552 hours (39 proposals per year x 42 
SROs x 4 hours per filing) for the estimated future number of 42 SROs. 
Further, the respondents are required to update their rulebooks, which 
they maintain on their websites, to reflect the changes that they make 
in each proposal they file. The total annual reporting burden for 
updating online rulebooks is 5,579 hours ((1,638 filings per year-240 
withdrawn filings \3\-3 disapproved filings \4\) x 4 hours). Finally, a 
respondent is required to notify the Commission if it does not post a 
proposed rule change on its website on the same day that it filed the 
proposal with the Commission. The Commission estimates that SROs will 
fail to post proposed rule changes on their websites on the same day as 
the filing 16 times a year (across all SROs), and that each SRO will 
spend approximately one hour preparing and submitting such notice to 
the Commission, resulting in a total annual burden of 16 hours (16 
notices x 1 hour per notice).
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    \2\ In 2018, there were 39 SROs. In May 2019, an additional SRO 
registered with the Commission (as a national securities exchange). 
The Commission expects two additional respondents to register during 
the three-year period for which this Paperwork Reduction Act 
extension is applicable (one as a registered clearing agency and one 
as a national securities exchange), bringing the total number of 
respondents to 42.
    \3\ For 39 SROs, 223 withdrawn filings equal approximately 5.72 
filings per SRO. For 42 SROs, the figure would increase to 240 
withdrawn filings.
    \4\ For 39 SROs, three disapproved filings equal approximately 
0.08 filings per SRO. For 42 SROs, the figure would remain at three 
disapproved filings.
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    Designated clearing agencies have additional information collection 
burdens. As noted above, pursuant to Rule 19b-4(n), a designated 
clearing agency must file with the Commission an Advance Notice of any 
proposed change to its rules, procedures, or operations that could 
materially affect the nature or level of risks presented by such 
designated clearing agency. The Commission estimates that four 
designated clearing agencies will each submit five Advance Notices per 
year, with each submission taking 90 hours to complete. The total 
annual reporting burden for filing Advance Notices is therefore 2,250 
hours (5 designated clearing agencies x 5 Advance Notices per year x 90 
hours per response).
    Designated clearing agencies are required to post all Advance 
Notices to their websites, each of which takes approximately four hours 
to complete. For five Advance Notices, the total annual reporting 
burden for posting them to respondents' websites is 100 hours (5 
designated clearing agencies x 5 Advance Notices per year x 4 hours per 
website posting). Respondents are required to update the postings of 
those Advance Notices that become effective, each of which takes 
approximately four hours to complete. The total annual reporting burden 
for updating Advance Notices on the respondents' websites is 100 hours 
(5 designated clearing agencies x 5 Advance Notices per year x 4 hours 
per website posting).
    Pursuant to Rule 19b-4(n)(5), the respondents are also required to 
provide copies of all materials submitted to the Commission relating to 
an Advance Notice to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve 
System (``Board'') contemporaneously with such submission to the 
Commission, which is estimated to take two hours. The total annual 
reporting burden for designated clearing agencies to meet this 
requirement is 50 hours (5 designated clearing agencies x 5 Advance 
Notices per year x 2 hours per response).
    The Commission estimates that three security-based swap clearing 
agencies will each submit 20 Security-Based Swap Submissions per year, 
with each submission taking 140 hours to complete resulting in a total 
annual reporting burden of 8,400 hours (3 respondent clearing agencies 
x 20 Security-Based Swap Submissions per year x 140 hours per 
response). Respondent clearing agencies are required to post all 
Security-Based Swap Submissions to their websites, each of which takes 
approximately four hours to complete. For 20 Security-Based Swap 
Submissions, the total annual reporting burden for posting them to the 
three respondents' websites is 240 hours (3 respondent clearing 
agencies x 20 Security-Based Swap Submissions per year x 4 hours per 
website posting). In addition, three clearing agencies that have not 
previously posted Security-Based Swap Submissions on their websites may 
need to update their existing websites to post such filings online. The 
Commission estimates that each of these three clearing agencies would 
spend approximately 15 hours updating their existing websites, 
resulting in a total one-time burden of 45 hours (3 respondent clearing 
agencies x 15 hours per website update) or 15 hours annualized over 
three years.
    Respondent SROs will also have to provide training to staff members 
using the Electronic Form 19b-4 Filing System (``EFFS'') to submit 
Security-Based Swap Submissions, Advance Notices, and/or proposed rule 
changes electronically. The Commission estimates that one newly-
registered national securities exchange, one anticipated national 
securities exchange, and one anticipated clearing agency will spend 
approximately 60 hours training all staff members who will use EFFS to 
submit Security-Based Swap Submissions, Advance Notices, and/or 
proposed rule changes electronically, or 20 hours annualized over three 
years. The Commission also

[[Page 36983]]

estimates that these newly-registered and anticipated SROs will have a 
one-time burden of 390 hours to draft and implement internal policies 
and procedures for using EFFS to make these submissions, or 130 hours 
annualized over three years. The Commission estimates that each of the 
42 respondents will spend 10 hours each year training new compliance 
staff members and updating the training of existing compliance staff 
members to use EFFS, for a total annual burden of 420 hours (42 
respondent SROs x 10 hours).
    In connection with Security-Based Swap Submissions, counterparties 
may apply for a stay from a mandatory clearing requirement under Rule 
3Ca-1. The Commission estimates that each clearing agency will submit 
five applications for stays from a clearing requirement per year and it 
will take approximately 18 hours to retrieve, review, and submit each 
application. Thus, the total annual reporting burden for the Rule 3Ca-1 
stay of clearing requirement would be 270 hours (3 respondent clearing 
agencies x 5 stay of clearing applications per year x 18 hours to 
retrieve, review, and submit the stay of clearing information).
    Based on the above, the total estimated annual response burden 
pursuant to Rule 19b-4 and Form 19b-4 is the sum of the total annual 
reporting burdens for filing proposed rule changes, Advance Notices, 
and Security-Based Swap Submissions; training staff to file such 
proposals; drafting, modifying, and implementing internal policies and 
procedures for filing such proposals; posting each proposal on the 
respondents' websites; updating websites to enable posting of 
proposals; updating the respondents' online rulebooks to reflect the 
proposals that became effective; submitting copies of Advance Notices 
to the Board; and applying for stays from clearing requirements, which 
is 91,300 hours.
    Compliance with Rule 19b-4 is mandatory. Information received in 
response to Rule 19b-4 shall not be kept confidential; the information 
collected is public information.
    Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed 
collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of 
the functions of the Commission, including whether the information 
shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission's 
estimate of the burden of the proposed 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 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.
    An agency may not conduct or sponsor, and a person is not required 
to respond to, a collection of information under the PRA unless it 
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
    Please direct your written comments to: Charles Riddle, Acting 
Director/Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, 
c/o Candace Kenner, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549, or send an 
email to: [email protected].

    Dated: July 24, 2019.
Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-16088 Filed 7-29-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P