[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 173 (Friday, September 6, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Page 46979]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-19239]


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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 FOIA Services, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 
20549-2736

Extension:
    Rule 204A-1, SEC File No. 270-536, OMB Control No. 3235-0596

    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 (the ``Commission'') has submitted to the Office of 
Management and Budget a request for extension of the previously 
approved collection of information discussed below.
    The title for the collection of information is ``Rule 204A-1 (17 
CFR 275.204A-1) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.'' (15 U.S.C. 
80b-1 et seq.) Rule 204A-1 (the ``Code of Ethics Rule'') requires 
investment advisers registered with the SEC to (i) set forth standards 
of conduct expected of advisory personnel (including compliance with 
the federal securities laws); (ii) safeguard material nonpublic 
information about client transactions; and (iii) require the adviser's 
``access persons'' to report their personal securities transactions, 
including transactions in any mutual fund managed by the adviser. The 
Code of Ethics Rule requires access persons to obtain the adviser's 
approval before investing in an initial public offering (``IPO'') or 
private placement. The Code of Ethics Rule also requires prompt 
reporting, to the adviser's chief compliance officer or another person 
designated in the code of ethics, of any violations of the code. 
Finally, the Code of Ethics Rule requires the adviser to provide each 
supervised person with a copy of the code of ethics and any amendments, 
and require the supervised persons to acknowledge, in writing, their 
receipt of these copies. The purposes of the information collection 
requirements are to (i) ensure that advisers maintain codes of ethics 
applicable to their supervised persons; (ii) provide advisers with 
information about the personal securities transactions of their access 
persons for purposes of monitoring such transactions; (iii) provide 
advisory clients with information with which to evaluate advisers' 
codes of ethics; and (iv) assist the Commission's examination staff in 
assessing the adequacy of advisers' codes of ethics and assessing 
personal trading activity by advisers' supervised persons.
    The respondents to this information collection are investment 
advisers registered with the Commission. The Commission has estimated 
that compliance with rule 204A-1 imposes a burden of approximately 91 
hours per adviser annually based on an average adviser having 63 access 
persons. Our latest data indicate that there were 13,173 advisers 
registered with the Commission. Based on this figure, the Commission 
estimates a total annual burden of 1,194,133 hours for this collection 
of information.
    Rule 204A-1 does not require recordkeeping or record retention. The 
collection of information requirements under the rule is mandatory. The 
information collected pursuant to the rule is not filed with the 
Commission, but rather takes the form of communications between 
advisers and their supervised persons. Investment advisers use the 
information collected to control and assess the personal trading 
activities of their supervised persons. Responses to the reporting 
requirements will be kept confidential to the extent each investment 
adviser provides confidentiality under its particular practices and 
procedures. 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.
    The public may view the background documentation for this 
information collection at the following website, www.reginfo.gov. 
Comments should be directed to: (i) Desk Officer for the Securities and 
Exchange Commission, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, 
Office of Management and Budget, Room 10102, New Executive Office 
Building, Washington, DC 20503, or by sending an email to: 
[email protected]; and (ii) 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]. Comments must be submitted to OMB within 30 
days of this notice.

    Dated: September 3, 2019.
Jill M. Peterson,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2019-19239 Filed 9-5-19; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 8011-01-P