[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 91 (Thursday, May 11, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30377-30379]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10002]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[SEC File No. 270-524, OMB Control No. 3235-0582]


Proposed Collection; Comment Request; Extension: Form N-PX

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

    Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction 
Act of 1995

[[Page 30378]]

(44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.) (``Paperwork Reduction Act''), the Securities 
and Exchange Commission (the ``Commission'') is soliciting comments on 
the collection of information summarized below. The Commission plans to 
submit this existing collection of information to the Office of 
Management and Budget (``OMB'') for extension and approval.
    On November 2, 2022, the Commission adopted rule and form 
amendments (``Amendments'') that would enhance the information funds 
report on Form N-PX and make that information easier to analyze.\1\ The 
Commission also adopted a new rule that would require an institutional 
investment manager subject to section 13(f) of the Securities Exchange 
Act of 1934 (``Exchange Act'') to report annually on Form N-PX how it 
voted proxies relating to executive compensation matters, as required 
by section 14A of the Exchange Act. The Amendments require funds (and, 
for executive compensation matters, institutional investment managers) 
to (i) identify voting matters using language from the issuer's form of 
proxy (with certain exceptions for issuers who are not subject to the 
Commission's proxy rules) and categorize their votes from a list of 
categories; (ii) disclose quantitative information regarding the number 
of votes cast (or instructed to be cast) and the number of shares not 
voted because they are out on loan; and (iii) file reports in an XML 
structured data language using a standardized format. In addition, the 
Amendments included changes to Forms N-1A, N-2, and N-3 that require 
funds, if they have a website, to disclose that their proxy voting 
records are publicly available on or through their websites, free of 
charge, and to make this information available on or through its 
website as soon as reasonably practicable after filing a report on Form 
N-PX with the Commission.
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    \1\ Enhanced Reporting of Proxy Votes by Registered Management 
Investment Companies; Reporting of Executive Compensation Votes by 
Institutional Investment Managers, Investment Company Release No. 
34745 (November 2, 2022) [87 FR 78770 (Dec. 22, 2022)] (``Adopting 
Release'').
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    The purpose of Form N-PX is to meet the filing and disclosure 
requirements of rules under the Act and also to enable funds to provide 
investors with information necessary to evaluate overall patterns in 
the manager's voting behavior. This information collection is primarily 
for the use and benefit of investors. The information filed with the 
Commission also permits the verification of compliance with securities 
law requirements and assures the public availability and dissemination 
of the information. Due to the Amendments, Form N-PX will also be used 
by institutional investment managers to meet the filing and disclosure 
requirements of section 14A under the Exchange Act.
    The table below summarizes our estimates associated with the 
amendments to Form N-PX that the Amendments address:

                                                                 Form N-PX PRA Estimates
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                                                            Internal        Internal                                                          Annual
                                                             initial     annual  burden                    Wage rate \2\  Internal  time  external  cost
                                                          burden hours      hours \1\                                          costs          burden
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                                                             Funds Holding Equity Securities
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Estimated annual burden of current Form N-PX per         ..............             7.2               x         \3\ $400          $2,880          $1,000
 response..............................................
Estimated initial burden to accommodate new reporting                36              12               x          \4\ 349          $4,188            $500
 requirements..........................................
Additional estimated annual burden associated with       ..............              12               x          \5\ 349          $4,188          $1,000
 amendments to Form N-PX...............................
Website availability requirement \6\...................  ..............             0.5               x          \7\ 272            $136  ..............
Estimated number of annual responses \8\...............  ..............         x 5,496                   ..............         x 5,496         x 5,496
                                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total annual burden................................  ..............         188,490  ...............  ..............     $67,737,479     $14,865,142
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                                                           Funds Not Holding Equity Securities
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Estimated annual burden of current Form N-PX per         ..............            0.17               x          \3\ 400             $68  ..............
 response..............................................
Additional estimated annual burden associated with       ..............  ..............                   ..............  ..............  ..............
 amendments to Form N-PX...............................
Estimated number of annual responses \8\...............  ..............         x 2,588                   ..............         x 2,588  ..............
                                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total annual burden................................  ..............             440  ...............  ..............        $176,005  ..............
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                                                                     Funds of Funds
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Estimated annual burden of current Form N-PX per         ..............               1               x          \3\ 400            $400            $100
 response..............................................
Additional estimated annual burden associated with       ..............             0.5               x          \3\ 400            $200            $100
 amendments to Form N-PX...............................
Website availability requirement \6\...................  ..............             0.5               x          \6\ 272            $136  ..............
Estimated number of annual responses \8\...............  ..............         x 1,619                   ..............         x 1,619         x 1,619
                                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total annual burden................................  ..............           3,238  ...............  ..............      $1,191,584        $323,800
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[[Page 30379]]

 
                                                            Institutional Investment Managers
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Changes to systems to accommodate new reporting                      45              15               x          \9\ 349          $5,235            $500
 requirements..........................................
Estimated annual burden associated with Form N-PX        ..............             7.5               x         \10\ 343          $2,573          $2,000
 filing requirement....................................
Estimated number of annual responses...................  ..............         x 8,381                   ..............         x 8,381         x 8,381
                                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total annual burden................................  ..............         188,572  ...............  ..............     $65,438,848     $20,952,500
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                                                                      Total Burden
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Currently Approved Burden..............................  ..............          47,984                   ..............  ..............     $17,657,958
Additional Burden Associated with Amendments...........  ..............         332,757                   ..............  ..............     $18,483,484
                                                        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Total Burden.......................................  ..............         380,741  ...............  ..............  ..............     $36,141,445
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Certain products and sums do not tie due to rounding.
\1\ Includes initial burden estimates amortized over a three-year period.
\2\ The Commission's estimates of the relevant wage rates are based on salary information for the securities industry compiled by the Securities
  Industry and Financial Markets Association's Office Salaries in the Securities Industry 2013. The estimated figures are modified by firm size,
  employee benefits, overhead, and adjusted annually to account for the effects of inflation, with the last adjustment before the adoption of the
  Amendments occurring in early 2022. See Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Report on Management & Professional Earnings in the
  Securities Industry 2013.
\3\ Represents the estimated hourly wage rate of a compliance attorney.
\4\ Represents the blended estimated hourly wage rates of a programmer and a compliance attorney and includes, inter alia, the costs of obtaining from
  service providers data on the number of shares on loan but not recalled. In the case of the final estimates, the blended hourly rate is based on 18
  hours for a programmer at $297 per hour and 18 hours for a compliance attorney at $400 per hour.
\5\ Represents the blended estimated hourly wage rates of a programmer and a compliance attorney. In the case of the final estimates, the blended hourly
  rate is based on 6 hours for a programmer at $297 per hour and 6 hours for a compliance attorney at $400 per hour.
\6\ While the Amendments will require funds to disclose that their proxy voting records both are available on fund websites and will be delivered to
  investors upon request, the Form N-PX PRA estimates includes only the burdens associated with website posting. Funds' registration forms currently
  require them to disclose that they either make their proxy voting records available on their websites or deliver them upon request. We understand most
  funds deliver proxy voting records upon request and, therefore, the burdens of delivery upon request are already included in the information
  collection burdens of each relevant registration form.
\7\ Represents the estimated hourly wage rate of a webmaster.
\8\ These estimates are conducted for each fund portfolio, not for each filing, and are an average estimate across all Form N-PX reporting persons. In
  certain cases, a single Form N-PX filing will report the proxy voting records of multiple fund portfolios. In those circumstances, the reporting
  person will bear the burden associated with each fund portfolio it reported. This average estimate takes into account higher costs for funds filing
  reports for multiple portfolios without assuming any economies of scale that multiple-portfolio fund complexes may be able to achieve.
\9\ Represents the blended estimated hourly wage rates of a programmer and a compliance attorney. In the case of the final estimates,the blended hourly
  rate is based on 22.5 hours for a programmer at $297 per hour and 22.5 hours for a compliance attorney at $400 per hour.
\10\ Represents the blended estimated hourly wage rates of a programmer and a compliance attorney. In the case of the final estimates, the blended
  hourly rate is based on 3 hours for a programmer at $297 per hour and 4.5 hours for a compliance attorney at $400 per hour.

    The table above summarizes our PRA initial and ongoing annual 
burden estimates associated with Form N-PX, as amended. In the 
aggregate, we estimate the total annual burden to comply with amended 
Form N-PX to be 380,741 hours, with an average external cost of 
$36,141,445.
    Compliance with Form N-PX is mandatory. Responses to the collection 
of information requirements will not be kept confidential.
    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 of the costs of 
Commission rules and forms. 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 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 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 by July 10, 2023.
    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: David Bottom, Director/
Chief Information Officer, Securities and Exchange Commission, c/o John 
Pezzullo, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549 or send an email to: 
[email protected].

    Dated: May 5, 2023.
J. Matthew DeLesDernier,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2023-10002 Filed 5-10-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P