[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 85 (Friday, May 1, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25489-25490]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09299]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[SEC File No. 270-259, OMB Control No. 3235-0269]


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 17f-5.

    Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 350l-3520), the Securities and Exchange 
Commission (``Commission'') is soliciting comments on the collection of 
information summarized below. The Commission plans to submit the 
existing collection of information to the Office of Management and 
Budget for extension and approval.
    Rule 17f-5 (17 CFR 270.17f-5) under the Investment Company Act of 
1940 [15 U.S.C. 80a] (the ``Act'') governs the custody of the assets of 
registered management investment companies (``funds'') with custodians 
outside the United States. Under rule 17f-5, a fund or its foreign 
custody manager (as delegated by the fund's board) may maintain the 
fund's foreign assets in the care of an eligible fund custodian under 
certain conditions. If the fund's board delegates to a foreign custody 
manager authority to place foreign assets, the fund's board must find 
that it is reasonable to rely on each delegate the board selects to act 
as the fund's foreign custody manager. The delegate must agree to 
provide written reports that notify the board when the fund's assets 
are placed with a foreign custodian and when any material change occurs 
in the fund's custody arrangements. The delegate must agree to exercise 
reasonable care, prudence, and diligence, or to adhere to a higher 
standard of care. When the foreign custody manager selects an eligible 
foreign custodian, it must determine that the fund's assets will be 
subject to reasonable care if maintained with that custodian, and that 
the written contract that governs each custody arrangement will provide 
reasonable care for fund assets. The contract must contain certain 
specified provisions or others that provide at least equivalent care. 
The foreign custody manager must establish a system to monitor the 
performance of the contract and the appropriateness of continuing to 
maintain assets with the eligible foreign custodian.
    The collection of information requirements in rule 17f-5 are 
intended to provide protection for fund assets maintained with a 
foreign bank custodian whose use is not authorized by statutory 
provisions that govern fund custody arrangements,\1\ and that is not 
subject to regulation and examination by U.S. regulators. The 
requirement that the fund board determine that it is reasonable to rely 
on each delegate is intended to ensure that the board carefully 
considers each delegate's qualifications to perform its 
responsibilities. The requirement that the delegate provide written 
reports to the board is intended to ensure that the delegate notifies 
the board of important developments concerning custody arrangements so 
that the board may exercise effective oversight. The requirement that 
the delegate agree to exercise reasonable care is intended to provide 
assurances to the fund that the delegate will properly perform its 
duties.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ See section 17(f) of the Act. 15 U.S.C. 80a-17(f).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    The requirements that the foreign custody manager determine that 
fund assets will be subject to reasonable care with the eligible 
foreign custodian and under the custody contract, and that each 
contract contain specified provisions or equivalent provisions, are 
intended to ensure that the delegate has evaluated the level of care 
provided by the custodian, that it weighs the adequacy of contractual 
provisions, and that fund assets are protected by minimal contractual 
safeguards. The requirement that the foreign custody manager establish 
a monitoring system is intended to ensure that the manager periodically 
reviews each custody arrangement and takes appropriate action if 
developing custody risks may threaten fund assets.\2\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \2\ The staff believes that subcustodian monitoring does not 
involve ``collection of information'' within the meaning of the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501-3520) (``Paperwork 
Reduction Act'').
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Commission staff estimates that each year, approximately 90 
registrants \3\ could be required to make an average of one response 
per registrant under rule 17f-5, requiring approximately 2.5 hours of 
board of director time per response, to make the necessary findings 
concerning foreign custody managers. The total annual burden associated 
with these requirements of the rule is up to approximately 225 hours 
(90 registrants x 2.5 hours per registrant). The staff further 
estimates that during each year, approximately 15 global custodians \4\ 
are required to make an average of 4 responses per custodian concerning 
the use of foreign custodians other than depositories. The staff 
estimates that each response will take approximately 270 hours, 
requiring approximately 1080 total hours annually per custodian (270 
hours x 4 responses per custodian). The total annual burden associated 
with these requirements of the rule is approximately 16,200 hours (15 
global custodians x 1080 hours per custodian). Therefore, the total 
annual burden of all collection of information requirements of rule 
17f-5 is estimated to be up to 16,425 hours (225 + 16,200). The total 
annual cost of burden hours is estimated to be $4,779,225 (225 hours x 
$4,465/hour for board of director's time + (16,200 hours x $233/hour 
for a trust administrator's time)).\5\ Compliance with the collection 
of information requirements of the rule is necessary to obtain the 
benefit of relying on the rule's permission for funds to maintain their 
assets in foreign custodians.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \3\ This figure is an estimate of the number of new funds each 
year, based on data reported by funds for 2017, 2018, and 2019. In 
practice, not all funds will use foreign custody managers. The 
actual figure therefore may be smaller.
    \4\ This estimate is based on staff research.
    \5\ Based on fund industry representations, the staff estimated 
in 2014 that the average cost of board of director time, for the 
board as a whole, was $4,000 per hour. Adjusting for inflation, the 
staff estimates that the current average cost of board of director 
time is approximately $4,465 per hour. The $233/hour figure for a 
trust administrator is from SIFMA's Management & Professional 
Earnings in the Securities Industry 2013, modified by Commission 
staff to account for an 1800-hour work-year and inflation, and 
multiplied by 5.35 to account for bonuses, firm size, employee 
benefits, and overhead.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[[Page 25490]]

    The estimate of average burden hours is made solely for the 
purposes of the Paperwork Reduction Act. The estimate is not derived 
from a comprehensive or even a representative survey or study of the 
costs of Commission rules and forms.
    Written comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the Commission, including whether the information has practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the Commission'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 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 David Bottom, Director/Chief 
Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, C/O Cynthia 
Roscoe, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549; or send an email to: 
[email protected].

    Dated: April 28, 2020.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-09299 Filed 4-30-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P